RETROh! WINTER 2012 / music ISSUE
FEATURING the lumineers bon iver john fullbright mumford and sons of monsters and men iron and wine
SHE & HIM and more!
$5.99 USD
$9.99 CAN
WINTER 2012 / MUSIC ISSUE
ON THE COVER 5
SHE AND HIM: A MARRIAGE MADE IN MUSICAL HEAVEN
9
THE LUMINEERS: FROM GRUNGE TO GRAMMYS
13
MUMFORD AND SON’S SOPHMORE ALBUM REVIEW
17
JOHN FULLBRIGHT & HIS LOVE FOR A NATIVE FOLK LEGEND
WINTER 2012 / MUSIC ISSUE
HEALTH & BEAUTY
HOME
1
5
WHAT KIND OF GLAM ARE YOU?
BOSE SOUND SYSTEM REVIEW
2
6
WORKOUT TIPS TO RULE THE STAGE
PLANTING ROOTS IN NASHVILLE
PHOTOGRAPHY
TECHNOLOGY
3
7
TIPS FOR TAKING GOOD BAND PHOTOS
APP A DAY: MAKING MUSIC
4
8
PHOTOGRAPHY: SPOTLIGHT: JEANEEN LUND
ARE HEADPHONE EFFECTING YOUR LISTENING?
RETROh! TRAVEL
9
TIPS FOR ROADTRIPPING TO BONAROO
10
ON THE ROAD: THE LIFE OF A TRAVELING BAND
EDITOR - IN - CHIEF Joanna Meachum CONTRIBUTING WRITERS A Southern Wedding: Brides of Oklahoma Vintage Hair Styles: Everyday Lingerie: Perfect Bridal Shower: Thank You Notes: PHOTOGRAPHY A Southern Wedding: Brides of Oklahoma Vintage Hair Styles: Everyday Lingerie: Perfect Bridal Shower: Thank You Notes:
DESIGN
DESIGN Joanna Meachum
11
SUBSCRIPTIONS In an ideal world this would be a real magazine, but due to the fact that it is a student designed magazine, subscriptions are not available at this time.
12
CORPORATE OFFICES For questions or concerns regarding this magazine, please feel free to contact the RetrOh! Founder Joanna Meachum by email: jmeachum@uco.edu
JASON MUNN: GIG POSTERS GALORE
TOP 10 TRENDS IN INDIE ARTISTS ALBUM COVERS
To inquire about jobs or internships in regards to this magazine, please contact Joanna Meachum at the email address as listed above. Please note the magazine does not employ any individuals, and was created as a student project. Joanna Meachum does not claim credit for any and all content that is not hers, and has credited to the best of her ability the photographers and writers that have helped to contribute to this magazine. This magazine is not for retail or individual sale.
SHE & HIM WRITTEN BY LAURA BARTON
Spend even a short while in the company of Zooey Deschanel, the Hollywood actress with the impeccable indie credentials, and Matt Ward, the celebrated lo-fi musician with the cult following, and you begin to understand the intricate workings of She & Him, the musical duo they launched two years ago with the beguiling record Volume One,
followed now by Volume Two. They speak at the same time, steer each other’s sentences, bandy and quibble and banter. Transcribing their conversation later becomes more like a delicate process of unpicking – unravelling Deschanel’s bright, high voice from Ward’s baritone murmer as they speak over and under one another.
PAGE
She & Him sprang from a Richard and Linda Thompson song, When I Get to the Border. Martin Hynes, director of The Go-Getter, had invited Ward and Deschanel (who also starred in the movie) to sing the duet over the closing credits of the film. The pair had never met, but hit it off immediately. “I thought Matt’s music was totally incredible and unique,” is how Deschanel recalls it. “And when we worked together that first time it made so much sense to me that I had to somehow convince this person to produce my songs, because I knew he was the only person who could do it right.” Deschanel’s songs were in fact dozens of home demos, amassed over the years but never played. She sent them to Ward. “And I was very lucky that he liked them.” Volume One was all bittersweet lyrics, shades of Roy Orbison, and a deep veneer of yesteryear evident in carefully chosen cover versions. This dusty, bygone feel is characteristic of Ward’s solo work, but is evident in Deschanel’s acting career too, in which her appeal has always been left-of-centre, all deadpan smarts and the kind of intelligent, old-fashioned beauty that is rare to the screen. “It feels like we come from a very similar place, taste-wise,” is how she sums it up. “There’s a lot of common ground,” says Ward. “Miles and miles of common ground.” Volume Two ploughs a similar furrow, but the songs this time are perhaps bolder, lusher and more detailed. “I’m proud of Volume One, but I’m even more proud of Volume Two,” says Deschanel. “I think because there are things that I’ve worked out now.” Ward agrees. “There’s more colours going on,” he says. “The first record has a more limited palette, if I can be so bold.” As with Volume One, the record includes two covers – “It’s a great way to continue your education in music, covering old songs.”
6
It feels like we come from a very similar place.... -Ward
The rest of the material is all new written by Deschanel. “It’s been nice to write them specifically for She & Him,” she says. “I find I write faster the more I do it; I have a rapport with my own song writing self.” Many of the songs were written while touring, road-tested on audiences and adapted accordingly. “And when we had a really big healthy batch of songs that were both incredible and finished,” says Ward, “we started making time to go into the studio.” Recording was a little easier this time for Deschanel. “I remember on the first record, the first day going in the studio,” she says, “walking into the house of our main engineer. His sound
retrohmag.com
room is downstairs in his living room, and the control room is upstairs in the attic. Matt said ‘So, I thought we could do [the album’s first track] Sentimental Heart, and he set it up and said, ‘OK, here are your headphones, we’re going upstairs. Go!’” She widens her eyes to saucers. “But I remember the voice in my head saying, ‘Just do it.’ It was like here goes nothing! And I love how that moment is on the record.” In contrast to all of this, Deschanel’s acting career may bring speculation that singing in an indie-folk band is just another role for her, something she might dabble in and quickly tire of, then move one. “I don’t know what people are thinking,” she says, awkwardly, before
I have a rapport with my own song writing self -Deschanel
Ward rescues her: “Some people have asked whether each song is a different character, and I think it’s an interesting question; people are curious to know how much acting is in your soul. But from talking to you and knowing you it seems that songs are more in your soul than anything. You love acting, but you don’t seem to be someone who puts it on some huge high pedestal.” “I don’t,” blurts Deschanel. “I mean, I like it, but the thing is being an actor, it’s about being empathetic and having sincerity, and those are also skills in my song writing. But I’m not like a lot of other actors, I don’t approach it the same way. There are a lot of actors who will sit here
and talk to you about characters – ‘He does this, and she’s a really interesting character because she does this.’ I’m not like that at all. I’m not an actory actor. It’s something I enjoy, when it’s semi-improvisational and you’re telling a story, and playing a part in telling the story. But I’m suspicious of this other way. My heart is in music in a way that it is not in acting.”--- And, of course, song writing still allows her to tell a story. “Yes! And the thing is I get to do it more in song writing because a lot of time in acting you get cut off before you get to say what you really want to say.” So She & Him Volume Three is likely? “It’s around the corner,” says Ward, and Deschanel smiles. “But I can’t tell you which corner.”
retro! WINTER 2012
how to survive bonaroo 7 THINGS EVERY BONNAROOer SHOULD KNOW Frequent RetrOh! contributor Tara Lynne Groth recently published the first and only guidebook to Bonnaroo, How Do You Roo? We asked Groth to give us five tips that will help make a first timer’s Bonnaroo as comfortable as possible. She came up with seven.
1) Avoid rush hour Even after unveiling new
traffic management plans last year, it still took me seven hours to go 10 miles. Unless there’s someone you’re dying to see Thursday night, consider showing up early Friday morning and you’ll miss most of the traffic. You’ll have to set up your tent farther away, but there are shuttles, and the walk isn’t that bad.
2) The sun hates you I put on sun block
every hour and I still got burned. Forget the tank tops and bikinis—wear t-shirts that have sunblock in them. And you can tell the veterans by their campsites. They have
retrohmag.com
really sturdy awnings and gazebos for sun protection. The sun rises at 6am and it’s hot, so unless you have an additional cover outside of your tent, you’ll be waking up at 6am too. Here’s a trick: run a tarp from the top of your car to the far end of your tent, giving your site shade from the sun.
3) Find peace when you can There’s not a
lot of down time at Bonnaroo, but Centeroo is peaceful between 6am and 11am. It’s also a treasure field of cash, phones, watches, etc. that people lost the night before. The Cinema Tent offers a respite from the hectic Bonnaroo scene. Last year, Cartoon Network was testing out webisodes of shows they were considering putting on air. It was neat to watch the network people watching the test audience for reactions. The comedians were also a great break. The music is always there. It’s nice to sit down and take a break.
PAGE
k c a p o t what ou
{so y
iss a
tm don’
10
A sweater: it may be hot as hell during the day, but nights get chilly, and you don’t want to look like a baby in a blanket. Not cute.
g}
thin
A good change of clothes: Nothing is nastier than trying to make new friends on your 3rd day in the same shirt
Binoculars: you’re not paying $$$ to just hang out with your friends. Take a pair of binoculars to see the band, and maybe the cute boy across the field
A good bag: to carry all of your supplies. Extra shoulder padding is a bonus!
retro! WINTER 2012
RETROh! This magazine will show the relation between retro design within several different design mediums: interior, graphic, typography, images, and wedding planning. The articles will display several different uses of modernized retro design and how retro things are making a comeback in modern day.