Welcome back to the Empty Bottle podcast, Everything’s Great? Every month your hosts Bob Johnson, Kevin Graves and Christen Thomas will be giving you the front door and back stage stories from the Empty Bottle, inviting members of the Bottle, friends, family and staff up to the back of the office to tell stories, talking to bands that will be playing the Bottle in the coming month and playing tracks from those bands.This month we're pleased to welcome Matt Williams, Erin Page, Brian Costello and Mike Lust into the back room for some drinks and jokes. Under all the hilarity, you'll hear songs from the following bands who will be playing Empty Bottle and Empty Bottle Presents shows in the coming month. See you in April.March 2014 PodcastRunnies - You Can't Win - April 3Useless Eaters - Addicted to the Blade - March 21Lizzo - Batches and Cookies - March 19 @ SubTYvette - Pure Pleasure - March 24Twinkwind - Do It - March 22Outer Minds - We Are All Stone - March 21Adelyn Rose - Let the Right One In - March 20Meat Wave - 15 Years - March 30Miniature Tigers - Swimming Pool Blues - March 19Vaadat Charigim - Odisea - March 18
With a sound that is best described as post-hardcore meets experimental jazz, Bars of Gold from Detroit are making that depressingly bankrupt city seem rich with their emotionally driven records and live shows. Made up of former members of Wildcatting and Bear vs. Shark, the band has created a loyal following in Detroit. The group formed in 2009 and has put out 2 full-lengths. Their latest LP, Wheels, was released October 2013 under Bellyache Records and recorded at High Bias Recordings in Detroit.Despite their drummer living in Virginia, the band has been able to play a number of shows in their hometown. Bars of Gold will play this weekend in Hamtramck, MI for the First Annual Hamtramck Music Festival, so if you are in the area go check em out. If you’re not, well, then just check out this video and keep an eye out for any Chicago shows in the next couple months!That’s Amore is a new segment on this here blog where we post about music stuff we like. We love hearing from our friends, so tell us what new bands you’re digging on in the comments section. If a song you recommend to us ends up on the blog, you’ll get one FREE ticket to the show of your choice at the Empty Bottle. Cool!
Caroline Teagle and Zachary Zierden, the duo behind Imperial Topaz, have been making quite the splash with their debut album Full of Grace, which was released in Februrary on Teagle’s brother’s label, Tranquility Tapes (Teagle also does the squiggly Keith Haring-esque artwork for most of their releases).Teagle has said she’s inspired by French no-wave singer Lizzy Mercier Descloux and the Slits’ Ari Up, which helps explain Imperial Topaz’s earlier, dub-inspired tracks. These days, however, the group’s music has a much dreamier, poppier feel. Imperial Topaz used to consist of Teagle and Jake Pepper, but when Pepper left (he and Teagle apparently went through a nasty breakup), Teagle changed the group’s sound and took things in a more New Age-y direction. It’s an interesting break from the label’s mostly pure-ambient stuff.Apparently, “imperial topaz” is different than just regular topaz, because of its color, and it’s maybe more rare, and it comes from Brazil, usually? It also allegedly has healing properties and can do wonders for your gallbladder and kidneys! Who knows. It’s definitely pretty, though, just like this Imperial Topaz track “Night Face.” Check it out!That’s Amore is a new segment on this here blog where we post about music stuff we like. We love hearing from our friends, so tell us what new bands you’re digging on in the comments section. If a song you recommend to us ends up on the blog, you’ll get one FREE ticket to the show of your choice at the Empty Bottle. Cool!
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The road to the bottle began in Vancouver for The Pack A.D. and has since taken them through some of America’s amber waves of grain and red desert’s majesty. Don’t be fooled though, this band is Canadian through and through. What does that mean for you? It means they’re guaranteed to be some of the nicest people to ever rock your face off.The Pack A.D. play something resembling "garage rock." We know you like that. Unlike many garage bands who leave the vocals as mumble yowls laying in the mix, these innovative ladies bring the vox to the front and slap them with reverb til they’re as big as the Canadian wilderness.Reports of their shows in other cities tell us these ladies fill the largest stages and turn the smaller ones to booze soaked splinters. Good thing they go on last, because they will likely leave nothing but a heap of rubble when it’s all said and done. This is their first time back at the Bottle in two and a half years, so we know the kind of lasting impression they're going to make on you fine people.The Pack A.D. seem to only get bigger as time marches on (likely to one of their massive beats). The duo continues to explode through the pressure that new levels of success bring, and roundhouse kick any raised bars.The Pack A.D. play here Thursday, March 6th with a pair of other duos. They are joined by Chicago’s own Nonnie Party who add some shoegazery and freak-outs to the night. Also The Ex-Bombers bring their ever seedy and equally sexy brand of pop music up from Charleston. It's only $10 - even you can’t screw that up.Rest up the night before, this is one you don't want to miss!
This past Saturday we hosted our First AnnualMusic Frozen Dancing. The winter block party went far beyond what we expected it might do, especially considering how much this winter has kicked our asses. Our head honcho, Bruce, has been wanting to host a winter festival/party-of-sorts for well over a decade, and sure enough, it finally came to fruition during the third worst winter Chicago has ever experienced.Hundreds of people were in attendance, sipping on Goose Island brews, Dark Matter Coffee, and some delicious home-made spiced cider. Bite Cafe provided some piping hot chili, along with Reigning Chili-Synth Lord Travis Thatcher, whose proceeds went to benefit PAWS Chicago. The bands all kicked total ass, not letting the 25° weather keep them from getting the crowd amped throughout the day. A mosh pit even broke out during DIARRHEA PLANET's set, though people were definitely moving and grooving during HEAVY TIMES' and MARNIE STERN's sets, as well. People were smiling throughout and having a great time, even as the snow started to fall. At one point we saw a dog riding his owner's back, so there's that!Needless to say, it was one of the most memorable winter afternoons we have had in a long time. We want to thank everyone involved, especially Goose Island for helping us put it all together. Of course, the fans are what made it so special, so big thanks to all of you fine folks who came out. We can't wait to do it again next year!
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The Belle Game tour just kicked off last week, but they come to us all the way from Vancouver. We’re happy to have them back after seeing their delightfully dark live show last year when they stopped here on their tour with Bear Mountain. They’re stopping at the Empty Bottle as part of their detailed U.S. tour which has them traveling to all the cool cities and discussing how frequent pioneers got laid.Woven together by lines of witchy guitars and threads of reverby keyboards, The Belle Game’s music is like a shadowy blanket. No - a shadowy snuggie, which keeps you feeling warm and comfortable, but also leaves your hands free for drinking. Come snuggle up to a glass of something dark, or several and drink till it’s hump day.There will be plenty of time for you to sit home alone playing Legend of Zelda after the show is over. We know that’s what The Belle Game will be doing.While many bands are content to explore a singular sound The Belle Game can go from wild and witchy to elegantly somber in the same song. The perfect thing for enjoy these last superbly dark days of Winter. Pretty soon it’ll be outdoor festival season again. There will be lots of sunshine and cheer and happiness, and you’ll just wish you could sit in a dark bar and drink some dark beer and listen to some well-crafted dark pop music. Trust us.The Belle Game play here TONIGHT with a pair of terrific locals. Catch them with, The Dead Woods, and Gold Cult here, since they’re not playing anywhere else in town. Doors at 8:30 and a mere $10 gets you in for the evening.
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Jeffrey Novak has been perpetually recording, creating, and producing music since the tender age of 14 when he bought his first 4-track. It's over a decade later and he shows no signs of slowing down. With Cheap Time in it's 8th year and it's 4th LP, the group is still going strong. Despite being on tour for Exit Smiles, Cheap Time's next album has already been written and sequenced proving again that just how little time Novak wastes.I got to chat with Jeffrey and Jessica of Cheap Time before their electrifying and impressive no pause set here at the Empty Bottle. Read on and find out the best kind of friend to have, the most unifying bonds between the trio, and what he loves most about being in Cheap Time. Proving yet again that Jeffrey's passion for analogue is only surpassed by his wild amount of musical energy.ASHLEIGH DYE: Jeff, you’ve been doing analogue recordings since you were 14, what inspired you to do recording this way?JEFFREY NOVAK: Well at that age stuff like garage band didn’t exist yet, that I can remember. It was the same problem I had when I was younger and I wanted to be a filmmaker. Video had already started to phase out but digital hadn’t really come in. I grow up in this inopportune time where I was jealous of the generation younger than me and the generation older than me because ‘my first video’ editor was a really easy thing to get for the generation before me, but I could never find one. Cassettes and 4-tracks were still very much being made. There were tons of models available when I got mine; I got the cheapest one on the market. It was $100, it was a fostex, I don’t even have it any more, but a lot of people had them. It wasn’t really something I got into on my own. I borrowed someone’s to see if I would like it, I was recording basic guitar in to my parent’s stereo because I wanted to hear it played back, so getting a 4-track was the next step. Everything has just been a step since then.AD: How did all this analogue recording experience play into you starting Cheap Time?JN: Well our first two albums were done in a real studio, but on 2-inch tape. The idea of recording digitally never even crossed our minds; it was never something that was an option. I don’t feel like I’m one of those people who’s like “I’m an analogue man” the way Joe Walsh says that, the only digital record I’ve ever made is the one I made with Jay Reatard and I feel that it sounds the worst out of any record I’ve made. That’s the gear I have, that’s the way I record. I don’t know how to use ProTools or GarageBand or any of those things.AD: You mentioned that your first two albums were recorded in a real studio with Mike McHugh in Costa Mesa. How did that experience differ from recording in your home studio?JN: Majorly because we had such a limited time, the first album was done in 4 or 5 days. The second album was done in 9 or 10 days, we didn’t even finish it in those 10 days, it didn’t get mixed. I was pretty disappointed with how they sounded. I was used to how small the heads are on a 4-track and there was a lot less compression. When we finished the records and I played them for my friends they all said they weren’t as good as the demos I had done, so that was always in the back of my head.AD: How did you get in touch with Mike McHugh?JN: He was the In the Red dude. He had done The Black Lip’s Let it Bloom. He’d done the first two Hunches records; he did the Necessary Evils record. He was the in-house producer. We wanted to be on In The Red and when they suggested we go out there and they’d pay for these recordings, and well, that was the dream.AD: How does recording at home work with being on In The Red?JN: Well after the second album a lot of bad things happened one after the other. We didn’t finish the second album because Mike kind of freaked out on us, and then we didn’t get the tapes back for months. We decided as a band that if we didn’t get those tapes back that we wouldn’t re-record any of that and just soldier on. We got the tapes back sometime around Jay’s death. I remember at the funeral we were talking to Larry (our press contact for In The Red) and Poison Ivy, from The Cramps, suggested we record at home, and we had already decided we wanted to do some home recordings, so I think that kind of sealed the deal for Larry. While that was happening I was already starting work on what became Wallpaper Music. And I had told Larry then, “hey I want to home record this next album." I don’t know how much faith he had in me, but I had gotten this tape machine that Jay had bought but never really used. It was my plan to set up this home studio in Nashville and Larry said "yes I’ll give you money to do that." Between everything that went down with Mike McHugh and Jay’s death I think anything I would have suggested he would have said yes to.Wallpaper Music took a really long time to make, lots of technical problems. The board we used had a lot of problems and completely fried out after we were done. It was an exciting time, I was really excited about the material, I still really like that record. I didn’t know what I was doing, just what I knew from 4-track recording, what I learned from Mike McHugh, and what I learned from Jay saying what he didn’t like about Mike McHugh. Jay had always said he hated how the first two Cheap Time albums sounded, but also said he felt he taught me enough that if I went in and produced the next album and was more pushy about things it’d be a better record. He died before I mixed the record so I could never show him, but he probably wouldn’t have liked it anyway. When you have someone who’s always ready to critique you and put you down and tell you what you did wrong, Jay was one of those friends.AD: Jay was obviously a pretty important friend and mentor for you, so what would you say one of the more valuable things you took away from your relationship with Jay was? How does your friendship live on through Cheap Time?JN; Hm, that’s a hard question. The biggest thing was we went on tour with them a couple times. We played Princeton University and I remember him just screaming at me. I broke a string on the first song, I was stoned, I didn’t have a tuning pedal, I didn’t have a back-up pedal, and he just berated me in front of everyone. “You can never do this ever again. You disrespected me. I brought you on tour. You don’t even bring a back up guitar or tuner. You use my tuner for the rest of the tour, any of my guitars are your back-up guitars until you get your own.” He treated me very much like this firm older brother. You did wrong. You’re not going to do wrong again, because I won’t let you. That’s the shit that hammered home to me. That’s what I wanted, those are the people I like to have around. The people who are pointing out my flaws so I’m learning from what I’m doing. The first time he ever called me I was cooking sweet potato fries and he was telling me how to cook my sweet potato fries, and what I was doing wrong with my 4-track recording, and why it sounded bad, and how he was going to help me figure out those problems. It was like, this is the phone conversation I’ve been looking for! I’m so glad you got my number! It’s those things. I don’t have another friend who’s always got the tough love opinion that I crave.AD: Jessica, you joined Cheap Time right as Exit Smiles was finishing up recording, how was it coming into a band that was already so far into their third album?Jessica McFarland: I did some vocals on Exit Smiles, its definitely different than anything else I’ve done because I’m not involved creatively. I enjoy playing the songs, and that’s satisfying in a totally different way than I’ve had in other bands. As far as coming in during the album being recorded, it was fun. It was like; oh I get to do this new thing.JN: I remember it being really hectic; there were tons of people there. The whole atmosphere was great. I got the vibes, like 'yea this was the way everything was supposed to happen, she’s making these songs sound so much better.' My biggest regret is that she’s not seen on more songs in the album.AD: It seems lately, especially with the trio that Cheap Time is now, that you’re moving from more of a one-man band set up to a more collaborative entity. Would you say that’s true?JN: It’s a slow process, because I am very protective of the songs I write. I love and trust Jessica, and I want her to get involved more, and I respect her so much more than other band mates I've had so I definitely value her opinion. Doing a song is a long process from me. I always start out recording a demo tape, then those demos evolve and a lot of times the finished song is a fraction of what the demo was. It’s a hard thing to describe, I always want people to be more involved, but the truth is, it’s very hard that anyone can care more than the sole creator. I really like how or vocals sound together. That’s what I’m excited about most with the band right now. It has these wider possibilities with melodies with both of our voices in ways that it hasn’t had with other members. Jessica has her own distinctive voice, she’s not writing the lyrics but she knows how to make it her own.AD: You guys have both been very involved with solo projects and other bands, how do you think that tied into playing in Cheap Time?JM: I’m definitely seasoned, you know, I’ve been around the block. Heavy Cream toured for 4 years pretty constantly. I feel pretty professional.JN: That’s the big appeal of how I knew Jessica was the right person for it. We’ve had people in the band who have not toured enough and when you deal with people who aren’t on your same level it can be very annoying. Jessica knows the same annoyance. We had already bonded over this annoyance of other people, even though Jessica didn’t believe me when I asked her to play in the band…JM: He had told me some many times he would never play with a girl!JN: Well I had played in a band with my sister and ex-girl friend so it was a worst-case scenario, but with Jessica it is a best-case scenario.JM: I had also never played bass in a band before, I had jammed with Jeffrey a couple times before that and it was on drums. I never imagined being in a band with Jeffrey.AD: Is it all that you imagined?JN: It is, our relationship is like no other. The three of us, its almost like we know how to get along and not get on each others nerves. I think all of us have so much hate for other people we’ve played with and we build on those experiences, like “we don’t want to be like them”AD: Do you guys have any dates or anything set up for this next album?JN: No specific dates, the label isn’t looking for it to be done anytime soon. I already have it sequenced and the drums down. Right now, though, I’m working on this idea of re-arranging these songs that I loved as a teen for a cover album. I mentioned it to our label when we were out in LA and they thought it was a fantastic idea. So depending on our schedule this summer that may be the last thing we record in the home studio.AD: Do you have any plans for after the home studio? Why are you looking to move away from that?JN: We made so many records there, and they’re recorded so piece by piece, and we’re a better live band now. You get to this point, where it's like, how much better can this sound? It would be nice if someone who wanted to produce us, who wanted to work with us in an outside environment, who wanted to bring something out of us. So much of the pressure is just on me to figure out the sonics of everything. With all the mixing and everything by the time we get a test pressing I can maybe listen to it once, I always hope Jessica and Ryan can enjoy the albums more than I can because they haven’t had to listen to them a thousand times.AD: So since it’s the government chosen day of love, tell me: What do you love most about being in Cheap Time?JN: To me it’s always about those magical moments where it is transcending and it seems to be hitting us all at the same time. The truth of being in a band and touring is all about that moment. The drug, sexual moment of it, you can only get to that moment when you’ve stopped thinking about trying to reach that moment. You end up having it at some of the most awkward shows, where there might not even be a great crowd, but you just hit it. Like man we are just there, it's undeniable. That is the one thing that makes everything worth it, because you think of all those shitty shows, all the horrible weather, all the shitty relationships I’ve had to deal with, that’s what its really all about. Its all about this second where you’re just clicking and the notes are just hitting perfectly and the moment builds up through the set, and you come out of it and you’ve won. It’s as if you are on a sports team and you’ve just demolished the other team. None of us are very jockey people, but you get in this mind set before you play where its like you got to get pumped and were going to destroy the other bands on stage and you got to get worked up like that. Like “We're going to get out there and we’re going to kill! We’re going to kill everything here!” And its like, if you don’t have that in mind what are you even doing there. That’s why I have no interest in touring for those soul records, like yeah, maybe they were fun to record, but that’s not going to transcend live. That’s going to put me asleep. The volume and power and moment, those are the key. Albums are fun to make, and they are what set up being able to tour, and touring is what sets up these power moments.
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A wise man with long golden locks once said that, “The road to the Bottle isn’t always smooth. It’s not always trips to London and Paris, or the most exotic beaches.” That man is correct, of course. The truth is that sometimes in life you escape from the crocodiles unscathed, and sometimes the ‘crocodiles’ of life total your van. So the road to the bottle hasn’t been easy for The Casket Girls and The Graveface Roadshow, but as you can see they’re staying in good spirits.The journey began in Savannah, Georgia, the hometown of these lovely young ladies. Although, listening to their music, you would think they really reside in some weird Lynchian dream world when not touring. The Casket Girls make pop music that sounds like a sexy funeral march. So wear black to the show, or white. Really it doesn’t matter what you wear, we’re pretty sure you’re going to drink all our tequila and slowly take off your clothes anyways.This show is FREE which means you have extra money to buy their merch. Their van got totaled just one week ago! Not to worry, they're bringing this guy.and more importantly this guy, Ryan Graveface, founder of Graveface records and opening tonight's show as Dreamend.!
EARTHEATER is the solo project of Alexandra Drewchin, who, in addition to being the possessed vocalist/frontwoman for Guardian Alien, is also a visual artist, a DJ, a dancer, and occasional model. And you thought you were busy...Based in a little town called New York City, Drewchin released an Eartheater 7-inch in August 2013, and it was recorded in Adrian Grenier’s Brooklyn studio, The Wreckroom. (Yes, the Adrian Grenier who is currently filming the “Entourage” movie, whatever!) She’s dropped some hints on the social media website Twitter that she’s recorded some new material recently, so hopefully we’ll get to hear some of it in 2014.Guardian Alien’s new album, Spiritual Emergency, is out now on Chicago’s own Thrill Jockey, and you can check out Eartheater’s video for “Coal Dust” below.That’s Amore is a new segment on this here blog where we post about music stuff we like. We love hearing from our friends, so tell us what new bands you’re digging on in the comments section. If a song you recommend to us ends up on the blog, you’ll get one FREE ticket to the show of your choice at the Empty Bottle. Cool!
Call Me Lightning have a new album called Human Hell and it's really fucking good. The Milwaukee three-piece has blown us away in the past, particularly with 2010's When I Am Gone My Blood Will Be Free, and it almost seems like they've out done themselves with this, their fourth record. It's being released in March on Minneapolis label 25 Diamonds, but wouldn't ya know it, you can listen to it right now via Bandcamp. We've made it easy for you - by embedding it in this post.Human Hell shares a similar sound with Call Me Lightning's last album. It's big and boomy and the band's anthemic songs move even further away from the vicious post-punk of their first two records without losing any of the bite. People will probably compare it to The Who, just like When I Am Free..., and that's probably cause it sounds like it should be played in a stadium rather than a divey rock club. Whatevs - we'll happily welcome them back into our arms next time they want to play Chicago.You can lear more about these fine fellas in aMilwaukee Journal-Sentinal interview from way back in January of 2014 - they mention Empty Bottle as one of their favorite places to play. That's pretty cool.That’s Amore is a new segment on this here blog where we post about music stuff we like. We love hearing from our friends, so tell us what new bands you’re digging on in the comments section. If a song you recommend to us ends up on the blog, you’ll get one FREE ticket to the show of your choice at the Empty Bottle. Cool!
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Courtney Barnett and her band, The Courtney Barnetts, have had an exceptionally long road to the bottle. They come to us all the way from Melbourne, Australia. But lately they’ve been hanging around London and Paris where they had a handful of performances over the past week or so.Check em out below![Rough Trade in-store, London. View from the stage][Sebright Arms]Courtney and her music often get the “slacker” label tossed on them - guess that's what you get for writing honest, relatable lyrics these days. She’s been collecting a lot of fans recently, regardless of what the press decides to call her. People are joining Team Courtney in droves. Trust us, tickets for this show sold faster than Australian hotcakes.[A Pub, somewhere]Despite comparisons to early Dylan, Stephen Malkmus, Kurt Vile, and Eleanor Friedberger, Courtney manages to be herself. Not many artists these days garner as much attention for the release of a double EP, or have the audacity to pull off the line “I don’t need no 9 to 5/telling me that I’m alive” without sounding like a total cheese ball. Courtney does incredibly well, though. She can also create makeshift lighting in a pinch on tour.It’s well deserved love. Courtney does the amazing trick of making her well-crafted songs seem like off the cuff, unraveling confessions from a dear friend. Plus, this girl crams as many clever lines into a song as Kanye West. Speaking of Courtney Barnett and Kanye West, we’ll leave this here:So sure, they've had a pretty damn long road to the Bottle, as you can see, but they've arrived in Chicago and are integrating well into the local culture. Here Bones (Bass) shovels snow. Welcome!See you, Tuesday, snugglebugs.
Electronic composer/pioneer/trailblazer Laurie Spiegel has racked up quite a few impressive accolades over the course of her extensive career. Some of her work is on a record that’s been floating around outer space on board an unmanned spacecraft since 1977. In the event that the spacecraft runs into other forms of life, the record will prove the existence of intelligent beings on some distant planet. Her music (along with a bunch of people saying “Greetings” in a bunch of different languages and some recordings of hyena noises) is basically going to represent all of mankind.Also, a snippet of her track “Sediment” was used in the first Hunger Games movie, but you shouldn't associate her music with children killing other children. Instead, take a gander at this extensive list of resources she’s put together about animal welfare (Ferrets! Primates! Rodents!).Luckily for those of us on earth, Spiegel’s masterful album The Expanding Universewas reissued on vinyl a few years back, with loads of previously unreleased material. It’s required listening for any and all experimental music fans. Preview it below...That’s Amore is a new segment on this here blog where we post about music stuff we like. We love hearing from our friends, so tell us what new bands you’re digging on in the comments section. If a song you recommend to us ends up on the blog, you’ll get one FREE ticket to the show of your choice at the Empty Bottle. Cool!
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Jeffrey Novak has been at the center of Cheap Time since the band started in 2006. Jeff writes and sings all those Cheap Time songs we love. He’s also the guy standing in the middle of that photograph, but that aint Lake Michigan he’s standing in. These guys are in the middle of a massive U.S. tour which has seen them swerving around all those states that are warmer than ours.Cheap Time have been teasing us before their Valentine’s day date at the bottle with these photos they keep sending. The pics are quite the tantalizing. They show us a band we love, but haven’t had the pleasure of seeing in almost three years, and that there is still land that exists outside this polar vortex.Besides releasing 5 records over the past six years, Cheap time has been touring like crazy, and on a quest for a Ramones letter opener. Luckily, they’ve found time to come visit us Friday the 14th (and apparently the Ramones letter opener).Angular, curvaceous, rhythmic, sexy, post-punk, touches of Krautrock – that’s what all the kids are saying about Cheap Time. It’s also how we would describe most of our romantic relationships, which is why we couldn’t picture a better fit for a Valentine’s Day show. You don’t want to be a lonely loser on a Friday night, so grab a glass of punch of four from the bar and drink yourself pretty.Their tour even took them through gator country. Luckily, all limbs are still intact, so they’ll still be able to give us their maximum rock and roll on ol’ February 14th.Words by Tim Gurnig. Photos by Cheap Time.
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Once known for his magical ukulele, Dent May has since proved he's more than just a novelty act. Combining a hyper-awareness of his own mortality with the musical likeness of the Beach Boys, Dent has learned to embrace his anxieties and fears and is more than committed to keeping the south weird.Surrounded by the taxidermy-filled walls of the Sportsman, Dent and I talk about film school, Miley Cyrus, and his favorite part of your best friend's wedding.ASHLEIGH DYE: Your most recent record, Warm Blanket, was recorded while you were isolated in a home in St. Augustine, Florida. Was this something new that you tried just for this album?DENT MAY: It was kind of something I discovered when I was recording my second album, Do Things. I worked on it and worked on it for a year and it still wasn’t finished. My friend had this cabin isolated in this cotton field and I locked myself there for a few weeks and finished the album. I really found out how much harder you can work when you have a deadline and you isolate yourself like that. I always had this romantic idea of going to this old home by myself with recording gear and just making an album in solitude. I don’t think that’s necessarily how I’ll always work but it was totally in an experiment in what can I do and where can I take this if I get away from my friends, and into a old Victorian home with a grand piano.AD: How diligent were you with the solitude aspect, did you have any contacts in St. Augustine before you went?DM: I tweeted ‘I’m in St Augustine for a month, do I know anyone here?” This girl Emily Rio, who’s a really cool musician from Orlando, gave my information for a couple people who ran music blogs, and photographers, and I met a ton of people there. I would work from 10 am to 8 or 9 pm then hang out with people. I try and treat music like a job, I try and get 10 or so hours in a day and then let myself forget about it. Maybe listen to it before I go to bed, then start again tomorrow. So it wasn’t total isolation, I don’t think I could do that. No matter where I am, I have to find a bar or something where I can get out and see some faces, even if I don’t talk to anyone.AD: That’s almost a different form of isolation, being somewhere but not knowing anyone.DM: Definitely. I’m thinking about going to this family cabin on a lake when I get home to do some writing, but that’d be way more isolating.AD: So you went to film school briefly at NYU, and relocated to Oxford, Mississippi, which was not where you were living prior to NYU. What brought you to Oxford instead of returning home?DM: Well, Oxford is where a lot of my friends moved, the State University is there. What really convinced me to move there’s this Southern Studies Program. It’s this inner disciplinary study of the south: culture, art, politics, civil rights, everything. I thought that was an interesting thing to confront, because I grew up hating being from the south, and I wasn’t very comfortable with Mississippi. Being in New York for a couple years really made me evaluate who I am.AD: Do you think your time in New York gave you a better appreciation for the South?DM: It did, but I’m still acutely aware of all the problems in the South. The reason I stay there, not to sound conceited, is because it needs people there who are making weird music. The main thing I learned at NYU was that I didn’t want to go to art school. I was in film school, but I’ve been writing songs since I was 12 and I spent a lot of time writing songs while in New York and I realized that if I want to be an artist I need to do it on my own terms. I didn’t want to do it in an academic environment. It’s important to have your mentors and heroes, but the first day of class they said “raise your hand if you want to be a director,” and they said “Well, start coming up with a back-up plan now because, statistically, maybe one of you will make a feature film one day.” Crushing people’s dreams on day one. NYU is very much a machine-churning people out to work in the industry. I learned a lot about what I don’t want to do.AD: Do you ever incorporate your film experience into making music videos?DM: I am very hands on with my music videos, I’ve co-directed some of them. I’m always making them with my friends so its already sort of loose delegation of roles. The "Born Too Late" video was all my idea, but, and this is another thing I learned about film school is that, I don’t really want to touch the camera. I just want to write. I would like to be the boss of someone and tell them what I want it to look like.AD: I think that’s everyone’s ideal situation. Which has been your favorite video to work on so far?DM: Definitely the "Born Too Late" one. We just had so much fun making it. I went to the Neshova County Fair and we went water skiing and to a waterfall. That’s kind of my philosophy with things, lets have fun, and then that will translate to everything else.AD: You’ve talked before about how feelings of anxiety you experience paradox your music. Would you say the breezy vibe your music has is an embodiment of how you wish you could feel at times?DM: For sure, I don’t like to use the word escapism, but it is a way to channel my desires. I like a lot of dark stuff, but I want my music that can make people feel better. I feel as if being happy and being sad is something that everyone has to go through, so I want to chew it up and spit it out and go for more of a melancholy, blissful sound. Where it’s like finding comfort in existential anxiety instead of drowning in it. When I first started touring I was so scared, really scared, I’ve totally changed so much and let that go and learned to use the fear, because that’s what makes me human. Now I get a kick out of [it] - I’m thrusting myself out into the unknown and it makes me excited.AD: You’re super connected to your own mortality and aging. It’s something that’s been discussed a lot, but when did this sort of fascination come about for you?DM: I guess it’s not really a conscious decision. I’ve always been a high anxiety person, and as I’ve said I think I’ve really improved a lot in that realm. It’s just something I can’t stop thinking about, I can’t remember not feeling that way. I think everyone is aware of their mortality to a certain degree. I don’t want to focus on that in all my music forever, but its something, as a 28 year-old, that I think about. Making music is the best response I have to my own mortality, to make a record of my existence. There's this Zen philosophy, to me its about being at peace with the world and yourself.AD: You had a lot of theater and show experience growing up. You were in plays when you were young and had a strong affinity for Olivia Newton John and The Partridge Family. How do you think these interests you had affected your sound today?DM: I think growing up I had absolutely no concept of coolness, or what was cool. My parents had Olivia Newton John records and I wouldn’t be one, now, to say "You gotta check out this Olivia Newton John record!" But I kind of have this anti-cool thing where there are superficial cultural signifiers people apply to music, because it has certain reference points. You know there’s always the question of what is good taste? And I love people like John Waters or Tennessee Williams who challenge good taste. It wasn’t until I started using the Internet in high school when I realized what was “cool.” Part of my motive as an artist is to embrace anything and everything. I fantasized about having a family-band for a long time growing up.[laughter]AD: You have this sort of M.O. about always embracing the mainstream - what are your thoughts on today’s mainstream, with Miley Cryus and twerking, etc?DM: Twerking is hilarious to me because its been going on in the south since like 1995! But I love Miley Cryus, she’s weird and surreal, she’s not typical Hollywood pun-up sexy. You know, you’re pushing people’s buttons so more power to you.AD: Right, she’s so raunchy and it really freaks people out, but you give someone all this power you can’t shame them for what they do with it. Would you say that’s another reason you’re so fascinated with the mainstream, because you have millions of people buying into one person’s act?DM: Yes! I’m always really curious about it. I want to know what the people are into and why. There’s this sociological aspect to it, I just want to know why. There’s also this visceral power of pop music that is undeniable. I DJ a lot of weddings so it’s my job to find the most bearable pop songs. It’s really special when you put on single ladies by Beyonce and everyone goes crazy!AD: The mainstream can be pretty unifying in that way.DM: Exactly, and I’ve always wanted to kind of marry that with a more sonically adventurous kind of thing. To combine that feeling that you get when you’re at your best friend's wedding and that cheesy pop song comes on with a weirder zone.AD: So, Cats Purring, the venue space and sort of collective you ran, is that still existing or is it on more of a hiatus now?DM: I still live there, but we haven’t had a house show in about a year now. Cats Purring was always a sentiment that a group of friends share, and that still very much exists. It’s not really active in the way that it was, but its never going to die. Its my fault. I very specifically wanted to focus on my music and when I was booking shows and keeping the TUMBLR updated I wasn’t really making music. I want to work on writing songs everyday of my life and I’m touring pretty regularly.AD: How do you think this collective affected you creatively?DM: There were a few of us that wanted to get our music out of Mississippi. Whenever you go to a college town it seems there’s always this local music scene full of bands who rarely play outside of their city, who don’t really know or care about touring. So Cats Purring was kind of a way for us to do that; we all shared the account and it was just a way for us to get it out there. Other blogs weren’t picking us up so we made our own and we wanted to meet all these cool bands. We had such a great roster come through there, but spending all this time touring allows me to feel more a part of an international community.
Everything's Great BLOOD
Welcome to the Empty Bottle podcast, “Everything’s Great?” Every month your hosts Bob Johnson, Kevin Graves and Christen Thomas will be giving you the front door and back stage stories from the Empty Bottle, inviting members of the Bottle, friends, family and staff up to the back of the office to tell stories, talking to bands that will be playing the Bottle in the coming month and playing tracks from those bands.February 2014 PodcastThis month's soundtrack:Sweet Cobra – “Complaints” February 8Radar Eyes – “Fall Into Place” February 18The Casket Girls – “Same Side” February 24Courtney Barnet – “Avant Gardener” February 18Cheap Time – “Exit Smiles” February 14Lord Dying – “Summoning The Faithless” March 3Party Downers – “No Compromise” February 8A note on Sweet Cobra and Party Downer’s songs from Jason and Grumpy:Both songs are currently unreleased (and unmastered) so they will have a debut on the podcast - they aren't quite finalized.“Complaints” is from our forthcoming full length entitled Earth. Recorded by Matt Talbot of HHUM and Kurt Ballou of CONVERGE at Talbot's Earth Analog Studio near Champaign, IL. Mixed by Kurt Ballou at Godcity in Salem, MA.The song is significant to us because it is the first one we wrote after Mat's passing. We had recently returned from a West Coast tour as a 3 piece with Pelican, and we were able to spend time with Mat before he moved back to the Seattle area to be closer to his family. A few weeks later he passed away on Thanksgiving Day. We didn't play music for close to a month, and when we met up at our rehearsal space and started trying to play music, this song just sort of came out of us from out of nowhere. Generally speaking, the lyrics deal with people that focus too much on the negative aspects of their life and complain about very trivial things in the grand scheme of things– while there are other people out there that are dealing with actual real struggles in life, but still focus more on the positive aspects of things, overcoming obstacles, and enjoying life to the fullest. Even in the face of his sickness, Mat was always motivated and eager to play music and enjoy life with his friends. He was an inspirational person to be around. The song really came together quickly and organically– and it also felt very different from our earlier stuff. There is an earlier recording of the song that will be released on an split 7" with the band Get Rad that will be available at the show.THE PARTY DOWNERS song is called "No Compromise"...which is a Mat Arluck reference...just kind of sums up what he was about. Case in point the actual phrase Arluck Time originally just referred to the time after he got home from work when he would just relax and decompress for a bit...don't call or knock on his door just yet, it's "Arluck Time." That song is unreleased as of yet.
Our Vinyl Weighs A Ton is a feature-length documentary about avant-garde Los Angeles-based record label Stones ThrowRecords. The film weaves together rare concert footage, never-before-seen archival material, inner-circle home video and photographs and in-depth interviews with the artists who put Stones Throw on the map. Our Vinyl Weighs A Ton gives an exclusive look into the label's left-of-center artists, history, culture, and global following.The film features exclusive interviews with Kanye West, Snoop Dogg, Madlib, Common, Questlove, Talib Kweli, Mike D (The Beastie Boys), Tyler the Creator, and many more. This screening will also feature a Q&A following the film.Stones Throw head-honcho PEANUT BUTTER WOLF is headlining a show following the screening and you can bet your ass it's gonna be one of the wildest Sunday dance parties we've had here in ages. PBW has been making beats, putting out records and working behind the scenes of American indie hip-hop since before you were born, son, and he's in the midst of a never ending world tour that offers a consistently astounding audio/visual experience. Fellow labelmates J-ROCC, JONWAYNE and KNX join in on what is guaranteed to be a ridiculously fun night.Tickets for the screening of Our Vinyl Weighs A Ton at The Logan Theatre on Sunday, March 9 at 6:30pmTickets for PEANUT BUTTER WOLF, J-ROCC, JONWAYNE & KNX @ The Empty Bottle on March 9 @ 9pm
CONFESSION: Some people that work at the Bottle were/are/might be still into the Deftones. You might be saying to yourself "that's not cool, man." Or you might be saying to yourself, "that's okay, Chino is still pretty cool, man."Whether they themselves are fans of the Deftones or not, True Widow, from Dallas, TX, describe their brand of rock and roll for the kiddies as "stonegaze" and it sure as heck reminds us at times of Chino and the Gang's slower/cerebral moments circa White Pony, guilty pleasure or not.You can hear True Widow's sophomore album As High as the Highest Heavens and From the Center to the Circumfrence of the Earth (Kemado, 2011) on repeat during the Thursday afternoon beer delivery shift, courtesy of our bar manager. If you find yourself in our neck of the woods Thursday around 3PM, stop on in. But don't come tomorrow, we're not open at 3.Check out a video for "Skull Eyes" by True Widow below.True Widow - "Skull Eyes" from Kemado Records on Vimeo.That’s Amore is a new segment on this here blog where we post about music stuff we like. We love hearing from our friends, so tell us what new bands you’re digging on in the comments section. If a song you recommend to us ends up on the blog, you’ll get one FREE ticket to the show of your choice at the Empty Bottle. Cool!
teenriverJAKE
Unbound by rules or genres, Gordon Stoneheart and Teen River Tapes are turning the standard release process on its ear and loving every minute of it. Teen River proves that if your underlying goal is simply to have fun, not much can go wrong. Operating in Chicago for roughly three years now, the label is a constant source of new life in the home recording community. Leaving no stone unturned, Teen River releases music from the noisy and ambient to poppy bliss, creating a sense of community that transcends the genres involved.After their showcase and Tarnation release show at The Empty Bottle, Gordon Stoneheart and I met for a banana split and some laughs at Margie’s Candies. It quickly became apparent that Gordon is really into doing what he wants, and it just so happens that what he wants tends to be pretty fucking cool.ASHLEIGH DYE: Can you start off by telling me how Teen River came to be? Or, more so, how Headless Horse Head came to be? You’ve said before that Teen River started, initially, as a way to release HHH music.GORDON STONEHART: I met Drew in Kansas. I’m from Kansas City and he was just living there because it was better than his middle Missouri town. We were in really shitty bands that played together, and he went on to this band that was fucking legendary. It was called Baby Birds Don’t Drink Milk and they were always my favorite band. They were really noisy, ambient, but good pop songs. There was no one doing what they were doing in Kansas. Then I moved to college and eventually here. Drew was touring with that band non-stop. I went down to SXSW with this band and played this house show and Drew was randomly there and not living anywhere and asked, “Can I go with you?” And I said “Uh, yeah.” Ha, so I was living at Ball Hall at the time, an alternative space that existed near North and Kedzie, and he didn’t really have anywhere to be. He was fine with going wherever, so he moved into Ball Hall with me. He was the person that taught me the most about music, as far as electronics go; so we just jammed nonstop at this warehouse at Diversey and Pulaski.AD: Tell me more about this practice space you had. Was this the place with the soda fountain?GH Yeah, it was weird. This guy who has a clothing line that’s apparently really big in London ran the whole building, I don’t know. It’s called “Dealr.” With no second E. They had a big pool table and a fancier side, and this big soda fountain with this crazy electro-plasmic green soda called “Green River” and we would just stay up drinking that and recording for hours. We mainly moved out because no one paid rent. Then we got out of there and Headless Horse Head had all this music to put out, we basically had like eight volumes we wanted to put out in the course of a year and we ended up putting out eight volumes in the course of three months.AD: How do you think living at Ball Hall affected you creatively?GS: Well we could have shows, so that was rad. And then, basically, when we wanted to put out 20 tapes at once it was the most fun vibe to do it in. There’s no other place where it would be as fun and accommodating. It was a big ballroom, it was really pretty, and every one of our friends was a part of it. People were involved; they felt like they belonged, it wasn’t pretentious at all. We were able to, in December 2011, throw a party where we released 12 tapes, then had another where we released 20 tapes. The next release was at Lake Paradise, another warehouse space I lived in.After we put out a shit ton of stuff and Ball Hall was unfolding a little bit, Drew moved to New York for a while. So I kind of took things over myself. But now Drew is back and its great because if anyone needs to record anything to be put out Drew is who I would go to for that, so he’s still involved.AD: How do you guys get connected with the bands you release? Was it mostly through the shows you put on at Ball Hall?GS: I think since that was such a long running place, we were having shows a couple times a week. This is such a huge city, and there are so many bands. [Teen River] became this nurturing thing that made people feel comfortable and want to record. So basically the way I get in touch with bands is they get in touch with me. Or I see them live and approach them. I’m a fan of seeing a band live first. That’s where tapes sell the most, at live shows. If bands kill it live their tapes will sell. So that’s a major aspect, as well.AD: You have a really wide range of releases you put out. Tarnation and Headless Horse Head are so experimental and ambient, while The Christmas Bride is super poppy. Do you have any favorites that you’ve put out over the last few years?GS: The Toupee release one is one of my favorites. The Health&Beauty tape, its like singer-songwriter, guitar stuff, but the most well done of any of that shit that’s out there. Nobody does it better than Brian. He recorded it all himself. I’d say the most successful tape, though, is the Julie Byrne tape. She moved away a while ago, but she lived at Ball Hall for a long time. She’s a singer-songwriter, ultra alto voice. It’s instantly captivating.AD: What’s the process for putting out 20 different albums at once? Do you make a certain number of tapes for each artist or is it on an as-needed sort of basis?GS: When we did those releases, the batch of 20, we did 30 of each. So it was about 600 tapes. My set up now is in Roscoe Village. I used to just take my shit everywhere and dub tapes all the time. I do dubbing in real time, and it take me so long. I’m always doing it. Whenever I’m home, now, my machines are always going.AD: A constant humming in the background[laughter]GS: It’s a service really; I have a lot of people asking me to do it. I’m hoping, one day, I won’t have to have a job. There are so many variables with dubbing, the machines are alive and you have to take care of them, because if you don’t they’ll die in a month. These machines have motors and belts; it’s like a car. They all sound insanely different, but I might just be a freak and have listened to tapes every day of my life.AD: What’s Teen River’s relationship with Lillerne Tapes like? You guys seem to have some overlap in releases sometimes.GS: That dude is one of our best friends, Gabe. Drew and Gabe are the dudes I learned how to do everything from. Basically learned how to make things fun, he’s always known how to make things fun. He started Lillerne when he was back in Kansas just for fun. Gabe’s more of like an internet-savvy person. He doesn’t have showcases in Chicago. He’s based in Chicago, but he’s known more around the country than he is just in Chicago. His batches always sell out.AD: Do you guys have any plans or release dates in mind for 2014?GS: I’m really focusing on vinyl right now, actually. I run this dual label called Lake Paradise with my friend POTIONS, who lives there. We just put out his stuff. Vinyl’s like a biz, there’s a lot more money involved in that. So those are things I have dates for, I’m doing a Toupee 7-inch, I’m doing a Vehicle Blues 7-inch, I’m doing a Hex full-length. Other than that, its super hard for me to see past that.AD: In your bio it says “An on-going project in Chicago to surface volumes of music at confusing rates.” Would you say you’re initially trying to disrupt the current status quo or or do you find that’s just how you work best?GS: When we were releasing so many tapes at once, people were getting angry about it. They think there this specific way to do it. It’s like, look dude, I’m not trying to be a noise label, and I’m not trying to be an ambient label. I’m just doing what I want to do. Tapes are about your fucking friends. That’s what its about. The way Teen River runs does have a lot to do with the pace of my life, but I’m super connected to Chicago music community, so I think its also telling of what’s going on in the community. The variables are those two variables. Whenever something comes out it’s based on my life and what’s coming out in the community. It’s about documenting that whole community. There’s so much music, scenes that are only about one style of music bored me to death. It’s not fun; it’s not fresh, things have to be fresh, they need to be surprising. People always want to have a release show and have the same bill. Like lets find some other shit that is cool and nobody knows about.
teen river night
Most people reading this probably have a good number of records. Nice job, guys – you did it. As you know (if you’re cool), one of the best things about owning records is being able to listen to them on your own damn time in the comfort of your damn home. Certain albums even manage to define the feeling of finally being home and escaping from the cruel world outside, if only for a brief period of time.Erased Tapes is a label that consistently puts out amazing “home records” – textually rich, slow burning LPs that pair great with the oft-desired relaxation. We recently had the pleasure of stumbling across the stunning work of Ukrainian pianist Lubomyr Melnyk. We don’t know much about much, but we’re certain that his "continuous piano music," paired beautifully in the song below with a rising and falling violin, is genuinely entrancing. Give it a listen, you’re gonna love the way you look, we guarantee it.That's Amore is a new segment on this here blog where we post about music stuff we like. We love hearing from our friends, so tell us what new bands you’re digging on in the comments section. If a song you recommend to us ends up on the blog, you’ll get one FREE ticket to the show of your choice at the Empty Bottle. Cool!
Ladies and germs, this here segment dubbed RobotCast, coordinated by our trusty intern Lil Y, showcases what's coming through our little club over the next few days. Let our trusty robotic friend be your spirit guide. Take 20 minutes out of your boring lives to listen to some groups that are stopping by to play our stage this week.Wishgift -- "Drover (Wish for Death Gift)"The Ivorys -- "Drink In, Truth Out"Mac Blackout Band -- "Valley of the Rose"Running -- "This is a You Problem"Al Scorch -- "Working Dream"Gloom Balloon -- "She Was the One That Got Away"