Eleven 8.3: February 2012 by Scotty Scott Media

3 Feb. ’12

MUSIC, COMMUNITY, AND CULTURE NATIONAL FEATURE

LOTUS

Genre-defying improvisationalists

LOCAL FEATURE Foxy shazam · Prologue · Heartless Bastards · Water Liars

Pop as Mantra in the Information Age

Complimentary

THE PAGEANT

International success in STL’s backyard

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contents

DEPT. OF

PERIODICAL LITERATURE ST. LOUIS, MO

Issue No. 8, Volume 3

THE USUAL 3 Letter from the Editor 4 Eleven in Action

February 2012

LIVE MUSIC Musicalendar 13 Review Spotlight 15 Upcoming Shows 15

FEATURES 5

Pageant Winner The Pageant recently ranked in the top five for ticket sales both nationally and internationally; the club's Jesse Raya talks shop.

Foxy Shazam The glam showmen of Foxy Shazam head out on tour to proselytize audiences to their new album The Church of Rock and Roll.

Heartless Bastards Frontwoman Erika Wennerstrom exudes confidence as she discusses with ELEVEN the heart in their forthcoming album Arrow.

Lotus The fusion masters take musicianship to new heights, combining rock, groove, and improvisation to create a mind-altering live experience, at the Pageant this month.

NEW MUSIC 11 Short List 11 Prologue 11 Middle Class Fashion 12 Water Liars 12 Yankee Racers

FEATURES

YACHT 17 Jona Bechtolt and Claire L. Evans reveal the spirituality, connectedness, magic, and mystery that fuel their otherwordly sound.

Climb So iLL 21 ELEVEN gets a sneak peak into the rock climbing gym poised to take over Lafayette Square's historic Power Plant Building.

LOCAL Good Old St. Louis 23 Strassberger's Conservatory of Music

Neighborhood of the Month 25 Patch, otherwise known as South Carondolet, brings together the old and new of St. Louis in a slew of day-and nighttime destinations.

Neighborhood Watch 26 ELEVEN searches for original bars, restaurants, and everything in-between, in order to uncover the best in our city.

More online @ elevenmusicmag.com

the usual

Hello St. Louis! NOW THAT WE’RE GETTING FULLY settled into 2012, it’s time to come to terms with reality. If you’re still on track with your New Year’s resolution(s), I commend you. Jealously. For the majority of us who are not, here is some consolation: No matter who you are, you can still improve (and you don’t need January 1st to justify it). I’ve heard often that a major problem in St. Louis is that everyone is too quick to celebrate each other and too afraid to offer the criticism that would be so constructive in some cases. I’ve heard this complaint specifically about the music scene, over and over again. That midwestern politeness, passivity, fear of confrontation – whatever you want to call it – needs to stop. Let’s be honest, and let’s not be offended when someone else is honest with us. We can be better, whether it’s in our personal choices, our skills, our industry, our politics, what have you. Accepting less is taking the easy way out. I do not send out this idea as a one-way suggestion. You can give us some feedback, too. Drop us a line at info@elevenmusicmag.com, and let us know what you think of the magazine. We always welcome ideas, critique, and submissions. Thanks for reading. Now get out there, St. Louis.

– Tara Pham, Managing Editor

STAFF CREDITS PUBLISHER Hugh Scott MANAGING EDITOR Tara Pham Design Matthew Ström Cover Photo Alin Dragulin Contributing Writers Andrew Blank, Matthew Flores, Brittney French, Becca Honeyball, Cassie Kohler, Tara Mahadevan, Ryan Marian, Nate Mariano, Tara Pham, Joseph Roberts, Hugh Scott, Gina Sigillito, Blair Stiles, Matt Stuttler, Scott Trausch, Andrew Weil Photographers Alin Dragulin, Jesse Fox, Brian Hockensmith, Nathan Presley, Jason Stoff, Matthew Ström Online Contributors: Ryan Marian, Jonathon Mills, Tara Pham, Devin Schwent, Hugh Scott, Blair Stiles, Matt Stuttler, Scott Trausch COPYRIGHT 2012 SCOTTY SCOTT MEDIA, LLC

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Interns Alex Kendall, Devin Schwent, Blair Stiles Distribution and Consultation Derek Filcoff, Jesse Gernigin, Ali Sehizadeh ADVISORY BOARD: Barbara Brinkman, Lee Crockett, Jill Gubin, Clifford Holekamp, David Strom, Frans VanOudenallen Founded in 2006 by a group including Jonathan Fritz, Josh Petersel, and Matthew Ström. ELEVEN MAGAZINE PO Box 23355 St. Louis, MO 63156 INTERESTED IN ADVERTISING? advertising@elevenmusicmag.com WANT TO GET INVOLVED? getinvolved@elevenmusicmag.com HAVE A QUESTION FOR US? info@elevenmusicmag.com ONLINE twitter.com/elevenmag facebook.com/ElevenMagazine elevenmusicmag.com

the usual

ELEVEN IN ACTION (We've been busy - and here's some proof.)

WE AT ELEVEN want to thank every one of the nearly 1,000 people that came to our office holiday party HOLLERLUJAH! in December. Thanks also to our co-conspirators First Punch Film Production, Nebula Coworking, and Lane 4 - as well as the 17 live music acts and over 20 artists that participated in making the event loud and colorful. Our awesome sponsors made it work, and you energetic attendees made it a blast. The next opportunity to let your hair down the Eleven way is at our ‘70s-themed ROLLER DISCO: Wheels of Fortune, at the St. Louis Skatium on February 11th. We can’t wait to see everyone in their best polyester. » Lance, Grace, Joel, Ian — half of local hip hop group Safety Words — and Jessica get cozy.

Arthur & the Librarian and get silly for the Lloyd and Lady Photobooth after playing the Red Stage at HOLLERLUJAH! on December 23rd.

Mallory, Angelo, and Eric revel!

Jacob, Josh (better known as local electro-wünderkind Jay Fay), Allison, and Dustin play it up.

Nicole and friends are all smiles at Pecha Kucha #8 at Bridge Tap House & Wine Bar on January 26th.

Thelonius Kryptonite gets farfetched at the Prologue release at 2720 Cherokee on January 20th.

elevenmusicmag.com | ELEVEN | 4

The Pageant recently ranked fourth in the country and fifth in the world in terms of tickets sold in 2011, marking the eleventh year in a row that it has ranked in the top ten, according to Pollstar. Eleven had a chance to speak to Jesse Raya, self-proclaimed “Press Mule” for the Pageant, about the venue’s great run of success since it opened in 2000.

Pageant Winner Eleven: Why is the Pageant so important? Jesse Raya: We were #4 last year and #5 this year, and in 2009, we were #8. This is the only venue in the Midwest which charted. The closest one is The Metro [in Chicago, IL], which was #27. 11: What do you attribute the success to? JR: There are no secrets. We had a critic coin a phrase when we opened: “If you build the venue, they will come.” This club has filled a void that fit somewhere between Mississippi Nights, which was open at the time, and The Fox, so there were a lot of bands that passed up this market for years and years because they didn’t have a place to play. Now they have a place to play. 11: When you talk to managers and routers, does the simple reputation of success itself help you book shows? JR: Word gets around! When you have artists stepping in like Dave Grohl of The Foo Fighters going, “This is one of my top five favorite places to play in the States,” and they are going to another [band], saying “Have you played that place in St. Louis yet?” and somebody turns around and says, “What place in St. Louis?” and Dave Grohl goes, “The Pageant!” – people started talking, bands started talking, you know? And that’s great! 11: What genres do you find the most successful here? JR: All of them. There is not one that I can pinpoint and say is not successful. There’re a couple of genres that we have yet to dabble in. We’d like to get our feet wetter in, like, country. We’ve done a

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by Hugh Scott, photo courtesy of the Pageant

couple of country shows in the past couple of months, which have been really successful like Brantley Gilbert. We’re going to do Eli Young, and it’s going to do great. 11: What was your favorite show of the year? JR: I couldn’t pick one… Let’s see. That could be a list of people. That could be Grace Potter in January; it could have been the first time JJ Grey played here in February; Queens of the Stone Age in April; Mumford & Sons in June; Elvis Costello in July! If we’re going to start placing concerts in order, I would have to say it’s a toss up between Elvis Costello and Gillian Welch in September… I’ve seen [Costello] several times – but that show took the cake right there. Eddie Vedder walking out during the third song was just the icing on the cake. Those are moments you experience, and you think, “I’m never going to experience something like that again. It happened and nobody expected it.” Nobody expected Vedder to walk out from the side stage, and those are the kind of things that really make it exciting, and I’ll never experience something like it again, you know? Somebody has yet to top that. 11: Is there a particular show that you are particularly proud of – an artist that you brought in that maybe, you didn’t think you could? JR: There have been several bands that would have probably passed up St. Louis: Belle & Sebastian, Stereolab, the first Sigur Rós show. I’m very proud they’ve played here. The first Andrew Bird show. The Jay Farrar-Gillian Welch co-bill. Things like that are special. »

Q+A: Foxy Shazam by Nate Mariano, photo by Jesse Fox

Foxy Shazam is glam at its best. They don homemade clothes, play bombastic rock with choruses bigger than the Pointersaurus, and are known to do gymnastics and tell camping stories on stage. Band members Eric Nally (vocals), Sky White (keyboards), Loren Turner (guitar), Daisy (bass), Aaron McVeigh (drums), and Alex Nauth (trumpet) are absolutely unapologetic about their rock stardom. Sky sat down with Eleven recently for a brief interview and discuss their freshly released album, The Church of Rock and Roll. Catch their antics at Off Broadway on February 13th.

Eleven: Foxy Shazam’s self-titled album saw a transition from post-hardcore, experimental stuff to a cleaner rock sound. What direction does The Church of Rock and Roll take in terms of sound? Sky White: We just wrote whatever we felt like writing at the time. So some of the songs are complex and super heavy, and some are fun and upbeat. We try everything, so sometimes a pop song feels like the right thing to do, and sometimes one that will make people uncomfortable feels best to us.

11: Foxy's live show is very theatrical. How much preparation and thought goes into the band's image and performance? SW: Years of performing and trying to put on the most entertaining show possible. [Stylist] Rachelle Andra hand-makes our clothes to make us look cool.

11: What was the songwriting process like? Where did you take inspiration from? SW: We had hundreds of song ideas before going into the studio all written in different ways. Inspiration comes from everywhere, from our loved ones to real spicy Indian food.

11: What's the craziest thing that's ever happened on stage at a Foxy concert? SW: It’s impossible to actually answer that question. Our stages have had fires, electrocution, blood, broken bones, hair ripped out, body fluids, and a hurricane.

11: What do you like to do when you're not on tour? SW: I try and be as productive as possible every day: I try to run, write a song, play a few hours of piano, work with my hands, and do something nerdy. Me and some friends own a vintage clothing store in Cincinnati called Casablanca, so I hang out there some a bit when I'm home too.

11: What are your goals for foxy as a band in 2012? SW: Conquer the world.

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11: How would you describe what goes on onstage to someone who hasn't seen the show? SW: More than you have ever seen at a rock and roll show.

11: Any new year's resolutions? SW: Stop not conquering the world. »

q+a

Q+A: Heartless Bastards by Brittney French, photo by Nathan Presley

Austin-based rockers Heartless Bastards are giving new meaning to the traditional love ballad. Following 2009’s dejected, grief-stricken LP, The Mountain, the four-piece group is ready to push its distinctive, heroic sound forward. The band’s forthcoming album, Arrow, releases on Partisan Records this Valentine’s Day. Before gearing up for a two-month-long national tour – and playing St. Louis’ Firebird on February 8th – frontwoman Erika Wennerstrom fills in Eleven about her new beginnings in the Bastards’ fourth album. Eleven: Spoon’s producer Mike McCarthy worked The Mountain, and you collaborated with Spoon’s drummer Jim Eno on Arrow. How did you get involved with Eno? Erika Wennerstrom: We all live in Austin… [and] had some mutual friends. We eventually became friends, and since he started producing for bands over the last few years, he had expressed some interest in working with us. We heard Jim’s process of how he worked with Black Joe Lewis, and I think we all knew he would take great care with this album, and he did. He came to practices and… even sat us down and asked, “What inspired you for this specific song?” or “How do you want this to sound?,” and it was like a team effort. Jim producing our album just felt like it was going to be a good thing… and I feel like Arrow is the closest album to the initial visions in my head. 11: You embarked on several solo road trips in 2010 to develop your songwriting skills before recording Arrow. What was that experience like? EW: It took me a good while getting this album written. Last fall, I drove up through Ohio and the Catskill Mountains [New York], where I kind of isolated myself in a cabin for a while and saw some bands perform that were pretty inspiring for the album. For the rest of the trip, I ended up heading out to West Texas, where I spent a couple weeks out on a ranch… Then I went through the Davis Mountains [Texas] and Little Rock, Arkansas… Going out on my own really helped shape the direction I took the songs, and the scenery from the trip really helped with the album’s imagery. “The Arrow Killed the Beast” and “Parted Ways”

have a super spaghetti western-type vibe, and I think being out in the desert and West Texas is what inspired that approach. Sometimes I get these lines for songs here and there, and this trip was also able to help with that for songs like “Skin and Bone” because it just brought back nostalgic feelings. 11: The Mountain was written about a previous long-term relationship you had been in, and all of your albums are pretty raw and heartfelt. Do you feel like Arrow portrays a different type of emotion than your previous LPs? EW: I feel like I always wear my heart on my sleeve in my songs, and it takes a while to feel comfortable with putting myself out there. Arrow is like a new beginning for me, and I think you will be able to tell from listening to it. With each album, I figure out more and more where I want to go, and I think this album showcases strength and spirit. 11: You added guitarist Mark Nathan to the Heartless Bastards’ original lineup. What kind of depth has he provided to the band? EW: Mark started in the band in 2009 before The Mountain… We’ve been playing as a four-piece for three years now because Mark went with us when we toured for The Mountain, and I feel he adds what I’ve been wanting. I like the direction of the band being a four-piece, and it certainly frees me up to focus more on my voice. Part of me had always pictured the band being a four-piece, but I had never quite found the right person, and this felt right. This is exactly what I’ve always wanted the band to be. »

On Record Store Day, April 12th, Heartless Bastards and participating record stores will offer a Valentine’s Day card, complete with a download of a Heartless Bastards track and a coupon for their new album.

features

by Tara Mahadevan, photo by Brian Hockensmith

The ever-burgeoning jam and electronic scenes each draw from past to present, from various early music roots. Although both (proverbial) feet are fully planted in both scenes, make no mistake: LOTUS is capable of being within these two genres, while also grooving without either. The five bandmates – Mike Rempel on lead guitar, Jesse Miller on bass and sampler, Mike Greenfield on drums, Luke Miller on guitar and keyboards, and Chuck Morris on percussion – have reached some sort of music pinnacle with no end in sight. This month, the guys captivate the Pageant on February 18th. Eleven talks with Jesse Miller, who explains the band’s past, present, and indelible love for the Midwest.

Eleven: How did the band come together? Were you making music individually before Lotus? JM: Luke and Mike started Lotus their freshman year of [college], but we all had bands when we were in high school. When I was at St. John’s, I was playing bass with pretty much every group on campus – from bluegrass band, [to] jazz band, funk band, some experimental rock stuff. I just cut my teeth on a bit of everything and took it all in and learned as much as I could. 11: How has Lotus’ sound changed since the beginning? JM: It was definitely a more improvised rock thing when we first started. We always had a groove element and wanted things oriented toward dance, which was always a key fixture of Lotus. We’ve really evolved over time and incorporated a lot of different instruments. It’s almost really night and day between where we started [and now], but I think you can find a common thread. I’d say a strong melody and groove have always been things that are important to us. No matter how we evolve the sound we always try to keep a focus on those two elements. 11: Who are your biggest influences? JM: I think it changes all the time. You know, there are some grooves we continuously go back to, and I would say one of the biggest is the Talking Heads…And one thing I really appreciate about any artist [is when] they’re outside of genre. Anything when you [can say] this is that kind of groove and you put it in a genre box, [that’s] really limiting. What’s always exciting are the groups [where] you either think their sound is so unique that a genre forms around that, or they’re just indescribable in terms of genre. That can go any direction, like Wilco, Siriusmo, and Kraftwerk; and these are all very different kinds of music. [These artists] have a really unique sound and set their own agenda for what their groups are going to sound like.

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11: I sometimes find your instrumental pieces to be quite different from your vocal pieces. In regards to the purely instrumental music, do you draw from a different place? JM: I’d say it’s pretty similar. [Vocals are] something we’ve been doing… our entire career, even though we’re primarily an instrumental band. [But we] really [started] using [vocals] in a more prominent way in our second album Strength of Weak Ties [2006] with the track “Tip of the Tongue.” I think we approach the tracks in the same way, but sometimes the vocals are the finishing touch. I wouldn’t say that the lyrics are of the biggest importance to us; a lot of times we shroud the vocals in effects [so] there’s a bit of mystery. [The words] aren’t the clearest thing, and we usually don’t print our lyrics anywhere. A vocal is really like another instrument; it’s really not that different than writing for a string section or horn line or even writing for the guitar. 11: You just released the self-titled album Lotus in September 2011. Congrats! How have your fans’ reactions been to the new album? JM: It’s been positive. We’ve been playing most of the tracks in concert for a while [before] the album [release], and in a lot of ways the album version is pretty similar to the live version. So people knew what they were getting going into it, if they were following the band. I feel like people who weren’t necessarily Lotus fans are really blown away, and it’s the album of all our albums that I’m most proud of. 11: Which is your favorite track? JM: “Golden Ghost” just because I wrote it, and it kicks off the album. The track gave me a direction of what I thought the album should be. You had to think, “Okay what’s this album going to be,” and, “Let’s start to sculpt these tracks around that idea.” “Golden Ghost” has these sampled elements, this modern sound, this

funky…collage approach to it. That for me said this is going to kick off the album, and this is going to be a sound that we’re drawing on throughout the album. 11: You just released your first music video for “Golden Ghost.” What inspired your concept? JM: The idea there was to show a behind-the-scenes look at what goes on at a show and to weave a story into that. The track is upbeat but still has these parts that are obscure, if you don’t know quite what these sounds are or where they’re coming from. It’s kind of like a show: you arrive there and there’s all this [gear] on stage and you don’t know what it does and you don’t know how it was put together, and then it all kind of works together in the show. Part of the [meaning] was peeling back this mystery; a little flip on the normal sense of where the peaks and the valleys might be. 11: Have you finally found a sound that all of you are happy with? JM: I don’t think we’ll ever rest. We always try to evolve, and that’s one of the things that I’m most proud of with the band. I think that’s one of the reasons Lotus is bigger than we’ve ever been and still growing. As soon as we feel like we’ve found something that’s really working, we might work within that context for a little bit, but after a while like [to] push on to the next thing and add to our bag of tricks.

11: You improvise and play long jams during your live shows. How do you guys know who’s solo-ing when? JM: It’s an instinctual thing; it comes from playing together for a long time. You have to really listen and know who’s got the melody. Do I step back, or should I step up at this point? It’s improvising: you don’t know exactly what’s going to happen. Sometimes, frankly, it’s not that great, and we step on each other’s toes. But when it’s really going well, we can pass melodies back and forth, we can harmonize, we can make changes. [Improvisation] is like a whole instrument unto itself. You have to be good at your instrument, but that doesn’t make you good at improvising. Improvising is something you have to practice and build chops, like anything else. 11: You’re playing a show at the Pageant in St. Louis on February 18th. What do you like most about returning to St. Louis and the Midwest? JM: The Pageant is definitely a really great venue, probably one of the best venues of its size in the country. We like playing there because we know the production is going to be top-notch. The Midwest is where we got our start, and we’ve been playing St. Louis for so many years, you know, starting down at the Loop and Cicero’s. We were there all the time, so it’s a place we’ve been going to for a lot of years. We always look forward to getting back to the Midwest and definitely enjoy playing St. Louis.

elevenmusicmag.com | ELEVEN | 10

reviews

NEW MUSIC (After sifting through recent and upcoming album releases, we bring you reviews of our favorite new material.)

THIS MONTH’S BEST

Various Artists Prologue FarFetched Records

R REISSUE

LOCAL RELEASE

Prologue, the seminal release by St. Louis’ newest imprint, FarFetched Records, brings new sensibilities to old material as the collective makes its bid to usher in the future sound of St. Louis. Bringing together 18 tracks, the release spans considerable ground, ranging from neo-soul to ambient hip-hop and everything in between while avoiding the feel of a hodgepodge. Dedication to pushing familiar sonic boundaries animates nearly every song on the album

Ana Tijoux La Baba Cloud Nothings Attack on Memory First Aid Kit The Lion's Roar Foxy Shazam The Church of Rock and Roll Heartless Bastards Arrow Lana Del Rey Born to Die Nada Surf The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy Rae Spoon I Can't Keep All of Our Secrets Rodrigo y Gabriela Area 52 Schoolboy Q Habits & Contradictions Wymond Miles Earth Has Doors Buy it

Borrow it

Toss it

check out

ELEVENMUSICMAG.COM for more new music!

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Middle Class Fashion Girl Talk Blip! Blap! Records + Tapes Middle Class Fashion’s Girl Talk is a very cohesive and highly energetic album. The delicate stressing of consonants in lead singer Jenn Malzone’s vocals is startlingly pleasant, especially when paired with the rhythmic piano and sometimes-subtle minor harmonics used throughout the album. “Jamie,” the only song not written

and ultimately ties the disparate productions together into a cohesive offering. That is not to say, however, that the album breaks cleanly or completely with the past; in a city where musical traditions run deep and are practiced fiercely, Prologue delivers exactly that – the glimpse of a new beginning. Looking now at some standout tracks, Loose Screwz and Helen Marie go full robot on their respective cuts “Bloom of the Android” and “He Say She Say.” Where the former effortlessly blends trip-hop rhythms, French house filters and a thick, early 80’s low end, the latter delivers a smooth, almost grime-y futuristic R&B burner. On the hip-hop/rap tip, Air Haze and Whiteout twist and wind verses around minimal, eclectic beats with “Artsy Fartsy” and “Stay At Home Daddy” while Midwest veterans Scrub disregard such subtleties on their throwback banger “Double Trouble.” With one foot in the past and one in the future, Prologue establishes FarFetched as a formidable brain trust of forward thinking artists, who this writer sincerely hopes push past this release and thrust St. Louis into a brave, new sonic future. » - Scott Trausch exclusively by Malzone, features prominent vocals from co-writer Brian McClelland, and the result is delightful. The two singers’ voices mesh incredibly well, and drummer Brad Vaughn’s addition of an exit guitar solo ties the entire pop tune up in a nice little bow. “Girl Talk,” the album’s title track, breaks up the previous melodic sound with some clangs and bangs from the piano and drums, with percussive vocals to match. The track is distinct from the rest of the album, but it retains the brightness and resilience that seems to be a signature of the group. Although at certain points the instrumental sound feels oddly flat, the resilient lyricism cannot be denied. Middle Class Fashion has a definite proclivity for impertinent and sharp songwriting. Girl Talk ends on a somewhat melancholy note with “Birthday,” a melody of drunkenness and more than a hint of paranoia. Middle Class Fashion’s debut EP is available for free download via their Facebook page, and you can catch them live at Cicero’s on March 10th. » - Becca Honeyball

reviews

"The icy, yet elegant compositions from this initial output between both musicians indicates that this artistic tandem is built to last. "

Water Liars Phantom Limb Misra Records If the end of St. Louis' own Theodore has you bummed, don't despair too much. While members of the band recently announced that they were going their own separate ways, frontman Justin KinkelSchuster has already forged ahead as he has teamed up with Mississippi multi-instrumentalist Andrew Bryant. Written and recorded in three days, the collaboration resulted in Phantom Limb, a set of nine pieces ranging from aggressive, fuzzed-out washes of noise to brittle acoustic ballads. As it turns out, Phantom Limb was the spark that triggered the birth of a new artistic partnership known now as Water Liars. Opening with a wall of stiff, towering progressions, the plodding chords soon enough give way to a coasting folk-pop

Yankee Racers Duologue Self-Released They say it takes a village to raise a child, but what about an album? In the case of Duologue, the first full-length release from the duo Yankee Racers, the term “group effort” is a vast understatement. The band - St. Louis' Curt Brewer and Chicago's Nathan Jatcko – compiled sounds and efforts from a wide spectrum of local musical big wigs, from the lads of So Many Dynamos to The Blind Eyes’ Seth Porter to Jerry Mazzuca and Chris Turnbaugh of the jazzy heroes Groupthink. Duologue

number entitled “$100”, featuring a pulsing melody firmly propelled by rhythmically repeating duos of choppy guitar licks. “Dog Eaten”, a spectral ballad which proves to be the album's finest piece, follows second. A trickling stream of crystalline guitar strumming hangs bright but somber in the background, suspended behind Kinkel-Schuster's haunting and melancholic confessions. “Fresh Hell/It Is Well,” another one of Phantom Limb's ethereal highlights, sweeps forward in gentle bursts before dissolving into a hazy mist that seems to dangle and lilt airily in place. The up-tempo “Short Hair” is a veritable rock ‘n’ roll headbanger, but the clang and clamor disrupts the pristine and chilled atmosphere left by the piece's softerspoken counterparts. The warm, but wary “Rest” drifts to a lazy cadence, while the thicker “Whoa Back” precariously sways back and forth, its weight matched by the vocalist's heavy-handed resignations. The album, however, closes with the solemn “On The Day.” Imagining life's final moments, Kinkel-Schuster narrates the consequences of his life and the aftermath of his departure, cognizant of every committed sin and wrongdoing,

as there is nowhere left for him to hide. A quiet buildup nearly results in a swelling crescendo, but, before picking up enough steam, “On The Day” concludes almost as silently as it had began, terminating in a halo of static and howling white noise in which a train roars in the distance. Lyrically broaching themes of death, futility, and loneliness and often coupled with dark and murky religious overtones, Kinkel-Schuster and Bryant create haunting soundscapes that are as serene as they are bleak. The faded, muted tracks are what make Phantom Limb a quietly stirring release, one that may take more than a casual listen-through for the gravity of the compositions to sink in. Given the delicate, raw beauty of much of the record, however, Phantom Limb was not crafted for an inattentive audience. Though the more aggressive and up-tempo tracks leave more to be desired, the icy, yet elegant compositions from this initial output between both musicians indicates that this artistic tandem is built to last. After Theodore, there is life after death in Water Liars. Water Liars release Phantom Limb at Off Broadway on February 24th, supported by Bob Reuter's Alley Ghost. » - Andrew Blank

features a significant chunk of the St. Louis music community within its bouncy, arpeggiated guitars and happy-go-lucky vocals. Ambitious? No doubt. On paper Duologue adds up to a gargantuan album; in reality it falls short of its aspirations. “All the Ashes” is a perfect example – with its swirling guitar lines and wistful vocal melodies, it has the potential to be a massive song. Instead, what perhaps is intended to be dreamy simply comes off as a little bit lazy and flat. Too many of the songs on Duologue fall within the same auditory vein. “Fall Away” and “Morning

Train” could almost be mistaken for the same quiet, vaguely folk-oriented song, and “This Love” isn’t much different from the two. Where the songs have the potential to be grand and profound, the music instead comes up thin. The ideas are there - they just need to be tightened up and focused. The talent is there – it just needs to be allowed to flow more freely. Yankee Racers most definitely have enough ambition and skill to craft a better effort than Duologue. » - Matthew Flores

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THE GRAMOPHONE 4243 Manchester Avenue, 63110

FEB 7 Other Lives 9 Head for the Hills 13 Talkdemonic 22 Pert Near Sandstone

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CENTRAL WEST END

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4127-29 Manchester Avenue, 63110

THE FOXHOLE 4140 Manchester Avenue, 63110 AVE ND

E AV EST

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FUBAR 3108 Locust Street, 63103

FEB 17 Wilson 22 Scott Kelly, Eugene Robinson 28 The Ghost Inside 13 | ELEVEN | elevenmusicmag.com

ARSENA

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RD RD

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MORG

CHIPPEW A ST

KINGS HIGHW AY BLV D

TON A VE HAMP

3224 Locust, 63103

AUS LA

PLUSH

FEB 8 LB Johnson 9 David Beeman, Kit Hammon 11 Javier Mendoza, Making Movies 18 Satchel Grande 25 Eric Roberson, DJ Needles

LU T

LIND

HANDLEBAR

FEB 12 DJ Trashley 17 DJ Mahf & Friends

BLVD

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MCC

F G

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LVD

OLIVE

6238 Alexander Drive, 63105

UNION B

C THE CHAPEL D THE PAGEANT

TOWER GROVE SOUTH

live

FEB

NA TU

4 Blind Eyes, Sleepy Kitty, Mutts 8 Heartless Bastards, Hacienda Aer 15 Union Tree Review, Grandkids 16 O'Brother, Junius 25

OA D

3648 Washington Boulevard, 63108

AV E

Chucho Valdés Kim Massie Los Lobos Mark Laverty

ON A VE

VE DE

FERS N JEF

LOLA

The Vaporz SY Smith, ZO!, Teresa Jenee

THE CRACK FOX

KET

BLVD

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Pretty Vacant

1400 Market Street, 63103

DOWNTOWN

FEB

AND

O,P,Q

N AVE

P BB'S JAZZ AND SOUPS Q 700 S Broadway, 63102

FEB

3 Y WA AD O R

Matt Hill & Deep Fried Blues 12 Kenny "Blues Boss" Wayne 16 Bob Case & the Wild Accusations 18 Rum Drum Ramblers 28

S JEF

FEB 9 10 21 23

701 South Broadway, 63102

FERSO

Brian Curan, Hot Mess Booty Grabbers Delight Funky Butt Brass Band, Gumbohead Illphonics

V 55

KEE ST

BEALE ON BROADWAY

VE SA

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736 South Broadway, 63102

BROADWAY OYSTER BAR

LV D

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LAFAYETTE SQUARE

CHERO

Chris Botti 24

AU A V

FEB 24

PEABODY OPERA HOUSE

MAR

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AR B LVD WAS HING T ON OLIV BLV E ST D

MIDTOWN CHO

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FEB 4 12

1114 Olive Street, 63101

W, X

FEB 11 22 26 28

500 N. 14th Street, 63103

VE TA

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NEIGHBORHOOD OF THE MONTH

R LO

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THE SHELDON

FIREBIRD 2706 Olive Street, 63103

elevenmusicmag.com | ELEVEN | 14

live

OLD ROCKHOUSE

1200 7th Boulevard, 63104 FEB 12 Bonerama, Metrobones 17 Darell Scott 24 California Guitar Trio 26 Papadosio, UV Hippo, pH Factor 27 Polica, Marijuana Deathsquads

LUMINARY ARTS CENTER 4900 Reber Place, 63139

FEB 23 Zola Jesus, Talk Normal

JEFFERSON WAREHOUSE

2501 S Jefferson Ave, 63104

FEB 10 Afroman, Hustlin' Hard Records 11 Nappy Roots, Strata-G, Kold Kace 18 Go!Tsunami, Quixotic, Grace Sophia

BLUES CITY DELI

2438 McNair Avenue, 63104 FEB 9 Prez, Joe Meyer, Elliot Sowell 23 Davina and the Vagabonds 25 Morey Sorchat & the Special 20's

VENICE CAFE 4900 Reber Place, 63139

EL LEÑADOR W 3124 Cherokee Street, 63118

X Y

APOP RECORDS 2831 Cherokee Street, 63118

PIG SLOP STUDIOS 2831 Cherokee Street, 63118

FEB 14 Xina Xurner, Pooper, Mr 666

2720 CHEROKEE 2720 Cherokee Street, 63118

FEB 9 Juno What?!, Downstereo, Mikey Wehling 11 Love & Light, MonDope 15 Idle Warship (Talib Kweli & Res) 25 12th Planet, Flinch, Bommer

15 | ELEVEN | elevenmusicmag.com

PREVIEWS

SATCHEL GRANDE PLUSH

BASS DRUM OF DEATH OLD ROCK HOUSE

February 18 - Free - All Ages

March 2 - $10 - All Ages

Though they’re from Omaha, Nebraska, Satchel Grande sounds like they’ve lived the majority of their lives on Mars, or The Mighty Boosh’s Old Gregg’s lair. Yet, Satchel Grande has an electronic sound that’s more Breakbot than Daft Punk. They could be the perfect gateway band for those listeners looking to traverse the realm of ’70s disco-inspired dance music and to taste generously reined-in funk. Consider them the toe you dip hesitantly into the hot tub of dance-funk. Beginning as a one-man show and developing over the years into a fullfledged, nine-person funk/soul/pop band, these groove aficionados can now call themselves a musician collective. The combination of guitars, sax, and some frisky keys, allows the music to play with a gleeful ebb and flow that echoes the mood of a darn good George Clinton/Chromeo remix. Tracks from their album Dial ‘M’ for Moustache, like “Workin’ Title,” have the potential to be pre-game anthems. For Satchel Grande’s February 18th show, there’s no better backdrop than the ultra quirky Plush and no better excuse to see them than that it’s free. Easily danceable and singable, Satchel Grand are straight-up the most fun(k) you’ll have shakin’ yo tail feather in town this month. » - Blair Stiles

Rambunctious. Dangerous. Bratty. These words might describe a listener's first thoughts upon heaning Bass Drum of Death. And that pretty much sums it up. The guitar-drum duo of John Barrett (guitar and vocals) and Colin Sneed (drums) hails from Mississippi, chiseling snotty garage rockers down to their barest and rawest foundation of ugly distorted guitars, screechy vocals, and boom-tap-boom drums. Sounding like a sleazy version of the White Stripes or a more aggressive JEFF the brotherhood, this band makes the kind of savory rock ‘n’ roll that would only come from the type of guys who sleep all day and run amok with the chaos of uncouth activity at night. Their 2011 fulllength GB City on the infamous Fat Possum Records might as well play at every party right before your guests start vomiting, or right after stuff starts to get broken. The album plays through without missing a beat, a constant barrage of power chords and brain-beating drums. About the most mellow the band has been seen is in a performance on Fuel TV backing up Odd Future’s Mellowhype on his song “64.” Catch the pandemonium as Bass Drum of Death’s United States tour stops at the Old Rock House. » - Joseph Roberts

live

« SAMANTHA CRAIN & OLD LIGHTS @ OFF BROADWAY January 25

3301 Lemp Avenue, 63118

Emergency Dental Surgery Draughts, False Light, Strangers Now

FEB 24 25

LEMP ARTS CENTER

REVIEW

by Matt Stuttler, photo by Jason Stoff

Old Lights shreds on everything they touch. Opening for Samantha Crain and the Midnight Shivers on a three-day run, they felt like an instant classic. Most of their set sounded like a The Basement Tapes-era The Band jam, full of twangy guitars and four-part vocal harmonies. Samantha Crain and her band moved on stage like the passing rainstorm outside. Pouring out thin guitar licks with a wide western voice, Crain thrashed dirtier live than expected. Between the two Southern-tinged rock ‘n’ roll bands, Off Broadway reverberated with modern bands owning classic sounds.

PREVIEWS

THE HEAVY ANCHOR 5226 Gravois Avenue, 63116

FEB Scarlet Tanager, Popular Mechanics 11 We Are Voices, The Endless Summer 24 Barely Free Partial Prisoners 25 Bro Stephen 27

OFF BROADWAY

ZOLA JESUS THE LUMINARY

TALKDEMONIC THE GRAMOPHONE

February 23 - $13

February 13 - $12 - All Ages

On February 23rd, experimental electrogoth pop will meet experimental neighborhood art space when Zola Jesus performs at The Luminary Center for the Arts. Touring in support of her sophomore release Conatus, Russian-American songwriter Nika Danilov, performing under her stage name Zola Jesus, merges classical and industrial styles into an indefinable realm that is all her own. Danilova’s opera-trained voice (often compared to those of Kate Bush and Florence Welch) is likely to bewitch the crowd, backed by looped vocals and dark atmospheric instrumentation: an exquisite layering of drum machines, strings, and synthesizer. In typical early new wave fashion, the combination of electronic beats and tear-stained songwriting makes for a vulnerability that can only be expressed on the dance floor. Zola Jesus’ performance marks the 2012 opener for The Luminary’s Elevator Music Series. This curated art and music series transforms the gallery for each of its traveling artists, producing a unique live environment through customized visuals and layout alterations. Brooklyn post-punk duo Talk Normal opens the show, providing a fitting dose of female-fronted noise rock before the hypnotizing main act. » - Ryan Marian

Some great stuff comes out of Portland, Oregon. Gus Van Sant; the Roloff family of Little People, Big World; and now, electronic instrumentalists Talkdemonic. The duo of Kevin O’Connor (multi-instrumentalist) and Lisa Molinaro (voila, synthesizer) has been churning out orchestral electronic tunes since 2002. Over the years, their sound has evolved from a comfortable cocktail of lackadaisical ambient live instrumentals with a percussive backbone (e.g. song “Mutiny Sunshine”) to an established folktronic aesthetic that has enabled them to tour with acts like Modest Mouse. Their most recent work, the album Ruins, is the culmination of nine years of experimentation. It’s achieved a more flushed out sound that was lacking in their earlier work. Tracks like “Ruin” and “Revival” harkens back to the mid-tempo, ethereal, and twangy songs of early Fleet Foxes… only if Sun Giant had been produced by David Byrne. Talkdemonic finds a melodic equilibrium within the teeter-totter of sound and makes for an engaging aural experience on a laidback evening. Think of the experience as a sedative-hypnotic drug that never lulls you to sleep; instead it passively makes you think quietly into the night. See, hear, and feel the duo (presented by the Firebird) at The Gramophone. » - Blair Stiles

3511 Lemp Ave, 63118

FEB 10 13 15 17 17 21 22 23 24

Craig Finn, Mount Moriah Foxy Shazam, Last Nights Vice Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears John Dee Graham Reeling Gilly, Vintage Years, Spectator Frank Turner, Cory Chisel Bronze Radio Return, Scarlet Tanager Jackson Taylor & The Sinners Water Liars, Bob Reuter's Alley Ghost

POP'S 4140 Manchester Avenue, 63110

FEB Me Talk Pretty, Hawthorne Heights 6 Shattermask, Washco Lowlifes 12 Psychostick, Ventana, Strata-G 14 Yayger, Planet Prophecy, Catman 15 American Fistola, Lazy Chaos 17 Fight for Midnight, Ideal Weapon 19 Pluto's Still A Planet, Decedy 26

elevenmusicmag.com | ELEVEN | 16

features

YACHT NATION The Los Angeles-based, Portland-born indie pop band YACHT is taking the US by storm. With their catchy hooks, deep world philosophy, and smart, infectious lyrics, this always visual, always inventive duo defies classification. This month, Jona Bechtolt and Claire L. Evans were gracious enough to sit down with Eleven and share their thoughts on Texas, Utopia, and what makes a great song. Get enlightened with YACHT at Plush St. Louis on March 1st. by Gina Sigillito, photos by Alin Dragulin

Eleven: I wanted to ask you first about how you guys got together and particularly your connection to Marfa, Texas, which has gotten to be a hot artists community. How did you meet, and how did that experience bond you? Jona Bechtolt: Claire and I met, I feel, somewhat serendipitously. I played a show in Austin, and after the show some kids told me that on my way to Los Angeles I had to stop in Marfa to see the Mystery Lights. I’d never heard of Marfa and I didn’t know about it being an artist community at all, but I was really excited about seeing something paranormal, which I’ve always been sort of interested in. So we went to Marfa the next night at like 3 a.m. and went to see the lights and stopped there for a couple hours and saw all this weird stuff happening in the sky. And the next day I drove to Los Angeles where I was working on a small solo project of mine. I was playing a small gallery show, and Claire was in noise band at the time, and we were just randomly paired together. We’d never met. And I loved her noise band, and we just became friends. And I kept coming back to Los Angeles to see her. Our friendship just became deeper and deeper until 2006, when we went back to Marfa together. We saw the lights together and just decided from that point on that we should never work separate from each other. Everything we had been thinking about and doing together had been in one united voice.

17 | ELEVEN | elevenmusicmag.com

11: And how would you say See Mystery Lights came about after that? What influenced it? Obviously you have the dance background and electronica… Claire L. Evans: [It was] after we saw the Mystery Lights together, which I would say was a highly formative experience because it got us thinking about our place in a world of very informationcentric, digital stuff navigating reality and our grasp of any kind of history. Everything we’ve ever wanted to know has been at our fingertips because we’re children of the Internet Age, but it didn’t have any relationship to spirituality or mystery of any kind. When we saw the Lights, it was the first time I’d ever come face to face with anything so unexplainable and beautiful. So we really started thinking about these ideas about mystery, about magic, about esoteric mysteries of the world and we got really into researching those things and spent a long period of time reading a lot of spiritual books. It got us thinking about human relationships in history and how they’ve developed over the years, and also how the art, culture and thinking of the human species occurred. We moved out to Marfa and started working on various projects, including a lot of mantras – not just meditation mantras, but ideas – and we recorded a pop hook around these mantras. There’s not a huge difference between the repetitive nature of pop music and a mantra. Pop songs tend to be light, and they plant a hook in your

elevenmusicmag.com | ELEVEN | 18

"That’s what happens to utopias: They become isolated in their own space head and repeat themselves in your head, and sometimes you don’t even know what they mean. I think it’s more interesting to have a hook about spiritual culture or death than a broken heart. So it kind of just happened on its own. And at the end of it we had a record. 11: The video for “Dystopia” is unlike anything I’ve seen before. How did you come up with the concept for the video? CLE: We made that video in collaboration with a Los Angeles-based director named Rene Daalder, who’s an artist who we’re both huge fans of. He’s been making weird, kind of subversive work for a long time. He’s an incredible film craftsman and writes texts about science fiction and secular reality. And he’s worked with Rem Koolhaas and Russ Meyers and all these

19 | ELEVEN | elevenmusicmag.com

incredible people, so we approached him, and he said he’d be interested in working on the video. It’s the first time we’ve ever given anyone any kind of creative control over our image. We come from a very DIY background and do everything ourselves, and we sometimes have a really hard time letting go. We let Rene have a crack at a totally different version of us, and that’s interesting. And his idea as he and I worked on this became this idea of Utopia, which is by definition not a practical concept. It’s not a reality, it’s more of a conceptual thing. We ended up playing with the ideas of architecture and space and the boundaries of a utopia and how we would design it. That’s how we came up with the blank grid you see in the video. Of course, if you start trying to construct a utopia, it all falls apart – because you can’t build a utopian space. If

you do, you become isolated from the rest of the world, and it becomes fascism, and that’s dangerous, and that’s what happens to utopias: They become isolated in their own space with no connection to anyone else, and the entire world gets destroyed. 11: Tell us more about the kind of Utopian belief system that you have. Is that something that you both came up with together, or did it stem from a past experience? CLE: Everything we do comes from the relationship with have with each other. It’s just an ever-occurring, ever-reaching philosophical point of view that we developed as people who have a relationship with each other and a relationship with lots of other people out in the world. A lot of it comes from our fans, our followers, and our friends. The utopian concept started when

with no connection to anyone else, and the entire world gets destroyed." we started to make Shangri-La, our most recent album, and interestingly enough, we started approaching this [upcoming] album with a kind of “walking the walk” kind of philosophy. Technically a utopia refers to believing in an idea so strongly that you want to live in a place that is made up of that idea or set of ideas. So we started thinking about it and came up with the conclusion that you can’t do it. Every single time a human group or person has tried to make a utopia, from Jonestown to the Soviet Union, it has ended very badly.... A long-lasting, functional utopia has never happened. You can create something close to a utopian way of being, but it’s more about having a state of mind that you carry through your life. In the end, it’s about making the place that you are the best that it can be for yourself.

11: On this tour, you’ll be doing a whole series of shows, including in St. Louis at Plush on March 1st. You guys are so visual. How do prepare for live performances and coordinate them with your more visual persona? JB: I don’t think we’re ever satisfied with anything we do, so we try to make every show a little bit different in any way we can. And that’s why we go on tour, because you can’t play the same show in a different city every night. Every crowd is different; every city is different. On this tour we’re trying to build something visual with both physical things and with videos, which we’re very excited about. For us, it’s cool to never be satisfied because it keeps us working at all times.

11: Would you guys say that the Northwest has been the biggest influence on your music, or do you take inspiration from all over? JB: Yeah, we both grew up in the Northwest, and I think that the early DIY culture that happened with Nirvana influenced [us], but I think what we call the Western American Utopian Triangle of Marfa, Texas, Los Angeles, California, and Portland Oregon—those three places have those most influence on us as people. CLE: We’re kind of nomads, you know. We have relationships to Marfa, which is a strong spiritual place for us. Los Angeles is home for us now, but we’re also on tour all the time, all year, and I sort of feel that where we are is where we are, and we’re happy to be where we are. »

photo by Tara Pham

elevenmusicmag.com | ELEVEN | 20

features

A New Anchor by Tara Pham, photos by Matthew Ström

CLIMB SO ILL IS MORE than a rock climbing gym. It’s more than over 10,000 square feet of vertical climbing terrain nestled in the guts of the historic City Hospital Power Plant, near Lafayette Square. And while it maintains the artistic, adaptive, and economic elements considered so hip in urban renewal projects right now, it is yet still more. Set to open March 15th, Climb So iLL will offer a multi-level, multi-purpose facility that connects climbers to each other and to the larger community. Helmed by David Chancellor, Daniel Chancellor, and Ian Anderson, So iLL has become the anchor of a multimillion-dollar development project that also includes two restaurants and an events space. “I’ve been climbing since I was about 15 years old,” David told Eleven on a tour through the Climb So iLL facility, still in progress. “[My brother Daniel and I] started with our first business in our parents’ basement, manufacturing the rock climbing grips that climbers use to get to the top of the walls. That’s been our bread and butter… We started by building a small climbing wall in my parents’ basement, and we used to charge the neighborhood kids to come over and use it!” So iLL Holds has grown considerably – since, servicing 3,000 climbing gym accounts around the world. These clients have helped So iLL develop its own climbing gym, with everything from its business plan and financials to its ventilation system and events organization. David says, “We’ve been able to take from the best-of from each gym and build it into ours.” Climb So iLL’s space combines the whimsical with the industrial. It puts technicolor tulip-, elephant-, and eye-shaped climbing walls next to the power plant’s original steel beams and concrete walls. Visual interaction points – windows, overhangs, wide open stairwells – connect climbers, spectators, and restaurant patrons throughout the space. Plus, quirks like ceiling-mounted swings for pro shop fittings, tabletops made out of repurposed car hoods, and a room in the base of the giant smokestack make So iLL a one-ofa-kind attraction. David laughs, “Is St. Louis ready for this?” St. Louis, get ready. »

the usual

Good Old St. Louis:

STRASSBERGER'S CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC by Andrew Weil, photos courtesy of Missouri History Museum

Strassberger's Conservatory of Music at Grand Blvd. and Shenandoah Ave. The South Grand Ave. Review (pictured opposite) praised that "The halls connected with the conservatories are the finest in the city…"

The interior of the Fansin brothers' Conservatory Ice Cream Parlor, one of the Conservatory's storefronts. The brothers were described as "two typical South Side boys [who] merit the patronage they enjoy."

THE FORMER STRASSBERGER CONSERVATORY AT Grand Blvd. and Shenandoah Ave. was constructed in 1904-1905 for Clemence Strassberger. Born in Saxony, Strassberger immigrated to St. Louis in 1881 and was followed by his brother Bruno in 1892. Clemence was educated at the Dresden Royal Conservatory and worked as a music teacher and cornet player in a military band. In St. Louis he found work with the many professional orchestras that operated in the city. In 1886, Strassberger began taking on students and giving lessons from his home on the north side. He opened his first conservatory in 1892 on Warren St. just west of St. Louis Place. Strassberger was smart to set up shop so close to this enclave, as it put him in position to teach members of many of St. Louis’ most wealthy and notable German families. Later he repeated this strategy by opening a conservatory on the edge of another wealthy and largely German neighborhood, Compton Heights. In 1901, Strassberger expanded into the South Side, opening a branch of the conservatory at Grand and Cleveland Ave. By about 1903, he had commissioned architect Otto Wilhelmi to design a building for the school at the corner of Grand and Shenandoah. At the time, recorded music was in its infancy and people depended on bands, orchestras, and choral groups as mainstays of social life. Because any member of “respectable” society was expected to have at least a rudimentary musical education, the Strassbergers had no shortage of pupils; in 1911, enrollment in the two conservatories numbered 1,148 students. The first floor of the new building housed storefronts which generated rental income, while the upper floors contained performance, teaching, and practice space. The crown jewel of the facility was the 450-seat performance hall, with its white maple floor, custom stage scenery, state-of- the-art lighting, and ceiling fans. As a final touch, the cornice of the building was graced with busts of composers facing the busy streetcar lines on Grand and Shenandoah. These busts remain largely intact and can be viewed easily from the corner.

presented by A large entertainment hall in Strassberger's South Side Conservatory. The Review described the atmosphere: "Club life, in the South Side, is at its best."

23 | ELEVEN | elevenmusicmag.com

the usual

Because any member of 'respectable' society was expected to have at least a

“

rudimentary musical education, the Strassbergers had no shortage of pupils …

In 1913, Bruno took over the school from his brother and managed it until his death in 1921. It seems almost fortunate that neither brother lived far beyond the early twentieth century, as drastic changes in how people made and consumed music were on the horizon. Both recording and radio technology advanced rapidly during the 1920s and the importance of amateur music and musical education declined as people developed other ways to bring music into the home. As the radio became ubiquitous and the music industry emerged, a generation of people shifted from being producers and consumers of amateur music, to pure consumers of largely professional music. Musical education was no longer required on the scale that had been necessary in earlier years. The Strassberger Conservatory closed around 1942. »

local

NEIGHBORHOOD OF THE MONTH:

PATCH

Don’t let distance deter you from making your way down to the Patch neighborhood. An up and coming district known more commonly as South Carondelet, Patch is full of watering holes, artistic locations, and killer food. Near the River City Casino, littered with impressive architecture, this area is bound to keep you returning for both vibrant nightlife and a peaceful Sunday meal. » - Cassie Kohler

Marceau St

7 8 2 3 4

Koeln Ave

E Catalan St

Schimer St

Michigan Ave

5 6 S Broadway

AFTER WORKING UP A SWEAT dancing and rollerskating at the St. Louis Skatium (1) (perhaps at Eleven’s ROLLER DISCO: Wheels of Fortune on February 11th!), cross Broadway to find the Temtor Building, an old Coca-Cola Syrup bottling plant. Within the Temtor, you can refresh with a South Side Blonde Ale from Perennial Artisan Ales (2) and an original peach BBQ pulled chicken sandwich from Davis Street Deli (3). After refueling, move a block north to The Halfway Haus (4) for a few drinks while enjoying local acoustic music acts. If you’re lucky, the weather will be nice enough for their garage door “wall” to be fully open, joining the patio with the bar.

what

do YOU want

make?

pizza, pasta, hoagies and more!

7700 Ivory • STL, MO 314-638-8676

Next, pop into The Broadway Bean (5) for an espresso. While there, make sure to pick up a schedule of their Indie Movie Night featuring local filmmakers in lounge-style seating. Chico’s South Broadway Tattoo Co. (6) is right next door to line up your next set of ink at a parlor always aiming to please the customer. As Chico says, “It’s your body, not ours.” Then, hop to Mama Gusto’s (7) for Chicago-style pizza. If that’s not your cup of tea, walk across the street to Ivory Coast Bistro (8) for a Sunday brunch of perfectly mixed Bloody Marys and breakfast potato skins guaranteed to kill your hangover. »

7619 S. Broadway STL, MO 63111 314.659.8095

ART LIVE MUSIC CLASSIC & INDIE MOVIES COMEDY YOGA FULL BAR & FOOD

local

NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH J. GRAVITY STRINGS Situated on the banks of the big muddy, Gravity Strings buys, sells, repairs, and restores guitars, banjos, mandolins and amplifiers for over 30 years. Soulard 1546 S. Broadway (63104) 241-0190 | gravitystrings.com

Cherokee Street 2101 Cherokee St. (63118) 776-6599 | themudhousestl.com

MANGIA ITALIANO

SOUTH GRAND DELIVERED

It’s always a good time at Mangia, whether you’re looking for fresh pasta and a glass of wine, or a slice of pizza and a cold beer. There’s new late night drink specials now, too. South Grand 3145 Grand Blvd. (63118) 664.8585 | dineatmangia.com

Paid Advertising

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Craving the flavors of South Grand but don't want to leave the house? South Grand Delivered gets the best South City flavors straight to your door - by bike! South Grand By phone - 270-2276 southgranddelivered.com

STL STYLEHOUSE

FOAM COFFEE & BEER

St. Louis-inspired wearables, custom screen printing, and graphic design. You can't spell STYLE without STL!

With off-beat decor, snack plates, free WiFi, and weekly events and live shows, you’ve got the definitive place to work and play, open 4pm until late.

Cherokee Street 3159 Cherokee St. (63118) 494-7763 | stl-style.com/

Cherokee Street 3359 S. Jefferson Ave. (63118) 772-2100 | foamstl.com

NEBULA COWORKING

BLUEBERRY HILL

Nebula Coworking gives you over 15,000 square feet of creative office space in the heart of South City. Co-habitate with businesses in art, design, media, activism, consulting, and more.

A Landmark restaurant and music club filled with pop culture memorabilia and famous for great food — directly across from the new Chuck Berry Statue!

Cherokee Street 3407 S. Jefferson (63118) 632-6488 | nebulastl.com

The Loop 6504 Delmar Blvd. (63130) 727-4444 | blueberryhill.com

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