Issue 2 by Kode Magazine LLC

OUR MISSION:

EDITOR’S NOTE:

As with anything new, people are hesitant. People aren’t sure at first if they want to try something different, but as I was told numerous times as a child, “Always give something a try, you never know what you’ll like.” It applies not only to cauliflower, chicken, beef, or mushrooms, but to music. A quick look at rock might bring AC/DC or The Rolling Stones to mind, but there are other bands, like those featured in last issue. There’s also bigger names like Modest Mouse, The Strokes, Arcade Fire, and Mastodon. Everyone needs a shot. In this issue, we feature an assortment of bands that are not necessarily following the same paths of every other band in their genre. Mazmyth is a progressive rock band without vocals, but who needs them with music that speaks for itself? Pearl and the Beard are a set of musicians playing classical instruments that come together in this indie rock band. Surrogate is a pop band, but their lyrics challenge the way you think, and sometimes your vocabulary. Speaking in Tongues is a one-man-band, Alex Profera, and it’s a great alternative band, with no genre to define it. This new age of music has brought out all sorts of new sounds and instruments into the music industry. Musicians think more out of the box so as to get attention from fans, and to be original. Cello, standing bass, saxophone--anything can spice up music. Give it a try, because it might be your new favorite treat. Sincerely, Editor-In-Chief Jordan Mary editor@kodemagazine.com

YOUR AD HERE

Our mission is to allow you, the fan, to get to know our featured bands intimately. We’re focused on bringing you in-depth interviews with the latest unsigned bands and bringing new music styles out into the light. We hope to share new music with you, by introducing you to bands that are the best thing you’ve never heard.

KOD

| JUNE/JULY ISSUE

K O D E MAGAZINE STAFF: Editorial and Production: Assistant Editor & Photographer: Adrian Navarro Editor-In-Chief: Jordan Mary Cover Word Art: Dana DeCoursey Cover Photographer: Dana DeCoursey Content Editor: Sarah Connors Assistant Photo Editor: Katelyn Raymond Surrogate Photographer: Ryan Keller Pearl and the Beard Phtographers: Shervin Lainez Kevin Harbor Speaking in Tongues Photographers: Lucille Hansen Michael Lee Treasurer and Financial Advisor: Sevan Boyajian Publisher: Heidel Print visit heidelprint. com Acknowledgements:

CONTENTS: SURROGATE p.5

PEARL AND THE BEARD p.9

MAZMYTH p.13

SPEAKING IN TONGUES p.19

KOD

*edit from last issue on Take One Car’s article. Branden Waite’s name is misspelled, we apologize.

| JUNE/JULY ISSUE 4

INTELLIGENT POP MUSIC.

A little pop, a little country, some folk, and a lot of heart make up Surrogate’s sound. All living in California, Surrogate is composed of Christopher Keene, guitarist and lead singer, Michael Lee, also on guitar and providing backup vocals, Daniel Martin on keyboard, xylophone and tambourine, Jordan Mallory on drums and Daniel Taylor on bass. The have played with bands like Sherwood, mewithoutyou, and Mew, but they definitely deserve a stage of their own. Why did you guys name your band Surrogate? Daniel M: There’s really not much rhyme or reason to it, I just liked the concept of it… of surrogacy. Daniel T: Maybe from a Freudian point of view, maybe it’s of vaginal intimacy. Daniel T: Or maybe that’s just me, I don’t know.

[more laughter] Chris:Yeah, no there’s no reason to it. It’s just a cool name. Michael: It’s super rad. [they laugh] How did you guy’s all meet?

Chris: Well, it started with me and Jordan, and we played in a band together, shortly before Surrogate was formed. And, we just carried on from there, and we collected… well me and Daniel Martin played together in a band from High School. And Daniel and Michael were just cool guys, and we had hung out for a long time. So they were playing in a band for about 3 years. We’re all born and raised in the northern california area…. well… maybe Central California area?

Where do you guys get all your inspiration and influence from? Chris: As far as lyrically, I’m inspired by hypothetical situations that strike me as funny, or weird, um… [they all break into laughter] Chris: Just a lot of like me storytelling, that may or may not have happened to me personally that is just kind of a interesting social situation to be placed in. As far as musically, i tend to draw from a lot of my favorite musicians and like here’s an example, I’d say David Devine, Deciple, and like… I don’t know, I’m a big fan of the Morning Benders, bands like that.

was more rock based, and indie pop sound. This one has kind of been somewhere in the middle, we have some country sounding twangy songs, and some more upbeat… kinda just a blend of both of the first two records we made. And I think as a songwriter, I’ve gotten a lot more comfortable with my rhythm of writing lyrics , being able to choose a direction rather than just kind of thinking what comes out and trying to make it fit. I think that’s probably the thing that was the most evolutional in the process. What is the band direction? Where do you see yourselves in the next year? Chris: My ultimate direction in life? [they laugh] Chris: I think that’s a tough one, we’re all just kinda on the playing it by ear game right now, because we’re all kinda in a place in life where we can’t just pack up

Are you all influenced by the same thing? Daniel T: No, I like listening to different things. We all play in side bands that sound a lot different than Surrogate. Some of us play in metal bands, some of us play in folkier bands. We all just bring it into a big pot and it comes out as we’re playing. We’re a folk-metal hybrid. But you know, we all, I’m sure we all have some of the same favorites, but we all kinda bring our own approach. Daniel M: One of the most common threads in our musical taste is the late 90’s indie rock type stuff like Radiohead, or President, Primus, [jumbled mess of band names] [they laugh] Daniel M: There’s a line where we crossed into sarcasm, but we’re okay with being quoted with any of those bands. How’s your music evolved since your band first started playing together? Chris: The first record that we did was very simple, minimalist kind of bullcrock stuff, and since we’ve matured the current line up, we’ve become more towards since the last record

KOD

SURROGATE

Daniel M: Well, the town we’re from, is small enough that every musician knows each other. Daniel T: Yeah, well if you’re here for more than 5 or 6 years you can get an average amount of playing, and you get to be friends with everybody. It’s kind of this big band orgy. It becomes more about having a long lasting relationship with one another. It’s been like 4 year’s now, Chris? Chris: 4 years now… yeah…shit hold on…

| JUNE/JULY ISSUE 6

What instruments do you use and why? Michael: We use guitars… [they laugh]

“WE’RE ALL KINDA IN A PLACE IN LIFE WHERE WE CAN’T JUST PACK UP AND LIVE ON $5 A DAY, 8 WEEKS AT A TIME.” -Chris

“WE GET A Chris: I play a fender tele, primarily through a vox ac30, with a couple just random pedals. I’m not too heavy on the gear, that’s LOT OF, ‘OH my go to set up. T: I’m a fender man, I have an old 70’s p bass, and i have SURROGATE Daniel an ampeg classic head. Yeah, I have an ampeg classic, no big deal, and that’s my magical bass sound. SOUNDS Michael: I use a vox ac30 like Chris, and a 70’s epiphone wilshire, LIKE IT is what it’s called, and it’s an old guitar, and it’s great. WOULD BE Daniel M: I play on a nordelectro 2 keyboard, and I think I play it cause… oh and also a wurlitzer, also no big deal, and I play beA METAL cause this guy Mikey in my favorite band Sherwood plays that so I had to copy him. BAND,’ [they all laugh] WE’RE NOT Jordan: I play a late 70’s model Ludwig white drum set, with preferably Zildjian cymbals, when I get my hands on them, and that’s A METAL pretty much it. BAND.” Daniel T: How about your stick endorsement dude? Jordan: Ah yes! Vater sticks. Best sticks. They’re pretty great. -Daniel T Daniel T: That’s one thing that’s great, is that even though we don’t really tour, we all have jobs and lives and it’s hard to get to those things like free gear that signed bands. Yeah, so we need the help that you can give us! All you people out there please help! [they all yell for help] Any last words? Daniel T: Yeah, I mean, just check us out! One of our problems is that we’ve always been a band that makes people think, without a preconceived idea of what we would sound like. Just take a few minutes to check us out and if you don’t like us that’s fine, just try it on. Chris: We get a lot of oh Surrogate sounds like it would be a metal band, we’re not a metal band. Daniel M: We’re a folk metal band. [they laugh] Chris: Thank you for your interest in us. [everyone says thank you]

KOD

and live on $5 a day 8 weeks at a time. However i think we all would be excited for a chance to get that far. [they laugh together in agreement] Chris: But we’re all just not in the right places. Some of us are going to school, most of us are married, and Jordan has a kid. Not you Jordan, but our Jordan… But yeah, so um, but we’re kinda in a weird sort of limbo state, where we’d be in for doing a tour once in a while just for fun, and we’d also would definitely be interested in doing something more substantial. Jordan: It’s like we’re dating, we’re not looking for marriage, we’re just open to something. Daniel T: For me, I just want to try to get heard by a lot of people and I don’t even care if they don’t like it, just at least like have the chance to be heard. That’s the main goal, and it’s hard to do that now, because there’s so much noise and so many bands that have myspace, pure volume, Facebook, and it’s hard to just get through that noise and be, “Hey, I’m here and hear me.” I just wanna find a way to be heard, and that’s the main goal. Chris: I think in amendment to my earlier statement would be, I think we want to be in TV or movies or commercials, and I think that would be ideal. Jordan: If we could be on a show like Yo Gabba Gabba that would be awesome. Daniel T: How did you hear about us Jordan? Editor: My boyfriend recommended you guys. Chris: We’ll have to add that to our market research package. [they laugh]

| JUNE/JULY ISSUE 8

PEARL ANDTHE BEARD MODERN SOUL, AND THEY’VE GOT A LOT OF IT.

They’re called Folk-Rock on itunes, on myspace they’re folk-soul-americana, and to me I’d say they’re whatever they choose to be. The beauty of Pearl and the Beard is that it is what you make of it. Every song is different, from genre, to tone, to instruments, to almost everything, each song stands alone as it’s own. The band is comprised of Jocelyn Mackenzie, Emily Hope Price, and Jeremy Price. Jocelyn plays a kickdrum, a snare, and a floor tom, but her vocals are her main instrument. Emily plays the cello, and whatever else the band needs, as well as sings alongside Jocelyn. And Jeremy is the guitarist who does back up vocals. The beauty about this trio is that they provide whatever is needed for their songs. Whether it be a glockenspiel, or an accordion, they put exactly what is needed into each song. As Emily says, “We use those because they are the instruments at our disposal, mainly,” and they use them to their fullest extent. Pearl and the Beard are signed with indie record label Family Records, and they’ve gotten quite the following in Brooklyn,

NY, and have been showcased in South-BySouthwest. They’ve been touring together for about 3 years and they’ve grown from the coffee shop trio to the group that’s music fills the room to capacity. If you want to hear something new, or just something good, definitely listen to Pearl and the Beard, they’ve got a little of everything for everyone. Why did you name your band Pearl and the Beard?

Jocelyn: Well, we were in a dark cave, and Emily who is a mermaid, was almost drowning, which was ironic, like Alannis Morrisette ironic, because she was a mermaid. And then… Emily: Jeremy comes along and was like… [pause] all right, let’s give up on this, it’s been too long. Jocelyn: Yeah… um, we love the name of our band, and we like to leave it up to our fans to come up with their own interpretations. Jeremy: We had our reasons for picking it in the beginning, but then as other people have

given reasons why or what they think it is, I incorporate that into there, now it’s just a combination of everything that I’ve ever heard. To not really fully answer the question, over a lot of time. Jocelyn: We shouted words at each other until the right words came out, that’s actually how it was made. So what is the music making process for you guys?

Jeremy: Oh, it’s changed. Jocelyn: We write very collaboratively, sometimes one of us will come to the group with a song structure, and be like, “Oh, I think we should do this,” and then one person will write one part and another write another part. Sometimes that happens and it’ll build on itself, and then other times someone will come in with a whole song, and we’ll just tweak it. Then other times we’re just jamming and something just more in that way. Other times it’s kinda like oh i have this old thing and let’s put it together with my old thing. It’s any way you can possibly think of, and it is how we’ve

done it, and every song is different, and we could probably sit down and name, we would have to go song by song, to name how we wrote each one. I feel very grateful that we have a good collaborative balance. Jeremy: Yeah. What’s your favorite experience been together as a band?

Emily: I think my favorite experiences with you guys are the really difficult ones. Like won’t give you specifically the top example, but for example would be if we happen to have to find a place to stay and the only place we have to stay is a flea ridden decaying disgusting place to stay... Jocelyn: With beer cans everywhere. Emily: We’re staying in this moment together, as friends, and bandmates, and supporting each other, so we can get through to the next morning so we can leave and shower. Jeremy: Favorite moments, I don’t know, it’s always different. I really like when the three of us walk into a place at the same time, and I like feeling like I’m not alone, and I’m so

What’s your favorite experience been together as a band? Emily: I think my favorite experiences with you guys are the really difficult ones. Like I won’t give you specifically the top example, but for example would be if we happen to have to find a place to stay and the only place we have to stay is a flea ridden decaying disgusting place to stay... Jocelyn: With beer cans everywhere. Emily: We’re staying in this moment together, as friends, and bandmates, and supporting each other, so we can get through to the next morning so we can leave and shower. Jeremy: Favorite moments, I don’t know, it’s always different. I really like when the three of us walk into a place at the same time, and I like feeling like I’m not alone, and I’m so confident in these ladies abilities that I feel very confident that we as a group will be great. Even though I’m weighing it down. Emily: Well that’s true… ahaha not really, just kidding. Jocelyn: What I really liked, was getting the glasses we are wearing right now; given to us by Tortoise and Blonde. And you don’t necessarily think about what you’re doing every day, it’s just chug chug chug and then there’s this moment where it’s like “Woah! We’ve actually been getting stuff done this whole time, and it hasn’t just been this day by day grind.” We were at south-by-southwest and Tortoise and Blonde had approached our label, and said, “Hey, do you know any bands that need glasses? We want to promote our line.” and we were like, “Yeah, right here!” and we got to sit back and just be like, this is a crazy day, and south-by is a crazy experience too, but we got to sit back and we got like a little prize, and we got to share that. And I think doing that alone, wouldn’t have been as rewarding.

Jeremy: Well, in the beginning, I wanted to start writing, and then I met Jocelyn, then Emily, and I was very very deep into this, I want acoustic, I want to do everything that I possibly can with wooden acoustic unplugged instruments, at that point. And now I feel like, not that I’ve exhausted it in any way shape or form, I’m kinda wanting to expand. Even with the addition of… literally, it used to just be guitar and voices, and now it’s the cello is used, more guitar, harmonies up the wazoo, it’s just getting, I just feel like we’re playing music that occupies a larger space now. Emily: That’s true. Jeremy: Whereas before we were perfect in a coffee shop, and we can still exist in a coffee shop, or in somebodies living room, but we aren’t too out of place in a large venue. Any last words? [shocked faces] Well, for the interview. Jocelyn: Oh phew, thank you. I thought it was before we murder you. Jeremy: like before I die? Emily: [laughing] I thought you were going to kill us. Jocelyn: haha, well… I love this band. I love the places we’ve been to see together, all the people we’ve gotten to meet together, and I love that at any moment I feel compelled to keep moving, and to move forward, but if something happened like tomorrow, or tonight was our last show

we ever played, that I’d still be proud of what we’ve already done. And I have felt that way from day 1, well maybe day 2, because Day 1 you haven’t really done much. But yeah, I feel really proud of this band. Jeremy: I don’t know what to say. Just keep going. Don’t stop. Yeah, I think that would be one way of saying it. Somebody, I think somebody wrote this thing about the secret to success, and it was literally, and I’m the same with Jocelyn, if we stopped now I’d be completely proud of what we do, yes I wanna keep going, and move it a lot further, but yeah, I think to become successful you literally just cannot stop. You gotta keep going and power through all the BS and your own self doubt and your fatigue, and what everybody else is doing, just keep going, because people drop off all the time, just like they’re done they’re done, and you find that you might be out on the field alone, but in the fields you’ll stand out. Too many metaphors? Jocelyn: Yeah… Jeremy’s been restricted to only one metaphor per sentence. So you’ve reached your metaphor per sentence. Emily: I think I would say that, I only have one major thing, you’re already as weird as you think you want to be, but basically, to sum that up, would be to try to be anyone else is futile, if you do what you feel that you’re heart wants to create, instead of thinking, “Well, this is what’s successful, so I need to do, or be, or sound this way in order to do this thing.” because what you already are, what you already have, could be the most unique thing you’ve ever heard. I give the perfect example of Joanna Newsom (?) there is absolutely no doubt that her voice and her writing out there, and had she have told her self, “I don’t sound like what success should sound like,” whatever that is, I think it should be yourself. And I think sadly, I think,

we haven’t taught our youth that. I don’t think we’ve taught our youth to be proud of how they are, and what they have to offer as an original substance, without being molded by what someone else tells them what they should or shouldn’t be. Hopefully, we can, as a unit, we can spread the love of one’s self’s art, and the importance of art, and the power art has to change people. Jeremy: Yeah that reminds me of when we were in class, and you’re learning something new, and the teacher would be like raise your hand because if you have a question that means that 10 other people probably have the exact same question, don’t be embarrassed. And it’s like, no matter how personal you get, or how deep into yourself you get, you think it’s such a… like you think it’s so unique and that you’re so unique you’re very alone in this and nobody else is going to like that, you’re going to find out that that is just as deeply wrong. I think that’s why our fans connect to us so much, because we are just being who we are, and they see themselves in this special unique thing, and I thin that when they run into other people that are like, “You know Pearl and the Beard? That’s awesome!” and they’re like, “Wait, you know these people? You’re so weird.” and they think it’s like so weird. Jocelyn: We’re just nerdy nerdy people. Jeremy: But yeah, just be yourself and keep on trucking. Jocelyn: Be a nerd. Emily: We love you just the way you are. Jeremy: Goodbye, I love you. Jocelyn: It’s true.

KOD

How has the band changed since you guys started?

| JUNE/JULY ISSUE 12

Why did you name the band Mazmyth?

MAZMYTH TOO GOOD FOR WORDS

Steve: (Points to Matt) His name is Matt Smith, when you say it drunk, it comes out Mazmyth. So we’d say, “Hey, Where the hell is mazmyth at? I dunno.” Dan: And he’s the brains and main composer behind Mazmyth, so, Mazmyth. Steve: Yes, the honor goes to him. How did you all meet? Matt: We’ve lived together, we’ve all grown up together, we’ve all gone to school together, Dan here is my younger brother, i mean, we’ve known each other since we were like 12. Steven: We live in the woods, our whole school K through 12 has 700 people in it. We just knew each other because we live by each other basically. Dan: We all learned to play music together really. Joe: I moved up from Jersey in ‘99 to New York. I met these gentlemen and we started hangin’ out and Steven: That goes against our original story that we all lived together. (laughter and joyousness) Steven: No but yeah, that’s the story really. What’s the music making process? Dan: It can very much be compared to the way Africans have been doing it for thousands of years. It’s an oral way of putting music together. One person will bring an idea to the table, the next person will elabo

rate on it “Oh i wrote this riff, alright that can fit here, why don’t we add an extra beat to this section, do this chord instead of that chord”. It’s a community discussion and it starts with everyones ideas and we just, you know, synthesize them. Steven: And alot of the times, I notice, we’ll find rhythm first. Like one of us will say, this would be an awesome rhythm to do, and as we get the rhythm down, it can maybe just be one note, but we can say alright, and add a few different notes into the rhythm with that and start a progression. So it’s just one step at a time, like walking, you know? You start walking, one foot at a time and where you go, you go and that’s kind of how the music writing process is for us. Dan: Yeah. Joe: It’s easy, and fun. Jordan: That’s why we do it. (laughter) How long does it usually take you to write a song? Dan: Depends on the song. Matt: Weeks, a day, anywhere in between. Some songs just seem to write themselves. Steven: And another thing is he’s (Dan) been in college for the past 4 years up in fredonia which is about 5 hours away from all of us. So sometimes we’ll write half a song and then it’ll be 2 months before we finish the next half. But we just keep running it in our heads and getting it down and when he gets back home, we practice and get it tightened up. Dan: Sometimes you just need that month to just think about what you’ve started in order to have it come full circle, you know?. For it to conclude itself. Joe: Yeah, if you let a little time go by and you say, you know what, we’ve got time. and especially if you can get it recorded and listen to it back, and say, well maybe i’ll change this, or add a note here , or minus a note here or something like that. It’s just a process.

KOD

Moving fluidly through time signature, tempo and mood every song, Mazmyth surprises you. From Livingston Manor, NY, this 5-piece progressive fusion band consisting of Matt Smith on Lead Guitar, Steven Defreitas on Rhythm Guitar, Jordan DuMond on Bass, Dan Smith on Drums and Joe Papp on Synthesizers and Keyboards. Fresh off their win of The Break Contest, a battle of the bands to play Bamboozle, they create an awesome, diverse sound,letting every song come alive, and having great energy doing it.

| JUNE/JULY ISSUE 14

Jordan: Playing shows for about six, seven years now and just doing it over, and over, and over, and over again and trying to do it as much as you possibly can but living in such a place where you actually have to travel to get to the venue. You have to drive fifty miles to get to one. That’s really been one of the hardest things we’ve had to deal with. Matt: Finding the time. I mean, getting all five of us together at once, when he’s four hours away in Buffalo, and he’s forty five minutes away at his house. Steven: Yeah, our area has made it hard just to get started, like i said, only 700 kids in K through 12. Even if you have every single person liking your music, your market gets tapped really really fast up there, so we have to venture out to Poughkeepsie. From where we live, that’s about two hours away from Poughkeepsie but we’re still “representing” poughkeepsie because that’s about the closest legitimate venue that when people ask, “oh, where have you played” you can mention that establishment, which is The Chance Theatre, which we’d like to thank for everything they’ve done for us. Big Chuck, we love you. And I don’t know, it’s really just area, and time. We have to respect each others time. We all have jobs, Dan has school. We try to leave it stressless, if we can’t play a show, okay, if we can play a show, beautiful. Jordan: The place where we live is about 20 minutes from the original Woodstock site and it’s still hard to find shows around there, even though we’ve had one of the biggest musical festivals ever just 20 minutes away. Steven: I also think it’s because that festival will only let big acts

play, if a local band comes in, it’s alot harder to get in there. Not sure why, we’ve tried a bunch of times but it just seems almost impossible to play there. The Chance has been the best to us. Where do you see Mazmyth in a year? Dan: Playing gigs constantly, hopefully good gigs like this one. We need to get on festivals, we need to start marketing toward progressive audiences and audiences that will actually tap into our music. If we play our music to a crowd that dig Blink-182 or something, they’re not gonna walk away fans, but If we actually tap into the people that like Dream Theater, who like King Crimson, who like heavy metal but also jazz and other stuff. Those people are out there and the minute we access them I think we can start building alot more momentum. Anything else you guys wanna say? Jordan: Thanks for the interview! Dan: Yeah man, we’re pumped. Steven: Check out our facebook, check out our myspace, we’re doing a festival this summer at Roscoe Firemans Field, it’ll be held on August 5th, 6th and 7th. It’s called Mazfest, it’s a gathering of local bands, much like the break contest was, and it’s held over 3 days of real good times, anyone who can make it. Jordan: It’s more than just local bands, we try to give all the local bands that are around us to get some exposure as well. Dan: Bands from the entirety of New York, out by Lake Eerie, there’s bands from Long Island, it’s stretching from the entire state. Jordan: and thank you again for the interview.

KOD

What hardships have to had as a band?

| JUNE/JULY ISSUE 16

SPEAKING

TONGUES THE COMPLETE DO-IT-YOURSELF BAND

Alex Profera started Speaking in Tongues on his own and is completely his own. He wrote, recorded, and created Antarctican Apathy, his latest album released in February 2011. The album is very sweet, with a mix of doo wop, pop, and a lot of independent spirit. Now that he’s performing, his band members are Alex Truitt on bass, Steven Levine on drums, and Kyle Pollard on keyboard, and doing some vocals. They’re a Ridgewood, New York band, performing often. Follow them on Facebook or twitter to catch up with them. Why did you name your band Speaking in Tongues? Alex: I get that question a lot, basically, there’s a little bit of a concept to it. I see creating music, or music itself, as a religious experience for me. When I’m creating music, it’s like all these other artists that have inspired me, speaking through me. So that’s it in a nutshell. I mean there are other artists who have used that name, like The Talking Heads, or Eagles of Death Metal. Are you the only one in the band? Do you do it all yourself? Alex: Basically, I record, write, and do almost everything myself, but it’s a rock band, so I still enjoy the live aspect of it, so normally what I’ll do, is record an EP, Antarctican Apathy is my second EP, and then I’ll bring in some friends to come in and play. So right now, I’ve got a bass player, and a drummer, and we’re trying to bring in keys and a lead guitar right now as well, but that’s usually how it works. So that’s my own project.

when the time is write, when I feel like I wanna record or write, I sit down, and I come up with some chords, and then usually I’ll sit on that for a while, practice it acoustically, and then I’ll take it to the computer and have one microphone. I set it up, I record, off my hotrod amp, I’ll mic that, and that’s basically it. It’s scratch track, guitar track, rhythm, drums, bass, vocals, and then mixing, I don’t know what the heck I’m doing. I have my friend Steve who is a producer, who has helped me out a lot in the past with this, but I just fiddle around in the dark trying to figure it out. There’s definitely a lot of things I’d go back and change on the album, like sometimes you can’t hear the bass at all. And I’m a little disappointed, because you’re missing some nice subtleties, I’m not an incredible bassist, but I’m proud of it. I worked on Antarctican Apathy for a year, and it was in my head for a while longer, but in February, I rushed it out quick, because I decided I had to do this now or it would never get done. I set up the bandcamp, redesigned the myspace, my friend Lucille, she’s an awesome photographer, and she did the album cover and the press photos, and I just sent it out on Facebook, twitter, and hopefully people will listen to it. What got you into playing music in the first place?

Alex: Let me think, I mean I said music was my biggest inspiration, but when I first dec died to pick up an instrument, after the tuba incident. I hated the tuba so much. But I decided to play bass, my friends would jam, my friend Ken, who is actually the previous drummer on the What’s the music making process like? last EP, we would jam in his parent’s garage in high school on staten island. I Alex: Basically, I skimmed over it a little think I wanted to get involved, so I saved before, but in detail, I’ll just be living my life, up my money and bought the cheapest walking around day-to-day, and a melody fender bass I could find and started jamwill pop into my head. Or I’ll be thinking ming on that. And my friend Chris, his something really interesting and I’ll write it brother, Tom Brennan, he happens to be down, and that has to be a song. And a pretty successful musician, he’s very successful right now, but he actually

KOD

| JUNE/JULY ISSUE 18

Where do you see this in the future? A year? Alex: Hopefully, having more success than now. I mean, I’m just looking to play a ton of shows, I played with my previous band all throughout 2010, the last incarnation. And I just wanna be gigging a lot, playing with other bands I like, I have a lot of bands I’m friends with who inspire me. Since I’ve started playing I’ve been inspired by my own friends and the local music scene I’m involved in. Just getting out playing with them, hopefully releasing another EP or a full length by then, and just selling some records. It’s nice to have somebody come on the band camp and see somebody buy it, like it’s nice when my friends give me a couple bucks and buy it, but somebody would buy it. When my friends get the album it’s support, but when some one else gets it it’s like sweet! Where do you see yourself as a genre? Alex: Essentially, when i first started out, it took me a long time to figure out how to play music, like in elementary school I played tuba, and I completely hated it, so it left a bad taste in my mouth for performing music when I was younger. It wasn’t until high school that I started to play bass and I started writing my own songs in college, and at the time I was listening to a lot of prog rock, and for the most part I am a self trained musician, and when I first started making music, I was like “Okay, what’s it going to sound like?” And in the meantime, I’m listening to all these prog rock bands, like The Mars Volta, and Tool, Pink Floyd, and for me, I saw that as a technical music song. I thought of it as I don’t wanna make a cheap imitation, so I looked towards bands that have more of a simple structure at the time, so I was thinking Weezer, and more straight up rock bands. And I was like, “Okay, this is more in my grasps.” so that’s how my sound developed, like the first album is a little different than Antarctican Apathy, like it was harder. It was more prog rock, like there were jams and coda’s and shit. Antarctican Apathy is kinda trendy, indie, it’s just indie rock. So who is in your band now? Alex: It’s an old friend of mine, his name is Alex as well, he’s originally from Ithaca, but I met him on Staten Island where I grew up, and he’s a classically trained guitar player, but he’ll be on bass. And my new drummer is my friend Steve, he’s awesome. He’s actually a trained jazz drummer. So I’m playing with all these really talented musicians, who are technically way above my skill level. I’ll probably have some shows in the next two or three months, we’ll be playing very soon.

Do you want to continue this band with the people you’re working with now?

Alex: Yeah, actually, all these people are new, I had a previous band, they were all awesome friends of mine and excellent musicians, but I decided to begin working with other people because I was looking for a different sound. And I thought they’d be better for that sound. This band, depending on how things go, maybe they’ll stick around, maybe they won’t, but as for now, they really kick ass, and I definitely would be interested in bringing them in on the recording process on the next album we come out with. What’s the music making process like? Alex: Basically, I skimmed over it a little before, but in detail, I’ll just be living my life, walking around day-to-day, and a melody will pop into my head. Or I’ll be thinking something really interesting and I’ll write it down, and that has to be a song. And when the time is write, when I feel like I wanna record or write, I sit down, and I come up with some chords, and then usually I’ll sit on that for a while, practice it acoustically, and then I’ll take it to the computer and have one microphone. I set it up, I record, off my hotrod amp, I’ll mic that, and that’s basically it. It’s scratch track, guitar track, rhythm, drums, bass, vocals, and then mixing, I don’t know what the heck I’m doing. I have my friend Steve who is a producer, who has helped me out a lot in the past with this, but I just fiddle around in the dark trying to figure it out. There’s definitely a lot of things I’d go back and change on the album, like sometimes you can’t hear the bass at all. And I’m a little disappointed, because you’re missing some nice subtleties, I’m not an incredible bassist, but I’m proud of it. I worked on Antarctican Apathy for a year, and it was in my head for a while longer, but in February, I rushed it out quick, because I decided I had to do this now or it would never get done. I set up the bandcamp, redesigned the myspace, my friend Lucille, she’s an awesome photographer, and she did the album cover and the press photos, and I just sent it out on Facebook,twitter, and hopefully people will listen to it. Any final words? Alex: Thank you, thanks for this interview. Speakingintongues.bandcamp. com and you can get the album for free, or where it says “Hey whatever you want!” And download the album, you can get it for free, or you can donate a couple of bucks, I have to pay bills. And we’ll be playing shows real soon, if you wanna find out about shows, check out the Speaking in Tongues Facebook, and then there’s the Speaking in Tongues myspace, and myspace is kinda dead right now, but that’s where I go for tour dates. So it’s myspace.com/speakingintonguess with an extra S. And you can get a physical, album for 5 bucks. Come out to a show, I like hearing from people, send me an email, add me on Facebook. I wanna talk to you, the fans.

KOD

taught me how to play bass. So he’s a big inspiration to me. I started playing funk at first, and stuff like that. so that’s how I got started.

| JUNE/JULY ISSUE 20

WANT TO BE A PART OF US? KODEMAGAZINE.COM KODEMAGAZINE.TUMBLR. COM

FACEBOOK.COM/ KODEMAGAZINE FACEBOOK.COM/KODE. MAG T W I T T E R . C O M / KODEMAGAZINE M Y S P A C E . C O M / KODEMAGAZINE KOD

| JUNE/JULY ISSUE 22