CHRISTINE HALE======================PG2 THE ESTHER CAULFIELD ORCHESTRA============PG3 THIEVES=========================PG4 LAURA VEIRS=====================PG6 WINTER MIXTAPE========================PG8
Cover photograph by Jocelyn. Last page illustration by Christine Hale.
30 seconds into Divider, don’t be surprised if you close your eyes. I found myself lost in a flow of analogue and electronic sounds. My mind registered the vocals as one of the instruments instead of a string of words. I was not scrambling to know what they lyrics were just yet; I wanted to absorb the E.P. in layers. The songs, like chapters of a good book, need time and attention to be fully experienced. There are many dimensions carefully placed, like layers of kinetic energy unfolding a story through sounds. But this isn’t all that the Divider EP has to offer. The rarity of a band having a truly interesting vocalist is always a bonus. I could write an entire article about front man Ryan Hiser’s vocal skills. He manages to convey intense, seething emotions without letting his voice become unbearably ugly (that Buck Cherry dude should study him.) This careful craft is a reflection of the music. Thieves don’t rely on an absurd amount of noise to project strong, energetic chorus.’ For example, on "Mecca" the chorus seems to slip in gracefully like, as Matteah Baim might describe, intensity explored horizontally rather than vertically. These elements make Divider one of my favorite releases of 2009, but the final track possibly impresses me the most. It defies one of my pet peeves. "While You Were Sleeping" manages to carry you away in a dream without resorting to the too often copied My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive effects. If you own one of those knock off MBV records (and you know what they are) you should pick up the Divider EP immediately, put on your head phones and close your eyes. You won't be disappointed. -Jocelyn
I’ve spent many a winter’s night listening to Patrick Wolf. It was a complex time (ninth grade) and I readily made an attachment to Wind in the Wires. I spent every Sunday night on my front porch bundled up in a coat, clutching my cd player, and staring at the purple, red, and navy sky. I let Patrick spin a web of fantastical mystery into my mind. It was a sort of Peter Pan type of escapism. Until the records end, I truly believed that I would not have to go to school in the morning. I lived in his romantic tales of the English country side: I took the train from Edinburgh to Kings Cross; I was surrounded by whooping cranes; I think I even believed that I could reach up to the birds that were flying south and hold onto their tales. The record presents hope, but not without the despair that inspires the need to escape. At the time I found the short, minimalist, ukulele-only track "The Shadow Sea" particularly poignant ("Too many sails/ Not enough breeze/ To sail on out of you shadow sea/ Too many rocks/ Not enough breeze/ To sail on out of your shadow sea.") The most important thing about Wind in the Wires is that it opened me up to music that I didn’t think I’d particularly like at the time. Patrick Wolf, ever the romantic, plays many old instruments that typically are no longer used but manages the meld them seamlessly with touches of electronic sounds. I was most astounded to learn that I was hearing a ukulele, not a guitar. My young mind could not comprehend that a ukulele could be romantic and complement classical instruments until I heard Patrick Wolf. But Wind in the Wires is not confined to lush romanticism. Amongst the beautiful piano and viola laden tracks there lies "Tristan." I remember one of my ninth grade teachers recommending the film "Tristan and Isolde" only for me to wonder where the parallel was between the romantic film and the crazed Tristan in Patrick’s song. The song is wild and violent but without losing the feeling that it is music that has been preserved for many years. The final song "Lands End" is seven minutes of gleaming hope. It also serves as a place for Patrick to gripe a bit about the music industry ("The work is done/ and the record’s pressed/ Now your doing battle with the fickle press....and you’ve seen this before") but looking at the optimism that lies in the journey ahead ("I’m leaving London for lands end/ With a green tent and a violin/ I’m gonna strike the hammers and pull the bows".) Wind in the Wires will forever come in and out of my life (aka: CD player), just like the wind. -Jocelyn
It was Monday May 13th 2007, and I was the unseasoned Silversun Pickups enthusiast standing in the front left of the Trocadero next to an old woman with self proclaimed B.O. Since I was only familiar with what was their newer, more concrete album, Carnavas, I was totally taken aback after witnessing a beautifully executed encore consisting mostly of tracks off of Pikul. Most memorably: Creation Lake and Comeback Kid. Foreshadowing? Yes. It was an immediate addition to my list of records to buy. And more importantly, it was the dash of pepper that eventually progressed into a full blown, choke inducing, fire flame sonic addiction to Pikul. Maybe a year or so later, I was in Baltimore. Sound Garden on Thames Street. In the “used” section, there sat Pikul, dowsed in Mel Kadel. And soon after that, on a road trip from Virginia Beach back up to Pennsylvania, I listened to …All the Go Inbetweens NONSTOP. Lyrically and musically, this song is a labyrinth. Once you think you’ve got it, you’ve lost it. I mean, the song goes from one musical train of thought, to another and it somewhat disregards the pop song structure paradigm …it just lingers on, gracefully for seven minutes and fifty seconds. Its sister, The Fuzz, has a similar sentiment. Except, …All the Go Inbetweens seems to be on the ground while The Fuzz switches between sea level and the stratosphere…it moves, it flys, it glides, it stalls, it lands and sometimes dives below the water…diffusing into an aqueous tranquility. Booksmart Devil is the island off the coast. It’s cohesive with the rest of the record…it’s still within the nation of Pikul, but it’s got geometric, finite borders and a heftily hypnotizing base line. I have no clue what Booksmart Devils or Streetwise Angels are….but that’s beside the point. Moving on. Creation Lake (which is a Movies cover…) is quite possibly my favorite song on the record, also the simplest and the only one where Nikki has full reign on vocals. It’s one of those smile songs. It makes you smile every time. It’s a really sweet breeze. I am cordially attached to the sometimes fuzzy sometimes clean sometimes sweet and always pleasing textures of Pikul. I hope your eardrums can feel its vibrations some day. Note: When I think the record is done and over with…7 minutes elapse to leave me frazzled (no joke! Every time! I always forget that there’s a hidden track) by the Lester-tune underwater, scuba diving, bubbly beginnings of Sci-Fi Lullaby. Don’t panic. -kebah
Illustration by kebah
Where are you from/how old are you? I was born in LA but grew up in Missouri. When I moved to LA in 2005 I thought I was an LA girl, and I definitely am a little bit (the ocean), but last year I came to Montreal and fell head over heels in the love with the city. So, one day I hope to say I’m totally from Montreal. In the meantime---Missouri and LA (I still live/travel/and work between the three places right now). I just turned 27 on October 27! My favorite number, so, I’m excited about this year. Ha. I think it’s super cool that you do a lot of creative things... I can kinda relate because I pretty much do tons of creative stuff myself...but do you ever get overwhelmed? Thanks! That’s great to hear! I think the possibilities are limitless when it comes to creative endeavors and what you can do; you just have to try it and see! Every now and then I get overwhelmed, but mostly because I want to do MORE!!! but I just don’t have the time to do it all – not all at once. The best thing is just to stick to what you’re doing and finish it. Try something else. Try a few things at the same time, but, get them done. Do you ever feel like you don't know whether you should draw a picture or make a piece of jewelry? Hmm, sometimes, but that goes back to having so many ideas at once I don’t know where to start. You gotta just start on something and then the ball keeps rolling, the momentum builds, then you’re off in another world. What does a day in the life of Christine Hale look like? It changes every single day. I have no idea what is going to happen – even how I get ready for the day. I just found out last week I was going to China to play music for 1 or 3 months, but I don’t really know the details yet. Sometimes I get up early, sometimes I sleep in. I pretty much follow my natural clock unless I have a deadline or a meeting. It’s easy to live this way because I’ve been living out of my suitcase for a while---ready to travel at any second, subletting out rooms/apartments/studios---working in a lot of different cafés and friends kitchen tables. One day I’ll be working on a comic, another design, or I’ll decide to write a song and spend the whole day writing it and then recording it, another I’ll have a show or be rehearsing for a different show (I have a few music projects happening) or going to galleries or seeing shows (Montreal is full of SOOOOO much good art and music!). I just moved into a shared studio work space today and I’m pretty excited about it: lots of plans to make lots of things and it’s good to have a place I can sit down at for a while and focus with other creative people. I guess I can’t answer that question too well. Usually I find out what I’m doing that day...as it happens.
What's bumpin in your headphones? Girls (so fun), Destroyer (such an amazing songwriter!!! I saw him play in October for Pop Montreal- just him, a guitar, a lil’ drunk, and playing to a theatre overflowing with people. I was moved.), The Mendoza Line, Bound Stems, Keren Ann, Elliot Smith ( been feeling nostalgic lately- something about winter. How long have you been in the band The Hoof and the Heel? We just started the band the second day I returned to Montreal in June! It’s a really crazy story. Harris and Farid (Shper, Rener) asked me to sing with them for a show but I could only fly into Montreal the day before, I hardly knew these guys but they knew I sang. So I saw them the next morning, got on a keyboard, made up parts for all the songs, got the lyrics somewhat down , and the next thing we know-the band was formed. We headlined a show the next night and then we went right into the studio and spent the next two months recording our EP then right after that took off on a 1.5 month long coast to coast US tour! It’s been crazy and soooooooooooo much hard work but didn’t feel so hard because it was SO FUN and fascinating. I spent almost every day with my band mates from the day we started up until a couple weeks ago when I returned to Montreal and it felt so natural. and how did you start playing music? I’ve always played music just like I’ve always done art or photography or anything – since I can remember. Luckily my parents encouraged me to do whatever I wanted to do creatively, but since we didn’t have much money, I had to find creative ways to do them too which I think in turn let me have more freedom (internally) to just do a million things and never be afraid to put it out there. That is what keeps people from doing things-fear! Aww. It’s never too late to do anything you want to do. I’ve tried to just do music once without any art, and it was impossible. I started to feel empty and sad. All of these things are the breath. I've seen your posters all around the web...especially your tuna can poster ....and I could never figure out who the artist was until I miraculously fell upon your website a couple weeks ago...how did you get involved with making posters for bands...who was the first band you made a poster for? That so awesome to hear! Thanks so much!!! Making poster is definitely one of my faaaaaaavvvvvvvvvorite things to do! I officially started making posters when Autumn Defense (John Stirratt and Pat Sansone of Wilco , one of my favorite bands ever!!!) asked me if they could use my artwork for a tour poster. During that time a lot of musicians were contacting me to do work for them; I have no idea why---like John Mayer! So I started to do t-shirts and albums and then posters for bands, a lot for my friends’ bands at first, for free for fun, and then people started to approach me. I have a pretty easy policy: pay me what you can. If you can pay me close to my rate, awesome, but if not, I totally understand. I know musicians don’t always have a ton of money, but if you love my work --then I will never say no to you. I’m always flattered a band wants my art to represent their music-since I do both, it’s a big deal--I love it and I love helping out bands. And I love being able to combine my love for art and music. Are there any artists in particular that really influence your work? I love Dr. Seuss. Ever since I was little I always admired his work, it’s so creeepppppy and playful. Saul Steinberg is also one my favorites. I’m also really loving Marc Boutavant right now too, he is a French children’s book illustrator.
Illustration by kebah
So…The Esther Caulfield Orchestra consists of only you?At the moment,yes. There are some plans in the works for a full lineup, but for the time being it’s just me. Who is Esther Caulfield? First thing that comes to mind is The Catcher in the Rye. The idea was to give the music a name that would paint a very specific picture in someone’s mind when they heard it. I floated around a few ideas and finally settled on The Esther Caulfield Orchestra because I thought it would be cool for people to imagine an elderly woman. I thought that made for a nice, unusual imagery. I liked the idea of people inventing their own idea of what this woman looked and sounded like. And you’re right; the Caulfield part was definitely taken from Catcher in the Rye. I was way into the book at the time. How did you start playing music? I always wanted to write songs and play music, since as far back as I can remember. One of my earliest memories is of writing songs on construction paper with crayons. I got my first guitar when I was in sixth grade and I spent the next several years writing complete garbage, as is to be expected. Eventually I realized that I needed to disconnect myself from radio and television and gradually my material became legitimate. Can you tell me a bit about your latest record, Good Morning, Whiskey Breakfast? I made Whiskey Breakfast slowly over the course of a few years. The music that I got turned on to in that time gave me some new ideas about what it means to make music or to make art and I tried to apply that to my own music. I wanted to make an album that I, personally would really enjoy if I came across the LP in a used record store. Like when you hear a record for the first time and instantly know you’re going to love it, that it’s right up your alley. …it’s interesting that you’re giving it away for free…Music is free whether I like it or not. So I might as well be the one making it convenient for people to get a hold of it. The Industrial Good Day Mantra…can you talk about the origins of the song? Mantra is about fighting with yourself to wake up and start the day. There’s this popular notion that a good, hard-working adult is supposed to be eager to hop out of bed and go toil away at whatever they do to make rent. So I guess the origin, for me, is the dish pit of an Indian Restaurant in Fairborn, Ohio. Although,I didn’t write the song until several years later.
Yea…that would probably be one of my biggest fears…wasting my life away on a job that I’m not passionate about. But it seems to be the situation that most people are faced with. Do you see yourself ever succumbing to that sort of lifestyle? At the moment I’m not in the position to be free of the hand-to-mouth lifestyle you’re referring to. I’ve got no trust fund to finance a work-free situation, you know? And even if I did, that well would run dry and I’d be stuck with the reality of having to do the 9 to 5. No matter what, it always comes back to digging the proverbial ditch. In theory, we’re supposed to do things we hate as a trade off for things we love or require. What ends up happening in most cases is that the grand aspirations take the back seat in favor of the mortgage, and I haven’t figured out how I’m going to avoid that. In a way, it’s almost offensive for me to assume that I ever could, that’s pretty much the basis for Good Morning, Whiskey Breakfast. It’s the dilemma of overcoming the depression associated with being a wage slave. In the Whiskey Breakfast story, the nameless protagonist succeeds at doing that through discovering personal enlightenment. What are your musical/nonmusical inspirations? Musically, outer space and nonmusically, Michael Jackson. Why do we make music? Our brains probably have many unique locks and sensory combinations (light+sound+smell+taste+touch)to unlock them. Certain sequences might make pins fall into place and occasionally they open up. Sometimes when they do, the brain explodes. I’m sure there’s a book about it. What are you currently working on? Right now I’m writing the material for the next record and, as I said before, getting the live band ready to go. So I have a couple things in the oven. I always find it interesting when creative people have more than one outlet. I mean, it’s very common to find a painter who also writes poetry. Aside from music, do you do anything else that ignites the imagination? I really dig writing, not necessarily fiction, but like correspondence. I like starting with a blank page and editing and crafting my words so that they put across exactly what I mean to say. I like the thought of text being pliable. When you have the opportunity to edit your words, rather that speaking them in a stream of consciousness sort of way, you have full control over the statement that needs to be made. I just watched Piracy Feeds a Starving Audience…it’s really interesting…how did you end up doing that speech? A friend of mine was on the planning committee for the HOPE conference. We talked about it and decided it would be a cool thing to do. Glad you like it. -kebah
THIEVES
PHOTO AND INTERVIEW BY JOCELYN
Have you ever written a lyric that was so startlingly personal that you felt apprehensive about sharing it? DIVIDER on the whole was a really emotionally taxing experience. A lot of the lyrics seem to revolve around a handful of topics that were at times really difficult to talk about. “In House. In Host” specifically was though. It’s about an irrational fear that took over my life for a couple of years. Lying in bed at night feeling terrified of nothing at all. By far the most personal of all the tunes. What song does the band collectively agree is the most fun to play live? 130. It’s a very easy song to get lost in. It’s anchored by several layers of programming that allow us to step away from our instruments and each kind of go off and do our own things. Because of it’s electronic nature, I think people find it very easy to be involved in it. Is music your only creative outlet? We all tend to dabble in other things here and there. It’s mostly just for fun though. As a whole, music and songwriting is the only thing we invest in on a regular basis. Why did you choose to title the E.P. Divider? There are a lot of things that finally led us to settling on “DIVIDER”. The overall mood of the songs and the lyrics were very fixed on a couple of ideas that seemed to keep coming up. Some of us were researching things in our free time that we were finding really hard to deal with. Political structures. Social networks that allegedly connect to the rest of the world. Despite the excessive amount of things put in place to bring us together, everyone feels isolated. It’s about our love for comfort and the expense that it comes at. It’s about the things we buy into that divide us from the world around us and sometimes ourselves. Does the band have a designated writer or is lyric composition a collective effort? Musically we usually take an initial idea or concept and all help mold it into fruition collaboratively. Lyrically, Ryan usually crafts the lyrics based off of what we are dealing with at the time, or whatever comes in passing day in and day out. As an artist myself, I know that inspiration can often seem sort of elusive in a way because it pops up here and there, never quite in the same place. Have you ever found something that was continually inspiring to explore? Tough to say. I think on a surface level, there are things that come and go that cause you to entertain an idea or that pull something out of you that you didn’t know was there to begin with. If you look at the life of any given artist, there’s a progression of ideas that takes place. Sometimes it’s a very linear progression where the ideas and inspirations of the past only become more and more refined until that artists feels like they have communicated perfectly whatever it is they intended to say. Sometimes, that’s not really the case and the progression is the artist themselves. Sometimes the only commonality and continuous thread running through their work is the fact that it has their fingerprints all over it. I think for us, we tend to fall into the latter category. With exception to some of the constants, like our personal relationships within the band and things like that, I think our ideas and the places we draw inspiration from will continue to change and widen in scope as we evolve and change as individuals. Have you found literature or film inspiring? Definitely. A lot of the time not consciously. There are countless lines in books and scenes in films that make very lasting impressions whether we know it or not. They both seem to create this sort of head space that allows us to tie strings to things we already think and feel and connect them to something more tangible.
Excluding lyrics for a moment, your music has the ability to tell an emotional story purely through sound. When you compose, do you consciously think about making the music reflect the emotions in the lyrics? Yes and No. We were very intentional about creating songs that could stand on their own two legs in terms of composition. Songs that could change the vibe in a room based solely on the way they sounded. Because there wasn’t really a formula for any of the songs when it came time to writing, the music and lyrics didn’t always necessarily happen in that order. Sometimes we’d have an idea that would set things in motion, while other times we’d be working around a very simple lyric. Ultimately, both we’re coming from the same place though, which allowed them to work together in a way that made sense to us. The Divider EP has some sweet beats (something that can be lackluster in music these days). Do you guys favor any musicians for their well composed rhythm sections? It is very much a rhythmic record. We were drawing a lot from electronic artists like Aphex Twin, DJ Shadow and Telefon Tel Aviv. On the more organic side of things, there was a strong John Bonham/John Paul Jones influence as well as from bands like Liars and The Talking Heads. I hope this question doesn’t give the impression that I’m a terribly literal thinker, but was "While You Were Sleeping" inspired by a dream? It feels like a dream. Quite the opposite. I think the lyrics are far more alarming than people realize. It’s surprisingly sinister in subject matter. It’s perfect though. You have these lines about self deception and selling people off like animals set to this warm and comfortable sort of lullaby. The friction between the two almost drives the point home harder than either of them could by themselves. Is music your full-time focus? It’s definitely at the forefront of our minds and our efforts. Unfortunately, we’re not really at a place where we can drop everything and pursue it full time just yet. The hope is that eventually we’ll be able to do that but for now we’re caught in that strange balancing act between where we are and where we want to be. As frustrating as that can be sometimes, I think a lot of good has come of it. A little while ago Thieves opened for Glasvegas. Are you fans of the band? What was the crowd like? The show was great. Because we’re musically across the board, some of us tend to like it more than others. It was none the less, a really great experience. They were very kind and gracious. Far more so than you would ever expect from an international act. The night of that show also happened to be Ryan’s 21st birthday, so shortly after our set they hand delivered a bottle of wine and had a few words with us before they played. As far as the crowd, it’s always fun to play to new faces. We were a little unsure about how that crowd in particular would respond to us, because most of them had come to see Glasvegas but they were very receptive and involved. How was the Divider release show? I wish I could have been there. Was it magical? Wait! Don't tell me. It'll hurt too much. (just kidding) It was definitely a landmark for us as a band. The show sold out, which none of us really expected. We were supported by two phenomenal opening acts, who happen to be close friends of ours. Having them on the bill really added to the night. We spent over a year conceptualizing, writing and recording this record, so to finally put it in people’s hands and be able to share the last year of our lives was extremely liberating.
PHOTO AND INTERVIEW by kebah
So "July Flame" will be your seventh record...how has your approach to songwriting changed since "Laura Veirs"? I was really interested in making sure that every song stood up on it's own with just an instrument and a voice. I guess that's similar to the "Laura Veirs" album... but in the course of 10 years I've learned so much about arrangements and adding things that I wanted to kind of strip things back a bit. My songwriting approach in general is more about struggling to surprise myself and be exciting to myself than before-when you're just starting out; every song is exciting and new. I read you made the record in a house…how did that affect your creative juices? Well, Tucker [Martine] and I made it in our house in the middle of winter, so it was pretty cozy. We put blankets on the windows (to keep the outside sounds out and the inside sounds in) so it was a bit cave-like. In general we are really excited to make albums together but this one was especially fun because it was the first one we made in our own home together (but the sixth overall). Are there any really interesting stories from the recording process of "July Flame"? Well, people should watch the 'making of' video on my podcast (you can sign up at lauraveirs.com) -- that pretty much tells a thousand stories about it. One simple story is that I couldn't for the life of me get a vocal take for "When You Give Your Heart." I was struggling and losing my faith in the song in the process. We decided to break and went for lunch. when we came back I had a meeting I had to get to so I was under time pressure -- I just gave it one more shot and got what I think is the best vocal take on the whole record. It's amazing how fragile and subtle the recording process is! Is there a story behind the record’s title? Yes, it's a variety of peach that grows in Oregon. I was at a farmer's market buying canning peaches and thought: July Flame, that's a cool song title. And eventually it made sense to make it the record title as well. Who did the cover art? The extreme badass Carson Ellis. She does all the Decemberists' art as well. I know this was a while ago...but what year was it exactly that you chose to start Raven Marching Band Records and what made you want to create a record label? I started the 'label' (really just a website way back when) in 2000. I couldn't find any interest from any labels so it made sense to follow the DIY ethic and put it out myself. Though I'm grateful for the help I got from outside labels along the way, it feels great to be putting this new record out on my own label, in earnest this time. What’s the best thing about Portland, Oregon? The beautiful bridges. How would you feel if every independent record store across the country closed? Despair for humanity. I have to ask this to everyone I interview…what music have you been listening to lately? Bill Callahan's new album is on heavy rotation. Thanks Laura! Maybe I’ll come see you play when you come to Philly next week! Ok, hope to see you there! Take care.
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