Marc St. Louis and Tillie Perks are the duo behind electronic Montreal-based band Valleys, whose newest album Are You Going to Stand There And Talk Weird All Night? will be released April 30th on Kanine Records. Marc and Tillie have been making music since the mid-’00’s, trading places on guitars, synthesizers, drums and sequencers. On previous River Phoenix and Stoner EPs, and their Sometimes Water Kills People LP, they have skirted the line between dream pop and post rock, with an increasing if subtle introduction of electronic elements and rhythms. Their […]
Band Booking: Chatting About Books and Tongue-In-Cheek Songwriting with Sleepies
Sleepies is a garage rock band based in Brooklyn, composed of Josh Intrator on bass, Thomas Seely on guitar and lead vocals and drummer Max Tremblay. Their first band practice as Sleepies dates back to November 2007. After a series of other bands and musical experiments, the group coalesced around a few common reference points (“weirdo punk rock” according to Seely). I first saw them at the penultimate gig for the now-closed DIY space Dead Herring in January, where they […]
Band Booking: Talking Thomas Pynchon and Brooklyn vs. Queens With PC Worship
PC Worship is a Queens-based band that has been making atmospheric noise-heavy punk music for about four years. The band is composed of Justin Frye, Mike Etten and a rotating cast of musicians, including “Boston Bongo” Dan, Mario Maggio and Pat Spadine. Sometimes playing as a four piece and sometimes as a seven or eight piece band, they’ve managed to release a varied and challenging slew of music that incorporates elements of post-punk, rock, noise, metal and other styles. The […]
Band Booking: Reading Camus and Exploring the Dark Side of Bar Culture with Ex Cops
Ex Cops are a genre-blending Brooklyn-based band that pairs shoegaze and dream pop tendencies with rhythms and melodies from older, and more varied musical styles, making forays into power pop and country among other, more proximate references. Composed of Brian Harding on vocals and guitar, and Amalie Bruun who shares vocal duties and plays keyboard, the band has experienced a sudden jump in recognition in the wake of their new LP, True Hallucinations released through Manhattan’s Other Music label. I saw […]
Band Booking with El Sportivo, With Thoughts on Country Music, Los Angeles and Creative Culture
El Sportivo is a country-rock band based in L.A. and New York. Conceived by Daron Hallowell, who runs the scoring and music production company Black Iris and puts out albums on his record label White Iris, the group plays melancholy music that calls to mind Gram Parsons and Gold-era Ryan Adams, with professional precision and a palpable love for the traditions of the genre. I saw them play on January 30th at Glasslands in Williamsburg. While watching, I got into a […]
Band Booking: Talking Rites of Passage and Winds of Change with Woodpigeon
Woodpigeon is a sprawling, continent-hopping musical project led by Mark Andrew Hamilton, a multi-instrumentalist from Calgary, Alberta who has lived in Vienna, Austria and Edinburgh, Scotland and assembled a huge array of musical partners in his travels. Ranging from orchestral pop to more folky detours, Woodpigeon has released three previous studio albums and has developed a significant following in North America and Europe. I caught up with Mark Hamilton over the phone where we spoke about his band, his songs, […]
Band Booking: Talking Songwriting, NYC and Recordings with Cool Serbia
Raz Khandpur, Renan McFarland and Caleb Harmon make up Cool Serbia, a Brooklyn band who play feedback-heavy rock music in venues across New York City and its environs. They began in Austin in December 2010 as Boy’s Life, changed their name a year later, and moved to New York not long after that. I caught up with them in their studio last weekend and got them to chat about their new EP, their move and the state of recorded music.
Band Booking: Talking William Carlos Williams And Mutual Aid With Advaeta
Advaeta was the first band I booked for my music space when I was living in a loft off the Morgan stop on the L train. Over the past couple of years I’ve seen them play in concert halls and DIY spaces alike, and have always enjoyed their textured, riff-heavy sound and tightly-coordinated performances. With Lani Combier-Kapel on drums, Sara Fantry on multi-instrumental duty with bass, keyboards and guitar and Amanda Salane on lead guitar and vocals, the band has […]