July 15th, 2010
| Newdust has been big fans of We Are Scientists since their debut album With Love and Squalor came out back in 2005. Keith (vox & guitar) took the time to answer a few quick questions about the tour and what We Are Scientists are up to. |
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. Artist: We Are Scientists |
| Newdust: So how is the tour going so far? |
“Rules Don’t Stop” “Inaction” “After Hours” |
| WAS Keith: Well… day one was in Boston. We had the trailer hitch stolen off of our van, and we were an hour late to sound check. So I’d say its a smashing success. We bought margarita mix and tequila as well. Seriously though, this tour is great because we are getting to tour with some of our best friends from Brooklyn in Lightspeed Champion and Bad Girlfriend. | |
| ND: How many places are you from? According to your press kit you are “New York-based Californians” and you have an “adopted homeland in England”. | |
| WAS: Um… I had no idea our press kit said that. We are just from one place… and that is New York. We did though meet in California back in college, and briefly sublet an apartment in the UK. | |
| ND: How did you end up writing a song for the British World Cup team? | |
| WAS: We got into “soccer” while living the UK. Why do you care? Americans don’t like soccer! | |
| ND: Well I live in DC and… | |
| WAS: You spend too much time with all the ambassadors. (Keith called me out. I do in fact spend most of my time hanging with ambassadors, foreign dignitaries… and other social elites) American don’t like soccer. Anywhere you would go in England, within 10 feet of a TV there would be 50 people crammed near it. Crazy… | |
| ND: Give us a few bands that newdust readers have to check out? | |
| WAS: Oh man… Well, Two Door Cinema Club. This band called Yuck, not sure if it is with an exclamation point or not but their name rules! Also, 2/3 of this band called Oxford Collapse started a band called Skiing. Check em out! | |
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————— Thanks Keith for catching up with us! Be sure get the new album Barbara out now. ATTN DC: We Are Scientists is playing Friday June 16th (tomorrow) at the Black Cat. Be there! |
April 12th, 2010
Photos by: Olivia Hermaratanatorn
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I just got into Letting Up Despite Great Faults just last week after I posted their new video for “Our Younger Noise.” I’ve been exclusively listening to their self-titled since then. The album is fantastic as I’ve said before… You gotta give it a listen if you haven’t already. Here’s a little Q & A I had last week with LUDGF’s singer/songwriter Michael Lee along with a couple of my favorite songs off the album:
“In Steps” Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. “The Colors Aren’t You Or Me” Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. |
| Newdust: One of the first things I noticed the first time I heard your self-titled was its distorted & fuzzy-reverbed goodness. I was instantly reminded of My Bloody Valentine…but you take that shoegaze-y sound and lighten it up; it’s much more poppy. Did MBV have any influence on your sound? Who are some other influences? |
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| LUDGF: MBV was a definite influence but, as you noticed, we have a lot of different influences too. I grew up listening to a lot of indiepop bands like Velocity Girl and Papas Fritas, but also listened to noisy guitar driven stuff like Dinosaur Jr. and Sonic Youth. Then there was Brian Eno, The Orb, and Daft Punk using tons of inorganic sounds to create awesomeness. It’s really too many to name. New Order, The Smiths, Lush, Black Tambourine, Slowdive, Boards of Canada, DJ Shadow, Pinback, Labrador Records, Morr Music… We might be a little scatter brain trying to fit all sounds we love into 4 minute pop songs, but we enjoy doing it. | |
| ND: Your songs remind me of those rainy days when you’ve got absolutely no plans but to stay inside and enjoy the rainfall. How do you feel your sound has developed and aged since Letting Up’s 2006 Movement EP? | |
| LUDGF: It’s become more hopeful. Definitely brighter, but not still without your moments of doubt, haze, and melancholy. Technically we use more electric guitars which cuts through a lot differently than an acoustic would. We also added some female vocals to song which I think really adds an important texture we didn’t have before. | |
| ND: How was the recording process for this album? Was this a DIY release? | |
| LUDGF: A lot of it was recorded on the fly. If I came up with an idea, I’d record it and most of the time I used the first take for the final cut of the song. Most of the painstaking part was how much time it took to process things like running guitars and synths through different effects. And yes, this is a self-release. There are a lot of pitfalls and walls you inevitably run into when self-releasing, but it’s definitely a very personal and ultimately rewarding experience. | |
| ND: You guys just finished up @ SXSW. How was it? Was this Letting Up’s first? | |
| LUDGF: Yes, our first time and it was great. We definitely want to go back next year. First off, Austin is a fabulous city and everyone there was very open and friendly. It seemed like no one really had an agenda other than to just have a good time and hopefully hear some good music. It’s also hilarious to me seeing so many band vans on one street. Us bands are a dime a dozen people! | |
| ND: What’s next for you guys? Will you be hitting the road again or is there another album in the works? | |
| LUDGF: We are working on some new songs and will concentrate playing the west coast during our writing stages. We want the next release to be incredibly meticulous, but hopefully that won’t slow us down too much. We’ve been through a lot of crazy adventures since our last release and we have a lot of new sounds we want to explore as well. We’re always trying to move forward with our music and we’re very excited about what’s to come. | |
| ND: Give me two bands that Newdust readers have to check out. | |
| LUDGF: Only 2!? Surfer Blood is an obvious choice, but still alot of people haven’t heard. DO IT ALREADY. An older artist who you’ll probably never hear about is Color Filter from Japan. Their EP was on heavy rotation for me back in 1999. |
March 17th, 2010
| I got a chance to see Freelance Whales last night at Mango’s Cafe in Houston, TX. These guys are fantastic live! If you’re gonna be in Austin this week for SXSW, I highly recommend you check ‘em out. Weathervanes is Freelance Whales’ latest effort, a love story between a little boy and a ghost who lives in his attic. It’s set to release April 13th, but can be pre-ordered on their site. Check out the footage below from last night at Mango’s; this is “Generator ^ 1st Floor.”:
I also had a little Q & A with drummer Jacob about the band, the album, and a ukelin: Newdust: How did you guys all meet and when did you start playing together? |
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| Jacob: Aside from Doris, who’s originally from Queens, we all had moved out to New York a year or two prior to pursue music. We had various projects posted online, and we were all scouring the web for music projects to work on. Judah had some great demos mocked up and he actively responded to the different things we were doing at the time. The formation went through some brief and semi-frequent lineup changes early on, but eventually came together fully as a quintet around November of 2008, and we played our first show a couple of months later, in January of 2009. | |
| ND: I’ve seen several clips on youtube of the band performing out on the streets or in subways….Who’s idea was it to play street shows? With your tour in the works and your growing popularity, are you going to continue to play street shows? | |
| J: We decided to play street shows – and will hopefully continue to play them when we can (we’ll be going out today for the first time since November) – because of the opportunity to meet new people and bring strangers to shows. We had gotten to a point where relying on our friends to come to shows every other weekend seemed unfair, so we used street performing as a sort of jumping-off point to play to crowds of people who had never heard us. The first time we did it, we noticed a handful of people from the street had come to the show a couple of hours later. So we’d play at least one street show before every “proper” show, and it grew from there. | |
| ND: I read on your pr’s website that over the last couple years you guys have been collecting instruments. What’s the coolest instrument you’ve come across? | |
| J: Judah just got a Chinese zither, and is in the process of putting it together. It’s an instrument I’ve always been fascinated with, so I’m really looking forward to getting that thing into the fold. Kevin is also working on restringing his ukelin – a sort of hybridized ukulele and violin – in the hopes that we can bring it out on the road and start writing with it. | |
| ND: Weathervanes tells a ghost story. Tell me a little more about the story & how it came about. | |
| J: The story is based on some dream logging that Judah did for a class in college. He filled up many-a-notebook and eventually noticed patterns forming in his dreams, which he pieced together into the thematic elements on Weathervanes. Without giving too much away, the story is about the relationship between the narrator – a young boy – and the ghost – a young girl – that haunts his childhood home. It’s about how she wants to be seen now that she’s gone, and how the boy can learn to be a ghost when his time comes. | |
| ND: What’s next for Freelance Whales? is there a new album in the works? | |
| J: There’s no new album, per se, but there are lots of ideas and song bits floating around. On our next tour we’re going to make a concerted effort to write together lots more, in the hopes that we can start to develop and play these new songs at shows. Many of our favorite bands are into road-testing material, and I think it’s an essential skill to have. | |
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Well, there you have it! Look out for Weathervanes April 13th on Frenchkiss/Mom & Pop Records. I’ll let Freelance Whales play us out with “Generator ^2nd Floor”: Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. |
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March 7th, 2010
| The Pass took the time to answer a few questions. Very soon they will be leaving the bourbon soaked lands of Kentucky and will be out and about touring the country… keep eye out for them coming to a town near you. Check out their EP Colors.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. Song: Saturn’s Ocean Newdust: Will, Kyle, Brian, Neil… What brought you guys together to play music? |
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| The Pass: Kyle and I had been kicking around the idea of starting a band with a dance and synthesizer influence to it. Once we had some songs together we called up Neil and Brian who are amazing musicians and friends of ours from different projects. Then it was like when PB met J. | |
| ND: There are a lot of diverse sounds going on, what are some musical touchstones that influence all of you guys? | |
| The Pass: There are so many bands that have influenced our sound rather it be consciously or subconsciously. We definitely have an affinity for 80s pop like Michael Jackson and Madonna which explains one half of our gear being put out by Roland in 1983. Brian listens to a lot of experimental electronic stuff like aphex twin, squarepusher, ect. which definitely brings its own texture. Then I think theres the modern element of our music which is influenced by artists such as Hot Chip, LCD Soundsystem, ect. Everyone brings something a little different to the band. One band we all like……ummm…….Maybe the Talking Heads. Does anybody not like them? | |
| ND: Cross Walk Stereo is great song… I was listening to it with some buddies and we couldn’t help but notice the first 10 seconds is eerily similar to the first few seconds of Phoenix’s “1901″. Was this a an intentional homage or more sub-conscious? | |
| The Pass: Ok…yea the 1901 thing was a huge accident. We were definitely listening to them around the time we wrote crosswalk stereo and I guess it was a sub conscious infiltration (sorry Thomas and gang). Once we realized the similarity we kind of like compared them to make sure we were good…like chords and rhythms. Its pretty much the same explanation as Vanilla Ice on Ice Ice Baby. Maybe one day we’ll cover 1901 and you wont even know until 10 seconds in… | |
| ND: I know nothing about Louisville, Kentucky… How is it playing your style of music in a city that is not known for its electronic-pop scene? | |
| The Pass: Well, we’ve actually been welcomed with mostly open arms. Louisville is a really cool open-minded town with a lot of diversity. Also, VHS or Beta are from here which I think warmed a lot of people up to the idea of a dance rock band. Theres really not a lot of similar bands to play shows with though so we kind of like the idea of playing with DJs. | |
| ND: Give me 3 new songs and 3 old “dusty” tracks that our readers have to check out. | |
| The Pass: 3 new songs?….. anything on the new Hot Chip album. Also dig that La Roux album and the new Friendly Fires vs Holy Ghost record. Three dusty tracks? ……..i can give you three dusty albums. Lou Reed – Transformer, Talking Heads – Stop Making Sense, and Nick Drake – Bryter Layter. Honorable mention, Madonna – Like A Virgin |
February 22nd, 2010
| I’ve really been enjoying Swimteam’s latest effort Harlem over this past week. So much so that I’ve decided to ask these guys some questions about the album & to share a couple more songs with you guys. These two songs paired with “Hound” & “Sun” (songs posted last week), show just how diverse Harlem is; no two songs sound the same, yet they all flow together fantastically. But they don’t give the album justice by any means; listen for yourself: stream & buy the album here.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. Song: Bloom.mp3 Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. Song: Cheeky.mp3 Newdust: How long have you guys been making music together? |
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| Swimteam: Mike and I started our first band in the spring of 2008, so it hasn’t been too long really. |
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| ND: What did you listen to growing up? | |
| S: The first band I really loved was the Red Hot Chili Peppers. But my main influences were bands like Brand New and Jimmy Eat World. Then about three years ago I discovered Radiohead and my musical taste experienced an explosion. Mike’s favorite band growing up was The White Stripes, which is a much cooler answer. |
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| ND: What’s your favorite album as of right…….now? | |
| S: One of my favorites right now is ‘Vaudeville Villain’ from Viktor Vaughn. I just recently got into hip-hop and the two of us have been listening to a lot of MF Doom projects like Madvillain, Viktor Vaughn etc. I think this influenced Harlem a lot, in that we started using samples and loops extensively. |
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| ND: How was the recording process for Harlem? Was it recorded at home? Studio? Were there any others involved? | |
| S: We recorded it in Mike’s bedroom throughout December. It was by far the easiest recording process we’ve done so far. The songs were written very quickly and we were constantly coming up with new ideas. |
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| ND: What were some influences/feelings/emotions that had an effect on songwriting? | |
| S: Other than the music we were listening to, I can’t think of any other influences on the songwriting. Perhaps the cold weather? Also, many of the ideas were written long before we started recording Harlem, so it’s kind of surprising that the album is still sonically consistent. |
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| ND: Is there any theme to the album? | |
| S: Going into the recording process, we didn’t have any theme that we wanted to present in the album. However, after the fact we’ve noticed it’s very melancholy overall, right in that position between happy and sad. This is probably due to the mixture between the Hip-Hop and Electronic influence in the synths and beats, and the influence of our songwriting which has never been too upbeat. |
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| ND: How is this album different from previous ones? | |
| S: This was the first album where we really wanted to make something completely different from anything we’d heard before. We tried to blend all of our musical influences into a new sound, that most importantly, we would really enjoy. Interestingly enough, I believe this has been our most accessible album to date, based on the response from our friends and the large range of influences you can hear in Harlem. We are very proud of Harlem, and we really want as many people listening as we can. |
