-Hey there, pal! How are you doing? Please, introduce yourself to the readers. Hey there! We’re doing well. Currently we’re enjoying the summer here in Chicago, taking a bit of a break from the road and spending some time outside. It’s been a real nice time so far. My name’s Julia, I play guitar and sing in Ratboys, and I’m the one typing this. Also in the band is my co-conspirator Dave who plays guitar, our longtime friend Sean who plays bass and sings harmonies, and a bunch of pals who each play drums from time to time. -First of all, can you tell me where you got the name Ratboys? It’s always had a sort of intriguing ring to it, at least for me. Yeah, the name Ratboys (or Ratboy, which was the name we chose at the beginning) has been with me for a long time. It comes from a nickname that a bunch of my girlfriends gave me at lunch one day during Freshman year of high school. We were going around the table giving each other silly and crude nicknames, and that’s the one I got. My friend Liz looked at me, squinted her eyes, and said ‘You’re just a little Ratboy.’ I kinda started doing a face and a voice for the name and made up this little character, and it just stuck. -All signs point to this being your year! Like, dang, you’re doing so many cool things. I’m happy for you! Let’s see, how about that hometown show you just played with The Meat Puppets? What was that like to play with a legendary band like that? How did that come about? What was going through your heads? Totally, it was a pretty surreal experience for sure. We got an email one day inviting us to play the show, and we were just super psyched and kinda baffled that we were somehow on the Meat Puppets’ radar. The show itself was pretty memorable, it was at Old Town School of Folk, which is this gorgeous listening room in Lincoln Square, and everyone was sitting down and listening very intently to our set. It was definitely pretty different from most shows we play, which was cool. Meat Puppets absolutely shredded as well.
-And how was your European tour? Had you been over there before? What were some of the coolest places you got to see? I seen a couple photos of the food you had too. What was the tastiest thing you ate? The tour in Europe was great! We were super fortunate to be traveling and playing with Wild Pink, who are one of our favorite bands and some of the most kind and and fun, easy-going people on the planet. Everything was smooth sailing, no fights, no equipment issues, no disasters, I don’t know it was just really great. I really enjoyed spending time in Northern Italy. We got to play in a small village outside of Verona and try some of the local wine, which is made from a grape that only grows there. That was really special. The meal they made for us that night was probably my favorite thing we ate. Fresh pasta and red wine is probably my favorite thing period. -Am I mistaken or are you playing a festival show with Ke$ha? Like THEE Ke$ha? What are your thoughts on that and her in general? Personally, I thought she was a genius even back in the Tik Tok days. We did get to play a festival with Kesha, that was so insane. It was at 80/35 in Des Moines, and she absolutely crushed it. I didn’t really know what to expect going in, but she just blew everyone away. She had a full live backing band, which was so sick, the energy was through the roof. I’ve always really enjoyed Kesha’s music, it was just a huge part of my life at the end of high school and throughout college, it’s full of nostalgia and memories of those times. I also really respect the way that Kesha fought for justice and truth in her battle with Dr. Luke. She strikes me as a very smart and courageous person.
-How excited are you for your run in Japan? Are there any specific things you hope to do or see when you are there? Do you know who you are going to be playing with? We are so insanely excited for the trip to Japan. It’s just unbelievable that we get to do that. I can’t wait to eat lots of ramen and Japanese candy. I’m also excited to see whatever photographs our friend Danny takes. He’s coming with us to play drums, and he’s a really talented photographer, especially in city settings. We’re playing four of the five shows with a Japanese band called The Firewood Project. They’re coming to the US right after our trip, so anyone who’s down at FEST should definitely check them out. -And as of me writing this, I just heard the announcement of you going on Foxing’s full U.S. tour! Congratulations, again and again! Have you seen or shared a stage with them before? They honestly put on one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. When travelling with a band of that magnitude, do you ever get swept away by their performances? None of us have played with or seen Foxing perform before, but we’ve heard really great things about their live show. It’s always inspiring to see bands put it all out there on stage and just put forth tons of energy. It makes us excited to get out there and try to get the crowd going so that everyone can just let loose and have fun. -When I caught you guys earlier this year, it was with your friend Nnamdi Ogbonnaya, a super awesome artist/rapper from Chicago. What are your thoughts on mixed genre bills? And what was it like having a presence like his backing you on the drums? Mixed-genre bills are definitely our favorite types of shows to play. Ideally shows like that draw a diverse audience and just help amp up everyone’s appreciation for music in general. Yeah playing with Nnamdi is always such a privilege, he’s an amazing musician and person all around. He makes everything easy and just very very fun. -Going forward, what are your goals with this band? Where do you see yourselves in like 5 years? Our goals are really just to keep writing and recording songs and to stretch ourselves in terms of performing and getting better at our instruments. Hopefully we’ll be able to get to a point where the band can sustain itself with slightly less touring, and we can just spend most of our free time writing and playing together. Five years from now we’ll be in our thirties and hopefully we’ll be playing on the moon or something. -Tell me an interesting story about Elvis the cat. And please, if you’re comfortable, fill the readers in on who he was and the video you made in his memory. Yes, Elvis was my family’s cat who lived with us from 2005-2011. He was really my cat though, he was kind of mean to everyone except me and my mom. It seemed like he could sense fear, and then he would just pounce on it. He didn’t have a tail, which is where all of the lyrics about ‘the day they cut his tail off’ came from. But yeah, he developed kidney failure at a young age, and we had to put him down when he was only six. I was away at college at the time, so my family wanted to wait to bury him until I was home for Christmas. So naturally Elvis ended up in the basement freezer for a few weeks. It’s funny, I remember so clearly walking in the door for the first time after he died, and my mom warning me from upstairs that ‘Elvis is in the freezer,’ and it was just so hilarious and morbid and made me smile. I immediately went upstairs and started writing the song, it was just a perfect lyric that needed to be a song. We shot the video for ‘Elvis’ in Louisville, KY where I grew up and
featured my parents’ current cat Gumbo. It was a really great time - I think the video captures the same cocktail of emotions as the song, which makes me proud. -I think your song “Crying About The Planets” is one of the most powerful pieces of music ever, especially in a live setting. Goosebumps. Where did you come up with the idea and why did you feel it was important for you to make? Thank you, yeah that’s probably my favorite song we’ve written so far. I was browsing random articles on Wikipedia, just clicking ‘random article’ in the side bar over and over, and the article for ‘Far Eastern Party’ came up, which was the name of Douglas Mawson’s Antarctic expedition (and the original title of the song). I read the whole story and was just immediately compelled to enter into it and write about it. There’s something about the combination of vulnerability and resilience in Mawson’s experience that’s deeply moving to me. I had the hook and melody of the song on the shelf from a couple years before, so it all just kind of came together very naturally. -It’s common knowledge that you’re a big Steelers fan. Let’s talk sports! Why the Steelers specifically? Who’s your favorite player? How do you feel about your team’s chances going into next season? I do love the Steelers, they’re by far my favorite pro sports team. My grandpa is from Pittsburgh and when he noticed that I was taking an interest in football at a young age, he encouraged me to root for the Steelers. It’s been like that ever since. My favorite player of all time is Jerome Bettis because he went to Notre Dame (where Dave and I went to school), played for the Steelers, was a beast physically, and retired on the night that he won the Super Bowl in his hometown. Next year is our year - once the defense settles into things the Steelers will be unstoppable. -This is where we say goodbye and I thank you taking the time to do this with me. I hope some of the questions were fun for you to answer. The final word is yours to make a statement with or whatever you like. <3 Thank you so much for the conversation Tyler, I really appreciate it. And thank you to anyone who’s reading this zine and this interview, we feel very fortunate to be here and to have the opportunity to share our songs.
-Hello, my friend. Hope youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re doing fantastic. Please, introduce yourself to the readers. Hello! I'm Brandon Joseph Proch, aka El Brandino, aka Brandangus, aka Brandino Spumoni (bonus points if you get the reference), but most people just call me Dino these days. For the sake of this, I suppose we'll say I'm El Brandino. It's a pleasure to be a part of this! -Give me a brief background on your relationship with music? How did you get into it as a fan? How, when, and why did you start playing? Oh man, right off the bat with the loaded questions! I started playing music when I was 9, because I wanted to do whatever my older brother was doing. Unfortunately, what he was doing was playing the clarinet, so it wasn't easy or cheap to come by an extra one of those, but fortunately I have wonderful parents that did their research a bit and found that piano is known to be a universally practical "first instrument". So I got thrown into (I say that as if I didn't love it) piano lessons at age 9, and then tried messing around with guitar when I was 10. Realized I really liked it, so on my 11th birthday I got my first guitar. The rest is history, I think they say? I honestly got into it as a fan, when I was real young, via video game music. Legend of Zelda more so than any other, but I really liked a lot of music from a lot of Nintendo (the only kind I had) games (and I still stand by the fact that those compositions are damn solid!). Then when I was in 4th grade (right around when I got my first guitar) I was shown System of a Down, and fell in love immediately. I think that's how I got my initial taste for the harder/faster side of music. Eventually I would find Green Day/Blink/Sum 41, eventually after that I'd find NOFX/Rancid/Streetlight Manifesto and all the other ska I fell in love with during high school. Eventually I'd been asked one too many times "what do you like, other than punk and ska?" and hadn't had a real good answer for it, so I decided to go on an exploratory journey and only listen to things I normally wouldn't, over the course of a couple years. From there I found myself falling in love with classic rock (The Beatles might be my favorite band, but I definitely didn't grow up listening to them), jam music, funky shit, some dancier/poppier/more electro-based stuff, a lot of old-timey stuff, bluegrass, hip-hop, blah blah. I also studied music at GRCC. Why did I start? Because the love was incredibly real, and nothing was (or has been since) more therapeutic. -Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re quite the instrumentalist! What all can you play? What kind of freedom does that give you as an artist? I play guitar, bass, keys/piano, saxophone, drums (though I've never drummed in a band. Any bands out there want a mediocre drummer?), and a bit of ukulele. I played trombone in high school, and really wish I still had one, but I can't say I still know how at this point. More than anything, it gives me the freedom to A) get a chance to play in a lot of different projects, and B) keep myself interested, since I'm doing something different in every project.
-Didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t you do all of the instrumentation on your new album, â&#x20AC;&#x153;A Work In Progressâ&#x20AC;?? What was that like? How has this project been different for you compared to being delegated to just guitar or whatever in other projects? I did! It was....beautifully exhausting. It was interesting because I'd only ever played these songs on an acoustic guitar, or at the most on a looper with some layers. So I built songs from the ground up, with no reference but the acoustic guitar scratch tracks, and had to ask myself the questions I'd never considered: "what should the drums be doing here? What should the bass be doing here? What extra things can I add? Should I do a 5th part harmony?!". I truly wish Eliot and I had somehow logged/jotted down all the hours we spent in that studio. It was worked on sparsely (whenever the studio was open and we both had free time) over like 8 months. I'd definitely do it all over again, given the chance. It's similar, yet different (to being in a band). In past bands I still did a large bit of the writing, and still sort of had ideas of how different parts (from the other members) might go, but it's different when there is a room full of creative minds vs just the one. Different, in my experiences, for both better and worse sometimes. I do miss the extra input, and the ideas I would never have thought of for where a song should go (and often times, it'd be something I didn't care for at first, but would eventually love way more than anything I'd have come up with), but I also enjoy that I can have total control over how these songs go, and there aren't disagreements about it.
-Dude, how was Spain?! Congratulations! How did you find yourself in position to play shows over there? Spain was beautiful! I daresay Ireland was even more beautiful, but that's beside the point. I was there thanks to Founders! They hosted a beer and music fest in Madrid, featuring like 40-50 breweries (mostly American, but several from all over the world as well), and they booked a handful of acts for each of the 2 days. Initially, I was going there with the FBC AllStars (an all Founders-employee cover band. We only play a couple times a year. Founders Fest, and whatever other company-related events like this pop up) but eventually Luke asked me "would you be interested in playing an El Brandino set in Spain as well?" so naturally I was like "FUCK YES" (well, actually, I initially brought up the fact that I have a very specific setup, so I may have to ship some stuff. Huge mistake, looks like I'll talk more about that a couple questions from now though ;) ). It wasn't just me, either. Alexis (aka Red Rio) and Nik James, both of whom are also in the All-Stars, got to play solo sets as well! I think the mentality was "these guys are already there, let's give them a chance to really show their stuff!". I still can't believe how well it went. -I’ve heard that it’s a big milestone for artists to be able to say they’ve flown to play shows. I can’t imagine what that’d be like to cross the ocean to spread my art. What was the best part of that experience for you? How fulfilling was it? Anything planned to do it again? The best part was during my first song, Just Noodlin', when somebody who looked like they may have been Spanish native, brought what looked like their grandfather, or maybe even great grandfather, up to the front of the stage to listen to me play, and the adorable old man danced as hard as he could while holding a cane and slightly struggling to stand without wobbling a bit. My heart about exploded. I'd love to do it again! I did make a few friends in the scene while I was over there, so between them and one or 2 people back here that have traveled to Europe to play, I've now had a handful of offers to help with booking shows if I ever want to do a Europe tour! So, it would require a lot of research and figuring out logistics, but if I can afford it, I'd really love to do that in the next year or 2! -Tell me the story about how you lost your pedalboard? Is there any hope yet of it being returned? Well, I shipped it UPS, and it's been sitting in a warehouse in Barcelona for the past 2 months. At first I thought it was an issue with UPS, and they'd said they needed some Tax ID information for the place I was sending it, but I was unable to get that in time, so it say there. When I got home, I went to UPS, and said "hey, this never made it, can I just get it returned?".
They told me yes, and that it'd been "approved for return shipping" but they just had to wait on it to be "released" so they could return it to me. Said it'd take up to a week. After about 23 weeks, I eventually tried some more, and called international UPS and tried to get information, and they told me the last thing I wanted to hear: that Spanish customs are the ones holding it up. And as it turns out, they're allowed to hold it for an "unlimited" amount of time. So, I lost hope that I'd ever get it back, but it may still happen. My friend Aaron, who I'd met at the festival in Spain (their band is from Barcelona) plays in the band Alma Afrobeat Ensemble, and they played at Founders recently, so I caught up with him and he said he's dealt with this sort of thing with Spanish customs, and that he'd see what he could do when he got back to Spain. So, there may be hope yet! -In the meantime, what have you been working with? I just straight up bought all new stuff. Luckily I've got some friends with the ability to find especially sweet deals on music gear, so even though I spent about $750, it's about $13001400 worth of shit. New setup, gonna do it bigger and better this time! I'm psyched about it! -One of your old bands, The Faultline, recently played a reunion show? How do you feel it went and what was that like to relive old memories with old friends? Do you ever consider maybe reuniting any of your other old bands for old timesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; sake? It was awesome, as it always is. This was the second Faultline reunion show, and we've done one Three Cents Short reunion too (hopefully gonna be another one before too long!). I love it every time. It's always so good to get everyone together again, not just the band but the friends that always came to those shows, that come out of the woodwork for
these type of things. It's more than just our band's reunion, that's for sure. I thought it went extremely well! And yeah, I'd love to keep doing reunions, but I just don't think any of those bands would ever become totally active again. We're just all too busy now, truthfully. -I noticed you playing around with some growls at The Faultline show. They were good, dude! You ever think about starting a metal band? Haha! Haha, thanks! I do enjoy the growls, but I don't think I see myself starting a full-on metal band. I don't have the technical skill required, haha. The Faultline is the closest thing to a metal band I've ever been a part of, and probably the closest I'll get. I would, however, really like to continue my general mission of "any genre is fair game" with my El Brandino stuff, so I think a metal song is eventually in the cards, no doubt. -Where do you hope your solo project takes you in the future? Do you ever plan to expand to a full band or is there comfort in having complete control? I'd just love to keep playing, expanding my setup, and trying to find ways to do more and more as a one-man band. Hoping to get into touring and trying to continue to push my boundaries. I really like the full band too, and wouldn't mind doing it more frequently, but I like keep creative control in the writing process, and then having a band join me and learn the songs. Most of my stuff isn't written for full band, anyway. And at any rate, it's hard to do much more, when it's a group of great musicians that are all very busy playing music already. I'm not opposed to a more collaborative situation, but I don't think it could be considered be an "El Brandino" thing at that point, it'd be something new. -What is your favorite song to cover? You do a mean “You’ve Got A Friend In Me.” Could be that one! I really, really love that song, and honestly have to hold back tears most of the time that I play it (hence why I do Randy Newman voice halfway through. I'm glad it makes people laugh, but sometimes I need to make myself laugh, so I don't cry, haha). My favorite song to sing is "I Believe In A Thing Called Love", but I haven't done that one solo yet. I think at this point, my favorite cover is the one I most recently figured out how to do with my looper: Sandstorm! Gets the people going, or at least gets the nostalgia going. -How do you feel about me describing your music as great late night driving music? It’s definitely a go to. Thanks! I like that a lot, actually. I listen to a lot of my favorite stuff on those late night drives. -Who is Charlie? ;) Charlie is my beer belly, haha. Which I didn't really tell anybody for the first year or 2 that that song existed. I just wanted it to sound like a really mean song about a person named Charlie. Although, that was a little awkward the first time I shared a bill with Charlie Darling :P haha, had to make sure it was clear that it was purely coincidental. Luckily my beer consumption is about 30% of what it used to be, so Charlie is a bit more in check these days. Still hate him, though. -Well, thank you kindly for having this chat with me, bud! I enjoyed it and I hope you did too. <3
-Hey there, thank you for taking the time to do this with me. Please, introduce yourself to the readers. Hey there! My name is Luke Dean. I’m a musician from Grand Rapids, MI. I primarily make music under the moniker Vagabonds, be it as a solo artist or accompanied by friends. -One day I was discussing your music with my little brother and we put the pieces together that you actually went to his school back in the day, two grades below him. Your poise, professionalism, and longtime presence in the scene always made me think you were much older. What is it like to be young but so artistically accomplished? Does it ever feel daunting, like you’ve put in so much work but there’s still so much to do? Or is it more encouraging? I remember that! Yeah, we were at the same school my freshman year before I switched to online school the following year. Well, before I answer that, let me first thank you for offering that bit of affirmation. It’s definitely nice to be viewed in that light - it’s almost relieving. Truthfully, you’ll get a different answer on different days. That’s not to say I’m particularly fickle, but my feelings change on what I’ve done. At times I feel really discouraged and “over it”. Generally, though, I’m pretty happy with what I’ve done. I always live with the feeling that there aren’t enough hours in a day to accomplish all that I want to do. I don’t know how many artists actually feel truly accomplished. Satisfaction is the death of desire. Cite Hatebreed for that piece of wisdom. -How has your background in hardcore music shaped you into the artist and person you are today? I think it shaped me a lot, both as a performer and an individual. The feeling of being able to completely let loose that hardcore pushed was so freeing for me, especially being a rather quiet, private kid. It’s been such a healthy outlet for me for a long time. I’ve played in hardcore bands since before high school, but I’ve never tried to make a name for myself in that scene, which I think has kept my love for it so pure. Earlier on, Vagabonds had more a hardcore element in it’s live shows. There was nothing more thrilling than people piling on and grabbing the mic when I was younger. It was such a powerful way to connect with people. I’m a bit more reserved than I used to be because I value technical accuracy more than I did when I was younger, but it still definitely bleeds through. The passion of it all grabbed me and still does - it made me more aware of things that affect my life daily, such as opening my eyes to animal cruelty/exploitation. I also love the very carpe diem mentality that’s represented by a lot of the bands in the vein of hardcore that I mainly listen to. I get lost in the past and future pretty often, and I think that hardcore offers a focus on the present that I appreciate.
-What are some challenges you face when touching on subjects of faith in your music, while also not necessarily being a “Christian artist?” Sometimes I think I’m too Christian for the underground music scene/punks/Pitchfork readers/etc while also being too much of a heretic in a lot of regards for Christians. I’m somewhere in the middle of it all. Sometimes that makes me feel like I don’t have a place in either, but it’s never a feeling that very crushing or that makes me want to stop being open about my belief or, at times, lackthereof.
-Last year, you released a full length album called, “I Don’t Know What To Do Now.” Some of the topics on it are bleak, but cathartic sounding. What all went into making it? What has the public response been like and how has it made you feel? It’s definitely a depression record. I was in a pretty trying headspace when I wrote most of those words I say on the record. I totally agree with the catharsis aspect you mentioned. For different reasons I don’t really care to disclose publicly, I used to feel unable or unsafe to express my feelings openly without judgement or backlash, which consequently drove me further into depression. For years and years of my life, songs, whether they were ever heard by anyone else or not, felt like the only place I could really release or confess all of my anxieties and hurts. I primarily didn’t write this album at a time when I even thought I had any future in music, so I really cut myself open in some of those songs just for the sake of seeing what was inside without intent to show others. When I did end up putting the music and, along with it, that sometimes uncomfortable vulnerability, of the reception was rather bipolar. There was a good amount of praise from from what I read on the internet and what people said to me, and some major media outlets seemed to like it or at least find it interesting. There’s really only one thing I read about it that was intensely negative. Interestingly enough, the writer of that review and I eventually had a phone conversation, in which she interviewed me and got a lot more insight on my heart and intention with my art. One of the most important things I think I did on that record for myself was giving a name to my pain and put it in a hopeful light at different points. People have told me it’s helped them through their own struggles, and I think that’s the best reward one can gain from a record. The ability to spark some sort of positive change or hope in lives, however few or many, has a pretty immeasurable value. It makes me feel like the heart on my sleeve approach on that record was worth it. I recorded and mixed it all myself with help here and there from friends
on drums and whatnot. I had almost no experience or tools to take on such a task. It was created over the course of a few months when I didn’t have a consistently stable place to live, which was absolutely grueling. I wouldn’t do it again, but I’m very happy that I did that time around. I learned a whole lot through the process of making IDKWTDN. -Talk a little about your newest single, “Honest.” Would you say it marks the start of a new, more upbeat direction in your sound? Is your new material going to be similar? Right now, “Honest” is my favorite thing I’ve put out. Of course, that will inevitably change. I love the way it sounds. It came out less than a year after IDKWTDN, and I think there’s a super clear progression from the record to this sound. That’s the kind of artist I’ve always wanted to be. I never want to make the same record twice, and I always want the next thing to be better than the last. I have no idea what the new material will sound like. I have a lot of skeletons of songs written on guitar that have melodies and themes I think are really worth putting out. They definitely will develop a lot when by the time I flesh them out more and hit “record” with someone else, so there’s no way of saying if it’ll even be similar to “Honest”. I will say that I’m putting a lot more emphasis on melodies and crafting great songs. I used to be content with simply writing vulnerable songs. Now, I want to write songs that I think are something beautiful, inspiring, and compositionally moving, while still being vulnerable. -Tell me about the additional instrumentation you’ve been incorporating into your live show. Who are the musicians? What do they add to your songs? And what is that like for you to play alongside other people as opposed to being alone? My friend Willem has been playing cello, which is an instrument I’ve always wanted in my music. It was my first instrument, but I never wanted to play it while singing. It’s such a treat playing with them. Justin, who lived with me for the past year in Grand Rapids, also played a handful of shows with me. I used to thrive off of the solo thing, but I think being alone in it has made me feel like I’m doing this alone, and doing that so vigorously for so long has caused me to become pretty burnt out if I’m being totally transparent. Playing music with others really gives me life. I want more and more of that. It provides an opportunity to show a more full picture of how these songs sound in my head, rather than just giving a bare bones glimpse with my guitar and voice. There’s a time and place for both, and one isn’t always better than the other. As far as playing live goes, though, I love feeding off of the energy and emotion of the people I’m playing with. I love hearing something coming out that isn’t just me. It feels very fulfilling to do that. I’m excited to start bringing other people into creative process with me more as time goes on and I feel more comfortable doing so! -You’re definitely a true DIY warrior, but you’ve also worked with smaller labels. How do you prefer to operate and why? I think there’s a balance that I’m looking for in this, like I am in most areas of my young adult life at 22. Working with a label can be cool if they share a common vision and genuinely want to grow and put forth an effort to do so. If that’s lacking, though, it can definitely stunt growth. I’m thankful for the opportunity to have had anyone see something in what I do enough to want to put their stamp of approval behind it, but I wouldn’t say I’m on the hunt for a label. Still, I’m also completely open to working with the right label, but if it isn’t the right label, I’d rather self release music. -You’ve become quite the BLED Fest staple. Describe your experience there and how it
relates to your growth as an artist. Would you say 2018 was your favorite BLED Fest? What were some highlights for you? It’s crazy to be considered that because BLED Fest was such an important and formative fest for me, being a kid into underground music in MI. This year was my best set I’ve played there in my opinion. The year before was special, too, though. I can’t say what my favorite year was. One of my hardcore heroes got my record and a Vagabonds shirt one year from my merch table, though, and that was a pretty surreal memory.
-What is your all-time favorite band to crowd-surf to? Can you please tell me your best crowd-surfing story? Tough one! My favorite would either be my long time friends in Household when they were a 5 piece hardcore band or currently my buddies in Remo Drive. They’re all friends from the Minneapolis DIY scene that I hold pretty dear to my heart. I think my favorite story to tell about crowd surfing was stage diving to Modern Baseball and Tiny Moving Parts on the night of my high school graduation. I went to the show alone and had an absolute blast stage diving in my cap and gown, shouting out lines to MoBo’s “Your Graduation” and TMP’s lyrics “I did not know what steps to take after graduating high school”. As I look back, it plays out in my mind like the ending of a coming of age film. I almost hopped a train with crust punks from Louisiana after that show, which is irrelevant but a funny memory of that night. -What is your favorite breed of dog? Do you have/have you ever had dogs of your own? No particular breed comes to mind, but I like dogs that are quiet and cuddly. My mom had a whole lot of boxer dogs when I was a teenager, but our house was small and they were super loud and energetic, so it wasn’t the best arrangement. -Well, my friend, I hope you’ve enjoyed at least some of this. I hope we can have more conversations like this together in the future. I’ll give you the last word. Take care. <3 This has been so great. I hope we do too! I hope the responses weren’t too long haha. Much love, Tyler!
-Hey, pal! How are you? Please, introduce yourself to the people reading along. Hey! I'm Carmel Liburdi. I play music mostly, and dabble in other forms of art as well. -When and how did you first start to play music? I thought I heard that your family has a history in music, is that right? Sort of true; my dad played jazz piano and sang, and my mom can play some guitar and sing as well. My dad's no longer with us but he was a writer primarily, and my mom is a writer and 2D artist. I always loved music growing up, being around creative parents, but didn't start playing instruments for the purpose of writing songs until around middle school. I did a lot of dance and theater as a kid, and before I was in to writing lyrics, I liked writing poetry. -Who are some of your biggest influences on your music? Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one that you think would surprise people? Woof, this is a hard question to answer. I think wordy bands from the MySpace era like Taking Back Sunday, Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the Disco, Say Anything, The Used... Indie and garage rock from that time as well. Those bands really inspired me to write poetic lyrics when I was a wee one. I also grew up around a lot of jazz, show tunes, and ragtime era music; crusty old blues and swing. So that's in there. 90s alternative, of course, being a 90's baby. Pop/punk, ska/punk, and other subgenres of punk, "world music", like folk and dance music from other countries. Also hip hop, I love, and always enjoyed the word play involved in so many great rap lyrics. A band called Foxy Shazam really inspired me with piano, they made it feel cool and rock n roll to me. My music tastes have changed so much over the years, I could talk about this for hours. I love such a wide variety of music and I think you can hear all of that in my songs. Condensation, evaporation, precipitation, ya know. -Your discography is already impressively extensive. You must be constantly writing songs. Does it ever get exhausting or like youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re running out of ideas? Who or what do you look to for inspiration? Oh man, yeah sometimes the juices stop flowing, so to speak. I definitely go through phases where I'm always writing and then it pauses where I'm just taking things in. Up until the last release there was a somewhat constant flow of songs happening, but right now I'm in more of a contemplative phase where I'm not really writing anything new but also not sweating it. I try not to force myself to write because I think the best songs happen when I just let go and let the inspiration come to me, rather than seeking it out. To answer your question, when it comes to inspiration, I think most often it comes from processing pain. Even if the songs themselves are not sad, a lot of times the inspiration to write comes from working through something that hurts me or that weighs heavily on my mind -- in a global or personal sense, or both.
-My favorite song of yours is Umbrella Tattoo. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s so vivid and animated, like it could actually be a cartoon. Was it really conceived in your dreams? Does that happen often? Self-analyze for a second, where do you think your brain came up with some of the things that happened in it? Ah, yes! The melody came from a dream I was having -- one of the dreams I sing about in the song. I was half awake, half asleep and recorded a shitty voice memo of the melody so I wouldn't forget -- and yes that had happened once before. The original lyrics in my dream were actually "I had a dream we were under an umbrella". I kept the initial melody but changed the lyrics to describe other parts of that dream. I wrote that song during a time where I was having all these vivid, intense, and seemingly very important and meaningful dreams. For self analysis I can break down a couple parts: the opening line "I had a dream where i was fighting a demon", was from a nightmare I'd recently had where an invisible force was pulling me around my house and trying to drag me into the basement. I told a shaman about it (random, I know) and he told me I was engaging in astral projection, which is debatable but cool to think about. There's another part of the song where I sing about a dream where I rescued a boy named Toby from his home where no one understood him, and set out to show him the beauty and complexity of life. That particular dream was very long and epic, and so emotional that I cried when I retold it for the first time! I think it came from the part of me that wanted to be reacquainted with my love of life. It really focused on this thought I often ponder, that each of us lives a life full of joy and pain and learning, failing, loving, etc. and so often we get lost in our own daily happenings and forget the epic-ness of existence! To think that people everywhere are constantly doing all of that experiencing, it's really an overwhelming and grounding thought to me. On a less philosophical note, in the end when I talk about sitting next to my dog writing the song, I was literally sitting next to her when I wrote those words haha. So aside from the part where my dog talks to me, that song is entirely, truly, made up of dreams I really did have. Strangely literal. -How was your recent east coast mini tour? Where did you go and did you get to meet any cool dogs? Haha, I did meet a cute dog in Queens. It was a lot of fun! A short trip, to Philadelphia PA, Queens NY, and Trenton NJ. I can't really say enough fantastic things about the people who hosted me and helped me put the shows together. My friends in Moron Girls, Elissa Janelle Velveteen, Fallible Being, Mosey Jones, The Loneliers... They're all great musicians and great friends. The only down side was driving home in the 100 degree heat from Trenton to Detroit. I was in my 2004 Saturn and had to rotate between the AC, "cool air recycle", and full blast heat with the windows down to keep my engine cool haha. I had a travel companion so that did help. <3 At the end of this month I'll be going to Chicago IL,
Minneapolis MN, and Milwaukee WI, and in September I hit the road with fellow musician and dear friend, Emily Rose, heading South and then East for about two weeks. I'm really excited about all of that! Also, I'll be in Grand Rapids again on October 6th with Maggie May at Tip Top. :) -In addition to your solo music, I’ve seen you collaborate with Pancho Villa’s Skull a few times. How did that friendship/musical partnership come about? Are there other musicians you have collaborated with? Is that something you’d like to turn into a regular thing? I met Tino (from PVS) around 2014, and we toured together when he was in a band called The Vulnerable. It was my first time on the road for longer than a few days. That's when we became friends. Then when I booked & managed my own tour for the first time, I brought Pancho Villa's Skull along with me. Since we became friends I got to know a lot of their songs so sometimes I get the joy of singing with them. *cool guy emoji*. And yes! I have also sang (sung?) with other Detroit bands like Downtown Brown, S.U.B., Cbj, Emily Rose, Banjolectric, Willa Rae, Kyle Davis (Against the Grain), to name a few. J Navarro & the Traitors invited me up on stage to freestyle with them once, which was pretty frickin’ cool. I've sang (sung?) on some hip hop tracks, but mostly work with bands I know. Mike Land, Phil Warren, Charles Urban, and Gwen Macphee have all joined me during my sets before, they're all so talented and fun to work with. I love playing with other people, especially friends, and I would definitely like to do that more. -Tell me about your art/photography project, Little Burdi Productions. How do you use that venture to express yourself differently from your music? Little Burdi Productions came about a few years ago when I felt that I needed to start separating my "music name" from the other art related things I do/did. I use it as a platform for the visual art I do. It's fun because a lot of times I'll end up drawing a flyer for a show that I or my friends are performing in, or I'll photograph a band I love, so those areas of my life get to cross over in a fun way. -So you’re a local Detroit-er and frequent The Trumbullplex… were you at that “secret” Against Me! show in June?! What was it like to see a band of that stature play a room that small and familiar to you? Is it encouraging to you when a “big” band like them still hold to their DIY values?
Holy CANOLI was I ever at that show! It was amazing. Against Me! put on such a killer show, the place was beyond packed, and the crowd was so passionately into the music. It was a pretty sweaty and cramped situation, yet there was something so fantastic about it. When you're in an intimate environment like that you just sort of give in to the chaos and it's very freeing. It was cool and sort of surreal to see such a well known band in that familiar space. According to their lead singer they like to play a variety of atmospheres and switch it up regularly. It was definitely inspiring. They brought some extra gear and had a whole set up that you don't typically see with a local band, so it did make the whole idea of building a national fanbase from a DIY angle seem attainable and something to strive for.
-My mom has worn out your newest album, Insomnia Slumber Party, in the van. She loves your tunes. How does it feel to be “Mom approved”? It feels great! Your mom is definitely not the first mom to like my music, and I never tire of hearing that sort of feedback. I love that a young whipper-snapper like yourself can enjoy the music as much as the older, wiser folks in the world. Tell her thank you :) -Anyway, it was an honor and a privilege to have you play Skitchin’ Fest and now have you part of the zine. We’ll have to get you on the next volume of the compilation CD in the Spring. Thank you being a good friend. Take care. <3 Thank you! I would love to be on the spring comp, and I appreciate you taking the time to get to know me and my music a little better. I had fun answering your questions. Much love! <3
-Hey pals, hope you’ve been well. Please take this time to introduce yourselves and your roles to the readers. Hi! I’m John, I play the guitar and the banjo and write the words and sing the songs. It’s just me answering, but Dakota and Emma and Geller say hi. -How long has Rent Strike been a thing and how has it developed since the start? I’ve seen you perform with a few different lineups of various instrumentation. Have you settled into an official one yet or do you intend to keep it a revolving cast? Rent Strike started with just me and banjo playing farmers’ markets and street corners and stuff in 2012 or ‘13, eventually growing to a pretty traditional folk-punk project with accordion and washboard, then shrinking back down to a solo project. It carried on that way until early 2017 when Dakota and I started playing together, and as we kind of struggled with exactly what we were doing, Geller and Emma joined and we settled into this lineup and the kind of sounds we want to be making. -Your music has a wide range of emotions. Sometimes it’s unbearably bleak and lonely but usually leaves off highly hopeful. What message do you want to portray to your listeners? I started writing originally as a kind of way of processing my feelings about addiction and mental health struggles. What I’ve learned as time goes on it’s really hard to separate those things and the issues we face as individuals from the issues we face together, and the systems that we live in. It can all seem really overwhelming, addiction, debt, our collapsing economies and ecosystems, and maybe we’re right to be stressed out and scared. I guess the other side of that, though, is some sort of hope that we can be working towards finding our way out of these messes that we’re in. -I read you worked on your new album IX for quite some time. Is that true? What all went into making it? It’s kind of a concept album, yes? It was one of those things that started as one thing and ended up another. IX began as a single song, and grew over the course of 3 years into a 9-track album that tries to tell a story, basically based on all of my experiences orbiting around drug addiction in my teens and early 20’s. The intent was to get everything about that subject on paper and out of my brain in a comprehensive way and not feel compelled to write about it ever again. -You’re on record as being fixated on JRR Tolkien. What draws you to him and his work? What is your favorite book and/or character of his? What is your opinion, if at all, of some of his politics and religious beliefs? My da used to read The Hobbit to me when I was a kiddo, I watched the films about a hundred times all throughout my teen years, and when I left home to hitchhike and travel after high school, I brought my copies of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. They have served as a
sort of grounding force or compass through some really aimless and formative parts of my life and also like a more positive thing to direct the obsessive parts of my brain towards. The way Tolkien wrote about courage and, like, the scope of the world and the impact we can have, has always stuck with me, and colors the way I see the world. That said, he’s definitely a product of his time, and there’s some weird underpinnings of racism and nationalism (and obviously, Catholicism) kind of inherent in his writing. Some of his moralistic views are simplistic, but the morality of the world we live in is a murky and sometimes unnavigable grey area. Sometimes it’s good to sink into a world where good and bad are so clearly spelled out.
-How has Tolkien influenced your own work and music? Well, I don’t know if Tolkien was aware of what he was doing, but he wrote an extremely powerful parable about addiction with Lord of the Rings. The ring and its gradual corrupting influence, the self-isolation, what a drain it is to keep moving forward, it runs parallel to some of my experiences. Granted, it’s hard for me to not read the novels through that lens when they played a pretty important role in the process of recovery for me, but the more I thought about those parallels, the more I had to say, and IX was shaped by that. -How excited are you for the tour with fellow Lansing punx, Grey Matter? How did you all link up? What are some of the places you are most excited to see and play? So excited - My roommates Piper and Nick both play in Grey Matter, both of our bands are similarly committed to the DIY ethos, and we have a blast every time we’ve played shows together, so touring together really seemed like the logical step to take. And, if we can bring a little bit of the Lansing punk scene around the area and strengthen the bonds between communities, that’s never a bad thing. I think we’re all pretty excited for all the shows in the northeast, it’s not an area either of our bands have toured in extensively, and I’m stoked to make some new friends out there. Also stoked to have some lobster in Maine.
-Seems like you’ve been on every regional fest over the last few months! BLED Fest, Bridge Fest, Stoop Fest, am I missing any? Maybe Skitchin’ Fest next spring…? What’s it like being a “fest band” now and playing to audiences that might not otherwise be acquainted with your music? I mean, it’s pretty great playing festivals, especially ones like BLED and Capital City Film Fest. We can play for a lot of new people and the energy is wild and unique, and it’s dope to be able to say we’ve played with really great artists like AJJ and Erica Freas. But I grew up going to and playing a lot of house shows, which is an ethic and feeling that I try to stay true to, and it can definitely be weird and impersonal playing on larger stages. -What’s next for Rent Strike? After our August tour, I think the plan is to just keep writing and playing songs! We have an EP or album that’s starting to take on some form and we have plans to record sometime in the next ten years. -John, I met your dad once at a gig. How is he doing? He seems like a sweetheart. Is your family’s support pretty meaningful to you? Oh yeah, my ma and da are a huge source of support and love in my life, and I’m super lucky to have them. All the Lansing punks know my parents, they’re at most shows and also political actions. Things definitely weren’t always that great between us but in the past couple years we’ve developed not just like our parentchild relationship, but also a really meaningful and fulfilling friendship. -You’ve expressed interest in my zines in the past, which is seriously so humbling. It made me wonder if you’ve made your own? What is it about zines that draws you to them? Would you ever like to make one with me? I haven’t made any zines, but I’ve been radicalized by a few of them (haha). I like the format. It’s so easy to do absolutely whatever you want with one, and easy to hand out at a merch table or something. We’ve distributed some really good intros to anarchism and anti-fascism at our shows, and hopefully impacted some people like I was as a teenager. I’d love to make a zine with you sometime, isn’t that what we’re doing right now? -Thank you for taking the time to do this with me. It really means a whole lot. I hope you enjoyed it. The last word is yours. Peace. The world is ending - take care of yourself and the people around you!
-Hi there! Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me. Please, introduce yourself to the lovely readers. My name is Nicole LaRae Leach, I'm 37, mother of one, lover of music, art, food, travel, tequila, documentaries and humans. Sign: Cancer. Venue & Booking Manager at The Pyramid Scheme, founder/CEO of dizzybird records, and volunteer programmer at WYCE. -You seem to do a lot of travelling, which is awesome! Are you native to Grand Rapids? I am a GR native, and I have never lived elsewhere, hence all of the traveling (though I wish I traveled more)! I try to take mini-trips when possible so that I can grow, absorb, observe and hopefully come back with some ideas on how to live better here. As far as being involved in music, my life has always revolved around it from a very young age: dancing, memorizing lyrics, making mix tapes, playing records, reading liner notes, watching music videos on MTV, hanging out at music shops, and calling in requests to the local radio stations. Instead of an allowance, my ma would take me to Believe In Music on a weekly basis so I could pick out a cassette (only if I had earned it). This turned into quite a collection of music. I started to become knowledgeable about my collection and it continues to grow today. As soon as I could drive, I started going to see as much live music as I possibly could. I should have started to keep track of the shows I attended, I'd love to see that list now. -And how did you get so deeply involved in the vast music scene here? It probably began when I tended bar at Jukes from late-2005 to mid-2008 where I met a lot of music fans and musicians. Since we had a "free juke" with tens of thousands of songs which were played by request, I learned so much more about what others were listening to. Also in 2005, I began training as a volunteer programmer at WYCE and began filling in on the air. I was given my own show slot in January 2006. Between Jukes and WYCE, I was immersed in music and began absorbing everything I could, including what our local music community was putting out there. Around the same time, I joined friends Chris Ziebarth and Peter Fox w/ Halfway House Music Blog, where we invited bands in for professional video and music productions. In 2008, I was part of the opening crew at The Meanwhile, where I got to know Jeff and Tami and, a few years later, they asked me to be a part of Scheme and the rest is history! -Tell me a little bit about your work and history at WYCE. When and how can people listen to your show? What can people expect to hear on it? I was one of four staff at the station for 8 years (2008-2016) as Community Relations Coordinator which included event planning, fundraising, underwriting, marketing and whatever else was thrown my way. I'm in my 13th year as a volunteer programmer, my handle is 'LaRae,' and you can catch me live on air every Tuesday from
3-6pm (88.1fm or wyce.org/listen). You can expect to hear lots of new music, vintage soul, psych, west African styles, French pop and stuff I find interesting and relevant.
-What do you think makes a station like WYCE so special? Our city is fortunate to have WYCE as a resource. ANYONE who wants to put in the time can program a show. They support our local music community as well as thousands of independent artists, provide free services to other local non-profits, put on fantastic events, bring in touring musicians, and more. And all of this is done with a very small staff and about 70 volunteers. WYCE gives airtime to musicians who may not get it otherwise. The broad format isn't for everyone, but I like not knowing what I could possibly hear next, it might be my new favorite band. WYCE is listener-sponsored and always accepting donations at wyce.org! -How does it make you feel to know that The Pyramid Scheme, a place you have such a big role in operating, means so much to so many people? What does the Scheme mean to you, specifically? Awe, man. Since day one, we always wanted to create a space where people felt at home. The staff is like family and I feel fortunate to be able to live at The Pyramid Scheme with all of them and with everyone who supports it. Magic happens every time we open the venue doors. It feels really special to have done nearly 2,000 shows, met so many of my musical heroes, and made so many friends inside these walls!
-What have been your top three shows youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve booked at The Pyramid Scheme so far? Or at least three of the ones you are most proud to have had a hand in. This feels impossible to answer, but I'll try. 1. Charles Bradley 12/8/13 I had been a fan of Charles for a few years and had traveled to see him perform several times. I had yet to see someone perform with such genuine emotion. And what a story he had! After trying to get him to GR for over a year, it finally happened: they gave me a date. The show sold out and it turned into a few more returns to GR for Charles (Founder's Fest and Artprize Eddy both hosted him after the Scheme show). Charles was not well on this day so we took care of him the best we could and he still went out there and brought the house down. I think I cried the entire show, I think everyone did. He was such an amazing human and the world lost one of the best we had the day he passed. 2. Future Islands 3/25/14 Albums used to be released on Tuesdays (now Fridays), and this date just so happened to be Future Islands' release date for their album 'Singles'!!! I had fallen hard for lead singer Samuel T. Herring when Future Islands performed at The Scheme as part of Prospecto Music Fest (10/1/11). I hadn't seen someone with so much passion and energy on stage before! On this particular return, Samuel and the band lit up the sold out room just after an appearance on David Letterman, which seemed to be going viral right then. The timing of the show was perfect. Samuel even took a moment to look over and thank me from the stage, which was the first time that had ever happened: my heart was in my stomach. I'll never forget that! (or partying with them after the show and playing records at Stone House, drinking Tequila). 3. T-Rex Fest 6/16/12 Yes! We put on an outdoor music festival! We had never organized a festival before but managed to get it done (and while I was 7 months pregnant!) Lineup was true to Scheme's style as we welcomed back several artists and hooked a few we were really into at the time: Lesly and the Lys, Jon Connor, Frontier Ruckus, El Ten Eleven, The Men, Pinback, and Dead Prez.
-When and why did you start dizzybird records? Who are some of the bands on your label and what are some of the things you are most proud of that you’ve accomplished together? It began in 2014 after seeing Heaters perform in a basement. I was so impressed by them and later asked them about their plans as a band, how I could help. Someone I knew at the time was interested in starting a label as well so we partnered up and created dizzybird records. Heaters' Solstice was our first release and they since have been signed to BBIB out of NYC for their last several albums. dizzybird has put out records by Cool Ghouls (SF), Harlequins (CIN), Gringo Star (ATL), Las Rosas (NYC), White Shape (IL), Heaven's Gateway Drugs (Ft Wayne), Hollywood Makeout (GR), Coffin Problem (GR), Lazy Genius (GR), Suzies (GR). I've been running it alone since May 2017 and I plan on focusing more on local acts going forward. -One of the things I admire most about you is your consistent effort with all of your ventures to give marginalized folks a platform they otherwise might not have. What motivates you to do so and do you hope other people are encouraged to do the same, to look out for others that are different from themselves? It is the responsibility of all of us to listen to each other, especially to those who have been ignored for so long. Without a deeper understanding of the various groups that make up our society, it is easy to fall into the trap of stereotyping communities which runs the risk of damaging social solidarity, rather than bringing people closer together. -What is something you think people can be doing better or reflecting on to make a stronger, more inclusive scene? We are starting to see people become more comfortable with speaking up/out about scumbags/abusers: saying their names, warning others, not letting bullshit slide. More of that please. Also: communication is key is making anything stronger, that being said, my door is always open. -What has been your favorite music release from 2018 so far? Can I do top 10? Amen Dunes - Freedom Kadhja Bonet - Childqueen Janelle Monae - Dirty Computer Coffin Problem - So Good Nothing Nils Frahm - All Melody Young Fathers - Cocoa Sugar Bonny Doon - Longwave Screaming Females - All At Once Parquet Courts - Wide Awake! Ty Segall - Freedom's Goblin -Again, thank you doing this with me. I’m truly honored by it and how you’ve always treated me. Take care. <3