I'm up on California Rocker: Spare Parts for Broken Hearts, Potty Mouth and Dancing Tongues

I'm up on California Rocker with photos and a review of:

Spare Parts for Broken Hearts
Potty Mouth
Dancing Tongues

Spare Parts for Broken Hearts

Quick Hit Band Interview: The Mad Walls

The Mad Walls at The Smell

Interview with the band. Enjoy:

How would you describe your sound? I call it cinnamon rock

What are some of your favorite spots, locations, areas in Los Angeles? What make them your favorites? My apartment is probably my most favorite spot, my sanctuary. Also, Folliero's Pizza in Highland Park is amazing and should be noted.

Own final thoughts. The Mad Walls released a 7” so look out for that!

Weekend Overload: Queen Kwong, Annie Hardy, The Colour Coast and many more

The weekend started with a Friday trip to Redwood Bar. I was looking forward to this night. I randomly noticed that Queen Kwong was playing that night. The last time I saw Queen Kwong was in 2013. It was in San Francisco of all places. I was temporary working up there for 4 months and she happened to be playing a set in the city. Soon after, she moved out of Los Angeles. I was definitely going to catch her set.

The Great Sadness

The first band I saw at the Redwood Bar was The Great Sadness. This two piece band gives some raucous noise. Then up came Annie Hardy. I swear she looked familiar. It is always possible that we've crossed paths at various venues before, but she looked like someone I'd seen before on stage. Her music was a touch on the minimalist side. A keyboard. A guitar. Soft vocals. Then she happened to ask the crowd what they'd like to hear next. She gave three options. One was a Giant Drag song. "Wait a second," I thought, "I've seen Giant Drag before." Saturday morning, I spent time looking through various photos and blog posts and finally found out that I had seen Giant Drag way back in 2011. It took awhile, but I finally caught up with her again. I'll keep an eye out in the future for Annie Hardy.

Annie Hardy

Queen Kwong closed out the night. Her set started out with a bang as she launched into a full blown rocking queen set. I was blown away, realizing what I'd missed for so many years. She took control of the Redwood Bar. If it was the stage, she was on her knees screaming into the microphone. If it was in the crowd, she was up there climbing the rope ladder that hangs on the wall. Sometimes, you just can't believe how much you've missed a favorite musician.

Queen Kwong

Saturday night was a double hitter. It started out at the American Barbershop where I caught 3 bands: Beers 4 Fears, Speed of Light, and The Lungs. Beers 4 Fear had a dark fantasy set. There was the thick book filled with -- I do suspect -- ingredients to potions and brews and perhaps a few scary prophecies. Speed of Light is a young tween band that knows how to rock and put on a show. They're more than willing to give the camera a smirk. The Lungs gave the night some solid heavy and fast beats. And plenty of hair flings.

Beers 4 Fears

Speed of Light

The Lungs

With that, it was off to The Hi Hat to celebrate The Colour Coast's single release party. I got there in time to catch Glacial Palms and their beautifully structured harmonies. Then it was on to The Colour Coast. There was a heightened sense of energy radiating from the band. The packed house no doubt got them going. While shooting from the side, an individual came over and suggested I take video of what was going to happen next. Obviously, he had a sixth sense about what was going on. I ended up taking a quick video of the crowd singing and clapping to the tunes of the band.

Glacial Palms

The Colour Coast

Sunday just kept the music weekend rolling. Of course, I first had to watch a very stressful Duke basketball game. Mercy, Duke nearly got taken down, but they survived and advanced in March Madness. Hopefully, they are able to play better basketball this coming weekend. As soon as the game ended, I rushed over to The Hi Hat to catch Michelle Young's birthday bash. I was able to catch the last two acts. James Byous, who mentioned that he's known Michelle Young since high school, gave a set filled with sweat and emotion. Then Michelle Young closed out the afternoon. Of course, it being her birthday, there were some candles to blow out. A doughnut from Donut Friend did the trick for a cake substitution. Her singer-songwriting sets are always filled with enthusiasm. And there were some special guests. One special guest was Heather Cole. I've seen her name splashed around various music bills, but I've never gotten to see her. I'll need to make an effort to catch one of her sets. Moment of her set has to be when her feet were in so much pain she just had to take off her high heels and finish out the set barefoot. She didn't want to do it, but sometimes you just got to do it.

Michelle Young

James Byous

Quick Hit Band Interview: The Bad Applez

The Bad Applez at the Whisky a Go Go

Interview with the band. Enjoy:

How would you describe your sound? It’s a raw, passionate and honest blend of rock/pop with catchy melodies. We can describe our music as friendly rock and roll.

Does the band have a favorite music-themed movie, tv show or book? And then of course, why the choice? We never thought about it, but Manuel (guitar player) always talks about a book that marked his life named The Knight In Rusty Armour.

Own Final Thoughts: The Bad Applez signature is the catchy and powerful bass lines and vocals harmonies that you will listen to in our upcoming EP.

Quick Hit Band Interview: Moderns

Moderns at The Satellite

Interview with the band (with Rosie). Enjoy:

What's the story behind how the band started? Chris and I are good friends that go back a few years, and met through mutual friends. We initially started working together on random commercial music, and working with and for other artists. Chris invited me into the project MODERNS, and it’s been us two working together for about 4 years now!

For the band and its future, how would you define success? We’d define success as reaching an audience with what we are creating, and making them feel something they’ve never felt before through our music. We love to do things a little differently while sticking to our roots and passion. As long as we are happy with our art, and the people who hear our music are happy because of it; we feel successful! It’s not all about followers or money for us (although we won’t reject basking in what the future holds for us), we just love what we do, and have fun doing it.

Final fun fact about MODERNS is that Chris and I are often across town from each other when writing music. Chris will build a track, and me (Rosie) will add vocals and lyrics. We go back and forth adding and taking away what we see fit; and eventually get together in person to lay everything down at the end. I (Rosie) live in Santa Monica and Chris lives on the east side. Anyone in LA will understand that we hardly make the commute if it’s something that can be dropboxed or explained over the phone

Quick Hit Band Interview: Polartropica

Polartropica at The Echo

Interview with the band. Enjoy:

What is currently influencing your music? Most recently my songs have been influenced + inspired by animals (that should not be in the zoo), tank tops, summertime, fruit you can find at the Farmer's Market, internal conflicts, sticking together through the bs, Netflix and Sid the Cat.

What inspires you to write/compose your songs? Very inspired by all of the badass femme producers, musicians, artists and filmmakers busting through the patriarchy with their explosive talents and creativity.

Own thoughts: My favorite fruit is watermelons! I could eat watermelon every day for the rest of my life just plain straight out of the shell with a spoon, or change it up some days with a little squeeze of fresh lime or mixed into a fruit salad with berries, stone fruit and cherries!

Quick Hit Artist Interview: Dead Wren

Dead Wren at Eagle Rock Music Festival

Interview with the artist. Enjoy:

What is currently influencing your music? Currently I've been getting more into bluegrass and country music. I like anything with grit and twang.

Where is your favorite spot to write music? And why the spot? My favorite place to write music is the breakfast table, I say breakfast table instead of dinner table because breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, mostly because it is accompanied by coffee. There's rarely room for coffee at a 9 o'clock dinner. Cooking breakfast, making coffee, and scribbling words down with a full belly and a newly caffeinated thought box is as good as it gets.

Quick Hit Band Interview: Karmic

Karmic at Sunstock Solar Festival

Interview with the band. Enjoy:

Is there a specific decision the band has made (good or bad) that it feels other bands/artists can learn from? We have really stuck to the idea that there is strength in numbers. We have a really great team around us of fellow musicians, managers, friends, supporters, and it's all about lifting each other up. Any business can get greedy, but this is the antithesis where we are all working together for a greater good.

Quick Hit Band Interview: Valley Hush

Valley Hush at Sunstock Solar Festival

Interview with the band. Enjoy:

How would you describe your sound? Our genre falls somewhere around indie pop. Our sound has a lot of subtle layers, and textures are super important to us. It’s very melodic, evocative, and dreamy music. We like to create sounds from samples of our world and to exaggerate the emotion behind the songs.

How would you like your music to impact people who listen to your music or see you play live? The biggest goal is for people to relate to the songs in a personal way. Lyrically, every song is a reflection of our own experiences but written in a way that you could also apply to your own life. The recordings are really polished so it gives people a chance to totally get lost in their headphones and daydream to them. When we play live it’s more about bringing the songs to life with a full band and a more raw energy.

Own final thoughts: It’s our one year anniversary of moving to LA from Detroit! Also, we just released an EP called “If It Matters” which is streaming everywhere.

Haunted Summer (The Hi Hat) and Alaska Reid (Bootleg Theater)

I don't normally jump from one venue to the next. In fact, whenever I do think about going to two shows on the same night, I often find myself just heading home after the first show.

Yet for Haunted Summer and Alaska Reid I did make a drive to different venues on the same night. I hadn't seen either for a few months. The last time I saw Haunted Summer was back in June 2018. And I hadn't caught Alaska Reid since October 2017.

The night started off at The Hi Hat to catch Haunted Summer. They're heading over to Italy to play some shows and they wanted to do a test run of their acoustic set. Though acoustic, it was as dream inducing as their full sound version. And by dream inducing, I don't mean a nightmare type dream, but a wonderfully pleasant dream.

Haunted Summer

After their set, it was off to the Bootleg Theater to see Alaska Reid. This was my first time seeing her performing under her name. The previous times were always under the band name Alyeska. I think there's just something catchy about her soft-spoken vocals and carefully crafted guitar chords. And even though, from what I could tell, it wasn't the most highly promoted event; there was a solid crowd out to catch her set. People stood close to the stage instead of relaxing 5 feet back. There is definitely something about her and her music that resonates with people.

Alaska Reid

Quick Hit Artist Interview: Kate Faust

Kate Faust at The Satellite

Interview with the artist. Enjoy:

When did you know you wanted to be a musician? I have always been a writer. I was making up songs since I can remember, but I think it really solidified when I was about 14 or 15.

Other than Los Angeles, where could you see yourself living/playing music and why? I'm not sure! I'm from Pennsylvania and my family lives there, but I don't think I could ever live where there is winter again. Perhaps somewhere else in California? I'm so in love with Los Angeles and I know this is where I need to be. I'll be happily led to whatever is next when the time is right.

Own Q&A: My favorite question is: "how's your heart?" And to answer that, I would say that my heart is bursting with love and gratitude at the moment. I feel a deep sense of joy and satisfaction when people are affected by the work that I do. I had two really different, really beautiful shows this week and I just published my first essay. Folks have responded with such openness and tenderness, it really is the best thing.

Quick Hit Band Interview: The Silent Comedy

The Silent Comedy at The Hi Hat

Interview with the band. Enjoy:

What's the story behind how your band started? The Silent Comedy started as a casual side project of a very different band, called Dehra Dun. We began playing these rowdy folk shows that took on a life of their own, and the side project ended up eclipsing the band that spawned it.

I read (via Sideways Media) that you grew up traveling around the world. How do you believe that has impacted your music? My brother, Jeremiah, and I traveled the world with our family, spending the majority of that time in Southeast Asia. Going from Orange County, CA to the streets of Kolkata had a profound effect on us. The things we experienced changed our worldview permanently, and we eventually returned to the United States feeling very removed from the culture we were raised in. To some extent, that feeling has continued to the present day.

Quick Hit Artist Interview: Miranda Glory

Miranda Glory at The Satellite

Interview with the artist. Enjoy:

What's the story behind when you knew you wanted to be a musician? I think it was a gradual realization for me. I went to a performing arts high school in NY where I was studying acting. After the first year there I knew that I didn't love acting the way I loved music, so I spent all of my time outside of school writing songs, performing, going to open mics and taking lessons. When it came time to decide what to do after high school, I knew for sure I wanted to pursue music and I had my mind set on Berklee College of Music which was the only place I applied to. Luckily, I got in! (lol)

Is there a specific decision you have made (good or bad) that you feel other bands/artists can learn from? My decision to study music for 4 years was awesome for me and I'm so glad that I did it. I don't think it's the right thing for every artist but I do think developing yourself in some capacity is extremely important. A lot of artists jump the gun and don't spend enough time working on their craft before they start releasing music and end up regretting it.

Weekend Adventures: The Smell, Permanent Records, Casey's Irish Pub

It was a fun Friday and Saturday to catch bands. I was also tempted to go out Sunday afternoon, but decided I needed to just relax.

Suzie True

Nightgown

Friday night started out with an invite by Dum Dum Zine to catch their event at The Smell. I jumped at the opportunity as I recognized most of the bands and they're all solid: Nightgown, Slugs, Spare Parts for Broken Hearts and Taleen Kali. The one band I didn't recognize was Suzie True. Their set had a youthful joy to it. There were songs about randomly sleeping with co-workers at a coffee house that isn't a great place to work.

Slugs

Taleen Kali

Dum Dum Zine knew how to get the Echo Park music crowd to show up to The Smell. The way is to bring Echo Park bands to The Smell. The most memorable of the bands were Slugs. They had an acoustic set with some fun banter. They didn't have a drummer for the night. Instead, they had a computerized system that they called Xander. Xander didn't always work upon request and the band had a lot of fun poking fun at the troubles Xander was causing them. When they kept saying Xander, I had to think: Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Spare Parts for Broken Hearts

One important note is that Kaleen Kali is the founder of Dum Dum Zine.

Bogan Villa

Jane Church

Saturday early evening was spent at Permanent Records. I'm pretty sure I haven't seen any bands there since the time the location was Origami Vinyl. It was Dream Phases record release. Bogan Villa and Jane Church opened. It was a psychedelic early evening of music. There was free beer for those who came. Some folks slipped in to grab a beer and then slipped out. Eventually, the store manager hid the beer and handed it out to those he knew were there to catch Dream Phases.

Dream Phases

I closed out the night by heading to Casey's Irish Pub to catch Pu$$y Cow and Maniac with some solid punk. One thing I noticed: Casey's had a brake for the bass drum. It was just a cut 2x4. What I noticed was that nails were sticking out of the wood by perhaps 1/4 inch. I pointed it out, but I guess I was the only one concerned that a musician might accidentally step on it. I'm pretty sure that someday a musician is going to make the mistake of stepping on one of those nails. Both bands have similar fans so there were a number of friends of the bands hanging out in the audience. And there was a lot of mosh pit dancing. And well, a lot of paper streamers that got caught in the ceiling fans.

Pu$$y Cow

Maniac

Quick Hit Artist Interview: Corina Seas

Corina Seas at The Satellite

Interview with the artist. Enjoy:

Q. How would you describe your sound? A. I describe my sound as Electro-pop/ Alt R&B or like if Kimbra and Ashanti had a pop-rock baby.

Q. What’s your favorite song (own song) and what makes it the favorite? A. My favorite song is “Wasted Time.” It’s my favorite song because I think it’s the catchiest one I’ve written and the music to it reminds me of New Edition and The Rugrats. I just think it’s a really fun song musically but the lyrics are actually serious so I think it’s a nice juxtaposition. It’s fun to dance to but isn’t corny so that puts it at the top of my list!

Own final thoughts: Something unique about me is that I’m Honduran-American and my favorite food is honey mustard!!

Quick Hit Band Interview: New Media

New Media at Silverlake Lounge

Interview with the band. Enjoy:

What's the story behind how your band started? A very American mix of fate and boredom. Zach Noel (lead singer/guitar) posted a Craigslist ad looking for someone. Jack Meighan (bass), answered. They immediately hit it off, talked about old Wilco records, and started jamming. Tamara Simons (guitar) joined as another guitarist who had a history of playing music with Zach from high school. Julien Nicolai (drums) joined the band May 2018 because we thought 2 guys with glasses weren't enough.

Outside of music, what are some other interests of the band members? Film, binge-watching, reading, corgis, word-searches, scrabble, a never-ending prison of watching the same Office/Parks and Rec episodes every night, graphics, visuals, sound design, video games. Riding trains, watching trains, thinking about trains.

Own Q&A: What is the perfect New Media pizza? Tamara, Zach, Julien: Pepperoni, BBQ chicken, basil, arugula, mushroom onion and baked in a brick oven with love, care, and “that warm fuzzy feeling.” Jack: I disagree. Too much going on. Perfect pizza is pepperoni and jalapeno, with no feeling, but lots of grease.