Tag Archive for: featured

Song We Like: Velcro by Thresher

Song We Like: Velcro by Thresher


Post-hardcore means when you add big guitar melodies on top of monotone, distorted, driving grooves. At least that is our calculation, based on this song. John’s special pick of the week. (Featured on our #40 podcast, A Human Disaster.)

Song We Like: Trance de los Suburbios by Valles

Song We Like: Trance de los Suburbios by Valles


Cool, smooth musical experimentation. Subtle and big, jaded, just remotely, subtly hopeful: it sounds like driving through the suburbs in the back of your parents’ car. (Featured on our #40 podcast, A Human Disaster.)

Song We Like: Bad Boyz by Chris Bay

Song We Like: Bad Boyz by Chris Bay


A song about a gay orgy. With that guitar solo. And Bad Boyz spelled with a ‘z.’ We’re feeling so much relief as we welcome back a part of the past that we didn’t realized that we missed until right now. (Featured on our #40 podcast, A Human Disaster.)

Your Idiot Brother is Not Ready for a Baby Yet, Thanks

Your Idiot Brother is Not Ready for a Baby Yet, Thanks

Maxwell Helper/Your Idiot Brother just released his self-titled debut album last week (January 27th 2019). A song from that album, ‘Hoochie Coochie’ was featured on our #39 podcast on February 5 of the same year, which is certainly evidence of kismet and destiny.

My favorite thing to wear onstage:

Polkadots. Who doesn’t like polkadots?

[polkadots not pictured.]

The last musical instrument or musical-performance-related item that I bought and loved was:

Korg MS-2000 synthesizer. It’s super accessible with most of the controls laid out right in front of you, and it’s a great synth to learn on.  Time seems to slip away every time I turn that thing on…

The musical instrument or musical-performance-related item that I really really really want is:

An 8-track reel-to-reel recorder. I’ve always wanted to play with tape more, and haven’t really gotten the chance yet…

The artist who has influenced me most is:

David Bowie. He never stuck to any script, and didn’t care what people wanted him to be or thought he should be.  He was a shapeshifter in search of truth, perhaps a microcosm for what we all are as a species.

I live in Los Angeles.

I was born and raised here, and Los Angeles has always seemed to call me back (literally).  Even when I tried to leave to the pacific northwest, it wasn’t two years before I had one of my best friends, Sean Bloom, convincing me to move back to Los Angeles to start a band (a band that is no longer).  Nevertheless, I bring up his name because he was very instrumental (pun intended) in Your Idiot Brother’s self-titled debut album.

The general vibe of Los Angeles is:

Superficial. Genuine conversation and human connection is hard to come by here. There’s definitely some very real and interesting people here, but so many are seemingly disillusioned by social status or insecurity.  

Genuine conversation and human connection is hard to come by here.

I collect:

Vinyl. It’s not very extensive, but I try to pick up cool records when I can.  I was stoked to come across an original copy of the Fantasia soundtrack not too long ago. It has a really colorful booklet that goes into the history of all of the tracks too.

my favorite thing to watch on tv is:

Rick and Morty. A drunk genius that goes on adventures through absurd parallel dimensions with his idiot grandson? I love it.  It’s as funny as it is intellectual too.

In my fridge you’ll always find:

Cheese

why

more chz plz..

A winter indulgence that I would never forgo is:

There’s no winter in Los Angeles

If you’re going to buy me a gift, say in the under-$50 range, I would like:

Anything that makes sound, even a terrible one. Except a baby.  Please don’t give me a baby… at least not now.

Anything that makes sound, even a terrible one. Except a baby.  Please don’t give me a baby… at least not now.

In my heart I wish I was:

Bruce Willis in ‘Unbreakable’. There’s actually no evidence that I’m NOT Bruce Willis’s character in ‘Unbreakable.’ I’ve never broken a bone (knock on wood).

 

Exhibit A. Exhibit B. No evidence exists that these are not the same person.

The best place to eat breakfast in my city is:

Off of my stovetop. Only I know how I like my eggs and hash browns.  Breakfast can get risky out there…

When people come to visit me, particularly if those people are cooler than I am, I take them to:

Karaoke. I don’t like people that are cooler than me… We’ll see how cool they are once I sign them up for ‘Total Eclipse’ after 5 or 6 drinks.

favorite seasonal beverage:

Beer

why

you can drink it any season

What’s next for you musically?

The recently-released self-titled debut album last week (January 27th) was very much a DIY album. Although written and produced by Maxwell Helper, quite a few of his friends from UFO Therapy Records, a collective started by Sean Bloom (man Be Solo), are to thank in the recording and production of the album as well (album credits are on bandcamp).  Your Idiot Brother is always writing and creating and you can definitely look for a second album to come perhaps as soon as next year. In case you’re interested, here’s a link to the collective: https://www.ufotherapyrecords.com/

Steve from Eerie Point on Toledo, Bob Dylan, and how to be like water

Steve from Eerie Point on Toledo, Bob Dylan, and how to be like water

Steve Andrew is the lead singer of Eerie Point, whose song Artificial Things was featured on our #38 podcast. Born out of the Rust Belt (Toledo to be precise), Eerie Point embodies a sound that blends the alternative, indie, and blues roots of the band’s five members into something altogether new and exciting. Eerie Point prides itself on its diverse yet deeply refined sound that incorporates multiple styles of music to create a unique sound all its own.

My favorite thing to wear onstage:

One of my may University Toledo hats, or WWII Airborne War Paint. Because it’s badass, and I want people to know where the fuck I’m from.

It is hereby established that if you wear the right hat, women in the audience will reach up and grab your crotch.

The last musical instrument or musical-performance-related item that I bought and loved was:

My Mahogany 12-string Acoustic-electric Fender Hell Cat. 12’s just sound so big and bright, and it really puts power behind you. I’ve always been a huge fan of folk and blues-style sound and lyrics. Jimmy Page and Lead Belly are two of my all-time favorites, not just because they played 12-string, but because the way they played it. Page is a freak in his smoothness and his slide play and Lead Belly beats the ever-lovin’ shit out of it BAREHANDED. He just raw dogs that steel and it just perpetuates the power of his vocals; that’s what I want from my guitar. I want it to empower me, while complimenting the way I sing. It’s helped me get out of writing ruts, broadened my spectrum as a writer, and it kinds gives Eerie Point another way to stand out.

Lead Belly in 1948

 

The musical instrument or musical-performance-related item that I really really really want is:

a VoiceTone Pedal. Before 2012, I had always just played with myself, haha, instead of other people. Once I did, I’d become more curious in branching out, rather than just singing clean vocal. I’m excited to really try some different things. Everyone in Eerie Point plays one instrument or more, and while I do play some guitar, mostly in writing, and harmonica, my voice is my instrument. I love some distortion and reverb on a guitar, so why not on vocals? That’s something I really overlooked, and quite honestly was just simply ignorant on the fact of using different mic’s, let alone pedals. Everyone knows the talk box from Frampton, but I would never use something like that. One, because I’m not that great of a guitar player, and two I think it would sound so-loose butt hole; but maybe I’m wrong.

The artist who has influenced me most is:

With out question, Bob Dylan. I was a sophomore. At that time, I had been playing electric guitar for a few years, and my oldest brother got an acoustic. I was really into Jimi Hendrix at the time, and he had read his biography and saw that Dylan was Jimi’s favorite. He called me across the hall to his room and showed me the song “North Country Blues”. That was it. The story. An eerie, haunting voice playing an acoustic guitar. The tale of a begotten, and bereft mother in a closed-down, Minnesota mining town. I didn’t what folk was, I had never played an acoustic guitar, and I had no idea that song writing could be so artistic and thought provoking. At the time, Numetal, post-grunge, and eventually “Strip Club Rock” as I call it had been the huge, and Dylan completely took me out of that, and put me down a road that encouraged me to expand my mind, as well as my musical knowledge. I gave up my shitty electric guitar, bought a harmonica, and made a harp holster out of some hanger wires. I was a folk-freak living in the Midwest; I don’t think it’s all that crazy to imagine me finding something to associate within his art.
By the way, that guitar my brother bought, he ended up giving to me; it’s one the most important things I own. I actually wrote on it and he got pissed. “I’m not a communist, I’m an altruist”, an homage to “This Machine Kills Facists” on Woody Guthrie and Dylan’s guitar. He got over it.

Bob Dylan in 1963

Something I wish I’d known before joining/starting a band:

You’re going to suck. You have to go out there and just suck it up. Suck it allll up and take a big shit on the stage. Your sound equipment is gonna go out, your lights are gonna short out, your sound guy is going to get too hammered and fuck something up. Your gonna forget lyrics and your going to forget equipment and shit is gonna break, right in the middle of a song and your guitar player is gonna do his best and you have to go to a different song so he can restring his guitar. You’re going to get shit thrown at you by drunk people and people are going to yell shit.

You’re going to suck. You have to go out there and just suck it up. Suck it allll up and take a big shit on the stage. Your sound equipment is gonna go out, your lights are gonna short out, your sound guy is going to get too hammered and fuck something up.


But people are also going to keep coming and you’re going to get better and the best part of starting a band is being shitty, and getting better with your buddies. The songs get better, the notes and lyrics; it all gets better. And it’s all worth it, because the best joy in life is failing and not giving up, and coming right back and kickin’ ass.

I live in Toledo, Ohio.

It’s where I was born and raised. Go Rockets!

the general vibe of Toledo is

Rejuvenation. The entire city and downtown areas have been undergoing a complete renovation and gentrification over the last 15 years. There are local breweries, restaurants, bars all over the 419, and we have great sporting events. We also have the one of the top 5 zoos and museums in the country, not to mention the most historic minor league baseball team in American history, the Mud Hens. Toledo has spent a lot of time making it a great place to live, which is far from the Toledo I knew as a young boy. Also, it’s 40 minutes from Detroit, 2 hours from Cleveland and Columbus, and 4 from Cincinnati and Chicago. You couldn’t ask to live in a better city to live in and travel to see or play live music.

the best place to play music here is:

Civic Music Hall or the Ottawa Tavern. The Ottawa Tavern is a very intimate setting with one purpose: to be a place for local and small-time touring acts to come and play, while serving 35 ounce cans of PBR. Rock N’ Roll.  Civic is the best place to play because it’s the biggest stage and venue in Toledo, aside from playing the Huntington Center. We packed that place for the Best Of Toledo competition and blew it out of the water. That was the best show we’ve ever had, and solidified us as the best original band in the Glass City. It’s freeing to be able to move around and really put your energy in to your songs, and it’s small enough to where you feed off the personal connection with the audience.

Eerie Point playing at the Civic Music Hall at the Best of Toledo competition

the best place to SEE music here WAS:

Headliners, on Detroit Avenue. Back in the mid-2000’s, we go to Headliners; it was basically a warehouse that they attached a bar too. It was sick. It was wide open and had two huge metal poles in the middle that people would climb up and do back flips off and mosh around. Chevelle released “This Type of Thinking Could Do Us In” in 04 and we went and saw them. Taproot opened for them and some small band at the time went first. I forget their name. Oh, yea 30 Seconds to Mars.

My favorite local band (aside from my own):

In Rhythm, Amelia Airhearts, and Human Juicebox. We love going to these bands’ shows and we’ve played a few with them, too. They all bring their own sound and are all different, but still have some good indie/pop/blues sound. Mostly, they are all pretty cool people.

I collect:

Tickets and wrist bands from all the shows and new venues we play and shows I’ve been to as a fan. I’m a pretty sentimental and I’m a nostalgia junkie. I like keeping pieces of memories, because I honestly don’t have that great a memory; probably from being hit in the head so much.
I’ve also always enjoyed stories my parents and grand-parents told me and pictures they would show me. My grandmother died of Alzheimer’s and the saddest thing was how she was robbed of her memories and her spirit; she was truly full of life. I guess I’m scared to lose my memories. I want to be able to look back on my life with fondness and laugh, and cry, and smile about it and hopefully my children’s children will want to know about our history, as well.

In my fridge you’ll always find:

A shit ton of hot sauce. I grill quite often and there is nothing better than chicken wings. I like to travel different places and always look for some good new sauces. I am not very kind to my stomach. I don’t like “want-to-kill-yourself-” hot stuff, though. That’s Dan. Once, I actually thought I was going into cardiac arrest because I ate one of Dan’s wings. He can take his Da Bomb sauce and go to Hell.

May cause cardiac arrest in rock stars

A winter indulgence that I would never forgo is:

Great Lakes Christmas Ale. It’s brewed right here on good ol’ Lake Erie and when you put that cinnamon sugar rim on there! Byyyeeeee….

if you’re going to buy me a gift, say in the under-$50 range, I would like:

A copy of Ghost Dad on DVD

The last music I downloaded was:

Black Holes (Solid Ground) by The Blue Stones. I caught wind of them trying to book a show in Detroit. They’re kicking off tour at a venue we’re pursuing and playing at Shaky Knees. They’re one of my new favorite bands. Also, Rival Sons and Cage the Elephant are continuously playing at my house. They are the two best bands in the world right now, in my opinion.

in my heart I wish I was:

like water.

because

Bruce Lee once said, “Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”

A beauty staple that I’m never without is:

My beard conditioner and a mohawk. I’ve had a mohawk since 2011 and it’s always been my style. Also, if a man wants to be seen, he should always look his best and nothing looks bester than a good beard.

My personal analysis of the current state of the music industry is:

I honestly don’t know what to make of it. The obvious point is that it has changed rapidly, but the argument is, “Is it better, or worse?”. One could argue that industry has minimized music to mp3 downloads, where artists get fractions of a cent for allowing their music to be downloaded various platforms. Another argument could be that it’s amazing for fans because now any monkey can type in a band on their phone and hear artists all around world, while sitting in their basement. Another is that any new band, or person can be heard at any moment. There is so much out there being shared, though you could also argue it makes it more difficult because there is so much to sift through. I really try not to pay attention to anything that is gonna make me too cynical, or too naive. There is still very much an innocence in me and in this band, and I hope we always try to keep that.

the best place to eat breakfast in my city is:

My cousin’s house.

why

We cook for an army.

favorite seasonal beverage:

Great Lakes Christmas Ale or a White Russian

why

the Dude abides.

Flight to Dubai’s Atlas Abell on Sydney, Lockout Laws, and Serial Killers

Flight to Dubai’s Atlas Abell on Sydney, Lockout Laws, and Serial Killers

Atlas Abell is the lead singer of Flight to Dubai, a band of rising-stars from Sydney, Australia, whose song Hail Damage was featured on our #35 podcast. They are just back from an Australian tour in support of their recently-released EP ‘Frontal Lobes’.

My favorite thing to wear onstage:

Boots, jeans, a good leather belt and a shirt that breathes. Our set has an unforgiving, fast paced, and brutal capacity – we need to tread the line between sturdy workwear and cool, comfortable clothing.

The last musical instrument or musical-performance-related item that I bought and loved was:

I bought a Shure 55SH Dynamic microphone in 2012, first mic I ever bought. It gave me years of hard hitting performances, taking everything I could throw at it – it’s cactus now but it had a bloody hell of a run.

it’s so Roy Orbison

The musical instrument or musical-performance-related item that I really really really want is:

A Waterphone. It’s been used in so many famous horror film scores and just fascinates me

According to Etsy, which seems to be the place to buy one, you will either sound like a horror film OR like dolphins and whales

The artist who has influenced me most is:

Roy Orbison. Outside of having the best pipes in the world, (tone, capacity, resonance – The Big O has it all) I think our relationships with the stage/audience have a lot in common with each other.

 

Something I wish I’d known before joining/starting a band:

To affect others is to affect yourself. Take the good with the bad and aim for balance.

I live in Sydney, Australia.

It is where my house is.

The general vibe of Sydney is:

Policed, controlled and Orwellian: Lock-out laws, social limitations and a quiet, dying streets.

The Sydney lockout laws were introduced by the government of New South Wales in February 2014 with the objective to reduce alcohol-fuelled violence. The legislation requires 1.30am lockouts and 3am last drinks at bars, pubs and clubs in Sydney.

the best place to play music here is:

Botany View Hotel. Good atmosphere, central to other venues and cold beer

the best place to SEE music here is

Marrickville Bowling Club. Big space with great sound and even better line ups, cheap beer and a bowling green

If you don’t know what lawn-bowling is, as I do not, this provides just one more excellent reason to go to Australia. – Ed.

My favorite local band (aside from my own):

Satanic Togas. With a Devo-esque rock n roll vibe, their live show is great, their music is spectacular and all the members are stand up blokes

I collect:

Nothing in particular and everything at once. I just have a whole bunch of weird or nifty knick knacks that I like, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Usually with heavy nostalgic connections, a lot of records, old games and VHS, books and trinkets fill my room

My favorite thing to watch on tv is:

Serial Killer Documentaries. Sounds heaps twisted but I find it fascinating that someone could be wired that way; to take a life in the first place is such a wild and foreign concept but to continue doing it out of compulsion or will is absolutely alien to me and, in turn, enthralling to learn about.

The Zodiac Killer. So. Much. Fun.

In my fridge you’ll always find:

Cold Water. I get hot so easily and find myself not just wanting but requiring it – someone indulging in my cool beverages has almost ruined relationships.

A winter indulgence that I would never forgo is;

A good, strong cup of tea. Hot tea can warm even the coldest of hearts

If you’re going to buy me a gift, say in the under-$50 range, I would like:

I wear a lot of rings and love old clothes but a good book or record never goes astray – play it safe and get me a Stephen King novel(la)

The last music I downloaded was:

Tyrannamen – Self Titled. One of my good mates showed me a while ago and one of their songs was in a dream of mine recently so I haven’t been able to get off this album.

In my heart I wish I was:

Secure.

because

Don’t we all want an eternally rational worldview?

A beauty staple that I’m never without is:

At the moment, a comb. I got a shit haircut recently, so I bought this sick metal comb and it’s been in my back pocket for weeks. Outside of that I’m already too beautiful for need of anything else.

My personal analysis of the current state of the music industry is :

There’s a resistance that’s fighting against the lacklustre, mainstream pop rock bullshit that’s plaguing this country/the world. Diversity is finding its way to the surface and issues are being dealt with, slowly, but surely. I don’t think music ever gets better or worse era to era but at least there’s music worth taking in at the moment.

The best place to eat breakfast in Sydney is:

Bar Italia in Leichhardt. Their big breakfast is second to none, not to mention great coffee and a solid menu

My favorite website is:

fallingfalling.com. It’s an accurate representation of the inside of my head.

Editor’s note: Wow, yes, definitely visit that site

when people come to visit me, particularly if those people are cooler than I am, I take them to:

My mum’s house. Mum’s place always has cold beer, spare beds, great food and terrible home movies – the perfect way to see if someone’s really cool is to see how they treat your mum.

favorite seasonal beverage:

Tooheys New/Negroni. It’s pretty much summer 9 months of the year here so cold beer is a must and a Tooheys New goes a long way. Negronis are for the long cold nights when the whiskey’s run out.

the last meal that truly impressed me was:

Ribs in Plum Sauce from PHO236 in Newtown. Talk about a flavour palette; that was a perfectly balanced meal.

What’s next for you, music-wise:

We’re working hard and playing hard. Flight To Dubai has taken off in every sense of the word. We’ve been writing like crazy and are really proud of our progress, our trajectory is looking good so now we’re just putting in the hard yards to try to reap what we’re sowing. Outside of the band a couple of side projects I’m in (DogDown and COBWEB) are both pottering along at their own pace and will have results to be judged soon enough.

Podcast 39: Long Neck

Podcast 39: Long Neck

John has a looooooong neck. Cinnamon identifies a Glock in real life. We discuss sensitive artists, whether looking like a Victoria’s Secret model will be good or bad for your career, and offer a new segment about how to find joy in marketing. And of course our music is excellent:

Thank you to Foot Gun for providing our theme song. (Please take a second to like Holy Crap Records on Facebook and friend us or whatever on Twitter.)

Song We Like: Dysphoria by Elliott Kage Jones (Schoolboy Cubemaster)

Song We Like: Dysphoria by Elliott Kage Jones (Schoolboy Cubemaster)

Beautiful, loosely-knit sounds will lull you into maybe not noticing that this is a song about existential crisis, and the pain of shedding an old identity in a quest for redefinition. (Featured on our #39 podcast, Long Neck.)

Song We Like: Hoochie Coochie by Your Idiot Brother

Song We Like: Hoochie Coochie by Your Idiot Brother

The Black Keys meet a theater kid who knows how to play a ton of instruments. That is our speculation, but we really have no idea who or what he’s about. Your Idiot Brother is an intriguing mystery, like something from a Nancy Drew book. (Featured on our #39 podcast, Long Neck.)