SF's Dirty Ghosts play in SF

Popscene was poppin' with new music Thursday night spinning  Settle Down by Kimbra, Secrets by Silver Swans, Take a Walk by Passion Pit and Let's Go by Matt & Kim before San Francisco's own Dirty Ghosts dominated the pint sized stage.

 

Singer-Guitarist Allyson Baker's virile vocals kick started the show belting out  Pretty Face, the ninth song on Dirty Ghosts' debut LP Metal Moon.With out brushing her bangs out of her eyes the Joan Jett protégé rocked on with the riff heavy indie-rock song Ropes that Way, had fun with bassist Erin McDermott during the new wave-ish track Shout It In and seemed to find their groove during the post garage rock song 19 in '71.

 

 

Dirty Ghosts might be wet behind the ears but they have a polished grunge sound you'll want to hear and you'll be able to at this year's Treasure Island Music Festival!

Photos by: Nikki DeMartini

Welcome Young Empires!

Young Empires brought their charismatic charm all the way from Canada to the stage at Thee Parkside just after 10:45pm Tuesday night!

White Doves, the first song of the set blew a circuit disabling microphones and though the crowd was happy to fill the position by singing the humbly virtuous lyrics  the Canadian foursome moved the party along with  Enter Through the Sun promising to revisit the interrupted introduction. The solid track Rain of Gold had the crowd dancing, Beaches seduced shouts of admiration and the boys kept their word playing White Doves in full before calling it a night.

Wake All My Youth, the 2012 EP from Young Empires is fresh, upbeat, youthful in an un naive way and their live performance carries the same refreshing feel even when it is littered with technical hiccups.
I got a chance to catch up with Matt (keyboardist/vocalist) and Aaron (guitarist) before the show. Here's what they had to say:

Me: Thanks so much for talking with me before your show tonight, is this your first time in San Francisco?
Aaron: Yeah it is, first time. 
Matt: Yeah it's my first time on the West Coast.

Me: How are you liking it? The West coast?
Matt: I mean, I think there's a lot of variation between cities, I would say that you know Portland feels worlds away from here, um Portland almost felt like the end of the world, it was a little strange.

Me: Portland felt like the end of the world?  because of the difference in the weather? the vibe?
Matt: Culturally it feels very different, yeah.
Aaron: I liked Portland, I thought it was cool.
 Matt: I'm not gonna say I didn't like it, it was just, it was strange. I think people in California are just so laid back and friendly to begin with that you know, it doesn't feel out of place. 

Me: You guys are from Canada, correct?
Aaron & Matt: Yep.

Me: What part of Canada are you from?
Aaron: We live in Toronto now but we're all kind of from different parts.
I'm originally from Edmunson which is kind of in the west, so coming out west is nice for me because this is more like where I grew up than Toronto.  Toronto is a little more like New York. Matt's from Ottawa and the other two guys are from a city close to Toronto.

Me: I read that you  toured with Girl Talk last summer, is that accurate? 
Matt: Not accurate.
Aaron: We did two big shows with him (Girl Talk) back in Toronto, back to back.
Matt: We've toured with Chromeo before and with Dragonette.

Me: The music video for your single, White Doves is  inovatively spectacular. What was it about that track that made you choose to make this type of music video to go along with it?
Aaron: Initially, the director (Miles Jay) who did the video really liked that track, he kind of picked it out. At the time when we had the whole EP done, he was someone who we really wanted to work with cause he's a young talent and we were really excited to work with him.He said, that's the song I wanna do a video for, he had the whole idea and based it on that song. It was more like the director picked the song as oppose to us saying here's the song make a video, we almost did the reverse of what you normally do because we basically found the director we wanted to work with  and said hey what song do you want to make a video for?

Me: Well that worked out! The outcome is awesome!
Any particular meaning behind the title of the EP Wake All My Youth?
Matt: Well, the lyric comes up a few times in the song Rain of Gold so it's connected lyrically to the album but also I think it is in someway symbolic for what music is all about reconnecting with your youthfulness. You don't have to grow up, you can still be young, you can still have fun it doesn't matter what age you are.
Aaron: It's an introduction of the band, it's the first release we've done so it's kind of like waking the youth to Young Empires for the first time.

Me: What bands/artists inspire your music?
Aaron: We all listen to totally different stuff. When  I really got into music being  a suburban kid growing up in the 90's I was into Nirvana, Pearl Jam all the grunge stuff  but I was also really into gangster rap; NWA, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre all that kind of stuff so, there's a really weird mix of stuff growing up a suburban kid in Canada. We're the kind of band that's more a product of those influences and it wouldn't be as obvious. I don't think there's one band who we can all say we listen to, you'd have a real hard time finding a band that all four of us actually like, we all bring different influences and different things to the table.
Matt: I think also, as a concert goer when you walk into a room for the first time and you see a band that you've never heard of and they blow you away, that can be very influential and inspiring, the unknown of what you are going to hear that night.

Me: I bet I can name one band you guys would all agree that you like [pause] Young Empires!
Aaron: I hate that band! [laughing]

Me: The EP, Wake All My Youth is already out, when can we expect the LP?
Matt: I think we're looking at 2013, early 2013.

There you have it, something brand new to look forward to!

Be sure to  check out the White Doves music video by director  Miles Jay! You can enjoy it as is or choose to be a part of the vision with Young Empires!



Photos by: Nikki DeMartini

Lights. Camera. Look at AVICII in action!

AVICII @ The Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
June 28th, 2012

Photos by: Nikki DeMartini

The Hundred In The Hands LIVE!

Accentuating The Hundred In The Hands dreamily-eerie love songs the dank atmospheric hues of crimson at The Rickshaw Stop bled on to the stage as the set started just after 10:30pm with Empty Stations, a brand new track off of their newly released LP, Red Night. 





The Brooklyn based band had comfortably cool stage presence as  vocalist Eleanore Everdell hovered over her keyboard in art deco platform wedges whispering thank yous to the all aged audience between songs while guitarist Jason Friedman  systematically bopped around all night.

Currently on the road promoting their fresh off the press release, Red Night, (available as of June 11th) last night's set list was packed pretty heavy with new material however glimmers of the past, like Pigeons off  of their 2010 self titled debut and the indie-tronic single Tom Tom from their 2011 This Desert EP were included.

The last leg of The Hundred In The Hands tour lands them in Hannover Germany as they club hop all summer long turning dark nights into a red nights and maybe next time they come to town it will be at a larger venue as they march onward and upward!

Photos by: Marc Fong
www.marcfongphoto.com

Q&A with Christian Eric Beaulieu of ANYWHERE

ANYWHERE is the collaborative post-modern rock project consisting of Christian Eric Beaulieu (Triclops!, Liquid Indian) and Cedric Bixler Zavala (The Mars Volta, At The Drive-In) with  Ex-Sleepy Sun vocalist Rachel Fannan lending her vocals on a couple of tracks including the vigorous  Rock en Español track, Rosa Rugosa and if that isn't enough there's a guest appearance by Mike Watt!

The debut self titled LP is out July 24th but Guitarist Christian Eric Beaulieu is here now with answers about his new band:

 Q: The collaborative project with yourself and  At The Drive-In's /The Mars Volta's Cedric Bixler Zavala is ANYWHERE which is also the same name of the debut album. How did this band name come about, what does it "stand for" and was that also a collaborative effort?

 A: I chose the name Anywhere as a result of being immersed in Beat literature and SF living. Our first band name was Dyslexicon but Cedric used it for a Volta song on their new album instead. I wanted a name that wasn't hindered by itself, a more expansive title. Seemed perfect.

Q: How did you come into acquaintance with the various artists whom you collaborated with on ANYWHERE's debut album?

A: Met Cedric at Sonny Kay's art opening in China Town in LA. Met Watt a few times but really made his aquaintence at a Triclops! show w/ No Means NO in LA as well. I reached out to Rachel Fannan after becoming a huge Sleepy Sun fan.

Q: Were female vocals the original idea when writing the tracks which feature former Sleepy Sun  vocalist Rachel Fannan's beautifully delicious voice?

A:Got the idea to reach out to her after the basic tracks were recorded. Cedric and I wanted a lady involved, and I just emailed her out of the blue having never met her before. I was lucky she replied!

Q: Triclops! has been described as punk/acid/psychedelic rock,  The Mars Volta has been categorized as progressive, psychedelic, experimental rock and Sleepy Sun is has also been described as  psychedelic rock. What genera do you think ANYWHERE falls into and why?

A: Acoustic eastern damaged folkish punk. No choice really the music spoke louder than the words.

Q: ANYWHERE  is available on July 24th, when can we expect to see ANYWHERE live in San Francisco?

A:Really wish I had an answer! All involved are super busy with their rad bands, so hoping to solve that puzzle soon. 

Thanks Christian, everyone will be waiting to see ANYWHERE!

The Hundred In The Hands at The Rickshaw Stop

The Hundred In The Hands are head lining at The Rickshaw Stop next Tuesday night promoting their second full-length studio album, Red Night.

Already being deemed by some as this year's standout album, Red Night carries  characteristics of disconnected feelings with an underlying deep dark fear of abandonment yet it doesn't dampen spirits rather it relates to broken ones. It's a seductive and wistful piece of work from the first track Empty Stations all the way threw to it's final track Lead in the Light. 

So come out on Tuesday June 26th and see The Hundred In The Hands with Silver Swans and  Teenage Sweatshirt  tickets are only ten bucks and go home feeling good about money well spent.

                                        Video for Ghosts from their 2011 EP This Desert

Picking the brains behind Hard Rock Records

Cafes, Casinos, Hotels, Hard Rocks' next quest is sure to be music to many ears.  On June 19th The Hard Rock Cafe in Nashville is hosting the launch party of Hard Rocks' next venture, Hard Rock Records: An independent music label created to find, develop, and promote up-and-coming artists. Every artist on the Hard Rock Records label will receive assistance with recording, production, marketing, promotion, distribution, and touring in exchange for a one-year commitment to the label. At the end of that year, artists will walk away with ownership of any/all recordings along with all the profits from their release.

The awesome James Buell, Hard Rock Records co-Head of A&R,  took time out of his crazy-busy schedule to answer my questions about this exciting announcement:

Q:  It's almost hard to believe that Hard Rock Records was founded in 1971 with the first Hard Rock Cafe, who's idea was it to start this music label ideally to give bands a helping hand instead of something like a Hard Rock Records Reality TV series?

A: The foundation of Hard Rock is and always has been music, so this label is the natural progression for our brand.  A reality series is short lived.  It’s not tangible.  It’s truly our hope that Hard Rock Records can help enrich the lives of our artists and their fans, and carry on for a very long time.

Q:  What was your #1 album of 2011? #1 album so far this year?

A: 2011 – Portugal. The Man’s In the Mountain in the Cloud.

2012 – This year is a great year for music.  I love the Zulu Winter debut and the new Maps & Atlases and Bad Veins albums, and I’m looking forward to the upcoming Mumford & Sons, Frightened Rabbit, and Two Door Cinema Club.

 Q: How will Hard Rock Records plug listeners into the music or the experience differently than other labels?

A: Hard Rock is fortunate to have 175 venues in 53 countries.  And we have video screens in all of those venues.  So that’s one avenue of exposure unique to Rosco Bandana and subsequent artists signed to Hard Rock Records.  We also have a Hard Rock Hotel amenity program – Sound of Your Stay – which offers guests staying on property free music downloads, and we plan to include our artists in that program.

Q: Aside from the Hard Rock Rising battle of the bands, how would an unknown band go about signing with Hard Rock Records?

A: The best way for artists to get music into our hands is to submit their demo and contact information to:  Hard Rock Records, 6100 Old Park Lane, Orlando, FL 32835.

Q: Will there be any Hard Rock Records Artist memorabilia displayed in Hard Rock Cafes?

A: That’s a hope of ours.  Our memorabilia collection is one of my favorite things at Hard Rock.  We have everything from Michael Jackson’s red “Beat It” jacket to Jimi Hendrix’ Flying V.  It would be great to someday have something from Rosco Bandana hanging on our walls that carries that kind of iconic value.

Q: The maximum commitment to Hard Rock Records is one year, not any longer? Even if the band want to remain on the label after the first year?

A: Our goal is to sign three bands a year.  And our commitment is to support them for one year from the release of their album.  We’re confident our bands will go on to do bigger and better things, but obviously our Hard Rock Records alumni will always remain part of the Hard Rock family. Hopefully, as they find their footing in the music industry and become more successful, they’ll continue to stay involved with the Hard Rock brand and continue to carry the Hard Rock Records’ torch regardless of where their careers might take them.

Q: I'd be very interested in seeing the Hard Rock Rising battle of the bands, is there a San Francisco stop slated in 2012?

A: This year’s competition ended in May.  Our winners are slated to play in London this July as part of our Hard Rock Calling festival in Hyde Park.  We’re currently evaluating the bands who took part in the competition to see if someone merits consideration for Hard Rock Records.  But we’ll be back in 2013 and the San Francisco Cafe will be part of the competition.

Rock on James! I can't wait to hear what sounds we'll hear from Hard Rock Records!