Ithaca Underground

The Emotron: Aug 5th @ The Shop!

noreply@blogger.com (Ithaca Underground) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 17:17:00 +0000

Greetings from the underground!

Great show this Wednesday at The Shop featuring The Emotron, Who Goest There?, Perfect Future, Ballistic Shit Circus, Agog. Doors at 8PM – we’ll get started shortly thereafter!

The Emotron (Philadelphia, PA)
Who Goes There? (Pittsburg, PA)
Perfect Future (MD)
Ballistic Shit Circus
Agog

Wed August 5th

The Shop
312 E Seneca St
Ithaca, NY
8PM $5

**UPDATE: Mose Giganticus's guitarist is unable to tour at this time. Their entire tour has been cancelled. The show will go on and we were able to add another tour to support The Emotron on this date!!

http://www.myspace.com/perfectfuture
http://www.myspace.com/whogoestherepgh

Once again on tour with Mose, is the infamous THE EMOTRON. Jeez, how the hell am I supposed to describe this… OK, so what would you do if just after seeing The Berettas and The Rolemodels play you saw a man with huge creep-o glasses, a cowboy hat, an American flag shirt, black jeans tucked in his boots and a big ol’ pot belly. Just stand there? That’s what pretty much everyone did, except me who was in the corner maniacally laughing because I knew what was about to happen. Enter in cheesy 8-bit programming, freak-out dancing, singing, screaming – and you realize, “Holy crap. 80s and 90s pop has just been cornholled.” This dude is one of the best performers around, I swear. 7 outfit changes (including a leotard and zebra striped tights) and a crotch fire later we’re all sweaty and out of breath from dancing and smiling to classics like “As Your Teenage Vagina Bleeds,” “1989,” and other things that can probably get you arrested.

The Emotron has a new album all finished up that will see the light of day in the fall. Prep yourself for new tracks, new costumes (troll clothes?), and the next level of offensive. If you’re good he might even play “Michael Jackson’s Dead.” So leave your political correctness at the door, get ready to dance, and don’t be a Hellen Keller or The Emotron will call your ass out!! Still don’t get it? Think Human Host or Atom and His Package crossed with GG Allen and Cher. Oh hell I don’t know…
http://www.myspace.com/theemotron

Stoked for this show is the awesomely named BALLISTIC SHIT CIRCUS. Last seen supporting the Red vs. Black tour kick off show leaving everyone’s jaws on the floor (inc RvB) at their stellar first live performance of their spazzed-out squelchy punk madness. This gets stuck in my head all day long.
http://www.myspace.com/ballisticshitcircus

Also last seen at the RvB show, the mighty one man punk force – AGOG. Soon to be a trio, this man shows you what great music can come from voice, a guitar, and a socially and politically conscious mind.
http://www.myspace.com/555spout

_____________________

June Madrona (Olympia, WA)
Christopher Bell (Jamestown, NY)
Rye n' Clover
Fight A Scary Dog

Wed August 12th

The Shop
312 E Seneca St
Ithaca, NY
8PM $5

We'll get things started as shortly after 8PM as we can muster!

FOLK night! This ain't yo mama's folk night though. Hailing from Olympia, WA we've got June Madrona carting in guitars, melodica, banjo, glockenspiel, vocals and more. Headed up by DIY master and Bicycle Records owner, Ross Towman, these folkers are here to present their newest material, hopefully coming this fall. They've also got half a dozen previous releases to pull from as well! Look for the interview it the coming 9th issue of FREE!
http://www.myspace.com/junemadrona

Christopher Bell. I love when I get knocked off my feet unexpectedly. This fine gentleman brings a very unique spin to the one-man-folk-band table. Extremely talented, Christopher crafts clever lyrics ranging from sweet to dark humor, while playing cello and/or banjo, sometimes looping one and switching mid-song! A lot of fun and very catchy. Caught him at the Snip Das CD release show and immediately started setting up this show.
http://www.myspace.com/thechrisbell

Rye n' Clover is back in town and back playing shows with IU. See what new tricks and old goodies he's got up the sleeves of his black hoodie. He’ll close out the show with his banjo pluckin’ folk punk excellence!
http:// www.myspace.com/ryanclovermusic

Fight A Scary Dog return after their excellent first performance at the Ailments tour kick off gig. Four members all heavily vested in the IU circuit playing on guitar, banjo, bass and switching off vocal duties and styles constantly and seamlessly. They do a sick Choaking Victim cover too. Folk punk to the max! These fine folks will kick of these sweet night of great tunes.

_____________________

Open Star Clusters
Bahh Black Box
+TBA

The Shop
312 E Seneca St
Ithaca, NY 14850
Monday, August 17th
8PM $5 ALL AGES

Open Star Clusters (Connecticut)
www.myspace.com/openstarclusters

Bahh Black Box (Connecticut)
http://www.myspace.com/bahhblackbox

Both bands are part of a CT based music/art collective known as Tape Reels
For Eyes. http://www.tapereelscollective.com

_________________

NOTE VENUE & TIME CHANGE. You won't want to miss this one!

Battlefields (Translation Loss - North Dakota)
Overmars (Crucial Blast Records - France)
Makeshift
Hiroshima Vacation

Plus acoustic intermissions by imadethismistake (Seekonk, MA) and Neil Sutherland (ESSEX, United Kingdom)

The Shop
312 E Seneca St
Ithaca, NY 14850
8PM Doors $5 ALL AGES

Performance to begin shortly after 8PM.

BATTLEFIELDS
http://www.myspace.com/battlefieldsdoom

If you haven't heard of Battlefields yet, you will soon. Their debut full length on Translation Loss (same label as Rosetta) gained rave reviews from the metal community and are the next chapter in the expanding sludge/doom/post-metal scene. Far beyond Neurosis/Isis worship (while still wearing the influence on their sleave) this is perfectly composed slowness that crushes you with epic climax and drags you back down.

OVERMARS
http://www.myspace.com/483439351

Even more exciting than landing Battlefields for a basement show is landing OVERMARS for a rare U.S. excursion. For those unaware, the underground French metal scene has been spewing out highly skilled, mutant metal for years now including Gorjira, HKY, Year of No Light, and of course, our guests OVERMARS. Here's some kind words from the awesome folks at Crucial Blast Records (where I first heard about the band) on their latest album:

"One of my favorite albums of 2008, Born Again is the new full length from France's Overmars, and it shows the band moving into a new sonic realm that leaves behind much of the epic Isis/Neurosis comparisons that dogged their previous releases. Previously released through the French imprint Appease Me, the label overseen by members of Blut Aus Nord, Born Again is a single album-long piece that descends deep into themes of self-immolation, horror, and rebirth, and becomes a harrowing narrative as it moves through a series of different musical moods. Overmars have already established their atmospheric, electronically-tainted sludge-metal sound on their excellent 2005 album Affliction, Endocrine...Vertigo and all of the previous splits with Donefor,Iscariote, Fugüe and Icos, but Born Again is something new from the band; this forty-minute epic moves from pulverizing industrial dirge blanketed with heavily textured layers of processed guitar and fearsome guttural roars intermixed with captivating female vocals, to passages of haunting dark ambience and bottom-heavy churn, and a magisterial finale that stretches gloom-ridden moody riffage, vaporous electronics and dramatic male/female singing across the song's final fifteen minutes, a tense, slow buildup that erupts into an earth-shaking crescendo of super heavy riffage. Immensely bleak and heavy, Born Again brings together elements of Godflesh's industrial pummel, black metal, tribal dirge , the violent nihilism of Swans, doomy death metal, and even some black strains of psychedelia into a monumental metallic black hole .

As soon as I heard this album, it became one of my new favorite records. I've been a fan of this French sludge group for a couple of years and loved their last album, which I thought was an interesting variation on the Neurosis/psychedelic sludge sound with its heavy use of electronics. And if you liked that album as much as I did, I'm pretty sure that you'll be blown away by this darker new form that the band has taken" - Crucial Blast Records

Imadethismistake is also the owner of The Cottage records which put out Mose Giganticus’ last 7” – which is how they heard of us! He’s helping us how to handle the situation with The Pirate House so let’s give him lots of support for supporting us! Turns out he’s a huge Battlefields fan. They were in need of an Aug 19th gig on the two month tour with Neil Sutherland from the UK, so they’ll provide awesome acoustic interludes between bands.

http://www.myspace.com/imadethismistake
http://www.myspace.com/neilsutherlandandfriends

________________

Thanks for all you support!!! Huge thanks again to Phoebe for letting us switch all of our shows at the house to The Shop.

*end transmission*

~Bubba

Next show 7/25 - This Saturday!

noreply@blogger.com (Ithaca Underground) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 18:17:00 +0000

Welcome back! We're going to be posting our newsletters here as well as sending them out via email. Sign up for the mailing list at www.ithacaunderground.com

HUGE HUGE HUGE thanks to everone who came out to CSMA this week for The Red Scare Tour. We really pulled that off with style and grace. All of the bands had a ton of fun and were really impressed at the positive energy and level of community that you all bring to this scene. It's blatantly apparent and very refreshing for a lot of artists. You all proved how tight this community is getting where on two days notice everyone can pull together to spread the word, haul gear up 3 flights of stairs, and go insane for the whole show. Means a lot to me. That is EXACTLY why I do this.

For those who were asking, we did pick up copies of "American Rubicon" full length and "Never Be A Machine" 7" - we will be getting media from The Sidekicks soon, but not right now.

Next show is THIS SATURDAY July 25th.

Dead But Not Resting (Rochester, NY)
Iwo Jima Medkit
Makeshift
The Reputables

The Pirate House
505 Cliff St
Ithaca, NY 14850
7PM $5 ALL AGES

Please park in the Incodema parking lot next to the house. You can cut thru the lot to the back yard to enter the basement! Thanks!

All proceeds from this show go directly to bringing you the best in underground music for the fall. We want to keep bringing the artists you are requesting and keep this whole thing roling! ...and also keep ticket prices reasonable.

So come out, grab some distro, catch up, and have fun!

Big thanks to DBNR and their bassist (also my very good friend) Zynda for trekking down from Rochester for this.

If you haven't checked out the bands yet do it!! First IU show with DBNR and The Reputables!!

http://www.myspace.com/dbnrny
http://www.myspace.com/iwojimamedkit
http://www.myspace.com/makeshiftithacany
http://www.myspace.com/thereputablesareloud

Oh and we're not done with July!!

Monster Machismo (Oneonta, NY)
Zona Mexicana (Purchase, NY)
Sleep for the Nightlife (Toronto, ON)
The Motivators (Trumansburg, NY)
Plasma 36 (Ithaca)

The Pirate House
505 Cliff St
Ithaca, NY 14850
7PM $5 ALL AGES

Get ready for a night jam packed with superb and diverse music selections as two tours collide at The Pirate House - Math-rock, post-rock, metal, experimental - we got it all!! 5 bands for $5? How can you beat that??

http://www.myspace.com/monstermachismo
http://www.myspace.com/zonamexicana
http://www.myspace.com/DontForgetThisMyspace
http://www.myspace.com/plasma36
http://www.myspace.com/thedesignersrock

...and then the return you've been waiting for!

Mose Gigaticus (Philadelphia, PA)
The Emotron (Philadelphia, PA)
Who Goes There? (Pittsburgh, PA)
Perfect Future (Frostburg, MD)
Ballistic Shit Circus
Agog

Wed August 5th

The Pirate House
505 Cliff St
Ithaca, NY
7PM $5

Let's all go CRAZY for this one! Mose Giganticus and The Emotron both have new albums coming this fall and they will be debuting new material (and the old goodies!). These dudes LOVE Ithaca so lets give them all the love back! Don't miss this show, you'll be so sad!! Plus, 6 bands for $5??? That's UNHEARD of. We've got electronic, metal, hardcore, acoustic, punk, indie... going to be such a good show.

We've got 11 shows scheduled right now so check the sites and get familiar!!

~ Bubba

Ithaca Underground 2.0

noreply@blogger.com (Ithaca Underground) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 13:08:00 +0000

Greetings from the underground! This blog will no longer be updated on a regular basis. Please visit www.ithacaunderground.com for pre-sale tickets, forums, flyers, calendars, and more!! Create an account for access to additional content.

For those searching for information on The Pirate House, here's the info.

The Ithaca Underground Pirate House
505 Cliff St
Ithaca, NY 14850

LOTS of shows coming up including Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Dub Trio, Buried Inside, Rosetta, Tera Melos, and much more so get online and GET INVOLVED!!

HUMAN HOST INTERVIEW MARCH 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Ithaca Underground) — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 00:08:00 +0000

HUMAN HOST RETURNS! When we last left Mike Apichella, Human Host was embarking on a full-scale cross-country US tour. We caught up with him, now six months later as he prepares for a short east coast trek in March including a stop in Ithaca, NY on Wednesday the 11th at No Radio Records.

Bubba: How did the rest of that tour go for you guys?

Mike: As a whole, it was awesome. I mentioned the last time we spoke that I had to rent a car to do the tour and money-wise having to rent the car messed things up a bit. I’d never rented a car for that long before. But as a whole, the tour was a big, big success. It’s something I would have done no matter what and I’m glad I did. It served its purpose. Many people know about us who’d never seen us before and I got to go to a lot of strange places I’d never been too, let alone played.

B: Like Wyoming and Idaho?

M: Oh yeah! (laughs) Those places were really cool. Wyoming not for shows as much, but driving through that state was probably my favorite part of the entire tour, honestly. It even inspired the title of new song. That area is so under populated and so weird. There are all these geological formations everywhere… there’s nothing like it on the east cost. Idaho is the same way, but much more populated. There’s actually a pretty awesome scene. They have a bunch of really good bands. Really good “Rock” bands, which is unusual; in my travel I don’t come across too much rock music that excites me. My one regret about Idaho is not spending more time there.

B: Really?

M: Yeah, just loved the whole experience of driving through that area, WY, UT, NV, all of which I had to drive through twice. I drove through another really scary place called Eastern Oregon, which is even more desolate in some areas. It’s not even a desert or rocks but just a bunch of dirt and these hills for as far as you can see in some parts. It doesn’t look like there’s any water or anything. I found myself in awe, thinking of the settlers from the 1800s. They went right through this area that I went through called Umatilla, which also inspired the title of another song that’s brand new. Everything was so alien to me. I had a great show in Wyoming in a place called Green River, Idaho. I played Boise at an incredible house show. Both of those I was the only band on the bill. It was a good time; I played for an hour and a half in Boise. The Green River show, I played a little bit shorter because it was an afternoon show and I couldn’t get a place to stay the first time. I was staying in ID about 5hrs away that night. The people that set up the Wyoming show were literally all about 14-15 years old.

B: That’s awesome!

M: Yeah, I think there was one kid there that was MAYBE 17. They had to go to school the next day and it would have been a little awkward to stay there.

B: That’s really inspiring to hear about people that young putting shows together themselves.

M: It is. Every little town has something going on especially in the post-internet world where people are just tuned into everything. Everywhere you go there’s some sort of scene waiting to happen even if it isn’t already.

B: You’d touched briefly on some new tracks that the trip inspired. What do you guys have in the works? Another new album?

M: Most likely none of those tracks will be on the next album we’re going to do. We do have a new album out now called “Creature Mountain” and that is mostly material we’ve been playing since 2006, some of it since only 2007. It’s really great. Musically it’s just as rad as the Halloween Tree. The recording itself is a lot better. It was recorded in two different studios – the first time we’ve used a real studio. Usually we home record.

B: Where was Creature Mountain recorded?

M: One studio called Catastrophic Sound, which is in northeast Baltimore, and another one in downtown Baltimore called 2 East Audio. This guy Jeff Duncan who is a producer who works with us, making beats, owns the studio. We’re friends with Kevin Bernstein who runs Catastrophic, as well. They’re both really rad guys. The recording quality is very uniform, outside of the one track we recorded on a handheld tape player. Otherwise the rest of the album is very clean. Not the songs though. They’re just as screwed up as any other Human Host songs, just the quality of the production was much more high tech.

B: So what else is new? What can we expect for this tour?

M: You’ll get to see Josh perform, which will be something new.

B: What does he do?

M: Well, he sings and makes beats for us - no instruments live or anything. Actually, “vocalizes” might be a better word for what he does (laughs). He’s awesome.

B: So there’s Josh, who sings and creates beats, Jeff who produces and writes beats, in an earlier conversation you’d mentioned Rick contributing as well. What is the process of creating a Human Host song?

M: Lately its been very much people contributing their part, finishing their beats on their own then passing them along to me. The songs on keyboard I write myself, then I’ll either get a live drummer or use the drum patches on the keyboards I have. It’s all very fragmented when it’s being made but it comes together in a big way. We’re very careful with which parts we choose. Josh and Jeff are both constantly making beats to pull from. Human Host is my project so I pretty much decide what goes in and what goes out. They trust my judgment and understand how much I have invested in it. Josh and I have been music together a long time. Since 1994-95 I think. Sometimes he’ll take a break and then come back. He’s been steadily working with Human Host almost non-stop apart from 2003-2005 where he wasn’t involved much at all. He’s been back contributing to songs and lyrics since.

B: How many different people have been involved in Human Host, either live or in the studio?

M: I’m not really sure. There have been a lot of players over the years on the side. I can play with all different kinds of people. People who have really vivid imagination though – that’s the main criteria. And that they’re willing to put up with my megalomania! (laughs) …patient people who have ideas and are willing to share them regardless. The main people have been me, Rick Weaver – he hasn’t contributed a whole lot lately but he produced Creature Mountain. He did so much we were going credit him with production of the album but he felt that we helped produce as well so we just credited Human Host with production. He’s done a lot in the past and his stamp will be felt for a long time. If there were to be someone listed as second in command, it would be him. He, Josh, and Keith – the hype man, dancer-guy – he’s been performing with us since 2006. He’s only made one beat, which is actually on the new album - this great track is called “The Flying Captain.” He has his own project that is still together but he doesn’t make beats anymore.

B: He was a great addition to when you guys came through last year!

M: Yeah, he’s the kind of guy you can set on autopilot and just let him do his own thing.

B: You have toured quite a bit--what’s your reasoning behind pushing the live shows?

M: I’d say the main reason we’ve played shows so much, besides supporting and promoting the records, is to display the visual component of the music. Which I feel is just as important as the music and the lyrics. A person like Keith is someone who really embodies that and it’s good to have someone like that around. Too often people refer to us as a band, when it’s much more of a conceptual art piece, a multimedia thing.

B: I agree! You really can’t just listen to Human Host, you have to be there and experience Human Host.

M: Definitely, and the biggest thing that’s going on is we’re working on a Human Host movie. Since about 2007 we’ve been steadily piecemeal making bits and pieces. After this northeast tour we’ll be working on that project exclusively. We’re not going to retire from playing shows or anything, but we will be taking most of the rest of 2009 off to finish the project. The movie already feels a lot more comfortable than playing shows even. Working in an audio/visual medium is more helpful to us and what we’re trying to put across in Human Host.

B: So is the movie based on the music, more theatrical, or what?

M: It is based around the music, there’s no narrative or story. There will be at least one part where there’s something like a plot. Other aspects will be live footage, visual counterparts to the music, and some portions we’ll make the music for specific scenes. To be honest though, I won’t know exactly what it’s going to be like until it’s finished. I almost feel like its more of a visual album, than a movie. We’re arranging it in a way the same way we arrange an album – when we get enough material compiled we take a broad spectrum of songs, improvisation, compositions, and just pick from them. Whatever fits bests in its place. The albums are barely different from a movie in the way they unfold, “Exploding Demon” in particular. I’ve had many people tell me they could never listen to that album track by track or the tracks by themselves, which is a good indication there are at least a few people out there who get what we’re trying to do. I directed the whole thing on my own last summer. That was a great experience. I’d never directed a film before but it felt very natural. We’ve soundtracked movies before “Mallcrawlers” and “Electric Blood” and those both came out in an organic, good experience that just happened. It just worked in this awesome way. That got us pumped to really focus on doing the movie.

B: Wow. A new album, a new tour, a movie… anything else you are working on?

M: We’ll be starting another album pretty soon. Not sure when that will be done. Wild guess… by the fall of 2009. Creature Mountain is out now. It will be available for download soon and is out on CD-R from Firecracker Firecracker Records. Staying busy, business as usual, and just trying to have fun.

B: For Creature Mountain, which tracks have you been play live for the past few years?

M: Both tracks off the “False Prophet” EP are on this album. “Everlasting Ending,” which is a beat that Rick made, “The Flying Captain” the beat that Keith made – totally genius, some keyboard & drum tracks one called “ITZAMNA.” There’s an improv called “Phogg” which is the track that was recorded on the handheld tape player. A couple songs with beats by Jeff Duncan called “Plastic Food” and “Tree Hugger,” which is a real mellowed out song, which this girl Kim sings on. I perform it live but Kim was someone that used to tour with us a lot but she went back to college. I’m really proud of this album not just in the quality of the composition but how it came out as a whole production-wise.

We’re looking forward to heading up to New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut and we’re going to have a good time on tour in March.

B: Great! A parting question for you: You’ve done several tours up and down the east coast, plus your trek across country last year. Any advise for kids that are pulling together their first DIY tours?

M: Before you go on a big tour, no matter why you’re doing it, make sure you know WHY you’re doing it. And make sure you know how you want to be successful. I don’t mean that just in terms of money but in general, all around. As long as you have that in mind and you really love whatever is bringing you out on tour, you’ll have a good time.

Interview with ROSETTA!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Ithaca Underground) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 12:07:00 +0000

Bubba: Thanks for agreeing to do the interview and all getting involved! I’d like to start by getting some background from each member. Are you all self taught,? Some lessons? Any theory or college training?

Matt: I was classically taught as a kid; played violin for 10 years, self-taught at guitar for the last 12 years. Lots of theory/composition training in both high school and college.

BJ: I started on the trumpet in elementary school, gave it up, picked up the drums, took lessons for around 4 or 5 years, and then self-taught myself guitar, bass, and piano.

Dave: I took piano lessons for a year or two when I was a kid and guitar lessons for two years.

Armine: The only training I have in sampling is endless hours of playing with music programs on my computer, the results are nothing more than experiments gone right. Nothing I do sample wise is standard, and to this day I do not think I'm even using the programs I have properly. The only piece of equipment I can honestly say that I know how to use is my Roland SP808.

When Rosetta formed, did you set out determined to create the sound you've developed or was it a gradual process?

Matt: I think we set out to be one thing, and it became something totally different. That feels pretty authentic because it seemed like our true musical personalities were a stronger force than whatever arbitrary style decisions we had made in our heads.

For "sound manipulation" what gear does Michel use?

Roland Jazz chorus
2 Roland SP808s
Ableton Live 7
A few analog effects pedals
Midi-keyboards and effects racks.

Any unique effect pedals/rack units you and/or Matthew use to get your sound?

Matt: Almost all of my stuff is modified. I'm also a self-taught electronics hobbyist, and I mod/repair my own guitars, amps, and pedals. I joke that my favorite instrument is the soldering iron. I use a heavily modified TSL 100 amp (my own specs, one of a kind) for all the different distortion sounds --- all the effects are in front of the amp. I use a lot of delay effects piled on top of each other to create a wall of sound, but it always has to be tightly controlled because it gets washed-out otherwise. Another big part is using a slave bass amp with the guitar setup, since we tune so low that regular guitar cabs can't reproduce the lowest frequencies. That makes the live sound bigger.

What do you each do outside of Rosetta?

Matt: I'm an administrator and advisor for the undergraduate Art History & Visual Studies programs at UPenn. I also work on bikes.

BJ: I freelance graphic design/web programming along with various music composition, and part-time at a local starbucks coffee.

Dave: Sadly I have a crappy job in retail sales right now.

Armine: History Teacher. At the start of the summer of 2009 Grad Student.

On your website the band has a strong manifesto emphasizing DIY and denouncing the music and ad industries. I have a few questions in regards to this.

Were each of you raised with in DIY, find it as a tool to reject what you were told to abide by, or something else entirely?

Matt: For me, DIY was never about rebellion, it was just pragmatism. You know, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. That applies to recording, touring, equipment maintenance, ANYTHING. I just have a desire to learn as much as I can and develop new skills. The other thing is that DIY has two fronts: first, you develop your own skills, and second, you start to realize how often you're getting screwed by other people who are trying to sell you those
services. Those two things cyclically reinforce each other over time.

How does a band like yourselves keep true to your own DIY ethics as you get more popular while more and more is asked of you and offered to you?

Matt: By being old, lame, and married, and not devoting my whole life to touring (ha). For me it's about establishing personal boundaries.

BJ: I just play the drums and enjoy the music and the people.

Armine: DIY as I apply it to Rosetta is the avenue that we need travel to achieve the dream we all had growing up in Philadelphia during the 90s. There were 3 really solid DIY venues in the city that ran consistently for 6 or so years. The First Unitarian Church still does DIY shows to this day. Those venues and the people running them along with the bands of that era really set the tone for what we wanted out of our bands in the future. The way we interacted in music
then is what we dreamed being in a band would be like when we finally had one. It's simply a way, at least for me personally, to live out the dream. It's unfortunate that so much as changed so quickly. Hardcore has become a modern day Gap catalog where it's bought and sold without any reference to the values we once associated it with. This ethic is also a matter of pride for me. Rosetta represents me, and I represent it. In no way do I want to personify either myself
or the band with what is currently known as "hardcore". Someone found a way to make a quick buck off of it, and it's destroying what we believed in so long ago. Kind of like how Bam and others like him have destroyed skateboarding culture by making it marketable and appealing on just an aesthetic value, not a cultural one.

Favorite aspect of running the band and booking shows yourselves?

BJ: we don't really have anyone member 'running' the band, but Dave usually books all the shows, and Armine helps a bit.

Matt: Democracy in action.

I personally enjoy the creative ties the lyrics and themes have with astronomy and space. Do any of you have backgrounds, hobbies, or favorite literary works in these areas?

Matt: 2001 - A Space Odyssey is obviously huge, although none of us had read it until after TGS came out.

I see you'll be headed to Europe. Is this your first trip?

BJ: I think that Armine and Matt have been before, don't know about Dave. But this will be only my 2nd time out of the country. Our Australian tour was my first. I'm excited.

Armine: When I was 24 I spent a week in Paris. I'm really looking forward to that trip but am very disappointed that we will only be these cities for just one night.

What’s the scariest thing you’ve seen or encountered on tour?

BJ: having to take Armine to the hospital in the middle of no where in the middle of tour.

Armine: Almost dying in the middle of nowhere on tour.

Matt: Williamsburg.

Going back a few years, how did Translation Loss take to releasing your debut as a double album?

BJ: they were actually really excited, I don't think they knew what they were getting themselves into when they agreed to the project. I just remember Drew just wanting to release something of ours.

Would you ever do a project that large again?

Matt: Nope.

I heard at one point you might do a split with Souvenir's Young America. Is there any truth to that and will it ever see the light of day?

BJ: I think there was something planned, but various projects had to be dropped or postponed, cause we have a couple other projects coming out in a small time span.

Matt: We just didn’t have the time and resources to complete it in a way that would actually help SYA. We had taken on too much during that time.

Any material that is in process?

BJ: We just started writing for the next record. Starting to play a couple of them live. I think we're heading in to record hopefully at the end of the summer following the European tour, but dates get shuffled around so much that I'm not sure
now.

Matt: Yeah, summer. We have three new songs, and will probably do three more before we record. We’re also incredibly lazy about recording so who knows.

We’ll look forward to it, whatever schedule you’re able to record and release it. Thanks again for your time!!

For our readers, come out and support Rosetta with Snowstorm, Dance-A-Tron, Chutzpah, and The DeVilles for the second Ithaca Underground All Ages Saturday at The Haunt on Feb 28th.
Doors @ 5.

Zs Interview with Sam Hillmer

noreply@blogger.com (Ithaca Underground) — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 18:31:00 +0000

Zs Interview with Sam Hillmer

What inspired you to start playing together?

Sam: At the time we were all students at Manhattan school of music. We began playing together because we were of a like mind as players, improvisers and composers and knew that there would not be another outlet. We were frustrated by the conventional channels and wanted to run it like a rock band, tour, make records and actually have fans. So that’s what we did.

Where are your greatest musical influences derived from?

S: Early music, African music, some classical music, free/post jazz stuff, and some punk and metal stuff. Oh, and Wu Tang… and pop.

How has it been touring with music scores? Is it a necessity, have you ever lost pieces along the way?

S: At first everybody fucked with us. Then they'd hear our set and be like “Oh, OK!” and not really know what to make of it. But now everyone expects it, so we stopped doing it. We never lost anything that couldn't be regenerated or that wasn't already memorized.

How has the transition from six, to four, and now three treated you?

S: The first transition was no sweat. It came really naturally. This latest one has been more challenging but has yielded some pretty strong results so no one is demoralized.

What happened to the forth member?

S: Charlie is doing his band Extra Life full time and totally ruling it. That band is awesome and both Zs and Extra Life are stronger now. We're good friends and are maybe going to be doing some dates in Europe come June.

Everyone excited for that? Anything or place in particular you're looking forward to there?

S: We're psyched... we don't know anything about our itinerary yet.

Will this be your first time abroad with Zs?

S: For all intents and purposes, yes.

If you could add any additional instrumentation to your current line up in the future, what would you choose?

S: Guitars, keyboards, and maybe some electronics.

I saw you finally while on tour with The Locust, Sleeping People, and Yip Yip. Can you tell us about this tour experience?

S: Crowds have always dug Zs. Even when we think people are going to hate our shit... somehow people end up digging it.

For the latest 12”, “The Hard EP” Did you get hooked up with 31G because of the Locust tour or was it in process before hand?

S: The Locust asked us after that tour.

And the “Folio and Four Systems” Earl Brown tribute on Tzadik, how did you get involved with that project?

S: Our boy Micah Silver was working for his estate and he asked us.

Any other projects any of you are involved with?

S: The Pygmie Shrews, Hunter Gatherer, Yarn Wire, Regattas, Moth, Dirty Projectors, Sam Hillmer/John Dwyer duo, Trouble and Ian just did some work on Ty Braxton's (of Battles) new record. Oh, and I’m about to go to Switzerland with Skeletons!

Wow! All that an working on new material - impressive! Can you give us any details in regards to your upcoming release on The Social Registry?

S: The record is all called "music of the modern white" and it is a very different kind of thing. I’m fully amped on it as are all the boyz and everyone working on the record. We recorded at Ben’s studio "The Bullet Proof Chinese" and you can expect something totally curvaceous. We also have a record of remixes coming out done by Excepter's Nathan Corbin (aka Zebrablood). That is going to be deep too.

HUGE SHOW UPDATES!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Ithaca Underground) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 18:01:00 +0000

GET READY FOR A HUGE 2009! Tons of shows. Lots of weekend stuff. All awesome and underground. Check myspace for links and venue details. New website in the works!! More shows in the works too.

01/31/2009 05:00 PM - Ithaca Underground All Ages Saturday @ The Haunt:
Sakes Alive!! (Rochester), The Rolemodels, The Motivators, and The Debunks $5

02/06/2009 07:00 PM - Eric Margan & The Red Lions, Control Escape, Glad Rags + Spurs @ No Radio Records

02/12/2009 08:00 PM - SILENT CITY DISTRO TOUR! with:
Emily Shumway, Rye n’ Clover, A is for Apple, and Glowbug @ The Ithaca Underground Pirate House - $donations$

02/15/2009 07:00 PM - Sonorous Gale (Buffalo), Ailments, Makeshift, +TBA @ No Radio Records $5

02/21/2009 09:00 PM - Zs [31G/Planaria], American Sphinx + Chris Knight @ ABC Cafe - $8

02/24/2009 07:00 PM - Yo, Adrian! + The Berettas + TBA @ NO RADIO

02/28/2009 05:00 PM - Ithaca Underground All Ages Saturday @ The Haunt:
Rosetta [Translation Loss], Snowstorm (Philadelphia), Dance-A-Tron (Binghamton), Chutzpah, Thë DëVills - $6

03/08/2009 07:00 PM - Microwaves + TBA @ No Radio Records $5

03/11/2009 07:00 PM - Human Host @ No Radio $5

04/22/2009 07:00 PM - Shooting Spires, Daniel Francis Doyle, Twin Powers, Glad Rags + TBA @ The Ithaca Underground Pirate House (possible switch venue) - $8

04/27/2009 08:00 PM - Realicide + TBA @ The Pirate House $5

Static Radio nj + The Rolemodels + The Debunks @ No Radio

noreply@blogger.com (Ithaca Underground) — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 13:36:00 +0000

STATIC RADIO NJ (Chunksaah Records), The Rolemodels, and The Debunks TONIGHT 12/18!
No Radio Records
312 E Seneca St
Ithaca, NY 14850
$5 7PM

Some info on SRNJ:

"In 2002 Static Radio started inconspicuously enough: four friends who grew up going to shows and listening to all types of music got together, wrote some songs, and played any show they could get their hands on. Initially, the band reflected much of what had drawn them into punk: simple, aggressive guitars, angry vocals, and speeding drums. As a relatively young band, they cut their teeth on the New Jersey scene the hard way; painstaking trial and error, and above all an unrelenting energy and desire for experiences. Over the years these experiences seeped themselves into the way the band crafted their songs; although they never strayed from hardcore punk their material began to take on additional elements, nuances reflective of their years as a band. Somewhere along the way, two things happened; someone on the opposite side of the country unleashed their legal team upon the band in order to protect the image of their bar-band/ puppet-show/God-knows-what (at which point Static Radio became Static Radio NJ) and more importantly, the band somehow decided that the progression and growth of the band would become the member’s main priority. Static Radio NJ don’t plan on stopping anytime soon because they simply love what they are doing and couldn’t imagine doing anything else but playing to anybody that wants to listen."

http://www.myspace.com/staticradio

Print out flyers!
http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/11/19/2192629/SRnjcopy.jpg

Local punks The Rolemodels (Ithaca) and The Debunks (Lansing) to open!! Come out and get your punk rock on.

IU Newsletter #11 - THE BIG 2009 ANNOUNCEMENT

noreply@blogger.com (Ithaca Underground) — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 14:56:00 +0000

[[insert drumroll, blast beat, white noise squall, oi oi oi, etc of your choice]]

I'd like to proudly announce ITHACA UNDERGROUND ALL AGES SATURDAYS AT THEHAUNT!!!

Yep, you read that correctly. Starting Jan. 31st, the last Saturday of every month you can mark on your calendar for a great show. Check each show for start time but all shows will end by 10PM (like the Cobra Skulls show in November) to ensure making these all ages, all the time.

You all have really turned heads with your enthusiam and continuing support of underground music. Others in this town are starting torecognize the necessity of encouraging and nurturing what you all have started. I'd like to give a huge shout out to Chris Mazer for his support of all ages shows, DIY, and of Ithaca Underground as a collective group of people, artists, and bands for making this possible.

To repeat, mark 1/31/2009, 2/27, 3/27, and onward on your Calendar for ALL AGES AT THE HAUNT. If there are bands you'd like to see play [especially, but not limited to, acts from the Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse,Binghamton, Albany, Brooklyn/NYC, Philly, Wilkes-Barre and surroundingareas] let me know and we'll see what we can do!

***ATTENTION LOCAL BANDS***-

Any Ithacan or surrounding area band/artist/group on this list, please let me know your availability for the last Saturday of the month so we can start booking bands. These will run similarly to what we have been doing at No Radio - encouraging national acts to play Ithaca and giving local and surrounding area talent opportunity to support. I'm sure there will be dates where it is Ithaca and surrounding talent alone supporting theshow. So please, let me know your availability.

...>>>what does this mean for shows else where??<<<...

We will still be doing basement shows and shows in other spaces as we do now and just as frequently. We wanted to give you all a time and placeyou can count on for a show. Please continue to support these shows just as strongly since some shows we do don't translate well to the size, setup, or location of The Haunt.

Check back for updates as we book for this!!

SHOWS SHOWS SHOWS + ZINE

noreply@blogger.com (Ithaca Underground) — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 14:45:00 +0000

Hey! Thanks for everyone coming out to Bermuda Triangles/Charlieboy/Bone Parade/Coma. We all had a great time and look forward to seeing everyone back soon!

ZINE!!! So, everyone has their copy of FREE!, right? If not, go down to No Radio or Volume and pick up a copy. If they're out. Let me know!

***GET YOUR SUBMISSIONS IN ASAP FOR THE NEXT ISSUE!!!*** I want to see this one packed with all sorts of stuff. Having everything emailed or in hand by Dec 21 would rule but we can push it out if you need more time, just let us know.

Looking ahead.... 2008 isn't done yet! Two more shows! Plus two already for 2009!

12/15/2008
Fox Trotsky (Atlata, GA)
Duskquee
Glad Rags,
Tyler Rodkey
@ No Radio Records
312 E Seneca, Ithaca, NY 14850
7PM $5
ALL AGES
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=35170858142
Punk, Folk Punk, Accordian Punk, and Folk Rock for your enjoyment!

12/18/2008
Static Radio NJ [Chunksaah]
The Rolemodels
The Debunks
@ No Radio Records
312 E Seneca, Ithaca, NY 14850
7PM $5
ALL AGES
http://www.myspace.com/staticradio
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=36492349182

****2009****
-just a taste of the awesomeness that is coming next year-

01/17/2009
Sinaloa [Level Plane]
The Rolemodels
Rejouissance
Swath
@ The (Ithaca Underground) Pirate House
505 Cliff St
Ithaca, NY 14850
8PM $5
- Directions to be posted soon. Message us on myspace if you have any questions.
http://www.myspace.com/sinaloa

02/21/2009
Zs [31G/Planaria]
American Sphinx
Chris Knight
@ ABC Cafe
308 Stewart Ave Ithaca, New York 14850
9PM $8
www.myspace.com/zstheband
**WOW! ZS!! You do not want to miss this show. Like nothing you've ever heard and absolute MUST SEE live. Come out to ABC and join us!

...much more TBA soon! We love you all and keep supporting the underground!

Bermuda Triangles Interview

noreply@blogger.com (Ithaca Underground) — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 03:39:00 +0000

**THIS FRIDAY - 12/5 @ NO RADIO**

"Taken from "FREE!" issue DEC 2008 #1"

Interview with Bermuda Triangles’ Jason Hodges
By Bubba

Bubba: For those uninitiated, can you give us some background on who you are in regards to Bermuda Triangles and CNP Records?

Jason: I started C.N.P. as Chaotic Noise Productions, it was a tape label, in Roanoke, VA. It was 1992....we released tons of cassettes from weirdos worldwide and my own bands Suppression and Rectal Pus. In 1998 I moved to Richmond, VA and started putting out CDs and vinyl under the name C.N.P. Records and played in Kojak (RIP), Suppression (2-piece line-up), Amoeba Men, Silver Ninjas, Yes Sirs, and when 3 years ago I was practically given a 4-track Bermuda Triangles were formed.

What is your favorite piece of gear used on this album/tour?
Either my cheap-o DD-20 drum machine (Bill has one too) or my delay pedal (keys and synths sound great through it).

How has it been transitioning this from a solo studio work to taking the project on the road?
We now have band practice instead of me just hitting record on my 4-track. Some of the songs that I did by myself with these really "bassed-out" drum beats just don't work live....my song "Cosby Sweater" kind of sounds stupid in a live band setting.

Who all is on this tour with you?
I did 4 shows by myself playing over prerecorded beats on my iPod and using a sampler but it had no "juice," so I asked my old friend and label partner Bill Porter, also from Roanoke, and my weird Louisiana friend Jared Young to join. Jared was recently in a duo called Can't Kill It but they're not doing anything at the moment. Bill was in Hallelujah! for years and then HO-AX (Horrible Axidents) but both are now defunct. Bill's solo-project is called Big Eats which is all electronic, cut up and choppy, weird Dr. Phil samples....he's also in a new improv duo called Blood Banks.

As with Bermuda Triangles, you've worked with many people on your various projects (Suppression, Amoeba Men, The Skin) any best of/worst of stories associated with them?
I have nothing but great things to say about the guys in those bands. The drummer in Amoeba Men, Barry Cover, is amazing and we've been playing together almost 10 years...the guitarist, Chris Conrad, was one of my favorite guitarists before we were in the band together. Ryan Parrish in Suppression is another amazing drummer who, after 8 years of traveling and making music, I've never had one argument with. There are many ridiculous drunk, weird, nude stories with all of those guys. Once at a Suppression show in a tiny room in a house Ryan was naked and called someone on his cell-phone to talk to his balls and I got duct-taped until i couldn't move so i just fell on my bass (there were people under me), my friend Adam fell backwards out of the window during this...luckily we were on the first floor. I'm very fortunate to have these maniacs as friends.

What was the shining moment for you while working on the new album, Terror In The Tropics?

Getting to use a "Drum Buddy" on the track "Melting Your Brains." My friend Derek Jones in Roanoke bought one of Quintron's Drum Buddy oscillator drum machines and let me, Bill, and our friends Mattress Fox and John Chambers play with it and record one day and we took one of the tracks and made a song out of it.

Any personal reasons you chose these cover songs for this album or were they just tracks you thought you’d like to fuck with?

I covered "Syd Barrett's "Terrapin" b/c he'd recently died and it was a tribute kind of thing plus I wanted to attempt to make it ugly and yet still sound a little pretty...everything else on the record is really abrasive so I wanted to ease up on the listener a bit. I covered "2:35" by Spacemen 3 b/c I like how dirgy that song is and I thought with my cheap electronics I could maintain that while simplifying it and making it heavier. But most of all I did those songs for the fun of it.

For your previous release, the Tickley Feather/Bermuda Triangles split, was the artwork a spoof of anything? It looks vaguely familiar. If not, what prompted that shoot?
Annie (Tickley Feather) had a concept in mind for the cover, she was going for the 60's style record covers like Donovan...so she had her friend Kimber take her photo and she emailed it to me...she said she wanted me to do something similar so I went to the thrift store and found some funny clothes and went to my girlfriend Susan's house and she took my photo.

As a unique act, it's harder for some to describe your sound. What’s the most ridiculous or flat our wrong way a promoter/someone has attempted to describe your sound?
Luckily I promoted almost all of the shows we've played so far so that hasn't been a problem, I've been booking shows here in Richmond for years. We were called Bermuda Triange on one flyer.

Any encouragement or discouragement for people starting out looking to do the "one-man" project?
DO IT!

Any words for fans and adversaries before they show up on Dec 5th?
Uh, yeah...definitely....SHOW UP!!!!! [and] we have videos up at www.youtube.comterrortropics23 and music at www.myspace.com/bermudatriangles. Thanks Bubba!!!!

BONE PARADE INTERVIEW

noreply@blogger.com (Ithaca Underground) — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 03:37:00 +0000

**PERFORMING THIS FRIDAY - 12/5 @ NO RADIO

Interview with Kevin Johnston and Erica Sparrow of Bone Parade
By Bubba Crumrine

This question may come up frequently but, how did a group from Albany end up with lyrics sung in German?

Erica: (Laughs) I study voice classically so a lot of what I do outside of Bone Parade is Lieder from the 18th century so, I sing a lot of songs by Schubert and Brahms. It’s a repertoire that I already know and am pretty intimately related to. When we began, it turned out that Kevin had a book of poetry which used to be songs and that’s how we got the text for our first song in German, Der Erlkoenig, which is also done by Schubert. It’s just looking back to old text. A lot of our sources are, in actuality or in spirit, old things.

Where did you study?

E: I currently study with a woman whose name is Karen Rannan, here in Albany and she’s got to be about 83 or 84 and she is a real amazing teacher with a very unique approach to the technique. Her work has been the song repertoire, like the Lieder and the French song. We focus on poetry as song. To me they are more moving than, say, an opera, which is very melodramatic. The songs are things unto themselves and therefore very powerful.

Earlier you brought up the song, Der Erlkoernig also the title of your latest album. Are the tracks themed around the Goethe poem as a concept?

Kevin: The one EP we have out now isn’t so much a concept album as just two singles (I use the term loosely) that we put together. The new album we’re working on that we have recorded and are mixing this week is more united in themes, but concept album might be a bit too lofty.

What kind of gear do you rely on – found objects, analogue synths, digital instruments?

K: We bought a sampler that really helped us out.

E: When we lost our drummer, we primarily thought it would be a drummachine but now we use it more for sonic samples rather than percussion

K: For the samples, I have an analogue keyboard that I like a lot, different scrap metals… any type of a strange sound we can rework and reprocess to weave into sonic collages. Seems to work pretty well.

Is there a favorite piece of gear that you’re using now or have used in the past with Bone Parade?

K: Yeah, my favorite is these little finger cymbals – we’ve gotten a lot of sample use out of those. They lend themselves nicely to a ritualistic air.

I can definitely see that. That’s a great sound source! In your influences you mention greats like Einsturzende Neubauten, Swans, Godflesh - were these groups you both grew up on or found later on and were inspired by?

K: The heavier groups were ones I grew up on or discovering in recent years. We both come from pretty different schools of music.

E: I had some friends who were into noise music so I was familiar with some of them and definitely liked the idea. I have really broad tastes and Kevin played me a Swans album and it was so slow in developing – I loved it! He was surprised because most people he played it for would just be like “when’s it going to do something?” but the subtle textures just grabbed me right from the beginning. It’s not anything I grew up with but it’s something that immediately appealed to my ear.

K: We both like music that comes to a slow boil. Its similar with a lot of classical works, many parallels can be drawn.

I agree. Back to the literary references we were discussing before like the EP, does the moniker “Bone Parade” come from written works as well?

K: Actually yes, in part in comes from a series that aired on PBS, originally from BBC I believe, called Mystery, hosted by Diana Rig. They had mysteries and ghoulish turn of the century English stories. There was one series called Cad File and ironically enough both Erica and I watched the same series growing up. One episode entitled A Morbid Taste For Bones, about a Benedictine monk who solved crimes I loved that title and I adapted it. It really captured the feel I was going for.

Always great to hear a group with a back story to their name! Has there been a favorite part of the recording, writing, or releasing process as Bone Parade?

E: My favorite part of our creating music together is that it’s really seamless and organic for us. We don’t spend a lot of time hashing out songs. It’s a matter of simmering daily in our subconscious that comes out in a flash of inspiration one of us or both of us.

There was a song on the 5 song where I had come up with a part and Kevin had just come up with a part two days prior and they meshed so seamlessly. Much of our creative process is like that. It’s intuitive and it just falls in so naturally. The music is not necessarily challenging for us because it just arises as a part of us, so performing and recording the material were very comfortable and exciting process. It’s really pretty amazing for me. I’ve never created music, I’ve been a performer for a long time, but I’ve never been in a creative venue where I’ve been able to make music. It’s amazing to work with Kevin and have it just form in the way it does.

Do you play off that organic nature of how you mesh together in live improvisation?

K: We don’t do as much improv live as we used to. When we first got together and it was just Erica and I, we ended up getting tossed out of a lot of bars for doing improv that just went on and on. It was really loud, and honestly, not very good.

E: It didn’t have the strength our current projects do.

K: It was organic but not as cohesive as the current and new material. Most of our improv comes when we write things. The song she was talking about we actually wrote on a car ride. It felt like we were a mouthpiece for something, like something was singing through us.

That’s amazing! I have to say, I’m a bit jealous.

In regards to Albany, how’s the scene? Any band or clubs we should check out next time we’re up there?

K: In general, Albany suffers, as many towns do, where live music is supported fully.

E: Especially original live music. But, The Albany Sonic Arts Collective, which is comprised of some friends of ours, is celebrating its one-year anniversary so there are people who are appreciative and the interest is growing.

K: there is a small undercurrent of original and interesting music starting to grow; music that you would want to hear and that affects you. It’s pretty grass roots, which is how is should be, generally.

Is there anything that you would like to extend to the people showing up to the show on Dec. 5th?
K: Gratitude!

E: Bring ear plugs!

We’ll have to check it out. For the next release I saw you're looking to release it on vinyl. Any pitch you'd like to make for any labels or benefactors who may be reading this?

E: Its really good and you’ll want to release it!!

FREE! Zine released today!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Ithaca Underground) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 21:36:00 +0000

Stop down to No Radio or Volume Records for your very own copy of the first issue of FREE! (an Ithaca Underground zine). Look for interviews with The World/Inferno Friendship Society (thanks Sarah!!), Fox Trotsky, Bermuda Triangles, Bone Parade, and - the latter two will perform at No Radio this Friday. Let us know if they run out and we'll print more.

Also included are upcoming shows, a poem, a recipe for home made lemon beer (don't drink if you're not of age, pay your taxes, blah blah blah...) AND the first installment of the graphic short Job Does Not Make The Girl!

If you missed this months deadline, start thinking now and get it to us as you can!! Email contact at ithacaunderground dot com with subbmissions.

...in other news, SUBMEDIA will be at the Ghost Cat Co-op tonight 514 N Aurora St at 7PM
WWW.SUBMEDIA.TV

See you tonight or this Friday!

Ithaca Underground Newsletter #9

noreply@blogger.com (Ithaca Underground) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:41:00 +0000

Greatings from the underground!

The deadline for our zine, "FREE!" is fast approaching. As in THIS FRIDAY!! Art, interviews, reviews, manifestos, essays, comics, poems, upcoming local shows, DIY guides (makin stuff, doin stuff, breakin stuff), pretty much anything you want. There's been a lot of excitement about this, now get involved!!

~if you have a conflict and feel you may need an extra day or so to submit this, we're flexible just let me know in advance.

******this weekend*********

Come out and show support to our friends in the Silent City Distro Collective this Saturday, Nov 22nd, 7PM at No Radio for their Ith(A)ca Zine release and benefit show. Local folk punk heros A is for Apple, the Old Thyme Bandits, Dusqkee, and more will perform. Should be a great show and you'll recognize many familiar faces!

***DEC SHOWS***

Bermuda Triangles (CNP Records : Richmond, VA)*
Bone Parade (Albany, NY)*
Coma (Albany, NY)
Charlieboy (Ithaca)
No Radio Records
312 E Seneca St
Ithaca, NY 14850
ALL AGES
12/5/2008
7PM $6
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=34333042807

Fox Trotsky (Atlanta, GA)*
Dusqkee (Ithaca)
Glad Rags (Ithaca)
Tyler Rodkey (Ithaca)
No Radio Records
312 E Seneca St
Ithaca, NY 14850
ALL AGES
12/15/2008
7:00 PM $5
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=35170858142

*****flyerz******
~NEW FORMAT~
OK, so I'll no longer be emailing you all 2MB files for flyers. You can access and download them yourselves at your leisure here:

Bermuda Triangles/Bone Parade/Coma/Charlieboy 8.5x11
http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/11/19/2192629/Guysign_final%28hopefully%29.jpg

Bermuda Triangles/Bone Parade/Coma/Charlieboy 4x cut sheet
http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/11/19/2192629/BERMUDA2.jpg

Fox Trotsky/Dusqkee/Glad Rags/Tyler Rodkey 4x cut sheet
http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/11/19/2192629/fox4copy.jpg

*****no shows til Dec? check this out in the meantime*****
Some of you may have noticed our new categories on myspace. While you're all waiting for our next show check out the bands on our WISH LIST, add them if you like, and politely encourage them to come up this way! Also check out LOCAL TALENT, LABELS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT, and FOREIGN.

http://www.myspace.com/ithacaundergrounddotcom

****ITHACA MUSIC*****
Friends of ours have started http://www.ithacamusic.com - an attempt to calendar ALL upcoming shows in Ithaca. Sign up and get in the know! We'll post there as well as the usual facebook, myspace, ithacaunderground.com, etc.

****NEW BLOG****
http://ithacaunderground.blogspot.com
- check out the World/Inferno interview! Full version to come in the first issue of FREE! Other updates to be posted as the arrive.

thaaaaats about it for this call. keep in touch. spread the word.

******end transmission***********

Bubba
contact@ithacaunderground.com

Submissions for "FREE!" zine due this friday!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Ithaca Underground) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:01:00 +0000

Wanna participate of the stupendous inaugural issue of FREE!, a zine from Ithaca Underground?? We're interested in show dates, band interviews, cd reviews, stories, comics, artwork, DIY tips (makin stuff, doin stuff, destroyin stuff), political/social rants, etc etc.

If you don't have anything to contribute this issue. Think about the next one!! Also, get on our mailing list [email: contact (at) ithacaunderground (dot) com] to find out where to get one. Tell your friends.

Bubba

Triclops! & Ho-Ag @ No Radio Wednesday 11/12

noreply@blogger.com (Ithaca Underground) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 01:51:00 +0000

Triclops!, HO-AG, Screaming Protest, The Motivators

No Radio Records, 312 E Seneca St,Ithaca, New York 14850

$5 7PM

OH YEAH! We got this tour to come to ITHACA!!! A bit in the making but its here and you don’t want to miss out!! Crazy ass acid/prog punk ofTriclops! (Alternative Tentacles) to the all over the map DIY exp guitar,drum, keyboard DIY prog of HO-AG. Come get your face rocked off by SCREAMING PROTEST’s grind/punk and stay after for THE MOTIVATORS. See these TBURG boys in their first IU show.

http://www.myspace.com/triclopsband

www.myspace.com/hoagsobject

profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=365671622

profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=298754700

COME OUT AND SUPPORT GREAT MUSIC IN ITHACA

Interview with the World/Inferno Friendship Society

noreply@blogger.com (Ithaca Underground) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 17:15:00 +0000

By Sarah Stapperfenne

Brian Viglione (Dresden Dolls, World/Inferno) and the great Jack Terricloth were generous enough to share their time and thoughts with Sarah Stapperfenne before coming to Ithaca, NY this Sunday for their show at Castaways. To view the full interview check out the inaugural issue of FREE! (An Ithaca Underground Zine).

Brian Viglione Interview:
Sarah: For the people out there reading this who know nothing about your band, maybe you can explain World/Inferno a little bit, let them know what you think would be important for them to understand?

Brian: World/Inferno is basically a collective of anywhere from six to ten musicians, heavily inspired by jazz, punk rock, and circus music, hell-bent on getting the crowd dancing and stage diving and essentially having the time of their lives.

How do you keep a band like World/Inferno fresh throughout the years, as far as keeping the fans interested without compromising what makes World/Inferno, World/Inferno.
I think it’s mostly the individuals who comprise the band itself and their vision. There’re a lot of beautifully strong personalities in the band and wide range of influences and eclectic musical tastes. All of those things kind of work themselves into the fiber of World/Inferno and that in itself keeps things fresh. You’ve got people constantly juxtaposing ideas and approaches, but also they’re kindred spirits. It’s been proven that it takes a certain kind of person to be in World/Inferno. I think a certain ability to throw caution to the wind and just go for it for the love of doing it. I think that’s what really keeps it fresh. The music is exciting and the communication and relationship between the audience and the band is engaging and exciting for both parties.

Can you explain the differences between seeing a regular Inferno show and then seeing an Addicted to Bad Ideas performance?
The Addicted to Bad Ideas shows came together because World/Inferno had amassed a certain amount of songs over their past three records or so that were directly or loosely related to the life of Peter Lorre. There was a guy from the production company here who got the idea of doing an actual show based around this collection of songs on the album. So different vignettes and theatrical interludes have been placed in-between the songs in the show to try to give insights in to Lorre’s life with his escape from Nazi Germany to the United States and Hollywood with Kurt Weill in the 1930s and 40s. I wouldn’t say it’s a play with a strong plot and a beginning and middle and end. It just has more theatrical moments that give a glimpse into this character’s life and the people around him and the situations surrounding him- with his drug addiction and his creative life. The audience reaction is very much the same- there’s still dancing and singing along to the songs. It’s funny because usually there’s a group of quiet theater going people sitting in the back watching the band and this group of crazed punk rock kids singing along down in the front. That’s essentially the main difference.
As a performer do you personally feel different when you’re playing the two different shows or is it about the same feel cause you still have the people in the crowd responding, for the most part, the way they normally would?
From a crowd perspective and performance perspective it’s very much the same. The Peter Lorre shows are fun in a way cause we get to do some acting. The band gets to do some set changes and moving things around. It’s fun cause you get to step out from behind your instrument and assume another role. The World/Inferno band is a great, charismatic group of people, too, and it’s great to watch them act and come out and interact with the audience in that kind of way. For us being on stage is very much the same, even if the circumstances might change.

I was at Hallowmas this year, and it was my first Hallowmas. I’m assuming it was your first Hallowmas playing with Inferno?
This was actually my New York debut. I played Hallowmas with them with the Dresden Dolls in 2003 and then, here I am, 5 years later, actual playing with the group. I think it was their largest New York audience to date, there were about 1,100 people there, which is a pretty fantastic landmark for the band and the audience was absolutely incredible. The group of people that came together to make this happen- from the kids who designed the banner and marched with us in the parade and the lighting and the projection and who videotaped and photographed the whole thing. Not to mention the incredible audience that went there with their energy and diving abilities. I think it was one of the best shows I’ve ever done with them, absolutely.

What brings you to Ithaca after being in Europe and Brooklyn and Cambridge? How did Ithaca get added to your tour?
Inferno’s done some traveling and shows up in New York State and it just kind of worked with where we were going. You try to plan shows where you can get them in whatever particular region and this just came through and we thought, “Why the hell not?” We have kids from small towns that write us all the time and say, “Come over here and come to Mexico and California and Zimbabwe!” and all these kinds of things. You try to get to different regions and you can’t. It’s tough because we’ve wanted to get to the west coast for the past few months but it’s difficult with travel and expenses. Flights are expensive and the price of gas is what it is. We try to get to as many places as we can during the year.

Why do you usually open with Tattoos Fade? I feel like I should know the answer to this, but I don’t. Is it tradition?
I guess it’s sort of a general, ceremonial beginning. It has been and always will be a great call to arms. It’s interesting to just play something that’s been ingrained in kids’ brains and it just gets the blood pumping and it’s a way of setting the night off. Having things like that gets everyone in a good frame and has people singing along and pounding away. It’s worked. If it’s not broke don’t fix it.

Exactly. Is there anything else you’d like to add?
After this next round of shows we’ll be going into rehearsal space to work on the new record. That’s gonna be a lot of fun, we have a ton of songs to rehearse and start working on. We’re going to be doing another run of shows in March and then hopefully put the new record out in the spring. We’ll also be editing down the video footage from Hallowmas and hopefully be getting that released to everybody. Essentially, if people have any other booking requests, they can reach us through our MySpace page. If people want to write in for the, “What would Jack do?” Column with a question they can do that through the MySpace. We’ve been amassing those for the past couple of months. Everyone should just bring their dancing shoes and get ready to have a good time.

Is there anything you can tell us about the new material you’re recording? Or are you kind of keeping that under wraps tat the moment?
Well it’s sort of being determined. There are fortunately a lot of songwriters in the band. I think there’s somewhere around 15 songs that people have so it’s probably going to be pretty varied. This album might be a little more moody and a little darker than what people may be expecting. That’s going to be really fun. It should be a really dynamic record, if anything.

So it’ll be less conceptual or thematic than something like The True Stories of the Bridgewater Astral League or Addicted to Bad Ideas?
The way it’s looking now, yeah, but who knows? A lot of things can change. The course can veer drastically once you actually start working on things. I think people are going to be pretty excited about the record when it’s all ready.

Jack Terricloth Interview
Sarah: I asked Brian the majority of the questions, but I thought maybe I would have you expand on certain things. One of the things I asked him was talking about the differences between playing shows like Addicted to Bad Ideas and then playing regular shows and I thought maybe you could talk about some of the differences in recording albums that are more conceptual like Bridgewater Astral League and Addicted to Bad Ideas and talk about how those compare to recording things like Red-Eyed Soul? Do you come up with the concept first or do you just let things flow?

Jack: Concept albums are easier from my point of view, since I have to write them. You give yourself a beginning, middle, and end and then you just fill in the blanks. There’ve only been two out of, what, five records that have been concept albums. You don’t want to get too heavy-handed with that. For me, since I’m the writer, writing the story is much more satisfying than just writing little vignettes or songs about how I feel about things- which we’ve always tried to avoid in our career, but sometimes I’ve given into the temptation. Bridgewater was very easy. I knew the story intimately and where all the characters were going, I just had to fill in the blanks and it was very satisfying to write.

For Just the Best Party, that has the trilogy of “Just the Best Party,” “Go with it Girl”, “The Naughty Little Rat Makes Friends” is that something that comes with writing or is that something that you plan beforehand?
Well, those three songs are all just one long poem. I don’t think musically we tried to make them sound similar. But I got lucky and wrote those lyrics all at once and it lasted me three songs. The thing is, sometimes, writing is hard, other times it just pours out of your wrist. Depends on the day.

For people who aren’t familiar with World/Inferno, maybe you can talk a little bit about how the band did form after your split with Sticks and Stones.
Well, I moved out of New Jersey, which I encourage everybody to do. You don’t want to hang around too long; you get a little ripe on the vine. I wasn’t playing in a band; I was bartending, which is kind of bad for the soul. Even worse, I was bartending at a rock and roll club, hearing awful, awful bands every night. Everyone I knew seemed to be either barflies or bartenders and we started talking about music at three in the morning after hearing some idiot cover Iggy Pop for the umpteenth time. We came up with this plan to play fun, fast, political music and that did not sound like rock music. And that’s it. We started rehearsing after our bar shifts and some of our first rehearsals took place as early as three or four in the morning in an abandoned car garage. And we recorded a couple records before we started playing out and since then it’s been a whirlwind.

Can you talk about your perspective of Hallowmas since you’ve been there for all of them? Explain to people who don’t know what it is, can you tell why it’s such an important part of the band?
Benjamin Kotch and I first tried to form a band in Halloween of 1995, I think. Since then, every year, it’s kind of been our anniversary. It’s a three-day festival of the dead; it just ended yesterday. You come out and you don’t have to listen to adults, you break things, you beg for candy, you dress up like ghouls- it’s a perfect free spirit holiday. Nobody feels guilty about anything. You’re even happy about people who’ve died in the past. You’re all there at one giant party. It is the most punk rock of holidays. No guilt. No authority. Lots of candy.

Is there anything else that you would like to add?
Well, you asked about the difference between the stage plays and the punk rock gigs. And I’ll go on record saying that these plays are much, much too much work. You have to stand in certain places and say certain things. Punk rock gigs are just- I get to do whatever I want. The plays are very gratifying, especially taking it to the next level. It’s more challenging. That’s the problem- why are things that are more gratifying more challenging. Why can’t everything be easy?

For more, after you all come out Nov 9th to the Cobra Skulls show at The Haunt, come down with us to Castaways for World/Inferno. To purchase tickets and for more information, go here: http://www.castawaysithaca.com/

Ithaca Underground starts a blog!

noreply@blogger.com (Ithaca Underground) — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 20:01:00 +0000

Greetings from the Underground!

So, we've decided to get a blog. Why? Before we get hit with comments including words and phrases like "conforming," "technology suppressing natural human communications," or "fish"... anyone who knows us understands we would like to help increase communication about what is going on in our wonderful scene. If you aren't already in touch with us here's how:

contact@ithacaunderground.com - have a question? want to let us know about a band you like or you are in? submit info for our upcoming zine? Hit us up here. If you would like to sign up for our e-Newsletter or to recieve flyers to print, just send a message!

http://www.ithacaunderground.com/ - new site comming soon. you can post shows/events and see what is coming up next.

www.myspace.com/ithacaunderground.com - most up-to-date for upcoming IU show info and other shows going on around town, flyers, pics, links to local acts, national acts, labels, etc. Feel free to message us here as well.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ithaca-Underground/20467868285 - get updates when we post a show and invite your friends.

So, what do we have going on?

Local Halloween Abattoir Show!!

10/31/2008

803 Coddington RdIthaca, New York 14850

The Abattoir is hosting a Halloween Show!! Lots of bands for only $5. Carpool, walk, etc is highly encouraged. If you have to drive please parkon Burns and NOT in front of 802 Coddington. Local acts include: Chutzpa(noise punk), Black Medusa (hardcore), Swallow Tail (experimentalguitar/drum duo), Charlie/Boy (solo electronic punk), Glad Rags, Spurs,Group Storm Be there! PS, if you are part of any of the acts on this bill, please message us if you are not in contact already.

COBRA SKULLS, FORMALDEHYDE, THE ROLEMODELS, DON’T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT

November 9th

ALL AGES CHEAP & EARLY SHOW

THE HAUNT!!

702 Willow Ave

Ithaca, New York 14850

$5 ALL AGES

DOORS AT 5PM

http://www.myspace.com/cobraskulls

http://www.myspace.com/formaldehydemusic

http://www.myspace.com/therolemodelspunk

http://www.myspace.com/dlitb

Punk show of the year!!! Your new favorite punk band – COBRA SKULLS!! Check out “Sitting Army” LPor their new 7” – “Never Be A Machine” if you haven’t already. Punk,rockabilly, reggae, and so much more all tightly wrapped up in a sociallyand politically conscious package while still being down to earth and unpretentious. Formaldehyde's last Ithaca show.

Triclops!, HO-AG, Screaming Protest, & The Motivators

November 12th

No Radio Records

312 E Seneca St

Ithaca, New York 14850

$5 7PM

OH YEAH! We got this tour to come to ITHACA!!! A bit in the making butits here and you don’t want to miss out!! Crazy ass acid/prog punk ofTriclops! (Alternative Tentacles) to the all over the map DIY exp guitar,drum, keyboard DIY prog of HO-AG. Come get your face rocked off by SCREAMING PROTEST’s grind/punk and stay after for THE MOTIVATORS. See these TBURG boys in their first IU show.

http://www.myspace.com/triclopsband

http://www.myspace.com/hoagsobject

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=365671622

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=298754700

Bermuda Triangles, Bone Parade, Coma and more TBA

December 5th 7pm

No Radio

312 E Seneca St

Ithaca, NY

Cost:TBA

***JUST ANNOUNCED***In process for a while. Get ready for a whole bunch of people doing their own damn thing.

http://www.myspace.com/bermudatriangles

http://www.myspace.com/boneparade

http://www.myspace.com/wetnightmareinalbany

Fox Trotsky, Tyler Rodkey, + TBA

December 15th 7pm

No Radio
312 E Seneca St
Ithaca, NY

Punk rock from Georgia! Fox Trotsky got our name from our buddies in Mose Giganticus. Lets show them how ITown rocks. Tyler Rodkey (opened the Aura, American Sphinx, Blues Control show) to open plus TBA.

All for now, gotta run! Check out our friends too!

http://www.ithacatimesartsblog.com/

http://fanclubpresents.blogspot.com/