Silky: December 2011

Saturday, December 31, 2011

Montgomery Drive

(such niceness)

(great fellow, acoustic, later vocals)

(interview and music)

1. Tell me what the meaning behind your musical name, Montgomery Drive, the street you grew up on, or do you just like how it sounds?

Simply put, "Montgomery Drive" refers to the street in Miami that I grew up on. A place I spent countless hours wandering and searching throughout my life during good times and bad.

2. When did you start this project and what is the driving force behind it?

I began writing as "Montgomery Drive" in 2004 but didn't start recording or performing until late 2005. The driving force behind "Montgomery Drive" is the experiences which arise from the ups and downs of life.

3. Are all the instruments done on your own in the recordings, or do you inquire people to play them for you, also how do shows go?

With only two exceptions, all the music I have every recorded/released as "Montgomery Drive" has been written and recorded by me. On the "Crybaby" release I enlisted the help of a few friends to add certain elements to the recording including drums and keyboard. In addition, on the "Life On A Seesaw" release I was fortunate enough to have my friend Matt Silverstein at my disposal to play the midi tracks which conclude the album. As far as live shows, I tend to perform more stripped down acoustic sets. When possible I prefer to play unplugged to maintain a more intimate and personal feel live.

4. In your opinion, how has your music grown from, the split, to Crybaby, to Life on a Seesaw?

It's night and day. As I've continued writing, my entire process has continuously changed, evolving and growing along with me. Moreover, the actual content lyrically, musically, and even in terms of the production quality has only continued to progress with each new release.

5. Do you have a goal, or something you want to accomplish with your music?

When I began "Montgomery Drive", there were never any set goals or things I was hoping to accomplish besides self expression. Since that time, I've been fortunate enough that my music has provided opportunities that have allowed me to travel to various parts of the world and perform for different audiences both near and far. This past March I traveled to Japan a week after the Earthquake/Tsunami with Unfair Roots as the first group of American Musicians to tour the island following the disaster. The primary goal of "Montgomery Drive" will always remain self expression. In terms of accomplishing things with my music, I would love for people across the globe to feel personally connected to it. Although this is something I'd like to accomplish, it is not something I would compromise my artistic integrity to gain. Furthermore, the connection with my audience is the best reinforcement and show of appreciation I can ever receive.

6. Do you still have more upcoming new tracks, and more full length records, or do you feel that you have peaked?

Yes! I actually just finished the tracks for my next next two releases (both splits) that will be coming out in 2012. The first split will feature Heffa Peppa, Rosetta Setta (MD), The Mad Skeleton (FL), and Myself. The second split will feature Love Ocean (MI), Ascia (CA), Colk (CA/JPN), Yui Daiki (JPN), and Myself. Furthermore, I am currently finishing writing new material for another EP or possibly for a full-length.

7. What is something you want everyone to know about your music, that when they listen, you want them to keep in the back of their minds, or be able to see in their imagination?

"Montgomery Drive" is my outlet, a vessel I utilize in order to deal and/or cope with life and the experiences involved. For myself, it serves as a very therapeutic way of expressing very personal matters. However, I prefer that those who listen leave it to their own imaginations and make their own interpretations of the music relating in any fashion they choose.

Friday, December 30, 2011

Sunday League

Demo Oates

(another in the UK)

(so nice and tasty)

(one of the best interviews)

Hello, I'm Foxy (though I was christened as Nathan) I play guitar and I'll be your interviewee for the evening.

1. Why the name Sunday League?

Sunday League came around one evening when we the band, in it's original form, and a few close friend were having a quiet night in. We were discussing how our friend, who lets say for data protection purposes is called "John" looked like one of those 90's football dads. Like he was sporting a mullet and a moustache and resembled one of those dads who coaches his son's sunday league football team. We then decided Sunday League sounded a funny name for a band who couldn't play football to save their lives. The X between Sunday and League is not an official thing at all just a long running joke, just incase anyone was wondering.

2. I also interviewed Speedboat Salesmen, now I don't know if you're friends or anything, but they say the music scene there is more of a niche and tight nit, do you agree?

Yeah we're actually putting on Speedboat early January and we're looking forward to seeing them live. I agree with what they're are saying for the most part however that's not to say the "scene" is perfect, you still encounter the same bullshit bitching, elitism and arse kissing you see in every music scene. But we're not particularly bothered by what happens in the "scene". We're just here to have fun, play loudly and party with new and old friends.

3. How much do you feel your sound changed from the Demos to The Hall and Oates Sessions?

Massively to answer that shortly. D(emo) we tried to replicate the noodly/twinkly/sloppy 90's emo sound, Hall and Oates we tried to put our own spin on it make it a bit more polished etc. HOWEVER I think people who are into us may get a big surprise with the next release. It's quite a big change, a lot more mature, a lot better structured and thought out, a lot more aggression and NO LONGER NOODLY EMO just genuinely a hell of a lot better (or that's our opinion anyway).

4. When did this band start, and where will this band go?

The band started early 2010, lost a couple of members here and there, but this finally settled line up has been together for around 8 months and we're so happy. We're extremely close friends who enjoy each others company and shit crack. All good things come to an end eventually but I don't think that'll be for a while and then we'll probably start another better band with exactly the same line up.

5. What are the future goals of the band?

Currently we've written 3 songs that are going to be part of a full length release, like real rock bands do. So we're hoping to have everything written and recorded and ready to release by next summer. We've always dreamed of putting something out on vinyl so this is the only real goal we've got. Obviously we might go on tour for a week but thats more of a holiday with your best mates than a goal, so that'll definitely be on the cards.

6. Who influences your songs and your writings, whether it's lyrics or just other band influences?

As horribly cliche as it sounds......life??? I find that our songs seem to just be written and constructed in regards to how we're feeling at that specific period. The demo tracks were really upbeat and happy because we all seemed to be super chuffed that we were having fun in a new band. But then I listen to these new songs and they're really a lot darker, more aggressive, more negative and I think thats due to the four of us having a really shit year with lots of personal rubbish going on. We appreciate but we're not really massively influenced by other bands so i'll just go with life.

7. Do you strive to someday jump across the ocean and bring your sweet tunes to the U.S.?

We don't strive for it, that would imply that we're taking this seriously. If the opportunity arose then we'd no doubt love to, but nah we probably never will and I don't think we're that fussed like I say we just want to play gig and party and meet new friends in the UK for the meantime.

Speedboat Salesmen

October Speedboats

(These guys)

(well these guys)

(are rad, creative, and very up and coming)

1. Who is a Speedboat Salesmen? Where is the name from?

Jack:

The name comes courtesy of the stellar performances put in by Paul Reubens and Tracey Walter, FBI agents Bob and Bill respectively in the 1996 runaway hit Matilda. They both pose as Ace Powerboat Salesmen in a bid to out the antics of Harry Wormwood dealing in stolen car parts.

I reminisce about the 90's a lot....Ace Powerboat Salesmen became Speedboat Salesmen for reason of sibilance.

2. Tell about the transition of style and sound from the We're not Cops, We're Speedboat Salesmen to October Demos?

Christian:

I think we're not cops is very rough. you can tell we'd only known each other for 4 weeks or something stupid like that. It was all very sketchy and noisy and i think collectively we took a lot of influence from the lo-fi stuff like Midwest Pen Pals and the raw energy of the early Snowing stuff.

Our stuff now is slowly moving towards a similar vibe to the emo scene in Florida with bands like Wavelets, Dikembe and You Blew It and i think there are hints of that in the october demos.

There's more thought into structure and hooks

3. When was this started and how long do you think it will last?

Jack:

The band?...I replied to an ad Chris put out around Easter time in 2011, I was really keen to get onboard with this and actually sent over a resume detailing everything I'd done. I don't quite know how impressive Chris found it....

Chris:
It was a really well written resume, I was super impressed!

How long will we last? Haha, my ex asked me how long we'd last once...and now she's my ex....

Seriously though, I'd like to think we can do this for a while yet. For me, I
have loads of fun playing in this band as long as it's still fun i'll
try keep it going.

4. Who is the driving force behind the songs and the lyrics like in Man the Fuck Up? Some bitch?

Jack:

Chris!

Chris:

Oh damn. A lot of the lyrics were written a while back all about one girl i was trying to win over and then whenever i wrote some guitar I'd try fit some of the lyrics to it. Man the Fuck Up isn't actually about the same girl though, it's about an ex ha...

The main driving force is just relationships though both with girls and with old friends and stuff, like a lot of emo songs i guess?

5. Is the music scene in the UK more accepting than the U.S.? Do you feel like you have more of a fan base in either one? or about the same?

Jack:

I think I have witnessed how good it is in the UK lately-playing with Football etc, the scene is like one big cooperative that is naturally accepting without overtly stating this to anybody who happens to come to shows.

Christian:

I think there's less bullshit here as we know we can't afford it haha. I keep seeing internet arguments between US bands in the same 'scene' or whatever you want to call it but here we know it's a more much niche market so we all just stick together and keep each other's backs.

I never know how to judge our fanbase. Most of it is just people who've found us through the bands we're friends with but then occasionally we'll get some person from the states message us saying how they like our stuff and I'm always quite taken aback by that ha. It's why the internet is so ace for getting music out there

6. What are the future plans for the band?

Chris:

Play as many shows and record as many songs as possible, make friends, hang out, have fun. In an ideal world I'd love to release some vinyl, record an album and get on a decent label comp like topshelf or something.

7. Is there plans for a jump across the water to let us get a first hand look at you guys?

Jack:

That'd be the dream, if we can work it out...lets do it!

Chris:

I wish. it's something I'd love to do. I'd love to play fest or something....maybe in 2013/2014 or something.

We'd definitely need to build up our state side fanbase more. Hopefully if we keep working on our material and get a really good release out, people over there will take more notice and there'll be demand for us to come over.

Toasted Plastic

Ares Vallis

(these guys rule)

(young guns)

(interview and newest)

1. Tell me why the name Toasted Plastic.

CK: Well there’s not any actual reason. Originally when we released our first demo 3 years ago we weren’t actually planning on taking the band seriously so I just called it that, and it stuck.
--------------------------------
2. Are you happy with the transition from Toxic Christmas, to From the Balloon to the Moon, to now Ares Vallis?

SK: Yeah, it’s cool to listen to our older songs and see how we developed the foundation for how we write songs now. It’s ahhhh, a lil ray of hope for the future.
--------------------------------
3. What things do you have in the works?, splits?

CK: As of right now I think we’re just gonna play our new EP throughout the new year. We might do a split toward the summer but we actually have no concrete plans on new material. Probably some kind of full length in 2013?
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4. Will your touring and show schedule reach more areas once you’re out of high school?

SK: That’s really going to depend on where we’re all going to college and stuff, we probably won’t be able to play as much, but summer 2013 we’re probably gonna do a Real Nice Big Tour© and hopefully tour more in the future.
--------------------------------
5. Do you feel that your age hinders your music growth at all?

CK: In terms of travel, definitely. It’s been a real pain in the neck getting to shows (especially out of state ones) having to deal with parent permission and stuff like that. But as for like actual music development, our age doesn’t seem to put any boundary on it.
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6. You’re one of the younger bands on the scene, does your popularity also include your home town and the kids at school?

SK: Hahaha, not exactly. It’s been hard trying to get kids in our school to listen to music and get into the scene, and even when we throw shows around our town we don’t have a lot of success among kids we know. But it’s better to branch out anyway, and it’s cool that our music gets around the whole northeast area.
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7. Future goals?

CK: To release a full length and hopefully get it pressed to vinyl. Other than that, just to tour one day, and meet a lot of cool people!

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Lucky You

Small Towns, Small Houses

(This is so beautiful)

(only good thing in altus, ok)

(friends)

Future Islands

On The Water

(this is nice)

(havent listened much)

(butch)

La Dispute

Hear Hear (All of them)

Wildlife

Somewhere (Long ass name)

(who the fuck hasnt)

(heard this shiz)

(if you dont now you do)

Townhouses (Fucking Music)

Music

(Finally)

(these teases)

(did something)

Sunday, December 25, 2011

I Create Interview (The interview that broke my heart)

(Music is on the blog)

(previously)

(all time favorites)

1. I Create, who creates,? What is the meaning behind your name?

Wesley: It was the only name everyone could agree on. I believe it was the name of my brothers (joal) live journal back in the day. I remember throwing around a lot of ideas for names, though. We were seriously considering naming it "space bears in space suits" at one point. In retrospect, I wish we did because I think I Create is the name of some apple product and/ or magazine, which is sort of a bummer.

2. Such emotion and feeling in your songs, who is the driving force behind this?

Wesley: Everyone who was ever in the band had his own contributions. I can speak for my brother and I when I say that growing up we always liked very emotive music. On top of that, we never really had an agenda. We all just sort of came together and played as friends and mutual friends. When we first started writing , it was the first time my brother and I had never attempted a musical project together. I was always just his little brother who he probably didn't take too seriously. So in the beginning it was this awkward and innocent combination of me and my buddies (josh and robert), and joal and his friend (daniel). We were all so much younger then too. I think a certain amount of emotion can only be captured in youth like that.

3. Is the writing collaborative between each member of the group, or more of a piecing together, or a one man show?

Wesley: It was never a one man show. Joal, Robert, and myself were the only members to be in i create from the beginning until the end. We never really had a set formula for writing or anything. Most of us could play every instrument in the band, so it was really easy for everyone to contribute.

4. Where the fuck are the new tunes?

Wesley: We released one song off of what was supposed to be a split with a florida band. Things just really fell apart and we were never financially capable of doing it. After a while it just felt like we were beating a dead horse by continuing on, and almost became laughable. I still have one of the instrumental tracks sitting on my computer right now, and will probably put it up as just that at some point. We also have a pretty extensive collection of "b-sides," if you will, that were never put up. They are mainly just home recordings and other sloppy stuff like that. Not really anything "new."

5. Are you still very active?

Wesley: Not at all. I create is completely done, and will be forever. As far as ex members go, we are all fairly active. Joal and I are in the process of writing an ep. Josh is playing in Atlanta band, "the clap", Robert is playing in, "a fight for life", Matt is playing in "memes", and I am in the processing of writing some solo stuff.

6. How much praise do you still get from your old music,? I love the songs so much still and I have been listening to them for years now?

Wesley: More than I understand! It has always been beyond us how many people appreciated our music. I have always been super flattered/ weirded out that people actually dug our stuff. Not that I thought it was bad or anything, but we never expected it to have such a response. We never toured or anything, and only put out a few low budget recordings. We also never meant to be considered "screamo" or "scramz. Honestly when we started out, we intended to be a sludge metal band. Those "scramz revivalists" sure took to us though which was pretty cool. When we put out "make the years", our ages were 15,16,17,19, and 21. We were some young saplings then. It is pretty cool to still be hearing about in now at age 22.

7. Are shows a common thing? What do you see happening in the future with the group, it would be a shame for nothing to be happening.

Wesley: Definitely nothing happening with the future as i create, but as mentioned before, there should be some pretty cool music coming out by the various members. A last show is probably unlikely too because our home town doesn't have nearly as much love for us as compared to other areas, especially Europe. So in all actuality, nobody would probably show up from our home town other than friends and a few rando's.

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Dios Trio Interview

(musics on here)

(get into it)

(learn more, interview)

1.Are you Mexican, or does Dios Trio mean nothing in a name?

We are not Mexican, at least we don't think so or are unsure. Our drummer, Tony, had a cool shirt when we were in high school, and it said "Dios Mio!" which means "Oh my god" in Spanish. We were just starting to branch away from some other musical stuff we were doing, and the three of us (Tony, Tim, Justin) needed a band name. Tony was just like, "yo dudes, Dios TRIO!?" and we were like "yes." So that's basically what happened. According to google translate, it means "god trio". But that was not the intention, the words just sound cool together and it stuck. Even when we became a 4 piece when Sam joined to play bass, we decided to just keep it. So yeah that's that.

2.Who makes up Dios Trio, and what do they bring to the group?

Sam is our bass player and provides the low end to the group. Our songs really don't sound the same without him, and it's a bummer whenever he isn't around. Aside from playing bass, he without a doubt provides the band with a ton of energy. He makes it really fun to play, and just put's out a lot of positive energy. Like everyone, he contributes a lot of ideas to the group too.
Tim is one of our guitar players, and he provides a lot of the ideas and much of the spontaneity of our band. He has a really unique writing style that I think compliments everyone in the band. He is also really into guitar effects and stuff so a lot of the effects used in the band come from him. He is definitely the weirdest out of all of us, but in a good way. He draws inspiration from a lot of places, or at least it seems that way for me.
Tony is our drummer and lays down the beats for our band. I also think he gives us our most technical element, a lot of the drum stuff he does is awesome/technical. He also plays bass, not in the band, but he comes up with bass ideas sometimes. He came up with some great additional ideas on High On Bikes, just little musical touches that we feel add a ton to the songs.
Justin (me) plays guitar. I can't talk about myself in the third person, so I won't. I write some ideas and try to think about everything as a whole. Not saying the others don't either, but yeah. I think sometimes, and I think the other dudes would agree, I try to keep practices on track and keep everyone on the same page. Not sure what else I do.

3.Do you see change from the old George Bush songs, to High on Bikes?

We definitely felt a huge change from the old stuff to the new stuff. We used to be a 3 piece and would also switch around on instruments, so the sound was less consistent on the old stuff. It was a lot of fun that way, but I don't think it lead to cohesive and satisfying music, for me at least. When Sam joined, we reworked an old song "No Way, Yahweh", and felt it helped the song come alive. After that, Tim came up with a good chunk of Spoons, and knowing we had a bass player (even though he wasn't around, at school) we wrote the song with more freedom guitar wise. I feel like that song was the turning point from old stuff to new stuff. We then reworked some of the older, unrecorded songs for High On Bikes, and everything seemed to fall into place. We feel like High On Bikes is much more complete musically than what we had done in the past.

4.You have gained some popularity in the time that you’ve become a band, what is the ultimate goal you guys have or want to accomplish?

While it is cool to see people get into our band, we just want to keep having fun making music. It's sort of cliche but it's true. As far as goals that come from that though, we really want to put out something on vinyl in the future, definitely tour, and meet some cool bands. I think recording some more music would be fun too, not another full length anytime soon, but definitely some EP's or something.

5.Do you see any upcoming tour dates, or any touring at all for the spring or summer seasons of 2012?

We don't currently have anything planned, however we have certainly talked seriously about doing a small tour on the East Coast. Hopefully that can happen Summer 2012, but honestly it is difficult to say.

6.Do you still feel that there is room for improvement in your songs or music?

Absolutely. I think our band is pretty straightforward most of the time, which I think keeps it accessible to most people, however sometimes I think we want to write some crazier stuff technically. I can only speak for myself but I would consider very little of my guitar stuff on High On Bikes technical, if any. I think as a band we have a ton of room for improvement, I think that's where the fun is, trying to get better and write more interesting stuff.

7.Most of the songs are purely instrumental, why won’t you let us hear those voices a little more?

I think early on as a band, we just wanted to play music. I think having vocals early on would have changed our sound a ton, and we had already been in band's with singing, and the singing made it harder to write songs, it wasn't easy to write interesting lyrics at the time, and in some of our old bands everyone wanted to sing and that caused problems. Technically speaking too, it's tough! I think another point to make though is listening to a lot of instrumental music in high school sort of opened our eyes to really feeling music, and seeing how just instrumental stuff could make you feel something. That was definitely interesting. We're not sure if we'll be doing more vocal stuff in the future, maybe. We love doing harmonies, that is one of the most fun things we do together.

Townhouses Interview

(there aint shit)

(recorded)

(well i dont know, interview)

1. Does the name Townhouses come from your love of the small two story homes seen in towns today?

Spencer - Well, I came up with the name like a year ago. I just thought it sounded neat. But since you put it that way; yes.

2. Does not having a large amount of music for people to get their hands on hinder you guys at all?

Spencer - Our EP is going to be out soon. And we crank out jams like people who crank stuff out really quickly.

3. Do you see this project lasting?

Spencer - Longer than a Tootsie Pop. We're all best friends

Eric – For sure. As long as we all dig playing tunes together there’s no reason to ever stop. Can’t stop. Won’t stop. Eh Eh. Eh Eh.

4. Will you evolve in your tones and tuning say as Spanish Club did with tuning and vocals?

Spencer - Probably. Although I feel we have a set sound right now. Always room for improvements though.

5. What are your feelings on the first show and shows to come?

Spencer - It's going to be awesome and a surprise for people who don't know us. MORE SHOWS, MORE BITCHEZ

Eric – All the bands are gonna kill it and I’m stoked to see and hear peoples reactions to the songs.

6. Tell short term and long term goals each of you guys have and want to achieve out of this.

Spencer - Open up for Slayer

Eric – To tour and play with some bands we dig

7. Was this band a coming about after some passionate heartbreak or just a couple of guys who were up to no good so they made a band?

Spencer - After a long peyote binge in the dusty plains of Nebraska, I stumbled upon Eric and Coty residing in an abandoned shack in a cornfield. Coincidentally, they had instruments, and it was well furnished and they were completely sane. No more peyote, just Townhouses.

Eric – Well more or less what Spencer said but not set in a dusty plain of Nebraska. I met Spencer through Dom in Spanish Club when we started attending our first semester at college and we all became pretty close. My best friend/brother Coty has been in every band I’ve been in and after we ended our last band he wanted to hop on this project me and Spencer started and obviously we wanted him to join. Turns out we all band pretty well together.

Coty - It was I who came upon these two warriors in my travels. Now we combine and celebrate each others strengths in musical harmony.

Friday, December 23, 2011

Spanish Club Interview

(the music is already on the blog)

(this is an interview)

(read)

1. Spanish Club, as a name, what does it mean?

Well, first off, Spanish Club doesn’t mean a damn thing as a name. We just wanted something fun and figured that Spanish Club was a fun name for a fun band. Take it as you want it but we just want to have a good time and make friends.

2. You went from stay miserable to the split with Constellations, do you think the tracks got better and what did you change?

As for the transition from the demo to the split, I think (just speaking for myself) that we got better as a band and have started writing better material. It’s like the demo was us learning and forming as a band and the split is kind of a sneak peak of where we’re going next. The only thing we changed really was the tuning we played in. I think the split tracks are also more cohesively songs as well.

3. What do you expect to come of playing shows?

Uhhh as for shows, this will be our third. Mostly because we have buys schedules and things aren’t as concrete as people make them out to be, but I can only hope that we get a good crowd response because that is what makes it all worth it, seeing people having fun and doing their thing while we do ours and have fun on stage.

4. You’re starting to make more of a name for yourselves, with talk of merchandise, this being the marking point for every band, what is your ultimate goal?

I don’t know about the rest of the guys but my ultimate goal is to just have fun and make friends and travel a bit. I hope that we can develop a fan base to the point where we play a show kids sing along and have a good time. That’s what it’s all about.

5. Why do you guys play your music, who or what is the reason, what drives you?

I think I can speak for the whole band and say that we all play music because it’s really fucking fun first of all haha. I don’t know what other motives that Mike and Spencer have but it’s a healthy release for me to kind of channel my thoughts (whether they be positive or negative) in a healthy creative way.

6. Tell the strengths that each member brings to the band.

I don’t think that I can put a finger on what each of us brings to the table really. All that I know is that everyone has a very unique energy about them and we all work together and enjoy being around each other.

7. Where will you go from the split, above and beyond?

I really hope we can go above and beyond! Haha Personally I want to tour and eventually release a full length. I don’t want to be another short lived emo band. Although a lot of them have brought a lot to the table and I couldn’t love what they do enough I wish they would have stuck around longer as do most people I’m sure. I know the feeling of a band you really like breaking up. It’s the worst and I don’t want to do that to our fans (not any time soon at least).

Thursday, December 22, 2011

The Old Family

Two Songs!

(Pretty good stuff)

(Stutsian)

(Interview Below)

1. I don't very much understand the name of the band, it doesn't make sense to me, care to explain?

The Old Family comes from the old scene we used to have around where I live, and in South Bend, Indiana. The scene I grew up on. My old family. And the whole point of this project is to have a new family like the old family, by bring people together through playing songs. Different people each song. Some songs on this record are going to consist of four or five people that haven't even met in person, writing for just one of the songs. Each son is going to have a different line up of people, with the exception of a friend of mine, Yadira Ayala, and myself. Sorry for straying from the topic, but, the name is about how this new family is going to replace 'The Old Family: in a way.

2. Are you glad with the direction of your music now that you branched off more from Merchant Ships and Midwest Pen Pals, with the other bands like Park Jefferson, Sheltered, and now The Old Family as well as your own acoustic music?

I think starting off in a screamo band at fourteen years old was just a normal thing for me at the time. It was a good starting point. We weren't great, we just played simple chord progressions and "twinkled" here and there. And then with Midwest Pen Pals, we played basically the same music, only tried out singing. I liked the popppy-ness of it so when both of those bands were done and I was medicated for my bipolar disorder, I started Park Jefferson. With PJ, I really wanted to sound like Street Smart Cyclist more than anything. Street Smart and Grown Ups. So that band happened, we quit playing for a little while, got back together and wrote Weekdays, which wasn't taken the best I guess and was an attempt at sounding more like a blend of early '00s bands like the first Taking Back Sunday record (I know the two sound nothing alike but that's what influenced most of the writing, for me at least.) Then, (this may very well be the longest response to one question I've ever seen in my life. Someone likes talking about himself. LULZ) with my solo stuff, that was sort of what I wanted to do with The Old Family, but the IDEA behind The Old Family is different, and in my opinion unique.

3. What is the "idea" behind The Old Family that you're talking about?

What The Old Family is, is me and Yadira writing songs with people from all over the world. How do we record it? The idea is for the person interested in being a part of the project to record a guitar part, violin part, piano part, any instrumental part you want. Send it in to me at nickstutsman@gmail.com and tell me how to play it, what tuning you're in, etc. Then I will learn it, possibly tweak it slightly, write words over it and record it. I'm releasing this full length record on 12" vinyl, and on the insert of the record I'm going to put the credit of which people wrote on which track. Anyone can be a part of this. Just email me your part and you might get put on a 12" Full-length record. Because of the amount of submissions I've been getting in the first few days alone, I will probably end up recording somewhere between 20 and 30 songs, picking 13 or 14 of the best ones and putting them on the album, and then with the rest of the songs that didn't make it that I still like when all is said and done, will be put out on splits and such. And that's how the project will work. That's the idea.

4. Do you derive your lyrics from the people and things you do or just fucking sit down and start to write?

Everything I write lyrically is about something that's happened to me or something or someone or whatever, but hidden withing the lyrics, or just put really bluntly too, I guess. And I don't know how much you've followed my musical career as a vocalist, but I tend to recycle lyrics or steal lyrics quite a bit. That's because I have no talent. But seriously, I've tried being more unique and gut-wrenching with my lyrics and just tried being more honest about everything that's been going on lately.

5. How are you able to sustain so many bands and have a different sound for each one distinctively?

This is how I look at it, man. Why limit myself creatively? Why not start as many bands as I can, bringing out every genre I love to listen to and make personally? Merchant Ships and Midwest Pen Pals are both dead, but in place of them I have Sheltered, which I will be writing for whenever I'm in Indianapolis, which will be a bit more often in the upcoming months. But I do screamo real rarely, and then Park Jefferson is like an evolution from Midwest Pen Pals musically, so I do that when I can, whenever the other guys have time to do it because they both work a lot, while I bum at home. Nick Stutsman sort of evolved into The Old Family which I'm going to be doing full-time now. I don't think I mentioned how fucking excited I am about this project.

6. Where do you see The Old Family going in the months or years?

Wherever it needs to go. I would like for the idea to catch on and get tons of submissions a day and have to sift through them and have a ton of awesome songs by awesome people. And then maybe one day have a job and be able to fly these people out or fly myself out, travel the world, and record wherever those people are so that they're the ones recording their own parts and I don't have to do it for them and then just simply give them credit. I want the idea to catch fire. I want the band to evolve into something amazing. A cult fucking following.

7. What started up this recent band of yours?

Dude, I'm going to be really honest with you. Have you HEARD "Broad Ripple is Burning" by Margot & the Nuclear So and So's? That sons is what influenced me to write Don't Move, which then gave me the idea to start a fold band, which then gave me the idea for The Old Family. That song is SO fucking good, and they're pretty local. So nuts. So, sadly, I started this band because I listened to a Margot song.

8. How long do you see this one lasting?, it is really fantastic and has so much potential, so I am sure people want to know if it is a long lasting project?

I plan on this being my life the next few years. SUBMIT POSTS NOW. NICKSTUTSMAN@GMAIL.COM AND LISTEN TO CURRENT SONGS AT WWW.THEOLDFAMILYBANDCAMP.COM

Thanks for the interview Brandon, love you.

O Lucky Man!

who

(no video)

(basically)

(alot like hella)

Fake Hands

Theirs

(no video)

(no care)

(the music is wonderful)

Sheltered

Song

(a stutsian)

(pretty good)

(hopefully more to come)

Caust

Four

(newie)

(emoie)

(violencie)

Marital Roles New Track!

Track

(you know?)

(i never get tired)

(of this)

Loud

Numerals

(This stuffs new)

(this stuffs you)

(and me)

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Spanish Club/Constellations

Spanish Club is really fantastic, they are a newer band and their first recordings are also on this blog. They have a great sound and their new music is really going to become classic so keep listening and checking to hear more from them.

Constellations is also a great band and they do not have much to download. As far as I know my blog is the only place that they have some tracks, but they are very clean and easy on the ears and so very easy to get into.

This is a split between the two bands, and currently an upload is not up here on the blog, but you can listen to the Constellations tracks on their Facebook band page, Bandpage, and the Spanish Club half can be gotten on their Bandcamp, Here, but otherwise, the split is seriously fantastic, and if you haven't gotten the Constellations and Spanish Club tracks posted on this blog prior you seriously need to. On the split the vocals for Spanish Club are softer and easier on the vocalists throat I'm sure, and the guitar and bass are cleaner than prior with amazing clean parts and a great intro on Baraka Mouth. The Constellations half is so clean and easy on the ears with such soft vocals and lyrics that are very real, American Spirits so so nice and it will draw you in and make you want to have more! Please listen and get into it!