The Echo: Shannon Lay, Grady Strange, Austin Leonard Jones, Pet Dress

The last time I saw Shannon Lay was nearly two years ago when she was doing her 2019 December residency at Zebulon. I went twice during that residency. Fast forward two years; I knew I loved her music, but I just didn't realize how much until she hit the stage at 11 p.m. this past Monday night. There is a contemplativeness to her Irish folk style that just mesmerizes. I stood there just waiting for each note to  carry me away. 

Shannon Lay

This was the first residency night for Grady Strange. It was a fun night of cooperation between bands and even the DJ. Backing Grady Strange was Mackenzie Howe of the band Pet Dress. Pet Dress played the night in the second slot and Grady Strange backed that band up. Opening up the night was Austin Leonard Jones who had Nick Flessa joining in for a couple songs. Nick Flessa was also the DJ for the night. They threw a trio's worth of Americana folk rock. Austin Leonard Jones mentioned the fact that he's a kindergarten teacher. I'm not sure if he was serious or joking. Pet Dress perhaps had the loudest fan base. Grady Strange will be hitting the stage for the all of November with some amazing hair flings. 

Grady Strange

Pet Dress

Austin Leonard Jones

Quick Hit Artist Interview: Slip

Slip at the Lodge Room (shot for Buzzbands)

Interview with the artist. Enjoy:

What is currently inspiring you in terms of music? I feel like this answer changes every so often for me, but there have been some live shows that have been really inspiring to me this year. Idles at the Wiltern was my favorite show in a while. Khruangbin at Desert Daze was like a masterclass at instrumental proficiency. Thom Yorke at the Greek was magical - Radiohead and Thom have been prevailing influences for me for a while, if it wasn't overtly obvious already. Aside from that I've been spinning Prince's S/T record almost daily for the past month.

What is one of your high or low moments and what makes it stand out? I think I need some more highs and lows as I've only played a handful of shows as slip up until now. Hopefully more highs than lows, although you can't have one without the other, I suppose. Get back to me in like a year or two on this one ;)

Own final thoughts: I produced, mixed, and to a certain degree wrote my debut album 'the cost' in track order. A lot of artists will typically write a bunch of songs and then piece it together after - I pieced it together as I went along, knowing that from the day I wrote and recorded track 1 ("the patient," which I wrote and demo'd in two days in my friend's garage). I feel like that went a long way in terms of how the album feels cohesive and has a narrative structure.

New Music Alert: Speed of Light's "Nose Dive"

Speed of Light is out with their final song of a trilogy of songs that they recorded in front of friends prior to the COVID-19 pandemic -- that fact is something the band wants to emphasize.

"Nose Dive" has me thinking Aerosmith's Steven Tyler vocals layered across punk rock sounds. Those in the audience are fully satisfied with the song as they dance with enthusiasm throughout. And if you watch the full video above, you get a roller coaster twisting turn right towards the drummer.

Photo taken at Bands in a Barbershop

New Music Alert: La Bouquet's "10 Things You Hate About Me"

 

I've seen La Bouquet a handful of times. The last time was in 2018 when they opened up for Kitten at The Smell. For that show, they came out rocking, which sort of confused me as I had always thought of them as a more mellow rock group. A recent release of theirs is "10 Things You Hate About Me" (which has to be a play on the movie "10 Things I Hate About You," which is based off of William Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew") that goes back to those more mellow sets that I was used to hearing from this band. I love how the music shifts the rhythm focus from the drums to guitar to full band.  

It is a song about breakup, a relationship that started when the two were 16. The song mentions 1990. I suspect 1990 represents the date of birth and perhaps this relationship ended in the distant past, but one has to believe that it was a rather lengthy relationship. As can be derived from the song title, it really wasn't La Bouquet who wanted to the end the relationship. Yet, end it did with perhaps the 10 reasons of hate never really mentioned by the other party.

Photo taken at the Bootleg Theater

Vacation Week: Time To Go Out Multiple Nights

I took a Friday to Friday vacation recently and decided to head out a number of nights to catch some live music. I was tempted to go out every night, but ended up deciding against that.

Friday

Friday was spent heading off to The Love Song Bar to catch a favorite for the first time in 2021: Gracie Gray. I knew it was going to be dark inside the venue so I pulled out my 85MM F/1.2 lens. It is a very slow lens when it comes to focusing, but luckily Gracie Gray is a singer-songwriter. Towards the end of her set, she sand "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." I am blown away every time I hear her sing that song. The audience was blown away, as well. Backing her up was Lexi of Mini Trees on bass -- her regular bassist was off playing in Pomona with Livingmore. 

Gracie Gray

Opening up was Mercutio. Since their Instagram reads: Bay Area Synth Guy, I'll assume they came down from San Francisco. Rather soothing music if I can say so.

Mercutio

Tuesday

Tuesday was spent at Little Joy and the music switched to punk - rock sounds. Moonfuzz just throws out the fuzz. And they're just exciting to watch with the constant face offs between the bassist and guitarist as they amp up the music.

Moonfuzz

Mr. Max brought the rock. Ladyhump brought the old-school punk. The Richard Ramirez Beatdown had those in the audience talking about the band name. 

Mr. Max

Ladyhump

The Richard Ramirez Beatdown

Wednesday

I went off to The Silverlake Lounge to catch my second dose of The Gooms' October Residency. One thing I've noticed is they've changed things in terms of their stage show. It used to be Chase Buttons (lead singer) who used to do the jumping on stage. They've now allocated that fun duty to Nicole Rae (guitarist).

The Gooms

To be honest, the main reason I went to this particular night (I had previous gone to see The Gooms' a couple weeks previously), was to catch Young Winona. This was my first time catching this New Zealand band live and in person. I previously caught their set online. 

Young Winona

Also playing was New Media with their 80s / 90s rock sounds.

New Media

Thursday

This night was spent driving off to Bar Lubitsch to catch what WFNM had on the docket. I was already familiar with three of the artists: Heyboy, Mia Nicolai, and Hayley Warner. I love Heyboy's enthusiasm on stage as well as the earnest nature of his music such as the song "Wasn't it Fun?" Mia Nicolai is in Los Angeles from The Netherlands. I hope she sticks around. I love her enthusiastic personality. It is infectious. Like Young Winona, my introduction to Hayley Warner was from watching an online set. She was definitely the primary attraction of the night for those who dropped by the venue. I can totally understand. Estef opened up the night for me with a soulful performance.

Heyboy

Mia Nicolai

Hayley Warner

Estef

Friday

I got an invite by French Mouth to head out to Permanent Records Roadhouse. Enjoyed the set, but am mad at my photography skills. There was a moment where the lead singer got up on a counter and I just knew he was going to jump off at some point. So I got my composition all set up, but . . . forgot to up my shutter. Shoot.

French Mouth

Urns & Argyles and Hurt Hawks opened it up. Hurt Hawks sound is aggressive punk. Urns & Argyles had a goth rock sound that fit in perfectly with the Halloween theme though the lead singer apologized for not dressing up in a costume.

Urns & Argyles

Hurt Hawks

Saturday

I decided to do a random run to Highland Park Bowl. The band name Friends Don't Die caught my attention. They were supposed to go on at 10 p.m. and so I targeted to get their at around 9:45 p.m. Luckily, I planned to get there early, because they must have gone on at 9:30 p.m. Shoot. I'm telling you, that vocalist has some pure sounds. Just loved it.

Friends Don't Die

New Music Alert: Sonoda's "Point of View"

 

I came across Sonoda at the Bootleg Theater. The band was the last one up, going on at around midnight. Midnight is usually when I slip out of a venue and head home for bed, but I stuck around to catch their set. Airy sounds of with touches of Asian musical inspiration ended my night at the Bootleg Theater.

"Point of View" carries on that sound of lightness while asking questions such as: What would they think about you? Are we holding onto something of no use? Maybe letting go is all we need to do?

Shall I respond in form of a question: are there really any correct answers to those questions? I suppose the answer is yes. We're probably all holding onto something that is of no use and is preventing us from reaching our true potential in life. The answers are for each of us individually to discover, because the answers won't be all the same.

 

Photo taken at the Bootleg Theater

New Music and Video Alert: Disco Shrine's "Hello"

Disco Shrine has a new single release called "Hello" along with a video. The song "chronicles her dating life in Los Angeles . . . everything from love at first sight and heartbreak to feeling empowered on your own and having friends with benefits." The music has a summer feel to it with a touch of RnB. It explores relationships that were viewed differently by both individuals, "Thought that it'd be good for a minute. Thought that it'd be fast but it wasn't. You thought that it would last but I didn't."

The video takes place in different locations such as paddle boats in Echo Park and what looks like Elysian Park. Were those areas that she went out on dates? I'm thinking yes.

Photo take at the Echoplex