[Interview] Teen Daze Talks Musical and Life Influences, His Upcoming Album and Genre Classification (Part One)

Vancouver native Jamison came from humble beginnings in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia, a beginning which eventually led to studying abroad and a broadening view of the world. Through the absorption of books and knowledge, Jamison came to better understand the world around him, and music became the outlet for this influx of experience and insight. These lifelong influences and a passion for music that came to fruition early on in his life led to the creation of the Teen Daze project, a project that has since flourished. With numerous EPs under his belt, Teen Daze has dabbled in various aspects of the electronic realm, but with his forthcoming debut LP, the solo artist has refined his sound into a cohesive and ultimately more powerful and evocative way. All Of Us, Together is his most ambitious project yet, and it is clear that the album will come to define his rising career.

Teen Daze is gearing up to release All Of Us, Together on May 22nd via San Francisco record label Lefse, and, with a European tour set to start next week, the musician took the time to chat with me over the phone for a fantastic hour long conversation. During this time, we covered everything from his career, his influences, the blogosphere, perspectives on the ideas of genres and classification, as well as how important fans are to a musician. Below, you can listen to the 27-minute first half of my interview with Teen Daze, while the second half is set to be published tomorrow.

[Watch] Earl Sweatshirt's First-Ever Interview Since Return

This morning, Odd Future's most reclusive MC Earl Sweatshirt was interviewed by Peter Rosenburg of Hot 97, joined by Tyler, The Creator and Taco. In his first interview since returning to the music world, a shy Earl discussed what it was like missing out on the incredible success the hip hop outfit has seen in the last year. He also went futher to open up about the truth behind his time away, clearing up rumours that it was because his mother disagreed with his music. Here's what he had to say:

Motherfuckers think that my mom heard a song and was like, No, I’m not fucking with this song. I was fucking up. Outside of music, music aside from everything, I was fucking up."

The entirety of the ten-minute video is available to watch above (via The Fader). As well, you can watch the ten-minute video for "Oldie," the closing track on the just released OF Tape Vol. 2, after the jump. OF Tape Vol. 2 is out now.

[Interview] Breton Singer Roman Rappak Details Debut Album, Speaks In Multimedia Languages

photo credit: The Fader

What started as a simple solution to showcase their short films in a unique way quickly turned into what we listen to, watch and experience as London five-piece Breton. Lead singer Roman Rappak was kind enough to take a few minutes to duck into another section of their abandoned bank turned studio and home known as BretonLABS to chat with Some Kind of Awesome as he and his bandmates were making their final preparations before heading to Austin, TX for a week's worth of shows at SXSW and their first headlining performance at Mercury Lounge in New York City. With their debut full length Other People's Problems hitting shelves in the UK next week on March 26th and April 3rd in the US, Rappak brought me up to speed on the band from initial idea to present, complete with his experience recording in Iceland at Sundlaugin Studio - Sigur Ros' recording studio that was converted from an old 1930's swimming pool.

Below is our conversation from the Thursday before SXSW.

SKOA_KIBBE: Let's start with the basics. How did Breton come about?

BRETON_ROMAN: Oh. Wait a second somebody just decided to start playing drums. Great. I'm gonna go into a different room than this. Give me just one second.

KIBBE: Sure. Don't sweat it. Take your time.

ROMAN: *sighs*

KIBBE: I take it you're in the labs right now?

ROMAN: Yeah I am. Two of them just decided that one was going to play drums and one was going to learn a bass line which is really great and fun and creative except for the fact that as soon as you want to talk to someone on the phone you basically have to go on the roof.

KIBBE: Ah.

ROMAN: Okay. Here. So basically I was at art school studying sound design and Adam was at Goldsmiths down the road and we were putting on short films and struggling to find a place to show them. In London the short film circuit is really tough to get into. It's tough because everything has to have release forms and you have to get nominated and shortlisted and then after all that you have to have your film screened in a small venue where you have to sit through 20 other films just to see your own. So we just thought it'd be kind of cool to try to put them on at gigs by playing the soundtrack live. We ended up getting a few people down playing some shows like that and then fanzines and blogs and stuff came out and we decided that we should put out some records because people wanted to buy the recording because they were mostly live at that point.

KIBBE: Are you guys a total collaborative effort or do certain people head up certain aspects?

ROMAN: We all sort of have our own thing that we kind of focus in on, like I do most of the production and the songwriting. Then we move it from the studio into the live room which changes everything and it means everyone has to kind of adapt it to make it work in a live setting. 'Cause obviously with an electronic band you kind of have to make it cool when you want humans to play it. For example, I had this really good idea when we were a bit drunk at 3 in the morning and decided to put in a 20-piece orchestra into a track but how are we gonna play that in a pizza shop at SXSW?

KIBBE: You guys are a very multimedia heavy band. How do you maintain a balance between your visuals and the music so one doesn't cancel the other out?

ROMAN: I guess in a way I quite like there to be an imbalance sometimes. I like the idea of the visuals being so strong that they take everyone's attention away from the music and then sometimes the music being so great that people forget that the visuals are even there. I think that's cool because a band has to sort of offer a lot these days for a live gig just because it's not like you're gonna say to people, "Hey buy this record. Here's some vinyl, this, that, and the other" and then just go and sit in a studio until someone says "Write another album", you know? Shows have to be everything. We've been playing a lot of shows in France recently and a lot of fans there have become really obsessed about what the films mean, like REALLY obsessed. When they watch it I try to not get too involved in what their interpretations are just because I think it's really exciting for someone else to read their own stuff into it. I like there to be a bit of a struggle for the visuals to get your attention and for the music to kind of compete with it as well.

KIBBE: If you could control someone's first time experiencing Breton, do you have a particular preference on how that should go?

ROMAN: Like I was saying about how people have their own interpretations for the films and lyrics, the way that they enjoy the band or the way that they absorb what we do, I think everyone has their own unique relationship with the music. Not just with our band but with all music. Things that one album says to me will not necessarily do the same things for you. I think that's the thing about music that I really love. There's something so personal about it. Even if people argue that "this blog told you to listen to this band. This bit of PR got you to try this band" I think that you still have the most personal relationship and that it reminds you of your own things. So I think which ever way someone is introduced to us that's part of what's exciting about it. Whether it's a massive airplane hanger in France like we played a few months back or like this weird exhibition hall that we'll be playing in Manchester in about 2-3 weeks. I think it's not up to us to force ourselves on anyone. Any way that they enjoy it is cool with us.

KIBBE: I saw in another interview that you think that bands nowadays have the tendency to overshare and that it's sort of ruining the element of mystery in music. Do you think that social media is hindering fans from getting the proper music experience? What does Breton do to keep yourselves mysterious without practically hiding yourselves away in one of your valts?

ROMAN: Shit did I really say that? It's always scary when someone's done their research.

KIBBE: I mean I could have played stupid and just asked you generic questions.

ROMAN:No it's cool. Actually, I don't know how quotes work, am I allowed to amend quotes?

KIBBE: Haha. Sure.

ROMAN: Okay. The thing is for any deeply held beliefs and philosophies that I have is I often change my mind. *laughs* The bit about that [quote] that I'd love to amend is I don't think that it's destroying the mystery of the band but I do think it shifts the focus a little bit away . . . There was this weird transition in the Myspace era where people were my friends on major [labels] were being told by big suited record dudes (which was really contradictory to the fact that this is massive PR functioning company that is a record label), "What you really need to do is if you like egg sandwiches you gotta tweet that you like egg sandwiches. If you like putting on blue socks the fans need to know that you're wearing blue socks." and I think that there was a lot of overkill about that at one point. I think that our response to that, because by definition if you try to maintain a layer of mystery it's not mysterious, you know? It's the lack of trying to do things like [trying to be mysterious] that makes things interesting. Our angle on it: people are much too clever and are much too able to use tools like Google to find things out. Like if you really want to know what color socks that the guys in Mount Kimbe have they can find that stuff out. Or if you want to find out if ASAP Rocky likes egg sandwiches then that information is there. So there's not really any point in them telling you all about it… Making a website where it's like "Follow us on Twitter and download this and here's us in the studio doing this" feels a little bit dated. I dunno. It feels a bit MySpacey to do all that.

KIBBE: I know when I was doing my research and I came to your website (which is just a video looping) I was like "Okayyy this all looks cool but there's no information here. *laughs* Time to look somewhere else" and it was really kind of refreshing to have to really dig to know more about it.

ROMAN: Yeah it kind of weeds out a lot of people that are like, I dunno. I did this week of interviews in Europe just ahead of the album coming out [on March 26th in the UK] and there was like two really different types of journalists I kind of found… there's some journalists like you who've done research and have got questions that are interesting and then you've got journalists who are like, "I saw here that you said your favorite color was blue, so what's your second favorite color?" or just like the most mindless kinds of questions. People don't really wanna know that surely. Like people can research, not only journalists.

KIBBE: I don't know. I think for those kinds of journalists there are fans who choose a level of fandom where you choose to align yourself with a band so much that you want to know the little nitty gritty details about them and things like that.

ROMAN: Yeah of course. I wouldn't wanna say, "People are allowed to know this and should ask this" I just know that from my personal experience about what I like to about the bands and filmmakers that I like and it's mostly in response to that question about, you know, Is the internet suffering from the death of this kind of mystery that we used to be? I think that there's always gonna be something new that you'll want to find out about [a band or something]. Just having access to that kind of information doesn't necessarily mean that everyone goes and gets it, I suppose.

KIBBE: You mentioned your new album, Other People's Problems. What kind of process went into that? What kind of things inspired you guys? Was everything recorded in BretonLABS?

ROMAN: Everything started out in little sketches and stuff. We had loads of little ideas that just begun as nothing and I tried to record them as well as I could here and then we made a version of the album which was about fifteen songs chosen from about 120 little ideas or full songs and then we settled on a narrative for the album, like "this would be a cool song to introduce the band with" . . . and then we listened to it and it was like…  i don't know. It sounded really claustrophobic and a bit cold and brittle. I think it was because we had been staying in the same building for like 4 months. It felt like it would come off as an [inside] joke like it wouldn't make sense to anyone else. So Alex from our label said, "Why don't I ask Sigur Ros if you can go to their studio and record in their studio and use all of their stuff and see what it does to the music?" So at first we were like, "Well we obviously think Sigur Ros is amazing and we love all of their music and stuff," but you listen to [the demo version Other People's Problems] this like, really aggressive electronic and sort of punk album (which is kind of how I heard it, whether it is or not is a completely different phone conversation) and we thought, "actually it would be cool to take it to the total opposite of how it started". [The album] starts off in London which was all grey and miserable in this broken down old building that we kind of live and work in. At that time of year Iceland is in 24 hour daylight and the air is super clean and there's volcanic mountains and lakes and horses and waterfalls. Sigur Ros' studio is a converted swimming pool with oak panel everything and every instrument you touch sounds beautiful and sounds like a Sigur Ros song. So we thought it would be really cool to put it through that sort of filter, take off a lot of the sharp edges, and actually make it an album that you don't have to be in London in 2012 to understand that's actually a bit more universal. We can talk about it more when it comes out if it worked or if people are just like "no that sounds really London and really 2012" *laughs.

KIBBE: I don't know if I'd call it London-y but I guess not living in London I don't really know what a London album is supposed to sound like, or I guess what it sounds like to you.

ROMAN: Cool. That's perfect. You're the perfect test case then.

KIBBE: Yeah I mean, it resonates really well here in Brooklyn so I think you're okay.

ROMAN: Really? Does it? That's amazing.

KIBBE: Yeah I can even picture the venue where I'd have you guys play here in Brooklyn and it fitting very well.

ROMAN: Amazing. That's like the best thing I've heard all day. Totally cheered me up.

KIBBE: Aww.

ROMAN: 'Cause no one knows how the fuck it's gonna work, you know? Like no one knows if it's gonna make sense to anyone even outside of this building.

KIBBE: Yeah true.

ROMAN: The weird thing about an album (and I never realized this) but I always thought that you make an albm and then you go "3-2-1" and then everyone listens to it and goes, "I like it" or "It sucks". But what actually happens is this really slow process where you play it for your band mates and you listen to finished bit and then you play it to your label and then they send it off to journalists. And you're like three months down the line and the first people who've heard it that you don't know are journalists who are like obviously by nature are like, inquisitive and critical. So it's like a really really nerve-wracking process. Like I always thought, you know, people who just listen to music would hear it first but the first people who hear it are people who write about music. It's been really interesting to see people's reactions.

KIBBE: Yeah, I can't remember where I was but I was about two tracks in on the album and I was like, "Yeah, we need to do something for this in the US" so I hit up [the guy who handles their press in the US]

ROMAN: Oh amazing. Yeah I'm really excited about just people hearing it, really. Touring and everything is so much fun and playing these shows and meeting new people is going to be amazing. . . .  It's strange, I've never worked on anything this long or as solidly and then waited this long [to see what happens].

KIBBE: Okay. I've started doing this kind of cheesy finish this sentence but sometimes it helps open up the conversation more. Finish this sentence: "Breton writes songs about…"

ROMAN: What would happen to you if you were in a room surrounded by synths and drums and lots of records and had no way of talking to anyone. I don't know if that counts.

KIBBE: No it definitely counts. Would you say that because you utilize so many different multimedia elements that it's kind of your own way of communication?

ROMAN: Yeah totally. I kind of see these things as different ways of communicating (voice trails off)… it's so difficult to talk about these kinds of things without sounding like a wanker.

KIBBE: *laughs*

ROMAN: You know what I mean?

KIBBE: Yup.

ROMAN: As soon as you start talking you sound like an art school essay, but actually it's trying to do something really simple.There's all these tools at everyone's disposal, like even moreso now whether you're a painter or a photographer or a journalist or whatever. There are some things that you can express in an article that you can't express in a song and there are some things in a song that you could never do in a photo. I guess the only way you can really totally express yourself properly is just by using all of these different "languages".

KIBBE: "Languages". I like that.

ROMAN: Yeah? Okay good I thought I'd lost you in a sea of babble.

KIBBE: Haha. Not quite.

ROMAN: I should send you a photo of where I'm standing. It's actually a very calm bit of the building. Never stood here before.

KIBBE: Let's move onto that. Tell me about Breton LABS. Are you the only people that exclusively operate out of there or are there a lot of people coming and going? What's a typical day like in Breton LABS?

ROMAN: Today's a good typical day because basically everyone is working 7 times as hard because everyone's going, "SHIT! We're going to Texas [for SXSW]" Like one of the guys in the band has never been to America .

KIBBE: Awww

ROMAN: Yeah and they're all super excited but also we play our first show 2 hours after we come off the plane [in Austin] so they're like "Shit. We better get it together". So there's one room at the moment where our bass player is re-learning/triple learning bass lines and then our drummer has headphones on and I think… you know I think he's just listening to an MP3 right now. He's not really doing anything but he looks like he's working really hard. *we both laugh* But yeah, a typical day here people just come and go. At one point [everyone in the band] all lived here at different points but it's just been a really cold winter so they all magically acquire girlfriends who've got warm houses and they all very mysteriously disappear and I'm left sitting in a big pile of synths and drums hoping no one breaks in. We live in one bit of the building [an abandoned bank] and there's another part of the building where there's an editor, script writer, another film maker and a couple of other people. It's like a magnet in a way because studio space is so expensive [in London]. We kind of attract a lot of photographers and film makers and other musicians just because we're quite lucky to have this space. It's really only down to luck that we got it so we figure jealously guarding it and not letting anyone in it would be stupid and it's actually worked out really well because we've met some amazing photographers and film makers and musicians just because we've got this space that they can work around in here. We don't ask them for any money, we just use it as a way of meeting new people.

KIBBE: That's really cool. I've never been to London but you just paint a nice enough picture to make me want to get on the next plane over to check the whole city out.

ROMAN: Ha. Yeah cool. Well come to London but just come to this part of it. There are a lot of shit places.

KIBBE: Oh really?

ROMAN: In fact just over the road is pretty shit. I'm looking over there now and there's a sushi place next to a lobster place next to a chip shop.

KIBBE: I hear sushi in London, well, the UK in general is pretty terible.

ROMAN: Yeah it's pretty crap.

KIBBE: Probably just spoiled here.

ROMAN: Yeah, I think it's probably more that America has just reduced it to a complete art form so whenever you go anywhere else it's just like, "yeah this is just sub par sushi". It's pretty hit and miss here to be honest. There are good restaurants but like if you go to "your average sushi place" it's rubbish.

KIBBE: Right on. Well good luck on your shows at SXSW. I'll be sure to grab you at the Mercury Lounge show and say hi.

ROMAN: Cool please do. Take care.

Catch Breton live on tour starting Wednesday night at Mercury Lounge in NYC (which you can win tickets for still) or at their many dates in Europe starting on Saturday, March 24th.

Other People's Problems is out March 26th in the UK and April 3rd in the US. Pre-order it on FatCat. The band also just released their next single, "Interference" which you can grab on iTunes.

[Interview] Hawk Eyes Talk New Album 'Ideas', Touring and Being Hit With an iPhone 4!

Following the release of their 2010 album Modern Bodies, I had a chance to catch up with Leeds' Hawk Eyes as they prepare to release their new album, Ideas, next month on the 26th of March. We had a chance to talk about the new album, their influences and some weird goings on in a hotel when they signed a Japanese deal alongside a Christmas carol singing choir. So yeah, why not make the jump for the interview and delve a little deeper into the minds of four young gents from Leeds making one hell of a lot of noise.

So you're about to release Ideas and from what I've heard it is top draw so firstly congratulations. Was the approach to this album any different from Modern Bodies?

Rob: Thank you very much. The attitude we had towards the music was slightly different, we didn't really have an idea or a plan for Modern Bodies it was just the songs we came up with, all the songs on that album are pretty full on with chugging guitars and screaming vocals. I specifically didn't want to come up with another album of purely chugging guitars, we wanted to make something with more variety.

Paul: Personally i was very keen to show that we can do something more than Modern Bodies; that album really stemmed from a place we once were, and we had moved on by the time it came to putting Ideas together.

Ryan: I guess the general approach was to progress past Modern Bodies and not repeat ourselves.  We'd been playing the Modern Bodies material for a long time and had probably slightly worn ourselves out on it.  We were ready for a fresh approach and keen to try out a lot of different things.

This album seems to be a different sound for you guys, a growth if you will, was this a conscious decision or was it a natural progression? It sound like a continuation of what was happening on the Mindhammers EP to me..

Rob: Its funny you should say that as they were actually written the opposite way around, the album came first, then the Mindhammers EP! I think it was a bit of both. The music everyone was writing wasn't like Modern Bodies but we didn't force this decision it did seem to come quite naturally.

Paul: It was quite arduous writing and recording Ideas, the Mindhammers EP felt like a release valve, we just thrashed it out and recorded it. It was very cathartic. 

Ryan: Yeah, it was like a cleansing process, kind of wiping the slate clean.  The album took a long time to write and record with some stumbling blocks along the way.  All told, it probably took a good year if not longer to put together. Mindhammers was written and recorded in two months.  We needed that after the long and drawn out process of the album to prove to ourselves we could do it. 

Staying with that Kudos to Paul who has some lungs on him! Did that addition of his use of the singing voice more play a part in the writing process?

Rob: Vocals always come last when we write music, there we're a few points where we purposely left 'space' or Paul would suggest parts for the vocals he had in mind but they didn't get realised until we went to the studio.

Paul: Thanks,  i was unsure about using a lot of that style on Modern Bodies, it wouldn't have been right, but this time it just felt like it was and everyone seems happy with how its turned out. 

Ryan: A small part, as Rob says most of the vocals were realised after the music, but there where always 'ideas' floating around that could of influenced the structures of songs or composition of parts. Mostly the music came first and I think that Paul was able to diversify a lot more vocally because of the variation / progression of style in the music since Modern Bodies.

After catching you at your Manchester date with Turbowolf and The JCQ last year, you've also played a few shows with Ginger and Friends late last year. Have you been getting major love from one specific city on your travels and what's your favourite/most memorable gig to date and why?

Rob: London gigs always seem to be pretty good, in terms of sheer volume of people Leeds Festival 2 years ago was insane.

Ryan: Either that or Ginger's birthday gig in London last year.  We weren't even properly playing but he asked us to do a few songs with him.  Two of our own and a Helmet cover.  The revolving cast of musicians playing with him over the whole gig was ridiculous.  I've never been involved with anything like that before and probably never will.

Any weird/wonderful tour stories to share with us?

Rob: I wish I could say the gig that Eddie Van Halen and John Petrucci turned up, unfortunately I can't. 

Paul: We signed a Japanese deal in a hotel lobby whilst a choir sang Christmas Carols and someone threw an iphone 4 at Rob.  That was a normal moment. 

Ryan: That was  a bit surreal, yeah! What happens on tour, stays on tour, and is actually really boring and non scandalous.  Lots of coffee and sneaking into travel lodges under the dark of night.  

For people who haven't heard you and are new fans, how would you describe your new album and the sound it has undertaken in just 4 words?

Rob: Songs with massive riffs

Paul: The way we wanted 

Ryan: Music, guitars, fully rocking.

What major influences do you have as a band? Individually or on the whole, are you all into similar stuff are you all fighting over which CD will be on the vans stereo when on the road?

Rob: There are bands we all like for example: Toto, Dillinger Escape Plan, Michael Jackson, Pantera and Meshuggah however generally we all listen to very different music/bands. This is a healthy thing for our band, we all bring different approaches to music. Lets just say its not the easiest thing to do a 9 hour drive whilst listening to constantly harsh/heavy music.

Paul: Erasure, Melvins, Enya and The Urban Cookie Collective

Ryan: For noisy stuff, bands like Shellac, Unsane, Today is the Day, Dysrhythmia, Botch.  Anything noisy and weird really. Otherwsie Miles Davis, Otis Redding, Fleetwood Mac, Contemporary pop music etc.  Collectively we can always find things to listen to.  A lot of 80's power ballads and hard rock seems to be a uniting factor

With Ideas you've changed labels and also gone down the Pledge Music route to involve fans, and I must say, offer up some pretty cool little one offs. What made you guys go down this road with album number 2?

Rob: We wanted to find a way to say thank you to anyone who Pre-Ordered the new album, Pledge seemed an idea way to do this. We could offer people Demos, Live Videos and anything else we could think of. We are massively grateful to anyone who takes the time to do something like ordering our album.

Ryan: Like Rob says it was a way to interact closer with the fans who wanted to get involved from the pre order stage.  It was quite humbling to have so many people do so as soon as it was announced. If any pledgers are reading this, thank you very much!

Once Ideas is released in March do you plan to take it on the road and hit up some festivals over the summer to support it?

Rob: We have 2 release shows in March in Leeds and London, we are currently in process of sorting out tours/festivals/one offs. Watch this space, or rather watch our website!

Ryan: The plans always there to promote our releases on the road. Like Rob says we're working things out at the minute and will have more of an idea nearer the release so keep your eyes open.  Right now we have around 8 shows booked till summer, including the release shows, we'll be announcing the rest of these soon.  

From the new album for me, "You Deserve A Medal" is a personal favourite. That track slays. The riffs on this album just continue to get better and better with every listen. What's your favourite and in a live situation do you all have a personal favourite to play? Or is it a different track on a nightly basis?

Rob: I don't have 1 favourite but I'm really pleased with how "Hollywood Sweatshop" and "Headstrung" came together.

Paul: Yeah, I really like "Headstrung", I didn't like having to learn to play it however! My favourite (and possibly the most straightforward) to play is "You Deserve A Medal". Fast and to the point.

Ryan: "Hollywood Sweatshop" is the most accomplished song on the album for me.  Really challenging to play and its a bit of a monster in the way its put together.  I do like all the tracks that made the album though, other standouts for me are "Skyspinners", "Headstrung", "You Deserve a Medal" and "Bees".  I think we'll enjoy playing "You deserve a medal" and "Yes Have Some" live. 

Are there any bands you guys are personally loving right now that you can turn us onto that we might have missed. Leeds bands or someone from far, far away maybe!?

Rob: Shallows, These Monsters, Trieste, Led Zeppelin, Astrohenge, Liquid Tension Experiment.

Ryan: Blacklisters, Mother Destroyer, Dingus Khan, KEN mode, That Fucking Tank, Hookworms  

Lastly, good luck with the new album, it's a goodie, and I hope to see you guys again soon! Cheers.

Rob: Thank you, thank you, thank you

Paul: What he said. 

Ryan: Thanks!

What a truly lovely bunch of gents! Their album Ideas is released on March 26th and it is truly a riff filled, face shredding album that is sure to take them onto greater things. We'll be keeping a close eye on them and inform you of those cheekily hinted 8 tour dates coming up. You can pre-order their album over here and whilst we we have your attention, give their new video for "Skyspinners" a watch below.

[Interview] Rachael Yamagata Talks Dream Collaborations, Scary Movies, and Project Runway

In the mid-Nineties, singer-songwriter Rachael Yamagata began her career in the music industry as part of the Chicago-based group Bumpus. After six years or touring and recording with the band, the Arlington, Virgia-born artist left the group to begin her solo career. As a solo artist, she has released four EPs, as well as three studio albums since her solo debut in 2003, including her third studio album, Chesapeake, which was released last October. Her recently released third LP was preceded by two outstanding studio efforts, the two-disc Elephants... Teeth Sinking Into Heart and her debut album Happenstance, all of which have taken the solo artist from a back up vocalist in Bumpus to a singer-songwriter icon.

Just before her November 21st performance at The Media Club in Vancouver, B.C., I had the chance to interview Rachael Yamagata, along with the help of my friend Samantha. The three of us discussed a number of topics, from Rachael's influences, to her cats, to all our opinions on scary movies, and to Samantha and Rachael's love for the TV show Project Runway. You can listen to our 45-minute audio interview below.

Rachael Yamagata Interview by Some Kind of Awesome  

[Interview] Aloe Blacc Talks Beginnings, European Tours, and The Differences Between North America and Europe

From his early work in the mid-90s, to his current solo career, soul singer Aloe Blacc has come a long way in the world of hip hop. Starting his career working alongside DJ Exile as the duo EMANON, Blacc continued to expand, working with various artists, including the Jazz Liberatorz and producer and emcee OHNO, who was signed on Stones Throw Records. The result: Blacc was signed to Stones Throw Records, and from there, the singer took his career to a whole new level. His debut solo album, Shine Through, was released in 2006, and was followed by the runaway success of his sophomore album Good Things and its lead single "I Need a Dollar." After that, Blacc's solo career took off, and his name has become well known throughout the music industry, and he has no intention to slow down anytime soon.

I recently caught up with Mr. Blacc to chat about everything from his beginnings in the music industry, the making of both his studio albums, Shine Through and Good Things, touring, the differences between Europe and North America, and what we can expect from him in the future. You can check out our interview after the jump.

Some Kind of Awesome: You began your career in 1995 working alongside producer Exile as hip-hop duo EMANON. Tell me about the early days of your career, from your work with Exile, to your work with the Jazz Liberatorz.

Aloe Blacc: I started out in the music business as an emcee making songs for fun with my friend DJ Exile. It was really just a hobby for me because my main focus was school and getting good grades, which paid off because I ended up receiving a full-tuition academic scholarship to a private university. Exile and I would make mixtapes that eventually made their way around the world, which is similar to how music travels today, but it was a bit slower without the speed of the internet. When I graduated from university, I went on a European tour and met producer/emcee OHNO, who was on Stones Throw Records.  During this tour I also met the Jazz Liberatorz in Paris and recorded "What's Real." After the tour, OHNO and I recorded an album together and the label heard the music.  They liked the songs on which I was singing best and asked me to record as a vocalist, so I delivered Shine Through, which is a mix of genres but mainly songs on which I'm singing.

SKoA: In 2005, you signed with Stones Throw Records and began a solo career, subsequently releasing your first solo LP, Shine Through, the next year. What were your initial feelings upon being signed? And what were your reasons for beginning a solo career?

AB: I felt really lucky and blessed to have the opportunity to be on this label. As a hip hop artist you’re either going to do the major label thing or you’re going to do the indie label thing and if it’s an indie label then you want to be with the best. As a solo artist, I wanted to explore different styles and genres that I didn't feel were available to hip hop or appreciated by my previous audience. I think the genre exploration on Shine Through was a great introduction to my solo career. It was almost like the table of contents to my future; it showcased soul, salsa, dancehall, hip hop, experimental, dance, and other styles. The breadth of experience in many styles has been a nice education in creating the perfect musical puzzle. 

SKoA: Prior to and after the release of Shine Through, you continued to tour and record as part of EMANON, all the while working on your solo career. Are there certain aspects of your solo career that you find to be better or more exhilarating than working with Exile and vice versa?

AB: I just enjoy making music. It's fun with Exile and it's fun as a solo artists as well as working with other musicians who are talented and creative. Now that I have learned more about song writing and performing, there is a lot I can bring back to the work Exile and I do as EMANON to improve our sound and presentation.

SKoA: Your single “I Need a Dollar” served as a major stepping-stone for you in terms of being brought into mainstream attention and focus. How did you react initially to the attention that the single brought?

AB: It feels like poetic justice to be receiving attention for my music after so many years. The success of "I Need a Dollar" clearly indicates how people are hungry for good music if they can have a chance to hear it. Success for me is being able to eat and pay rent and that’s all I need. That’s just life in general. When it comes to making music, success to me is making a really good song that everybody likes. That’s an important thing; I make music for me initially, but after it is released, I want people to like it.

SKoA: Good Things, your second studio album, was released in 2010. Describe the recording process to me? How did it differ from the recording of your first solo album, or even the recording work you’ve done for EMANON?

AB: I went to New York to write and record songs with Truth & Soul and we finished the album in a few weeks. It was a really smooth process. The producers are known for creating an old soul vibe, so I was aware that the songs we would make together would sound like they were from a different time. We had jamming sessions and I wrote songs to the music we created. Some of the songs were ideas I have had for many years. The vision was to make an album that would be timeless and respected by the great soul musicians and artists of the past and all contemporary fans of good music. The process for many of the songs was not much different from how I create with Exile for EMANON because I often just bring lyrics to beats he has already created.  Other times I write new lyrics to beats that inspire me.

SKoA: In the wake of Good Things, a greater number of people knew your name and the album itself was received very positively. How did you feel regarding fan and critical reception of the album? And is there anything you would have done differently, or were you happy with the finished product?

AB: I never expected the album to receive such attention, but I am very pleased with the way things have turned out. I'm very used to working independently, and in the future I prefer to write, record, and produce songs on my own. It would be nice to make a "director's cut" of my album and then offer it to other producers to re-work the songs for an alternative or "editor's cut" and see which one fans like best. With Good Things, the live show is the best way to see how I would have done things differently, but songs always need a chance to grow and the stage is the best place for this.

SKoA: In support of Good Things, you’ve been touring extensively. What are your favourite aspects of touring, or even your least favourite? And, do you have any moments (whether it was a specific show or someone you met) that stand out above the rest?

AB: The best part about touring is seeing many new fans and often seeing the same fans return to shows. I enjoy sharing the music in different ways, and adding new songs to the set to create a different feel and surprises for my audiences. The hardest thing is not having much comfort on the road. Sometimes I would just like to be at home sleeping for a week. The best experiences so far have been playing on television with my band, The Grand Scheme, and also meeting Quincy Jones and Paul McCartney.

SKoA: You’re currently on tour in Europe, and, at the beginning of December, you’ll be taking off to do your UK tour. Is there something that excites you about the UK/European fans more so than your North American fans? And, what aspects of performing Europe do you find to be different, whether good or bad, than performing in North America?

AB: I happen to have many more European fans than back at home right now because the album has had more success in Europe thanks to the help of the major labels who licensed the music. I'm looking forward to re-launching the album in the US and touring at home extensively. The major difference between touring in Europe and the U.S. is the hospitality. Venues in Europe are much better at welcoming artists and taking care of them.

SKoA: Following in the wake of your tour schedule, what are your plans for the future? Will you be returning to the studio to work on a new EP or perhaps even a follow-up to Good Things, or will you continue to tour?

AB: I'm always writing and I making demos so I hope to get into the studio soon. I will try to take a break for one month to just incubate and let new ideas develop before heading back out on the road, but I'm also planning a series of special concerts with a string quintet where I sing selections from Good Things as well as classic hit songs and standards.

SKoA: One last question. Tell me one thing about yourself that you don’t think any of your fans know, whether it’s an embarrassing memory, an odd habit, a favourite type of food, or anything you can think of.

AB: I'm pretty sure my fans don't know that I'm an aspiring actor, and am looking forward to telling stories in front of the camera instead of just on stage as a singer. I'm hoping to land rolls in films about important people in history or important subjects that we should give our attention to today.

[Interview] Nick Millhiser of Holy Ghost! Talks Band Beginnings, Touring, and Influential People

DFA electropop duo Holy Ghost! have had an interesting and eventful history, to say the least. The duo, consisting of New York natives Alex Frankel and Nick Millhiser, found their beginnings when they joined the DFA Records family ten years ago as members of the hip hop group Automato. After the group disbanded, the pair continued to make music, and, instead of continuing the path of hip hop, they veered more towards a vocal-based, electropop sound. From there, Holy Ghost! was born. Continuing on under the DFA label, the pair have released an EP, an amazing self-titled debut LP, and enough remixes to be combined into their own album entirely. From touring alongside their DFA cohort James Murphy and his famed outfit LCD Soundsystem, to opening for Cut Copy and Chromeo, to headlinging their first tour this year, Millhiser and Frankel have a lot to be proud of.

As the duo wraps up their North American headlining tour, which I had the chance to attend just one week ago, Nick Millhiser took the time to answer a number of questions that have been on my mind as of late. You can read our interview after the jump. As well, if you haven't hear the dup's latest single titled "I Wanted To Tell Her," head over to Green Label Sound's official website to download the song for free.

Some Kind of Awesome:

Your debut single, “Hold On,” was released in late 2007, and the two of you continued to work on smaller projects, such as remixes of Cut Copy and MGMT, as well as releasing your second single “I Will Come Back.” You also released a video for that single which was a shot-for-shot remake of the video for New Order’s “Confusion.” Why did you decide to do a shot-for-shot remake of that video? And, with New Order being a clear influence, what other bands or songs have you drawn on when making music as Holy Ghost!?

Nick Millhiser: Almost everything that Alex and I do starts with something else as a reference.  Most often we start by saying "okay, let's do something KIND OF like this..." and we will start with an idea, or an image and build off it. Less often, but sometimes, when we really want to make it clear that we are paying homage to something, we just say "Okay, let's do something EXACTLY like this." With the "I Will Come Back" video we wanted it to be totally clear that we were paying tribute to New Order because the song itself was kind of an homage to them as well. So we just did our best to copy it shot by shot.

Musically, "Do It Again" and "Some Children" both kind of ape the groove from Herb Albert's "Rise"/Biggie's "Hypnotize." The 16th note drum and synth intro to "It's Not Over" was us trying to do something that sounded like this Serge Santiago edit we had been playing out in our DJ sets a lot at the time. With "Slow Motion," we just copied Don Ray's "Got To Have Lovin'" note for note.  So, yeah, we reference stuff all the time.  Sometimes it's pretty subtle, or maybe only something that we can hear, and sometimes it's to the point of "sampling" or blatantly copying something else.  

SKoA: You’re Static on the Wire EP was released in mid-2010 and was followed by the long-awaited release of your debut, self-titled LP in April of this year. What was the recording process like for the EP the album? Are you both pleased with how fans and critics have received your debut album?

NM: It was a long process, but I don't think we could have done it any other way as there was a significant learning curve involved with making the first LP; we did so much of it ourselves and we had to learn to how to work in a studio. That's part of the reason why we took on so many remixes during that time. Remixes were a great excuse to mess around and experiment in the studio and we learned a lot about producing and especially engineering and mixing in the process.

As far as the reaction goes I guess I'm happy. I don't read reviews. I know that something that everyone says but in my case it's totally true. So, with the exception of the Pitchfork one, I've kind of been blissfully unaware of the critical reaction. I care a lot more about what music fans think and they seem to like it which is great. When the album came out I was doubtful that we would get to do our own headlining tour for this LP, but here we are. It's very cool and very exciting.

SKoA: In support of the album, you’ve been touring a significant amount. What are your favourite, and least favourite, aspects of touring? Do you prefer touring alongside fellow label mates, such as LCD Soundsystem, or headlining with the support of bands like Jessica 6 and Midnight Magic?

NM: Doing our headlining tour has been amazing. Just having the means to bring the exact personnel and equipment we've always wanted means that we are, for the first time, playing these songs without any compromise. Likewise, being able to soundcheck for two hours a day makes all the difference in the world for a band like us given all the gear we have on stage. Now that LCD has retired I can't think of any band big or small who tours with a backline like this. Portishead maybe. The Beastie Boys when they tour.

That said, doing tours supporting others was a totally necessary step. We learned a lot in the process and there was something kind of nice about playing shows where the pressure really wasn't on us to fill the rooms.  The ability to tour like that for as long as we did allowed us to work out hundreds of kinks which would have been much more embarrassing to work through on a headline tour. And, of course, it's great touring with friends. There are far worse ways to spend your time then traveling around the country with LCD Soundsystem, Chromeo and Cut Copy.  

SKoA: With your touring schedule going through to the end of the month, what are your plans for the future? Are you planning on continuing to tour in the New Year, or will you be working on new material, such as an EP or a new single?

NM: This tour is basically the end of touring for us for a while. We finish this run back in NYC at the end of November and then we get back to work on the second LP, which Alex and I started this past summer.  With any luck we should be done in a few months. We will then be traveling to Australia for the future music festival in March but we are doing that purely for fun, as the festival has given DFA it's own tent to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the label. We couldn't really say no two weeks of festival shows in Australia during the summer with James, Pat, the Rapture, Juan and Marcus. It's gonna be a lot of fun.

SKoA: One last question. The video for “Wait and See” gives off the sense that the two of you have very supportive fathers, begging the question, who have been the most influential people in your lives?

NM: Yes, we both come from very supportive families. And off the top of my head, here's an incomplete list of some important influences I've been thinking about a lot lately...

• James Murphy

• Tim Goldsworthy 

• "Endtroducing..." by DJ Shadow

• "Clues" by Robert Palmer

• "With Sympathy" by Ministry

• "Tango in the Night" by Fleetwood Mac

• Jerry Fuchs

• "Ill Communication" by The Beastie Boys

• George Nelson/Charles & Ray Eames circa the 1950s.

• Mom & Dad

• Alex Frankel

• "Illmatic" by Nas

• John Baldessari

• Juan Maclean 

• "Thriller" by Michael Jackson

• Most anything written and/or produced by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards.

SKoA: And, just because I’m curious, I’ve got one more question. Since the two of you are New York natives, what is the best place to eat in New York City, in your opinions?

NM: Brooklyn Diner, Marlow, Maston Lake, Taco Santana, and Nha Toi.

[Interview] Garbage Lead Singer Shirley Manson Talks Struggle, Loss, Renewal

For six long years, there has been a void in the rock music community. After releasing Bleed Like Me and announcing that they were taking an “indefinite hiatus”, it was hard to believe that we would ever hear from the likes of female-fronted rock outfit Garbage again. While most bands praise being signed to a label as a means of gaining exposure for their music, Garbage lead singer Shirley Manson explained in an interview with Some Kind of Awesome that it was actually all of the “really greedy expectations” and getting caught up in “working to fulfill a corporate fantasy” that caused the massive break. With the band happily shedding their corporate skin and announcing that they will be releasing album number five in Spring 2012, Manson dishes how the break could not have come a better time in her life and how it also gave the band the chance to celebrate their uniqueness.

In 2008, Manson went from “feeling powerless” about the contracts that the band was tied up in to being as she put it, “an almighty powerful robot that got to kill every asshole that she came across” in her role as the liquid-metal Terminator impersonating Catherine Weaver in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.Although the experience for Manson was “absolutely liberating” because she didn’t have to feel any of the pressures or being a lead singer, she noted, “The one thing that I learned on the TV show was that I really missed my band. Really missed making music. Really missed playing."

“When I lost her I was like ‘Oh my god. I have to go back to who I really [am]…’”

This was intensified later that year at the end of November when her mother passed away due to complications of dementia.“When you lose a mother it changes your whole life and changes your outlook on everything,” she said, ”when I lost her I was like 'Oh my god. I have to go back to who I really [am]… I've been a musician since I was 15. I really don't know anything else. I think I felt like I needed to get back there to regroup myself, so I said ‘It’s time to go back and start making music again. It’ll make me feel a bit better' And it did.”

She wasn’t the only one who was feeling a sense of loss that year. As she explained to us, “A lot of crazy shit had started to happen the year that I lost my mother. Friends of mine also lost their six year old child, one of my best friends lost their husbands and was left with an 18 month child and two other kids. It was a really crazy year. It was terrifying. It's like watching your friends get swept up in this cyclone of horror. It definitely propelled me [toward making music again]”. In fact, while performing at the funeral of six-year-old Pablo Castelaz, son of her close friend and Dangerbird Records co-founder Jeff Castelaz she ran into fellow Garbage member and producer extraordinaire Butch Vig. It was there that the two of them started talking about making music again.

According to Manson, recording this new album was actually a pleasant experience this time around, which she partially attributes to the fact that they are free of all of their corporate deals. They’ve had their masters reverted back to them, they are out of their publishing deal. She noted, “For the first time in a long time we have felt no external pressure. We’re free and clear to do whatever we want and how we want to do it. We have no record company A&R douchebag coming into the studio and proffering their opinions. That is amazing.”

It clearly was affecting the overall morale in the studio because she was very outspoken on the subject, adding, “You have no idea how that rains on your parade when a fucking idiot who you don't even want in the room in the first place comes in sits, listens to your music and proffers some opinions upon you know that aren't welcome. But you know you have to be polite so you're kind, you know, tolerant, but you want to take this person and throw their head down the toilet. Not that we have to listen to these people but having that vibe cross into your world all of a sudden it stops anything fun ‘cause all of a sudden you're aware that there's people who have expectations and they want certain things form you and they expect certain things at certain times."

“To be unique in a world that has an infinite sea of music is something that we value.”

Although it’s been six years since their last studio album, Manson isn’t worried about competing with the buzz bands of the week. As she explained, “We’ve looked back after six years of not doing anything and realized that no one was sitting in our seat. We realize that we are unique. For better or worse we make records that don’t sound like anybody else. To be unique in a world that has an infinite sea of music is something that we value. We’re proud of it.”

While Garbage fans far and wide anxiously await signs of studio album number five, which Manson considers to be their “strongest collection of songs” to date, she is looking forward to touring more than anything else. “We just want to go out and play some shows and actually reconnect with something in ourselves,” she said, “it’s not really about record sales or ‘Wow are we gonna get A listed on Radio One in the UK?’ We don’t really give a shit. It would be nice, but we don’t really give a shit.”

Be sure to follow along with us in the coming months for Garbage updates. Garbage is on Twitter and Facebook. You can also see what Shirley Manson is up to on her Facebook page.