BandWagon Magazine - January 2015 by BandWagon Magazine

BandWagon Magazine northern coloradoâ€™s arts & entertainment DECEMBER 2014

Saturday February 21, 2015

Union Colony Civic Center :

from s n io lect les e s ring MisĂŠrab z u t a Fe Les ard of O Wiz r Wars Sta fall Sky re! o &M

6:00pm Art Reception 7:00pm Performance

Buy Tickets

arts.unco.edu/gala #UNCgala

BandWagon Magazine northern colorado’s arts & entertainment DECEMBER 2014

ALBUM REVIEWS

LOCAL SPOTLIGHT SEND SUBMISSIONS TO:

BANDWAGON MAGAZINE

802 9TH ST. GREELEY, CO 80631

OR EDITOR@BANDWAGMAG.COM

DUCHOVNY Crystal Broth

Jed Murphy

BandWagon Magazine

“It’s not about meth,” says Noel Afan Billups, of Greeleybased band Duchovny, regarding their new EP Crystal Broth. “Well, if you want it to be, I mean, sure,” adds Dylan Sonke, the second principal songwriter of the group. Billups and Sonke met during freshmen orientation at the University of Northern Colorado more than three years ago and formed Duchovny soon after. Since then they have been grinding away at their live set with constant gigging and a series of small tours that honed their sound into a psychedelic ethereal dream pop. The record title was inspired by a UNC English professor of the same name, which is equally as weird, but the imagery of “crystal broth” fits the album like a glove. One of the biggest strengths of Crystal Broth is the quality of the production. When it comes to local bands, production is usually the first thing to take the back seat. This time around, the boys in Duchovny hit the nail right on the head with a record that is polished and clean, with a musical intention clearly shown right off the bat. They take chances with the instrumentation, exploring sounds not found in their live set, something many local bands sometimes are not comfortable enough to do. The EP is creative

and ambitious leaving us with what is probably one of the best local releases of 2014. Sonke and Billups tackled Crystal Broth as a recording project, bringing in local rock drummer Dan Granger of Disguise the Silence who adds an extra level of expertise and pacing to the tracks. A majority of the recording was done in their apartment and Frasier Hall of the UNC music school. “We really pissed off our neighbors,” says Billups with a laugh. “It was cool to really experiment with a lot of different spaces, we got some really cool sounds,” says Sonke. When recording the album, the guys decided to record random noises and at one point, they recorded the sound of Billups marinating steak, which made it somewhere in the album. But… in true Greeley band fashion after finally releasing some work of note, part of the original line up moved on to pursue various other life goals and projects. “I guess we’re in limbo but Noel and I are still writing and we’re jamming with a few people,” says Sonke. So Duchovny is far from dead. If anything, it only goes to show the staying power of this band. With another tour planned for the summer and new material being written and recorded regularly, this is a band to be watching for in the new year.

BandWagon Magazine northern colorado’s arts & entertainment DECEMBER 2014

SHE & HIM Classics

Clark M. Lamson

BandWagon Magazine

Nostalgia. One of the more relevant feelings in the age of “10 Things Only 90’s Kids Will Get” listicles. It’s an itch that might be scratched by watching Even Stevens, The Goonies, or old Warner Brother’s cartoons. Or maybe listening to oldies music. The clean cutting guitar of the Beach Boys, the cajoling croon of Frank Sinatra. There’s something in the sound that evokes a warmth for a better time, or at least a different one. Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward make up the duo known as She & Him, a group that has built their music largely on the back catalogs of American music. December marks the release of their newest album Classics, a cover album. If you’re thinking “Really? A cover album this late in their discography?” don’t worry, I thought the same thing. As a group steeped in oldies sounds already, a cover album for their 5th release does seem a bit derivative. A bit phoned in. If you can get past that, the album is in keeping with what we’ve come to expect from the duo: a nostalgically charged collection of tunes, with a Portland hipster twist. Stylistically, the album teeters. On one side, a strippeddown, chilled out version of the familiar sound. Intimate and sexy and shiny. On the other, the songs feel a bit stale. Even though we’ve never heard these songs done by them, it certainly feels like it sometimes. Luckily, it by and large tends to teeter more frequently in the former. “Stars Fell on Alabama,” and “Oh No, Not My Baby” are the first two tracks on the album put the album’s thesis in big, bold letters. As opposed to earlier work by She

& Him, Classics aims to provide a less showy version of the glittery, candy-coating we’re used to. Songs like “She” or “Teach Me Tonight” continue this theme, and presents a She & Him less concerned with making every song fun and catchy, but more with creating a mood. At it’s best, its something you might hear walking by a jazz bar in New York. The album is a drizzly sonic snapshot of a city noir, full of broken hearts and bartenders constantly polishing the bar top. Whether for good or bad, one thing the album does superbly is get me listening to the originals, or at least the other versions. Here’s a small selection of the names that have also covered these tracks: Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield, Ella Fitzgerald, Jimmy Buffett, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong. John Coltrane,

Chet Baker, Willy Nelson, Amy Winehouse, Elvis Presley, and Frank Sinatra. This represents only a small selection of the full list, and represents titans of yesterday’s music industry. These are their songs, their stories. As She & Him leaves their mark on these tracks, they do so with creative growth and love for the material close in mind. Classics is a love letter to nostalgia.

BandWagon Magazine northern colorado’s arts & entertainment DECEMBER 2014

J. COLE

2014 Forest Hills Drive Clark M. Lamson

BandWagon Magazine Second only to folk music, hiphop is the paramount storytelling genre of all time. It builds on the abilities of funk and blues, two great predecessors. Most typically, we see it used as a poppy-hit-machine, though at its most realized, hip-hop is an outlet for the rage of the parts of society who often find themselves oppressed. While hip-hop stars are most often characterized as hyper-

aggressive chauvinists, when used correctly the genre allows them to rise above and to tell their stories. Born in Germany and raised in North Carolina, J. Cole grew up in a house with a folk-hippie mother and a hardcore gangsta rap loving father. As such, his sounds are blended and nuanced. His new album, 2014 Forest Hills Drive, is without a shadow of a doubt, his best release yet. This is the most sensitive we have seen the J. Cole character to date. He’s frightened at the state of hip-hop and the world he lives in. The album

is a call to action that is partially piggybacked from Jay-Z’s Magna Carta... Holy Grail; “We need to write the new rules.” Four tracks in, “03’ Adolescence” represents the theme of reflection that runs through the album. In the song, Cole sits with an old friend and asks how he might break into the supply game. But rather than obliging, the friend denies his request, and ultimately is the one who convinces Cole to use the scholarships he’s been given to go to school: “You bout to go get a degree, I’ma be stuck with two choices \ Either graduate to weight or selling number two.” While this song isn’t outright happy, it possesses an optimism and general positivity not usually seen in hip-hop music. The last two songs on the album, “Love Yourz” and “Note to Self” are perfectly placed. They leave the listener with an enveloping feeling of hope without downplaying the hardships discussed earlier. Songs like this have been heard from

hip-hop artists in the past, such as Mackelmore and Watsky, but they take an entirely new meaning when written and performed by an artist who doesn’t come from a place of privilege. No matter which performer, there are certain exceptions one makes when putting on a hip-hop album. No matter how positive and love affirming, you’re likely to get some chauvinism. Some “b*tches and hoes” type talk. This is the biggest problem with 2014 Forest Hills Drive. It’s difficult to completely buy into the concept of peace, love and togetherness pitched in this album, when you have songs like “A Tale of 2 Citiez,” which paints pictures of drive by’s, posturing and rampant materialism. Lyrics like “I know the sh*ts not always good as it seems / But tell me till you get it how could you know” are the antithesis of the message of this album, and ultimately detrimental to its reception. 2014 Forest Hills Drive is an album

built on the foundation of love. If hip-hop is a doorway into the communities it represents, then we’re talking about a community reeling and recovering from the recent spurt of police brutality. As such, an album that forgoes most of the usual aggression of violence found in much hip-hop music is just what the genre needs. What the album does to herald sounds of peace, is severely tainted by archetypal hip-hop behaviors. If J. Cole really wishes to enact the change he talks about in this album, to make sure there “Ain’t gonna be no more kings,” he’s got a long way to go.

BandWagon Magazine northern colorado’s arts & entertainment DECEMBER 2014

en español MIRANDA! Safari

Lorenzo Conchas

Este verano pasado Miranda! nos presentó con su sexto álbum llevando por nombre Safari. Ahora Alejandro Sergi y Julieta Gattas (ambos vocalistas) se encuentran sin la presencia de Lolo Fuetes, quien fue su guitarrista estrella desde el comienzo de la agrupación en el 2001. El primer sencillo de Safari se lanzó en diciembre del 2013 y lleva por nombre “extraño,” en el nos ofrecen una letra muy magistral y juguetona. La letra sugiere una relación que ya no es lo que había sido y extrañan esa parte, por el otro lado son como dos desconocidos o dos extraños donde no hay marcha atrás. “Extraño” tiene un sonido que caracteriza a Miranda! y sin lugar a duda una buena elección para darnos una probadita del resto del disco.

Por fin el 22 de Julio salió ala venta Safari con una portada y nombre que nadie esperaba. Fue entonces que “Fantasmas” se convirtió en el segundo sencillo con el que promocionaron el álbum. Este tema es el primero del disco y comienza con un sonido que no concuerda con los que hasta ahora hemos visto de Miranda! El saxofón es en nuevo elemento que la agrupación decidió añadir a su producción. Pero no fue solo el saxofón lo que nos sorprendió de la agrupación esta vez, también nos presentan con sonidos muy latinos como lo es el raggaeton. Y como ya es costumbre no podría faltar la música electrónica, el rock y pop. El tema “nadie como tu” nos hizo sentir el verdadero concepto del disco. Este nos da la sensación de la sabana y el safari con un sonido muy rock-pop, popular en partes de España.

Miranda! surprised us this past summer with their sixth album Safari. Alejandro Sergi and Julieta Gattas (both vocals) find themselves without the presence of Lolo Fuentes, who had been their star guitarist since the beginning in 2001. Safari’s first single “Extraño” was launched in December 2013 with masterful and playful lyrics. It suggests a relationship that has moved forward, in which they become strangers. “Extraño” has a sound that characterizes Miranda! and undoubtedly a good choice to give us a taste of how the rest of the album is. In July 22 Safari became available to the fans with a cover and title that very few expected. It was then that “Fantasmas” became the second single to promote the album. This particular song starts with sound new to Miranda! and does not correlate with the

rest of it. The saxophone is new element that the group decided to add to its production. However, it was not only the saxophone that surprise us this time, Miranda! also introduced the new latin rhythm of reggaeton. In addition, we could not miss the popular sounds of the band such as electronic, rock and pop. The single “nadie como tu” makes us feel the true concept of the album. It gives us the feeling of a safari or savanna with a very popular rockpop style. Ten songs plus the same ten in acoustic version is what forms Safari. This proves the courage and talent of Sergi and Gattas. In fact, Safari startles what it is the guitar, percussion and their voice. Even though Julieta continues to sing the majority of chorus, we can see a deeper performance in songs where she is the only vocalist. “Miro la vida pasar” had already

BandWagon Magazine

Safari cuenta con diez temas mas otros diez que son la versión acústica del mismo. Esto nos muestra la valentía y gran talento de Sergi y Gattas. De hecho, en Safari por lo general lo que sobresalta es la guitarra, el percusión y la voz. Aunque Julieta tiende a seguir cantando gran parte de los coros, también la podemos ver con una participación mas amplia en temas donde ella es la estrella. El tema “miro la vida pasar” ya había sido un éxito por Fangoria. Miranda! decidió hacer su propia versión mas melódica y pop que la original. Esta colaboración tuvo un resultado muy positivo y de verdad que Alaska (vocalista de Fangoria) y Alejandro hicieron muy buen trabajo juntos. Miranda! nos ha sorprendido con grandes éxitos en el pasado y han marcado su huella. Safari es un buen disco de transito y nada mas. Claro que nos ofrecen algo nuevo sin dejar de ser ellos mismos, pero al final del día no nos dan esos temas con el drama del que estamos acostumbrados. Parece que se enfocan mas en los daños psicológicos con letras mas complejas y mas enfermizas. También tenemos ese sonido eléctrico acompañado con melodías muy pop que bajan el dramatismo que nos gustaría presenciar.

been a success song by Fangoria. Miranda! decided to make it its own with a version more pop and melodic. This collaboration of Alaska (Fangoria’s vocalist) and Alejandro brought very positive feedback. Miranda has showed tremendous success in the past and has left a big mark in latin music. Safari is a good album to fill out time and space. Of course, Miranda! gives us something new without losing their identity, however at the end of the day they lay short on presenting that drama we are used to and expect to see. It almost seems like they focus on the psychological damage with more complex lyrics. Last, they give us that electronic sound accompanied by pop melodies, therefore lowering the drama we have witnessed throughout their career.

BandWagon Magazine northern coloradoâ€™s arts & entertainment DECEMBER 2014

BandWagon Magazine northern colorado’s arts & entertainment DECEMBER 2014

Jaun

AN INTERVIEW WITH:

The

MacClean

Jed Murphy

BandWagon Magazine The Juan MacClean has been a major player in the world of electronic music for almost a decade although most fans of the current style of the genre wouldn’t know it. One of the original artists on the DFA label, which was founded by LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy, The Juan MacClean has been a rock in the electro dance punk scene. Although having a comfort zone of about 7 to 10 minute song lengths and a pop sound that fits in a past era of electronic music leaves them somewhat inaccessible to the masses, what The Juan MacClean

creates is something undeniably good. Their newest album, In a Dream captures everything The Juan MacClean has come to be known for and more. In true DFA fashion, the album bristles with vintage synthesizers and dreamy arpeggios, and the length of the songs allows for the grooves to have a settling effect that fits nicely into their aesthetic. With vocalist Nancy Whang taking more of a lead on the album, the songs exude class and talent. Recently, we had a chance to catch up with The Juan MacClean after his DJ set at Bar Standard in Denver.

BandWagon: Do you ever see yourself as a Top 40 musician at some point? Do you ever see yourself shooting for that 3 to 5 minute pop song that’s accessible to everyone? The Juan MacClean: Yeah I used to think that kind of thing, that one day, I don’t know if you would even call it “selling out,” but as an experiment see if it is possible to do that kind of thing. But the reality of it is, it’s not really possible. At that level everything is so manufactured. I could sign to a major label and that kind of stuff but it would be burning my career. I would lose all my real fans and it would be too weird for the rest of the world. BW: When did you know you wanted this to be your career and when did you know it happened for you? JM: Well this is actually my second musical career. I really didn’t want to have anything to do with music again after I quit my first band Six Finger Satellite. Sometime around 2002 I had two 12-inch come out in one year and that year I got a pretty big publishing deal. BW: So you never fully stopped music. JM: Yeah, I was teaching high school English at a juvenile detention facility and my first advance from this publishing deal was like two years of salary teaching. And I knew that is could be my last chance to making music so I decided to take a few years off I really had nothing to lose especially with the safety net of money. I never really thought it would turn into anything. BW: Favorite moments from making the new album? JM: I don’t know, there are three different periods of doing stuff, there’s the initial writing and outlines of songs, then the recording of the parts, but it’s the part after that where I was working with Nick Millhiser of Holy Ghost! in his studio in New York for a few months in the winter. That was my favorite part just working with him everyday, it was just really fun. BW: How do you stay healthy on the road? JM: I’m actually really healthy in general. I do yoga six days a week and it keeps me able to play a lot of shows every year. There’s always time to do it, and I can do it in my hotel room. It helps your body sit on planes and when you’re missing sleep. I actually went to India for six weeks a couple of years ago to do some training, and I’m going back next year. I don’t know, it keeps me going. BW: Any advice for up and coming musicians? Anything you would give yourself years ago? JM: Honestly, I don’t have any regrets. One thing that always made me ok with everything is that I always did what I wanted to do without any regard for what was going on around me or commercial success or anything like that. I just stuck to my guns in everything I’ve ever done and it’s always worked out. You know, when I was on DFA, in the beginning I was always really into house music when no one was into house music. It was a sort of dirty word in the early 2000s, it really had a bad name. I just stuck to it. I made a song called “Happy House” at a time when it wasn’t the cool thing, then it becomes the biggest thing in the world. There is something to be said for just sticking to your guns.

Photo By: Rob Phillips

BandWagon Magazine northern coloradoâ€™s arts & entertainment DECEMBER 2014

BandWagon Magazine northern colorado’s arts & entertainment DECEMBER 2014

Kyle Eustice

BandWagon Magazine

Talking to Pittsburgh native Mac Miller is just what you’d expect. He’s a smart ass, laughs a lot and appears not to take his career too seriously, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Mac Miller (real name Malcolm James McCormick) is self-made and essentially a workaholic. He knew from an early age he wanted to make music for a living and he made it happen. As a child, there was never any doubt Miller was musically gifted. At the age of six, he taught himself how to play piano, drums, bass and guitar. His older brother was getting into hip-hop in the mid-’90s and soon little Mac was pilfering his albums. “The Beastie Boys were like my first people,” Miller says. “I guess for a lot of white kids, maybe their first rappers are Eminem or other white rappers, but the first rap album I got was Outkast’s Aquemini. I stole it off my brother. My brother did go through this one phase where he was a huge Ja Rule and DMX fan. He used to have this sleeveless Ja Rule shirt. It was pretty awesome.” Throughout the conversation, he says the word “white” like it’s a four-letter word. Whether it’s a subconscious insecurity or simply something he’s used to dealing with in the press, he’s quick to point out that his race really never entered his mind when trying to pursue a rap career. While everyone else saw color, he did his best to ignore it. “When I was fifteen, I realized the fact that there were not a lot of white rappers out there, but I tried not to think about it as much as possible because everybody else was thinking about it,” he says. “To me, I just really enjoyed writing and I enjoyed

rapping. I fell in love with writing verses. I had this dresser in my basement, and it was filled with so many verses, it was ridiculous. My first raps were big-word-only raps like, ‘the article barnacle anticartigal [sic] phenomenal geronimo [laughs]. “I wasn’t really set up to go to college,” he continues. “My goal was to make rapping a profession for real so I could make money and survive. By the time I was seventeen, I started to get a little buzz, so I barely went to school. My teachers were pretty cool though. They didn’t trip on me too much. At my school, you could basically choose if you wanted to learn or not. Senior year, I had an apartment right across the street from school. I would go to class sometimes, sometimes not. I barely finished at the end. I was pretty intelligent, so I was okay just getting by with the bare minimum.” In 2010, Miller finally got a record deal with Rostrum Records. It was a dream come true for the young artist and soon he was in the fast lane; recording albums, doing press and touring. “Obviously, the one thing you hear about the music industry is that it’s slimy and don’t trust anyone, yadda yadda yadda, but being from Pittsburgh, Rostrum was like the gatekeeper,” he says. “They had the connects. When we started getting offers from people, I used to bring it to them. They would say, ‘I don’t think it’s tight, or I don’t think it’s a good one.’ I didn’t feel comfortable working with people I didn’t know. I had known them for three years before we even worked together. When I was about to put out K.I.D.S., Benjy [Grinberg, founder of Rostrum] heard it and they wanted to sign me.” Once he had a solid label backing him, he became unstoppable. With his second full-length album, 2013’s Watching Movies With the Sound Off, in the works, they

started on promotion early. All of his mixtapes were promotion for the album. He had singles that weren’t even on the album that were selling thousands of copies. He had many naysayers saying, “Oh, Mac Miller is just some Internet White kid. He has YouTube views, but he can’t sell albums.” But he blew them out of the water and ended up with a independent number one album. He credits his “boy-next-door” quality to his success. “A lot of kids liked me because I was the underdog,” he says. “I wasn’t rapping about being rich. I was just like one of you guys that liked to make music. So I think they kind of just supported me because it was direct from me to the fan, so they went out and bought like nine or ten albums. They knew that I needed it. I didn’t have big business. I didn’t have the funding.” However, Mac Miller’s road to glory wasn’t paved with gold, at least not entirely. He had a few moments where he got out of control and his close circle of friends were worried about him—and rightfully so. Miller was dabbling in drugs and gaining a lot of weight. He says he was just experimenting, but from the outside it seemed he was walking the tightrope of addiction and harmless “fun.” “When you’re young and you have a bunch of shit going on, it’s nice to take a vacation,” he says. “That was just my version of a nice vacation. I was zombified and not worried about anybody else. It was kind of nice, but it grew to the point where my friends didn’t know what to say to me anymore. I would just be locked away in my studio. I was gaining a lot of weight. I could just feel that I was very unhealthy. At a certain point, I got sick of the closest people in my life thinking I’m a piece of shit. Everyone thought I was super addicted to it. So I just stopped. It wasn’t like this huge battle. “No one thought I would beat it. One day, two of my friends from Pittsburgh came

over. I was in L.A. They were just looking at me, disgusted. They came for a week to work, and they obviously didn’t want to work with me while I was all on drugs. So I didn’t do any drugs when they were here, and I just started feeling better. So I just decided to put it down.” Like a rubberband, Miller bounced back and continued on his rap mission. He started eating healthier and working out three times a week. While he’s no longer signed to Rostrum, he’s more in control of his career than ever. He dropped 2014’s Faces on his own imprint, REMember Records. At a mere 22-years-old, he’s a multimillionaire, which is something he also has to learn how to control. He recently made Forbes’ list of Hip-Hop Cash Kings for the third year in a row, tying for 20th place with Lil’ Jon, Rick Ross, J. Cole and DJ Khaled. “Having money allows me to have a house where I have fun making music all day,” he says. “The Forbes thing—I mean, it’s dope, but every now and then, I like to be abstract, conceptual, and spiritual. It’s the complexities of dualities. Sometimes you want to be like, ‘Yeah, bitch, what’s up?’ It feels good every now and then. Back then, when I sought after that type of success, it was my way to tell everyone who saw me as this little White kid that was never going to make it as a rapper, well, I’m on that Forbes list. I thought that would make me feel super good to put it in everyone’s face and put in my own face. It really shows who somebody is by how they act when they get a lot of money. If you ask anyone around, I hope they would say I don’t carry that attitude. Someone said I had that rich-person glow. [laughs] Personally, I like to carry myself as the brokest rich dude you’ve ever known.” Mac Miller, January 10, at the Aggie Theatre, 204 S. College Ave., 7 p.m. Tickets are $33. Visit www.aggietheatre.com for more information.

BandWagon Magazine northern coloradoâ€™s arts & entertainment DECEMBER 2014

BandWagon Magazine northern colorado’s arts & entertainment DECEMBER 2014

was freeing my mind, anxiety, stress and worry. I thought it was helping me in the beginning, but down the road, it turned in to my fucking worst nightmare. Some of the best music I made was when I was fucked up, but then again, some of my favorite music happened when I was sober. But I really think with the whole sex, drugs and rock-n-roll thing, there is a connection between all of that. To me, The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin and all those great, classic bands, they wouldn’t have done what they did, had they not gone through all that cool experimentation I guess you could say. Right now, I’m in a good place. I haven’t been on any drugs or drink for a long time.

One Band to See Before You Die:

The Flaming Lips Get Weird

Photo By Kendra Hamman

Kyle Eustice

BandWagon Magazine

The Flaming Lips first hit the scene as a traditional rock band in 1983 and since then has evolved into a gargantuan entity bursting with neopsychedelic space rock, confetti and man-sized plastic bubbles. Hailing from Norman, Oklahoma, its larger-thanlife front man Wayne Coyne, multiinstrumentalist/vocalist Steven Drozd, bassist/keyboardist Michael Ivins, and guitarist Derek Brown have redefined the term “psychedelic.” (Drummer Kliph Scurlock recently left the band.) They’ve proven to get better with age, and while they may never top the success of 1999’s Soft Bulletin, they are comfortable courageously reinventing themselves. In fact, they wouldn’t have it any other way. 2002’s Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots was intensely beautiful and did so well, the former Governor of Oklahoma temporarily made the single, “Do You Realize??,” the official state rock song in 2009. In 2013, the Lips’ released its 16th studio album, The Terror, which completely abandons any formulaic methods of songwriting and delivers something refreshingly unique. It may not be as commercially accessible as previous efforts, but it’s another descriptive chapter in The Flaming Lips’ story. They followed up with 2014’s With A Little Help From My Fwends and also released an EP called Peace Sword. Once again on a massive nationwide tour, which makes three stops in Colorado, Drozd took some time out of his day to talk about Wayne’s “celebrity status” and drug addiction.

I saw you open for STP and Butthole Surfers back in ’93 and then saw you three summers ago. Your style has evolved so much. What do you think is the next chapter in The Flaming Lips story? Well, we just did a new record and we’re pretty pumped about it. We’re not sure how our fans will feel about it, but for us, we really wanted to do a different type of record, which might not be expected. We’re just kind of buzzing along on that and working up a whole new live show.

How has changed?

your

live

Congratulations. It feels really good now. It’s easier to speak about it. If you talked to me in the depths of heroin addiction in 2001, I would have told you that it’s really fucked up my life. It’s a hard thing to give a quick answer to.

What was your reaction when you found out “Do You Realize??” show was made the official state rock song of Oklahoma?

We’re not doing the same show you saw a couple of years ago. It’s not as celebratory. There’s no confetti or balloons or that kind of stuff. You saw the pinnacle of that. Now we’re trying different lights on stage, different videos and obviously the music is different because it’s a new record. The question is can we change and mutate into something, but still have an audience? [Laughs] We’re kind of figuring that out right now. It’s exciting, but it’s also a little scary.

Why do you suppose Soft Bulletin is considered your “breakthrough” album? I don’t think it was because it was more commercially accessible. At that time, in 1999, I think a lot of people had probably written us off as that band in the ‘90s that had the Jelly song. There are so many goofy one-hit wonder bands from the ‘90s, even though we’d like to think we had more depth than that. I can see why people would think that about us. So when Soft Bulletin came out and it wasn’t that postgrunge guitar stuff, I think people were surprised by that. We went in a whole new direction that wasn’t guitar-based rock so much. Whatever energy we got from that album, we took and made Yoshimi, which became the more successful, commercial record and it kind of gave us a whole new career, you know?

Did you ever think you’d reach such a monumental level of notoriety? I would say Wayne is in a different category of celebrity than the rest of us. The Flaming Lips as an entity, well, if I was told 20 years ago that one, we’d still be around and two, we’d be anything that anyone still gave a shit about we wouldn’t have believed it. It’s pretty cool. I mean, we’re in a good spot right now. People expect us to do something different. For us, that‘s challenging, but it’s also a relief at the same time.

Opiates are really awful and I know it really affect your brain chemistry. I think more education might help people understand it might not be the You know the second part of that best thing to get into because story? Where it’s not the state rock song it really does have a long-term of Oklahoma? Did you hear about that? effect, more so than you realize. We’re not invincible. No, they took it away from you? Ok. Here’s what happened. “Do You Realize??” was made the official state rock song of Oklahoma by executive order of the Governor. It was a big controversy because a lot of people thought we were too un-Christian, but anyway the Governor promised us that title in 2009. Well, the new Governor, Mary Fallin, is pretty hardcore conservative and not into us at all. When she came into office, since it was an executive order, she was supposed to resign it and she didn’t. So now “Do You Realize??” is not the official state song of Oklahoma. People are upset about it. A lot of people consider us to be the ambassadors of psychedelic rock for the state of Oklahoma. [Laughs] I’m sure she’ll get around to signing it.

What people can never know until they experience it themselves is what withdrawal is really like. People say, ‘Oh it’s like you have the flu,’ but to me, the physical part is nothing. The physical part is the easy part; it’s the psychological and emotional part of it. I’ve never experienced anything like that in my life. Opiate withdrawal is so hardcore depressing and devastating that you can’t see the good in anything. You can’t feel the happiness in anything, nothing, when you’re in that state. It’s like trying to describe an orgasm. You can’t know what it’s like unless you experience that. Withdrawals are the opposite side of that. People romanticize about that. They’re like, ‘Oh Sid Vicious, he died when he was really young.’ Um, that’s cool, but maybe the other side of the story could be he lived another 20 years and became some crazy writer dude.

More and more artists I interview admit they are either sober, in recovery and hardly indulge. Is this cliché idea of “sex, How did you get through all of drugs and rock-n-roll” dead or on that? its way out? I do think it’s on its way out. I don’t think rock-n-roll would have evolved or could have evolved the way it did if it wasn’t for all that. If we didn’t have what happened in the late ‘60s/early ‘70s with drugs and this way of living that was completely free; before people realized the consequences of all this stuff, rock-n-roll wouldn’t have evolved the way it did. With that being said, to me, besides the romantic imagery that you get with Keith Richards nodding off in the studio or Miles Davis being a heroin addict, you know, there’s so many stories besides the romanticism of it. Beneath that, there really is a connection between taking drugs or drinking and the freedom to create. The problem with it is eventually it backfires on you and anyone that does it long enough realizes this. I know from my own experience. I thought I

Well, this sounds like such a hippie thing to say. I really started getting into yoga about six years ago. And I hate to be one of those yoga douche bags, but it’s really changed my life. Today, I did it for an hour before I started talking to you and it put me in this great mind state. I can just sit there and talk to someone instead of worrying about what I’m doing next. I just live in the moment. If you’ve been strung out on opiates for a long time, when you quit, you just can’t even sit still. You’re never at peace. You’re just so full of anxiety. Yoga helped with that. I also quit drinking so I can wake up in the morning and not feel like total dog shit. I have a family, too. I have a wife and two kids now. They’re my whole life. Yeah, I do music as a vocation, but right next to that is my family. That’s all of my time. I’ve got my whole life sorted out.

BandWagon Magazine northern coloradoâ€™s arts & entertainment DECEMBER 2014

Soul Sonic Force

ARE HAIL MARY MA Kyle Eustice

BandWagon Magazine

Aesop Rock, real name Ian Bavitz, is one of those rare hip-hop artists who has developed such a unique rhyming style, he’s basically impossible to replicate. The second you hear his voice, you immediately know it’s him. While his rhymes often appear nonsensical and so cryptic it’s difficult to decipher any meaning, once you dig deeper you can discover a lot about the man behind the moniker. For example, he craves solitude, has no interest in “fame” and is just as down to earth as any one of us. Those qualities alone are the most refreshing about him. In an industry supersaturated with massive egos, especially in the hip-hop world, humility is hard to find. Aesop Rock is like a breath of fresh air. However, all coyness goes out the window when he grabs the mic and jumps on stage. Currently on a sizable nationwide tour, the New York City-bred emcee finds himself on the road with longtime friend and collaborator Rob Sonic. Billed as Hail Mary Mallon, the duo is promoting the follow-up to 2011’s Are You Going to Eat That, Bestiary. The 14-track effort, which dropped on Rhymesayers Entertainment in

November 2014, is packed with more tonguetwisting lyrical acrobatics and classic, oldschool production. Aesop Rock and Rob Sonic had a few moments in between shows to talk Typhoid Mary, being “famous” and why third member DJ Big Wiz isn’t on the tour. BandWagon Magazine (Kyle Eustice): I don’t really know the backstory about how you two met. Rob Sonic: We both came out of the same scene in New York City in the mid to late ‘90s. Everyone that was rhyming sort of ran in the same circles and we’d see each other at shows. Then eventually we both signed to Definitive Jux so we saw more of each other. Then we started touring together and we saw each other everyday. Aesop Rock: I just wanna add the word ‘Booyah’ to his answer. Why did the Typhoid Mary story resonate with you both enough to name your group after it? Rob: It wasn’t so much the story of Mary Mallon as it was that we wanted something that represented New York City and how everyone

from there has some sort of messed up story. It is interesting to me that she was someone who really wanted to help people, but was just kind of screwing everything up. I can relate to that. Aesop: She’s tied to such an interesting piece of New York history, and I think her story can be flipped a lot of ways. She’s a killer, she’s a helper, she’s all of it. She just wants to feed you but the side effect is that you die. Tuff stuff. How much of a role do you have in the video concepts? Rob: We can have as much or as little input as necessary, like if we don’t like ideas, we will not do them, but for the most part we let who ever is making the video do their thing. Aesop: Yea I think sometimes you go to a director with an idea, and other times you just need a director ‘cuz you don’t have an idea. The “Jonathan” video with the playing cards was something we were gonna try to pull off extremely cheaply (and probably poorly) by ourselves, but my director friend, Rob Shaw, kinda stepped in and took it off our plate, which was awesome. Whereas something like “Whales,” we knew a video could be funny and there were a lot of ways to approach it. I

es:

ALLON ended up just asking my friend Travis Millard to kinda spearhead the video and next thing I know, we’re knee deep in puppets. What do you like about touring with each other? Any funny tour van stories? Rob: Touring together for me is just hanging out like normal except we are in a van doing it. We’ve known each other a long time so there isn’t really much to speak of. We don’t party hard in there or nothing. We just basically chill and go to Cracker Barrel a bunch. Not really a funny story, but the van got robbed in San Francisco somehow when we were loading it— like we were right there. I never knew crackheads were ninjas, but they are. Aesop: Rob and I have spent a lot of time together, and while we occasionally get on each other’s nerves, I gotta say for the most part we do pretty damn well for a couple of cranky old men. Nobody reminds me to laugh at all of this shit more than him. Why isn’t Wiz on the bill anymore? Rob: I don’t think he was on the bill, but there’s no drama or anything. He’s just not touring with us. Are you happy with how fans are receiving

the new album? What’s your favorite songs to play live off the new record? Rob: Seems to be a good response so far. Probably “Jonathan” for me. Aesop: So hard to gauge, but people say nice things to me and I like that. “Krill” is fun to me. I like how it moves. It feels jumpy. How did the Whiskers the Undead come to life with Kid Robot? Aesop: I was contacted by Galen McKamy, who was the creative director over there until very recently. He is a great dude; super talented and super positive. He liked what I did and thought we could make something cool. It’s not really an opportunity that comes along every day so I was psyched. I told him about the Whiskers character and we just kinda took off. Galen started making drawings and revisions and more revisions and then boom: cat toy! Although it was a slow boom…like a year-long boom. In our first interview, you said, ”I’m not famous and I still hide.” How do you deal with “fame” when people are fawning over you? Aesop: I kinda like my first answer. I’m not really that famous and people aren’t exactly

fawning over me. It’s a hard line to walk honestly. I need to figure out how to get my songs about being alone to as many people as possible so I can then go get on a stage in front of them and tell them why I’d rather be alone. But also, I’m not really ‘good’ at being famous. Like some people I know love that shit or are at least built for it. Some people you meet and think, ‘Oh man, you’re gonna be famous one way or another.’ I rarely get on the phone for interviews. I don’t do radio. I ask to not be pitched to TV. It’s just not my ‘thing.’ It’s the best feeling in the world to have people like my music, but I’m also very self-conscious and, if I’m honest, I struggle to like myself most of the time, which can lead to some sticky situations in my head in regards to any minor celebrity I may have attained.

Hail Mary Mallon with DJ Abilities, January 17, at Aggie Theatre, 204 S. College Ave., 7 p.m. Tickets are $20. Visit www.aggietheatre.com for more information.

BandWagon Magazine northern colorado’s arts & entertainment DECEMBER 2014

COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT

New Smoking Ordinance Threatens Small Business in Greeley vaporized and the product doesn’t create smoke because there’s no BandWagon Magazine combustion, the bottom line for the ordinance is classifying this It’s not what you’re smoking industry under “smoking devices” but where you’re smoking, that which are banned in public seems to be the consensus of places. Greeley’s city council as they schedule their final reading for “I think what’s banning public use vaporizers, or commonly known as e-cigarettes, happening in not for January 6th. The citizen’s only Greeley but initiative to ban e-cigarettes was set for October, but after around the country members of the community is its simple encouraged they reevaluate their misunderstanding,” assumptions that vaporizers be classified and banned like -Chris Gauman (CG Vapors) cigarettes, the issue was tabled. Two businesses in particular So why is this such a big deal would be affected by this change. VaporCore, owned by Dustin for the Vapor industry? “The attraction is that you Barnett and Devin Matthews as well as Smokeless CG Vapors, can come in and sample the products,” Gauman said. “Being owned by Chris Gauman. Assistant City Manager Becky able to come sample the products Safarik explained the guidelines and take it home, that’s the real niche, the effectiveness, the of the new ban. “What our ordinance reads success for someone who wants is that smoking is prohibited to quit tobacco.” Gauman is a retired smoker as where second hand impacts can be experienced by bystanders. well as Barnett who converted his What we’re doing isn’t changing lifestyle from a three-pack-a-day anything in our smoking musician to a business ownerordinance expect making sure who never picked up a cigarette that e-cigarettes are included again after trying e-cigarettes. “It’s kind of like if every gym with that definition.” Even though the E-juice in town you had to get a two(a concentration containing month subscription to the gym, Vegetable Glycerin, Propylene just to see if exercise was even glycol, flavor and Nicotine) is the thing for you,” Barnett used

Rose Hedberg

to explain the ban. “There’s no day-pass there’s no trial, you come in to the door to spend two months worth of money or nothing… So many people with an addiction, they need a place to go to be helped and that’s why I’m here.” Although Safraki stated twice in her phone interview that the ordinance wouldn’t affect retail sales, Barnett and Gauman say that 100% it will affect their sales and the side effects of this ban could cause them to go out of business just months after opening. Seven other communities in Colorado have effectively passed this ban and specific cities where the ban has been in effect, stores have gone out of business Gauman said. “I’m not trying to do something negative or corruptive,” said Gauman. “My whole path in life is to help people and to better our society and I don’t think the city is looking at my business the way that I see it. I want to save lives. I want people to live healthier lifestyles.” Possibly what’s most frustrating for Gauman and Barnett is the cities initial approval of their business and now the sudden change. “I didn’t just open a business, buy it on a whim and invest all this money without researching,” Gauman said. “I called the city and got approval. I spoke to several

people and then I have a written letter from the city attorneys stating that my business plan was not against any city limits or codes and that I could go ahead with my business… so then I signed a three year lease and have invested thousands of dollars and now they want to shut me down?” Gauman sees the merit in limiting people smoking in public places. He says he doesn’t want someone vaping next to him while he’s eating, he gets that, but he’s concerned in the possibilities of the ban. Safraki outlined the loophole that Fort Collins is using which appeases both sides. Their ordinance allows independent retailers to operate a freestanding shop where ventilation can be controlled and not “contaminating” public air-space. Granted, the two Vapor shops in Greeley aren’t free-standing locations, they share a common wall with other businesses, but the possibility to continue the Vapor business model would be allowed if the free-standing clause was included. Greeley’s smoking ban doesn’t include the free-standing possibility for businesses. If passed, no exceptions, vaping in public spaces wouldn’t be allowed. “My overall goal, for my business, is to have no customers,” Barnett explained. “That’s my

goal. That no one smokes and I’m out of business. It’s incredibly disheartening to me that the city in any way, shape, or form would not promote it.” The research is limited on either side as to the longterm side effects. There’s no clear statement in the research conducted that e-cigarettes equals life but there’s also no clear evidence that it’s killing people either. The FDA and EPA are conducting research. We do know that’s it’s substantially less harmful than cigarettes and for the industry, they want to keep moving forward with this change. Gauman e-mailed his research to the media showing that Big Tobacco is down in the last two years by 35% and the Vapor industry growth is up 400%. “At the end of the day,” Barnett said, “nobody in the state is a millionaire that runs this. Nobody here has a background with Big Tobacco, nobody here is a corporation…We’re the generation that will kill Big Tobacco and I’ll be damned if the city council has anything to do with it.” The public hearing takes place at 6:30pm on Tuesday January 6th at City Hall. Come testify for either side and be a part of the change. Photos By Chelsea Call

15 SQUARE BLOCKS 8 GREAT SPOTS TO GRUB LUNCH TO LATE NIGHT MUNCHIES ALWAYS A DELICIOUS TIME

A.F. Ray ( founder of Garden City)

It has been rumored that during the prohibition of alcohol, A.F. Ray supplied the residents of Weld County with bootlegged booze hidden in watermelons from his own patch.

BandWagon Magazine northern colorado’s arts & entertainment DECEMBER 2014

LOCAL DR NES Drones: Greeley-based Company Paves the Way for Commercial Use Jay Wallace

BandWagon Magazine

Drone technology has become a hot button issue in American society and by and large represents the coming age of the robotics industry. As the technology becomes more affordable, its commercial uses begin to look more and more practical. Now, many companies find themselves fighting through red tape for a chance to bring their services to the public. In the basement of the Macy Jones Collective in Greeley, Colorado is Cloudgate Aerial Cinematography, is one such company. Cloudgate Aerial Cinematography specializes in video production using Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAVs) more commonly known as drones. Blayne Chastain, 39, and Phil Van Drunen, 31, started the company around April 2013 and have worked on their own film projects along with a commercial for the “Greeley Unexpected” campaign. But, due to issues within the Federal Aviation Administration, the two now find themselves waiting for a solution to legal problems that have grounded other aerial photography companies in the United States. The pair got notoriety nationally when they got an opportunity to film the international ski teams practice at Loveland Ski Area, training to go to the Sochi Olympics. “It’s that early in the season,” Van Drunen said, “The only people allowed on the mountain are people who are training and at that time I believe they were training for the Winter Olympics. All the national teams were out there.” Their footage managed to get 25,000 views online in a couple days, was featured on skiracing.com, and even caught the eye of The New York Times’ Sports Editor, but it also uncovered some FAA restrictions that limited their ability to operate and film from their Multirotor aircraft. “The sports editor called me and said, ‘hey, you guys are doing some amazing stuff, we’d

loved to work with you,’” Chastain said. “That day I spoke with the New York Times in New York and then also somebody out of their office in San Francisco called me, who deals with their multimedia department; they do their online stories and stuff like that. They called me and said, ‘yeah, we’d like to line you guys up with a pro skier and do a story.’ And then about a week or two later, they were like, ‘well, the idea’s stalled because our legal team doesn’t know what to do with it because of the FAA issues.” Chastain said the issue was the idea that they couldn’t fly commercially. Van Drunen explained this further, saying it’s due to a memo passed around by the FAA years, even decades, ago. “This memo went out that basically said, for hobbyists, we’re not going to touch you guys, but here are some guidelines that we need you to operate under,” he said. “So enthusiasts and commercial operators of these [Unmanned Aircraft Systems], UAVs, Drones have been operating under this same assumption. ‘This is a hobby thing. We’re flying under 400 feet, well stick to the suggestion of the FAA to operate, and we’re going to be fine.’” As UAVs have become more common, the FAA Modernization And Reform Act of 2012 came out at the federal level, charging the FAA to create regulations that accommodate for UAVs. And the FAA has dragged their feet implementing new regulation. As described by Van Drunen, a regulatory interpretation of the rules put out by the FAA says, as a hobbyist, one can fly all day long, but the moment one goes commercial, they’ll be treated as a full-scale aircraft. Meaning that the meter-wide, radio controlled octocopters Van Drunen and Chastain use for photography would be treated as real, fullsize helicopters and planes. This resulted in

a couple of major companies shutting down their operations in the United States for a short time. Chastain said it was like trying to put a square peg in a round hole. In Hollywood, six companies hired an attorney and another person to help craft their own rules and present them to the FAA get exemptions from some of the standards held to full-sized helicopters, the big reason being meter-wide drones are much safer to operate. And while they did receive some exemptions, they are still required to have a pilot licence to operate commercially. Van Duren later clarified in an email that exemptions have not been granted allowing non-pilots to operate a drone, so even if you are granted exemptions under Section 333 of the Modernization and Reform Act, one would still need a pilot’s license. Cloudgate could apply for an exemption from the pilot licence requirement but Van Drunen says that it is highly unlikely the FAA would grant this kind of request. “I think what’s most evident to me is that it’s very confusing for everybody who’s involved here,” Van Drunen said. “You’ve got a lot of hobbyists who want to be involved in it and there’s so much misinformation and so many legal opinions that are just kind of out there. A lot of the people that I run into, they just don’t have all of this information and so they are confused.”

Photo by Dylan Malburg

BandWagon Magazine northern coloradoâ€™s arts & entertainment DECEMBER 2014

BandWagon Magazine northern colorado’s arts & entertainment DECEMBER 2014

COLORaDO CONCERT CALENDAR Thursday January 1st

Dirty Dozen Brass Band @ Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom Denver – 9pm w/ Filthy Children, FaceMan

Led Breakfast @ Quixotes True Blue Denver – 7pm w/ Honeypuddle

Scarlet Canary @ The Gothic Theatre Denver – 8pm w/ Blindfold the Devil, and More!

Friday January 2nd Singer Songwriter Showcase @ The Moxi Theater Greeley – 9pm w/ J Luke, Bow and the Lyre and More! Denny Driscol @ The Cranford Cove Tea Tavern Greeley – 7pm

International Music Festival @ The Hi Dive Denver – 8pm w/ Cutthroat Drifters and More!

Saturday January 3rd

Dead Jam @ Avogadros Number Ft. Collins – 9pm

An Evening with David Abear Band @ Hodi’s Half Note Ft. Collins – 8pm

Post Paradise @ The Bluebird Theater Denver – 8pm w/ Calder’s Revolver and More!

Slopeside @ Avogadros Number Ft. Collins – 7pm

@ The Ogden Theatre ~ 1/4/15

Kronen @ The Bluebird Theater Denver – w/ Midnight Pressue, Mr. Slippery Nappy Roots @ Cervantes’ Other Side Denver – 9pm w/ Rabid, JALEN BEE, LMS and KDG Top Flight Empire @ The Gothic Theatre Denver – 8pm w/ Black Pegasus and More!

Dylan Ford and the Losers @ The Larimer Lounge Denver – 8pm w/ Grand Central and More!

That 1 Guy @ Hodi’s Half Note Ft. Collins – 8pm

the flaming lips

Eddie Knolls @ The Gothic Theatre Denver – 9pm w/ Contrast & Fo’ Chief Radical Action @ The Larimer Lounge Denver – 7pm w/ Coyote Junction and More!

Sunday January 4th

Tuesday January 6th

The Flaming Lips @ The Odgen Theatre Denver – 8pm

Open Jazz Jam @ The Pourhouse Loveland – 7:30pm w/ The Pourhouse Jazz Trio

Monday January 5th Timeless Development @ Cervantes’ Other Side Denver – 8pm w/ House of H, and More! G-Eazy @ The Odgen Theatre Denver – 8pm w/ Kehlani, Kool Jay, Jay Ant Vinyl Mondays @ The Hi Dive Denver – 9pm w/ Eddie Maestas, Gene Martinez

Electronic Tuesday @ Cervantes’ Other Side Denver – 9pm ft. Megalodon w/ Swayd, Mamuth

Wednesday January 7th The Ben Miller Band @ Cervantes’ Other Side Denver – 8pm w/ Crow Moses and Lo 5 Trippy Turtle @ The 1up Colfax Denver – 9pm

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BandWagon Magazine northern colorado’s arts & entertainment DECEMBER 2014 Kalmia @ The Larimer Lounge Denver – 8pm w/ The Rabbits Atom and More!

Thursday January 8th Grayson Erhard @ The Aggie Theatre Ft. Collins – 7pm w/ MIguel Dakota, and More! Kris Lager Band @ Avogadros Number Ft. Collins – 9pm Grass for that Ass @ Cervantes’ Other Side Denver – 9pm ft. White Water Ramble w/ Old and In the Way Night, Pickin on Ween Oak Creek @ The Hi Dive Denver – 8pm w/ The Grand Tour, The Sharrows

Friday January 9th Nappy Roots @ The Moxi Theater Greeley – 9pm w/ Special Guests TBA Fort Jazz Duo @ The Cranford Cove Tea Tavern Greeley – 7pm Oak Ash & Thorn @ Hodi’s Half Note Ft. Collins – 8pm w/ Despise the Sun and More! Wooleye @ Avogadros Number Ft. Collins – 9pm w/ Hyona Hill

March 4th Marching Band @ The Bluebird Theater Denver – 8pm w/ Rowdy Shadehouse Turkaraz @ Cervantes’ Other Side Denver – 9pm w/ Jonathan Scales Fourquestra, Punch Drunk Monkey Funk Mac Miller @ The Odgen Theatre Denver – 9pm w/ Clock The A-Oks @ The Gothic Theatre Denver – 8pm w/ P-Nuckle and More! The Bronze @ The Hi Dive Denver – 9pm w/ Cloud Catcher and More! Colfax Speed Queen @ The Larimer Lounge Denver – 9pm w/ The Kinky Fingers and More!

Saturday January 10th Open Fire @ The Moxi Theater Greeley – 8pm w/ Bodragaz The Lil’ Smokies @ Hodi’s Half Note Ft. Collins – 8pm w/ Dead Drifters, and Derek Blake Mac Miller @ The Aggie Theatre Ft. Collins – 7pm w/ Clock Selasee & the FaFa Family @ Avogadros Number Ft. Collins – 9pm Rally Round The Family @ The Bluebird Theater Denver – 9pm w/ Sabotage

nappy roots @ Moxi Theater ~ 1/9/15

An-ten-nae & Govinda @ Cervantes’ and the Other Side Denver – 9pm w/ SoDown, Proper Motion, and More! Luke the Knife @ The 1up Colfax Denver – 9pm w/ Tiger Party

Sunday January 11th Cattle Decapitation @ The Bluebird Theater Denver – 8pm w/ ROAC, Legion of Death, WHILT

Monday January 12th

Who’s Bad @ The Odgen Theatre Denver – 9pm w/ Earful Nuns Will Shudder @ The Gothic Theatre Denver – 9pm w/ Its Always Sunny in Tijuana and More! Soundrabbit @ The Hi Dive Denver – 9pm w/ The Centennial and More!

Scum @ The Moxi Theater Greeley – 7pm w/ Special Guests Vinyl Mondays @ The Hi Dive Denver – 9pm w/ Matty Clark & Mike Howard

Tuesday January 13th Open Jazz Jam @ The Pourhouse Loveland – 7:30pm w/ The Pourhouse Jazz Trio

Zola Jesus @ The Bluebird Theater Denver – 8pm w/ Deradoorian Electronic Tuesday @ Cervantes’ Other Side Denver – 9pm ft. The Greys w/ London Nebel and More! Reel Big Fish / Less Than Jake @ The Odgen Theatre Denver – 7:30pm w/ Authority Zero Raw Form @ The Larimer Lounge Denver – 8pm w/ Mike Cano’s Mushroom Funk, FYA

Wednesday January 14th Electron @ The Aggie Theatre Ft. Collins – 8pm w/ The Magic Beans

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BandWagon Magazine northern colorado’s arts & entertainment DECEMBER 2014

The McLovins @ Cervantes’ Other Side Denver – 9pm w/ The Workshy, Dorian Vibe

Plum @ The Hi Dive Denver – 9:30pm w/ The Kinky Fingers and More!

Jerome LOL @ The 1up Colfax Denver – 9pm

High Plains Honky @ The Larimer Lounge Denver – 9pm

Paul Collins Beat @ The Hi Dive Denver – 5pm w/ The Rich Hands and More!

Dead for Denver @ Summit Music Hall Denver – 7pm w/ Roots Like Mountains

Miner @ The Larimer Lounge Denver – 9pm w/ Bonnie and the Beard

Thursday January 15th Hornbuckle @ Hodi’s Half Note Ft. Collins – 8pm w/ The Symbols, Frankie and the Fix Grass for that Ass @ Cervantes’ Other Side Denver – 9pm ft. Trout Steak Revival w/ Lil’ Smokies, Dead Drifters Dead Jam @ Avogadros Number Ft. Collins – 9pm

Saturday January 17th Aesop Rock & Rob Sonic are Hail Mary Mallon @ The Aggie Theatre Ft. Collins – 7pm w/ Homeboy Sandman Coles Whalen @ Avogadros Number Ft. Collins – 7:30pm Rob Drabkin @ The Bluebird Theater Denver – 9pm w/ Shel Cervantes’ 12th Anniversary @ Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom Denver – 9pm

KMG Fest II @ The Bluebird Theater Denver – 8pm w/ Taylor Scott

Brothers Keeper @ Cervantes’ Other Side Denver – 9pm w/ Rodina, Euforquestra, & Kinetix

The Malah @ The 1up Colfax Denver – 9pm w/ Technicolor Tone Factory, Greener Grounds

Digital Beat Down @ The 1up Colfax Denver – 9pm w/ Vine Street Vibes, String Board Theory

Mako1972 @ The Hi Dive Denver – 9pm w/ Varma Cross and More!

Pink Talking Phish @ Quixotes True Blue Denver – 9pm

Furbie Cakes @ The Larimer Lounge Denver – 8pm w/ MYTHirst and More!

Friday January 16th Bad Brad and the Fat Cats @ The Moxi Theater Greeley – 6pm w/ Primary People Flynn & Co @ The Cranford Cove Tea Tavern Greeley – 7pm The McLovins @ Hodi’s Half Note Ft. Collins – 8pm John Popper & Brothers Keeper @ The Aggie Theatre Ft. Collins – 7pm w/ Jono Manson

Guster @ The Odgen Theatre Denver – 9pm w/ Kishi Bashi Electron @ The Gothic Theatre Denver – 9pm w/ The Magic Beans Jerome and the Sex Party @ The Hi Dive Denver – 9:30pm w/ Prime Time Heroes and Anchor Point Instant Empire @ The Larimer Lounge Denver – 9pm w/ The Royal, Montoneros

Sunday January 18th Willy Porter @ Avogadros Number Ft. Collins – 7pm

Finnders and Youngberg @ Avogadros Number Ft. Collins – 8:30pm

Denver Battle of the Bands @ Cervantes’ Other Side Denver – 4pm

Fox Street @ The Bluebird Theater Denver – 9pm w/ Andy Palmer, Grub Street Writer

5th Annual 5280 Urban Music Awards

Cervantes’ 12th Anniversary @ Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom Denver – 9pm Fishbone @ Cervantes’ Other Side Denver – 9pm w/ Dragondeer Aesop Rock & Rob Sonic @ The Gothic Theatre Denver – 9pm w/ Homeboy Sandman

@ Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom Denver – 9pm Pink Talking Phish @ Quixotes True Blue Denver – 9pm Vinyl Mondays @ The Hi Dive Denver – 9pm w/ Haley & Doug Engage the Hammer @ The Larimer Lounge Denver – 6pm w/ Lowdead and More!

Tuesday January 20th Open Jazz Jam @ The Pourhouse Loveland – 7:30pm w/ The Pourhouse Jazz Trio Electronic Tuesday @ Cervantes’ Other Side Denver – 9pm ft. Nico Luminous w/ The Digital Connection and More! Watain & Mayhem @ Summit Music Hall Denver – 7pm w/ Revenge

Wednesday January 21st Logistics @ Cervantes’ Other Side Denver – 9pm w/ Special Guests Cold War Kids @ The Odgen Theatre Denver – 8pm w/ Elliot Moss Shane Tully and the Rain @ The Larimer Lounge Denver – 8pm w/ The Real Folk Blues and More!

Thursday January 22nd Greeley Rap God @ The Moxi Theater Greeley – 6pm w/ Type One, DJ Dabble, Joe College Zoso @ The Aggie Theatre Ft. Collins – 7pm w/ Special Guests

BandWagon Magazine northern colorado’s arts & entertainment DECEMBER 2014

Photo By Cindy Schneider

wasteland hop @ Hodi’s Half Note ~ 1/23/15

Mollie O’Brien and Rich Moore @ Avogadros Number Ft. Collins – 8pm w/ The Haymakers Club Grass for that Ass @ Cervantes’ Other Side Denver – 9pm ft. Coyote Union w/ Von Stomper Railroad Earth @ The Odgen Theatre Denver – 9pm David Dandero @ The Hi Dive Denver – 8:30pm w/ Straight White Teeth Mykki Blanco @ The Larimer Lounge Denver – 9pm

Friday January 23rd Hypnotic Vibes @ The Moxi Theater Greeley – 6pm w/ Rawtune, Arturo Complex Lucid Vigilantes @ The Cranford Cove Tea Tavern Greeley – 7pm Wasteland Hop @ Hodi’s Half Note Ft. Collins – 8pm w/ Mama Lenny and the Remedy, and More! Blue Grama @ Avogadros Number Ft. Collins – 9pm w/ Franklin Taggert Zoso @ The Bluebird Theater Denver – 9pm w/ Tracksuit Wedding

Dumpstafunk and The Greyboy Allstars @ Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom Denver – 9pm

Dave Watts Super Jam @ The 1up Colfax Denver – 9pm w/ Atomga

Dave Watts Super Jam @ The 1up Colfax Denver – 9pm w/ Chicago Afrobeat Project

Terrapin Flyer @ Quixotes True Blue Denver – 9pm Railroad Earth @ The Odgen Theatre Denver – 9pm Adrienne O @ The Gothic Theatre Denver – 8pm w/ Chemistry Club, Monroe Monroe, oneflewwest Muscle Beach @ The Hi Dive Denver – 9:30pm w/ Bleak Plaza, Savage Blush Jukebox Ghost @ The Larimer Lounge Denver – 9pm w/ Twin Forks, Secret Someones

Saturday January 24th Americn Idol: Lee DeWyze @ Moxi Theater Greeley – 8pm In the Whale @ Hodi’s Half Note Ft. Collins – 8pm Chuck Pyle @ Avogadros Number Ft. Collins – 7:30pm Particle @ The Bluebird Theater Denver – 9pm w/ Rastasaurus

Terrapin Flyer @ Quixotes True Blue Denver – 9pm Railroad Earth @ The Odgen Theatre Denver – 9pm Digital Connection @ The Gothic Theatre Denver – 9pm w/ Gangtaz on Acid and More! The Munseens @ The Hi Dive Denver – 9pm w/ Toke, Medusa, Still Valley Wasteland Hop @ The Larimer Lounge Denver – 9pm w/ Wheelchair Sports Camp, The Other Black

Sunday January 25th ShamROCK @ Hodi’s Half Note Ft. Collins – 8pm w/ Guerilla Radio, Sabotage Veil of Maya @ Summit Music Hall Denver – 7pm w/ Upon a Burning Body and More!

Monday January 26th The Good Time Travelers

BandWagon Magazine northern colorado’s arts & entertainment DECEMBER 2014

@ Avogadros Number Ft. Collins – 8pm w/ Mountain Meets the Sea Vinyl Mondays - Goth Night @ The Hi Dive Denver – 9pm

Thursday January 29th In The Whale @ The Moxi Theater Greeley – 6pm w/ Free Beer

Tuesday January 27th

Shellapalooza @ Avogadros Number Ft. Collins – 6pm

The Stubby Shillelaghs @ Patrick’s Irish Pub Greeley – 9pm

Waka Winter Classic @ Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom Denver – 9pm

Open Jazz Jam @ The Pourhouse Loveland – 7:30pm w/ The Pourhouse Jazz Trio

Grass for the Ass @ Cervantes’ Other Side Denver – 9pm ft. UllrGrass Allstars w/ Many More!

Electronic Tuesday @ Cervantes’ Other Side Denver – 9pm ft. Joe Nice w/ Caustic & Berrick

SIA Center Stage @ Summit Music Hall Denver – 8pm w/ Red Fang and Early Man

King Tuff @ The Larimer Lounge Denver – 9pm

Friday January 30th

Wednesday January 28th

Bubba Sparxxx @ The Moxi Theater Greeley – 6pm

Local Alliance Collab @ The Aggie Theatre Ft. Collins – 8pm w/ Punch Drunk Monkey Funk

Shel @ Hodi’s Half Note Ft. Collins – 8pm w/ Winchester Holiday

Mark Farinas Mushroom Jazz @ Cervantes’ Other Side Denver – 9pm w/ Special Guest Luminox @ The 1up Colfax Denver – 9pm

RJD2 @ The Bluebird Theater Denver – 9pm w/ Tnertle, Lily Fangz Fort Knox Five @ Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom Denver – 9pm w/ Very Special Guests

BUBBA SPARXXX @ Moxi Theater ~ 1/30/15

Pato Banton and the Now Generation @ Cervantes’ Other Side Denver – 9pm w/ Special Guests

Straight Outta Luck @ The Hi Dive Denver – 9pm w/ American Blackout, The Larimers Good Riddance @ Summit Music Hall Denver – 7pm w/ Reno Divorce, Anchor Point

NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR CLASS OF 2016 DEADLINE FEBRUARY 1st

Saturday January 31st Waka Winter Classic @ Hodi’s Half Note Ft. Collins – 8pm Halden Wofford & The HI-Beams @ Avogadros Number Ft. Collins – 8pm Euforquestra @ Cervantes’ Other Side Denver – 9pm w/ Special Guests

The Floozies @ The Odgen Theatre Denver – w/ Gibbz, SunSquabi Pinhead Circus @ The Hi Dive Denver – 9pm w/ OKO TYGRA, French Kettle Station Mates of State @ The Larimer Lounge Denver – 9pm w/ Fictionist

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BandWagon Magazine northern coloradoâ€™s arts & entertainment DECEMBER 2014

BandWagon Magazine northern colorado’s arts & entertainment DECEMBER 2014

GAMES “NEW YEARS RESOLUTION”

I HAVE TO SAY, I REALLY HAVE A LOT OF

IN MY HEART FOR NEW

KIND OF EMOTION

YEARS’ RESOLUTIONS. THEY’RE JUST SO

AND

ADJECTIVE

IF I HAD TO PICK ONE NEW YEARS RESOLUTION, IT WOULD BE TO LEAST

NUMBER

TIME(S)

MORE/LESS

. I GUESS

ADJECTIVE

ACTION

THAN I DID LAST YEAR, OR (LET’S BE

HONEST) THAN JUST LAST WEEK. EVERYONE ALWAYS SAYS THAT THEY’LL GO TO THE GYM TO FINALLY HAVE THE

VERB

MORE SO THEY CAN BECOME MORE

ADJECTIVE

BODY OF

ACTOR’S NAME

ADJECTIVE

AND

. BUT EVEN IF YOU

THINK YOU CAN KEEP YOUR RESOLUTION FOR ANY LONGER THAN THE AMOUNT

CARING CAN MOTIVATE YOU AFTER THE

EVEN ONCE, NO AMOUNT OF

ADJECTIVE

RECOVERING FROM ON NEW YEARS DAY. I SAY

VERB

KIND OF PARTY YOU’LL BE IT; DO WHAT YOU WANT.

WORD ROUND-UP

Complete the grid so that every row, collumn, and 3x3 box contains every digit from 1-9.

ACTION/ACTIVITY

Sodoku

OF TIME IT WOULD TAKE YOU TO

BandWagon Magazine northern colorado’s arts & entertainment DECEMBER 2014

BandWagon Thoughts

COUNTRY LIVING:

othing N ow n K ” ls a u x se r be m u L Why Hipsters and“

Jay Wallace

BandWagon Magazine

I’m kind of the odd man out here at BandWagon. Longtime readers, ever noticed that when we review country albums, I’m the one to write them? That’s because I’m the only one who likes country music, let alone listens to it. I wear a cowboy hat, denim jacket and work boots without irony. I drive a 4x4 Jeep without apology, and know my way around a Massey Ferguson 135 since I spent my summers mowing down our family’s 40 acres. If it weren’t for my personal political leanings, my love of art and films, and my educational background as a journalism major/philosophy minor, I’d probably be a full-on redneck. Supposedly, people my age are a forward looking, urbanfocused generation. Yet they have an appreciation – no, a fetish – for the blue collar/outdoorsy/ rural lifestyle, which I live. For example, The Atlantic recently ran a piece on “Lumbersexuals,” which are hipsters who dress like

lumberjacks to feel more manly. Imagine Greeley fixture Paul Beveridge with more plaid, more beard and an axe. I’ve spent many an afternoon cutting down trees with a chainsaw and splitting logs with a logsplitter, so I can say that with confidence that most people who idolize the blue-collar/rural lifestyle know nothing. They’re like Redditors who proclaim “I FUCKING LOVE SCIENCE” whenever a meme of Bill Nye or Neil Tyson DeGrasse gets posted; Nye and DeGrasse are not representative of the majority of scientists or the field of science. Guys wearing flannel and work boots who work as code monkeys, here’s a slice of reality. Early in December, my father and I found ourselves outside playing electrician with the disconnect (an exterior fuse box) on our power pole, which consisted of Dad jamming a large screwdriver under the lever that holds the worn-out connection down on the fuses. Back at the house, Mom confirms we have full power, instead of the half-power we had hours earlier that burned out a CFL bulb, filling one of our

hallways with a panic-inducing stench. Our half-power incident also killed our oven, and the cherry on top of that was discovering the disconnect wouldn’t be replaced by our co-op for six weeks because of holiday scheduling problems. In Greeley, this would be a non-issue. For us though, getting the disconnect working meant having heat and Internet, however tenuously. And this is a rare occurrence; we’ve had other, bigger, more dangerous annoyances to deal with. (Ever seen 40 acres on fire? Or had to wrangle a neighbor’s horse at 10:30 at night?) The trade-offs of this bullshit, though? Along with the lack of noise and pollution, my fellow city-bound cohorts have probably never had a bald eagle land in their backyard, or had a deer visit their place, or seen a meteor shower with no light pollution, or lit up a bonfire or have done target practice in their yard without the neighbors calling the cops. But I have. Multiple times. And it’s pretty damn good.

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BandWagon Magazine northern coloradoâ€™s arts & entertainment DECEMBER 2014

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.com g a m g a w d ban @ x i p X O I T P X N I O P G R A U W O D Y BAN # M SUBMIT A R G A T S N IN O S U G A T R O photos by kendra hamman