Tag Archives: Interview
Live chat with CA post-hardcore band Brother Bear hosted by Jay Russell of Adequacy.net!
Chat with Michigan pop punk band The Swellers (Fueled By Ramen) about their latest release ‘Good For Me,’ Jono getting a year older and upcoming tour plans!
The Mongoloids, Smoking Popes and Brother Bear Today on Yowie
21 JulNew Jersey straight edge band The Mongoloids go live from Sound and Fury to answer your questions!
Live chat with CA post-hardcore band Brother Bear hosted by Jay Russell of Adequacy.net!
Don’t Miss Robert Ellis with The Old 97′s Tonight and Tomorrow at Lincoln Hall
18 Jul
In support of his forthcoming debut LP, Photographs, on New West Records, country wunderkind Robert Ellis will be playing Chicago two nights in a row with the Old 97’s at the revered Lincoln Hall. Music fans 21 and up can catch Ellis tonight and tomorrow at 8pm for $25.
In classic LP fashion, Photographs is split into an A and B-side, with the former playing out folksy, heart-on-his-sleeve bluegrass ballads and the latter showing off his full band country sound.
Ellis answered a few questions for us about Photographs, what inspires him musically and who he’d like to team up with for a duet.
Chat with Bury Your Dead, Hundredth, Betrayal & Murder Death Kill on Yowie- Live from the Glasshouse
17 JulGrab a webcam and chat with members of Bury Your Dead, Hundredth, Betrayal and Murder Death Kill before their show at the Glasshouse in Pomona. Catch them on the ‘Over the Limit’ tour this summer!
RSVP ahead of time or tune in the day of here
Toronto Rapper Shaun Boothe Talks Shop with Reviewsic
12 Jul
There’s not a whole lot we can say about Toronto musician Shaun Boothe that can’t be gleaned from simply giving his tracks a listen. As intelligent and soulful as they come, Boothe is celebrating the recent release of his single, “Do It For You” and the continued success of his newest project, The Biography Series. Focusing in 12 different cultural icons, Boothe tells these inspirational life stories through rhyme and video footage of each icon. So far covering Muhammad Ali, Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, Sean Combs and Oprah, his next focus will be on Tupac Shakur.
Boothe has been writing songs since he was about 10 years old, but it wasn’t until he won a national competition put on by Canada’s Much Music that Boothe truly began to look at music as a serious profession. Winning 25,000 toward a car, spending money and a summer job at Much Music, Boothe turned around and sold the car back to the deal the same day, invested in himself and started working toward making music his full-time job.
Read our interview with Shaun to check out what making music full-time has meant to him and visit his site to get a free download of “Do It For You”
Talking Shop with Tommy Evans of Secret Colours
11 JulPhoto by: Eddie O'Keefe
Currently recording their second full-length at Engine Studios in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood, Secret Colours are counting their blessings. The band is looking forward to exploring new directions in their sound with the assistance of producer Brian Deck and while for now the record has no tentative release date, Chicagoans can enjoy the five-piece at a variety of festivals and venues throughout the summer.
Forming somewhat organically by a desire to play music, Tommy Evans simply invited people he knew to join in on songs he had written. High School friends Dave Stach, Dylan Olson and Justin Frederick came on to play guitar, bass and drums, respectively, an arrangement that worked as is until one day a recording session called for a harmony out of their range. “Originally it was just the four of us guys, until one day when Dave couldn’t record a vocal harmony, because it was too high of a note. So we had Margaret sitting there, and just had her sing the part instead. From there it just sort of made sense to add her to the lineup.” (Tommy Evans)
Now as a group of five Secret Colours has all the diversity they could need to reach into every corner of their potential and the young Chicagoans plan on doing just that in the coming year. “We’re playing around with much more instrumentation on this new record, and we want to be able to show that complexity in our live performance. Other than that we’re just going to keep on doin’ what we do: playing music.”
Keep reading to check out the full interview from Tommy Evans (more…)
Talking Shop with Chicago’s Unplugged and Reborn (Release Show Tonight at Beat Kitchen))
10 Jul
Gearing up for the release of their upcoming record, Chicagoans Unplugged and Reborn have been in promotion overdrive hitting up every blog, podcast and radio station that will have them. The band’s record, Promise Me This Day, will be making its debut tonight at the Beat Kitchen where they’ll be sharing the stage with The Earth Program, The Black Tape and The Window Theater.
Playing a blend of genres they call Indietronic, Unplugged and Reborn bring a sense playfulness to their songs with jangling guitar melodies, whistling breaks and plenty of effects looped through both their vocals and instruments- think of Freelance Whales mashed up with The Killers. Favorite tracks of our include “Twenty til’ One” and “Summer Air” and while they certainly aren’t the first to deliver this digitally enhanced brand of beach rock, they are doing a pretty good job of it and we’ll put our money on Promise Me This Day resonating with a certain generation as a killer summer album.
Check out a stream of Promise Me This Day on the band’s website
Andres Davila and Christina Hernandez took the time to answer a few questions for us about their upcoming record, influences and the plans they have for Unplugged and Reborn in the coming year.
Dead to Me, Off With Their Heads and The Riverboat Gamblers Live from The Troubadour- Live Stream Tonight at 9pm CT
7 JulSF punk band Dead To Me, Minnesota’s Off With Their Heads and The Riverboat Gamblers go live from The Troubadour in LA to answer your questions! Catch them on tour all summer long and get their new 7″ tour split!
RSVP ahead of time or tune in the day of here
Don’t Miss ISIS Live on Yowie Tonight at 8pm CT
5 JulAaron Harris and Cliff Meyer from ISIS drop by Yowie HQ to talk about new projects and the latest release of five posthumous digital albums via Hydra Head Records.
RSVP ahead of time or tune the day of here
Chat with The Sweller Live on Yowie Tonight at 7pm CT
30 JunChat with Michigan pop punk band The Swellers (Fueled By Ramen) about their latest release ‘Good For Me,’ Jono getting a year older and upcoming tour plans!
RSVP ahead of time and tune in the day of here
Rockabilly in Today’s World: JD McPherson Talks Shop with Reviewsic
23 Jun
JD McPherson is unique not because he sounds unlike anything to ever be part of the music world, but because he sounds like nothing that exists in the music world today. As far as we know he is the only musician today who channels Little Richard on a regular basis and plays rock n’ roll the way that it was played when it took its first steps into popular culture. Songs about shaking it and pretty women may sound like a formula for the latest hip hop hit, but McPherson has taken these familiar themes and classed them up with a bit of saxophone, piano and swingin’ lingo like “scratching circles on the ol’ dance floor”. A high school art teacher in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma is probably the last person you’d suspect to be behind such a rollicking tribute to old school rock n’ roll, but that is exactly who JD McPherson is by the light of day. In his record, Signs & Signifiers McPherson tips his hat to the likes of Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis and Sammy Davis Jr. with soulful songs chock full of jaunty piano, velvety runs and twangy guitar. However, the allure of McPherson isn’t simply in his nostalgic novelty- this guy can seriously sing and his backing band is nothing short of spot on in every track. Simply put: Signs & Signifiers is probably the most appealing record we’ve stumbled upon in quite some time.
Check out a video of McPherson and the band below and click “continue reading” to read the complete interview we conducted with him this past week about his music, influences and where he sees himself in the next year.
