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When you first listen to Diarrhea Planet, you will be so pleased to hear that there is a bandon the scene right now which actually lives up to its name and shits all over the laptop-pop-folk garbage that has dominated the indie scene recently. If rock n’ roll (and its various sublets) is to ever have a mass resurgence in popularity it will be because of bands like Diarrhea Planet. Their sound radiates with a raucousness which recalls a time when music was created by way of raw talent and a killer live show.  No electro-squeaking synth, no pattering drum loops, and no glaring presence of an Avid or Apple product- just Diarrhea Planet, a six-piece rock n’ roll band from Nashville, TN.

After their 2010 EP Aloha was downloaded over 10 thousand times, their fan-base continued to grow and the band signed with Infinity Cat Records. Last year Diarrhea Planet released Loose Jewels, the most compelling debut full-length I could find in all of 2011. Loose Jewels is a record built upon a foundation of fast guitars, melody, and young-American spirit. It rips from start to finish in less than 20 minutes and proves that the art of rock n’ roll has not been lost on all.

Photo by Caroline Tompkins and borrowed from http://diarrheaplanet.blogspot.com/

untitledradio caught up with Diarrhea Planet to talk music, here’s what we got:

untitledradio: Happy to talk with you guys. Because of the mental picture, gotta ask off the bat about the name ‘Diarrhea Planet.’ Will you talk a bit about how you came up with this name and why it stuck?

Diarrhea Planet: Diarrhea Planet was named by me [Jordan] and ex-DP member Evan P. Donohue. The two of us tried to think of a name that was funny and annoying. We didn’t want to make it a shocking or vulgar name. We wanted it to be childish and totally lame. Something that more makes people roll their eyes than upsets them. We thought Diarrhea Planet was the perfect and could not stop laughing. We were originally a noise band so that name fit what we were doing then perfectly.

ur: Your band has gained a lot of fanfare, especially in and around your native Nashville.  How unique is your sound to the Nashville scene and how have you been able to stand out in a town known for its strong affiliation with the country genre? Is it a national misconception that Nashville is all twang?

DP: It definitely is a huge misconception that Nashville is all twang. I [Jordan] can actually say with confidence that I think we have one of the most impressive and large rock n’ roll scenes in the nation. We also have a lot of rap and other genres as well. If it’s a musical style, we probably have a handful of bands playing it somewhere in the city. We definitely stand out in that we are the only band in Nashville with as many of the kind of guitar players that we have. We definitely pull from the larger than life arena rock from the 70s and most bands here do not put so much effort into their guitar work as we do. It’s hard to explain but we just stand out. I think we are a lot more focused on hooks than some of the other bands. I also think we play a little more aggressively at times, but it’s hard to define when you cannot really be a bystander of your own shows.

ur: Your LP Loose Jewels is the best debut record I heard in all of 2011. It is bold, fist-raising, fuzzed punk-rock from front to back. Can you shed some light on what went into making the record and how you guys felt once you got it out there for people to hear?

DP: That record wasn’t actually written as a full length but as two different EPs. It took us so long to get recordings that we liked of them that we ended up just mashing them together for a full length. All of the songs were written at different times and played for about a year in Nashville before we finally got around to putting them on a record. It felt so amazing to finally get the record done and released because we had literally recorded it three times and experienced so much frustration in that. We kept hating the recordings and pushing the date back. When you do stuff like that all you can think about is how much relevance you are loosing. You worry that people will stop caring. But somehow it just continued to build steam with people and the release was huge. We all were so humbled. It was amazing.

ur: Who did the cover art for Loose Jewels and why’d you guys pick it to represent the record?

DP: Our friend Perry Shall did the artwork for the record. He is the in-house artist for Infinity Cat and also does a lot of art for Evil Weevil Records in Philadelphia. He has also done all of our t-shirts and I even have a tattoo that he did for me in his apartment. We met him when we were on Evil Weevil and have always been crazy about his art. It’s like his crazy interpretation of 90’s pop culture art/cartoons. For Loose Jewels we just knew that we wanted the background to be a turquoise/teal-ish color and that the art over the color should look like a 90’s indie release. Perry sort of just filled in the blanks and created a cover that we all felt was perfect. Loose Jewels is a collection of songs, not a really a full length. The cover is a collection of things coming together as a whole. So it sort of fits perfectly.

ur: With a band made up of six dudes, is the writing process tough? Does it ever get contentious or is their room at the table for creative input from everyone?

DP: We actually function really well. I [Jordan] actually write almost all of the songs. Brent and Casey also write here and there as well. Typically, I finish a song and then we run it through the DP lens. Most of the guys come up with a lot of their own parts and as long as they do not change the feel of the song too much they usually work perfectly. You sort of learn each others’ styles and can usually direct everyone into finding their perfect role in the song. It’s pretty awesome.

ur: Your sound makes me think of one of my favorite eras in music- late 80′s early 90′s alternative and punk scene. I could easily imagine hearing your music mixed on a playlist with certain stuff from Big Drill Car, Samiam, Dag Nasty, etc. When you think of what you’ve put on record along with what your live shows are like, how do you describe the sound of Diarrhea Planet. Do you guys have or ever cite specific musical influences?

DP: Wow that was a really flattering comparison. We never really know how to explain our sound to people because it has so many things crammed into such small spaces that it can be overwhelming to narrow down at times. I [Jordan] typically compare our band to Bucket Full of Teeth because the writing, in concept and in my head, is most similar to their style of songwriting. It’s basically just a bunch of changing emotions and images crammed into a song without caring about any sort of formula. I guess one could argue though that this method sort of does produce a formula eventually.

ur: There has been a demo version of your song ‘Ice Age’ circulating online for awhile now and you also included this song on Loose Jewels. Can you give some background into the conception and evolution of this one?

DP: That song was always such a mixture of powerful parts. When Emmett and Evan joined the band in 2010, they wrote the tapping parts near the end of the song and that really completed the song. Before it had been about raw power and them creating those parts really helped add a final touch to the song that really helped us begin settling into the sound that we have now.

Diarrhea Planet – Ice Age [From Loose Jewels, 2011]

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ur: ‘Fauser’ is the album’s closer and is really a great wrap-up to the album. Any insights you can give into the creation and meaning of this song?

DP: That song was written about my [Jordan] favorite professional skate boarder Steve Fauser. I pretty much just mixed things that were going on in my personal life at the time with what I imagined his life being like and wrote a song about it. I used to go watch him skate all the time in Indianapolis and he always sort of represented for me the epitome of cool.

Diarrhea Planet – Fauser [From Loose Jewels, 2011]

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ur: ‘Warm Ridin’ is the proper single off Loose Jewels. What was it about this track that made you guys want to make it the lead?

DP: For some reason this song has always been my [Jordan] favorite. I have always loved the way that it feels and it has always represented such a complete idea to me. I literally wrote this song in the shower in like 15 minutes. I don’t know if I have ever had a song come to me like this one did. So naturally it has always held a special place in my heart over the other songs.

Diarrhea Planet – Warm Ridin’ [From Loose Jewels, 2011]

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ur: We just turned over to 2012. What does Diarrhea Planet have planned for this year?

DP: Haha, it’s already shaping up to be a super busy year. We have at least two 7 inch releases planned, as well as another full length. We also have a collaboration record that we will play on with another band being tossed around as well. As for touring, we have three or four different tours planned for the spring/early summer as well as several different tours planned in the fall. So keep an eye out cuz we will be shredding all over the place.

Be sure to check out Diarrhea Planet on twitter and the web. And also check out Infinity Cat Records.

Diarrhea Planet – Cigarettes [From Loose Jewels, 2011]

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Everyone knows that when light is viewed through a prism the human eye can see the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum- wavelengths represented visibly as colors.  Colo(u)r is an interesting idea that has been studied over centuries, notably by Issac Newton.  And more recently by colourmusic.

colourmusic was formed in 2005 in Oklahoma and has since released a couple of EPs and the full length LP My ____ is Pink.  Currently with London-based label Memphis Industries, colourmusic just finished up a month-long European tour and is continuing work on its second LP.   The band is magnifying bass with smart song writing against guitars, rhythm, and vocals to create really quality music that is strategically influenced by color.  Members include Colin Fleishacker, Ryan Hendrix, Nicholas Ley, and Nick Turner.  Their sound has been described as psychedelic-rock, hardcore, and folk-psych-hardcore.  However you describe it; it is uniquely colourmusic.

untitledradio caught up with colourmusic and had them answer some questions about the band and their music:

untitledradio: Guys- happy to talk. To kick it off, I want to touch on the impression I get when reading-up online about colourmusic.  Your website is really well done, you’re travel-logging your current European tour on Tumblr, and you’re really engaged on Twitter.  How advantageous has it been for the band to be so interactive online and engaged in social networking?

colourmusic: Nick Ley, “Um, its sort of the name of the game anymore, isn’t it?  Plus touring life can get really old really fast.  So you find ways of keeping busy…writing lyrics, making notes for musical experiments, drawing and writing letters home, etc.  I just happen to enjoy documenting our trips within the confines of an iPhone and it keeps us connected with fans.  I get tons of tweets from fans who made it out to a show and a lot from those who missed the show as well.  With a single retweet or photo post, I can give those who missed it an idea of what they missed.  Because, the live show is the new record in that you still can’t bottle the live experience – that insanity that we create – copy it over and over again and spread it across the internet.  Some band gets upset about live videos, but if you think people might see your band on a live youtube video and be content where they don’t have to go out and see you in the flesh…then you’re doing something terribly wrong.”

ur: I discovered colourmusic by watching the video for Yes! online (@cristinarocks happened to tweet a link) and was immediately impressed by the production quality, originality, and hilarious/sometimes hilariously awkward sky punching.  How was the video conceived and executed?

c: Nick Turner, “This video was actually a commission from the Oklahoma Creativity Project which was a live event to promote a creative community in Oklahoma. So we performed Yes! at the event with the video projected on a large screen in the background. The idea was to show a wide range of Oklahoma and the Oklahomans in a funny and positive way. So it was a really simple concept where we just drove all over the state and approached very random people to be in the video. It was a lot of fun to make.”

ur: Speaking of Yes!, the song is based around an excellent groove repetition highlighted by vocals that approach chant territory.  How did you come up with this song?  Is there any specific premise to it?

c: Turner, “Honestly, we had a vision of a car commercial in our heads as we were coming up with Yes! Unfortunately we haven’t had the song on any car commercial yet…hahaha. The idea was that when we see a commercial for a car, it tries to sell you a lifestyle, a positive life-affirming message that this car will change our life for the better. So we wanted to do a blatant yet ironic mantra on positive thinking. That’s why we have the line ‘I’m gonna love the machine’ which works on so many levels.”

ur: The sound of colourmusic is really unique and I’ve read that the concept of color is actually one of the main influences in your music.  What is it about color you feel inspires the creation of a song or record?

c: Turner, “Using colour is our trick to keep us interested in writing music and making it different every time. By giving music a context outside of the music and sound side of things you can approach writing from different angles than you would normally approach it from. So a lot of the preparation for us writing music is thinking and talking about the colour or project in very loose terms about how we feel emotionally towards it.”

ur: From My ____ is Pink, I get a grungy, danceable feel that hints at early 90’s alternative while still sounding completely original.  It has a dark vibe in parts but doesn’t kill the party.   How does the band define the sound of the record?

c: Colin Fleishacker, “The ’90s definitely had a major impact on all four of us since we lived through that decade – for me, it was the first proper decade to live through, being born in 1983.  But really, I think of the record as less of an amalgamation of influences and as more of an entire soundscape.  The biggest influence on this record was Stanley Kubrick, not Nirvana or Loveless.  Seriously.  We just created what felt right, with, of course, influences being a driving force, but in a much more subconscious way.  We weren’t ever sitting in the studio saying ‘this part needs to sound more like (insert Nirvana song here).’”

ur: Can you give our readers some background on the creation of My ____ is Pink?

c: Fleishacker, “Ummm…some of the songs on there are over 10 years old, while others were created during the album’s recording.  ”Mono” is a song of Nick Turner’s he’s had since the ’90s, and “Dolphins & Unicorns” is a song Ryan’s had for almost as long.  We just started collaborating in November of 2009, recording hours of experimentation, then went through those demos, picked the best song ideas, fleshed them out, revised them, went insane, and then birthed this beast in April/May of this year.  It was quite the process, but a lot of fun.  Other Lives, our friends and fellow musicians, began working on Tamer Animals while we were finishing our album, so we would help each other out a lot.  They helped us make final decisions, we helped them get started.  One of the best periods of my life.  Working on purple, which we’re doing now, is up there as well.”

ur: The song structure of You for Leaving Me is a stand-out for me.  Beginning with a lone piano note into a choir-like vocal until the main beat kicks in and then halted by a lone piano note at the end of the first chorus and then kicking everything back in.  Can you give some insight into the origin of this song?

c: Fleishacker, “Oh God.  Ummm…that’s another song that’s been around for a while, at least five years.  That song really grew out of playing it live before we ever had tried to properly record it.  It’s a dense puppy.  There are at least six bass tracks on there if that gives you an idea how wooly this mammoth is.  Ryan and I recorded the piano parts bookending the song one night at Other Lives studio, then we threw everything in the kitchen sink and then threw that in there as well, then we had a group of sisters who are all gospel singers from Oklahoma City come to Stillwater and sing backup vocals.  It was amazing, they were a bit older and had never recorded before, so they were really excited to hear their vocals on tape.  The song is about revenge in the truest sense.  It’s from the point of view of God in the Old Testament, who is the meanest, craziest, crankiest, selfish character ever.  It’s like worshiping a five-year-old who only wants his way.  ’Pay attention to me!  Now!’  I hope that doesn’t offend anyone…ah, whatever.”

Ley, ‘To add a little to the credit of the gospel singers, it was so amazing to see them interact.  We had intended to layer their vocal takes anyway to create this huge choir sound, but they would switch parts each take and help create a whole different group sound from take to take.  They were so cool.  And they were sisters and cousins so they had no problem criticizing each other.  They’d be like, ‘Girl, you you’re not hitting that note. You gotta get up there!’ and she’d be like ‘Yeah, I know, lemme do it again.  I got this.’  Pure Awesome.”

ur: Feels Good to Wear really jumps out at me as well.  The music and melody really get “the hips shaking.”  Can you shed some light on how you all came up with this song?

c: Ley, “If I remember correctly, this came out of drum and bass demo that Colin and I did?  That right?  I’m fairly positive that the drum beat came first at least and Ryan probably fleshed out the rough idea of the song as he usually does.  Then working with Colin to get that bass line perfect.  At some point in here Nick Turner came back to the states and worked on the song, shaping it even more.  When we were nearing the end, the song needed some sort of musical hook on the chorus because the vocal was designed to be understated so I messed with some junky keyboard through a tape echo to get that climbing airy melody at the beginning of the chorus.  Oh, one of our final touches was running next door and having Jonathan Mooney from Other Lives record violin for the intro.  Set it off.  That sound correct to everyone???”

ur: One of the things colourmusic is known for are unique stage performances.   You’re currently in Europe playing, how has it been overseas?  Is the response to your shows any different than, say, when you play the Midwest?

c: Ley, “There are fewer beards in the crowd, thats for sure.  Actually the arch of the audience’s acceptance is very similar to any show outside of Oklahoma.  Usually goes – for first couple of songs, they’re saying ‘Fuck it’s loud!’ or ‘What the fuck is going on? They’ve got two bass players?!?’  Then on to ‘Ah I can move to this, maybe I can dig it.’  Then they forget about the volume and stop thinking and just enjoy.  We play short sets still because there’s nothing worse than seeing a band you dig and them wearing out their welcome. Especially while we’re still trying to win over fans everywhere we go.  Ya know, attention spans are virtually non-existent anymore so rather than try and build an intimate environment on stage, we cultivate this manic, chaotic atmosphere.  We take the ‘don’t worry, this will all be over soon’ approach and the music compels it.”

ur: When you wrap the European tour, what is next for colourmusic?

c: Ley, “We are currently trying to finish our follow up to My ____ is Pink.  The album is based on the color purple and we are busting our asses to get it out soon.  We’d really like to return to Europe and the UK by next summer for the festival season – ideally.  I don’t want to say too much about it other than its got us very excited, which is hard to do anymore.  Also, we’re looking forward to the release of Nick Turner’s documentary of an abstract landscape painter from North Yorkshire named Peter Hicks.  The film is absolutely beautiful and the band composed the soundtrack, which shows an entirely different side of colourmusic.”

colourmusic – Yes! [From f, monday, orange, february, venus, lunatic, 1 or 13, 2008]

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colourmusic – Feels Good to Wear [From My ____ is Pink, 2010]

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colourmusic – Your for Leaving Me [From My ____ is Pink, 2010]

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colourmusic – Tog [From My ____ is Pink, 2010]

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Find colourmusic on the web, Twitter, Amazon.

Canada’s Gramercy Riffs (formed in 2008) are currently working on the follow-up to their 2010 album, the acclaimed It’s Heartbreak.  That record was a solid collection of garage jam indie pop which played through cohesively and it offered a full and enjoyable listen. Songs like The Freezedown [kind of sounds like the Strokes into Queen] and Dreaming [just a great rock song] proved that the talent Gramercy Riffs has for writing great material and playing it really well is what making great music is all about.  And due to a lot of talk about the great record, Gramercy Riffs has gained a strong following.

The first half of 2011 kept Gramercy Riffs busy, they opened a cross Canada tour with Hey Rosetta!.  So now, as the popularity of It’s Heartbreak continues to grow and their live shows keep winning over fans, the band is currently working on what will eventually be their next full-length record.

Photo by Adam Penney

untitledradio recently spoke with Gramercy Riffs to gain some insights into their band, music, and find out is in store for the band:

untitledradio: Your debut LP It’s Heartbreak was self-released in 2010 an d very well received by listeners.  Are you proud of the statement you made with your first full length?

Gramercy Riffs: Any album is a record of where your band was at a certain time and place.  It was a really great experience for us, and its been amazing getting such positive responses to it, that’s been really cool. I think that if we recorded those songs now, they would sound very different.  So, yes, I think we’re proud of that album in a lot of ways, but we’ve also learned and developed a lot since then.

ur: Has the domination of the music business by digital technology and recent social media trends made it easier to get the record heard?

GR: Of course, there are so many ways to get your music out there these days so we try to take advantage of that as much as possible.  It’s amazing that we can make a record on our little island on the east coast and share it with people living as far as Australia, or the UK, its definitely a wonderful thing.  Touring and getting out and meeting people is really the best way of getting your music out there by far though, that’s where our greatest opportunities have come from really.  Playing live, meeting other bands, meeting locals, forming relationships and making things happen from those experiences.

ur: Was the idea to split vocals between Lee and Mara indicative of how your write music?

GR: It is indicative of where each song starts, but every song is a collaborative effort for sure.  Lee [Hanlon] and I [Mara Pellerin] started writing together a few years ago just by sending song ideas back and forth over email.  Most of our writing has kind of happened this way up until recently since all of the band members were never living in the same city together for more than a few months at a time.  The process has changed now that we are all based in Toronto as of this February.  We rehearse weekly and a lot of writing and arranging happens in the jam room.  All five of us contribute to the writing process and we’re excited about how our sound is getting to develop now.”

ur: Do you get a lot of Broken Social Scene or Stars comparisons?

GR: Lee and I were both really into Broken Social Scene for a while there, so I guess it’s possible that it may show up in our sound some how, but we haven’t had many comparisons to them that I’m aware of anyway.  The male/female lead vocals would kind of put us in a group with Stars in that sense I guess, but again I haven’t seen that comparison a lot either, though I’m really not great at keeping up with the internet like the kids these days, so don’t take my word for it.

Photo by Mark Bennett

ur: To me, much of the sound on It’s Heartbreak has a strong 50′s feel, even the lyrical style of Little One is reminiscent of the era.  As a band, do you study different musical eras or have shared influences when writing music?

GR: I don’t know if we ever intentionally went after a 50′s feel per se, but I think we all have a taste for classic Pop sounds and structures.  We have pretty different musical backgrounds and training, our range of influences are pretty broad, but there is definitely a strong Roy Orbison feel to the first album, especially in terms of the arrangements and our focus on melody.

ur: Track 7 on It’s Heartbreak, Dreaming, is a very pleasant listen.   What’s the story behind this one?

GR: I wouldn’t say there’s a straight up “story” behind the song.  The  tune came out of my first Montreal winter, I moved there from St. John’s for school.  At the time I guess was just feeling the heaviness of February in that city and other pressures in my life, and I think I was just trying to keep perspective and calm down a little.  I wrote the words and music all in one sitting, which is rare for me, it came out really easily.  It’s definitely one of the tunes I’m more attached to on the record.

ur: It’s been a busy year road-wise for Gramercy Riffs, opening across Canada for Hey Rosetta! on a sold out tour and playing other shows across the provinces.  How has the fan reception been?

GR: The HR! tour was really incredible.  They have an amazing fan base, really enthusiastic and supportive crowds all across the country.  It was our first cross-Canada tour and I cant imagine a better first experience, we felt really fortunate.  People were really responsive and positive across the board.

ur: What is going on in terms of a new record?

GR: We’re pretty excited about it.  We’re going to be spending the summer writing and we’ll be spending some time in the studio working on demos to flush out some ideas for when we actually start tracking the record in the fall.  It’s still in it’s early stages, but we’re excited about the new tunes, it’s going to be pretty different from our previous release for sure.

Gramercy Riffs – Dreaming [From It's Heartbreak, 2010]

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Gramercy Riffs – The Freezedown [From It's Heartbreak, 2010]

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Gramercy Riffs – Call Me [From It's Heartbreak, 2010]

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Gramercy Riffs – Little One [From It's Heartbreak, 2010]

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Find Gramercy Riffs on web and Twitter.

Dave Hartley is a busy man to say the least. The War on Drugs’ bassist recently returned from the band’s journey around North America supporting Destroyer and Dave is just about to take his project Nightlands out on the road in support of Sondre Lerche (Hartley will also play bass on the tour for Lerche).  Many indie fans are familiar with The War on Drugs; Comin’ Through was one of the best rock n’ roll songs released in 2010.  Hartley’s Nightlands is also an entity fans should devote their attention to. Whereas previous The War on Drugs material has had a pure American rock atmosphere, Nightlands’ sound is less straightforward and occupies a more experimental realm. Nightlands’ offerings are even reminiscent of some of the material on John Frusciante’s most recent effort The Empyrean.  untitledradio was able to connect with Dave amidst his hectic schedule. Questioning such a musical mind provided truly insightful results:

untitledradio: You seem to have so much going on in your career, how did you begin on this path of becoming an avid musician?

Dave Hartley: A combination of will and luck, I guess. Philadelphia and Fishtown (my hood) in particular are just drenched in talent. You can’t swing a dead cat in this neighborhood without hitting a musical juggernaut of some kind. It’s impossible to overstate the importance of that, either . . . I suppose there is a time when isolation can be beneficial, but ultimately it takes the proper environment to create true musical gestation. You see and hear what other people are creating and you think, “Christ, that is brilliant.” It challenges you to be more pure and zen about the process. I really hardly ever get the sense that the musicians I rub elbows with around here are motivated to “make it”, just to be really pure and present.

ur: While playing bass in The War on Drugs and working on your project Nightlands, do you ever find it difficult keeping your creative tensions separate between different projects?

DH: Only from a time perspective.  There’s never enough of it.  But I don’t ever feel that my pursuits with other bands or sessions or projects create tensions of any kind.  It’s weird, when I’m on stage playing someone else’s songs, I think about those songs, and when I’m in my house tracking, I’m just totally in that zone.  I guess I just try to learn from every gig and session. Everybody seems to support everybody else, and I don’t ever get any jealousy vibes, especially b/c its such a tangled web.  I play in Buried Beds, who play in Nightlands, and Adam played on my record, and I play with BC Camplight, who played on the record, etc.  It’s just a big stew.

I do generally like to keep the streams a little separate, though, if possible.  For that reason I don’t think you’ll see Nightlands as an opener for The War on Drugs, at least any time soon.  I just want my thing to be my thing and not a subset of anything else. Just a little island floating out there in the sea.  A lonely, blissful island.

ur: Nightlands has such an interesting sound, can you explain what influences the sound and how it comes to fruition?

DH: Originally I intended to marry super precise vocal arrangements with loose and experimental instrument tracks, but it sort of spun wildly out of control from there.  I incorporated lots of stuff from my ‘dream tapes’ (cassettes I recorded to document the content of my dreams/nightmares) and also samples from my family archives (tapes my dad made in Korea in the 60′s, stuff from my childhood and adventures/travels with various musicians).  I’m really really methodical in both archiving and recording sounds/music, and I thought it’d be an interesting experiment to try to take that scientific approach and try and create emotional responses by arranging and layering these sounds.

ur: How did you hook-up with and begin playing in The War on Drugs?

DH: Adam [Granduciel] and I worked together for years at this apartment rental agency in West Philly and just became tight and eventually started playing together.  We used to have to empty out devastated frat houses all summer and cruise around in a Ford Focus just blasting rough mixes of tunes and whatever else was lying around.  Petty, Stones, Suicide, Feels, ELO, WFMU Best Show.  That job sucked but looking back it was kind of amazing.   Around that time I moved to Fishtown and never looked back. Lots of people have come and gone from the line-up, but I’ve always stuck around mainly because I find the experience super inspiring and I might have a unique tolerance for navigating Adam’s eccentricities.

ur: The War on Drugs recently wrapped up a tour supporting Destroyer, how was The War on Drugs’ fan reception this tour?

DH: That tour was so fun.  Epically long and arduous, but rewarding.   Destroyer was super mellow and fun to play with.  Great dudes.  We had some new elements in the band (Steven on drums and our good friend Julian slinging merch) and just basically melted people’s faces nightly.  On a side note, North America is a vast continent.

ur: You’re getting ready to hit the road again, this time with Nightlands in support of Sondre Lerche.  How does it feel to be taking Nightlands on the road?

DH: I’m excited. We’ve thusfar only played six shows (as Nightlands), so it’ll be fun to feel like a real band.  We’ll be a five piece, and everything should be full and glorious and loosey goosey.  Also, the good vibes should be palpable: Beaver, Eliza, Chris and Severin are just the sweetest, most hilarious folks in the world.  I also just got back from doing the Daytrotter Barnstormer tour with Sondre, which was super special. He and Dave (drums) are miraculous musicians and very, very sweet.  Can’t wait to combine it all in one delicious soup; get a stew goin’.

The challenge will be flipping the switch from Nightlands world to playing bass w/ Sondre, which is a different animal.  Can’t wait, though.

ur: The War on Drugs recently announced that a new full-length record, Slave Ambient, will be released August 16th.  Can you give fans some insights into Slave Ambient?

DH: So proud of this record.  We’ve been working on it for almost four years, in Philly at Uniform (Jeff Zeigler’s joint, who is the unsung hero of The Drugs), in Asheville at Echo Mountain and all sorts of other nooks and crannies.  It’s Adam’s masterpiece and just really unique.  Having traveled all over North America and the world hearing bands, I really don’t think anyone rivals his vision and unique (and confounding) way of executing it.  Can’t wait for this fucker to be released into the wild.

Nightlands – 300 Clouds [From Forget the Mantra, 2010]

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Nightlands – Suzerin [A Letter to the Judge] [From Forget the Mantra, 2010]

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The War on Drugs – Comin’ Through [Live in NYC/recorded by nyctaper, 2011]

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The War on Drugs – Baby Missles [From Slave Ambient, 2011]

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Check out The War on Drugs and Nightlands on the web and follow Dave Hartley on Twitter.

Catch Nightlands out on the road:

05/31/11 Toronto, ON – The Mod Club w/ Sondre Lerche
06/01/11 Montreal, QC – La Sala Rossa w/ Sondre Lerche
06/02/11 Boston, MA – Paradise w/ Sondre Lerche
06/03/11 Philadelphia, PA – World Cafe Live w/ Sondre Lerche
06/04/11 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom w/ Sondre Lerche
06/07/11 Washington, DC – 9:30 Club w/ Sondre Lerche
06/09/11 Carrboro, NC – Cats Cradle w/ Sondre Lerche
06/10/11 Nashville, TN – 12th & Porter w/ Sondre Lerche
06/11/11 Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse w/ Sondre Lerche
06/12/11 Birmingham, AL – Workplay Theatre w/ Sondre Lerche
06/14/11 Newport, KY – Southgate House w/ Sondre Lerche
06/15/11 St. Louis, MO – The Old Rock House w/ Sondre Lerche
06/17/11 Minneapolis, MN – Fine Line Music Cafe w/ Sondre Lerche
06/18/11 Chicago, IL – Schubas Tavern w/ Sondre Lerche
06/19/11 Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall w/ Sondre Lerche
06/21/11 Denver, CO – Larimer Lounge w/ Sondre Lerche
06/22/11 Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge w/ Sondre Lerche
06/24/11 Vancouver, BC – The Biltmore Cabaret w/ Sondre Lerche
06/25/11 Seattle, WA – Crocodile Cafe w/ Sondre Lerche
06/26/11 Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge w/ Sondre Lerche
06/28/11 San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall w/ Sondre Lerche
06/29/11 Los Angeles, CA – El Rey Theatre w/ Sondre Lerche
06/30/11 Solana Beach, CA – Belly Up Tavern w/ Sondre Lerche

It’s been nearly four years since Bear Lake formed in 2007. And, after two well-received full length records, the band is primed and ready for you to offer you some new music. If you’ve not listened to Bear Lake before, their sound is a complex, rock n’ roll based mixture of alternative instrumentation and electronics. Often when bands experiment with electronic sounds they enter dangerous territory, drowning out their instruments and muddying the songwriting with spaced-out effects. Bear Lake’s sound has such a well-produced balance, in most songs the instruments are distinguishable with vivid precision.

Bear Lake will release their third full length record If You Were Me on May 21, 2011. The release will be marked by a huge hometown show at the Magic Mag in Ferndale, MI. untitledradio had some questions for the Bear Lake, here’s what they had to say:

untitledradio: First off, the cover art for your new record is beautiful. Who is the artist and why did you pick this piece to represent your record?

Bear Lake: Thanks! The artist is Adam Perzanowski, who also did the artwork for our last record Places on the Side. The selection of the piece was a “most dramatic” award nominee for sure. The six of us are so passionately involved in this album that it was quite tasking to find an idea that we all agreed upon; however, once this piece came along, it stood out to each of us immediately. As soon as we saw it, it was like “yep, that’s it”. We prefer to have the artwork created around the music itself, rather than the opposite. We sent Adam the tracks and the title and just let him do what he does. We are all very happy with the outcome.

ur: The title of your new record is If You Were Me. Can you explain how the phrase exemplifies this collection of songs?

BL: Most people are unaware of how much work and time goes into making an album. We started working on this record in March of 2010 with roughly 35 demos to work from.  Many decisions, influences, changes, opinions, etc. occurred throughout the next year until settling on 12 tracks. The concept of If You Were Me is a combination of many things. This album is much more personal and reflective than our previous records. There is an actual connection between our personal experiences and the themes and lyrical content of these

songs. At the same time, as much as these songs are very personalized, we feel they are all commonly relate-able. Relationships, addictions, death, love, hate, your basic structures of life. You encounter so many opinions during this process on “the right way” to record, produce, distribute, etc. It is impossible to please everybody, and hard enough to please all six of us. The thing is, there really is no foolproof way in the music industry. We have just continued to try to surround ourselves with people we trust and write/record music we love. What would you do “if you were me?”

ur: Is your new record an evolution or an antithesis of your first two records?

BL: I think we entertained a little bit of both with this sequel. We enjoy agonizing over thedetails, and that certainly continued on this album. If You Were Me was written in a similar manner to our last release. We demoed a lot of songs, great, good, bad, and weird. But, each release has been a step forward as well. While we are thrilled with certain aspects of the last record, I think we all acknowledged that we wanted this release to be more cohesive, both sonically, and emotionally. I think we sound more like Bear Lake on this album, if that makes any sense. If You Were Me is an album in the true sense of the word. The track selections and order are purposely sequenced and the evoked emotions are intended to correlate with them. We are continuing to improve on knowing what our niche is, creating, and expanding on it. A lot was learned from our first two albums and ya gotta keep moving forward recognizing what works and what doesn’t. I think we are satisfied…but only for a moment, terrible cellphone recordings and over-produced garageband sessions are starting to pile up.

ur: Can you give our readers some insight into the meaning and concept of your new single “Scissors?”

BL: Basically its about the hardships you face trying to be what you truly want to be. So many people today are too easily influenced by friends, family, and/or society to pursue what they may or may not be truly passionate about in life. In a way this song represents the “just fucking go for it” mindset, you can’t be afraid to fail in today’s world. Cut ties from the skepticism of your life and you may realize how much happier this place can be.

ur: Your music has been featured prominently on numerous television programs (Bones, One Tree Hill, Melrose Place), how does it feel to lend your art as a supportive piece to a television scene?

BL: It’s surreal. Music placements have been the thing we are most proud of as a band. The fact that someone wants to use our music to represent whatever purpose they are trying to convey is humbling.  It is always interesting to see how they end up using each song, and being able to see what emotions/ideas were instilled in them. Movies or TV series with great music have always been more appealing, it is great to contribute to it. The publicity and notoriety we received was also very important. It’s truly remarkable how easily visible the effects of these placements are on downloads, web-hits, messages, etc. Our song “The Best One” is being featured in a documentary in the near future about a new jean company in Detroit, it is even nicer to be a part of something that represents our hometown.

ur: You’re playing a hometown album release show May 21st at the Magic Bag in Ferndale. Can you give fans an indication of what to expect?

BL: The angst and stress leading up to the release party will finally be let loose!!! We have been spending so much time finishing this record and preparing for its release we really haven’t been playing out too often. It will be great to have a new record of material to play for all our fans. As far as our performance goes, you will have to just show up to see what sort of nuances we have come up with for your entertainment. ONCE AGAIN THATS SATURDAY MAY 21ST @ THE MAGIC BAG IN FERNDALE. But seriously, we are really excited with the support we have put together for the show.  Our producer, Eric Hoegemeyer, will be performing as Deep See Soundsystem in between acts, as well as following our performance. He is in the process of working on a remix of the album, a mash up sort of thing of Bear Lake vs Deep See Soundsystem, which can be heard at the show. Other guests include Brae (a really, really great band and group of guys) as well as I Love Lightning Bugs (who we don’t know as well personally, but we really dig their tunes) will be performing. As far as what to expect, great music from Detroit artists, a great light show, and most likely a dance-off.

ur: What is next for Bear Lake in terms of supporting If You Were Me?

BL: We feel that we put out a great album with “Places” but didn’t do the necessary promotions to correlate the release. You live and learn. We are in the process of finalizing a full scale national radio and promotions campaign which will conveniently correlate with the national tour we are beginning in July. As of now we will be predominantly in the midwest and east coast for much of the summer, so please check the website (www.bearlakemusic.com) for upcoming dates/cities. We are also deliberating on our next moves as far as publishing and labels go. The last record opened the door for us as far as tv/movie placements go, and we are excited to see what opportunities are ahead for us in that avenue.

Bear Lake – Fading Lines

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Bear Lake – The Best One

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Bear Lake – Raid Out

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Bear Lake – Scissors

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Follow Bear Lake on the web and support them on Twitter.

If you’re local to Detroit, be sure to check out Bear Lake’s album release show Saturday May 21, 2011 at the Magic Bag in Ferndale with Brae, Deep See Soundsystem, and I Love Lightning Bugs. Tickets are available right here.

Fans of Brooklyn-based Soft Black’s second record, 2009′s folk/alternative/rock journey The Earth Is Black… LP, will be happy to hear that the band’s third album is in the works. The Earth Is Black… has done the band well, with many positive critical reviews (some from big name brands like Rolling Stone) and an extremely awesome reception from new fans and old fans alike. Still, especially if this is your first time listening to Soft Black, you’ll wonder where the mass appreciation is. The songs are excellently strong, catchy, and the opposite of most of what has come out of Brooklyn in recent years: indiepop and electronicpop.

Time will tell if Soft Black’s third record will get them the mass exposure their talent deserves. Meanwhile, untitledradio recently caught up with Vincent Cacchione from Soft Black, here’s what Vin had to say:

untitledradio: Your second LP, the excellent The Earth Is Black… was recorded in a very modest fashion, in a basement with an 8 track. How has Soft Black evolved since the release of that record?

Vincent Cacchione: After I finished writing The Earth Is Black… album a series of tragedies befell me.  The first of which was the robbery of a backpack containing 4 complete notebooks (about 9 months worth of handwritten lyrics and one of a kind transcriptions of all my most recent songs).  At the time my writing had taken a turn towards the wordy, I had begun to move away from the surrealism of The Earth Is Black… and into a more storytelling phase.

It took a couple of months to recover emotionally from losing such a huge body of work.  But when I did I decided not to grieve for what could’ve been and took my muse in a new direction.  A more musical direction.

The Earth Is Black… was written in NJ where I had been living with my mom.  At this point I was homeless and living in NYC hopping from couch to couch and chasing down inspiration as I discovered it.  I had just met these kids in a band called Werewolves, we took to each as musical peers and friends pretty fast.  A couple weeks after my first encounter with them,  they asked me to open for them on tour in tour Europe.  At the time Soft Black was still mostly a solo venture, but on the road Werewolves backed me up.

The tour ended up being a huge turning point in my life.  When I got back to Brooklyn I began to write and craft the songs that would make up the We Scatter Light EP and The Witching Hour LP.

Soft Black has evolved into more of a band since The Earth Is Black…, our sound is a mixture of folk, psychedelia, and drone.  We think of it as “folk-noir.”

ur: You’ve described The Earth Is Black… as being a collection of your nightmares put to song. Is it efficient/productive for you, being so personal with your writing, to write music with others or do you prefer to keep it close to home?

VC: Throughout the years I’ve had many different collaborative side-projects (Laura Bush, Fruitfly, Turning Tricks, Caged Animals).  I really enjoy writing music with others, but for Soft Black, it is much more intuitive to write the words and melodies on my own.  I value my loneliness.

ur: You seem very confident of your last record as a whole piece but the digital music landscape is very different from the days of buying records and giving them full spins. Do you embrace the digital culture of music today and are you confident once someone hears a Soft Black song that they will be eager to hear the record as intended?

VC: I grew up with parents that loved music and collected albums.  That mentality is deeply ingrained in me as a music fan and maker.  I’m highly inspired by artists like Lou Reed, Pete Townshend, and Roger Waters, I really dig the idea of an album that is meant to be listened to the same as you would watch a movie (Berlin, Tommy, The Wall).

That being said I do embrace the way people digest music now.  I hope they will listen to the record all the way through, but I’m not offended if they don’t.  I hope this doesn’t sound stuffy, but I don’t feel like I make records for an audience, I make them for my own satisfaction.

ur: Social media is changing the way artists get their music to fans. You’ve been active on

MySpace for a long time, do you keep up with Social Media trends to keep Soft Black fresh in fans ears?

VC: Sure, I have a twitter. :-)

ur: Can you give untitledradio any indications, info, or details on what your next record will be like?

VC: The next record is titled The Witching Hour.  It is an after hours kinda record which peers into the darker side of human interaction without condemning or glorifying it.   It was written over the last 3 years in NYC and arranged meticulously with the best group of musicians in the business, SOFT BLACK!

Soft Black – I Am an Animal

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Soft Black – Ashtray Christ

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Soft Black – The Lions

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Soft Black – Did You Put a Spell on Me?

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Soft Black on Twitter and web.