SARGENT HOUSE

Continuing on from last time…

Cologne, Germany

I packed light for this trip. I can wear the same pair of jeans for the whole trip. I try to milk two or three days out of a t-shirt. Socks and underwear require daily changing. So my luggage is basically just socks and underwear. I brought two button-up shirts, and today I rip open the back of one of them trying to do a Ray Cappo jump in a music store parking lot.

Tonight’s club is another one of those converted factory/warehouse spaces. Not sure if it’s a squat, necessarily, but it definitely feels like one. The promoter is a very outgoing, boisterous, jolly German guy named Uncle George. It winds up being my favorite show of tour thus far. Good sound, good crowd, good vibes. Even Deafheaven seems to have gotten over their whole choking-and-punching incident from Paris.

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And So I Watch You From Afar will be heading to the United States and Canada for a whole bunch of touring with other Sargent House bands. First to Canada for some shows and Sled Island Festival with Russian Circles , Boris and Indian Handcrafts, then to the west coast joining up for some shows with Deafheaven and ending in Los Angeles at the El Rey at the big Sargent House / 1656 Music Show with Chelsea Wolfe also playing.  In July they will do a co-headliner tour with Zechs Marquise. There are still a few more shows to be added so keep an eye out for updates HERE and always make sure to check directly with venue websites for door times/ set times and age restrictions.

AND SO I WATCH YOU FROM AFAR & RUSSIAN CIRCLES - 2012
Jun 18th - Winnipeg, MB @ The Park Theatre  w/ Indian Handcrafts
Jun 19th - Saskatoon, SK @ Amigos Cantina w/ Indian Handcrafts
Jun 20th - Calgary, AB @ Dicken’s Pub - Sled Island Fest w/ Indian Handcrafts
Jun 22nd - Vancouver, BC  @ Biltmore Cabaret
Jun 24th - Seattle, WA @ Neumos
Jun 25th - Portland, OR  @ Doug Fir Lounge
Jun 27th - Sacramento, CA @ Harlow’s w/ Deafheaven
Jun 28th - San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall w/ Deafheaven
Jun 29th - Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey Theatre w/Chelsea Wolfe & Deafheaven

AND SO I WATCH YOU FROM AFAR & ZECHS MARQUISE - 2012
Jun 30th - Anaheim, CA  @ Chain Reaction
Jul 1st - San Diego, CA  @ The Casbah
Jul 2nd - Phoenix, AZ @ Rhythm Room
Jul 4th - San Antonio, TX  @ The White Rabbit
Jul 5th - Houston, TX @ Fitzgerald’s
Jul 6th - Austin, TX @ Red 7 
Jul 7th - Dallas, TX @ Club Dada
Jul 8th - Norman, OK @ The Opolis
Jul 10th - St Louis, MO @ The Firebird
Jul 11th - Chicago, IL @ Beat Kitchen
Jul 12th - Lansing, MI @ Mac’s Bar
Jul 13th - Toledo, OH  @ Mickey Finns
Jul 14th - Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern
Jul 16th - Pittsburgh, PA @ Smiling Moose
Jul 17th - Louisville, KY @ Headliner’s Music Hall
Jul 18th - Nashville, TN @ 12th & Porter
Jul 19th - Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade
Jul 21st - St Petersburg, FL @ local 662 
Jul 22nd - Mobile, AL @ Alabama Music Box
Jul 24th - Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506 
Jul 25th - Baltimore, MD @ Sonar
Jul 26th - Cambridge, MA @ T.T. the Bears
Jul 27th - New York City, NY @ The Studio at Webster Hall
Jul 28th - Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie

ALL UPDATED ASIWYFA SHOWS & DETAILS HERE

Continuing on from last week…

Hamburg, Germany

You know what’s depressing? Cutting through a red light district in broad daylight with the prostitutes already hanging out in their windows while Adele’s “Someone Like You” plays over outdoor speakers.

Just down the street from the red light district is Hafenklang, one of my favorite venues in Germany. The people who work here are always a pleasure to work with, the size of the room is perfect, and the club is easy walking distance from the Reeperbahn. Tonight’s show is a drone festival. Two stages, six bands. And the ticket price is still less than half of the fest we played in Estonia. But ya know, as much as I enjoy listening to drone stuff when I’m at home, it’s not really the kind of music I want to spend an evening watching at a club. I watch a few of the acts before I start feeling narcoleptic. I’m not even bothering with beer tonight; I’ve switched to some sort of carbonated yerba mate drink in an effort to stay awake.

Tonight is Derek from Deafheaven’s birthday. There are plans to go out on the town after the show, but by the time we’re packed up and loaded out, it’s 3am. The other guys go for it, but Che and I opt to sit in our hotel room and eat Burger King before going to bed.

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Although San Francisco-based band Deafheaven only formed in early 2010, it has stormed the musical world by force, in short order signing with Deathwish, Inc. and releasing an impressive, if sometimes imposing, debut album, Roads To Judah, in 2011.  Songwriter and vocalist George Clarke and guitarist Kerry McCoy form the core of the band, which is rounded out by Joey Bautista on guitar, Derek Prine on bass, and newest member Korey Severson on drums.  George took a brief timeout from the band’s seemingly-endless touring schedule, possibly in the middle of a jaunt to Germany, to report on the latest developments of Deafheaven.

Hi George!  Your album Roads To Judah is composed of 4 epically long and involving songs and it blew me away with its combination of melody and aggression.  I love how you mix the sublime with the ferocious, with glorious guitar frisson that reaches for the heavens amid a brutal assault of rapid-fire drumbeats and your viciously roaring vocals.
Thanks, we appreciate that.

You and Kerry formed Deafheaven in 2010 after being in another band together.  How did you know you were both on the same page musically with Deafheaven?
We’ve been friends for a long time and always had similar tastes in music. When it came to forming Deafheaven, we just brainstormed a few ideas and threw them together as we wanted. The whole writing process happened very naturally.

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Russian Circles will be playing some Canadian shows including Calgary’s Sled Island Festival along with label mates

And So I Watch You From Afar coming over from Belfast

and Canada’s own Indian Handcrafts.

Russian Circles and ASIWYFA will then hit the States and join up with Deafheaven for a few shows as well. Below are all the Russian Circles shows. As for ASIWYFA, they will be continuing on their own US tour starting around July 5th with some other Sargent House bands to be announced soon. These shows will ALL RULE. You would be a fool to miss it. Riffs and Chugg for life.

RUSSIAN CIRCLES / AND SO I WATCH YOU FROM AFAR
Jun 18, 2012 - Winnipeg, MB (CA) @ The Park Theatre ^^
Jun 19, 2012 - Saskatoon, SK (CA) @ Amigos Cantina ^^
Jun 20, 2012 - Calgary, (CA) @ Dicken’s at Sled Island Festival ^^
Jun 22, 2012 - Vancouver, BC (CA) @ Biltmore Cabaret ^
Jun 24, 2012 - Seattle, WA (US) @ Neumos ^
Jun 25, 2012 - Portland, OR (US) @ Doug Fir Lounge ^
Jun 27, 2012 - Sacramento, CA (US) @ Harlow’s **
Jun 28, 2012 - San Francisco, CA (US) @ Great American Music Hall **
Jun 29, 2012 - Los Angeles, CA (US) @ El Rey Theatre ** Special Guest TBA
Jul 02, 2012  - Denver, CO (US) @ Bluebird Theater - Russian Circles only
Jul 03, 2012  - Kansas City, MO (US) @ The Riot Room - Russian Circles only

^ w/ Russian Circles, And So I Watch You From Afar
^^ w/ Russian Circles, And So I Watch You From Afar & Indian Handcrafts
** w/ Russian Circles, And So I Watch You From Afar & Deafheaven

When the band I play in, Russian Circles, announced our European tour with Deafheaven for Spring 2012, Grant Brissey asked me to write a tour diary chronicling our trip. I was a little hesitant at first. For one thing, I’ve typically tried to keep my band business separate from my music writing. Additionally, my bandmates aren’t the kind of people that want all their day-to-day business made public. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that most tour documentaries and diaries focus on either the luxuries of wildly successful artists or the trials and tribulations of struggling acts. There aren’t a lot of stories of financially sustainable working bands out there. Presumably, that’s because our stories aren’t particularly interesting. We’ve figured out how to tour in a manner where things are relatively stress-free and efficient. We aren’t partiers. There’s no cocaine or groupies in the green room. We sleep in hotels and travel in vans. I can’t promise this will be particularly insightful or even remotely honest. But this is how we roll.

Seattle to Chicago to London to Prague

My flight itinerary is SeaTac to Chicago to London to Prague. I leave Seattle at noon on April 2nd. We’re scheduled to get into Prague early afternoon the next day. The rest of the band lives in Chicago, and I meet up with them at my layover at O’Hare. The last time I flew out of O’Hare, three separate strangers asked if I was a DJ. Not wanting to get caught up in those conversations again, I choose a seat at the gate next to a guy that looks like Wayne Coyne, figuring he’s less likely to ask me dumb questions.

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Alcest played Public Assembly in Brooklyn on Saturday (3/31) with support from Los Angeles’ Deafheaven and New York’s Vaura. It was Alcest’s first NYC appearance since their tour with Enslaved last September, following the release of Alcest’s Les Voyages de l’Âme, the band’s third full-length and next step in the meandering evolution of their ethereal/shoegaze/post-black metal.

The show was sold out, and Fred Pessaro (BBG) from Brooklyn Vegan deejayed a set of thrash, punk, death, grind, hardcore, and black metal to get things going. I’m pretty sure it was the only time I’ve heard Inquisition’s “Command of the Dark Crown” played as part of a DJ set. That’s awesome.

…Deafheaven were next and absolutely killed it. The frontman was goddamn electrifying. He furiously belted out his lyrics, taking breaks to cover his face with his forearm in pained exasperation, and frequently stood on top of a couple of gear cases he had stacked up to dangle the mic stand above the crowd. The crowd reacted enthusiastically and began to mosh (see pics below)- something that didn’t happen for any other band that night. They played most of their debut  Roads to Judah, and were flawless in execution. Deafheaven is a must see band.


Read Full Live Report & Photo Gallery: Alcest, Deafheaven, Vaura in NYC

Deafheaven’s George Clarke and Kerry McCoy talk about how they formed and discovered their sound, how they write their music, signing to Deathwish, their favorite parts of being in a band, their upcoming first full-length and more. Watch an exclusive live clip of the band shot at SXSW at this [link]

The United States black metal scene is arguably one of the most vibrant ones today – not just in metal, but in music as a whole. Multiple bands have moved far beyond the initial confines of the genre, taking elements from the Norwegian pioneers and mixing them with elements of post-rock and shoegaze to create a very different beast from the corpse-painted anthems of the early 1990s. And few bands have been turning as many heads as Deafheaven has over the past couple years.

Originally formed in 2010 in San Francisco, Deafheaven‘s demo was well-received across the Internet, and they began playing shows soon after. They later signed with Deathwish Inc., the label founded and owned by Converge lead singer Jacob Bannon. Their debut album Roads to Judah was released in 2011 to wide critical acclaim, mixing influences from black metal, post-rock, and melodic hardcore to create a uniquely gripping work of stark emotional power.

I was lucky enough to meet George Clarke and Kerry McCoy, the vocalist and guitarist at the core of Deafheaven on March 31st, where they played a set at Public Assembly in Brooklyn, NY opening for Alcest on their ongoing North American tour. We discussed the feelings of being a new band in the limelight, the many influences they brought to the table (musical and otherwise), and what’s next for the band in the interview below.

You can listen to Deafheaven‘s 2010 demo  and 2011’s Roads To Judah on their Bandcamp. Or it can be purchased on CD, and on vinyl along with assorted merchandise at the Deathwish eStore.  -Sam

MB: Despite your recent surge in popularity in the music underground, Deafheaven is still relatively obscure. How would you describe your sound to those who aren’t familiar with the band?

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“Deafheaven in a live setting is a goddamn powerhouse. Their 2010 demo mixed post-rock, black metal, and melodic hardcore/screamo leanings in a unique mix that left my ears itching for more, and the debut full-length Roads to Judah has been in near-constant rotation since I picked it up on vinyl a few months back, but nothing could have prepared me for the intensely cathartic experience of their live performance. They’re a very young band, only forming a couple years back in 2010, and their youthful energy is an absolute joy to watch. You can see that their singer puts his heart into every single word he belts out, and each of the accompanying musicians plays in an amazingly tight synergy that one would expect to see from veterans of countless tours and albums – to see such a young group of musicians performing flawlessly with an unbridled enthusiasm was a complete surprise and an absolute treat. The crowd reacted with unchecked exc in turn, Deafheaven’s energy moving them emotionally in one of the best symbiotic relationships between band and audience that I’d seen in a long time. And when their singer gave his thanks to the audience at the close of their set, you could tell he meant it dearly.” Metal Blast - March 31, 2012 - Public Assembly, Brooklyn NY

“Totally stealing the show was San Francisco’s Deafheaven, whose sound scales the wuthering heights of gale-force post-metal and screamo. They definitely drop a big slab of pure intensity but have the agility, touch and range of post-rockers. Violently forlorn in a way that’s sublime, their sonically heavy but unquestionably beautiful music is like a soundtrack for the most epic and severe extremes of the Earth. Live, they come with a force-of-nature velocity that feels like a tornado touching down on the roof above you. And for a guy who looks kinda like a stylishly brooding member of Interpol,singer George Clarke sure can shred a throat properly”. - Orlando Weekly

“The night continued with the San Francisco metal collective, Deafheaven. Playing mostly from the Roads to Judah album, the band managed to summon a strong reaction in the crowd that night. Clarke was the driving force behind this reaction, as his theatrical expressions were akin to the kind of intensity one displays at fisticuffs. His stance was often crouched, as if he was ready to pounce on the audience and his leer made him look possessed. Guitarist Kerry McCoy—and fellow original member alongside Clarke—-writhed around with the rest of the band during some of the speedy moments but swayed along during the more droning post-rock lulls.

It took a minute for the crowd to get in the mood, but eventually everyone was headbanging and giving their best grim face at the front of the stage, and a few people had a good time screaming along with Clarke to, “Don’t raise a toast to your slaving bloodline now!” - The Dropp / review of March 22, 2012 at Will’s Pub.

” Deafheaven, I’ve been told, are a must-see. I’m not the most well-versed in their material, but their debut album Roads to Judah is really something special. They’re a band that’s really doing a lot for the United States Black Metal scene, and seemingly growing bigger by the day. I was unsure of what to expect from them live, as I have never attended a black metal show in person before, but Deafheaven delivered. As great as Roads to Judah sounds on record, its material comes to life when the band are performing it in front of you. The sound of lush tremolo picking and rushing blast beats is quite an enveloping sound, and the emotional aspects of the compositions really make sense and connect live. What really sells their show though is front man George Clarke, whose intense delivery is a sight to behold. Angst seemed to pour from his being (in the best way), and he clearly connects with the music on an emotional and perhaps a spiritual level. It was questioned whether or not Clarke was on any psychedelics, and given the way he moved around on the stage and performed, it wouldn’t surprise me either way. Luckily, performance enhancing drugs aren’t really all that frowned upon during metal shows, if that was the case. Deafheaven are definitely a band to be experienced, and are a phenomenal live act”. - The Hideaway- Johnson City, TN on March 24, 2012 /Review by Alkahest / Heavy Blog Is Heavy

“Deafheaven was up next and the crowd for these guys was even much different from the crowd for Alcest, as it seemed more like a hardcore show with out the windmilling and kickboxing dances.Deafheaven with out a doubt stole the show. They had an intensity to them that could not be denied. Front-man George Clarke’s stage presence makes up for his one dimensional vocal attack. The playing was spot on with a shimmer slaps you and then shakes you while the cathartic exorcism explodes into the ether on waves of delay and distortion. Either I’m going deaf or I expected them to be louder.” - Atlanta on March 23, 2012 Review by Wil Cipher for Hiplanta

“So in 2011 the indie music community got really excited about black metal. There were think pieces, and much-ballyhooed buzz bands, and the inevitable hey-we-were-here-first backlash from the tr00 kvlt fans. It was fun, for a while, to see this potent subgenre, long relegated to the margins of musical discussion, getting so much ink. But hipsters, it seems, can find a way to make anything annoying, and we’re nearing that threshold for black metal – or at least for conversations about it.

Fortunately, there really are a lot of good bands inspiring all this talk. Two of them played at the Big Top on Tuesday: Alcest, a French group that’s been melding black metal with the dreamy sounds of shoegaze for years; and Deafheaven, a band that’s so damn hot right now that NPR and Esquire – fucking Esquire* – dubbed them among the best acts at SXSW in Austin last week.

..Deafheaven also traffic in a melodic, shoegazing style of black metal, but theirs is most effective when steamrolling at full blast. Drummer Korey Sorenson propelled the band; he peppered his blast beats with long, tumbling fills, and was a joy to watch. The guitarists used less of their fretboards than Alcest – not a ton of variety here – favoring a unified, jackhammering, wall of noise as they pounded through cuts from 2011’s Roads to Judah. Perhaps it was the SXSW effect; they sounded like a band that’d just played a lot of shows and was in the zone.

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Deafheaven
My NPR colleague Mike Katzif called Deafheaven “the Sigur Ros of black metal,” and he’s right on the money. The San Francisco band’s music heaves and builds and pummels majestically, and then singer George Clarke lurches defensively and shrieks angrily like a mother hawk protecting her young. Brutal and bracing, with a shoegazing indie-rock band’s ear for graceful melodicism. - Stephen Thompson