FINN RIGGINS WILL BE PLAYING THE VOLLRATH ON MAY 5 WITH CHRISTIAN TAYLOR & HOMESCHOOL AND HOLY GHOST CANYON. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE VISIT THE VOLLRATH’S WEBSITE: http://www.vollrathindy.com/

The joyous celebration of playing together, the good vibrations between members of the band during the recording process, the appetites for catchy melodies; sonic evidence of all of these are present on Vs. Wilderness. Idaho noisemakers Finn Riggins jump in and splash around wildly on their fourth album, and third with Portland label Tender Loving Empire—Cameron Bouiss, Lisa Simpson, and Eric Gilbert currently touring with this late-2009 release in their arsenal.

Amid their journey down the Californian coast to play a show at the Soda Bar in San Diego, Eric took a moment to answer a few questions for us regarding the new album, the music scene in Boise, and life on the road.

Vs. Wilderness is such an invigorating and gratifying listen. Unfortunately, I had to stumble upon it rather than it being delivered to my doorstep. How can we get the word out on the streets about Finn Riggins?

Thanks! Certainly can use all the help we can get. I’d say this is a good start. Appreciate you taking the time. Glad you stumbled upon us. I see you’re in Indianapolis. We’re playing at Vollrath Tavern on May 5th toward the end of this tour. Hopefully, by then Indy will know we’re coming.

It’s evident in the sound of the album that the band was having a blast during the recording sessions. Describe the process of translating the written material to studio tracks?

It’s true, we had a blast. We really enjoy the music we play and I’m glad it shows. Most of this record was written and refined during a very busy touring schedule in 2008 and in the spring of 2009, and really is a pretty honest snapshot of our live sound and where the band was at that time. We tracked Vs Wilderness, mostly, live over a three day stretch in between shows last May at the Visual Arts Collective in Garden City, ID. It’s a big open room and we were able to get good isolation for the drums and really play these songs like we were used to ripping them at shows. We honed some of the arrangements down for the recordings, but made most of those adjustments on the fly. We did do a decent amount of layering some parts over the top in the mixing process at AudioLab to help capture the energy of our live show. We had our hands in all aspects of the recording process, and although it was a whirlwind three weeks, we most definitely had a blast recording this album.

There is a lovely stop-animation video that was shot for the infectious track, “Wake (Keep This Town Alive)”. What does this song mean to you?

This song was the first song we wrote upon moving to Boise in January [of] 2009 and [it] was during the bottom of this current recession. There were all these questions hovering about how much harder things were gonna get. This song, to me, is about doing what you love regardless of how poor you may be in the midst of it all. It’s about being rewarded with the joys of community and the common causes that bind us together through hard times. It’s about valuing the little things in life. It’s about local underground music and art and the spiritual backbone it provides to small and big towns all over. It’s about dancing with your friends.

Built To Spill is the only other band that I can think of from Idaho. What was it like growing up and playing music in what is, historically, such a musically-devoid scene?

Idaho has never really felt musically-devoid to me. We all met going to school in Moscow, ID, up in the panhandle (northern Idaho), and it was and still is a very vibrant college town with free-form college radio and all kinds of touring and local musicians playing in town several days a week. Granted, a lot of our friends from the scene, when we were there, have moved to Portland, OR and elsewhere to further pursue music careers. But, there definitely wasn’t a lack of creative music being made around us. Idaho does lack much representation in the music industry though, and that can be problematic trying to work in to the national scene. A lot of musicians tend to move to bigger markets because of it, but we’ve been able to cover some ground in the industry thanks to our relentless touring schedule and playing those larger markets on a regular basis. We’re also thankful to have stumbled upon an amazing relationship with Tender Loving Empire–our Portland, OR based label–as they’ve helped us be fairly well-tied into the vibrant Portland scene and we often get mistaken for a Portland band. Rightfully so, though, as we definitely feel like we’re part of that scene as well, despite not storing our household goods there.

With so many performances under your belt, you’ve played with a plethora of up-and-coming bands. Tell us about some of those bands and the experiences you’ve had while sharing the stage with them.

Wow. Where to start? Definitely one of the biggest rewards with playing so many shows all over the country the last several years has been playing with and seeing so many other great bands in different scenes and following them as they develop as well. We get asked about our influences all the time, and although there might not be any direct aural similarities, we all certainly feel that we’re mostly influenced by our peers at this point in our history–on many levels. We love touring with other bands when we get that chance, seeing them night after night and comparing notes along the way. More the merrier tends to hold true in most cases. Some of our favorites: Tartufi, Low Red Land, Jared Mees & The Grown Children, Orem The Sink, The Globes, Boy Eats Drum Machine, Woven, Hosannas, Sister Suvi, Tune-Yards, Nat Baldwin, We Vs The Shark, Man/Miracle, The Dont’s, World’s Greatest Ghosts, Le Fleur, Built To Spill, Mike Watt & The Missingmen, Disco Doom, Wildlife Refugees, Ponchos, Appomattox, Yeah Great Fine, Talkdemonic, And And And, The Mutineers, Hello Shark, Love That Dress, Council of Lions, Rooftops, Test Audiences, Asher In The Rye, America Owns The Moon, and many many many more.

You have this small cabin up in the mountains. I’m sure it’s beautiful up there—a pleasant escape from the weariness on the road. What does the band do when they’re not playing or recording music? Any avid hobbies or pasttimes?

We’ve technically moved out of the small cabin in the mountains and down in to the “big city” of Boise. It was nice coming home to the solitude of the small mountain town, but it’s been nice coming home to a more vibrant music and art scene now. I like to play basketball when I get the chance. When we were up in the mountains, I enjoyed hiking and fishing when I got some free time. Cam’s an avid skier and definitely does that as much as he can. On the road, we travel with a bocce ball set and try [to] play whenever possible. Frisbee too. Lisa’s the crafty one of the bunch and does a lot of sewing.

Finn Riggins seems like fun-loving people. I’m sure you get around to making conversation with some of the fans that attend the performances. What was the most supportive thing someone said to you after a show? Any good tour stories?

Definitely get a lot of time to hang with friends and [make] new friends at shows–certainly one of the joys of this endeavor. Really fun to meet like-minded folks all over this country and hear their take on their community and music, and always interesting to watch and hear how they react to what we’re doing. People say a lot of kind things to us… most supportive thing though? A lot of them are too embarrassing to say. Someone that saw us recently emailed us afterward and said that we’d renewed his faith in modern music and that he was going to start DJing at his community radio station again because of it. Little nuggets like that never fail to inspire us forward. Lots of good tour stories, unfortunately, I’m not at liberty to share the juicy ones. We played in a yurt once. Coziest dance party ever. It was amazing. We’re playing a party on a boat next Tuesday in Austin, we’re really excited about that one.

Indie rock concert-goers will always have their presumptions. What was the most indeliberately insulting thing said to you after a show?

“Idaho’s that state right above Kentucky, right?” Nah, not easily insulted in general. Even if someone makes an association with a band that I don’t like that much, I’m usually excited they found a way to connect to our music. And, I just think it’s hilarious that so many people don’t know that Idaho is in the [northwest]; that it has lots of mountains, and that it’s a beautiful place to live.

You’re currently on a massive U.S. tour this spring; almost seventy dates, if I counted correctly. What are your plans after things finish up in late-May? Might you be ready to head to the studio to lay down some new material?

The plan is to spend the summer and fall writing and working on a new album, while remaining open to regional opportunities and any support tours that might be offered to us. We’re really excited to get to work on new material–lots of ideas being thrown around. We’ll have a new practice space in Boise when we get back and all kinds of inspiration built up over the course of this three month tour. There’s been talk of trying to whip up something new while on this tour with the acoustic instruments we brought with us… maybe have it ready to play by our May 5th Indianapolis show? We’ll see…

The Subjects:

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Jascha:

Kids in the Way:
http://www.myspace.com/kidsintheway

Civil Twilight:
http://www.myspace.com/civiltwilightband

[Photos taken by Gary Mead and Rachel Rubenstein]

The Smith Westerns
http://www.myspace.com/smithwesterns

The Soft Pack
http://www.myspace.com/thesoftpack

To an ex band geek such as myself (okay, who am I kidding; once a band geek, always a band geek) the allure of a “30 piece circus punk marching band” is instantaneous. To others, the thought of trumpets, saxophones, clarinets, and accordions replacing the traditional assortment of electric guitar, bass guitar, and drums is not one easily entertained. If you fall into this category, joining my camp may take some convincing.

Mucca Pazza is anything but typical. First, consider the size. The size of what? One, the size of the band- 30 members, their respective instruments, and the space required to play them. Two, the size of The Vollrath or, more importantly, the size of The Volrath’s performance stage. With knowledge of the above mentioned elements, one quickly realizes that the equation might be slightly out of balance. Amazingly, at any single point in the performance there were always at least 15 or more musicians playing on stage.

But don’t forget the members who were playing in the audience. Whimsical chaos is Mucca Pazza’s hallmark and nobody does it better than them. Occasionally, they formed a train and followed each other through the group of spectators as the leader darted front to back and left to right, never ceasing to play their horns in lieu of audience interaction. More frequently though, were independent ventures into the crowd rubbing shoulders with fans and blasting notes from their side. Multiple times I felt something brush against my ankle, only to find a trumpeter laying on the ground… still playing his instrument.

There were no vocals during the songs; the massive assortment of instruments did all the singing need. But, staying true to their claim of existence as a marching band, there was a bullhorn. Their drum major used this, instead of a microphone, to communicate with the band and crowd.

The music was grand and had a full body, naturally possessing the comprehensive sound of percussion (snare and bass drums, concert toms, crash cymbals, glockenspiel, and various other percussion toys), brass (sousaphone, trumpet, trombone), and woodwinds (alto & tenor saxophone and clarinet). For musical flare, an electric guitar, mandolin, violin, and accordions were added to the mix. Again demonstrating the atypical nature of the band, they covered everything from 60’s television show themes, rearranged rock tunes, and original compositions to Balkan brass, Czech folk songs, and the works of classical composers.

Mucca Pazza embraces the concept of the band geek identity and they wear it proudly on their sleeve… literally. All were dressed in mismatched and pieced together items of band uniforms past, some of antique quality. The thrift store treasures give the band a slightly cohesive, yet very rustic and nostalgic appearance. My favorite? The clarinet player sporting a blue, traditional jacket covered with all the embellishments; a pleated, navy-colored mini skirt; and thick, white, cat eye glasses.

The Vollrath hadn’t seen this much liveliness since The Woodhands performed in May. Mucca Pazza inhabited that same unique level of quirkiness, coupled with raw talent channeled in an awesomely eccentric way. With Mucca Pazza’s unmatchable twist on the classic concept of a marching band, it was impossible not to dance, jump, scream, and shout. And until they stopped playing and disappeared into the dark depths of the Vollrath’s basement, the sweat-soaked and energy-spent audience did exactly that.

Last Wednesday Radio Radio in Fountain Square was bustling with activity while My Old Kentucky Blog presented the evening as one of the greatest dance parties of 2009.

Being a native Los Angeles transplant, the familiarity of the venue reminded me of walking into an east side club off Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood.   The first band, Hey Champ from Chicago, provided great entertainment as the head count began to rise well over 100.  The audience mingled and greeted each other, creating a not-so subtle atmosphere of anticipation for the night’s headliner.

Andy D. from Bloomington, a one-man show entertainer, did just that while accompanied by local band Beta Male, who were dressed in silver metallic cat suits and performed as Andy’s backup dancers.  Andy D.’s performance was basically the night’s fluffer for the main act, who embraced the stage.

Perhaps Andy D. was inspired by, singer-songwriter, pianist, and immaculate composer Dan Werb, creator of Woodhands. Dan performed as a one-man show in Montreal creating a buzz with his electrifying music.  He always knew that the band would one day have a percussion section, and after moving to Toronto and touring the local scene, he eventually bumped into Paul Banwatt .  The two knew of each other’s talents on the local circuit and were mutually impressed with one another. Dan’s feverish, intelligent keyboard composures blend majestically with Paul’s outstanding timing and original rhythmic percussions.

With no formal training in composition other than conservatory music, Dan started playing piano when he was five and wrote his first song at 13. His talent for combing rhythms with sporadic piano chords gives him the appearance of being a seasoned composer reminiscent of Eno and Elfman.

Their live performance was electrifying, full of glee, and had an energy that was apparent on the faces of the reoccurring fans who fell for them last May during the band’s first appearance in Indianapolis at the Vollrath.

Songs like “Breaking Up” and “Dancer” include soulful lyrics and vocals that create an ethereal calmness. Just when you think the song is going to saunter into a glam rock ballad, the beat picks up, channeling groovy, perfectly produced, raw electronic vibes. The constant motion of the bodies on the dance floor is proof that Woodhands can successfully motivate the crowd into a sweating frenzy.  Sitting still is impossible as Dan wales into a microphone, “Trying not to use you,” above Paul’s unique tribal drum beats.  The tune “Under Attack” has a contagious and commercially marketable effect and could easily be used to advertise the next VW or Iphone.

This is not your average electronica band. Woodhands’ music provokes happiness and sets a groovy tone behind the electronica.  Given the amount of soulful rhythmic riffs, it is astonishing that there is not one guitar chord utilized.

Dan claims to have never listened to eletronica before performing it, which makes sense as this is unlike any electronica sound out there. The live percussions mixed with the intellect behind Dan’s creative composure blend masterfully live.

They are currently on tour of the Northeast with their first recording Heart Attack (Paper Bag Records) that was initially embraced by the Chinese this past year when they performed China. “They ate us up.” Dan says of their Chinese fans. They were recently invited back to China to perform in a festival. The first of many invitations the Woodhands will receive, as their sound is contagious and enlightening as well as sexy and hard driven.  Both Dan and Paul enjoyed recording the album and fed off of each other.

Collaborating usually begins by Dan writing a tune on the piano and layering it with pieces  created by he and Paul during an improvisational jam session routinely played before each rehearsal. Watching them live is like viewing a painting with many layers.  Each song that is differently composed and performed could easily be utilized as a soundtrack to a great independent or blockbuster movie.

Dan describes the name and sound of Woodhands as ‘To highlight the liveliness of music, to give people the sense of something organic and raw. Nothing cold and clinical.”   A sound that could not be compared with another.

It should be interesting to see how this already evolved team can progress any further. All hail Woodhands, the duo that fulfilled the promise by MOKB of creating the greatest dance party  of 2009.

Radio Radio: http://www.futureshock.net/radioframeset.html
Fountain Square: http://www.zaptownmag.com/2009/04/fountain-square-neighborhood
My Old Kentucky Blog: http://myoldkyhome.blogspot.com/
Woodhands: http://www.paperbagrecords.com/bands/woodhands
Hey Champ: http://hey-champ.blogspot.com/
Andy D: http://www.myspace.com/rockslow
Beta Male: http://www.myspace.com/betamale

While half of Indianapolis was busy getting drunk on the lawn to the mellow tunes of Dave Matthews and his band at Verizon, a small group of individuals seeking something harder gathered downtown in the ominous shadows of Madison and Palmer streets. The Vollrath, Indy’s newfound hot spot for an eclectic selection of live music throughout the week, was nowhere near capacity, but hosted a strong crowd nonetheless.

Ohio natives Two Cow Garage are the epitome of Midwestern rock’n’roll. Their music is steeped in the classic rock with which the region is saturated, frequently producing powerful sounds reminiscent of 80’s hair bands. Skewed slightly by a touch of southern flavor and rounded out by subtle nods to punk rock, the band offers a musically satisfying and high energy live show.

Two Cow Garage is currently on tour in support of their fourth album, Speaking in Cursive, but couldn’t resist showcasing a few of their best works from the band’s previous release, III. “Great Gravitron Massacre” engaged the audience with its easily singable “nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nahhh-nahhhh” chorus. “Should’ve California” slows things down to muse over discontent with past decisions made (“I should’ve been smarter. I should’ve been stronger. I should’ve been you.”). The live version intensified the emotion of the song with extreme crescendos to a near-a cappella extended rendition from guitarist and lead vocalist Micah Schnabel. And “Come Back To Shelby”, with its walking baseline, dance-worthy guitar melodies, and quickly recognizable chorus, is a crowd pleaser no Two Cow concert would be complete without.

Instead of merely transitioning from one song to the next, the band took advantage of a small crowd and talked amongst themselves and to the audience, telling stories and sharing background information about the songs they sang.

“What’re you doing?” bassist Shane Sweeney asked as Schnabel reorganized his side of the stage. “Putting up [opening act Austin] Lucas’ really expensive guitar,” he answered and then looked to the crowd and confessed, “We’re known for breaking shit.” The disclaimer held true as they entered the next song, fully utilizing the stage on which they performed. Schnabel hopped with fury from behind the drummer straight into the audience, stopping in between to show off his eye-catching skinny jeans amidst a guitar shredding rock star stance. Sweeney, bearing arms full of symbolic tattoos, got rowdy too. After accidentally running into the mic stand, which by way of the domino effect knocked over his drink, he sheepishly attempted to fix the mess at the song’s conclusion. The crowd didn’t mind; no use crying over spilled beer.

Drummer Cody Smith gave clue to musical inspiration by his apparel: a black, sleeveless Iron Maiden t-shirt. His style is rugged and durable, continuously pounding out rhythm with a tight grip on his sticks. Perhaps an unconscious aid to concentration, Smith’s tongue hung from his mouth for nearly all of their set, an awesome accompaniment to his wide open eyes and frequent smile. Instead of a distraction, however, the quirky habit came to be reassurance that he was tuned in and having just as much fun as the rest of us.

Rivaling one of Verizon Wireless’ biggest events of the summer at a small bar in the hood of southern downtown is a difficult challenge to undertake. Still, Two Cow Garage, practically infants in the ever-growing music industry, are well on their way to bigger and better things. One dedicated fan had driven from Terre Haute just to see them play, claiming he’d been waiting years for them to schedule a show he could attend. Though the room was sparsely populated, the band performed with astounding vigor and strength, wanting to give those in attendance something to carry home and talk about. As Two Cow proved that night, standing within feet of the performers, making direct eye contact, engaging in conversation, and being at the true heart of the performance is something you just can’t experience at an amphitheater.

Two Cow Garage

It takes a certain kind of talent for a band to exist purely on its own merit without some form of gimmick to help establish a band’s identity or market them in hope that it will make someone notice. But for Yourself And The Air, there is nothing flashy about these four guys — Erick Crosby, James David, Drew Rasmussen, Jeff Papendorf, and Nicholas Sinclair — except for the reflection off of their instruments.

This Chicago group defines the pure essence of indie rock with well-crafted songs that stand out on their own and simply use the music to speak for itself. Known for their heavily guitar-driven sound thanks to their debut Hola Mi Cielo and the 2008 release Cold Outside Brings Heavy Thoughts To Think, their latest EP —Friend Of All Breeds — expands their initially-developed sound of early ‘90s alternative guitar rock with a subtle form of shoegaze and adds a degree of atmosphere through the occasional electronic sampling.

“We are a guitar band, and our CDs are very guitar driven,” said Crosby, lead singer. “At the time, I was getting into music with little things in songs you don’t necessarily hear right away, and we decided to incorporate that style into the EP. It’s these little things in the background that help you better relate to the music.”

Coming from Chicago and a scene that launched the careers of Naked Raygun and Jesus Lizard to 90 Day Men, The Promise Ring and Joan Of Arc, it’s only natural for a band like Yourself And The Air to be pushing themselves out of the norm and into the forefront with what Crosby considers a lacking time for the Chicago scene.

“There have been and are so many great bands and artists in this city,” he said. “But lately, I feel like the scene has kind of fallen. We are hoping that we can change that and would like to be apart of changing that.”

However, when it comes down to it, they are their biggest fans, and it’s the music that matters most.

“We don’t put too much into the music we make,” he said. “The music just makes itself. We are not trying to change the world. We just let things be and craft the music into what it naturally becomes.”

Two years in existence as a band, and a longer history as friends,  it was this band of brotherhood that became the only real constant and got them through all of their obstacles. No money on tour, a broken-down van, and at times almost broken down mentally, the early days were challenging, but they found ways to move forward and get through it all, from sleeping off of the shore in Virginia to scrounging around for a few bucks for gas just to get to their next show. And even now that they are in a much better place as individuals and a group, the idea that they actually “made it” is still foreign to them.

“The DIY aspect was what captivated us to get our hands dirty,” Crosby said. “You appreciate it more when you book your own shows and work through the issues. This is our first real tour, and we are super excited to see the real business side of it. We are very grateful and realize the position we are in right now as a band. It’s something 80 percent of bands never really get to experience. But we still have a long way to go and want to keep this shit moving because if things don’t move forward than we are doing something wrong.”

Their continued journey will bring them back to Indianapolis to play at The Vollrath on July 30th. This will be their second visit to Indianapolis. Their initial experience was a house show, where a few days prior to their arrival, the area was a murder scene.

“Sometime during the show we were approached by this guy who tried to sell us a gun. He told us that he had to get out of the city because they had done him wrong.”

Let’s hope the only thing that is for sale this time around is the band’s merchandise.

Band’s website: http://www.handsorganics.com/

A few friends and I hopped downtown to catch The Antlers play at The Vollrath Tavern on their way to Chicago for Pitchfork Music Festival.

The Antlers
http://www.antlersmusic.com

I was fortunate enough to see We Are Hex play live in Indianapolis again. The band played at The Vollrath Tavern, which is fast becoming a really popular spot to see live music.

We Are Hex (Indianapolis)
http://www.wearehex.com