Everybody Else released a new EP last week. GO GET THAT.
RVCA in SLC
RVCA finally connects to Utah/SLC. This are a few photos of a piece titled Ave Maria - RVCA artists Mac and Retna created at Fice in Salt Lake City.
My 2 Cents on Haiti
I'm so sick of hearing about Haiti, every other tweet is about it. Woof. Yes I feel bad about what happened, I'm glad people are helping out, but this ad for a benefit race is the only thing worth mentioning. There you have it, my point of view on Haiti. The type is cool, the idea is good, over all good stuff.
Tomorrows Tulips Feature
The OC Weekly interviewed Alex Knost about Tomorrows Tulips and the hiatus of the Japanese Motors. Keep on reading.Costa Mesa garage rockers Japanese Motors shocked the local scene when they informed OC Weekly last Tuesday that they were ditching their Jan. 20 gig with Vice label mates the Black Lips at Detroit Bar, canceling all upcoming shows including SXSW dates and going on "indefinite hiatus."
After playing a bit of phone tag, I got a hold of front man Alex Knost (he's also a pro surfer) this morning at his Costa Mesa home to discuss Tomorrows Tulips, the new duo he formed with girlfriend Christina Kee. I also asked him why Japanese Motors came to a screeching halt and if the band had a future. Knost offered fresh news concerning both projects.
OC Weekly (Wade Tatangelo): So, what prompted the formation of Tomorrows Tulips?
Alex Knost: Well, I really don't remember, exactly. I think Christina said something about hating to go to Paul Mitchell hair school and I asked her what she always wanted to do. She said she wanted to learn drums but thought that was ridiculous. We have similar taste in music and I showed her great songs that don't have complex drumming, played her Son of a Gun by the Vaselines, one of our favorite groups ... as soon a she put her ear to it and just concentrated on the beat, one hand on the snare drum, it gave her the confidence to just start whacking stuff.
Q: How long between when Christina started "whacking" the drums and the formation of Tomorrows Tulips?
A: By the next day we had three or four ideas for songs. Obviously, practice makes things a little perfect. I'd say maybe two or three months later we started playing around
Q: What's the story behind the name, Tomorrows Tulips?
A: It's kind of an inside joke. That's something for ourselves. We don't want to give it all away, y'know?
Q: Fair enough. The sound of Tomorrows Tulips is a lot dreamier and experimental leaning than Japanese Motors's. Would led you down this new musical path?
A: I still consider myself juvenile. I can barely play compared to most bands. You listen to 1960s music, it's not complicated, it's rock & roll. When you don't know how to do something very well it forces you to be creative and use trickery. The best thing about Christina being new on drums as she stumbles on all this creative stuff because it's first instinct. We're really trying to embody DIY aesthetic.
Q: Japanese Motors toured nationally and were signed to Vice. How serious are you about Tomorrows Tulips?
A: We're just gonan take it day by day. Obviously, we're passionate about it. We have this feeling of absolute fearlessness. We just recorded eight songs over at the Distillery [studio] on analog tape just like bands did in the 1960s and 70s. The [as-yet-untitled] EP will come out on the Papermade label that did the Dirt Dress series.
Q: Do you have a release date?
A: It will Take a little bit of time. We're only putting it out on cassette and vinyl. CDs are great to burn for friends but the lifespan is short. Tapes and vinyl last for a long time. We're doing that and writing new songs and talking to labels about a full-length we want to get done by the summer so we can hit road and start touring.
Q: Sound like between Tomorrows Tulips and surfing you have your hands full. Is Japanese Motors done?
A: Yeah, for the time being we all have decided to put in on shelf., we have full-length we never put out who knows what will happen in future after talking to [guitarist/bassist Nolan Hall] and hes' going to focus on photography. [Drummer Andrew Atkinson went back to his job. Nolan is working closely with Vans shoes and several magazines and looking to do showings of photographs and I'm excited for him. [Putting Japanese Motors on hiatus] was a mutual thing ... I'm really looking forward to Tomorrows Tulips. When you watch some like Christina make a song it really lights a fire in me creatively. It's been just the two of us but have been having people playing bass like Nolan and Matt McCluer of the Sweet Sweet Things. He's a very inspiring person to be around very with a profound work ethic.
Q: Do you plan to eventually grow Tomorrows Tulips from a twosome to a band?
A: We'll keep it as a two-piece as far as writing but it would be great to also play with talented musicians.
Q: Not to belabor this but Japanese Motors had a bunch of high profile dates coming up, opening for Black Lips playing SXSW, etc. Why stop now?
A: I think when you're passionate about something, obviously we worked hard to get where we were at, you don't want to sacrifice emotions. Having to keep playing due to pressure [to fulfill commitments] feels like a gimmick. We don't wanna do something we don't feel passionate about. We feel bad to the venues we left dry and fans but don't want be somewhere if our head is somewhere else. The future is unwritten, but as of right now, all feel strongly {about going on hiatus].
Underrated
Now that Rolling Stone has posted our lists of the 100 Best Albums and 100 Best Songs of the decade (as voted on by a panel of more than 100 industry experts and artists), and our readers have had their say in our Decade-End Readers’ Poll, we’re looking at what got left behind: first up, the 2000s’ most underrated albums. The Rock Daily faithful were adamant that the Killers got short shrift this decade, voting the band’s 2006 LP Sam’s Town the most criminally unappreciated of the era. Find out where the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Raconteurs and Blink-182 charted here:
1. The Killers – Sam’s Town
....................................
3. Kings of Leon – Because of the Times
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5. Radiohead – Hail to the Thief
6. The Killers – Day & Age
7. The Raconteurs – Consolers of the Lonely
8. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Show Your Bones
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20. Blink-182 – Blink-182
PRINT!
Boss Construction
Nashville, USA
Andrew Vastagh, aka Boss Construction, graduated from the design programme at the University of Memphis and, anxious to avoid having to work in a corporate cubicle, focused his energies instead on the freedom that gig posters offered.
http://bossconstruct.com/
Happy Birthday Annie
Its Annie's birthday for crying out loud. So wish her a happy birthday if you see her, or send her a birthday wish via twitter @anniesdiary or just go to her blog and show some love. But just know this is me wishing her an amazing birthday. She deserves all the best. Happy 21st birthday Annie.
Oh, and to celebrate, make sure you get your limited edition trading card in your favorite color while supplies last!
THEY WILL SELL OUT!
Oh, and thank Jodi for taking the original picture in the first place.
Gig Posters
Over the past couple of months I've found a new passion in print and the whole process. This super long slide of gig posters done by Folk This Town are amazing.
Acid Girls
The other day, was talking to some people about weddings. Mostly how I hate weddings. Then I came to the conclusion that my wedding is going to be black. Maybe it will have some white. But black and white to say the least. I mean, everyone always gets caught up in the colors of what they want at their wedding, matching this, that etc, well, Black is black. White is white. No shades of in-between. But then again, if I do end up having to have "color" then I hope my wedding ends up like this. zomggg.
Acid Girls - Lightworks from Scion A/V on Vimeo.
Indie Bros
How come indie bros always have great album art work? From the beautiful female on the front to the use of Futura typography saying Vampire Weekend + Contra along with the sepia tone, yet vintage feel to the picture, not to mention the white border. wowz. I'm not going to say anything about the music, just the cover art.
New Yearz - Pt. I
This is going to be there short version of my decade/year. The longer detailed version can be read in Pt. II.
I am just going to start naming things off that meant something to me, ready, set, go...
Music, internetz, Hema, junior high, work, Datsun, hair, rock n roll, punks, surf, folk, Annie, Stu, Justin+Katie, sports, rap, hip-hop, hippies, design, Stu, Jake, parents, high school, Idaho, aunt Vangie/uncle Kim, TBS, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Adobe, Mac, tight jeans, Mitzi, Barbie, Mason, B.Flow, The Killers, Los Lopez, Heimuli's, stuff, blah, blah, blah,...
I give up, just finish reading my long post in Pt. II.
kthxbye.
New Yearz - Pt. II
Its a new decade, yet I feel as if yesterdays tomorrow is here. To go over the top high lights of the past decade would be cliche and typical. So I will briefly do something along those lines. The fact that 10 years ago I was only in 6th grade and just learning how to work the internetz and a computer for that fact, I have learned to love certain things. So these certain things can be related to music and what type of music I was into at the time. I swear, every year I changed what type of music I listened to, which makes me appreciate what music I listen to these days. To start off with the early years of the past decade; I would always watch the box growing up, so the fake MTV wannabe sold out and left me music less. I started out by loving the Californication album by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. So great, made me love alternative music. Then insert my best friend, Hema, he brought something in my life that made my junior high years so weird. He brought rap music into my life, along with the hip hop lifestyle and break dancing. Yes, confession, I took break dancing lessons for 2 years and listened to rap. wow. Along with junior high came, wait for it, sports. Yes I liked sports, wow times two. I played basketball for the junior high team and thought I was on top of the world. Now to high school where I thought I knew who I was. Trying to find myself, I again turned to Hema as he introduced me to one of my saving graces, Taking Back Sunday. I went from listening to Nelly and 2Pac to the emo/punk scene of TBS. Along with this new outlook on music/life I grew my hair out and tried to become the rockstar I've always wanted to be while trying to continue what I started by playing all 3 years of high school football. Gross. The next stage/music scene in my life I came to appreciate the acoustic surf scene with acts like Jack Johnson, Tristan Prettyman and such. I dreamed about being in an alternate life of dealing with the ocean everyday. Obviously, didn't happen. Whatevs. But I'm over it, So on to the next stage of my life, after high school, I worked one of my most favorite jobs for Anderson Tile. I learned a lot about myself that year and a half of being away from my family and friends and just working. My iPod was prolly my bestest friend with out a doubt. After that ended I called up my favorite immigrant, mi amigo, Benjamin Lopez and we took on Salt Lake Community College and conquered what was ours for the taking. Community college education will always have a place in my heart foreverz. Now insert Delta Spirit, the indie music scene was what I needed. So great. During my appreciation for the folk music and SLCC I took the best class of my life, Decade of the 60s. The more I went to school trying to figure out what interested me, I kept falling back on one thing, Design. Art. Freedom. Which leads me to where I am right now, sitting here trying to blog and say something interesting to read. Along with these 10 years of life and music under my belt, I look to the next 10 years of whatever. Who knows, maybe I'll try to grow up or something.
Other things, worth knowing about me: Nirvana, Kurt Cobain, Slash, skateboarding, LA, college, biographies, surf, Andy Irons, pirates, RVCA, Japanese Motors, Alex Knost, design, art, Bob Dylan, twitter, blackberry, blogging, blonde hair, flannel shirts, Chuck Bass, Ata, the office, tv, internetz, DJ Skeet Skeet, Shwayze, Whitestarr, Cisco Adler, rock n roll, stupid facebook, Gossip GIrl, the OC, helvetica, Sarah Morrison, Katie, Justin, Jake, Kirk, Cindy, Kyl, Kyle, Annie, Jodi, Stu, cousins, Hema, Purdie's, Delta Spirit, 2pac, Run DMC, Anthony Kiedis, PR, mandration, kelzone, Mason, Ben, RedBull, whoppsycakes....blah, blah, blah, lubs.
kbye.
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