When Brooklyn based drummer Deantoni Parks first started to work with the guys in The Mars Volta circles, it felt like a perfect fit. Having first contact with his polyrhthmic and highly stylized techniques in a euphoric mind altered state at Vegoose festival playing behind the kit for Volta, I couldn’t believe how he was controlling his drums under a plethora of subtle effects and the overall sea of music around him. This was the introduction phase for me to diving into his band KUDU along with the traces of releases he would contribute to for The Mars Volta’s main composer Omar Rordriguez Lopez. Deantoni Parks plays with a level of precision and tenacity that walks a fine line between organic and constantly moving jazz drumming and highly intricate and synthetic Squarepusher esk electronic beats. It has been 6 years since I was dismantled mentally by his drumming live and now Deantoni Parks is embarking on the release of Touch But Don’t Look, his first solo record to date and the first of what we hope to be many albums by Parks on Rodriguez Lopez Productions and Sargent House.

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Rodriguez Lopez Productions and Sargent House have been expanding on dozens of releases over the last few years with the plethora of artists that exists between the two. Connected at the heart by Cathy Pellow, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and many others, this is a movement of sound and vision that is gaining considerable reputation as progressive minds are evolving even further from their origins. Boris, Fang Island, Native, Zechs Marquise, Le Butcherettes, Hella, there are so many genre defining artists to name that it’s hard to really sum up the label and Big Sir is one group out of the entire whole that we have been anticipating a new LP from the most. 2012 has been a phenomenal year for music culture already and the arrival of the latest Big Sir album, Before Gardens After Gardens, only adds more depth to the shape of this year. Based around the multi-instrumental and vocal work of Lisa Papineau and the Jaco Pastorius inspired tones of bassist of The Mars Volta, Juan Alderete, Big Sir is rooted in as many fields of electronica as they are in heavy doses of jazz, pop, hip-hop and so much more. It’s a sound all its own and genre definition becomes some what meaningless in the emotional power and provocative nature of the music.

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San Francisco’s Deafheaven is a band that unlike many, has catapulted into the public consciousness in a way that few can claim experience with. George Clarke and guitar player Kerry McCoy formed the group in 2010 with a self produced, recorded and released demo. Adding in three additional musicians with second guitar player Nick Bassett, bassist Derek Prine and drummer Trevor Deschryver to fulfill the vision presented on the demo, the band signed with Deathwish Inc. after a handful of shows and the band has been touring non stop since. Deafheaven released a limited edition 7″ that collected two songs from the demo and the full length Roads to Judah followed soon there after in 2011.

Combining so many fields of raw and invigorating formats of 20th and 21st century underground rock music, Deafheaven has become a powerful presentation of the heaviest yet brightest proportions. They display an exquisite balance of beauty and chaos with crescendos that fall into dripping colors of tone fragmentation that lead to a deconstruction of sound and ultimately chaos. As momentum builds exponentially and the scene changes at the blink of an eye, not a second is wasted before machine gun blasts are augmented by an excruciating type of pain that bleeds from the guitar, bass and vocal work. With their roots seated in a vast plethora of sound in the 20th and 21st century rock idiom, definition and relation to the whole of music comes at the hands of your own entry way, but the power and sonic aura of their studio and live show presentation is undeniable.

When we hear a band who incorporates a vast plethora of worlds and compacts it into micro fragments of coagulation, it sits right at home with the content we live for. Tradition is stripped down to include new formats, new ideas and new visions of tomorrow and Deafheaven is thriving in this world of tomorrow. The San Francisco based quintet is now managed by Cathy Pellow of Sargent House and this partnership between the two immediately compelled us to request an interview. Lead singer of Deafheaven George Clarke was gracious enough to lend us some of his time and answer the questions we sent. We hope you enjoy our exclusive interview with George and get a chance to see Deafheaven live, they are touring heavily in Europe and the States in the next 2 months.

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An interview is one of the most authentic and honest windows into the hearts and minds of the artists and musicians we’ve come to admire. And, in this particular case… an added dose of humility. Logistics and self-deprecating humor aside, there is no better approach towards familiarizing yourself with the music you know and love, than by speaking with the musicians who have created the compositions that their fans have come to hold dear to their hearts. Throughout the years Lisa Papineau and Juan Alderete of Big Sir have created a fan base dedicated to the evolution of their multifaceted sound.

With the two having such a diverse creative output that extends far outside of their album releases, Lisa and Juan always seem to give the time needed to Big Sir for stages of growth in the bands legacy to continue and 2012 marks the next cycle. The ethereally haunting vocal and synth work of Lisa Papineau along with the sea of effects bassist of The Mars Volta Juan Alderete utilizes combine for a compositional mastery in which the sum is greater than the parts. With this Los Angeles dynamic duo’s third full length album, Before Gardens After Gardens, set to release on February 7th of this year via Rodriguez Lopez Productions / Sargent House, Big Sir has created an authentic and diverse harmonious experience bound to have you yearning for more. When we received the album from Sargent House and dove in together, it felt like love at first sight.

Sound Colour Vibration was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to speak with Big Sir and get a firsthand look at the creative dynamic behind this band and their insight regarding a shared passion for music enriched with Los Angeles tradition, trust and mutual respect for one another, the influence of fearless whip-cracking manager and Sargent House matriarch, Cathy Pellow, creative contributions and unique signature musicality of fellow artists, and the strong camaraderie setting the foundation for their beautifully cultivated sound. Ladies and Gentlemen… It’s our pleasure to present to you Sound Colour Vibration’s exclusive interview with LA band, Big Sir.

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El Paso has been the talk of progressive rock music for many years now. With progressive latin band The Mars Volta devastating audiences in venues around the world over the span of a decade, their origins of El Paso became the talk of many. Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez has been a driving force in the percussion area of Volta’s sound since mid 2000′s and more recently has contributed more keyboard and synth parts to the live shows. Marcel is a really gifted drummer who has been playing on records of his older brother Omar Rodriguez-Lopez for many years now. Marcel has been dedicating a lot time to another project of his, Zechs Marquise. The release of a second full length, Getting Paid, has come forth this year and is a record we have had on constant rotation since it was released. Zechs Marquise is a group that is as beautiful, progressive, enlightening, raw and electrifying as The Mars Volta. If you have been fortune enough to see a live show, there is nothing I can really tell you that you don’t know.

In 2009, Zech’s Marquise gave the world Our Delicate Stranded Nightmare, a full length debut that was released on 2xLP with Willie Anderson Recordings in Netherlands and on digital and cd formats with Rodriguez Lopez Productions. Included with core members Marfred Rodriguez-Lopez (bass), Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez (keys), Marcos Smith (guitar) and Matthew Wilkson (guitar) is guest appearances from Adrián Terrazas-González (The Mars Volta, T.R.A.M., El Regimen) playing saxophone, Michael Farraro adding drums and trumpet contributions from Rikardo Rodriguez-Lopez. The high velocity of their live shows was still something that was not fully captured with this release. Could that ever be? As good as Our Delicate Stranded Nightmare is, the production work and compositions on their newest LP Getting Paid is testament to the fact that yes, it can be.

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Sound Colour Vibration interviews Spencer Seim of Hella

Conducted by Erik Otis
All photos from Spencer Seim
Spring of 2011

Hella is a two-piece band that started out about a decade ago in Northern California. The two leaders (and members) of the group are drummer Zach Hill and guitarist Spencer Seim. Over the many obstacles and mutations that Hella has had, they have always achieved a heavy amount of power and spirituality. There is a time when a band rebirths a certain nostalgia to take precedence for their fellow fans and music lovers. Now is that time, and Hella is that band. – Pouya G. Asadi

SCV: Hella is a band of yours that has been around for over a decade and has seen an expansion in line up for the past few years. Zach and yourself decided to bring the band back to its roots with the two piece line up. On the new track you guys released called Headless, there is the same interaction that makes you guys so unique in my opinion. Did you guys record the album in a short window or did this project take awhile?

Spencer: Ha, well… both I guess. We wrote, recorded, and mixed Tripper in only 16 studio days but we did it in short 2 or 3 day sessions spaced a couple of months apart each.

SCV: The new Hella album coming out this year called Tripper is scheduled for a release in late August, are you really excited with the stripped down 2 piece format the group has again?

Spencer: This is my favorite Hella record. I think Zach and I played really well together on it and I like the new approach that we used. Each song was recorded the same day we wrote it. All the music was captured at its freshest point.

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Boris
“Heavy Rocks” and “Attention Please”  out now on Sargent House

This is the year of Boris. The Tokyo based trio has dropped a monolith of heavy liquid sound into international eardrums this year. By simultaneously releasing the studio length albums Attention Please and Heavy Rocks through the Los Angeles based Sargent House label Boris has breached the confines of expectations twice over.

Boris rose up from the Japanese hardcore scene of the early 90′s and in 1996 began their journey towards their current incarnation by creating record after record steeped in noise and doom. They have stacked new sonic reverberations onto each release since and after nearly two decades their unholy totem has climbed to the heights of 17 studio albums. Each album experiments with facets of drone, metal, and all things grunge and grime. With Attention Please and Heavy Rocks Boris pulls the curtains even further back to reveal a passion for electropop, shoegaze, punk, and j-pop.

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SCV links up with artist and musician, Deantoni Parks 

Deantoni Parks is a Brooklyn, NY based drummer, director, song-writer and producer; as well as being the latest addition to The Mars Volta. From historical groundbreaking shows in the early 2000′s with his electronic group KUDU to projects with John Cale, Me’shell Ndegeocello and Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group, Deantoni has been active in almost every creative way possible. Colorful, precise and tasteful: his drumming is a world of sound within itself. With a brief stint with The Mars Volta in 2006, Deantoni toured with the band for a very short time of a month or so. His time with the band was short lived due to other commitments and now he is rolling with the group full time. With work completed at Stanford Jazz Workshop, The Drummer’s Collective NYC and Berklee College of Music since the late 90′s, Deantoni has led a life of constant artistic growth and expansion since he first started playing percussion at the age of 2.

The Mars Volta agreed to take part in an opening stint for Soundgarden to usher in the new arrival of their latest drummer, Deantoni Parks. With shows in Australia and China scheduled, the group will see a new full length album release  next year. SCV co-owner Pouya G. Asadi was on site for the Mars Volta’s opening set of Soundgarden in Chicago at UIC Pavilion July 16, 2011. He took  stills with his Canon 600D and interviewed Deantoni shortly backstage after the Volta’s set. Deantoni Parks is easily one of our favorite drummers in contemporary music and it is an honor to present this interview at Sound Colour Vibration. -Erik Otis

Check out our entire photo set for The Mars Volta in Chicago July of 2011 at our official FB page HERE

What consisted of your typical schedule for rehearsals before you guys started this year’s touring?

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Sound Colour Vibration Interview

w/ Matt Embree and Chris Tsagakis of RX Bandits

On the edge of an indefinite hiatus, Rx Bandits are wrapping up a consistent schedule of touring with a string of summer shows. They are completing their summer tour in the place that birthed the band, Southern California. Having crafted a sound with foundations in rock, reggae, punk, and ska, Rx has evolved with every album and influenced many others in the process. With a slew of side projects (i.e. Matt Embree’s Love You Moon, Chris Tsagakis’ Technology, Embree and Tsagakis both in The Sound of Animals Fighting, Steve Choi in Machines, etc.), the group is looking to stretch new musical limbs while giving others time to rest. I sat down with longtime friends and musical partners Matt Embree (Vocals/Guitar) and Chris Tsagakis (Drums) to talk about collaborations, labels, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. -Zack Lazar

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Lisa Papineau is one of our favorite singers and musicians at Sound Colour Vibration and we are very excited to bring this interview to our site. She was born in New England and is a current resident of Paris, France. Lisa has released two full length solo records, two records with her project Big Sir that includes The Mars Volta bassist Juan Alderete de la Peña, soundtrack scores and so much more. Now with a new Big Sir album completed and awaiting release along with a new project with RX Bandits guitarist and singer Matt Embree, she has created a legacy of music that is already showing its timeless nature. We contacted her to get some info on these various new projects and these are the results, enjoy! ~ by  Erik Otis

You are releasing an EP this July through Sargent House with singer and guitarist of RX-Bandits, Matt Embree. What brought you guys together for a release and where was the EP recorded at?

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Therapies Son “Over The Sea”
Sargent House 2011

Multi-instrumentalist Alex Jacob, or what will commonly be known as Therapies Son has released his debut EP through Sargent House, the label responsible for classic releases from Tera Melos, Fang Island, Zach Hill, Omar Rodriguez Lopez, Big Sir, Adebisi Shank and many more. This is an EP that I can easily say will be one to make our favorite albums of 2011. Painting picture after picture of juxtaposed and shifting worlds where bike rides, carnivals and relationships flow out of a bubbling spring of distant memories of the best and worst times of ones life.

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