SECOND SCENE - ISSUE 6

SECOND SCENE ISSUE 6

RAIN PARADE GHOST PATTERNS FIREFRIEND WILL CARRUTHERS JAKETHEHAWK WIN HARMS DAISY HOUSE JESUCRISIS PLEASING FORMS AJA WAALWIJK INUTILE TEMOIN JOHN & YOKO MEET THE INSECT SECT PYTR BAUM THE ACADEMY OF THE SUN IT’S KARMA IT’S COOL TINY FIGHTER SUPERDRONE MARTY & OLIVIA WILLSON-PIPER STAY LUNAR FASSINE THE MYSTERY PLAN BOLT THE DREG

BOLT THE DREG facebook/.comhandofdirt

Welcome to the sixth issue of the Second Scene magazine.

SECOND SCENE CREDITS & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Tim Thomas,Pytr Baum, Dave Franklin, Tom Sobilo, Bolt Dreg, Bob McCutcheon, Anthony Lamonde, Dave Pursh, Glenn Sebastian, Rick Radvansky, Judy Rosenfeld, Eric Wisiewski, The Electric Crush, The Vault Recording Studio, Shauna Lea McLarnon, Shameless Promotion PR, Get Hip, Gregg Kostelich, Barbara Garcia-Bernardo, Sterling Roswell, Mike Ivan, Howie Rosenberg, Print Tech & Dancing About Architecture.

Front cover photo: David Arnoff

CONTACT: secondscenezine@gmail.com Editor-in-Chief: Tim Thomas

Ruigoord (*) Artist Aja Waalwijk If there were any justice in the art world, Aja Waalwijk (1952) would need no introduction: he is Amsterdam’s most important artist and has been so for decades. He should have a wing of the Municipal Museum dedicated to his genius. (But apparently, the emperors over there have no clothes.) Aja’s oeuvre is huge: he paints, draws, makes statues, assemblages, and collages, he writes lyrics, articles, and interviews, organizes exhibitions and poetry readings and he is the Ruigoord ambassador for many cultural free heavens around the world. And he is a singer. And a performance artist. In short, he is a modern urban shaman, but he would be too modest and too unpretentious to admit that.

His career started very early: as a kid, he was fascinated

by Picasso, and drawing was all he wanted to do. At 13, he went to the Van Gogh Museum, was blown away and knew he would be an artist, too. The disciplines and other restrictions from several art schools bugged him, and he decided to become a teacher (drawing and Dutch) in order to support himself and give him total freedom for his art as well. In 1969, when he was studying Aboriginal art, he had a vision: a worldwide web of totem grounds, sacred places where different cultures would gather and learn from each other. Aja has been traveling extensively and visited and connected many cultural free spaces ever since.

Aja Waalwijk His workspace (a classroom in Zaal 100 in Amsterdam) is a feast for the eye: art everywhere, wild, provoking, and often hilarious and terrifying at the same time. Everywhere you look, there are masks and statues, assemblages and installations, and in the middle of that is an incredible tower made of discarded furniture, objects, and toys. It is called the Patafysicum, and every scene of it is filled with little symbols, details, and jokes and connected to many, many stories. It has been on exhibition on rare occasions, for instance at the Boom festival in Portugal and of course on Ruigoord. Someone should make a documentary about the tower, filming all the details, and recording the stories attached to them. It is mind-blowing and deserves far more attention than it has had so far. (We hope to revisit the Patafysicum in another issue.)

The work of Aja that we feature here is made up of some examples of his daily series of Lifelines, some of his collage work, and some examples of his series “Nail in the Sky” and “Mein Kapital.” And one of his song texts.

www.wittereus.net/aja/

PYTR BAUM

Aja Waalwijk

THE ACADEMY OF THE SUN THE PARTS THAT NEED REPLACING

Photo: Liene Lisovska

The Brighton four-piece The Academy of the Sun releases the leadoff single ‘The Parts That Needed Replacing’ from the forthcoming album ‘The Quiet Earth.’ “The Parts That Need Replacing’ was written to sate my desire to ‘reconsecrate’ 16th Century Hungarian countess and noblewoman Elisabeth Bathory, whose reputed cannibalism and serial murders were most likely reputation-staining fantasies dreamed up by the church out of institutional jealousy.” “I wanted this reconsecration to take place by feeding these myths, scenarios, and allegations of bloodbaths, black magic, and eternal life into the medium of a hypercatchy, high-energy pop song,” Says Nick Hudson.

Considering the dark subject matter, this single is a controlled explosion of psychedelic and dark power pop. Further accolades: JULIAN COPE says their music is “highly fucking beautiful,” and STUART BRAITHWAITE (MOGWAI) stated, “Nick Hudson and his group The Academy of Sun are some of the most exciting musicians currently operating in the UK.” Who am I to argue? nickhudsonindustries.bandcamp.com/

THE MYSTERY PLAN ZSA ZSA

Ten Millimeter Omega Recordings If you haven’t fallen in love with The Mystery Plan by the midpoint of opening salvo Those Stars, then you really should see a doctor, or perhaps even a psychiatrist. How could you not find everything you need in its drifting textures, louche beats, and sultry saxophone? If there was a decent bookshop nearby and a place that does good cheese, I’d move there tomorrow.

Five albums in and we find The Mystery Plan as smart and ground-breaking as ever, wandering between ethereal pop and sassy trip-hop, gentle shoegaze and chilled clubland sounds, dancing with the ghosts of post-punk past and leaving footprints for alternative dance yet to be. But you get to a point when you are just making up genres for an album which defies genres, not wilfully or with any malice aforethought, it just seems to forget that they are there. Oops!

But we knew that this was going to be worth the wait, the singles said as much, Ballad of JC Quinn reveling in a blend of dreampop and dance, 60’s vocals and shuffling backbeats and the punningly fiendish Al Gore Rhythms sounding like a long-forgotten slice of 90’s Bristol (UK).

I have to admit that I am late to the Mystery Plan party, but you can be damned sure that I am going to be at the head of the queue from now on! It doesn’t matter what the queue is for if their name is involved, I’m there.* *Geographical and financial restrictions permitting.

Review: Dave Franklin

Lolaphone leads us on a hazy, trippy dance spurred on by burbling bass lines and beguiling, nonsensical vocal samples, Long Way To Heaven has the touch of the cosmic cowboy about it. Electric Love shows that the band can rock out with the best of them, but when they do, they prefer to head off into the psychedelic playgrounds of an eastern otherworld to do it. facebook.com/themysteryplannc

Photo: Daniel Coston

Indie Rock, Power Pop, Britpop!

IT’S KARMA IT’S COOL It’s Karma It’s Cool hail from Lincoln, England. The group consists of James Styring, drummer Danny Krash, guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Martyn Bewick and Mikey Barraclough on bass.

They are filling the void once occupied by The La’s and later Cast by carrying on the tradition of classic English pop. They released their debut EP at the tail end of 2019, ‘Hipsters and Aeroplanes,’ to great reviews. Their latest album, ‘Woke Up In Hollywood,’ continues were the former left off with chiming guitars, strong melodies, and wellcrafted songs. “There were no real plans, just a desire to write some good tunes.” Says Jim Styring. It’s Karma It’s Cool has achieved just that. Good Tunes! facebook.com/itskarmaitscool

TINY FIGHTER

GOING HOME Review: Dave Franklin

Photo: Marcos Engman

I’ve been sat here listening to this debut album from Tiny Fighter, trying to work out just why it is so great. Obviously, it is full of deft and clever songwriting; it goes without saying that any album deserving such a label has that, but there is something in the delivery of these songs that makes them stand out even from other albums found at such rarified sonic high ground. I think it comes down to their ability to contrast sounds and musical ideas within their songs.

Take Strangest Thing, it’s a song built on solid structures but draped in dreamy hazes and shimmering guitars, making it somehow wonderfully accessible, certainly marketable yet brilliantly underground or outsider at the same time. Similarly, Happier blends contrasting dynamics, intimate, minimalist lows with epic, sky-searing highs, Echo chimes with both 70’s folkadelia and cool indie modernity, and

facebook.com/tinyfighterz

Devotion balances rock weight with infectious pop melodics.

And it is this ability to not stick to the script, to not bow down to the rules of one style or genre but instead to blur the lines or even crash them headlong into each other, that makes their songs come alive with fascinating contradictions. There is an art to blending such differing sonic qualities; the results can often feel forced or contrived, but not in this case, everyone from rockers to indie kids to pop princesses could learn some valuable lessons about arrangement and composition from some time spent absorbing the delights of Going Home.

Opposites attract, as the saying goes, and Tiny Fighter has delivered by far the most attractive collection of opposites I have heard on record in a long time.

Available on Bay Terrace Records

Ghost Patterns, a London based group, serves up a maelstrom of sonic, atmospheric, and introspective experimentation. Second Scene talks with Terry Hale.

Terry Tell us about the origins of Ghost Patterns.

We formed in May 2019 following an invite to play a show for London based independent label Club AC30. It was played as a solo gig (Thale), but following good feedback, we decided to form the band proper and come up with a new band name.

We’re are a four-piece, all based in London.

Three of us are from the U.K. ( Terry, James, and Letitia), and Somrata is from Toronto, Canada.

We released our debut single ‘Disappears’ on Bandcamp last November, with some other tunes released on our SoundCloud page. The way to go for us at the moment is to write, record, mix, and produce everything ourselves, so a proper DIY spirit.

With 2020 ground to a halt, how has Ghost Patterns been coping?

We are all holed up in various parts of North and East London. It’s been a quiet time, but we’ve recently started talking again about tentatively releasing new material and in which way we can best get it out there.

How does Ghost Patterns write? Individually or as a group?

As a new band, I have tended to write the main core of the material. However, Somrata on vocals and keys will be contributing the bulk of the lyrics to the new songs. We also collectively develop new songs in the practice space as a group.

What influences Ghost Patterns?

We all have a range of tastes in music, but I guess the main thrust of the band’s overall influences could start way back from the late 60’s psychedelic period, with stopping off points in post-punk through to shoegaze ’90s and even alt-rock aspects. So quite a range of styles to draw upon really.

For the new e.p. though, we seem to be drawing upon a crossover post-punk / shoegaze sound with programmed drums, (again partly born out of the lockdown situation). So it’s looking at the opportunities available to us at this moment in time, I guess.

When the quarantine finally ends (hopefully soon), what do Ghosts Patterns have planned?

We are hoping to release the new E.P. soon, but there’s plenty more to come after that!

When we are allowed out again, it’ll be back playing around, and about in London and with some good support slots in the pipeline with overseas touring bands later in the year, this can help us to get out there playing gigs around the U.K., so fingers crossed on that one!

Are you finding the shut down as a chance to write new songs?

I’ve have always got stuff on the go So I guess in that respect, the lockdown in itself hasn’t made a huge difference, writingwise anyway.

Although we were in the process of recording a new E.P., so not totally brand new songs, the way in which we will release it will be different from how we originally envisaged. We were scheduled to go into a studio, but the uncertainty has created the ‘Oracle’ E.P.will be available digitally on need to go totally DIY again. We should be Bandcamp Friday 5th of June. able to get stuff out fairly soon, hopefully by summer.the summer. facebook.com/ghostpatternsband ghostpatterns.bandcamp.com

GHOST PATTERNS PHOTO: JOHANN CHAN

JOHN & YOKO MEET THE INSECT SECT

INTERVIEW: PYTR BAUM PHOTOS: COR JARING USED WITH PERMISSION COURTESY OF THEO KLEIJ Theo Kleij is the last remaining member of the Insect Sect. He is 78 now, has a bold head, and a green mustache, and he seems as vital as a twentysomething. His workspace in the artist colony Ruigoord (west of Amsterdam) has a huge garden with herbs and flowers and trees, and his house reminds you of Hobbiton. He still runs the “Expertological Laboratory,” and it was not easy to ask him about that day, back in 1969, because he is more interested in the present than in the past. But on that Thursday, March 27th, he was visiting John Lennon and Yoko Ono in the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel. The following is what I learned from Theo.

In March 1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono spent a week in bed in room 902 of the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel. Every Beatles fan knows the photos: John & Yoko in bed with

their Hair Peace and Bed Peace signs, in a room full of reporters and other spectators.

The most interesting pictures were taken by famous Dutch photographer Cor Jaring (1936-2013), on Thursday, March 27th. On that day, John and Yoko were serenaded by and made honorary members of the Insect Sect. Jaring’s photo’s from that day show John & Yoko in bed, surrounded by a bunch of weird-looking people holding a butterfly flag and playing strange instruments. They also show John and Yoko, proudly displaying their butterfly badges. For all the people who ever wondered “what the hell was that all about?”, here is the story: The two people holding the butterfly flag are dentist/artist Max Reneman (left), and musician Huub Mathijsen, next to Huub, is

artist Theo Kleij. The little girl in the left corner is Theo’s daughter Esther Kleij. Also present was Huub’s brother Joost and an unknown number of other people. How did they get there? Max, Huub, and Theo were at the centre of several creative movements in Amsterdam.

The most famous of those movements is Provo. (That is a very interesting history in itself, but we do not have the space to get into that deeper here now.) There was also the Exotic Kitsch Conservatory, where music was made with irregular, self-built instruments.

The idea was that anybody could play anything, even without musical training. They became notorious at the opening of the IJ tunnel in Amsterdam: In cooperation with three local schools, they bought 600 plastic flutes and had the children walk into the tunnel “playing” those flutes! It must have been quite a (sound)scene, it was in all the papers and even John Lennon had heard rumours about the Exotic Kitsch Conservatory and he invited them to come visit him and Yoko at the Amsterdam Hilton. Even though the reception people at the Hilton had probably been getting used to many people visiting room 902, it still must have been quite a sight: all these dressed up people with their strange instruments showing up: “We’re here to see John Lennon,” büt when they phoned 902 with “Eh, The Insect Sect is here to see you?”, the reply was “Send them up!”

The people involved with the Exotic Kitsch Conservatory had just started another project, The Insect Sect (probably the first environmental protest group in Europe).

In February 1969, there had been a big oil spill in the Wadden Sea in the north of the Netherlands. Theo Kleij, Max Reneman, and Provo instigator Robert Jasper Grootveld (the infamous anti-smoke magician) were worried about the effects of pollution and agricultural poisons on nature. To express these concerns, they created the Butterfly Opera; everybody who wanted could participate if they dressed up as butterflies, Beatles, or insects. One of the songs from

the opera was “Mother, where have all the butterflies gone?” which is the song they performed for John & Yoko, with Huub playing the “horngeige” and Theo on the “klaas-toeter.” The logo of the Insect Sect was (you guessed it) a butterfly, and Theo found these copper butterfly brochettes at the Waterloo Square (famous flea market in Amsterdam) that he painted gold and attached to “immune” blue ribbons. After they played the Butterfly song, the butterfly flag and the butterfly badges were handed over to John & Yoko. They were initiated as honorary members of the Insect Sect, with a speech by Max Reneman, in his GruningerEnglish, about how “milieu verveling” leads to “milieu vervuiling” (environmental boredom leads to environmental pollution). John had recorded the whole performance on his recorder, and immediately he phoned Apple in London and played them the recording. The Insect Sect performance was one of the highlights of the Bed-in. Short. But unforgettable.

“Insektsekte”

THEO KLEIJ

THE INSECT SECT

Firefriend

Second Scene talks with Yury Hermuche of the psych soul rebels FIREFRIEND. With their backs against the wall and not willing to waste their lives on the trivial. Firefriend formed over a decade ago, and their journey has not been merely creative but one of survival in one of the toughest cities in Brazil, Sao Paulo.

Tell us about the heart & soul of Firefriend.

What drives this group?

I think we are having fun playing together and recording and touring, and that’s the main force, the pleasure one finds in exploration, as when you travel ten thousand miles to play in another continent because of what you read on an email. The pleasure of listening to music and writing and recording it, all that unknown space waiting to be visited.

Music goes around and brings you, new friends. Time turns into something else when you play, and that’s addictive.

There are always multiple forces that

When did Firefriend come together as a group?

Julia and I, we worked at the same publishing company in Brazil, in the largest, dirtiest, and most dangerous city of the country, Sao Paulo. Wasting our lives there, we realized the only way out would be forming this band. We quit our jobs, and we’ve been playing around since then. That’s how we found Carlos in 2010. We released ten records. Currently recording the next one.

SMASH THE CONTROL IMAGES! SMASH THE CONTROL MACHINE! keep coming from elsewhere, and you learn by seeing these drives shaping the new song, the new form, the new direction. It’s addictive.

For those new to Firefriend, how would you describe your sound?

We dig raw sounds and dark tones.

What has been the most significant influences on Firefriend? In terms of music, ideas, etc.…

The ones we’ve been listening to for a long time are Velvet Underground, Black Sabbath, John Coltrane, Antonioni, Burroughs, Godard, Kafka, Louis Ferdinand Céline, David Lynch.

Tell us about the music scene in Sao Paulo? Is there a strong psych scene?

Sao Paulo has been releasing interesting sounds since the time of Os Mutantes.

It’s busy, millions of characters and weird tales and pollution and corruption and all. People are poor but so are the musicians, we’re playing for cents, and that’s how Sao Paulo became very musical. There’s not a strong psych scene, but the bands playing and recording are tireless and fearless.

Is Firefriend a band of outsiders?

Yes, we don’t play the hits.

Photo: Denise Barros

“We live in Sao Paulo, the dirtiest largest and most violent city of this strange penal colony called Brazil. We’ve been playing together since 2006; we’re addicted to our record collections, fuzzy sounds, jazz, cursed writers, and space travels.

Making albums and playing live is our thing. Reality is our thing. Smash the control images!

Smash the control machine!” firefriend.com

Firefriend

Photo: Tim Schüller

Photo: Paulo Beto

Will Carruthers

Will Carruthers is best-known for his time spent as bassist with Spacemen 3, Spectrum, Spiritualized, the Brian Jonestown Massacre, and Dead Skeletons. Currently retired from the music business, Curruthers spends his creative time painting and bookbinding. The 2016 release of Curruther’s book Playing Bass With Three Left Hands tells the first-hand account in an honest and frank manner about his time in Spacemen 3/Spiritualized. “I can confirm that should you ever find yourself on stage playing the bass guitar with three left hands, it is usually the one in the middle that is the real one. The other two are probably phantoms.”

ART When did your love of art begin?

I think love kind of creeps on you, doesn’t it? Like you might even be in love and not even realize it nor remember to make a note in your diary of the exact time it struck. I started making my own art when I started making books I made Linocuts and bound them into the books I made. I started painting a lot when I was in Belfast a while back. There is a very gentle, lyrical, and sublime creative spirit in that city, which some people might find surprising. I even had an exhibition down the Newtonards Rd. We had free Buckfast. I’ve heard that’s what art people do.

Who influenced you in becoming an artist?

It was mainly damage to my ears and a torn ligament in my knee that got me started But some artists whose work, techniques and attitudes have inspired me in various ways are Natty Brooker, Billy Childish, Jon Saemunder, William Blake, Hokusai, Francis Bacon, Bridget Reilly, Turner, John Lurie. Otto Dix, Dorothea Tanning, Edvard Munch, Kurt Schwitters... Anthony Ausgang I am mostly influenced by pictures that hang on the walls in cheap hotels though. I like to paint on the back of them with instant coffee and toothpaste.

BOOK I’ve read your book Playing The Bass With Three Left Hands. It’s a fantastic and candid book. Anyone

who has ever been in a band can relate to your story.

Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it.

How did writing a book come about?

I walked for 150 miles along the Pembrokeshire coast with a little tent and a sleeping bag, just sleeping wherever I liked the view.

Then I went to Italy and did a couple of solo shows. From there I caught trains until I arrived in Trieste and then I caught a bus to Zagreb.

Some kind people let me stay in a flat they had free. Then I just mostly stayed in the room, writing, eating cheese sandwiches and drinking red wine till it was finished ...

What was your feeling about digging up the past and reliving those memories? Whether they were good or bad.

I like digging. Physical work makes my heart feel like an alligator.

It’s like having a compost heap, sometimes you have to turn that stuff over to make sure it rots evenly It was great, though, because after revisiting some of those times, I realized I did not want to revisit those times nor did I want to play any of those songs again.

It was quite a relief MUSIC Do you have any plans as far as your music career is concerned?

Any new music or collaborations planned for the future?

No.

Artwork owned and copywritten to Will Carruthers. Used by permission. willcarruthers.squarespace.com

Will Carruthers

Will Carruthers

RAIN PARADE INTERVIEW: PYTR BAUM

PHOTO: DAVID ARNOFF

Stop the presses and hold the front page: There will be a new Rain Parade record this year! Rain Parade vanished somewhat mysteriously in the late “80s, but Steven Roback and Matt Piucci never stopped making great music and with a reunion show every now and then it’s existence slumbered, but the fire never went out. The band was a central part of the so-called Paisley Underground scene, a group of young L. A. bands from the early ‘80s who got off on 60’s music but approached it with the D.I.Y. mentality of punk. A bunch of friends really, who camped out together on Catalina Island and played the same circuit and shared equipment and got together for BBQs. Rain Parade played haunting psychedelic music, like the Byrds or early Pink Floyd or late Beatles. Still, they managed to sound totally unique.

Back then, they were at the threshold of popularity but never quite made it big. Connoisseurs will be hip to Viva Saturn or the Hellenese but they belong to the lucky few. (Hey, check out the FiR single if you missed that one!) Rain Parade music is still being played and recognized as essential listening by new generations. Cult stars rising... I kid you not, you can walk in ‘80s Amsterdam coffee shop or smart shop and hear Rain Parade.

There was already good news about Rain Parade and the Paisley Underground last year, with the release of the 3x4 album, a collection of cover songs from the “original” P.U. bands, Dream Syndicate, The Bangles, Three O’Clock and Rain Parade, all covering each other. So there were some live shows and even new songs.

One thing leads to another and being big fans of Rain Parade, we decided to contact Matt Piucci and ask him some questions. Here goes: Rain Parade seems to be back from never really gone. There was the 3x4 release, of course, and you guys have been doing shows every now and then (with new songs even), one coming up soon on the 14th of February 2020. The obvious question is can we expect a new Rain Parade album soon?

MP: We are writing and working on new material, and occasionally playing live, which is somewhat of a distraction.

However, we couldn’t miss a show with our pals’ Dream Syndicate on Valentine’s Day, could we? Had to do that. Our hope is to start recording this summer. Is that soon?

Like the Velvet Underground in the ‘60s and Big Star in the ‘70s, Rain Parade produced work in the ‘80s that has not stayed obscure at all. Have you noticed a continuation, maybe even an increase in appreciation for your work? I don’t mean financially…

MP: It’s difficult to tell from our perspective, but it seems like we have gotten more appreciation this time around, perhaps just because such things are rare. I

do think our recorded material stands the test of time, and musicians, in particular, tend to like it. Whatever respect we have gained is due to our studio work.

David Roback once told me, “There was no Paisley Underground,” but the tag stuck. Many people hated the tag and even moved away from playing “psychedelic” music, some even denied for a long time they were ever part of it. (Until the PU revival that seemed to be happening.) How do you feel about th…

MP: There is no committee or anything that determined such a thing, just an off-handed joke that stuck about something that did, in fact, happen. There was something going on in LA at the turn of the ’80s when it seemed that atmospherics had left the predominant musical form, which was punk. That was true in many other places throughout the country, and quite a wide breadth of music came from it, which I am happy to say I experienced.

Because of the coordination between independent record labels, college radio and clubs throughout the country, and cheap gas, the whole thing was possible. Otherwise, you may not have heard any of it. It all had the DIY ethos of punk but the music was different, kind of more like 1975 NY punk, which was many different original songwriters and sounds in the same place. Unlike the UK punk bands and the post-punk ”psychedelic” groups such as U2/Teardrop Explodes/Echo and the Bunnymen, they all have similar sounds. No slag, as I do like almost all of them.

My peer group was a few years

younger than those in mid to late 70’s bands and wanted to do our own thing. Almost all of the musicians I met in LA in the 80s were well versed in what came before. Many of us were record store geeks or DJs. We had older siblings who had 60s records. AM radio when we were growing up was formidable, so we all learned through that. Speaking for myself, there were two phenomenal AM radio stations in the US Midwest in the very early 70s that were precursors to the FM radio format who one could get at night for hundreds of miles. They played all of the cool new stuff that was not yet available. So we knew the canon.

Putting numbers on this scene is weird, although there is most definitely a tight personal bond between many of the groups.

Sue Hoffs and the Roback brothers were neighbors since childhood, and the late Will Glenn was Sue’s brother’s college roommate. Green on Red of that era is my personal favorite, and I crashed for months at Jack Waterson’s house, which was BBQ/party central for everyone. Jack and Dan Stuart remain close friends of mine today. That’s the background. And it was a surprise to see so many different groups with the same tastes in music come up with their own thing at the same time.

As far as hanging out goes, I played a bunch of golf with the Longryders, and the Leaving Trains were around as much as anyone else. Kendra and Steve from Dream Syndicate were in bands with the guys from True West and Thin White Rope (although Davis/Sacramento is 450 miles from LA).

I guess my point, after all of that blathering, is that boundaries are never clear. As for today, I am proud of both personal contributions and those of my friends and associates.

Is there a chance of seeing a Rain Parade box, with the studio recordings, outtakes, and live stuff? (A Box of Rain Parade, haha.)

MP: That is looking backward and any energy we have is devoted to coming up with new product. However, Real Gone recently rereleased the combo CD of Emergency Third Rail Power Trip and Explosions in the Glass Palace, which is remastered and sounds way better than the crummy 90s CD. Also, the first LP is out on Real Gone and they are planning to rerelease the EP, maybe with an extra track.

What is this Paisley Grateful Dead bashing thing anyway? I will admit I didn’t get into them when I first heard them (Working Man’s Dead), but I was intrigued by the phenomenon, and when I heard live registrations and got into the history of the band, I dug the hell out of it.

The Long Ryders even made a nasty remark about them on an album cover. And American Beauty is a masterpiece!

MP: You won’t hear that from me, although would it kill Phil Lesh to play about 9000 fewer notes? Any band would die for their loyal fan base. Saw them a few times in the early-mid 70s and dug it mightily. Once I got into punk, I too mocked them, but I came back. There is very little that I play much, but I swear to God, I am listening to my favorite song, Wharf Rat off

Skull and Roses right now, which is fucking magnificent!

As for more Fir? Who knows? Let me finish Rain Parade first!

The FIR single, Winter Doesn’t Care, was wonderful. Can you tell something about that project? Is there a chance of a whole album of FIR any time?

What advice do you have for young bands that would like to create a masterpiece that will stand the test of time?

MP: Learn the music that inspires you, be patient, work your ass off on your craft, and don’t be afraid to suck. Almost everyone starts out imitating someone else. We played for over a year before anyone heard us.

Record your practices, they can be depressing, but it is the cold hard truth. Do not settle for a compromise of your vision, whether that is how a song sounds, what parts people are playing or how they are playing.

Gotta people and possible even gear. Know that what you are doing is what you want but leave room for accidents and new things. Finally, try to find someone who knows what they are doing once it is time to record, and don’t be intimidated the studio.

MP: Why thank you, I really liked it as well. That band was probably the best thing that Facebook has ever done for me. I met Nelson Bragg, who is an amazing percussionist/singer and played in Brian Wilson’s band for ten years. I also met Brent Rademaker, from many very cool bands- Beechwood Sparks, GospelbeacH and the Tyde (with his brother Darren, another very talented guy).

One of Rain Parade’s first shows of the newest incarnation we got through Rob Campanella, who at the time was in Brian Jonestown Massacre, and yet another ridiculously talented musician. I was surprised to learn that all of these guys were huge Rain Parade fans.

I had heard of their work of course, but I didn’t realize that there was this other wave of psychedelic/cosmic country in the 90s, as all of these guys are roughly ten years younger than I am. That was a delight to learn and all of the music they play on is very cool. On top of that, it marks my reunion with Jim Hill, Rain Parade’s producer/ sound mixer. I had realized a few years earlier that every mix of every song I had ever recorded that he had mixed sounded better than every other one. Learning from that, he produced the Fir single and is now basically in Rain Parade, and with the exception of writing and arranging, we don’t do anything without him.

The last question is one that I have asked before, but we really have to get into it again: Europe wants a Rain Parade show. Europe NEEDS a Rain Parade show. How can anyone help to make that happen, against all odds MP: Man, I wish I could say yes, but I just don’t see how. I’m retiring in a year so maybe I could, but to get everybody over there? It would take one generous patron, but I certainly do not know any. Start a GoFundMe. I’m not joking.

The present Rain Parade line-up includes Derek See on guitar.

He plays in several other bands (among which the Chocolate Watchband). We asked Derek a couple of questions about the new Rain Parade.

Derek, how did you get in the band?

Derek See: About six years ago, Matt asked me to do some guitar tech work for them.

When I started doing that, it turned into him, asking me to play acoustic guitar on stage for a few songs. Then he asked me to be a full-time member in the Hellenes. Shortly before the recording sessions for 3x4, he told me that I was now officially in R.P. What about the new record?

Rain Parade has a unique sound of its own; what is different about this one compared to the old albums?

Derek See: The songs are classic R.P., which I think of as ‘impressionistic music,’ like impressionist art. I would venture to say that the arrangements are possibly even more experimental than previous work, with lots of layers of guitar, percussion, mellotron, organ. I still have a massive fan perception of the band, so I can assure all that the new music will be very well received.

Will it be released on Cd and vinyl? Man, I am very much looking forward to this! I heard some of the new songs from a live show on Youtube.

Derek See: Hopefully a label will be interested, but we don’t know any yet.

David Roback (1959-2020) Founding member of Rain Parade, David Roback, passed away last February.

He was only 61. David will be remembered by most for Mazzy Star, the neopsychedelic 90’s folk-rock band that gained immense popularity and scored a big hit with the song Fade Into You. But he was also responsible for a whole bunch of songs that are still quite obscure, due to their limited availability.

Before Mazzy Star, there was Opal, and before Opal, there was Clay Allison. Both bands featured ex-Dream Syndicate bass player Kendra Smith. One of the most beautiful but “lost” albums of the 1980s must surely be Early Recordings

by Opal (actually these are Clay Allison recordings), and the troubled relationship between Roback and Smith made him reluctant to rerelease any of the work he had done with her. Only last year, there seemed to be talk about finally re-releasing these albums. Opal’s sound was a bit like Mazzy Star’s, but Clay Allison was even eerier, haunting, and unique.

Copies of Early Recordings are hard to find and quite expensive. Which is a crying shame: there is nothing else quite like it.

There is another “lost” album that David Roback was responsible for: Rainy Day

(1984). It is a bunch of cover versions from 60’s artists’ songs, done by young L.A, musicians of the so-called Paisley Underground. It brings together members of the Three O’ Clock, Dream Syndicate, Rain Parade, and the Bangles.

(As a matter of fact, the recently released 3x4 album is a continuation of it, in the sense that it brings the same bands together, this time covering each other’s songs.) David Roback was the producer of the album, he wanted to learn how to produce a record, and this was the result. It has fabulous performances, and I have heard people claim they prefer much of the cover versions on this to the originals. There are covers of Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Big Star, and The Velvet Underground, among others. There have been no new releases of it since 1989.

It is a cherished album, like Early Recordings, hard to find and expensive. Like Early Recordings, long overdue for re-release.

And of course, there is Emergency Third Rail Power Trip, the first Rain Parade album, David contributed several songs for that one.

The album sounds as fresh today as it did in 1983.

David Roback was a very talented songwriter, and guitar player, his legacy and influence are enormous. It will most probably be growing.

PYTR BAUM

Exiled and living in Holland artist WIN HARMS pushes the boundaries with Poetic Terrorism, Bootleg Literature, Poetic Swag, and Outsider Art. POETICS X

WIN HARMS Photo: Guido van Asselt

DYSTOPIA x Win Harms THIS. IS. NOT. A. DESTINATION. This dystopian dialogue begins with a kiss Nouveau vandal dreams control lust Containing Fluxus philosophy chaos Lost children stumbling towards revolution Insecure about mornings blinding solution ALL OF OUR FORMER PLANS FEEL SO FUTILE. Climate controlled smoke signals to Pandemic pioneers on the edge of existence The fabled damned give form to layers Of uncertainty mimicking scars of Wandering saints lost in memory THIS. IS. NOT. A. DESTINATION.

CONCRETE JUNGLE x Win Harms Dressed for rebellion in fatigues of the concrete jungle I tie red ribbons of surrender around wounded warrior wings where dirty fingerprints bare truth to my downfall Broken dolls wear tattoos like a shield disrupting electric wilderness and exposing my heart to the stark raving masses Trying to outrun the rain on streets christened with backseat essence of youth Our forefathers failed us in cosmic escalations of epic proportions guided by algorithms and greed I will not abandon my post even after the death of a dream

WIN HARMS

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WIN HARMS

PLEASING FORMS

The former guitarist and songwriter with The Silver Thread, Todd Thomas, steps out on his own for the first time with his new venture, Pleasing Forms. The debut release “Happiness is a Wreck” is a dark, brooding affair with psychedelic undertones and late-night paranoia.

CRAWLING FROM What influences this new E.P.?

Well, the new and first E.P. of Pleasing Forms is called “Happiness is a Wreck.”

My main influence right now is the Flying Nun scene from New Zealand in the ‘80s.

Not so much attempting to duplicate the sound or image but the DIY aesthetic, making music for the sake of making music. With the hope that some people

will hear and dig it. I am not under the illusion that I am going to be touring the world and signing a record contract, etc. I am recording in my kitchen and living room, aka South Trenton Bunker Studios. The sound of the E.P is influenced by the music that I have been listening to most of my life. A mixture of rock, psych, and folk. No one individual band

What are you trying to get across in the songs?

There is no grand message. I like a song with a hook with some twists and turns and a lyric with some mystery. I usually do not write straight forward lyrics. I’m not attempting to be difficult; they just come out that way naturally. I like it when a song or piece of music creates a mood.

The music and lyrics blend and create an image in your head or makes you wanna dance around.

What have you learned about yourself writing, recording, and producing your first set of solo material?

I’ve learned that it is hard work. You are responsible for everything. When you start out, you think you are going to produce a song every week. I almost always write the music first then I add the lyrics. This takes time, but the actual recording and engineering is a whole new adventure for me. I am teaching myself to record and engineer. I think I’ve come a long way, but I’ve got a long way to go. It’s amazing what you can do with a laptop these days. I’m not going to be the next Glyn Johns or Geoff Emerick anytime soon, but I hope the recordings hold up, and so does the music. All I can hope is to continue to improve and that some people dig the music.

Why did you decide to record solo?

I decided to record solo because I wanted to make some records on my own. I’ve played in bands since I was 15.

So there is always a comprise; in many ways, that is a fantastic thing. Song ideas can go in directions that you never thought of because someone else adds a bit to the arrangement, and it becomes something else you never imagined. But it is liberating to attempt to chase down

What can we expect from Pleasing Forms in the future? Will you put together a line up to take this live?

I am going to continue to record and release music. I am hoping to release another E.P. by autumn. As for playing live, it is a possibility. Finding other musicians is the difficult part. Although,

or artist. Hopefully, the E.P. is a stew. In other words, all my influences are thrown into one pot, but the music comes out sounding (or tasting)like me. At least one hopes. Some of the artists and bands that are influences: Love, late 60s Stones, English folk, Television, etc.

M THE WRECKAGE the sound and feel of a song on your own. You are attempting to capture the sound that is in your head without waiting on some else to become inspired.

Although, you still have to try and check your ego and make decisions that are best for the music.

pleasingforms.bandcamp.com

maybe I can perform on my own and strip the songs down. I’ve never played a solo spot before, but there is always a first time for everything.

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Inutile Témoin

Inutile Témoin, a duo from Berlin, Germany, offers a performance inside of a performance.

Teresa Riemann’s hypnotic drumming combined with Amellie Legrand’s cello drones and fractured melodies, two mad marionettes cutting themselves free from the strings that bind them in one very chaotic but beautiful motion.

Photo: Michel Balague

For those who don’t know, how would you describe your music?

We are traveling in between Mad Punk Experimental and Poetic Fragile Noise; in fact, our audience makes us believe that “fragile” is not the appropriate word here. To let our listeners speak for us, many feel caught by what first seems as an absence of control; they are mesmerized and drawn into the performance.

Amélie Legrand and Teresa Riemann, how did you two come together to form Inutile Témoin?

Amélie: I met Teresa in a concert at XB-Liebig, a very nice alternative place in Berlin where Teresa was engaged artistically and politicly. This was in 2017. I was playing a concert with my band Elmer Kussiac, and I remember a girl at the bar with a special way of looking at me. I received a letter on the comings days, so we met with our instruments and began to start our collaboration. At first, we where playing improvised shows only, soon we started to write songs together while using improvisation as well as combining our different skills and experiences.

With just a cello and drums, you create such a beautiful noise. Very hypnotic. Who or what has influenced the making of your music?

Teresa: First of all, it’s neither who nor what, but a strong desire to express, no half-truths, but everything at once, all the beauty and cruelty of this world that exist simultaneously without to cancel each other out.

This desire requires to leave known paths to get ready for a quest that knows no purpose nor limitations.

Loophole, 29.3.2018, Live at OCCII, and @ Haekem Downtown Brussels. All amazing performances.

It is important to us to always challenge ourselves in our performances; each concert is unique as even in the songs, we are improvising and developing new forms and structures. We are in a continuous movement in our work as our repertoire evolves very quickly. Our performances don’t exist in a vacuum separated from everything else but are to be seen in a constant dialogue with the changing circumstances of our lives.

When not working, what are some of your interests?

Eating croissants and drinking benches of coffee, cuddling dogs and cats, falling from bikes and diving into deep wells, listening songs and driving cars, inhaling very loud noise from our friends, escaping the concrete jungles to find physical exhaustion on mountains, swimming and creeping.

All the rest is related to work (sic !).

Favorite artists or musicians?

Photo: Ken Werner Amélie: I relate music to my body and to breathing, it is a form of healing for me. I got the chance to meet amazing musicians from the Middle East, and I could say that I have a strong interest in Soufi’ s music, Persian tunes, Taraab, and Middle East music in general. Also, I fell into the boiling pot of rock when I was a teenager, so I guess this is as well strongly influencing the way I’m playing.

A mix of free improvisation, written pieces, and poetry.

Where does the inspiration come from?

Teresa: My inspiration comes from the people I meet every day, from all the moments I experience and from the wish to share an enthusiastic view on life.

I’ve been reading books since I was a little child and writing stories and poems since I am eleven. Before I met Amélie, I’ve been touring Europe with drums & voice on several festivals for improvised music, mainly playing with artists, that I never before had played with. It is much more contemporary, rather unknown musicians, that inspire me by meeting them personally, hearing them perform live and engaging with their souls at stake, than famous musicians.

What can you tell us about your performances? I find myself returning to the youtube videos of Live at

Amélie: At this moment I’m listening to some Alan Bishop tunes, music from Iran, Kurdistan, Tanzania, some Trapp like Wegz from Egypt, french singersongwriters and dearest friends Tatsumi Ryusui, Adam Goodwin, Python Vs. Cobra, Quasi Stella, Hure, Wrngdng.

Teresa: Music that has touched and influenced me a lot comes from Robert Wyatt, Ruins, Battles, Lightning Bolt, Zach Hill, Carla Bozulich, Colin Stetson, Laurie Anderson. Many years I got stuck on no wave from the late ‘70s in the US, but at this moment, I find myself on the search for new music that doesn’t seem familiar in any way.

What does Inutile Témoin have planned for 2020?

Construct more songs, work hard, travel to discover new terrain, and play a tour in Scandinavia.

Record an album.

Is there anything you would like to add?

Thank you for your interest in our group. We enjoyed doing this interview with you.

facebook.com/inutiletemoin

PYTR BAUM The Dutch artist from Ruigoord, Holland and the founder of the Collage College and Noise Ambassade Ruigoord wants you to support the appreciation of NOISE as ART.

Appalachian Desert Rock

Interview: Dave Pursh

What happens when a father calls out to his son, Jake, to come home from running around in the woods, only to attract the attention of a redtailed hawk that, from that moment on, would be a welcome guest flying around the property for years to come?

JaketheHawk was born.

“It really is about a bird,” says John Huxley, lead vocalist and guitarist in Pittsburgh based psychedelic stoner rock band, JaketheHawk.

JTH was the brainchild of John and his brother Jake back in 2016. Through some mutual friends, the brothers were introduced to another set of brothers, Jordan and Justin Lober, drums and bass, respectively, while at Edinboro University. The band was complete and began laying down some tracks. After catching the attention of Shy Kennedy from Blackseed Records (and vocalist for Horehound) in early 2018, “Year of the Hawk” was released to

the masses. Later that year, “To Build a Fire” was unleashed.

“Year of the Hawk really is a collection of demos. A lot of those songs were written by

Jake and I before we even played together as a band,” John explains. Although many of the songs on that first release still come to life at live shows, they mention that one song in particular, “Horizon,” a sevenminute rock freakout, has only been played live one time.

However, the ingredients of that record were to set the tone of what would become “To Build a Fire.” They also mention that there is a “lost album” Photo: Dave Pursh

of material that was never recorded between Year of the Hawk and To Build a Fire.

Justin explains, “In between both YOTH and TBAF, we were trying to figure out the sound we were going for at the time. We had a few songs that we actually tracked, and that we had even been playing live at that time when we decided to go a different direction.”

It was at that point that the band decided to reset itself. John had written somewhat of a concept that eventually became the first four songs (Side A) of “To Build a Fire.” In order to accompany those songs, the guys went back and listened to the songs that they had tracked, pulled the best four of the bunch, and To Build a Fire was complete. “All of the songs (that I write) sound like me, and all of the songs are about being sad in the woods (laughs),” John continues, “To quote Joe Talbot from the wonderful band Idles, ‘you find your artistic

language in the things you like to talk about.’”

It was around this time that Jake had decided to leave the band, and without trying too hard, positivity was not what the band was about.

There are some darker themes expressed in the music and lyrics, so I asked the guys if they considered themselves to be generally happy people. Justin jokingly replies with an abrupt, “No,” but Jordan is quick to respond, “I complain a lot, but I’m generally happy.” John continues, “Day to day I’m pretty happy, but what do I write about? The disillusionment with society. The disillusionment with ‘yourself.’ This is the theme in much of To Build a Fire. You can’t really be mad at people without (in some way) being mad at yourself. We don’t try to be an intentional philosophical band or anything, but I think sad songs are way more uplifting than happy songs because you listen and know that you’re not the only one that deals with this shit. No one wants to hear a song about me getting day-drunk and playing PlayStation.”

Digging deeper, however, there is a real celebration of art, imagery, and natural beauty that may be overshadowed by some of the negativity of the lyrics.

John elaborates, “A lot of my lyrics are…there’s a term for this, but…they are like word paintings. I describe scenes and a lot of the scenes I describe are really beautiful. Really when I think about it, TBAF isn’t so much negative, but more of a celebratory closure kind of thing.”

Take, for instance, these gorgeous lyrics from the song

“Holy Water”; The hollow sings the words to our song This holy water sings along ripples in the undertow and all we do we do for her But the lyrics would be lost without the music to back them up. “What I bring to the table is a riff,” says Justin. “I don’t really write a song as much as I write a riff that John will then build upon to write the song.

Jordan and I come from a punk background where it was more rhythmically heavy and had more of a Discharge feel to it.

It’s interesting because of the lyrics, because of the rhythm, because of the aggression behind it.”

Jordan looks at his time in JaketheHawk as more of a challenge from those early days. “I do enjoy playing fast, but I definitely enjoy grooving a

bit more. Branching out of the hardcore scene, I fell in love with classic rock, stoner rock, and real groove-heavy music, and then everything just fell in line with (JaketheHawk). I still have to force myself not to play too fast (laughs).”

2019 brought about a minitour that exposed the band to audiences around the east coast, including Columbus, Louisville, Nashville, Richmond, Asheville, Canton, Cleveland &

facebook.com/jakethehawkpgh

Youngstown. Since Jordan and Justin had some previous road experience in their punk band (naked guy running around in Ohio aside), they were able to bring some ideas to the table.

The first thing was to book some “anchor” dates in towns where they had some connections.

“Geographically, some of these larger towns made sense.

Nashville was a place that I always wanted to go to, so that was obvious,” John says. Some venues were easy to book, some other places they needed to get a bit more aggressive.

The tour was successful enough, and they were able to make some new fans along the way.

Justin says that working with John has brought him out of his comfort zone, and he’s grown as a musician because of that.

John’s understanding of music theory especially has grounded him. “We all bring our individual influences to the table, and it all meshes really well.”

Looking ahead, John feels that the consensus is, “In this band, we’re old enough that we’re too old to be bad. We’re too old to suck.”

“Any song I write, no matter how heavy I try to make it, is always gonna be groovy,” says John. The stoner rock genre in itself is somewhat divided between doomy and groovy.

JaketheHawk falls somewhere in between that. It’s sad but in a happy kind of way. It’s heavy but in a melodic kind of way. It’s a northeastern, via southeastern, via midwestern Americana kind of way. Any way you slice it, it all comes down to good old rock ‘n roll at the core. Fly on.

Photo: First Angel Media

; Gothic, Deathrock & Dark Alternative. Second Scene talks with Vladimir Munoz and Lisa Miles about Jesucrisis.

Before the quarantine, Jesucrisis was a very busy group. Tours of the West Coast and Latin America, along with the release of a new album, ARCHAIC FIRES in late 2019. What can you tell us about your experiences on the road and the release of your latest album?

Lisa: First, the album. It was slated for the end of the year; we released on Dec. 25 so that the celebration date coincided a little, haha, with the name of the band! It had been a few years or so in the making, at least as far as the band as a core duo was concerned. With Vladimir’s immigration to the U.S. and so much more new activity here... it was an intense couple of years, but of course, the goal was to compose together here in North America. We did that, along with pulling in a song or two from back as far as ‘16 that hadn’t been part of an album.

As for the mini-tours, Vladimir decided to book three shows in March of 2019 (two in hometown Santiago de Chile, the other in Lima, Peru). It was the first time we performed as a duo, taking it ‘on the road’ out of the country.

That tour, and in particular the big production in Lima, really set the stage for excellent promotion of the newly-reconstructed band.

Vladimir: Yeah, thanks go to old friends, musicians, and music lovers who made these concerts and their productions and recordings possible-- Ervo Perez from Productivo Mutante; Carlos Corzario of the ska band Santiago Rebelde; Patricio Arias from Beat Calavera: and the rockers Adrian Ríos Ortiz (audiovisual recordings); El Pajarrako; Rupa of the band KNTI; Jose “Dr. Satori” Unanue, sound engineer and radio show producer; the bands of friends who played; the friends who assisted security at the events, and the club owners themselves of Bar Uno and Caja de Musica, as it was emphasized that ultra-right-wing fascists would not be allowed to enter; and Cueva de Murcielagos (Cave of Bats) of Lima, Peru,

Photo: Deb Frazin

JESUCRISIS

who of course is so with us in this resistance movement of artists, and who continued to make everything in Lima very familiar and warm as Santiago...

Lisa: LA was fantastic. That SoCal mini-tour took place just a few months ago, this past Feb of ‘20, just before the virus’ presence.

We are especially grateful for the way it came about, hooking up with Bruce “Ravens” Moreland and Linda LeSabre, and Rikk Agnew and Gitane Demone!

How fantastic to get invited to play gigs together by LA punk and deathrock legends that liked what they heard when a friend of a friend of a contact person, only, happened to throw our music past them! Every part of it— from its inception back in July of last year, to the unbelievable visit to our home by Rikk and Gitane and the others in the Rikk Agnew Band playing Pgh last August, to ongoing conversations with Bruce prior was so memorable.

Getting out there, meeting Bruce and travelling in his cool music/ work van to Palm Springs and Anaheim, crashing with friends of Linda LeSabre one night, and on and on was so memorable…

and the basis of future visits for sure, we all agreed! A big gig in Santa Ana never materialized for Only Theatre of Pain, Ravens Moreland and Jesucrisis, but we were additionally honored that Rikk invited us to play that. (The next best thing was being able to see OTOP at the PHANTOMS deathrock book release party while we were out there.) And getting to sing “Deathwish,” the song we normally cover as an encore, with RABB at the last mutual gig at The Doll Hut, capped a really cool tour.

And Vladimir might speak to a takeaway with Bruce “Ravens” that he is producing this Spring.

Vladimir: In a while, we will publish audiovisual material, an interview with legendary Bruce “Ravens” Moreland and even some of our overall experience out there with him.

With everything shut down and live music brought to a standstill, how have Jesucrisis been coping? Have you been using this time to write?

Also in our time back from LA, we have entertained and worked a little on some side projects moving forward—myself on another couple pieces with Berlin’s Ger Egan (formerly of This Burning Effigy, October Burns Black and guest on our album) and a composition with the words and voice of longtime sister Adrienne Wehr. Vladimir recorded bass (including video footage) for two projects in April!

He can tell more of that, as well as perhaps that Jesucrisis is now putting out the word that a good guitarist here in Pittsburgh is sought to collaborate on future work.

Vladimir: I have been getting along well. I collaborated in a guest clip of a spirited cool video just released for KNTI, the band of friends in Santiago. And in an idea of Collectivo No, in which 36 musicians sent music video clips touching upon their free will and spirit musically. Then everything was mixed into a video; the result was beautiful. And I am already collecting ideas for new material of Jesucrisis.

When things finally do open up, what does Jesucrisis have planned for the rest of 2020 and 2021?

Lisa: The rest of the year will be spent exploring new songs, creating some videos, looking at finessing our performance set (which always includes improved ways of presenting the backing tracks, etc.). We desire in 2021, in addition to any attempt to get overseas to Finland, possibly Norway, Sweden (and even Russia down the road, considering the KINO cover on our album, and more), to also return to Santiago and Lima (potentially a fest in the

latter). We need to play Mexico, as we were invited for a weekend festival stint smack-dab while in the middle of doing LA tour, but it was not with the right producer.

Jesucrisis has friends and fans in Mexico and will likely make it happen in an independent fashion, as we approach all things (yet still welcome larger production).

We need to play Barcelona, Spain at some point, where Vladi lived for almost a decade, as well as Berlin!

And, of course, returns to LA. We have even entertained the idea of going out for three months at a time, with some work potentials.

Idealistic, perhaps, but we have found that making our own way has opened up some magical stuff for us. For that, we are grateful and quite happy as musicians and partners.

Vladimir: We will try to organize a concert in Pittsburgh with friends and local bands, delve deeper into the audiovisual and enjoy the process of exploring the possible themes for songs and videos. And of course supporting in some way as a band, even from a distance, the social movements against Sebastian Pinera, the leader who has brought so much destruction to Chile.

jesucrisis.bandcamp.com

lisamilesviolin.com/jesucrisis

;

Lisa: Well, we have actually been resting from music! It was such a push to get the album birthed and us ready to tour again, with the new songs, etc., that we have been taking advantage of the time off. We had originally intended to rest a month or so, then focus on readying to play the Lumous Gothic Festival in Finland in July… but we just got word of its likely cancellation due to the virus. We are saddened, as it was such an honor to be invited to play the final night of the 3-day festival, especially since it was slated as the final time for it to be held. (Lumous was put out for 19 years by Jyrki of Two Witches; Lisa traveled there as a guest in ‘17 and laid a track for the band, as well as work with friends Marko and Sanna of Chaos Research.) Too, our friend Jay Ravine (of The Flatfield, and who guested on our album, lives in Helsinki, and we had hoped to see him. But if Lumous is a no-go this year, Jesucrisis will indeed still make a point to travel out that way soon,

possibly a gig with Two Witches or Chaos. And this summer of potential still-quarantine, Jesucrisis will have a house party of sorts (virtual if necessary), as we did last summer— as we have the perfect spot, old house on a hill with side land, to host gigs for our friends and family.

The spirit of classic southern Californian folk, psych, baroque pop is alive in the music of the father-daughter duo Daisy House. Let’s take a trip.

A brief history of Daisy House?

I was born in 1958 in California She was made in 1993 in California.

Together, we made the first Daisy House album in 2012 with some initial input from an old high school friend of mine. (he dropped out soon after that) That album was released early 2013, in the midst of, but incidental to, the neofolk renaissance of the “teens” (think Mumford & Sons).

It got us the ‘buzz.’

Four more albums followed, each moving a bit further away from the pure AngloAmerican folk/psych impulse of the first album as Tatiana’s voice became more

Daisy House was an update of the 60’s sound/aesthetic: equal parts: “folk-psychpop-baroque-singer/songwriter-classic/rock” (even a little ‘shoegaze’).

If it was ‘cool,’ it was in there.

Rap? None. Modern Country? None.

Tech? No. (we made “hand-made music for people who may find themselves using hand-tools again in the not too distant future,” and we had a motto: “If you don’t like Daisy House there’s something wrong with you”).

We were mostly a recording duo, making albums on her college/ holiday breaks. We only ever played a hand-full of ‘live’ shows, which is a pity. We traded lead vocals/harmonies, and I wrote, played, arranged, recorded basically everything.

Early musical touchstones

DAISY HOUSE accomplished, each selling more than the last. We were offered two ‘small’ record deals which we turned down, and one ‘Big’ record deal at the end which ‘she’ turned down in order to live a ‘normal’ life as a math teacher in East Sussex.

What have been the biggest influences on Daisy House?

were: Fairport Convention (the ‘model’), Donovan, the Byrds, Beatles, the Mamas, and the Papas, Jimmy Webb Vashti Bunyan; later elements drew on the Pretenders, Girl Groups, Early Bee Gees, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Beach Boys, Sonny and Cher, Gene Clark even modern Pop Radio, but Tatiana’s unique voice set the scene. She had “that”

ephemeral quality that one so rarely comes across in Pop music; “untrained” but very compelling. I wrote to her voice, and as a songwriter, I have to say, the songs never came so easy, as easy as the recording process was hard/demanding.

As we went along, we became more and more “ourselves” with each new release.

For those coming to Daisy House for the first time, what do you recommend they listen to first?

We tried to make every album a “greatest hits” in its own right, but we just put out our “Swan Song” called “Say Goodbye To All That” (The Best of Daisy House). It contains a whopping 32 tracks, arranged chronologically, but there are plenty of gems on the albums proper that DIDN’T make it on there. “Western Man” is the start of the ‘trilogy’ (Western Man – Crossroads – and Bon Voyage) but if you’re not into “Best Of’s” the best place to start in our case is at the “beginning” ;)

Daisy House has ‘Closed down” due to reasons previously mentioned, although I may record more new solo material as “Vaughn Trapp.”

Is there anything you’d like to add?

I like to think of Daisy House as a “Golden Sunset” against which the vanishing

demographic of the west could set with some measure of satisfaction. We did some remarkable work, the best of my half-century involvement with music, and I’m very proud of that.

daisyhouse.bandcamp.com

What does Daisy House has planned for the future (releases/shows)? When things finally open up.

Photo: Daisy House

Marty & Olivia Willson-Piper live at Der Weinländer Wiesbaden, Germany February 10, 2020 Deutsch-britische Freundschaft Thank God for the internet. Without them, I would not have found out that Marty Willson-Piper, esteemed guitarist, singer, songwriter, and former member of the Australian Psychedelic Rock band The Church and guitarist of All About Eve is currently based in Germany. Blame it on his wife, Olivia Willson-Piper, Marty currently lives in the Cochem area close to the beautiful Mosel river and played a bunch of shows in Germany dubbed “The Winter Tour 2020”.

Lo and behold, he played a show nearby in a wine cellar venue called “Der Weinländer” in beautiful Wiesbaden, usually presenting local acts. After having seen him performing with the Church in

medium-sized clubs, this was an event not to be missed.

A rainy Monday evening. After having found a place to park in a popular residential area full of old houses built in the 19th century, I entered the venue.

A cozy cellar, tables lit with candles, people enjoying food and wine from the Rheingau area.

With the small stage located near the entrance and two sound engineers in charge, Marty and Olivia were chatting with the owner. Noticing me wearing a Pink Floyd t-shirt (pure coincidence), Marty approached me, “All right, mate?”.

Marty is 61 years old and still looks the rock part. Long hair, earring.

This was the start of a fun-filled evening.

The first song after a long introduction citing Shakespeare and speaking German (“Entschuldigung” means sorry?

Why so complicated?) was “Tristesse.”

One of my favorite tunes from the Church’s 1985 album “Heyday,” which I consider to be their best. Marty on lead vocals and twelve-string acoustic guitar worked out a new arrangement and integrated Olivia on violin and backing vocals. His singing abilities were never better. Add interesting stories topped with English humor from a man who has seen it, been there and done it, seen the highs and lows, played venues all over the world, lived the life of a touring musician most of his life he could tell stories.

And stories he told, rivaling Ray Davies’ “Storyteller” shows. The thing that struck me most was the fact that he was a true music fan in the first place, cherishing stories of his favorite singer-songwriter Tim

Hardin. “Why is Paul McCartney, the most underrated songwriter? Plus, “Check out the harmony vocals on the Beatles’ “And your bird can sing,” according to Marty.

Yes, we do.

Never shy of interacting with the audience, of which ninety percent had no clue whatsoever who he was, he asked whether any people in the audience know Big Star – only to play “Thirteen” off their “#1 Record” album from 1972.

The born Liverpudlian turns to the subject of Progressive Rock, then identifies an AC/DC fan in the audience, a middleaged woman, upon which Marty comments drily, “You can’t judge a book from looking at its cover.” And let us know that his favorite AC/DC album is “Let there be Rock” from 1977.

Plus, you are in the know that buying solo albums by Golden Earring members is always worthwhile. Vinyl is the best format according to Marty, and he ponders the fate of his beloved Rickenbacker guitar, which was stolen from his manager’s office in New York, “What happens to these stolen guitars? Does somebody just store? If you steal them, then play them!”

And so he plays his battered acoustic

guitar strapped together with gaffer tape full of Punk power and the energy of a young, up and coming musician.

Playing tunes from his six solo albums plus Church classics such as “10,000 miles”, then hits “Under the milky way” and “Into my Hands,” a splendid time was guaranteed for all. For all twelve-string guitar lovers seeing him play (and tune it) was a revelation as he was playing them before it was fashionable again.

Not using “The Church” brand to promote his shows, Marty is confident to continue his solo path, traveling and performing with his wife, Olivia. Asked after the show why he quit the Church in November 2013 after 33 years, he does not want to go into detail. I got the impression that he very much enjoys his freedom as a solo artist and collaborating with whomever he fancies – whether with his Swedish band Anekdoten, Noctorum, or the Saints.

Too bad, he did not play “Russian Autumn Heart” off “Gold Afternoon Fix” or the brilliant “Forget the Radio” – maybe next time? Rock on, Marty, and hope to see you soon.

Tom Sobilo

Dreaming That I’m Not In Love There is a lot of nodding to the eighties going on these days. That much-maligned time has finally shaken off its naff crown as the decade with no taste and, with enough distance between us, has now been embraced via shows such as Stranger Things, films like Ready Player One and

by a wave of bands being influenced, consciously or otherwise, by its incredibly rich musical crucible. It wasn’t all Olivia Newton-John and Go West, you know…certainly not for me, for a significant portion of it I was probably stood in a muddy field somewhere wearing a “coal not dole” t-shirt and watching The Icicle Works. But I digress…

Stay Lunar is one of those bands who seem to carry a bit of a torch for the decade, but everything is cyclical, the cultural wheel seems to turn on a 30 year or so cycle, so it is only to be expected that the lush synths waves and perky pop-ness of that era are doing the rounds again. But Stay Lunar are certainly a band of their own time too, weaving cool modernity and soulful indie grooves through the musical landscape that they create. There is a glossiness to their music, not only from proper production but through the way they wield their instruments. The guitar sticks to its melodic brief, allowing keys to wash through creating a lush, shimmering sheen while the rhythm section makes deft and understated choices and just serve the song.

They are also a wonderfully literate band, in a down to earth and slightly romantic sort of way, and the result is a bit like if The Lilac Time had been hot on dance remixes or perhaps St Etienne had favored guitars a bit more. Dreaming That I’m Not In Love is just another great rung up the ladder for the band and shows their ability to mix underground cool with mainstream poise. And that is the perfect place to be if you ask me. And as you have read this far, you kind of did.

Review: Dave Franklin Photo: Inspire Creative facebook.com/staylunar

Eighties infused soulful indie from Swindon, England

STAY LUNAR

In an ideal world, the release of a new Fassine album would be something that brings the whole country together, like a new series of America’s Got Talent or the hunt of a serial killer. And to be fair, given their increasing popularity with each release, they will probably get there. But for now, they are still a band that the underground aficionado can revel in, a badge of honour to display their ahead-of-the-curve-ness and a signal their exceedingly discerning taste. In short, people who listen to Fassine are just better than people who don’t; it’s as simple as that.

It has always been impossible to pigeonhole Fassine, not that we really need to, but for the purposes of a review, it does help if you can introduce a few shortcuts to speed the process along and give the reader something to form their thoughts around.

They employ dancey grooves, but I wouldn’t exactly call it dance; there is a strange, hazy ethereality to it without it being dream-pop as such, and there is a cold-edged vibe at times, but it has more substance than your average chillwave sound.

Alt-pop? Who knows? Actually, who cares?

Fassine is one of those bands which just show up the limitations of genres and labels.

There are some songs within which are pure pop, such as the gorgeous and graceful Magpie, though it is certainly pop, which dances to the beat of the band’s own particular drum and does so seductively.

At the other extreme, tracks such as Migraine are more like ambient film scores.

Max is a beguiling blend of primal sonics, facebook.com/fassinemusic

fassine.com

tumbling beats and half-heard voices, sitting somewhere between celestial choirs and brooding demonic and Bloom sees them at their most dynamic blending searing guitars and industrial shards of music with understated lulls switching between the two abruptly and almost randomly as the mood seems to take them.

As the sharp end of a back catalogue of album and single releases, which both raise the benchmark and widen the sonic palette with each outing, Forge both kicks arse and cuts the mustard. So go ahead, join the smart set, be a better you, start listening to Fassine today, a new life awaits yoU or something.

I think I may have pushed that line of hyperbole to breaking point. Sorry.

FASSINE FORGE

Review: Dave Franklin

Photo: Jimmy King

SUPERDRONE

The sonic provocateurs, Superdrone, have returned with their fourth album ‘Solaris.’

Soundscapes of majestic noise abound— this time bringing a harder edge to the songs without sacrificing their hallmark shoegaze sound. Second Scene talks with Ed Richards about the making of their latest album and the difficulties they overcame to get it finished.

Was there some difficulty getting the 4th album together? What happened? Why did you decide to scrap the first demos/recordings?

We didn’t want to make anything like we had made previously. We had been writing in the shoegaze genre and touching on dream-pop vibe but knew it was time to evolve things. Listening to a lot of absolutely incredible acts that were releasing tracks that were stunning in the way they could catch that original MBV Slowdive essence that created the genre, I decided that I wanted more. There was this realization that we didn’t have to have guitar, bass, voice, drums, and synth. We could have ANYTHING. Whatever I could imagine - production-wise - we could kinda do. I was looking through my emails and saw one from an audio sample library company called Splice. I remembered that I wanted to check it out to see if there were any cool drum samples (as we knew Timmo wouldn’t be about to complete the record in lockdown). So I was flicking through a few, and they sound so HD. Tien’s soundscapes are immense and sound like vast expanses, and I thought we could use samples to compliment them and really send them into the stratosphere.

However, when I dragged them into our demos, I realized that our songs needed a lot of work in order to get the sound we were aiming for.

I had started to get pretty good at music production as I spend every possible moment researching it.

I used to love it in the Cinema when I would hear these incredible dreamy glassy piano sounds flying around the room or a super deep bass impact. I started to research if there were any acts using these kinds of sounds and couldn’t find much, so I thought, “that’s going in.” Tien was sending me tracks by Sonic Youth and Galaxy 500, and they’re totally cool, but the day they came out, they warped people’s minds because they were doing something a bit different. MBV were BRAND NEW, and the found of the future when they came out - experimenting with new sounds and new gear. Bands like The Verve were also utilizing their latest tech with the delays and reverbs used on A Storm In Heaven. Now you listen and think, “let’s emulate that classic sound,” but I remember when that record came out and we didn’t know what the hell we here hearing. So embracing new tech (particularly with the stereo field, I wanted to drag us through the 90, the 00s into the 2020s.

How did it all finally coming together?

The first draught came REALLY quickly, and it sounded good, but Tien wasn’t happy with the overall vibe. We came up with a ten-track album that I really liked, very much like Starcade or The Creation, but Tien wanted heavier sounds and for it to be more raw. I, on the other hand, was moving

in the other direction, wanting to utilize modern and bleeding-edge audio technology. I was really pissed off and thinking about jacking it in, but then something amazing happened, the stars aligned or something, because re-writing almost an entire record came pretty easily. It happened REALLY REALLY quickly, maybe a few weeks from start to finish, and now we love it. In my opinion, it’s above anything else we have achieved as a band. It’s not like, “oh, here’s a new record.” This time it’s like “this is new, this is different.”

After many phone calls and texts conversations, Tien stopped asking for heavy but instead wanted a particular vibe. He couldn’t really articulate it, but he knew he’d know it when he heard it, so it was a case of throwing ideas around to see what would stick. I wrote 25 songs, and Tien was the quality control. I would send it over, and then he would get to work on the guitars. We agreed on ten tracks. There are 15 songs that I still love, but they weren’t right for the record.

The remaining tracks would get passed back and forth on messenger, and we’d hash through what he wanted, and I would do his edits, and then we would see what worked (mostly turn the f**kin guitars up!)

Towards the end of the process it just flowed and then came the mixing and production. The thing is, we don’t have a massive studio; we have our houses, each of which has a 2014 MacBook pro with a spec that is still really good today, but even still, it’s all in the box. But I knew my production skills and writing had got to a level where we could really express something new onto the scene. I remember when we were finishing Two at Abbey Road, and Miles Showell asked where we had recorded the drums as he was impressed by them. I was really happy as I had worked so hard to get the drums to sound real, but Timmy G had actually played a midi drum kit into the computer into a programme called EZDrummer.

Its the most stress but also the most fun I have ever had while working on music ever. But its been one of the most, if not the most interesting period for our music as I feel although its been a roll-a-coaster and we’ve been doing it in isolation, we have finally found our own sound and maybe just maybe something fresh like all those amazing bands did who shaped or evolved the Shoegaze genre.

facebook.com/Superdroneuk superdrone.bandcamp.com