Mint Chicks Q&A Pt. 2
IJ: What's the Portland scene like for you guys? How much do you know about Spokane's young art scene in regard to the Terrain event, which seeks to raise support and awareness for Spokane?
MC: The thing we like about it is how much is going on. There are a lot of venues and lots of bands and many of them are really good. I was really involved in the art scene in Auckland and was involved in exhibitions and have become pretty well known as an artist in New Zealand but I know next to nothing about the art scene in Portland. As for Spokane all I know is what I've heard so far and the event sounds really interesting. I was talking to Dave Allen (ex- Gang of Four) who does a radio show here about Terrain and he said he might do a road trip and come and see the show so I guess people are hearing about it and think that it sounds as interesting as I do! To tell the truth I can't wait to see what happens at this thing.
IJ: What's you're live show like, what's your intent when you get on stage?
MC: Our live show is different every time but always very hyper and intense. In the movie There Will Be Blood there is this scene where the young preacher starts spazzing out and screaming and throwing his arms around in a very possessed kind of way, and I thought that reminded me of Kody when he gets going.
IJ: One of the subtexts of this story is about the drive for Spokane's young arts scene, so I'd appreciate any thoughts you wanted to share in regard to Portland having an established art scene versus Spokane trying to establish itself.
MC: As a newcomer to Portland I have to say I'm no expert on the particulars of this town, but I've been involved in the art world for 10 years, and went to art school in New Zealand, have worked at two different galleries there and was an assistant for one of the biggest artists there and I have to say that these days scenes are where you find them. There's no reason why Spokane can't create its own thing and become well known in the bigger cities precisely for it's relative isolation. Also there's sometimes too much emphasis placed on 'scenes' as opposed to individual artists. At the end of the day one great artist can make a town famous. If you have two really good artists in Spokane people start talking about the 'Spokane school' or whatever.
IJ: You alluded to being an assistant to one of the biggest artists in New Zealand - who is that?
MC: His name is Stephen Bambury, an abstract painter. He is a big mentor of mine and taught me a lot about how to go about living life as a creative person. I worked for him for just over two years, but left so I could work more on making music.
IJ: When and how did you arrive in Portland?
MC: We arrived in January by plane! We did a tour last year which went through quite a few cities here in the states. We decided halfway through the tour that we were going to live in the town that we enjoyed the most. We ended the tour in Portland and ended up staying for two weeks instead of moving on the next day as planned. We have some family here and we enjoyed the pace.
Mint Chicks Q&A Pt. 1
As the only true out-of-town act playing tonight’s Terrain visual arts and music festival, The Mint Chicks are precisely the right band for the job.
Coming originally from New Zealand, The Mint Chicks moved to Portland less than a year ago because it was the right vibe for the experimental art-noise rock trio.
Before that, Mint Chicks founding frontman Kody Nielson was the mentee of abstract painter Stephen Bambury, who his regarded as one of New Zealand’s leaving artists.
Nielson ceased working with Bambury so he could focus on making music.
The Mint Chicks are known for their outrageous live performance in which the members have been known to climb P.A. stacks, hang from lighting rigs, destroy guitars, inflict bodily harm on themselves and even attack the stage with chainsaw.
See for yourself when The Mint Chick co-headlines Terrain with Portland-by-way-of-Spokane dance favorites Hockey and a slew of other bands – highlighted by the juried exhibition festival – which takes place tonight starting at 5 p.m. at 120 N. Wall. The all-ages event is free to the public.
Here’s an exclusive Q&A with Mint Chicks:
IJ: I'll start with the obvious question: So, there are no chicks in the band? What's up with that?
MC: We all met at highschool. At our highschool it was a big thing to call a good looking girl a mint chick. It got to be where the saying was heavily associated with the part of the country we're from. So when we all started a band we thought it would be funny to call our band the Mint Chicks. People always say that it's weird that we're called the mint Chicks when we're all guys, but there is probably no band that is what they say they are in their name. The Beatles aren't beetles, the rolling stones aren't stones.
IJ: Introduce the band, who does what, what instruments y'all use, etc.
MC: I'm Ruban, I play the guitar and sing, my brother Kody plays piano and Roper plays the drums
IJ: What's the band up to these days, besides touring? Writing album? Do you have an album out now to promote, if so feel free to talk about that a bit...
MC: We had an album that just came out called "Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No!". It was our breakthrough album in New Zealand, where we come from. We produce and engineer all of our own records, and so we've almost finished our new album which we've recorded in the basement of our place in Portland.
IJ: Talk about how you arrived at your sound, what informs it, what you're going for, that sort of thing.
MC: We try to write really strong and simple pop songs and then deliver them in a way that's unique. Our label in New Zealand is Flying Nun and we have a lot in common with the classic underground New Zealand bands from that label in the past. We listen to all kinds of music but not a lot of recent chart music. We listen to lots of sixties pop and classic punk and new wave, but also have followed noise and indie music. There's a bit of influence from Warp records electronic music and even recognizable elements of classical music.
Hey Mr. Tambourine Man
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Blast from August: James Pants and Royal Zodiac
Relive the madness.
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Bearfoot bluegrass plays "house show"
Bluegrass fans have a chance to share an intimate evening with award winning Alaskan bluegrass band Bearfoot.
The group of former camp counselors was named Telluride Bluegrass Champions – an honor shared with the likes of Dixie Chicks and Nickel Creek.
While incorporating back-alley Southern blues with jazz colorings into a sophisticated bluegrass bounce, Bearfoot is built on its cunning blend five distinctive lead vocals.
Bearfoot appears in a house-style show on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Rick Singer Photography Studio, 415 ½ W. Main St. Tickets are $20, available at Rick’s studio. Space is limited. For more information, call 838-3333 or visit here.
More videos from Pig Out with Ueland, Cole and The Shooks
Dane Ueland with Kaylee Cole and The Shooks
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Kaylee Cole with Dane Ueland and The Shooks
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Zombie Room closed?
The Zombie Room closed?
The Zombie Room, located at 230 W. Riverside Ave., suddenly closed last week without warning.
The Zombie Room’s booking agent, Eli Bickerton, said the bar hadn’t renewed its liquor license and was in the process of being sold.
Zombie Room owners did not return calls for comment.
Bickerton has moved a number of shows to various venues downtown. Check the Zombie Room’s Myspace profile for updates.
Paper Mache to tour with Say Anything side project
Local folk-rock favorites Paper Mache is hitting the road in late October on a national tour with Say Anything’s side project XO.
It’s an acoustic tour across the country that also includes Vans Warped Tour highlight Shanti and Texas folk-pop act Smile Smile. In the meantime, Paper Mache continues to tour relentlessly around the West Coast.
Paper Mache landed the tour spot after impressing booking agents at SXSW.
Paper Mache – now a five piece outfit – makes the official tour announcement Friday at its show at The Big Dipper, 171 S. Washington, with MTV-pushed band Goodnight Sunrise. Music starts at 7 p.m. Cover is $8.
Video from Fasbender's B-day bash with The Makers and Pour Soi
Tha Makers show that after 10 years it's still got one of the best live shows in town.
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Pour Soi's drummer, Travis Hottinger displays his precision, speed and endurance in his signature drum solo.
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-Footage from Aug. 29 at The Zombie Room.
Unified gets into the groove
Unified Groove Merchants - now more than ever - is truly a record store. Since the record shop opened its original location on Garland nine years ago it has been known as a hidden gem for top-choice hip-hop cuts, vintage jazz, rare groove and pretty much every other genre. The store is now located at 2607 N Monroe St.
Watch the video here, and read Isamu Jordan's column in Friday's 7.
Video and production by Isamu Jordan.
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Dane Ueland's 'My Wayfaring Queen'
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Belated video from Pig Out in the Park
Shook Twins perform 'Wildfire' with Dane Ueland and friends
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Back Row Kings performing 'Reckless Pedestrians' at Pig Out in the Park
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Son Dulce!
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More from the Monsters of Accordion bonanza
Power Und Beauty
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Jason Webley performs with the mask on
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Streaming show from Shook Twins, Kaylee Cole, Dane Ueland
Three big names in the regional scene came together at Pig Out's 7 stage for some musical awesomeness to tickle the ears.
...Go to this page to stream the show
Video and audio coming for Pig Out performances
Please stay tuned - There's a large volume (pun intended) of streaming shows, podcasts and video clips from the 7 stage.... The Shook Twins, Kaylee Cole, Dane Ueland, Back Row Kings... et al.
Art in a graffiti style
This graffiti-style mural in a South Hill neighborhood has sparked some debate about whether it's art or offensive. What do you think?
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There's a substantial discussion on the issue on the KXLY web site here.
Read the full story in this week's issue of 7.
Kiss Ella’s goodbye
After five years of supporting more than 1,000 local, regional and nationally touring artists of every persuasion, CenterStage and Ella’s Supper Club is calling it quits.
CenterStage, located at 1017 W. First Ave., fell $70,000 short of its goal in May to raise $225,000.
The nonprofit entity suffered losses more severe than usual this summer due to a poor economy and a drop in donations and retail revenues. As a result of cancelling summer theatre in May, there were no events in CenterStage’s grand ballroom during the entire month of July.
The wake for Ella’s happens Friday, featuring live music with an early bird set by Danny McCollum and friends starting at 6 p.m., and a late night jam led by Brent Edstrom at 9 p.m.
There is a limited food menu of “whatever’s left in the freezer,” and $4 drink specials for all cocktails and $2 beers.
Fleet Foxes live at INB
Check out the live set for Fleet Foxes at INB here: Click!
Paul Wall cancels
Houstin hip-hopper, promoter and jeweller, Paul Wall has cancelled his concert scheduled for Sept. 7 at The Knitting Factory, due to "unforeseen personal issues," according to a news release from The Knitting Factory.
Refunds are available through TicketsWest, (509) 325-SEAT.
Wilco review: Cline, Fleet Foxes shine
For the first 30 minutes, Wilco barely made eye contact with the audience. We might as well have been watching them via satellite. This wasn’t an exchange of energy, it was a presentation.
I thought I was in for one of those nights where the band plays its music, says “thank you, goodnight,” and that’s it.
Then, about five songs in, during “Hummingbird,” lead singer Jeff Tweedy ignited, led the crowd in a high-speed clap along, then seeped back into the rear and gave the stage to his new secret weapon, world class guitaraton Nels Cline.
This was also about the time the mostly full floor at the INB abandoned their seats to stand and watch the show, just before Wilco busted in to “I Am Trying To Break Your Heart.”
A couple of songs later, Tweedy actually spoke to the crowd. He was even - dare I say - playful.
Although he did seem slightly annoyed by the typically sedate Spokane crowd.
The alt-country sextet has been playing mostly outdoor festival type shows this summer, where the audience is usually wasted.
Wilco created a new genre this summer, Tweedy said, “lawn-core.”
From that point on he would take recurrent jabs at the audience - in a friendly manner - that the audience needed libations to loosen them up.
You can get beer in wine in the lobby at the INB, but you can’t take it in the auditorium, which can kill the experience if you’re the type that likes a few drinks to go with the music.
“If you can’t drink here, you have to find a way to get drunk in your mind,” said Tweedy, obviously speaking from experience. “I haven’t had a drink in about… We won’t go there.”
It was like he was surprised that listeners were, well, listening - being attentive and well behaved. Still, when there’s a maniac like Cline using his array of guitars to constantly hold tunes for ransom what else can you do but stare in awe? And what was the deal with those ridiculous red velvet highwater pants? One concertgoer commented that he looked like an alternate reality David Bowie. True dat.
And he wasn’t just working regular magic from a pedal board. Cline had tools laid out on a table like surgeon’s instruments. He has this sort of a mad doctor thing going that must take the pressure off Tweedy to perform.
Yet, after a rather icy introduction, Tweedy was fully engaged with the crowd.
“How to Fight Loneliness” marked one of the first if not only sit-down moments in the set. And don’t think Tweedy didn’t notice.
He said that the set list was put together from requests from Wilco’s Web site, so that at least one person at every show was guaranteed satisfaction. (Here's a link to the request form: Click.)
But there was an inconsistent age mix in the house, Tweedy pointed out, as he couldn’t pull off a joke that the crowd was too young to remember vinyl. Luckily, Wilco wasn't catering to any one type of fan. They played songs from there entire body of work, from the more traditional “A.M.” to the dance numbers on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot,” and the more ambient and experimental tunes on "Being There" and "A Ghost Is Born," back to the safer songs on the latest “Sky Blue Sky.”
They didn’t play everything, but after 23 songs and a rollicking double encore, they didn‘t leave out much either.
I did hear from one or two fans they would have liked to hear more from “A Ghost is Born,” but the set definitely wasn’t overloaded with songs from the new LP.
During the encore, perhaps the peak of the night, Wilco invited Seattle opener Fleet Foxes out to join in on a cover of Bob Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released.” It felt like church, as there were eight voices surging in harmony.
“These guys deserve an encore,” Tweedy said. Right on.
Fleet Foxes did not fail to impress, and they somehow managed to make the INB into an intimate venue. There were bits of conversation back and forth between the crowd - which seemed largely new to Fleet Foxes - and the stage.
“'Who are you?' One voice begged from the seats.”
“Who am I? That’s a question I often ask myself,” said Fleet Foxes bandleader Robin Pecknold.
Then there was a running joke where Fleet Foxes had a mock name change to Shadow Captains (any bands looking for a name should steal this one).
They just seemed like regular dudes. After packing his own gear offstage, Pecknold walked out to the crowd to greet his grandmother. He looked more like a homeless person than a rock star.
Those warm and soothing vocal harmonies swept through the INB’s pristine acoustics so gloriously, but Fleet Foxes didn’t quite steal the show - that particular feat was reserved for Cline.
Stay tuned on the blog to listen to The Fleet Foxes live show and watch a audio slideshow of Wilco’s performance.
Here's a link to a discussion on the show fom Wilco's site: Click here.
Here’s the set list:
Sunken Treasure
Remember the Mountain Bed
Company In My Back
You Are My Face
Hummingbird
Shot in the Arm
I am Trying to Break Your Heart
Pot Kettle Black
Handshake Drugs
How to Fight Loneliness
Impossible Germany
Jesus, Etc.
Misunderstood
California Stars
Hate It Here
Walken
I'm the Man Who Loves You
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Heavy Metal Drummer
Kingpin
I Shall Be Released (w/ Fleet Foxes)
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Late Greats
Casino Queen
Outtasite (Outta Mind)
James Pants video madness
James Pants video, "We're Through"
Local Stones Throw Records upstart James Pants' latest video, "We're Through," is getting megaprops on the international blogosphere and it was directed by the guy who rolls burritos at Neato Burrito, 827 W. First, where Pants' band, "The Royal Zodiac," makes its live debut on Wednesday. (Then they're going on tour in Europe. Really.)
The band features The Groove Patrol's Jimmie Denny on bass and Josh Simon on keys and Belt of Vapor's Justin Walter on bass.
The video's director, Aaron Fink, is a childhood friend of Pants and a film student at EWU.
After Stones Throw Records bought the license for far more than the $16 Fink spent to make the video, iTunes picked it up and it so far has reached nearly 20,000 hits on YouTube.
Here's what the blogs say about "We're Through":
Fink took first place in the local Film Noir Awards (he was the only entrant, but a win's a win), for a short featuring his signature hotdog puppets. Who can resist a weiner dressed in a trench coat and fedora?
Check it out: Click here.
And There's more Fink fun with hotdogs as Yeah Yeah Yeahs and a video starring Fink set to "Allies" by Blue States.
Wilco's John Stirratt: Past, present and future
I caught up with Wilco’s bassist John Stirratt while the alt-country band was taking some downtime between shows.
Wilco’s albums have an unpredictable quality. Where one album could take a more esoteric, experimental approach, another, such as last year’s "Sky Blue Sky," could play more to traditional roots.
Stirratt, the only original member of Wilco besides chief songwriter Jeff Tweedy, said a new album is in the works, but just in the infancy stages of writing and there’s no telling which direction it will take.
Here’s some excerpts from a brief interview I had with Stirratt by telephone.
IJ: How’s the new album coming along? Has the songwriting process changed much over time?
JS: “We’re collecting songs but nothing has really taken shape yet. We have a lot of raw material and basic forms. The process hasn’t changed so far. For me personally, there is a lot of talk, more sort of post-production overdubbing touches. We might make it more dancey, or less linear and achieve that in other ways. There is so much talent in this band, we can analyze songs so much that that approach is different than just playing in a room. We take our time and see what happens, keeping in mind everything is totally hypothetical at this point.”
IJ: “Sky Blue Sky” was regarded as a sellout album by some critics. Did that surprise you?
JS: “It seems like there will always be someone who is disappointed with every record we make. Luckily more people were entertained than disappointed. But if that’s a sellout album then we must be morons; it’s a pretty lame sellout attempt. The record is moody. This kind of thing doesn’t really explode in the public eye. Maybe if we had got Timbaland to produce it or something…”
IJ: Some critics call Wilco “the American Radiohead” because of the artistic autonomy you all seem to possess. What do you think of that?
JS: “There are a number of bands who work in complete freedom at the indie level. The bigger you are, the harder it is to do that. I’m glad people think we have that autonomy and I’m happy that we can do that, but I wouldn’t make that comparison musically. The main thing is that we’ve had an audience for a long time. Names are bigger than labels. The Radiohead brand name is bigger than every label. It’s proven that if you have the people’s ear that’s bigger than the industry.”
IJ: What is the Autumn Defense project like for you compared to Wilco?
JS: “Autumn Defense is something I started with Patrick (Sansone) from Wilco. That’s how he ended up in Wilco. There are more similarities than differences. There is still some compromise, it’s very collaborative. I still write songs but I see them from point A to B, whereas in Wilco I contribute parts here and there.”
IJ: How about Laurie and John (the project with your twin sister)?
JS: "We’ve both been in bands forever but we’ve never been able to record together. One winter we had nothing to do so we said, ‘Let’s make a record.’ Autumn Defense played on that record."
IJ: I was listening to some of Wilco's live show streams recently and it seems like Glenn (Kotche) is going just nuts on the drums. What's up with the live show these days?
JS: “We’ve been together for a while. We have a lot of control over the dynamics indoors. Patrick is adding a lot of Mellotron for atmosphere. Glenn has his outbursts here and there, that’s for sure."
IJ: Since you’re the only original member besides Tweedy, can you talk about how you’ve seen the Wilco evolve?
JS: "There have been so many episodes but the one constant is Jeff’s songs and voice and guitar. We did these shows in Chicago where we played the band’s entire catalog over five nights and it was funny to go back and visit every part of the band’s history – all the different colors and personalities that came through. Some of the sessions for those records had a lot of stuff that was really well orchestrated. The last record was based around a lot of riffs and free associations. Some of that stuff could be re-arranged, that would be kind of fun. But I also like working from scratch and Jeff’s got so much material."
IJ: What’s in your iPod?
JS: "The Bonzo Dog Band. And Fleet Foxes. That guy has that great husky falsetto."
Wilco appears Thursday at the INB Performing Arts Center with Seattle’s Fleet Foxes. Tickets are $29 through TicketsWest.
Spotlight on Palms, Verhexen
An interview with indie music guru Corey Menzer, who's been exploring the local scene for 20+ years. Here, he talks about Palms (man with the mask in the video clip), an experimental knob-turning guitarist and one-man specsnazzular. Wow. Za.
Near the end is a small chunk of Palms live show.
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A live set from Verhexen, co-conspirator with Palms.
Kaylee pinch hits for Kunin tonight
Just a headsup, Johanna Kunin has cancelled her show tonight at Caterina. Kaylee Cole will be holding down the headlining spot instead.
As a special bonus, Dane Ueland will be sitting in on drums and Adam David will be on guitar.
Excerpts from Andrew Bird and Josh Ritter live sets
They played on the same night, July 22.
