Get to know... Devin Lamp Band Member, The Ascent of The Everest
Monkey Ink Design
Providing Total Band Packaging in Nashville
by Brad Hardisty interview by Brad Hardisty photo by Guillaume Ohz What’s the background of your band? The Ascent of Everest is a psychedelic electrical chamber orchestra complete with cello, violin, guitars that rarely sound like guitars, electronics, drums, bass, male and female vocals. The band draws from postrock, minimalist classical, space rock, shoe gaze, and ambient influences to create a sound all their own. What’s your position in the band? I am a composer/songwriter/singer/guitarist/ keyboardist/ringleader of this circus. What label are you on? We haven’t settled on a release plan for our double LP, which we’re planning on releasing in the fall. But we’re hoping to find a new US/ EU label or release it on our own label, Meltface Records. Why should we know you? We are about to release our third full-length record in the fall, after which we’ll be touring the States and mounting our fourth European tour. We just completed an original score for the independent film Devil’s Damned to Try, going to festivals worldwide this fall. What are you trying to do in music? It may sound selfish, but we’re making the music we want to listen to; I wish there were more bands using the sounds and feelings that we tap into.
For more info, visit www.facebook.com/theascentofeverest
Nashville has no shortage of great designers, but the folks at Monkey Ink are quickly becoming some of the most sought-after artists by independent and national bands alike, creating tour posters, t-shirt designs and various other branded items with a keen eye for masterful graphic design. “Monkey Ink Design is named after Alicia’s rescue cat Monkey. A year after we started working under the name, it came to our attention that there’s another poster designer out there who goes by Monkey Ink (sans Design.) In fact, there are a lot of businesses out there with the name Monkey Ink! However, most of them have actual monkeys
VENUE PROFILE
as their mascots and ours is a cat named Monkey, which has the irony we happen to be a fan of. Thus, we’ve also started going by MID to make things a little less complicated,” says MID artist Drew Binkley. MID has done varied silkscreen design for artists in a number of genres, including Soundgarden, The Black Keys, Dr. Dog, the Civil Wars, Black Mountain, The Apache Relay, Mastodon, The Avett Brothers, Eric Church and Justin Townes Earle. Most recently, the team of Drew Binkley and Alicia Waters designed and printed the official tour poster for Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell, & Richard Thompson Electric Trio. In addition, MID put together an entire package for Josh Ritter including the tour poster, tour shirt and banner for his spring and summer tour. Upcoming projects include Jason Isbell’s tour poster in support of his latest recording Southeastern as well as album artwork for Jasmin Kaset’s upcoming release Quite Machine. The actual printing is done at Grand Palace Silkscreen, which Drew Binkley co-owns as well.
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NASHVILLE
CONTACT INFO Email: hello@monkeyinkdesign.com Phone: (865) 742-3672 Web: Monkeyinkdesign.com
The Stone Fox in West Nashville Music City’s Latest Indie Haven
ABOUT The Stone Fox in West Nashville stands in an area that has been relatively untouched by the Nashville Music venue scene until now. Regular nightly acts just started a few months ago and already there has been sold-out shows including Boston’s Jonathan Richman in June. “We are very proud to take good care of our artists. All touring bands get a free meal and drinks and we have a house nearby that we rent with facilities for bands to stay, do laundry and shower.” – Reece, Venue Manager GEAR & SOUND FOH Console: Yamaha MG32/14FX. Mains: 2x EV full range 15”, 1 side fills Yamaha powered 12” Sub: 18” JBL Monitor mixes: 2x JBL JRX112M; 1x drum EV wedge. Mics: SM 57s and 58s for vocals and amps. Drum mic package w/ kick and tom mics. In-house sound engineers and house drum kit available (does not include snare, cymbals or kick pedal)
The Stone Fox is an 18+ venue with an eclectic menu from specialty burgers to vegetarian dishes as well as a full bar and indie music - both local faves and national touring acts. The Stone Fox is hosting a free all day block party called Nashville Outlines on August 3rd featuring JEFF The Brotherhood, The Ettes and a dozen other bands. BOOKING INFO Contact - booking@thestonefoxnashville.com for all booking inquiries. For more info, visit www.thestonefoxnashville.com. STAGE STATS Stage dimensions: 19’ wide, 13’ deep, 16” tall. Lighting: general stage wash - no lighting board. Capacity: 185 AUGUST 2013 PERFORMER MAGAZINE 9