SARGENT HOUSE

SARGENT HOUSE SXSW SHOWCASE 2012
March 13th-19th were the six nights I traveled solo to the infamous South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, TX this year.  Being that I am from Florida and have never  been to Texas before I didn’t know what to expect.  Initially I was hesitant to take on the adventure because of financials but I found out I had a cousin in Austin I could stay with.  With a free place to stay there was nothing holding me back (besides my pet peeve of flying in crowded Southwest Airline airplanes because I am 6’4” tall and there always seems to be a snooty old lady or terrible young children ruining my flight).  Anyway,  I made it to Austin, TX and what a trip it was.

Being that I am a rather enthusiastic music lover and graduated college with a business management degree I have always had a passion for music management.  I especially wanted to go out to SXSW to meet up with managers from the Sargent House record label who I had been in contact with and learned a great deal of information from.  Among their powerful roster of bands, Sargent House had a handful of bands showcasing their talents throughout the festival.  Friday March 16th they had quite the unforgettable  showcase with a handful of their artists coming together in one night playing one after the other. I honestly can’t describe the authenticity of this show. It was just so original there were more people lined up outside than could even fit inside. Being that fan that I am, I of course showed up early enough to get a spot inside.

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Back in the USSR, they don’t know how lucky they are; in the midst of a typically hot and humid South By Southwest festival in Texas, And So I Watch You From Afar are looking back on an ever so slightly cooler environment when they last visited Russia for a tour which nonetheless proved to be hotter than they could ever have imagined.

“It was like -25c, really harsh conditions, so the daytimes would maybe be a bit of a slog and be hard work, freezing cold. But then the crowds at night would just make it so worthwhile,” they tell Live4ever in this exclusive SXSW interview.

The Irish group also found time to candidly discuss all details behind the shock exit of influential band member Tony Wright and the subsequent arrival of long-time friend Niall Kennedy, as well as why they were dancing around the garden after landing a coveted support slot with Them Crooked Vultures.

Live4ever with And So I Watch You From Afar at South By Southwest 2012. You played our showcase which was broadcast by VenueOne.com yesterday lads – how did you feel about it?
Really enjoyed it, really liked the venue. We heard that place is pretty new as a venue on the South By list. Yeah, thought it was great, really, really enjoyed it – nice set-up, good line-up, good mix of bands, think you guys put on a really good line-up.

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Film maker  Omar Rodriguez Lopez sits down to talk with Alanna Raben for Details Magazine about his new film “Los Chidos” and the At The Drive-In reunion. Shot in Austin, TX at the Driskill Hotel during SXSW 2012.

Then it was to the Bat Bar for Gypsyblood. When you listen to their records, you hear lots of softer single-note guitar riffs with complex time signatures and tempo changes in their rhythm section, as well as tricky vocal melodies — but when you hear Gypsyblood live, they rip your face off and chop you up into a million little pieces. and you can hardly recognize the songs, even when you know every word. Their stage presence is filled with manic energy. Gypsyblood’s sound is unique to them, mixing chaotic post-punk rhythms with a ferocious and borderline psychotic energy.

The next band up at the Bat Bar was Marriages from Los Angeles. This experimental trio filled the room with rhythmic guitar tapping, droning bass, and a tight drum section. The drum and bass filled up enough space that could have been enough to listen to  on their own. The guitars plunged their sound into oceans of feedback noise bliss that sounded like a slightly poppy version of Pelican. Their female singer added the perfect airy vocals soft touch to their songs in between finger tapping on her guitar.

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Chelsea Wolfe performs “Noorus” from the album The Grime And The Glow live from the Converse Rubber Tracks studio at SXSW in Austin. 
 

Chelsea Wolfe plays “Halfsleeper” from the album The Grime And The Glow acoustically at a SXSW live session for Dangerous Minds.

In addition to his rock-star duties as the guitarist for The Mars Volta, Omar Rodríguez-López has technically made seven movies, but he won’t let you see most of them.

The eccentric musician-filmmaker (formerly of At the Drive In, which recently announced plans for a reunion at Coachella) has worked on movies with a close-knit group of friends in Mexico, but has only allowed the last two to screen at festivals: “The Sentimental Engine Slayer” played at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2010, while the outrageous exploitation movie “Los Chidos” premiered in competition at SXSW this week.

A gross-out spectacle done in the style of Spanish telenovelas but positioned as a satire of male chauvinism, “Los Chidos” technically revolves around a Mexican family dealing with crime and other misdeeds while sorting out their interpersonal dramas. Intentionally dubbed and filled with countless provocative images, “Los Chidos” is one of those movies that begs for further explanation.

So I tracked Rodríguez-López down at Austin’s Driskill Hotel this week to figure out what he was going for. And boy, did I get some answers — not to mention a lengthy diatribe against the music industry and capitalism as a whole (he also trashed fellow Mexican filmmaker Alejandro Gonzalez Iñaritu). Frequently out of breath as he spoke, Rodriguez-Lopez sounded like one of The Mars Volta’s lively compositions.

It seems like you’re only making movies to satisfy yourself and your friends. But these last two have played film festivals. What made you more comfortable about getting them out there?

I wasn’t comfortable getting them out there, but I had to be responsible in terms of having a concept of other people. My editor and sound person sat me down and said, “Hey, listen, we respect your philosophy but we work really hard on these films and want to be able to put them out there.” I have to honor that, because they do work very hard. I can’t take the credit for it. Adam Thompson, my editor, he’s the reason we’re here and had the last one at Tribeca. He’s the one who fills out all the paperwork and is very passionate about that.

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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

Good Old War stopped by the Best Buy studio at SXSW and performed a new song Amazing Eyes for them, then sat down for a chat about the new album.

The SXSW season can often find people in our profession inundated with different sights and sounds as the festival approaches.  A level of ear and visual fatigue has been known to drive more than one writer I know batty whenever any festival of this size and caliber approaches.  In the sea of remixed sub bass, lyrical overload, and ‘electro-hop’ progressions that can be a part of the daily routine for any reviewer, it was awesome to catch an respite from said cacophony during my time spent listening and researching Philly based indie group, Good Old War.

Good Old War, who’s name drives from combining the last names of the three members; Keith Goodwin, Tim Arnold, and Dan Schwartz, sounds something akin to a time warp back to the Americana folk sensibilities of the the late 60’s and early 70’s.  Their third album, ‘Come Back As Rain.’ is as breezy and melodic as they come, almost reveling in the simplicity of their harmonic vocals and country like melodies.  The songwriting and production, as clichéd as this sounds, can be to your ears what a breath of fresh air feels like.

The lead single, Can’t Go Home, rides their vocal harmonies over a rolling acoustic guitar that plants you firmly in their emotive longing for the ’simple truths of being home.’  Amazing Eyes, while keeping to their formula of dancing simple melodic vocal rhythms across acoustic guitar, elicits an entirely different emotive set proving the sophistication of their songwriting and the power in their simplicity.

The album released today is available for purchase or preview on their site or on iTunes.  Check the video premiere above and be sure to catch them during SXSW during the following dates and places:

Pitstop Day Party
Rusty’s
405 E. 7th St.

March 16th @ 12am
Official SXSW Showcase 
(with Ingrid Michaelson)
The Central Presbyterian Church
200 E. 8th St.

Canadian duo (Brandyn James Aikins and Daniel Brandon Allen) Indian Handcrafts came to my attention last year, thanks to their signing to one of my favourite labels, Los Angeles based Sargent House; home to Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, Le Butcherettes, Zechs Marquise + more. They’ve been likened to The Melvins, Death From Above 1979 and Karp since releasing their debut self-titled last (US) spring. One reviewer singing their praises declaring the record “will make your nipples hard and have you looking like a tic-tac smuggler in no time. That’s a promise.” They’ll be making a much anticipated appearance next week at the annual SXSW Music festival.

What kind of music would you say that you make?
BRANDYN: Meatball Music.
DANIEL: Wrestling entrance themes.

What’s your first musical memory?
B: Probably in the womb; Michael Jackson.
D: Watching KISS in The Phantom Of The Park as a child.

Growing up who were your musical heroes and what was it about them that you found so appealing?
B: Musical dance hero: James Brown. His splits were so daring. Drum heroes: Mitch Mitchell, Gene Krupa, David Grohl.
D: Ace Frehely because not only did he rule on guitar but could teleport, shoot lasers from his hands, and do no handed backflips!!

How did you guys meet? And when did you realise you wanted to create music together?
B: I believe we met in an empty factory office space that was being re-fitted into a rehearsal studio. It was across from the Beer Store. Dan played a ditty on the piano and I kicked a kick drum, and he says, “Hey man we should play together.” And I says, “Yeah sure man.” So we did. Then all our siblings joined the band, and none of them could ever get along. So we says, “Hey man you wanna play together? Just you and me?”

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Chelsea Wolfe will be playing two Los Angeles shows this week, the first on Monday, March 5th a FREE in-store performance and signing -(Yes! finally she has CDS of both albums) at Amoeba Hollywood at 7pm. Then on March 8th she will play  Ceremony’s  album release show along with Nails and Suburban Moms at the Center of the Arts in Eagle Rock.  Then it’s on to Austin for SXSW where she will be playing the Official Sargent House / 1656 Music Showcase on March 16th and two day party shows on March 15th (info below). For April the band will head to Europe for a Headline tour.  All Dates below. All Show Details HERE

CHELSEA WOLFE LA & SXSW 2012 
Mar 05 - Los Angeles, CA @ Amoeba Records - FREE at 7pm
Mar 08 - Eagle Rock, CA @ Center Of The Arts w/ Ceremony& Nails
Mar 14 - Austin, TX @ Hotel Vegas - Brooklyn Vegan Day at 3:00pm
Mar 15-  Austin, TX @ Scoot Inn - Converse/Impose/Thrasher at 2:30pm 
Mar 15 - Austin, TX @ Beauty Bar - 120 Minutes / Slowmotion at 4:30pm
Mar 16 - Austin, TX @ Bat Bar - Sargent House Official SXSW Show at 11pm

CHELSEA WOLFE - EUROPEAN TOUR 2012 
Apr 9, 2012 - London,  (UK) @ The Old Blue Last
Apr 10, 2012 - Bristol,  (UK) @ The Thekla w/ 2:54
Apr 11, 2012 - Brighton,  (UK) @ The Green Door Store w/ 2:54
Apr 12, 2012 - Tilburg,  (NL) @ 013 - Roadburn Festival
Apr 13, 2012 - Brussels,  (BE) @ Magasin 4
Apr 14, 2012 - Diksmuide,  (BE) @ 4AD
Apr 15, 2012 - Lille, N-P (FR) @ L’Aeronef
Apr 16, 2012 - Feyzin,  (FR) @ L’EPICERIE MODERNE
Apr 18, 2012 - Graz,  (AT) @ Post Garage
Apr 19, 2012 - Bologna,  (IT) @ Locomotiv club
Apr 20, 2012 - Rome,  (IT) @ Init Club
Apr 21, 2012 - Milano,  (IT) @ Elita Festival 
Apr 23, 2012 - Praha,  (CZ) @ Kavárna POTRVÁ
Apr 24, 2012 - Dresden,  (DE) @ Thalia Kino
Apr 25, 2012 - Berlin,  (DE) @ Berghain / Panoramabar
Apr 26, 2012 - Malmo,  (SE) @ Debaser Malmo
Apr 27, 2012 - Oslo, N03 (NO) @ BLÅ
Apr 28, 2012 - Stockholm, AB (SE) @ Strand Bar
Apr 29, 2012 - Helsinki,  (FI) @ Kuudes Linja
May 1, 2012 - Hamburg,  (DE) @ Molotow
May 2, 2012 - Trier,  (DE) @ Exhaus
May 3, 2012 - Amsterdam,  (NL) @ Winston
May 4, 2012 - Paris, IDF (FR) @ POINT ÉPHÉMÈRE
May 5, 2012 - Rouen,  (FR) @ Le 106

For Show Details & Updates always Check here

Music and film worlds will be overlapping in more ways than one at this year’s SXSW Film Festival, and we’ve got the exclusive poster debut of The Mars Volta guitarist Omar Rodriguez Lopez’s feature film “Los Chidos,” which will be making its debut in the narrative feature competion. Surprise surprise, this is the fifth film he’s directed, but only the second one to be seen on the fest circuit. His previous effort, “The Sentimental Engine Slayer” played numerous festivals around the world, and was financed by Red Hot Chili Peppers axeman John Frusciante.

The official synopsis reads: Set amid the noisy outskirts of some unnamed Mexican metropolis, “Los Chidos” tells the story of the Gonzales Family. Proprietors of a tire repair junkyard sandwiched between two busy freeways, the Gonzales clan’s days are spent wallowing in lazy, mindless routine. When a confused American industrialist happens into the shop with a flat tire, the family’s place in the shame-free food chain is called into question. Family secrets begin emerging as love blossoms in Omar Rodriguez Lopez’s satirical dark comedy.

The satirical dark comedy was shot with a micro-budget and micro-crew in a Guadalajaran whorehouse and we’ve heard it bears a bit of an early John Waters-esque edge. It’s got a serious bent to it though, as in his director’s statement, Rodriguez Lopez says the film “served as a meditation that exposes the unfortunate size of our otherwise beautiful and unique culture. Namely, the inherent machismo, misogyny, classism and homophobic values passed down by our grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc.” He adds, “God is a black lesbian” at the end. Rad. We can’t wait to check this one out. SXSW Film runs from March 9-17.