43 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(02/09/11 11:21pm)
Mercer-based modern rock group theKey recently won the Georgia Lottery All Access Music Search. I sat down with guitarist Jonathan Wisdom to discuss the contest, musical influences and a new record.
Eric Brown: So, tell me about how the band was founded. Who are your main influences?
Jonathan Wisdom: Okay. The band got started at Mercer, basically. It’s composed of five Mercer students and alumni — three graduates and two current students who will graduate in May. We all met at Mercer except for the drummer and lead singer, Clay and Josh, who had a band in high school down in Thomasville, Ga.
We came to college and Clay, Ryan Cunningham and I got to know each other through various outlets our freshman year. Clay had the desire to do music again and contacted Josh. About that time, Chris met his now-wife Rachel. He likes to claim that the band was just an elaborate scheme to get him and Rachel together, but they kind of developed simultaneously.
So they had formed the band and the four of them had been playing together for a few months when they decided they wanted another guitarist, and I was sharing an apartment with Clay at the time and he asked me to come play a show with them. My first show was actually a fair down in Thomasville. Our second show was with Augustana, and Quadworks put that on in ’08. So basically at that show we decided that this is something we wanted to do long term in the future, and we’ve been pursuing it ever since.
We like to describe our sound as “modern-day ’90s.” Some of our main influences are bands like Matchbox 20, Fastball and the New Radicals, while some of our more modern influences are bands like Coldplay and Keane. Switchfoot too.
EB: So how has it been being based around Mercer? How has your Mercer fanbase helped you?
JW: The Mercer community has really formed a staple in our fanbase. We’ve gotten a lot of support from Mercer and we’re very thankful for that. We’re glad to share our music with our classmates or students we play on intramural teams with or attend other events with. It’s been a real special experience getting to share that with them. We’ve done a lot of Mercer events. We’ve played Bearstock the past two years, and we released our first EP there in ’09. It was a great experience with an overwhelming response with people purchasing the EP and supporting us. It’s been great. We’ve also played around Macon at venues like the 567 and the Refuge and the Cherry Blossom Festival.
On May 3rd we’re playing at the State Fair. It’s been great. We’ve had a lot of Mercer support, but what’s been awesome recently is that we’ve had a lot more Macon support through the competition that we’ve been involved in. After winning the All Access Music search, we were able to do segments on three of Macon’s TV stations, and we’ve really been able to connect with some of the Macon community. We’ve had a really good response with them, and it’s been nice to try to help redevelop Macon as a music city.
EB: You mentioned the All Access Music Search, run by the Georgia Lottery. What was it like competing in it?
JW: Well, we found out about it when Clay was watching TV one day. There was a commercial calling all bands for the music search and basically they were seaching for the best artists in the four genres they had listed: rock, rap/hip-hop, pop and country. And they wanted to crown artists champion in each category. The first auditions they held all over the state and had over 2,000 acts.
They ultimately narrowed it down to 20 acts in each genre for the second round in Atlanta. The thirds round was composed of the top 12, and with the top 12 we traveled around the state and played at different cities and different venues.
With that round we got to play the halftime show on November 28th at a Falcons game in the Georgia Dome, and that was an unforgettable experience. To top it all off, we got to perform on television. It was broadcast all around the state of Georgia on Jan. 14th, and each act got to prove why they should be named winner of the Search. We were fortunate enough to be named the winner of the All Access Music Search’s rock genre on live TV.
EB: That sounds really exciting. What was it like playing on TV?
JW: It was incredible. It was our first experience getting to perform on a TV program. We had done some previous stuff on news broadcasts with interviews and things, but this was our first experience on a major broadcast, and it was just incredible. We got a lot of experience, and we really felt like it helped us develope our musicianship and professionalism in an industry we want to make a living in.
It was amazing to us how many people were involved in creating a live broadcast. There was a staff of over 100 people doing lights, video and pressing all kinds of different buttons. All those kinds of people. It was amazing to learn what all goes into it.
And for us, because it was live television, we had to rehearse a lot. Every second of the show was planned out, so that took a lot of effort in the two or three days beforehand. It was really a growing and learning experience for all of us.
EB: You mentioned that you released your first record back at Bearstock in 2009. Do you have any plans for a new record coming out?
JW: Yes we do. We hope to release that sometime in the next few months. It’s going a little slower than we expected because we want to make sure we do everything properly. This full length record will have 13 tracks, and we really think it’s going to be a launching pad for us and a telltale sign to see if this is something we can do for the rest of our lives.
We’re really putting a lot of thought into the writing of the songs and into the recording, but unfortunately because we’re students and full-time workers, we’re limited to mostly just weekends that we can work on it. We’ve been putting it together just about every weekend since October with at least one of us heading up to Atlanta to record something.
We’ve made some great progress, though, and we’re almost done with the instruments. That’ll probably be released sometime in the next six months.
However, we have released a single called “What I Want” that’s available on our website for free at www.thekeymusic.com. Anyone can download that single and a couple of other acoustic songs as well.
EB: So what’s the writing process been like for the new record? How is it different from the EP?
JW: Well, on the EP we had six songs and one remix, and pretty much all of them were previously written by Clay. Some of them were from his old band, and some were just things he had on the side, and we just developed them together. With this new album, though, we’ve all had a much bigger part in writing. We’re rerecording the six old tracks as well. As far as the writing process goes, Clay usually comes in with some ideas. Maybe he has a whole song or just parts, but as he puts it, he brings in a corpse of a song, and the whole band pumps the life into it to give it the flair that we’re going for. So this album has been much more of a band effort.
EB: That sounds exciting. I can’t wait to hear it. Well, I guess that about wraps it up. Do you have any final thoughts?
JW: Nothing too much. But everyone reading should download our free single. It’s available online for free, and it’s called “What I Want.”
(02/03/11 6:49pm)
Over the past four years, Andy Hull has established a record as one of the most talented and emotionally honest emerging musicians.
As the frontman for Atlanta-based rock act Manchester Orchestra, his band’s brand of intricate, stripped-down and highly charged rock leads to a multitude of critical acclaim and an impassioned, firmly established fanbase.
Thanks to Macon’s music news and review site TheBlueIndian.com, Manchester Orchestra’s lead singer Andy Hull performed in Macon at the 567 along with fellow indie-troubadour Kevin Devine on Dec. 3.
Hull and Devine have toured together previously and even collaborated together, releasing a record under the name Bad Books.
Their set was noticeably intimate, featuring songs from Manchester Orchestra, Kevin Devine’s solo material, Bad Books, Hull’s side project Right Away Great Captain and various covers.
After the show, I spent a few minutes with Hull discussing playing in Macon, the band’s early shows and what to expect with their latest record. A transcript follows, edited for clarity (and to cut out a few words the paper won’t let me print).
Eric Brown: I know Macon’s a lot smaller than many of the places you’ve played in the past few years, so what was behind your decision to come here, and how did you feel about playing the 567?
Andy Hull: I mean, Macon’s not too much smaller than other places we’ve played in before. It was a great show with great energy. I loved it. But we came here because Sean [Pritchard, booking agent for TheBlueIndian.com] is here. We know him, and when Kevin [Devine] and I came up with the idea to come do the solo tour, out of the five venues we could have played we decided to do this one.
EB: It was really fantastic.
AH: Thank you. Thank you.
EB: I actually saw you guys, I guess five years ago with Anathallo at Swayze’s in Marrietta.
AH: Oh, Jesus Christ!With, like, Colour Revolt, and that other band—I forget their name… [A long section of us trying to remember the band’s name follows. We couldn’t do it, though Hull remembered that it was “super emo” and “Something Tomorrow”.]
EB: Well, since then, you’ve had a very different sound — it’s a lot more raw, a lot more aggressive.
AH: Yeah, I mean, I think back then we were pretty raw and aggressive, but we didn’t know what the hell we were doing. Those were the first shows we’d ever done, man. Colour Revolt and Anathallo broke our band, no doubt.
EB: Yeah, those were some fantastic shows. But as your sound’s been maturing, what kind of direction are you moving in now?
AH: Uh, it’s like some really raw, classic rock s***. Kind of like Neil Young, Built to Spill, Pavement, Pixies. Kind of a mix of all that. So that’s on the new record. It’s done now, actually, and it’s coming out in a couple of months and it’s definitely different than anything we’ve ever done before. A lot more singing and screaming, I would say. A bunch of harmonies and s***. Yeah. The other thing [“Mean Everything to Nothing”] was more like a temper tantrum; this is more like a thought.
EB: I can’t wait to hear it. So, are you going on a big tour to support that?
AH: No,we’re just gonna stay at home. But yes, we’re going on a big tour. I mean, I hope it’s big. Maybe a small tour if it doesn’t sell so well. That’s what we do, you know? Make record and tour.
EB: What’s been your favorite part of touring so far?
AH: Nothing, man. I hate f***ing touring. I don’t like touring at all. It’s not fun. I mean, if there’s a good part about it, it’s time with friends and time with the realization that what you do doesn’t have to do with you, so for me, I kind of see God when we play, because I don’t feel like anything I’ve done has been—I’m blessed, is all. That’s it. I’m f****ing blessed to have people that give a f*** what I’m talking about.
Manchester Orchestra fans can expect to see their latest record “Simply Math” in stores next year. It was produced by Dan Hannon at both the band’s own Atlanta-based Favorite Gentlemen Studios and Nashville’s Blackbird Studios.
(02/02/11 4:37pm)
I know that best of lists are kind of a year-end tradition. Pitchfork, The AV Club, and virtually every other pop culture critic in the world likes to post a list at the end of the year, recapping their top choices for that particular 12 month period. They're always in list form, and they're always divided into various categories: best movies, best music, best TV. Sometimes they make an attempt to be objective, usually by polling various writers for that organization.
I will not be doing any of those things. This list isn't in any particular order, it's not divided up into different mediums or genres, and it's certainly not objective. It's just my list of things you should have experienced last year. I know I'm a bit late to that party, but it's not my fault that The Cluster isn't published until the end of January. Or that we don't have a website for more timely articles. But I digress. These are the ten best things of 2010:
Parks and Recreation:
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Is it the best show on TV?"][/caption]
While this TV Show debuted in 2009, it wasn't until this past year that the sitcom began to really take off after its rough first season as a midseason replacement. Starring Amy Poehler, Rashida Jones, Aziz Ansari, and Nick Offerman, the show, shot in a faux-documentary style similar to The Office and Arrested Development, follows the titular parks and recreation department of the fictional Pawnee, Indiana. The parks department is home to the ultra masculine, über-Libertarian Ron Swanson (Offerman), the department's spunky, career-oriented second-in-command Leslie Knope, fashion obsessed would-be playboy Tom Haverford (Ansari), and the disdainful, snarky intern April (Aubrey Plaza). The department exists in a fully-realized world with a growing cast of interesting side characters similar to what you'd find on The Simpsons or Futurama.
The thing that really sells the show to me, though, is its wide cast of genuinely likable characters. Over the past few years, there's been a trend for TV shows to feature some pretty deplorable, if charming, main characters. The cringingly awkward humor of The Office and the absolute depravity of, well, every character on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia illustrate the trend perfectly. But Parks and Recreation doesn't wallow in its characters' misery or laugh at their failures. I'm as much a fan of misanthropic humor as anyone, but it's a breath of fresh air when you can genuinely connect with a cast of characters and root for their success. As a result, I'm more invested in the drama of Parks than any other show on air (except for maybe The Venture Bros. — but I'll get to that in a little bit).
The show recently added Rob Lowe and Adam Scott to the cast as a pair of state auditors, with Lowe playing an almost uncomfortably enthusiastic and ernest "good cop" and Scott backing him up as the dour, no-nonsense "bad cop," setting up some amazing plot-threads for Season Three, which just debuted on NBC this past week. It's amazing, and you need to watch it.
Kanye West:
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="570" caption="Don't tell me you don't love this man."][/caption]
I want to make it clear here that I'm not just honoring Kanye's latest record My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, which is, by all rights, an absolute masterpiece. I really can't praise it enough, and I genuinely believe that it's our generation's Thriller, but I also want to praise Kanye West himself, because this has been a hell of a year for him.
Before Fantasy dropped, West released Runaway, a 35-minute short film that also doubles as a music video for the album's first single "Runaway." Before I actually watched it, I was pretty sure it'd be self-indulgent and more than a little insane. And I was right about that, but it was also something else: a fantastically directed short film. Up until that moment, I'd always viewed West as someone who, despite his monumental talent, always thinks a bit to highly of himself and reaches a bit too far with some of his efforts. But honestly, it looks like West really is as talented as he believes. The film is equally reminiscent of Martin Scorsese and Paul Thomas Anderson, elegantly shot with interesting and bizarre subjects. I don't want to claim that West is as talented as those particular directors, but I've seen Hollywood blockbusters with less luster than Runaway displays.
And then there's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, which, in the short time it's been out, has already begun to crawl into my list of all-time most played records. It's an endlessly catchy record, with beautifully layered beats and darkly elegant lyrics both humorous and heartbreaking. West's penchant for wordplay is at the top of its game here, with lines such as "How do you say broke in Spanish? Me no hablo."
Far too many modern rappers are willing to spit out lazy rhymes overtop a bare-bones beat consisting of a drum machine and a single synth line, West creates gorgeous backing tracks, demonstrating his always masterful use of sampling. "Power" and "All the Lights" are particularly amazing examples of West's talent.
In all honestly, Fantasy is my number one record of the year. It's an amazingly complex, grandiose, and personal album, and I love it with all of my heart.
The Venture Bros.:
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="460" caption="The Monarch confronts the Venture twins."][/caption]
This Adult Swim original series, which debuted its fourth season in 2010, is one of the most breathtakingly entertaining shows to ever wind up on television. On its surface, it's a parody of the old Johnny Quest cartoons from the '60s, with the Johnny analogue, Dr. Venture, all grown up and trying to lead a super science team of his own. Except he's terrible at his job. And addicted to pills. And his two twin sons Hank and Dean are idiots. And his bodyguard Brock Samson is a "Swedish murder machine." It all takes place in a very strange world with an increasingly complex mythology behind it.
One of the main tenets of the Venture universe is that supervillians choose a life of costumed crime as a profession and must register with the Guild of Calamitous Intent, which is locked in a surprisingly calm perpetual battle with the government's Office of Secret Intelligence, specializing in "protagonist relations." The Venture family is right in the middle of this insane world of bureaucratic, pop-culture loving psychopaths. Of course there's also the shadowy S.P.H.I.N.X. organization, Phantom Limb's Revenge Society, The O.R.B, and ... well, my main point here is start with season one.
Honestly, The Venture Bros. is a difficult show to write about, because it's all based in a very specific pop-culture heavy, nerdy type of humor, and the show's structures make it seem far more complicated than it really is. At its heart, it's a character-based comedy, but all the characters are fundamentally broken failures of men living in a completely insane world. This year's fourth season saw the titular Venture twins graduate from their creepy home schools and attempt to enter the real world after being both incredibly sheltered to the facts of life and exposed to more insane danger than any comic book super hero could hope for. It's been an interesting progression for the boys, and now that the season's over, I'm mourning the fact that it won't be back on the air for another two years.
Scott Pilgrim:
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="460" caption="Scott Pilgrim vs. A Volleyball"][/caption]
For the past couple of years, Byan Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim series has been one of my favorite comic series. It's comprised of six graphic novels following the life of Canadian garage band bassist and slacker extraordinaire Scott Pilgrim as he competes for the heart of the mysterious Ramona Flowers by literally fighting her seven evil ex-boyfriends. It's kind of an odd story, but its endlessly entertaining in its mix of humor, action, and genuine drama.
2010 saw the release of the final graphic novel Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour as well as a feature-length film, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, recapping the entire series in one 90-minute bout of mayhem.
I don't have the space in this column to talk about how amazing I think Finest Hour is, because I could go on pretty much forever. There's so much going on thematically, artistically, and emotionally in this genuinely ground-breaking comic, but in short, Scott grows up. We get to watch the selfish man-child of the past few volumes confront his past and grow into a fully-realized adult after some 800-odd pages of wondering when he'll finally get his life together.
The series as a whole is amazing in that is starts out as a very humorous story that revolves entirely around Scott, because we're seeing the whole thing through his eyes. It's quirky, exciting, and plays out pretty much like a video game, full of over-the-top action. As it progresses though, we start to see the cracks in his self-image, and it becomes a far more dramatic.
One of the most interesting realizations is that the video game motifs show up in the work primarily because Scott is unable to deal with reality in any way outside of the type of fiction he grew up on. He can't —or at least doesn't —deal with the real world, and the real story isn't whether or not he ends up with Ramona, but whether or not he ends up an adult.
Aaand I used up all my space talking about the comics. The movie deals pretty much with the same themes, but with the benefit of Edgar Wright (of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz fame)'s direction. It's full of good music and flashing lights, and it is fantastic.