Monthly Archives: October 2009
An Interview With Fefe Dobson
Fefe Dobson Watch me Move Video
by Alison Sikes NYU
Alison Sikes: How is it going? How were the VMAs?
Fefe Dobson: I’m doing great. The VMAs were great. It was fabulous. I did a MTV pre-VMA show with Cobra Starship. We judged a couple bands. Cobra guys were really nice and super chill. They seem like they have a good time.
AS: It’s really funny because I went to Fashion’s Night Out the other night (http://www.fashionsnightout.com/) and I saw both you and Gabe Saporta (of Cobra Starship) that night. What events did you go to?
FD: I went to Kiehls. It was awesome. Everyone was doing karaoke. So much cool energy. People were dancing. “Single Ladies” came on and everyone was on the floor, doing the dance, getting down on the ground. I was like “I love Kiehls. This is great.”
AS: Going with the whole fashion thing, how would you describe your style?
FD: I would describe my style as whatever I see and tickles my fancy, I put it on and go. I’m a vintage gal. I really love finding special little pieces and rummaging. In Toronto, we have a huge vintage/thrift store scene. I got a faux-fur jacket for ten bucks and that is what it’s like in Toronto. Vintage is vintage and that’s what I love about it.
AS: Do you think you’ll visit any thrift stores in New York City during your free time here?
FD: I am going to try to for sue. I love street shopping in New York because people make original pieces like jewelry. I find it really pretty.
AS: You new album, Joy, comes out in the upcoming months. How is it different than your previous albums in terms of your sound, inspiration, etc?
FD: As persons, we all grow. If you stay the same person, you have to worry. When I made the first record entitled Fefe Dobson,- very creative name- I was just hitting my teens and now, I am in my early twenties and have evolved from that point. I have gone through different experiences and so, my writing is going to come from a different place. I’m going to feel differently, dress differently, and look at people differently. That comes across [in my music] because that is your art and just like a painter or a poet, they grow and their work becomes a little bit more of a picture. I think that there is more beauty when things get older and things grow up like my work. I feel like it’s becoming more beautiful to me because it’s growing up for me.
AS: What parts of your life did you draw inspiration from for this particular album?
FD: I drew a lot from love. I always do. I love love. All you need is love. I draw a lot from love and loss. For some songs, like there is a song called “Paranoia” on the record now and that was me being bit paranoid over odd things. I love this song “People are Strange” by The Doors and he describes how he feels how people are always lurking around. I kind of feel that way with cameras. I always think when you’re changing in the changing room that there is going to be a camera in the room. I heard a story about a man that used to put a camera on the tip of his boot and when he walked, he’d look under girls’ dresses. I kind of went there a little bit on that a paranoid feeling as being a women and never really knowing what is lurking behind you or in the changing room. I write about things I’m feeling.
AS: I have to ask the corny question, what kinds of things bring joy to Fefe Dobson?
FD: What brings joy to me? Some good food. I love a good meal. I dance when I eat. I’ll be on the street and if I eat something that is good, I’ll say “Oh” and my foot starts to twitch. Just some good food and I’m in heaven.
AS: It just so happens that Mike Myers is also from your hometown of Scarborough, Ontario. Seeing that he is a funny guy, do you consider yourself to be a funny person?
FD: I try to be. I can make my friends laugh. I can make my best friend crack up. I think she is lying to me. She laughs at everything I say.
AS: When you first came out, I can remember your music being all over the Disney Channel. Now, current Disney stars like Miley Cyrus and Jordin Sparks are all covering your songs. What is that like for you?
FD: It’s pretty wild. It’s hard to describe because they’re not songs that have been out for year and I’m like 55 years of age. I just made theses gonad n they were on the record, it’s pretty crazy.
AS: What are your plans for the future?
FD: Making more records, making more music, producing. I hope one day I can be like Tina Turner. Be 60 years old, still rocking out with great legs and not feeling like I’m going to fall apart or break.
Teenage Bottlerocket “They Came From The Shadows”
by Carly Shea
Proclaiming the use of Walkmans and running over cops in front of doughnut shops as cool again, Teenage Bottlerocket is back with another Punk Rock album titled, They Came From The Shadows. Veterans of the post-millennium Punk scene, Teenage Bottlerocket has been around since 2001 with four full albums and five EPs. The band consists of 5 Neo-Punks: Ray Carlisle, Brandon Carlisle, (Brandon and Ray are twins), Kody Templeman, and Miguel Chen. Since their formation in Laramie, Wyoming, the band has “label-hopped” with 4 different record labels, and are currently with Fat Wreck Records. Although Teenage Bottlerocket has been veterans of the Punk scene for nine years, they haven’t blown up on the mainstream like Rancid or Screeching Weasel. Still, they have a devout fan base, similar to a cult following. Teenage Bottlerocket is fighting for Punk Rock with loud chords and angst ridden lyrics, but at the same time is being submissive to the Punk Pop movement in their most recent album. Punk Pop is more easily sold than hardcore Punk, and Teenage Bottlerocket is switching over to the Punk Pop-side.
The very first track on They Came From The Shadows starts off with a heavy drum beat which you can’t help but tap your feet to. Soon after is the rhythmic guitar shredding and in addition to the feet tapping, you are now bopping your head to the chords. As if this track couldn’t get any catchier, Ray Carlisle comes in pumping out lyrics saying that the band is “making skate a f**king threat again”. Only their first track, Skate Or Die has set a high expectation for the rest of They Came From The Shadows and the survival of Punk Rock.
Feeling Punk Rock while wearing my Chucks, I eagerly pushed play on the next track, Don’t Want To Go. Expecting more rapid drum beats and snarky lyrics, I eagerly listened on, but the second the lyrics started, I felt that the entire album changed. No longer were the lyrics full of rebellion, but were a fast paced Punk- Pop-formula used on many Green Day albums. I was majorly disappointed.
Maybe their record label just wanted to throw in a few Punk Pop songs amidst the Hardcore Punk ones to appeal to a broader audience. But the more songs I listened to, the more disappointed I became. Songs like Do What? and Tonguebiter mirrored the pop-ish styling’s of Don’t Want To Go, and the CD lost it’s hardcore roots. The songs were full of Emo lyrics about relationship problems with a Punk backbeat. Where were the songs about moshing, hardcore drugs, and graffiti? What happened to God Save The Queen? Next time anyone tells you Punk Rock is dead, rest assured, it’s not. It’s just been drowned in the heavily marketed Pop that true Punk Rock once rivaled
The 88 Interview
by Diana Ciuca
The 88 is “new, fresh, modern” band as described by the keyboard player, Adam Merrin. My interview with him provided descriptive information about where the band has been and where it’s heading. With outstanding appeal along with a strong Californian foundation, The 88 keeps rising to success.
From the Los Angeles region, Adam Merrin described the band’s hometown as being an “upper-middle” area which influenced the band’s music, since most environments tend to have an impact on the overall tone of a band. The two founding members, Keith and Adam both met in high school due to their common affinity for music. Adam remembers the “day that changed [his] life.” He recalled the idea of starting a band as a haphazardly recommendation friend. Nevertheless, Keith and Adam later tried to record a song that they wrote at a party, as that’s when the band finally took off as less of a concept and more of a possibility.The feeling of their first session of playing together – Keith’s great voice and Adam’s guitar talents – really had them saying “this is it,” as if being in a band was what they were meant to be doing. Although the band (formerly titled The Freeloaders) had no real direction or “financial motives,” their mutual passion for music and spirit of hard work helped lead to future success.
As every band knows, the members will suffer a few struggles, especially with the passage of time. Adam recalls how two of the foremost band members left and were succeeded. “Carlos was on the band for 13 years,” Adam mentioned, so it was tough when he left. Carlos was the former bass player who left because touring was taking a toll on the amount time he spent with the members of his other family – his wife and kids. As Adam illustrates it, the band members had always had a real family feel or closeness; He describes by mentioning that “it was difficult even leaving for a weekend” without being heartbroken. Brandon was also a former member of the band but moved on to a more Hollywood career and is featured in the HBO hit Weeds. The 88 actually has a hit on the soundtrack of Weeds along with many other hit TV shows like Grey’s Anatomy and The OC.
Being in LA is definitely a “great starting place,” as Adam puts it. It really aided in getting the band spots on radio stations and even live performances like on The Late Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live. This helped “spread their music” and commercial success. Bands like The Beatles and The Band are huge influences on The 88. They’ve also toured with big names like the Smashing Pumpkins and one of Adam’s personal favorites, The B-52’s on the east coast and Matt Costa on a Canadian tour. Adam mentioned these last two as being some highlights of his musical career. Nevertheless, the band, known for their energetic shows, put effort into every show. Adam expresses the 88’s shows as if every time they go on, they “try and make it the best show ever.” “We show fun when we’re doing it, we’re not too serious (not on stage at least),” he comments, “but we are very serious about the music we make.” When asked if Adam considers the band “indie,” he replies, “oh yeah, because we do everything ourselves; it’s how we survive as a band.” Their dedication and hard work is clearly evident, especially in their varied music that merits to fit under a broad genre.
With possible plans of a tour to Europe and elsewhere, this band, 19 years in the making, sees no plans for retiring. “I cannot see myself doing anything not music related,” Adam remarks. This is the general ideology of all the band members. Music is foremost. “Writing, practicing and preforming” is what The 88 does best. “We work hard and keep doing what we’re doing, ” Adam summarizes and adds, “we’re lucky and blessed.” A truly appreciative band that deserves the appreciate of fans everywhere, the 88 is a band who continues to thrive since they “open to doing something different because there’s always something new.”
To find out more, check out their website: www.the88.net; their myspace: www.myspace.com/the88, and even their twitter: twitter.com/the88
Converge-Music Review Axe to Fall
by Diana Ciuca
Thrash Metal: Converge’s Axe to Fall
Analyzing Hardcore Heavy Metal is almost as difficult as moshing in a pit to it. The sheer intensity of the song isn’t meant to be broken down and picked at, it’s supposed to be felt. Converge’s new album (coming out October 20th) keeps throwing rapid punches of guitar and drums at you throughout their album “Axe to Fall.”
THE first song on the album, Dark Horse, initially comes as a surprise yet finally slows down midway through the song. Then tension is built up through the gradual increasing magnitude of the guitar and drums which culminates with ‘metal-core’ screaming. The next song, Reap What you Sow (2), consisted of even less audible screaming, with more musical force than before complemented by a ridiculously fast tempo. However, the issue with music like this is that if you’re not a fan, you can hardly appreciate the subtleties in each song (such as the difference between chords and variety of screams). I’ve been to local screamo shows, and they don’t have the energy that Converge exhibits, especially in the first few songs.
Their album is absolutely mind-blowing, in a scream-guitar-scream-drums kind of way. Nevertheless, the band proves their malleability throughout the rest of the album. At times I feel that Converge should stop ‘attacking me with music,’ but I would be mistaken to contend that the band would want to do anything less than roll with the punches (or high tempo guitar chords, in this case). The album sometimes progresses like a machine gun of noise, yet eventually slows down towards the end of the album and of several songs like Axe to Fall (3). That slow tempo is idyllic (relative to the rest of the songs). Furthermore, the high pitched guitar sounds unexpectedly add another facet to the band’s overall sound in the song Effigy (4) .
But then again, the addition of yet another pitch is like spreading mustard on a hot dog of music which is already saturated with ketchup, relish, mayonnaise, soy sauce, onions, and raspberries. In song Worms to Feed (5), the lead finally slows down with an almost angry Led Zeppelin-like guitar. Finally, this song exposes a more experimental side of the band with a spectacular ending. Worms to Feed, my personal favorite, it more variety to the typical rip chords and machine gun drums, but maintains generally the same feeling of heavy metal. The song Damages (7) probably doesn’t do as much damage to your hearing aids as you might expect; it seems almost refreshingly different. The feedback juxtaposes you in the “cliffhanger” stage of the whole album where you’re wondering if the band will soften up their style or keep pounding the guitar. To my joy, they eventually let go of the incessant noise saturated chords but only after songs 8-12 of more repetitive rip chords. They definitely are stimulating, yet it leaves you expecting something more.
Since I’m such a sissy when it comes to music that makes my speakers tremble constantly, Cruel Bloom (12) strikes me as a relieving break from the rest of the album. The muted voice (a legitimate voice, not screaming!) with the dreamy guitar sounds like the original Heavy Metal of Ozzy Osbourne. With a pendulum rhythm, the intro to Wretched World, the last song (13), represents the beginning of the end. With a slight resemblance to Smashing Pumpkins, the album eerily finishes with extended chords instead of the pounding ones we were introduced to at the beginning of the album. The energetic, electric discord which fades into a soft harmony parallels the overall structure of the album. Whether this was the band’s intention or not, “Axe to Converge” was a connected journey through heavy metal- beginning with extreme noise distortion and leading through various ups and downs of guitar tempos and pitches, and finally culminating with a slow, mellow denouement.