Interview by Tobias Carroll Chad Matheny makes taut, erudite, impossibly catchy pop music under the name Emperor X, and has done so for many years. I first met him through the guys in Oxford Collapse, whose album Bits Matheny would later have a hand in recording. All the while, he’s been writing songs and releasing albums — whether on a number of independent labels or via cassettes that are later buried below the ground. Western Teleport (on Bar/None) is his latest; shortly […]
Band Booking: Carey Mercer of Frog Eyes and Blackout Beach
Interview by Tobias Carroll If your tastes in music run towards the eccentric, the literate, the highly compelling, and the surreally energetic, odds are good that you’ve encountered the work of Carey Mercer. Mercer’s latest work is Fuck Death, the newest album from Blackout Beach. It takes his own deeply focused style of songwriting and expands it somewhat, veering into interesting spatial territory and expanding much of what one might expect. (Mercer’s penchant for vivid song titles remains very much […]
Band Booking: Gem Club
Interview by Tobias Carroll Death by Audio, October. I’m watching Gem Club play on a bill alongside several of their labelmates. Groups like The Beets and Jacuzzi Boys are yet to come, and the mood in the room seems focused on the noisy and/or garagey side of pop. Gem Club are different, organized around stark arrangements and surprising harmonies and subtle arrangements. The room watches them, enraptured, hearts breaking in slow motion. Christopher Barnes, Kristen Drymala, and Ieva Berberian play […]
Band Booking: Jon DeRosa
Interview by Tobias Carroll Over the past decade and a half, Jon DeRosa has released smart, affecting music across a number of genres, from the expansive drone of Aarktica to the pastoral, country-influenced Pale Horse & Rider. His new EP, Anchored (you can listen to the title track here), is his first work under his own name. It’s also is a fine collection of lush pop songs that suggests a newfound focus in his work. We talked books, bartending, and cover songs via […]
Band Booking: Will Brooks of iconAclass and dälek
Interview by Tobias Carroll Will Brooks is a busy man. He recently released his first solo work under the name iconAclass: the album For the Ones, along with the EP I Got It. (Think densely produced, perceptive, searing hip-hop.) You may also know him via dälek, or for his work with the independent label Deadverse Recordings. In this conversation, we discussed his process for writing lyrics, literary influences and processes, and his upcoming book, The Written Word: The iconAclass Manifesto. Where did the […]
Band Booking: Jacuzzi Boys
Interview by Tobias Carroll Miami’s Jacuzzi Boys play energetic, smart punk rock, abounding with garage-rock energy and just a touch of Televison-inspired surrealism. I spoke with bassist Danny Gonzalez on the eve of the release of Glazin‘, the trio’s second full-length, on Hardly Art. (It follows No Seasons, released by Florida’s Dying.) The topics discussed ranged from live albums to the work of photographer Christian Patterson, whose “Railford’s Boots” is featured on the cover of Glazin’. How did you first […]
Band Booking: John Davis of Title Tracks
Posted by Tobias Carroll Over the last decade or so, John Davis has played in a host of acclaimed bands, ranging from the classically-minded pop of Georgie James to the dynamic post-punk of Q and Not U. His current project, Title Tracks, finds the urgency in blissful hooks; their second album, In Blank, is out now on the Ernest Jenning Record Co. When I first met Davis in the late 90s, it was through his zine Held Like Sound, which covered […]
Band Booking: The Thermals
Posted by Tobias Carroll To date, Portland’s The Thermals have released five albums of noisy, anthemic punk rock, comprising rough-hewn stories of frustration, obsession, art, and love. (As well as their respective opposite numbers.) Their last three albums have each taken on a particular subject: The Body The Blood The Machine examined fundamentalist religion; Now We Can See explored mortality; and 2010’s Personal Life focused on relationships. Via email, drummer Westin Glass discussed thematic songwriting, tour reading, and James Salter. Your […]