ISSUE 11
PILE
BAD HISTORY MONTH BIG NECK POLICE TWO INCH ASTRONAUT LOSER CRUISER
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EDITOR S LETTER WE MADE IT... through the best weekend of summer. Gigawatts Fest has come and gone. It was a TON of fun this year with 60+ of the best bands in Brooklyn participating and countless numbers of fans and friends coming out to party for four days straight. From the patio of Radio Bushwick to the sweaty, scorching, creepy rooms of Hot 97.4, Gigawatts Festival 2014 was an unforgettable experience. Every band brought their A-Game all weekend, and it was truly a celebration of all the great things happening in our little musical community. We also made it to Issue 11, which is something that took a lot longer to accomplish than I’d thought it would. With this issue we take it out of Brooklyn for the most part. Our cover stars, Pile, as well as Bad History Month both call Boston home, and Two Inch Astronaut is from Maryland. This is all due to our amazing guest editor for this issue, Exploding in Sound Records. Exploding in Sound is more or less the "cool" label right now, but more importantly, they’ve been supporting great music in the Northeast for a long time. And beyond just putting out great records, they support bands that they love whether they’re on the label or not.
This summer also brought about the genesis of our very own Gigawatts Records. For now we’ve only released a single by our good friend, Loser Cruiser. You’ll find an article on him in this issue and an ad for the single on the back of this magazine. I know it’s kind of cheating to give a new artist all of this exposure when they’re on our own label. There’s probably someone reading this who’s thinking, "They put their own artist in the magazine? That’s fucking lame." Maybe that dude should just stop reading this and go cry in a fucking corner all alone. I’m really excited that Gigawatts finally has the opportunity to not only talk about the music we love, but to also bring it to music listeners, fans and haters. We’ve got some cool stuff in the works on with this new label, and you’ll probably see and hear more of it as we get closer to CMJ. I hope you enjoy the condensed Issue 11. It might not have as many pages as our previous issue, but what it lacks in quantity it makes up for in quality. Thanks to all the bands and artists and writers that make this publication possible. And especially, thanks to all the people who read this magazine everytime we publish. --Danny.
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TEAM ISSUE 11
EDITOR IN CHIEF
DANNY KRUG
GUEST EDITORS
EXPLODING IN SOUND RECORDS
ASSOCIATE EDITOR/ILLUSTRATOR
ELIZABETH FARRELL
PHOTOGRAPHY/LAYOUT DESIGN
DANNY KRUG
LOGO DESIGN
NICOLE CODY
WRITERS
JORDYN BLAKELY ASHLEY CANINO LEAH MARCHESANO PRESTON OSSMAN DANNY KRUG
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
MARIA SAGE ANDREW MARATHAS ADRIC GILES KRIS KUSS
CONTACT gigawattsmag@gmail.com facebook.com/gigawattsmag instagram @gigwattsmag 2
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CONTENTS contents MUSIC 4
FLAGLAND
5
WASHER
6
LOSER CRUISER
8
BAD HISTORY MONTH
10
TWO INCH ASTRONAUT
12
BIG NECK POLICE
14
THE LIBRARY IS ON FIRE
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PILE
EXTRAS 20
SUMMER FESTIVAL RECAP
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words by leah marchesano photograph by danny krug
I set my speakers to the max, let down my hair and pressed play. What happened seconds later
could only be the result of a punk rock dream. My hair was knotted, my ears were ringing and my neck was in major need of a massage. It was a miracle, a gift for me and now a gift for you. Flagland is a three piece is made up of Nick "The Rock" Dooley, Kerry "Bear" Kallberg and Dan "D-Bag" Francia. In the course of three or so years, they have released three albums and one 7" (split with Big Ups). Their albums are meaty with their latest release, Love Hard, containing 20 tracks. These boys have music flowing from their veins and leaking out onto guitars and drums that later gets recorded for your listening pleasure. "Kerry writes a lot", says the band, "he is the main songwriter for Flagland. He just pops em out. With the 7", we recorded and mixed together for a weekend with Dan’s home set up. Love Hard was almost all Nick for recording and mixing. We had to piece that one together slowly between shows and life. We usually do all the recording, mixing, and mastering of our albums, but sometimes we outsource if it’s going to help the project. It almost always does, but everything comes out 4
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of our own pockets, so we do what we can." You can’t help but give a band like that credit. A band who does it all for the love of their craft, who have their hands in every part of the process. With more released in the works, Flagland also spend their nights playing at local Brooklyn venues with other local bands. Playing on average two shows a month, the band almost exclusively plays locally. Not that touring is 100% out of the question but two members have 9-5’s, so touring can get tricky. At the end of about 90% of my articles, I like to leave off with how the band feels about the current state of our DIY culture and community. I have to say, out of all the bands I’ve asked and out of all the answers I’ve gotten, Flagland gave me the most honest answer and therefore, my favorite. Their answer: "As far as "DIY" goes, if Skrillex can be on the cover of NME saying "DIY is my culture", then I don’t wanna have anything to do with that. The phrase has become meaningless through overuse, just like the word "hipster". If you’re referring to a musical community, I don’t
know that there is one. There certainly isn’t much loyalty among the Brooklyn scene. Some bands we’ve played with for years get popular and suddenly don’t wanna play with us anymore. Most bands don’t bat an eyelash when you give blood opening for them and then try to network or whatever. I’m being wildly hyperbolic, (as I tend to be) but I can count the number of bands who are true allies on one hand. The only semblance of real community I’ve encountered is in the people at Shea Stadium, who have been warm and nourishing from the very first show." I’ve witnessed situations like this and was wondering when one of these bands would actually spit it out and say it. Flagland’s honesty only adds to the proof that they are the real deal when it comes to punk rock. Their music is for the gutter rats, for the honest of heart, for the kids who actually give a shit.
"Cool story: we saw The Lego Movie in Burlington, VT with Flagland and we all had a really good time." WASHER: White. Anglo. Saxon. Heteronormative. Eurocentric. Royalists. At least that’s what the band says Washer stands for, making sure to note, "we are & Bedrooms), a collective/label makes you tap your foot or want staunch supporters of British that includes their friends and to shove someone standing next crown rule over the North Amerpeers, Big Ups and Flagland as to you at a show. ican colonies." well as other related projects. In the immediate future, WashWasher is a two piece self categoThe band doesn’t really have a er can be found playing shows rized "wonk, sponk or rock-core" set way of working with each oth- around Brooklyn at venues like band made up of guitarist/vocaler when it comes to writing new Death by Audio and Baby’s All ist Mike Quigley and drummer Kisongs. "We mostly just fart out Right. For the longterm, this is eran McShane. According to the songs, and whichever ones we what the band has to say about band, "We were frustrated that think work, we play live." Where their goals, "Our plans for the fuwe were not in Flagland, so we some two piece bands might fall ture are to try as hard as we can, decided to start our own band." flat due to lack of onstage ac- but not so hard that we hurt ourThey released an EP on cassette tion, Washer excels with perfor- selves, to continue making songs and digital earlier this year on mances full of energy that might that are at least as good as the ECB&B (East Coast Basements appear to take on a sloppy punk ones we’ve already made." aesthetic, but never sacrificing their sound for the sake of onstage action and craziness. They play loud and fast and have more words and photograph by danny krug energy than a lot of "cool" bands playing in this scene. While it’s clear that Washer has a sense of humor, especially when talking about themselves, the songs aren’t cheesy joke songs. There is a playful quality to their sound, that kind of playfulness that
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few days and the tenant renting next door was Stephen Baldwin. He was nice." But touring with Team Spirit came after a self-imposed break from the road. When he moved to New York City, it just so, super teenage. "My first was time to take a few years off. tour was way back when I was in Though he wasn’t on the road, high school. I went out in a min- Smith stayed close to the scene ivan on a self-booked tour with working as a business manager my friends when I was 16. They for a local company: "I did tour actually picked me up from the accounting and day to day finanorthodontist’s office the day I got cial management for bands like my braces off and we left for 5 Dawes, Edward Sharpe, Neon Inweeks." Between then and tour- dian and Fruit Bats." ing with Team Spirit, Smith barely took a break. His progression But eventually Smith quit that as a musician pretty much went job and found himself with some from braces to badass. "More extra time on his hands. The timrecently, out with Team Spirit, ing, last winter, was ripe for bewe rented a duplex in LA for a ing miserable. Smith’s current
Kieren Smith has seen a few sides of life as a musician. In high school he played Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall shows in Minnesota. His first tour was
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solo project, Loser Cruiser, began as a way to keep busy and distracted from the brutal temperatures and constant powdery deluge. "[It] was super cold so I spent most of the time locked away in my studio/apartment,"says Smith. Thankfully the project survived the change and seasons and tracks have made their way to our playlists. Smith teased us with a subtly updated cover of The Turtle’s "Happy Together" and followed in June with the release of his debut single, "Girls Night," on Gigawatts Records. The single is reminiscent of some of the artist Smith lists among his influences: "I thoroughly enjoy most 60s/70s rock such as the Eagles, Pink Floyd, and the Doobie Broth-
ers. I also really like Prince, he is ment with chill vibez." my spirit animal. And of course the Beach Boys." With an EP expected in the fall, Loser Cruiser has solidified as a Loser Cruiser tracks are notice- project rather than a diversion, ably different from Team Spir- but it has yet to take on any parit’s material, in influence and ticular direction. Smith says he production. Smith describes the aims to, ‘make fun music that new sound as, "classic surf pop keeps him warm.’ The sentiment recorded in a dirty basement and is welcome in a scene that has fueled by pizza rolls." One might become crowded with agenda add that his debut single is re- and commentary with less focus freshingly sweet and simple, but on the music or just, you know, not basic. Aside from setting out making people smile. While digthe pizza rolls—which we can all ging his local contemporaries— assume are still too hot when he he mentions Honduras, Dead starts housing them—Smith has Stars and Sofa Club by name— other ways of stimulating his Smith appreciates that contrast workflow: "Usually when it comes between his sound and some to writing, I just lock myself away other local acts: "I think Brookand get lost with my guitar in lyn has a lot of super awesome the depths pro tools. I do all the bands right now, I just think our writing and tracking at the same sound falls on the brighter side time in my studio. It is a very fo- of the fence." cused but unrestricted environ-
words by ashley canino photography by danny krug
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Bad History Month recorded feels hollow and disposable and Bad History Month recently put their first album in 2009. Af- discouraging. Life is pretty mean- out Famous Cigarettes, a split with ter thirteen more releases; splits, records, demos, live albums, and full lengths over the span of eight years, they have a lot to show for themselves. Oftentimes bands are either subject to changing their sound several times or having a constant slew of replacement members, that is if they last more than one year without disbanding. Yet Bad History Month’s sound is unmistakable, no matter which artifact from their catalog you stumble upon. Unforgivingly honest lyrics over guitar melodies that cut into your soul before sewing it up again, nobody sounds like Bad History Month, or ever will. "That’s always just seemed like the whole point to me, to try and make something that feels real. People can sense bullshit and it 8
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ingless either way, but you can fool yourself with beauty sometimes, so you might as well try to contribute to that side of things."
Songwriter Jeff M. has more wisdom on staying true to your art than he is willing to admit. "I’m pretty bad at this game" I don’t think anyone should take any cues from me. I keep going because I have nothing better to occupy my time with. In the immortal words of Eugene Mirman, ‘A backup plan is the first step towards failure’. It’s always been fun and miserable pretty equally, which is how I imagine most things that feel worth doing are. I’m glad we just went for it and didn’t wait for anyone to offer us any help for the first couple years."
Dust From 1000 Years, via Exploding In Sound and Limited Appeal Records, and the two are touring together from June to August of this year. "There was never any plan, strategy or knowledge of the music biz involved, which I’m happy about, because it allowed me to be unselfconscious, and not get discouraged. Back then I imagined I was participating in some kind of righteous meritocracy where people could come together in the real world through their art and the good stuff would rise to the top. It seemed like there might be some level just below the radar of the internet-hype music culture that we could operate in. But I lost my patience with obscurity once we started putting out records I was proud of and wanted
people to hear them."
no room for confusion anymore. ward to from Bad History Month, We’re all one big unhappy family, musically and for everyone inEvery musician can relate to the haha." volved in what the band has beangst generated from the recome today. "It’s all positive. I sponse or lack thereof to one’s The Bad History Month family ex- think we were both bored doing material, and the pressure to tends beyond Jeff and Mark, par- things the same way for so long, have internet presence as affir- ticularly to Dan Angel and James so now Mark gets to record bands mation that your music is being Ryskalchick of Sex Dungeon, the all the time and I don’t have to appreciated. "In this biz, it’s hard Philidelphia studio where most beg anyone to come do this stuff not to feel like real life means of BHM’s music has been record- with me. It’s really fun [playing nothing unless someone says it ed. Another important mention is drums]. Makes practicing [mudoes on the internet. Nowadays Adric Giles, the artist behind the sic] fun again. It’s always a good even yoga instructors have PR album ‘Bad History Month’. "He’s time learning something you’re people, so the competition is stiff. done a bunch of art stuff for the bad at, because you can feel the It’s been good to have help from band over the years, but the work improvement pretty quickly." EIS dealing with the greasy intri- he did on the comic and poster cacies of getting the internet to really blew me away." explains words by jordyn blakely tell people that this music exists. Jeff. photography by adric giles + kris kuss But maybe I need to have more faith in ye old word of mouth. It seems there is a lot to look forSlow and steady seems to be working pretty well too. I wouldn’t still be doing this if it wasn’t for the wonderful people who buy stuff at shows and through mail order. I guess longevity is it’s own reward/slick career move." Shortly after releasing Fat History Month’s album Bad History Month in April 2013, the word "Bad" replaced "Fat" in acknowledgement of a duo project turned solo. Jeff performs drums on the latest recordings as well as live, using his feet to play bass drum and hihat underneath his guitar and vocals. He explains, "I always called it [Bad History Month] when I did solo shows, just as a joke, so I figured I’d go with that now that I’m doing it solo. [The name] Fat History Month was supposed to be an affirmation of the individual, as in, what you look like physically shouldn’t define your identity if you don’t want it to. It’s way too ambiguous though, and just comes off as a fat joke. But everyone’s got Bad History, personally and politically, so there’s ISSU E 1 1
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words by preston ossman photography by maria sage
+ andrew marathas
It would surely be easier to be started out as a group character- the dissonance of the first record an astronaut if one was only ized by the disorient strumming is merely magnified through the two inches tall. The forced re- and picking of an acoustic gui- process of amplification. Certaintar backed by a minimal rhythm section. Their first release, Slip Disco (2010), sounds like Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged session, focusing on moody noodling and features a string section which might seem out of place on the record if it was not for the melodically complex interaction between Rosenberg’s vocals and guitar playing. Red Pancake and the Dark Energy (2012), the groups second release, immediately differentiates itself from Slip Disco by means replace much of the Regardless of these musings acoustic guitar with an roaring surrounding the practicality of electric ax, making Two Inch Asa two inch astronaut, the band tronaut sound much Two Inch Astronaut folarger and louder cus more on the ocethan ever before. anic feeling of being The melodic comin outer space than the plexity of the group logistics of getting there. Origis certainly not lost and inating in Colesville, Maryland Two Inch Astronaut, composed of Matt Gatwood on drums, Sam Rosenberg on guitar/vocals, and Daniel Pouridas on bass, quired to launch such a miniscule space traveling into the cosmos who be significantly less than that which is needed for the full-sized astronauts normally used. Moreover, once outside the stratosphere, the size of the astronaut wouldn’t matter because space is vast regardless of the size: whether one is two inches or 6 feet tall, distances between planets and solar systems are expansive.
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ly, fans of the band appreciate both records for what they have to offer, but Red Pancake opens the door for a noisier side of the band only hinted at on Slip Disco. Up to this point, however, it would seem that the bands definitive record is Bad Brother, released in 2013 through Exploding in Sound. With clearer production than the previous two releases, Bad Brother showcases the dynamic range of Two Inch Astronaut without losing the intensity of Red Pancake. "Swol," the opening track on the record waxes and wanes, lurching for-
ward and backwards, failing to provide the listener with a ballast upon which to stable oneself. Immediately following "Swol," the band launches into a ferocious auditory assault on "Spank Jail," reminiscent of post-hardcore groups like Jawbox. Although the Two Inch Astronaut is admittedly influenced by "anything J. Robbins has ever done," there is still a strong sense of pop song writing in their music which is lost in many post-hardcore projects. Speaking to this end, there are moments on Bad Brother the resemble the weird grooves of XTC or the tongue-in-cheek lyrical delivery of Stephen Malkmus which interrupt the many heavy moments of the record. Two Inch Astronaut do not let there influence dictate their style. In the world of 80’s revivalism and lo-fi fetishism, Bad Brother is a generally more reminiscent of radio rock from the late 90’s and early 00’s, a perfect fit for those of us who still listen to the Foo
Fighter unironically and can get down with Josh Homme, no matter how tepid his recent releases might be. Although the "punk police" (you probably know a few) might try and chastise Two Inch Astronaut for their crisp production and moments of downtempo respite, this sort of criticism fails to phase the group. In fact, the general response from Two Inch Astronaut is that these types of critics are definitively un-punk, and only perpetuate an antiquated stereotype that "punk" has to be fast, simple songs recorded poorly. Not to say that alt-rock bands were ever particularly punk, but referencing this sort of music doesn’t not make one’s own music less powerful, and should not be derided because it isn’t in keeping with a certain aesthetic. The group is generally hesitant to even talk about genre. When asked about distinctions they might draw between "alt-rock," "punk rock," and "indie-rock,"
group replies that they wouldn’t be the band to talk to about genres. "We like what we like and we play what we want to play. If after this album the spirit moves us play reggaeton or something, that’s what we’ll do. It’s great when people like what we do, but we don’t do this for money or approval and we certainly don’t do it for ‘indie rock.’ We do it for pleasure. We do it for reggaeton." The group recently finished recording another full length, entitled Foulbrood, which should be out later this year, but I wouldn’t expect reggaeton on the record as the group suggests that it is even darker that Bad Brother. Until it is released, however, I encourage the reader to think about what a reggaeton Two Inch Astronaut record might sound like. Surely, it would be pretty angular, discordant, and beautiful, but perhaps that is just what reggaeton world needs, a little more rock to shake things up.
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I began my interview with Big instrument a certain death-rat- mercially viable or not. Perhaps, Neck by asking them to intro- tle. Without any of its members, however, the problem getting duce themselves. Hugo Stanley, Big Neck would be structurally their music into popular medrummer for the group, hops in after a moment of hesitation, "Well, I’m big; Mac [Kelly] is obviously neck; and Paco [Cathcart] has to be The Police." To be clear, however, nearly nothing Paco evokes with his guitar and vocals in the context of a Big Neck performance or recording sounds anything remotely like The Police. Both bands can lock into grooves led by rolling bass, held down by Kelly, and sharp drumming, but the Big Neck din is a much better articulation of the feelings many people have towards actual law enforcement. Anxious and aggressive, Big Neck Police are the brutality boiling behind the eyes of a cop and the contempt felt by anyone who has been victim to this brutality themselves. Regardless of the differences between the Police and Big Neck, the conversation briefly became a discussion of how Sting apparently claimed writing credit for almost every Police song and makes thousands of dollars a day off P. Diddy’s "I’ll Be Missing You," which largely samples the guitar part from "Every Breath You Take," written by guitarist Andy Summers, not Sting. Although the anecdote is off-hand, the idea that any single member of a three-piece band could claim absolute credit for the work of the group is offensive to the Big Neck boys. The group requires that Stanley lays down thunderous rhythms while Kelly undulates underneath. Once this base is established, Cathcart is able to explore and elaborate upon a pallet of screeches and squawks, coming both from his throat and the guitar he strangles, giving the
lacking, obtuse, but together the holes are filled and the result is ferocious.
For the purposes of comparison, however, a much more fitting comparison to Big Neck Police is Modest Mouse at a time when they too were a three-piece.When listening to Big Neck’s first full length, Lurch, I am reminded of the moments of beauty on a track like "Break Through" from This Is a Long for Someone with Nothing to Think About, which begins with uncomfortably beautiful guitars and vocals before plunging into yelped and panicked lyrics and crashing instrumentals. Don’t think, however, that Big Neck will require the talents of someone like Johnny Marr to eventually marginalize the patented Big Neck heaviness. The group embraces the scrappiness and youthful energy that groups like early Modest Mouse or Drive Like Jehu (who’s sound Big Neck references without having heard their records till recently) encapsulate.
dia could be solved if Tony Hawk got a hold of a track and put it in the next installment of the Pro Skater franchise. This would not only be fitting because a Big Neck song would sound at home alongside the punk jams the Pro Skater soundtrack is known for, but also because every member of Big Neck skates. Kelly confesses that one of his pastimes is watching skate videos with the sound off and putting on Big Neck recordings, and the group often discusses being a "skate punk band," a genre which seemingly peaked with groups like Blink-182 and The Offspring.
Ultimately, however, unlike much of this pop-punk of the late nineties, I believe Big Neck Police get to the heart of what being skater and making music means. If one is to be made a petty criminal by harmless pass times like smoking pot, skating where you shouldn’t, or having house shows, one has a right to hold distain for the police and their big necked, hyper-aggressive response to kids just trying to have A running joke in the group, how- fun. To this extent, Big Neck Poever, is that they expect that lice intuit the aggressiveness someday they will make a choice they face from figures of authorto write music for commercials. ity and bring this frustration to Kelly suggests that once they the music they make. are tired of trying to grind their way through the NY scene using the powerful and personal music they are producing now, they will settle for writing cheesy riffs and try to get them in advertisements words by preston ossman for trucks. In the mean time, bephotography by danny krug fore the group consciously sellsout, they are intent on being true to themselves and producing the hard-hitting music they currently making, whether it is comISSU E 1 1
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The Library Is On Fire is the know it once was to the unbear- brary Is On Fire watched it sprout musical project of Steve Five. ably hip area it’s evolved into. up around them, "I’ve seen other It’s structured in the now more prevalent Trent Reznor/NIN frontman plus rotating band format. "We started in 2007 and it was mostly just a recording project just to begin with...the idea initially is that I would be the cornerstone of it. I wanted to start a project where it wouldn’t break up unless I decided it would," says Steve.
"I’ve pretty much been off the Morgan stop for the past 10 years. The first month I was, I almost got jumped. It was like a wasteland, nobody was around. Occasionally you might see someone who looked like you and dressed like you, but mostly it was just industrial workers or just nobody around at all," says Steve.
bands come up, it seems to come in short bursts...Life Size Maps came around after a while. We would have loft parties and DIIV played one when they were first starting up, Total Slacker, Night Manager...I can’t even remember all the bands that have played." The neighborhood and the new scene have had an impact on the band in a different way than most people around here, "We’ve kind of become more insular. After our second record, we were trying to push it. There was a point where we got a little disillusioned with being in the music business. So now we just do it at our own pace," says Steve.
When The Library Is On Fire beUnlike a lot of musicians playing gan, the Brooklyn music scene in this neighborhood currently, was much different than it is now. Steve has been in Bushwick for Most of the bands we listen to toabout 10 years. While kids off the day didn’t even exist. "We were Morgan and Jefferson stop com- friends with Oneida and some of monly speak about how much those late 90s/early 2000s New the area has changed in what- York bands like Ex-Models," says ever short period of time they’ve Steve about the scene when he been here, Steve has seen it go started. Since then, the Brooklyn The band recently released their from the industrial zone we all music scene has become what newest album, Halcyon & Surit’s known as now and The Li14
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rounding Areas, and the recording process this time around was a little different than their previous albums, "We got Todd Tobias who does Bob Pollard’s stuff and Guided By Voices’ stuff to produce our first record and he’s done most of the subsequent recordings except for our most recent one. That was done ourselves in my loft," says Steve. He calls the feel of the new record "mid-fi" or "crystal clear lo-fi." Everything was recorded to cassette fourtrack and then digitized and they did overdubs before running it back through the cassette fourtrack. As far as the new Bushwick musical ecosystem influencing
their work, Steve notes, "I think we put a little more reverb and delay on this [new] record than we maybe have in the past. That may have something to do with some of these new bands." The Library Is On Fire is currently on a bit of a hiatus as their drummer, Cory Race, is currently playing with Christines, the new project from Andrew Burr of Woven Bones. However, even though they’re not playing shows right now, the band is already thinking about their next record. "We’ve been listening to a lot of Brian Eno and talking about going in a different direction with the
sound of the next record," says Steve. The band plans to start on the next record as soon as they can so new material from The Library Is On Fire shouldn’t be too far off.
words and photography by danny krug
words by winston scarlett photograph by danny krug
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Pile is a hard band to pin down, they’re clearly a loud rock band but there’s nothing that can be pointed to as "Pile’s thing." They’re not the band with
other bands around town Matt played in Margin Walker and Matt played in Mutt," says Rick. With a steady stream of releases dating back to 2007, listeners can start at the beginning the weird instrumentation or the and hear for themselves how Pile band that sounds like this band became the band they are now. mashed up with this other band. The earlier recordings are more They’re from Boston and fit into stripped down compared to what what’s happening up there right the band has become now, but now but also are carving out their Rick still carries the same overall own niche that’s made for Pile tone throughout the majority of by Pile. They don’t subscribe to his recorded material. a certain sound or genre necessarily, "It seems pointless to limit what you want to do, and it’s really rewarding and fun to challenge yourself with new ideas," says lead singer, Rick Maguire. Most people who hear the name Pile followed by their music say something like "Oh, that’s a fitting name," but Rick admits that the reasoning behind the name was rather simple, "It was simple and stupid and easy to remember and surprisingly no one had taken it." Pile started as a solo project for Rick but has since evolved into a full band with Matt Becker, Matt Connery and Kris Kuss rounding out the lineup. "Kris and I met at a grocery store. I met Matt and Matt through playing in
The A-Side of Pile’s most recent 7" is titled "Special Snowflakes," and while maintaining a sound that is distinctly Pile, manages to set itself apart from the tracks on 2012’s Dripping LP. The new material retains the heavy sound and feeling that Pile is known for, but applies it to a song that clocks in at over seven minutes. "Special Snowflakes" welcomes the listener in with a slow build with inviting piano and minimal guitar before hitting the listener with scratchy loud chords and aggressive vocals. Like "Special Snowflakes," Pile’s Dripping LP also plays with volume and aggression, but on a more track to track basis. On writing and influences, Rick says, "I put as much if not more time in to the structure of the song as I do the vocals. But as far as writing lyrics, it’s tough to say who I’ve drawn influence from directly and consistently because it’s usually pretty scattered in how I collect the ideas for them. Usually one line will pop out somewhere I’ll write it down and then it can become easier to write lyrics around it." The band likes to use non-traditional guitar tunings in their songs, "We use this one mostly: C F Bb Dd G C, this one not as often: Bb F Bb Dd G C, and this one fairly
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infrequently: Bb F Bb D F Bb," says Rick. Part of the band’s unique sound can be attributed to that. But the songs don’t sound like they’re using weird tunings just to be weird. Pile is comfortable writing and playing songs with guitars that don’t sound traditional. If the most recent 7" was any sign of what listeners can expect from Pile in the near future, it’s safe to say that we’ll be getting a record that feels familiar but also pushes the band into new territory that they haven’t explored yet. It’ll be a logical progression, the kind that listeners can appreciate without feeling alienated from a band they’ve supported in the past. Expect loud guitars, both melodic and screaming vocals along with thoughtful and descriptive lyrics.
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Being from Boston, things can be tricky for a band right now. Cops seem dead set on shutting down every little DIY basement show and sucking the fun out of everything. From what we’ve heard down here in Brooklyn, its a tough time to be a band in Boston that wants to play shows in your hometown. Basement shows are becoming scarce and very secretive if they do actually happen. It’s hard to gauge the reality of a situation like that without living there, but it seems as if the vibrant DIY culture that we enjoy, and likely take for granted, isn’t the same up there. Taking that into consideration, the amount of great music that is coming out of the Boston area right now is astounding. Pile along with their peers in bands such as Krill, Grass is Green, Bad History Month etc. are bringing something to listeners that isn’t
happening in the Brooklyn bubble. That crackdown on DIY culture in Boston appears to be bringing bands in that area down here to Brooklyn more often and also to other places around the northeast and the rest of the country. Like a lot of those bands, Pile tours fairly regularly, and as DIY tours always go, there are crazy things that happen and stories to be told. "We were driving from Birmingham, Alabama to Little Rock in February and as the sun went down, the road froze. Snow had melted earlier that day and then turned to ice that night. We were about 100 miles outside of the city a few hours before we had to be there for the show. It took us about 8 hours to go those 100 miles. We were in bumper
to bumper traffic traveling at roughly 5 mph the whole time. Nobody knew how to drive on the ice. I was bored and frustrated and so I decided to get high. This was out of character for me at the time. I then had to pee. We were still in the van, going 5 miles an hour, we didn’t have any bottles or anything, so Kris suggested I open the side door of the van and just pee standing in the doorframe of the moving van, something he did effortlessly minutes earlier. I had a tougher time with this. I started to pee, lost my balance and fell back into the van, laughing peeing on myself. I also farted during this, and I was convinced that I had shit my pants, this was about 2 hours in to this 8 hour drive. We ended up getting to the venue and after having going through a number of emotional phases (denial, acceptance, sadness, etc) I checked my
pants and I hadn’t shat in them, I was just high. But I did pee on myself," says Rick when asked about his tour stories.
solid, the live show is energetic and the crowd really gets into it. Regularly playing shows in Brooklyn, both as a full band and just Rick solo acoustic, it’s easy It seems as if the all too com- to get your Pile fix one way or anmon phrase, "That band FUCKING other. The band also has a short killed it!" was made for Pile. The tour booked in the fall, followed band is a favorite of local musi- by a much larger tour next year cians and devoted music fans that runs from February through here in Brooklyn. On any given April. night that Pile plays in Brooklyn you’ll see members of other bands floating around the audience during the show even if they have to catch a last minute cab to play a show of their own at another venue that same night. words and photography by danny krug Go to a Pile show and you will get sweaty, you will get shoved around a bit and you’ll definitely have a good time, unless you hate fun. Pile puts on one of the most solid, engaging shows in rock music today. There’s no bullshit to cut through, the songs are
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Summer Festival Photo Recap By Danny Krug This summer we went to some festivals and Gigawatts had our own festival as well. Here is my iPhone’s version of Governor’s Ball, Gigawatts Festival and Out in the Streets.
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STUFF WE’RE LISTENING TO AND THINK YOU’LL DIG
Knuckle Puck - Split 7"
Fucked Up - Glass Boys
Sunflower Bean - Tame Impala
Journalism - 1324
Joyce Manor - Never Hungover Again
The Due Diligence - Are You Down