Manual Dexterity Music Zine x Topshelf Records Summer 2013

The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die Slingshot Dakota // Caravels

Have Mercy // Brian Mietz & Evan Weiss // Kevin Duquette

Mega-Sixes: A Great Big Pile of Leaves // By Surprise // Cut Teeth Diamond Youth // Empire! EMpire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) // Lion Cub // My Fictions Pianos Become The Teeth // Prawn // PSwingset // THE SADDEST LANDSCAPE // Sirs The World IS a beautiful place & I am no longer afraid to die // You Blew It!

FREE

Transmissions: Have Mercy

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A SOUND DESIGN: Into It. Over IT. TWELVE TOWNS

22 Caravels

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A Great Big Pile of Leaves // By Surprise // Cut Teeth // Diamond Youth Empire! EMpire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) // Lion Cub // My Fictions Pianos Become The Teeth // Prawn // PSwingset // THE SADDEST LANDSCAPE // Sirs The World IS a beautiful place & I am no longer afraid to die // You Blew It!

Mega-Sixes:

SCRND: Kevin Duquette

SLINGSHOT DAKOTA

34 42 46

Methuselah Honeysuckle: Adam Sever Correspond: mandexzine@yahoo.com P.O. Box 1616 • Monticello, MN 55362 mandexzine.com // facebook.com/mandexzine // @mandexzine

Cover: The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die Photo: Jake Cunningham // jakecunninghamphoto.tumblr.com

54 REVIEWS

The World is a Beautiful Place & I am No Longer Afraid to Die

2013 Label Sampler no 8 Now available: www.topshelfrecords.com/2013

Topshelf

Records

Team Guide 2013 A Great Big Pile of Leaves // By Surprise // Cut Teeth Diamond Youth // Empire! EMpire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) Lion Cub // My Fictions // Pianos Become the Teeth // Prawn PSwingset // Sirs // The World IS a beautiful place & I am no longer afraid to die // You Blew It!

National Record Label League

05

A Great Big Pile of Leaves

What’s the best advice you’ve been given?

Tucker: When we first met with Richard Grabel, our band’s lawyer, he said something along the lines of: it’s a marathon, not a sprint. As we have grown, somehow each new project that we have undertaken demands more from us in terms of planning, decision making and discussion. This has required more time and an unexpected amount of patience.

When I am not sure if I am making an impact with our art, I remember his words and wait for my second wind.

Peter: “You can get a hell of a good look at a t-bone steak by sticking your head up a bull’s ass, but I’d rather take the butcher’s word for it.” -Tommy’s Dad How do you measure success?

Tucker: Tattoos. The first AGBPOL tattoo I saw on a human being really stopped me in my tracks. I personally don’t have any tattoos so my understanding of the significance of this act may be out of proportion. To me it’s a very strong sign that our music is affecting people in a deep meaningful way.

Peter: Three measures of Gordon’s, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it’s ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel. OR, if you are working hard, doing something that inspires you, and gaining enough intrinsic rewards to still be loving and kind to those around you when you are stressed.

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Who or what do you owe your success to?

Tucker: Our success in creating music that matters (a dubious claim) is personally a result of strong support from my family and peers. It has been a long time of practicing, listening and going in a wide variety of creative directions to arrive at this moment.

My family and friends are outrageously supportive of what we do, and that Tucker Yaro means all the difference Peter Weiland when you’re carving time out of your day for music.

Peter: Mom, Dad, family, and friends, hands down.

Would you rather work for your money or win the lottery?

Tucker: We work hard for our money. I’m cool with it.

Peter: Win the lottery, then give a bunch to charity, the rest to my family, and then work for my money.

What is the worst job you’ve ever had?

Tucker: When I first moved to New York, I had a job stopping people on the street and asking them to support various social and environmental causes.

I immediately became a close friend to rejection, and if you accept this premise: this was at once the worst and most useful position I ever held.

Peter: Dishwasher. Although I got to eat all the pizza scraps at the end of the night, so that was nice.

What is the best advice you can give to new musicians/bands?

Tucker: Be brave. Don’t worry about the end game of your involvement. We are all translating emotions to sounds. It’s a wacky idea in the first place, so be courageous and create things that make sense to you.

Peter: Be kind to people. And, have fun and enjoy your time with each other. It won’t matter whether you play in front of 0, 1, or 1,000 people.

By Surprise

What’s the best advice you’ve been given?

I have a few things that I’ve always carried with me, and it’s more about general conduct than some kind of inspirational message, but the big one came from my mom, and that was “talk less, listen more”. You don’t always need to have the answer to everything, even if you think someone is looking for one from you. When you allow yourself to absorb everything around you, it gives weight to your words when the time comes to speak. Apply it to relationships, business, personal conflict - whatever the choice may be.

The other one came from an old sound engineer that I used to work with at a venue, and that’s “Don’t talk about a gig until it’s booked.” Granted, the word “gig” is still funny to me for some reason, but this applies to the overall rule that you should always think before you act. It keeps your feet on the ground without letting your head get into the clouds.

How do you measure success?

I measure success in small doses - I feel like it’s way too easy to drive yourself into the ground with personal expectations. If your idea of success as a band is to put out an album, make your first goal “writing a song”. The most self-satisfying accomplishments all come from baby steps. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and you can surely do more damage with a brick in your hand than with the keys to a cement truck. Does that make sense?

Rob Wilcox

Who or what do you owe your success to?

That’s a two part answer.

For me, I owe my own personal success to being passionate about the things I love and always being hungry to learn or do more. I feel that success is simply about hitting the different stages of figuring out what your potential is as a person. The only way you can get there is by allowing yourself to fully fall in love with whatever it is you care about, without allowing it to control your life.

Would you rather work for your money or win the lottery?

If I won the lottery, would that make me feel like I was succeeding at something? Self worth is something that comes from within, as does work ethic. If I won the lottery, I would only use it as a means to provide myself with a safety net so that I could continue to put work into the things I’m most passionate about.

What is the worst job you’ve ever had?

None, really. I’ve been fortunate enough that all of my jobs in the past (and currently) all demand a high level of work ethic which ultimately give way to feeling accomplished in one way or another.

Whether it’s selling coffee 6 days a week at 5am (done that), setting up microphones and helping bands load in and out of a radio station (done that), or working as a publicist in the music industry (currently doing that), each one requires you to be on your A-game at all times. I can tell you the worst job to have, and that’s having a job where you’ve lost interest. ...that, or something that involves touching poop.

Especially poop that isn’t yours.

What is the best advice you can give to new musicians/bands?

Easy. Have fun and don’t turn what you love into a job that you’ll lose interest in.

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Cut Teeth

What’s the best advice you’ve been given?

The first thing that comes to mind is Dave Grohl’s entire “The Musician Comes First” keynote speech at this year’s SXSW - the sentiment of which basically said to me, “make music that you like, and do it for no one but yourself”.

How do you measure success?

In this band, the only success that really matters is the “holy shit” moments that take place in the practice space, and occasionally on stage or in the studio. We’re really only out to impress ourselves and each other, and anything beyond that is purely a bonus. But if I can make one of the other dudes in the band smile or say “holy shit”, then I succeeded, and those moments are the only real reason to be in a band. When a bunch of different people can come together in a room with a bunch of instruments and spontaneously find the same mental wavelength just by reading each other and feeding off each other... well, I feel the same way about that as ICP does about magnets.

Who or what do you owe your success to?

Well, according to most people’s definition of success, we probably haven’t seen much of any and certainly would have no place discussing that. But we have had a bunch of really cool opportunities, and this would be an appropriate time to give some serious thanks to Kevin and Seth at Topshelf, who wanted to put out our record just because they thought it was cool.

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Everything else has sort of snowballed from that. Also, according to the definition of success I mentioned earlier, I’ve seen more success in this band than in anything I’ve done before it. It’s incredibly satisfying, and it’s always been about having the best time possible.

Anyway, I think Dustin Currier we owe most of that to the fact that we really took our time to figure out what exactly this band was going to be and let it just be that, and never rushed into anything for the sake of trying to achieve any false sense of success that so many bands sort of fall victim to.

Our only real goal that we’ve been able to take seriously is writing and playing songs that we want to hear.

Would you rather work for your money or win the lottery?

If you ever want to get satisfaction out of anything you have, you’ve got to work for it.

What is the worst job you’ve ever had?

To be honest, I’ve never really had a horrible job.

I’ve only had two, each for 4+ years, and they’ve both basically allowed me to do as much touring or playing as I’ve needed to do.

What is the best advice you can give to new musicians/bands?

Chances are, you’ll probably never make any money at this, so don’t form your goals around that. Have fun with your friends, and spend more time on your songs than on your hair.

Diamond Youth

What’s the best advice you’ve been given?

“If you just sit around your house being fulfilled... someone will come and take your furniture!!” Tony Robbins.

This is sort of the code that I live by. Each day is an opportunity to get closer to the milestones I set for myself. If I stop creating in some capacity, I go crazy, feeling incomplete. Plus, according to Tony here, they’ll come and steal my things.

How do you measure success?

I make a point each day to reflect and be grateful for the positive elements in my life. Success, for me, is about being happy. I measure this by the opportunities, experiences, and relationships that surround me.

Justin Gilman

Would you rather work for your money or win the lottery?

I mean, winning the lottery and finally building a recording studio on a house boat would be a dream come true.

But just like the first question - after a while, if you’re not doing something and using your brain, you’ll just start to die. So I will go with “work for your money”!

What is the worst job you’ve ever had?

I’ll just say, that I worked at Arbys in Mt. Airy, Maryland for almost 4 years..

What is the best advice you can give to new musicians/bands?

I’ll just pass on what Chris Conley from Saves the Day just told me, when we both played Pouzza Fest. He said no matter how obscure your music or art is, to persevere through uncertainty. It may sound overly simple or cliche, but it really is a major factor in a band’s success. If you commit whole heartedly, your tribe will eventually follow.

Who or what do you owe your success to?

Everyone in my life has influenced my art, in one way or another. Whether that was the punk kids back in high school that introduced me to Punk-o-Rama compilations, the opening band I’ll see today on tour, or Marvin Gaye’s wonderful pipes. I think it’s inevitable that I’ll take a piece of the experience to heart - either subconsciously or intentionally.

09

Would you rather work for your money or win the lottery?

I think if we won the lottery, we could put that money to work. I am going to say lottery.

I think maybe this question is supposed to be a metaphor for being a self-made man or having someone else help you do it for you/the easy way, but not having to worry about money would be so incredible.

Empire! Empire!

(I was a lonely estate) What’s the best advice you’ve been given?

I am drawing a blank here. There hasn’t been any advice that stuck out that defined who I am or changed me, though I’ve been given plenty of good advice over the years. For some reason, I’m envisioning this question referring to some hugely inspirational and sage-like advice that came when the chips were down and I had to fight to overcome some great adversity to prove something to someone or myself, but I never had that Spiderman-like moment. My mom always told me to make sure I had a back-up plan in place in the form of education, just in case this didn’t work out and I’ve done that and think academics are hugely important. See also: worst answer ever.

How do you measure success?

I have absolutely no idea. This is something I am terrible at. I wouldn’t say we are successful, but I can easily see how people could argue both ways.

In that light, I also don’t think we are unsuccessful either, but rather somewhere in the middle. I think that might drive me to work harder because if I felt successful maybe I would be content to slow down or be idle.

Who or what do you owe your success to?

Hard work and a one-track mind, but also to countless friends/family. No man is an island, and there are so many people that helped us get here, and we are extremely grateful for that.

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In the case that this question is a metaphor, I am very proud of being a self-made man and to say we haven’t taken any shortcuts or hand-outs or anything like that. No one wanted to put out our music when we first had started, so we started a label and did it ourselves. We’ve booked our own tours for years and years, we’ve slept on countless floors, etc. I just don’t think the question equates well as a metaphor. See also: worst answer ever.

Keith Latinen

What is the worst job you’ve ever had?

I guess either working for the TSA as a security officer, or dishwashing for a country club. TSA was very rigid and stressful, not that that should surprise anyone, it’s the nature of the job. I always felt on edge there and the consequences of messing up could be very real. Dishwashing at a country club was terrible, but it was my first “real” job, so it was a lesson in humility. Getting home at like 3 or 4am was par for the course, as was getting dumped on from the waitstaff to the chefs. I was pretty naive in high school, but even I noticed/was surprised by the rampart drug use and alcohol that seemed part of the daily routine for most of the staff. I guess they hated their job so much that that was how they coped.

What is the best advice you can give to new musicians/bands?

Don’t wait for anyone to do anything for you. The people that take their career into their own hands are almost always the most successful. Being on a label should just push you that much harder and labels want bands that can do it themselves anyway.

Take pride in everything you do and do it the right way. DIY doesn’t have to be poorly done, don’t use that as an excuse or justification for how something turns out if it isn’t well done.

Lion Cub

What’s the best advice you’ve been given?

Well, I’m not quite sure this is advice from any one person, but I’ve always been convinced that, when it comes to art – music, writing, what have you – that you just have to believe in your vision.

How do you measure success?

Again, in terms of art, creation, success is knowing that you had a story to tell, or an image to capture, and you did your best to get there. At some point you’ll know. For instance, when you can come back to a record a year or two later, and feel good about it, that’s success.

Who or what do you owe your success to?

Lion Cub has always had such a huge supporting cast. First and foremost, (we are a very earnest, sincere band), Kevin, Seth and Topshelf took big risks in putting out our albums, essentially agreeing to put their time and effort into what is essentially electronic pop music in a world of very organic indie rock. There are also so many people who’ve played on our records that have made those albums what they are. Alex from Aeroplane, 1929, and Derrick and Tom from The World Is… stand out especially.

Chris, who is what I would call a “studio-member” of Lion Cub, and who produced Seneca, has also been so important. At one point he was basically giving me the keys to his apartment to finish Seneca, always making time to record, mix, you-name-it.

Chad Jewett

Would you rather work for your money or win the lottery?

Well, to continue with the “success” concept, there can’t be a better feeling than knowing that you can live from doing what you love. So I have to imagine that if you can write and record albums and tour to eat, that beats the lottery every time.

What is the worst job you’ve ever had?

We’ve kept things positive; I’ll just say that the worst jobs tend to give you time to write melodies in your head.

What is the best advice you can give to new musicians/bands?

Listen to EVERYTHING. Be omnivorous, be willing to use each and every idea. You’ll never know when an A$AP Rocky beat or a Katy Perry melody will hit you the right way and you’ll create something that surprises even you. The worst thing you can do is limit yourself.

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My Fictions

What’s the best advice you’ve been given?

I really don’t want to kick this interview off with an Adam Sandler quote, but it’s the only thing that’s coming to mind: “Gold jacket, green jacket...Who gives a shit” (except I wouldn’t knock Carl Weathers’ prosthetic hand into the street to get run over by a truck after saying it).

How do you measure success?

I’m not really sure. It’s always cool to see people buying our records and telling us (or other people) if they like them. Whenever I hear about people in Japan or something buying our records, I’m pretty humbled too. But the band is successful to me because I like doing it, and I’m very happy with the time I’ve gotten to spend with my friends doing absolutely ridiculous shit because of it. Like skipping out on a week of class last year to drive down to Virginia and play a show with Circle Takes the Square in Virginia. Or going to a zoo in St. Louis in the middle of the summer because it was free and I got the opportunity to drive around the country playing music for a few weeks. I feel successful thinking back on stuff like that.

Who or what do you owe your success to?

The other dudes in this band. There have been a bunch of other helpful people - label pals like Kev and Seth at Topshelf or Jon and Kimmi at Flannel Gurl and anyone that’s helped us book a show or let us stay with them and talk massive amounts of shit - but I mean, without all the other guys in this band, there’s no way I’d want to keep this thing going.

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Bryan Carifio

We also just try to do our own thing and play what we like.

Would you rather work for your money or win the lottery?

Are you fucking kidding me? Win the lottery, yo.

What is the worst job you’ve ever had?

Fall 2012 I interned for a political action committee.

For a few hours each week I’d be campaigning for a liberal candidate trying to get into the state house of representatives in one of the most conservative districts in the area. I was really good at data entry, but I sucked at cold calling people because it’s the worst: you either get screamed at by old people or rushed off the phone by moms because those are the only people with landlines left in the entire fucking world. One day I even went door to door by myself in the pouring rain (during a Patriots game) and people either ignored me or treated me like crap for four hours. I just gave up and went home. Oh and my boss was a jerk and she ate Spaghettios at like 9:30 in the morning. That sucked. I also worked at Pac Sun for like 3 years (Ryan worked there for 2 or something) and I worked a Christmas season at Toys R’ Us because I’m doomed to work retail until people with English degrees are allowed to make a living wage again.

What is the best advice you can give to new musicians/bands?

Do everything (or at least be prepared to do everything) you can yourself, that way you can appreciate when people offer to do those things for you.

Pianos Become The Teeth

MIchael York

What’s the best advice you’ve been given?

Live your life to the fullest and never turn down the opportunities to do something that you may regret not doing later in life.

Would you rather work for your money or win the lottery?

Work for my money. But I’m not gonna complain if someone wants to give me a ton of money.

How do you measure success?

Personally, I measure it by the accomplished feeling after a tour/recording an album/etc. I feel like if we are proud of what we have done, it’s a success.

What is the worst job you’ve ever had?

Starbucks, hands down.

Who or what do you owe your success to?

All of our friends for supporting us, our families, and people that have given us a chance.

What is the best advice you can give to new musicians/bands?

Never give up. Do your own thing. Don’t worry about catching up to the most popular band at the moment. Slow burners are good things. Working hard is the most important step. Never turn down the worst shows if it means getting on the road.

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Prawn What’s the best advice you’ve been given?

Not sure. Probably just to do what ever makes you happy.

How do you measure success?

Still trying to figure that one out.

Who or what do you owe your success to?

A lot of different people. Anyone that’s helped us out along the way.

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Tony Clark

Would you rather work for your money or win the lottery?

Probably win the lottery and then work at a job I like. Plus, I could do some great stuff with my lottery money, aka putting a trampoline in everyone’s yard/apartment.

What is the worst job you’ve ever had?

Working at a carnival.

What is the best advice you can give to new musicians/bands?

If you really enjoy what your doing, keep doing it.

Pswingset

Jordan Welker

What’s the best advice you’ve been given?

Do what makes you happy, not what makes others happy.

Would you rather work for your money or win the lottery?

I’d like to win the lottery, but continue to work.

How do you measure success?

By the number of fans, not the number of dollars.

What is the worst job you’ve ever had?

The worst job I had was being unemployed.

Who or what do you owe your success to?

We owe success to no one other than ourselves and the people who inspired and influenced us.

What is the best advice you can give to new musicians/bands?

Play what you love, not what you think people want to hear. Tour while you have the chance and don’t worry about making money. Ever.

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The Saddest Landscape

Andy Maddox

What’s the best advice you’ve been given?

Possibly that DIY (Do It Yourself) does not have to mean Do It Alone. In other words, there is a big difference between waiting around for something to be done for you, and working with others to help you achieve your goals.

What is the worst job you’ve ever had?

Maybe the one where I watched someone intentionally urinate on a bunch of shampoo bottles, or the one where someone opened their coat to show me a gun so I would not stop them stealing an entire display of Snow White movies.

How do you measure success?

Usually it is simply if I accomplished what I set out to do, and how satisfied I feel with the results.

What is the best advice you can give to new musicians/bands?

It always bums me out when I meet kids in new bands who want me to hear their music, but say things like “here is our demo, it’s not that good” or “it is our first record, it is kind of crappy, but the 3rd song is ok”, so my advice would be, believe in what you are creating, if immediately you aren’t proud of it, work at it some more. Chances are, if you are proud of your music and enjoy listening to it, other people will too.

Who or what do you owe your success to?

Friends, band mates, labels, records, books, other bands, try, fail, try, fail. The ability to heal and learn, a work ethic that keeps me up at night, luck.

Would you rather work for your money or win the lottery?

First this just makes me think of the Bright Eyes song from I’m wide awake... that has a very similar lyric, which I back, great record. To answer the question though, I would rather win the lottery as most of what I enjoy doing has very little financial reward, so my winnings would allow me more time to do them.

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Lastly, of course... All the amazing and hospitable people we’ve met on tour.

Duh.

SIRS

What’s the best advice you’ve been given?

“Sheep go to Heaven. Goats go to Hell.”

-John McCrea (from CAKE) How do you measure success?

We pretty much aspire to make what we do sustainable. To be able to play shows, travel and always have an outlet for our music. It’s tougher than we thought and it’s been a huge learning curve for us.

It’s so important to stay active and keep yourself relevant at all times. We leaned that lesson the hard way! Some day, Mumford and Sons will open for us. Mark my words...

Who or what do you owe your success to?

So many people: First of all, everyone who helped make the music scene at Purchase possible. Our soon to be Alma Mater has always had an amazing scene. Zona Mexicana, Elemeno, Space Ghost Cowboys, Trails, Time Vampire, Images, The Shakes, Sharks Roar, Big Soda, Data Dog, Weird Korea and plenty of other bands were all doing diverse and awesome stuff when I got there. Can’t think of a better place to form a band than Purchase. Attention High Schoolers: Go there, make music and keep the place weird!

We would also be dead in a ditch somewhere if it weren’t for Kevin and Seth from Topshelf and all around wizard, Greg Horbal. Those guys have helped us out a ton during our transition from “college bubble band” to the real world. They’ve been absolute lifesavers.

Would you rather work for your money or win the lottery?

At this point in my life.

Lottery. But I would certainly be philanthropic about it! I would donate a considerable amount to charities and it would allow me to focus on the band without dealing with Kyle Seely the financial/logistical nightmares that plague us. I’d also use the money to start my own pedal pub business. A tandem bike-propelled bar that carries 10 pedaling passengers. You could get your exercise and your booze at the same time. That thing would be a cash cow. Look out, Syracuse!

And I’d buy you a monkey. Haven’t you always wanted a monkey?

What is the worst job you’ve ever had?

Rock climbing wall supervisor at an elementary school. Man, I get a migraine just thinking about it. One time this kid threw up while harnessed to the wall. The image of his vomit cascading down the plastic rocks will be forever burned into my memory.

What is the best advice you can give to new musicians/bands?

Put your music before everything. Don’t let the anxiety of what you’re going to “do with your life” get in the way. You’re doing exactly what you need to do now. Friends from high school might have wonderful careers lined up now, but they’re also lining themselves up for a mid-life crisis, a Harley Davidson and an embarrassing barbwire chain tattoo down the road... I think the Clash song “All The Young Punks” crudely sums it up.

Put your music before everything and for god sakes, BRING YOUR OWN GEAR!

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the world is a beautiful place & I am no longer afraid to die What’s the best advice you’ve been given?

“I think you should try some of this LSD.” How do you measure success?

Being able to a show in a city I’ve never been to, for people I’ve never met, and watching them go apeshit for the songs I wrote.

Who or what do you owe your success to?

The Internet.

Derrick Shanholtzer Dvorak Would you rather work for your money or win the lottery?

Lottery.

What is the worst job you’ve ever had?

I was a traveling inventory clerk for a company that counted all the merchandise in Wal Mart stores in OH/WV/KY. Shifts were 11-14 hours a day (sometimes starting at 4am) with one break. After work you couldn’t go home, just a hotel with the rest of your mutant co-workers.

What is the best advice you can give to new musicians/bands?

I think you should try some of this LSD.

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YOu Blew It!

What’s the best advice you’ve been given?

This one time, Pitbull told me to keep hustling.

Really. To this day, I have kept hustling.

How do you measure success?

Success is measured by how satisfied you are with your decision to sleep on people’s floors and hope that someone buys merch so your money continues moving towards tacos and not gas for the van.

Who or what do you owe your success to?

Bands owe everything to their families and friends first and foremost; to the people you continually leave behind on tour that want nothing but the world for you.

Andy Anaya

Would you rather work for your money or win the lottery?

I played the lottery once and was immediately bummed once I realized I couldn’t trade in my losing ticket for a double cheeseburger.

What is the worst job you’ve ever had?

Applying size indicator stickers on Antoine Dodson t-shirts (YES, of bedroom intruder fame) headed for the shelves at Hot Topic. I quit after 2 days.

What is the best advice you can give to new musicians/bands?

Just have fun with it and never underestimate the small towns. Just because New York, Boston and Chicago are larger markets, it doesn’t always mean turnouts or crowd interest will always be positive.

Cedar Falls, Iowa, I am looking at you.

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Have Mercy @ Bled Fest // May 25th, 2013 Words: Andrew Johnson Photos: Amber Nicole Photos Your van broke down outside of Pittsburgh on the way to Bled Fest, what happened to the van and how did you end up getting to Bled Fest?

That’s actually a pretty funny story. Nick and I are not the most knowledgeable about cars and we just got our van back from a mechanic and he told us to put this stuff called “stop leak” in the radiator because there was a small leak. So when we popped open the hood before we left for our first show on the “mini tour”, Nick and I couldn’t find the place to put it in, so I saw this I guess port that had a hose that ran to the radiator and told Nick to pour it in there and he did. Little did we know that we put the stop leak in the coolant reservoir. Pretty bad situation at that point. Haha.

Given that you got to spend some quality time with 5 full size dudes in a Ford Fiesta, how would you rate its handling and performance and would you ever consider doing full tour in one?

It was actually a pretty fun car to drive. Lots of pick up for a 4 cylinder and it had that “go kart” handling and great gas millage. I’m thinking about getting one myself. But 10 hours in that with most of our gear in the trunk and the merch in the car was super uncomfortable. I would never do that again for a tour, unless it was an acoustic tour.

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Van problems are inevitable when touring, what’s the best way to handle van problems when they occur?

Stay positive. Those can really harsh your buzz, but just stay positive, don’t freak out, talk about what’s going on calmly, and then figure a plan of action.

Luckily we had Kevin from Topshelf in our van and he called his buddy Andy at Greenvans and he tried to help us. We got a hotel room and we took it to a shop the next day and the guys there were awesome about the whole situation.

This year’s Bled Fest had an extremely well stacked roster of bands playing, what bands did you specifically seek out to see play?

I really wanted to see Pianos, Tigers Jaw, Andrew W.K., Dads, Prawn, Code Orange Kids, and From Rise to Ruin. But because we were running so late, because of the van problems, I only got to see Pianos, Andrew WK, and Into It. Over It. Of the bands you did see play, what ones really impressed you?

Pianos is always sick live. They’re from the same area as us, so I remember going to some of their earlier shows and it’s just so awesome to see them live. I really recommend it. And I only caught a couple minutes of Andrew WK and Into it. Over It., but Evan always puts on an amazing show.

Have Mercy was one of the closing bands to play Bled Fest, did having to wait and watch all the bands play before you have any affect on your nerves at all?

Bled Fest is really a laid back fest. I would say better than when we played the Baltimore stop on Warped because it’s inside, air conditioned and just really awe inspiring. Also because we were running about 6 hours late, we didn’t have to wait that long, about 4 to 5 hours, which is the norm for us, because we are real sticklers about being on time or even early.

Would you rather had played earlier in the day instead being one of the closing bands?

I’m glad we were playing later because of all the problems we were having around the van and getting the rental. But if we were on time, I would have liked it earlier so that I could have hanged and partied with some of our friends in other bands and see everyone I haven’t seen in awhile.

After all the drama with the van problems and such, how did it feel to finally get out there and play your show and be done with everything?

It was awesome. It was great to play and have a rad time and kind of a nice wrap and bow on the worst 26 hours of my life. Haha.

How was your overall Bled Fest experience?

I had a blast. The days leading up hanging out with Kevin and the dudes from Prawn were awesome (we even formed a ‘Frat” with the Prawn dudes). I got to see my homeboy Eric at 222 Ormsby. Saw the most rad white trash fight in a bar in Pittsburgh, met the awesome guys at the shop that we got our van fixed at and then saw some of our friends at Bled Fest. It was just overall awesome. I know for a fact I want to play or at least go every year there is one.

Some post Bled Fest karaoke happened among Have Mercy, Prawn and Joie De Vivre, among the three bands, who had the better karaoke skills?

I would say it’s a tie between Swindle and I, Stewart from Joie De Vivre, and Tony from Prawn. Swindle and I had the sick picks of songs (Swindle sings a lot of 90’s R&B and I sing a lot of nu-metal and forgotten classics), Stewart is fucking awesome at fast songs (He sang “End of the World As We Know It” by REM and didn’t miss a beat), and Tony at stage performance (He took his shirt off while singing Rage Against the Machine). We all had our own style of Karaoke. But I want to give it up to DJ Rev for putting up with our bullshit and all of us chanting “FRAT!” over and over again all night. It’s most likely going to be a post-Bled Fest ritual for us.

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Interview with: Cory Van Cleef // Photos: Tyler Mantz

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George, Matt and Cory had all played together in earlier versions of the band before Dillon and Mike Joined. After playing with this line up for about a year, you decided to start taking the band more seriously. What was it about this band that made you want to start taking it more seriously than past projects and how did you decide on which direction to take the music?

For a band that has been together for 5 years or so, the band has had it’s ups and downs, and especially in this indie scene, bands usually have a short life span. What has kept the band going for as long as it has and what have you learned from the low points to help keep the band going?

I think it stems from a common interest in what we all want to do with music and the etiquette of how

We’d had all done some other projects before, but Caravels just seemed to happen with the most ease.

There was obvious enthusiasm that I think stemmed from not trying to make it anything other than what it is. The whole progression of us playing together seemed to just happen and before any of us knew it, we had set two days a week aside for practice without any question.

to go about it. When we put out our first demo in Spring of 2007, it was for the intention of having something to hand out of course, but we rushed it along for our first couple of shows out of town and what we were doing just made sense. After that we all had a taste of what touring could be like and it drove us to do more.

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In a few things I’ve read about Caravels, the writer has mentioned that Caravels is the best band in Las Vegas right now. Would you agree with those writer’s opinions and what is the current state of the music scene in Las Vegas?

Not at all, I think we are just an older band now and receive that praise a little too quickly. For a while there was a drought in the musical community that

For someone like me who has lived in the Midwest their whole life and has never been to Nevada, I have a skewed perception of what Vegas is from what I’ve gathered from movies and television, i.e. deserts, gambling, prostitution & pawn shops. For someone like you, who grew up in that environment, what was it like growing up there and how did it shape you?

we are a part of out here, but that is definitely turning around. There are a lot of younger kids coming out to shows, starting bands, and house shows are becoming less of a dormant idea in Vegas. Not to mention punksinvegas.com, which has become a lifeline of info on what’s happening and is sort of a Vegas scene yearbook. Our music community is definitely heading the right way.

I always forget how strange this city is until friends from elsewhere are visiting and are blown away by the strip or some of the laws. I definitely feel spoiled when we go out on tour. It’s easy to take a 24-hour city for granted until you are trying to eat or grab some beer past a certain time.

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I’d imagine there are a lot of vices that are easy to fall into when living near Las Vegas, how does one keep themselves from falling into one?

I’m a firm believer of moderation, nothing is continuously good if over done. The best way to not fall into that stuff is to keep busy with something of value. But a little beer and pot never killed anyone.

(That last part might not be completely true).

You live in a place where a lot of the rest of the country come to vacation; where is an ideal vacation destination for you?

Anywhere in the woods. Camping is something I’d say we all would like to do more. We end up talking about a fishing trip that has yet to happen, so hopefully we can change that soon.

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It’s been mentioned in other interviews that you had thought of moving the band north to Portland, Oregon, but decided against it. Why did you decide not to move and is that something you are still considering?

We have all gotten pretty frustrated with living here in the past and that was probably the pinnacle of it.

We had just ended a tour early that we had broken down on and were feeling completely let down. It went from a band move and slowly dwindled to just George and I. At that point it was a question of what

was more important and I’m glad that we decided not to throw in the towel.

With a lot of Topshelf’s roster being east coast/ Midwest based, how did you catch the ear of Topshelf and what has it been like working with them so far?

We had been putting up a lot of their bands out here and through friends of friends, an email conversation was sparked. After that, we just became

part of the family and it’s been unlike anything we could have imagined. We’re lucky to be a part of something so special and we’re even more fortunate that they put up with how long it takes us to get everything done, haha.

Unlike a lot of albums where the instruments and vocals are recorded in parts separately then joined later on, on Lacuna, you recorded all of the instruments, minus the vocals live for each song until you got a clean take of it. Why did you

decide to record live instead of parts and was there a lot of preparation involved before going into the studio?

We had live tracked The Earthling Sessions and remembered that it caught an energy that we really found to be good for our music. So when it came time that most of the songs for Lacuna were written, we realized that it might be difficult to live track, but the songs needed that energy. And I feel like tracking those songs might have made them

something that they aren’t. It was important to us that listening to Lacuna resemble sitting in the garage with us as much as possible.

You recorded Lacuna at the Palms Studio in one night during the overnight shift to get a reduced rate; was there a lot of pressure during recording the songs live in such a short amount of time?

We were fortunately able to leave mics and levels set after our first night in there in which we had laid down some of the tracks. That first night was really

stressful, but when we went back the second night, the general consensus was to scrap what we had and do it front to back. Continuity in our playing and the energy was something that was a key idea and is essentially a part of the music.

You had previously recorded all of your material with Mike Kamoo in California, why did you decide to record Lacuna at the Palms Studio?

Every time we went to Earthling there was a need

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to spend as little money as possible, so we wanted to give ourselves as much time as possible for tracking and listening back on mixes. Essentially we didn’t want to rush ourselves into a recording that could have been better with some extra time and less financial constraints, which makes us tracking all the instruments in one night seem contradicting in a way, haha.

How do the songs on Lacuna compare to the songs on your earlier releases?

I’d say they are more in line with us playing as a unit instead of playing over each other. The over all perspective is more clear and the powerful moments come more from note selection and feel, rather than how hard we could strum or how loud our gear was.

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Why did it take as long as it did to finally do a fulllength and how does it feel now that you’ve gotten over that full-length hump?

It feels pretty unreal to hold the record. Charlie Wagers did some real special artwork for us and seems just as important to the finished product as the music. I’d say it took us so long because we write at a fairly slow pace and we’d find ourselves rushing out three songs here and two songs there.

Finally, we just told ourselves that the next release is going to be a full-length.

The definition of the album title, Lacuna, means an unfilled space, why did you choose that name and how does it reflect the band and the music on the album?

Mike’s lyrics on Lacuna often touch on the idea of memory not being completely reliable. I remember him describing the feeling of someone else having to remind him of a significant event in his life and how strange that can be. Lacuna was a word that he had stumbled across after writing a large portion of what’s on the record and it just made sense.

The word applied to the album is more so a missing gap.

A big part of Caravels sound is the feeling or emotion that the music conveys; what kind of feelings does Lacuna convey and what do you want the listener to come away with after listening to it?

I once had a co-worker tell me that he couldn’t tell when songs ended and the next one began, which I thought was awesome because it is essentially a

collection of songs that ended up flowing in and out of each other. When we would practice the album before recording we would play it front to back without any breaks in between songs. It was kind of mesmerizing after so long and I feel like it’s part of what makes the album what it is. I’ve never really thought about how our music might make someone feel, but I think I’d want the listener to feel as if they just watched those songs played in the same room that they were listening in.

You played SXSW this year and I read that you had some problems with the electrical going off and on and blowing your amps, can you explain little on that and your overall experience at SXSW? That was a little hiccup in an extremely fun week.

Long drives and some cabinet failures was slightly rough, but so much more could have gone wrong.

SXSW is extremely fun because most every friend that we’ve made touring is generally around. South By is like a giant friend fest with free beer, food, and music.

How did the tour earlier this year with Frameworks and Octaves go and do you have any other tours lined up for later this year?

Every time we have a band touring with us it’s a blast. Both of those bands along with Old Gray and I Kill Giants, who we met up with later on the same tour, are all some of the best dudes we’ve had the pleasure to play with. That plus touring on our first full-length made for something special.

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Brian Meitz // Evan Weiss Into It. Over It. Twelve Towns (Topshelf Records)

How did you get involved with getting to design the packaging for Into It. Over It.’s Twelve Towns LP? Brian: Evan and I have been friends for a long time and I guess I’ve always been one of his go to guys for design. I had worked with his old band, The Progress, on a couple releases and was involved with Into It. Over It. since the 52 Weeks project started. I built the original website and did the CD art for that release before Twelve Towns, so there was already a bunch of involvement before Twelve Towns.

Evan: Over the last couple years I’ve had a couple go to people when it comes to certain artwork and layout things. Brian has always been one of the main dudes. He’s been doing artwork for bands I’ve played in since I was 17. This project, I felt, was right in his wheelhouse. Brian’s illustration and unique style nailed the entire vibe I was going for.

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Were there any other ideas for how the album could be packaged and how much input did Evan Weiss have on this project?

Brian: Evan pretty much had the whole idea from the letter theme to the perforated postcards when he first approached me about the project. There were a couple iterations of the cover before we settled on the final one, but the idea was pretty clear from day one.

Evan: I was on tour at the time, driving in a car with my friend Mitch Wojcik. I was lamenting about how I couldn’t think of anything great for this idea. We had a 10 hour drive to Denver where we were both able to brainstorm. About halfway through we had a breakthrough. After we decided how it should be, we called Topshelf to see if we were gonna even be able to make it. Then called Brian to explain it to him.

Besides the typed lyrics on the back of the postcards, were they all written out by Evan?

Brian: That’s my beautiful handwriting. I don’t know why he didn’t write them out. I can’t remember if it was a time issue or what. We had talked about him writing all of the lyrics out, but I ended up doing them. Not a fun way to spend an hour. My little right hand was cramped for hours.

Evan: I didn’t write them out because I was touring so much and didn’t have the capability to really sit down and work on it. Plus, I would have HATED looking at my own handwriting on those things.

I thought the postcard idea was pretty great and actually wanted to mail the cards off to people but I didn’t want to ruin the packaging. Was the intention of the postcards to have people mail them and have you heard of anyone actually mailing them?

Brian: The original intention was to have the postcards be mailable and include a download code of that particular song on the back of it, but that never happened. I haven’t heard of anyone mailing their postcards or not.

Evan: I really wish we were able to do the download thing. Mailing someone a song would have been so rad. It just would have cost a TON to do individual download cards. We thought it better to keep it together. I have seen people tear them out and frame them around their house. I wanted it to be something like you would see in old Beatles or Rolling Stones LP’s. People would ask later “Oh, does it have all the postcards?”

When designing the 12 postcards, what influenced the designs for each card and were any of the designs for the cities harder to come up with than others?

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Brian: Most of the postcard designs are actual postcards from over the years, so none were necessarily harder to come up with or put together. Looking through old post cards was a lot of fun though.

Especially Westmont. I went to grade school and touched my first boob in Westmont, so doing that postcard was extra special.

Evan: Haha. I’m glad Brian had fun with this part.

I imagine it was the most painstaking. I also love how he was able to use all different postcard styles for the project. I imagine finding something for Brenham, TX wasn’t so easy.

Beyond the city’s name on the front of the cards, does the artwork for each card reference the songs about that city?

Brian: Some cards reference the city, some reference the song. “Nashville, TN” has a mechanical bull somewhere in the text and “Summerville, SC” references the song pretty directly.

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Evan: There are some subtleties for sure. I think it was more about just creating an overall vibe. Brian’s really great at stuff like that.

Even though it serves as basically the “liner notes” for the album, I thought the IIOI letterhead with letter on it was a nice touch. Why was the decision made to include a separate letter for the thanks yous and just not just include it on the LP sleeve instead?

Brian: That was the last thing we did for the layout.

I remember writing Evan a letter (a text message) and him receiving the letter (the text message) and he wrote me back a letter (a text message) and we went with it. I don’t think we wanted to print on the LP sleeves due to time and cost and just thought the letter (not the text message) was a good way to tie the whole thing together anyway.

Evan: It was more about keeping the style of the envelope (the LP jacket) as true to a real looking envelope (the LP jacket) as possible. There was no

clear place to put that information. It wouldn’t fit on the postcards. We couldn’t do 13 postcards. Putting it on the back of the envelope (the LP jacket) would have looked too cluttered. We couldn’t do a gatefold. So to keep in tune with the theme we decided “let’s include a printed letterhead”. The CD doesn’t have that detail. It’s one of my favorite elements.

You also worked with Evan on the 52 Weeks packaging and the Twelve Towns 7”s, how was this project different than others you’ve worked on with him?

Brian: This one was the least hectic probably because we had a real, clear idea of where we wanted to go with the art before we started. The IIOI / Bob Nanna split with the drawing of the tricycle kid with the raccoon helmet is my favorite cause I saw that kid when I was visiting Evan in Chicago one summer. I also saw Bob DJ the same visit so it all seemed appropriate.

For you, what do you want people to take away from the design and packaging of this album?

Brian: I want people to visit Westmont, NJ and eat Nick and Joes’ pizza.

Evan: I’ve seen people mention that they want to visit all of the towns referenced on the record. I did my best to encompass a fair amount of the US. Hopefully, when people see it they get excited about listening to the songs, reading along and becoming more attached to the material. That they really look at all of it and notice the fine details and nuances.

I also hope it inspires fellow bands and designers to really have fun with the graphic design for their records. It CAN be fun.

Even though it’s only a couple years old, is there anything you would change about the design/ packaging for Twelve Towns or anything you would add to it?

Brian: Nah. I like it.

Evan: I wouldn’t change a thing. Every detail is spot on.

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Interview with: Greg Horbal // Derrick Shanholtzer-Dvorak // Chris Teti // Steven K. Buttery Photos: Jake Cunningham The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die started a few years ago with Derrick and one other person who is no longer involved, and has gone through a few transformations since its inception. What transformations has the band gone through and how did all of the current members get involved with the band?

Derrick: I started the band on drums. We didn’t know any drummers so I pieced together a drum set, took Adderall, and played drums in my basement for a couple hours everyday so we could start this band. The band was originally a 4 piece.

There are a few songs from this era that are just completely lost, as we had no recordings of them and no one who wrote those songs are in the band anymore. Our first second-guitarist was in the band for a few months before we parted ways. I opted to take his place on guitar and find a more competent drummer. This line up lasted just long enough to record Formlessness and go on one 2 week tour before our original guitarist / vocalist Tyler, and the drummer quit.

With all the line up changes, has the direction of the music changed at all?

Derrick: Some of the dynamics have changed, but the overall sound / idea is still there. We’ve been writing for a second record and the songs are getting a little bit weirder. Leaning more towards the kind of stuff that Don Caballero and Do Make Say Think would do while still sounding like us.

A lot more attempts to rip off Modest Mouse as well. Steve and I want the band to get weird / more challenging, Greg wants to make sure that kids will jump on each other while we play.

You’ve said in other interviews that the band name was a bad joke that stuck. Do you think having such a long and memorable name has helped more than having a name that is shorter and forgettable?

Greg: I wouldn’t change our band name for the world. I think it’s really been helpful. I wasn’t in the band originally and I had met Derrick and seen him at a lot of shows before. I had no idea he was in this band. Honestly, I saw the name pop up on show flyers in Connecticut for like 5 months before I even

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heard the band. But it was jarring. I was like, “What the fuck is this?” The very first line up of the group played a show I booked with La Dispute in the basement of a dorm at The University of Connecticut and I remember seeing Derrick and being like, “Oh shit, you’re in this band?”. But I remember seeing that early incarnation and thinking “Ok, this name makes sense.” I think the name had that same jarring effect on a lot of the initial people who checked the band out, and continues to do so to this day. I just had a long discussion with Kevin at Topshelf about how now we have to try to get people in the music press

to take us seriously when Topshelf approaches them asking if they want to debut a song by The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die. We’re going to get a lot of eye rolls I’m sure. Also, it’s not going to help that our first single is called “Picture of a Tree That Doesn’t Look OK”.

Not that it isn’t deserved, but are you surprised by how popular the band has gotten in the past couple years?

Greg: I am. All of us have been playing in bands since we were 15, and mostly to nobody, so this is kind of a wild experience. We’ve all been on tours where you drive most of the day to play to no one so getting the reactions we do is amazing and it’s something none of us ever really expected to happen.

What has contributed to the band’s success up to this point?

Derrick: Without sounding conceited, I feel like it’s almost our music alone that has gotten us to this point. We haven’t really covered a lot of ground touring and we don’t have management or a booking agent to really push the releases/band. Also, the long stupid name probably has helped.

The band was tapped to support Finch on their What It Is To Burn 10 Year anniversary tour, how did that opportunity come about and how did Finch fans react to your music?

Derrick: A really awesome dude named Dan that was working on the tour offered it to us. He is a CT resident and fan of the band and wanted to help us out. I had never listened to them before, I knew of

them, but I think I was too old or something to give a shit about Drive-Thru Records’ bands. It seemed like very few people gave a shit about us on that tour. Not entirely unexpected though, everyone was there to see an old favorite band’s reunion tour. That and there is very little overlap in our fan bases (if any at all). I was down because I probably would never have another opportunity to play 2,000 capacity rooms on a tour ever again.

It seems like you’ve been working on your fulllength for quite a while, how has the experience been during the process of writing and recording, and how does it feel to finally have it done?

Derrick: It was a nightmare. We had the songs for almost a year before recording them, but there were very few lyrics written once we started recording.

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It took us almost a year to finish the record as well.

It’s a huge relief to have it finished and I’m really proud of the results.

How do the songs on your upcoming album compare to your previous released ones?

Derrick: We are constantly trying out new and weirder approaches to songs. The overall sound of the record is similar to our previous work but more “all over the place” in terms of style. There are also 4 members sharing vocal duties throughout the record. There are a lot of layers and texture with this being our first recording with Chris on third guitar (plus the addition of Cello).

You’ve got a couple different people on vocals, how do you choose who sings what parts? Does

For the new album, you recorded with Ryan Stack at Format Audio, what was it like working with Ryan on the album?

Greg: We were all toying around with the idea of where we were going to go record the LP in early 2012. I think it really started to sink in that summer how happy we all were with the product that Ryan had helped us produce on Are Here to Help You and I called him asking if we could record our LP with him that summer. Overall, the recording experience was great. Ryan is a zero bullshit kind of guy, he really tells you if something isn’t good enough. He also just has a great feel and truly understood what we were trying to do with the record. We didn’t have to fight him on anything, and I think he was just as involved in the record as any of us were. I remember how stoked we all were as some of the “bigger” moments on the LP came together.

each person who sings have a specific style of singing that is used for certain parts of songs?

Derrick: There isn’t a lot of planning that goes into vocal placement. I write a lot of the lyrics and vocal cadences, but can’t sing for shit so those parts are distributed among the members who know what they are doing.

You’ve got a new song called “You Will Never Go To Space”, which is a pretty true and depressing statement for many people. Since private industry space travel is in the works, that could all change in future. If given the chance, how likely are you to leave the planet?

Derrick: If given the opportunity who wouldn’t want to go to space. It is just never going to happen, FOR ANYONE EVER.

Since Chris Teti also does recording at Silver Bullet Studios, why did you decide to have someone outside the band record the new album?

Chris: I recorded demos for most of the record before we went in with Ryan. We had recorded our previous release with Ryan, and the band Greg and I used to be in had recorded with him as well.

Ryan is a cool dude, I don’t get the chance to be in other studios much, due to always working at Silver Bullet. It’s always good to get an outside ear on your band, and I really respect Ryan’s opinions. In the end, I ended up recording a decent chunk of the record at Silver Bullet, including all the instrumentation for a song we added towards the end, titled “Low Light Assembly”. Many thanks to Ryan for not telling us to fuck off when I sent him 13 gigs of guitar layers, piano, vocals and other tracks right before he started the mix, and putting up with my endless gear questions.

You’ve already released a couple of EPs on Topshelf Records, how has it been working with Topshelf and what do you think of the “community” of labels and bands that Topshelf, RFC, CYLS, and No Sleep, plus others have created?

Greg: I’ve really watched Topshelf Records develop from its infant days. The label started in 2005, but I don’t think it really started to take off until they did the Defeater, My Heart to Joy and Pianos Become the Teeth LPs. I’ve gotten to know Kevin and Seth really, really well and it’s been super easy working with them on all of our releases since Chris and I had already developed a relationship with them during My Heart to Joy.

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The community of bands that Topshelf, RFC, CYLS and No Sleep have helped foster is amazing.

I’ve gotten to know everyone who runs each of those labels really well over the last few years and everyone’s heart is truly in the right place. Obviously everyone is running a business, but it’s pretty clear that their hearts are in the right place and everyone is releasing music that they truly love.

Derrick, with all the other labels in the scene that TWIABP is in, what made you want to start Broken World Media? Will it serve to release future TWIABP releases beyond the full-length?

Derrick: Since I was like 15, I have been starting DIY labels/self-releasing music and I wanted to start something a little more focused. We started out just doing tape releases, but have recently moved on to vinyl records, visual art, and literature. I’m just a huge nerd and I’m overly passionate about music.

Starting the label was a way for me to share the work of artists, musicians, and writers whose work I’m in love with. We will probably handle all TWIABP cassette releases and maybe a weird 7” here and there, but the TWIABP full-lengths will definitely be handled by labels with a better ability to handle those projects.

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Greg, when not working on band stuff, you’ve got a pretty serious job as a civil engineer that takes up 40 hours of your week. Do you find yourself having to separate your music life from your work life and do your coworkers understand what you do with the band when not working?

Greg: Funny story! I actually just left my job as a civil engineer. I work at Topshelf Records full-time now. I’m their first “full-time” employee. I split my days now between the label, the band, and Hope This Helps Booking. I was offered this job, we had our LP coming out and Hope This Helps had been going really well, so I decided it was now or never.

Really scary leaving the security, but if I didn’t give this all a shot, I was gonna regret it for the rest of my life. I had a lot of phone calls with my partner panicking before I put my two weeks in, but I got through it.

It was funny though, while I was working as an engineer I think quite a few people in the office would live through the stories I would come home with every weekend. I would leave work at like noon on a Thursday and fly to Chicago to meet everyone and play a sold out show. I don’t think anyone was that surprised when I left and everyone I worked with was super supportive of me doing this, which was neat. On the last day of work they got me so much cake and then I puked everywhere, oh my god.

Each member of the band does something interesting outside of the band whether it be screen printing, recording engineer, visual artist, or what have you. What role does playing in TWIABP have on your personal lives? How do you all coordinate schedules to practice/tour?

Greg: The band is taxing in some ways to our lives, but I think the things we create, accomplish, and get to do because of the band outweigh the negatives.

Obviously it’s hard to keep steady jobs when you’re trying to tour constantly, but right now this is most important in all of our lives. We actually just implemented a practice schedule. We get together at the Broken World Media warehouse space every Wednesday night and practice till about midnight.

Steven: What is nice about all of the jobs we have is that they contribute to TWIABP as a whole. Greg works as a booking agent, so he can book whatever tours we want to do, Chris works at a studio, so we can record pretty much whenever we want to.

Derrick, Katie, Josh, and David all help to run a label that produces all of the releases that other labels don’t want anything to do with, like limited run cassettes that play in reverse, etc, and I, with the help of Derrick and others run a printshop that can generally print all of the merchandise that TWIABP needs. Every skill we have lends itself to the band, and has made this whole thing into a really big job.

Greg, you said in another interview that what kept you playing music early on was the sense of adventure of playing shows on the weekends. Do you still feel a sense of adventure playing with TWIABP or are there other things that keep you playing music?

Greg: I’m like 25 now. There have been a couple times where I’m sitting on the floor of our van for like 8 hours at a time driving to the middle of nowhere and I start to think “Do I still love this?

What am I doing?”. I think that’s a familiar feeling for anyone who’s been doing something for so long though.

You’ve got a couple tours already planned for this summer/fall, where will be people be able to see you play this year?

Greg: We’re going on a Canadian tour in a week, and then a full US tour in June. We are finally doing it.

People have been asking us to get to the West Coast for years, and we’re actually going. We’re doing both tours with Dads. Cerce is doing the Canadian run with us and Pity Sex is doing the full US. Both tours should be great. Chris and I haven’t been on a full US tour since the last My Heart to Joy tour in 2010 and no one else in the band has ever left the East Coast while on tour.

With the full-length soon to be released, have you already started working on new material for future releases?

Greg: LPII will be titled Whatever, Forever and LPIII will be titled Death To New Years, Long Live Happy Birthday. I think we’re gonna try to do a series of splits next? We NEED to finish this split with Joie De Virve we’ve been talking about forever. I think we have most of the song for that written. We’re also doing a Minor Threat tribute 7” with Into It. Over It. There is a lot of momentum behind the band right now, are there any goals that have been set for the band and what do you ultimately what to accomplish with this group?

Derrick: My goal is to keep challenging ourselves and try to tour as much and as often as possible.

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Scrnd:

Kevin Duquette Boston, MA

Up until the Braid posters he designed last year, I had no idea the amount of talent Kevin had designing. I had always thought of him as that guy who co-runs Topshelf Records, designs/develops/brand strategizes for Green Vans, tours with the bands he represents and answerer of hundreds of daily anonymous tumblr inquiries about where customers orders are. Taking a look at his online portfolio, you can see the progression in his design skills. They’ve continually gotten better and better. Kevin’s talents are of the rare variety that translate over both online and print.

Early peeks at the new Topshelf website look amazing and will feature every thing you’ve ever wanted to know about any Topshelf release. You can find out more about Kevin and Topshelf Records here: kevinduquette.com and topshelfrecords.org

Braid The band hit me up about doing some posters for their Frame & Canvas Midwest dates. They wanted a consistent, cohesive theme and something that’d be screen printable. So I went to work on a simple primary-color + black 4-color design. I based the imagery for each date of off Braid lyrics to really tie it together — not sure how immediately clear that was to the average fan but the band seemed to like it.

Detroit - “New Nathan Detroits”: Nineteen ninety-eight looked great on Plain white paper on the fiftieth plane to champaign Milwaukee - “Milwaukee Sky Rocket”: Open Color your eyes Come on color your eyes Chicago - “First Day Back”: So I’m told that Chicago’s cold Can’t be cool as California

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Braid These are essentially extensions of the main tour admat, but focused on each show, individually. I tried to refine and expand on what I created for the main poster while keeping the color scheme relatively the same. I experimented a little bit more with texture on these ones than the main poster. I love how the ticket for Detroit turned out, love the way BRAID pops out at you on the Milwaukee poster and felt pretty OK with how the snowflake / stars turned out on the Chicago poster. I really just wanted to make these stand alone as individual posters, but also make sense as a whole all together as well.

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Grown Ups This is one of my favorite posters I’ve ever done — which is something I never say years after completing something.

I still enjoy the type and the illustration.

This poster’s imagery is riffing off of Grown Ups lyrics.

Look Mexico This is the first show poster I drew out on a Wacom, ever. It kinda shows if you’re looking at a hi-res enough version of it. Anyway, I got really excited about this one because the colors I was getting in the wings were just so nice.

I still really like it, but think the fish in the water are weird looking / lame (I’m probably the only one to even notice them, haha). I think I was riffing off the idea of Look Mexico’s Animal Music vibes at the time. This show was criminally under-attended if I recall.

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Rooftops One of my first forays into drawing with a Wacom. Some of the line-work got kinda sketchy, but I really like the way this turned out too. I didn’t know what to do for the poster art and had bananas on my table so I guess that was what I just started drawing. Only one band on this show actually had a bass player.

My Heart To Joy This was the first poster I ever actively tried to set out to make, well, I dunno, look nice as a standalone piece that could exist on its own even after the show had ended. I don’t really like it as much now, but look at it fondly for purely nostalgic reasons. The imagery was my interpretation of lyrics from My Heart to Joy’s Seasons In Verse.

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Interview with: Carly Commando // Tom Patterson Photos: Joh Moreno

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Slingshot Dakota originally started with Carly and members of Latterman and then through adding and subtracting members evolved into what it is today, a duo of Carly and Tom. When and how did Tom get involved in the band?

Carly: Latterman went on an indefinite hiatus in the 2000’s, and that’s when my friends Pat Schramm (drummer of Latterman) and Jeff Cunningham (guitar player of a million awesome bands, notably Bridge and Tunnel in late 2000) decided to start Slingshot Dakota. When Latterman decided to do a European tour, it became clear they would be touring more than Europe, and we needed to look for a fill-in drummer. We knew Tom because his house,

The Pirate’s Cove in Allentown, put on shows.

Tom tried out for the band and we loved him, so he joined. We started writing together and then we decided that he should officially join the band, rather than fill-in. Eventually Jeff quit amicably, and it became just Tom and I. With all the shifting in line-ups, was there ever any point where you thought the band wouldn’t work out and what has kept you two doing it?

Carly: Yes! The day Jeff told us he wasn’t into it anymore, I grabbed two beers, lugged my keyboard across the room and was like “Okay, Jeff. You gotta go. We have work to do.” I didn’t really think he was

We became our own band once we started writing new material that suited two people, and stopped singing Jeff’s words.

Had you two known each other prior to working together and what makes it easy for the two of you to work together?

Carly: We only knew each other from the Pirate’s Cove and we met while our other bands were on tour in Pittsburgh. I played Tom’s birthday show with my other band, Donna and Carly. All I knew was that Tom was a really nice guy. I think once Jeff left the band, we really got to know each other because we had to literally put everything in to make it work. Before we were a two piece, we were acquaintances, but we weren’t as close as we were later on.

Like a lot of other musical duos, you two are romantically involved with each other. How far into working together did the relationship start and do you think being in a relationship makes it easier/harder to do the band together.

Carly: We realized we were into each other as more than friends pretty much the first two piece tour we went on. I think the fact that we had the same love and drive to make this band work helped us fall in love, but also the long drives of tour got us talking about everything. I was very vocal about not starting any kind of relationship for the sake of the band, but when it came down to it, Tom was the person I’ve been looking for my whole life. He’s incredibly selfless, loving, sincere and caring.

going to leave the band, and it was an “Oh Shit” moment for real. But, I wanted to make it work so bad. Our tour was booked and I didn’t want to give up. Tom and I would talk on the phone about things we wanted to do and about the new songs we were writing. So, I knew as weird and hard as it might be, we were in it to win it. The first few shows as a two piece were weird because I had all of this new equipment: a distortion pedal for the first time, an AB switch to add extra loudness, and I was so nervous I don’t think I even used them. On top of that, I was singing songs Jeff wrote and used to sing, and it was definitely awkward. But, I think that people understood and they were incredibly supportive.

The only thing that is hard about being both in a relationship and a band is that it’s really hard to separate them. We are always talking about the band, and sometimes we have to stop ourselves and talk about us, our goals, and what we want in life. We usually take one trip a year, not tour related at all, where we don’t bring our computers or anything, and we just sit on a beach and enjoy life without worrying about when our next show is. I’ve also learned to be nicer at practice, which I should have always been. I’m not good at hiding my emotions if I’m not into a drum part!

The best part of being in a relationship is how easy tour is! Usually leaving your significant other behind while you’re on tour is the worst, but we’re a package deal. So, it’s awesome! I get to share all of the tour crazy with Tom!

How do typical Slingshot Dakota songs come together? Do pianos or drums come first?

Carly: Sometimes the songs are organically written together at practice. Sometimes Tom has a drum beat, and I work with it. Sometimes I write an entire song with lyrics and piano and expect Tom to know what the drumbeat is that I wrote in my head. They are all different!

On Dark Hearts, there are some very serious sounding songs and then also some really fun songs, how do you go about knowing which tone to use per song?

Carly: I think that I usually have an idea of what I want the song to be about when we start writing it, even if I don’t have any lyrics planned yet. But, to me, the instrumental music tells as much of a story as the lyrics, so they have to match up.

Their Dreams Are Dead, But Ours Is the Golden Ghost! was written, as Tom put it in another interview, “as a response to people in our lives who have discouraged us from doing what we love.”

What kinds of topics does Dark Hearts cover and have the people who discouraged you accepted the paths you’ve chosen in you lives?

Carly: I think there are always discouragements in people’s lives. The Internet is a huge one. People are so mean on the Internet!! I think in the Golden Ghost days, our parents were confused as to why we wanted to be in a band. Or, people were weirded out we continued to be a band when Jeff quit. We were up against our families, some friends and then the always-existing Internet trolls. But, we’ve grown.

We’re more confident in doing what we want, and knowing that in the end, we love what we are doing.

Dark Hearts deals with moving on in life when life hits you with more than discouragement about your band. Life has bigger problems than that, like your friends dying or your loved ones being in abusive relationships. These past couple of years put everything in perspective and made us feel like our fight against society to “do what we love” was nothing compared to what people deal with in terms of death and abuse.

What do you want people to take away from Darks Hearts?

Carly: We want people to know that sometimes life DOES suck, and times get so hard that everything around you feels so unimportant. It’s okay to feel

that way, because it’s natural. We can’t feel that way forever because then we’ll never live our own life, but sometimes, yes, life sucks. How to you go to work when your friend dies? How are other people smiling when your friend is getting physically hurt by their partner? Dark Hearts deals with a lot of lows, and we want people to know that they’re not alone in feeling bummed when life isn’t amazing.

We want these songs to be of comfort, that we all can coexist in the good and the bad. We can’t dwell in the bad, but we have to move on eventually. But I think that part of moving on is experiencing the bad and letting yourself wallow in it for a while. It’s like when people say “Let it out, have yourself a good cry.” This record, I think, is telling people that. Then, after you let it out, you can move on.

You self-released Their Dreams Are Dead, But Ours Is the Golden Ghost! in 2007 and then last year released the follow up Dark Hearts on Topshelf Records, why such a large gap of time between albums?

Carly: I lived in NY until almost two years ago, and in that time, I blew up at least 3 amps, our minivan died, and three of our friends passed in the most traumatic ways possible. We both were in a pretty depressed state, and on top of that, not having a car or proper instruments to create music added to it.

Plus, anyone in NYC probably knows, the practice space situation is dire. You can only have usually 1-2 days a week with a weird hour block of time, and then you have to worry about people breaking your stuff or stealing it, because usually 899 bands share one tiny room. I moved to Bethlehem, PA in the summer of 2011 and we got our own practice space that we can practice in literally anytime.

Alone. With no one sharing it. It’s amazing, and it allowed us to finish the record.

Having previously released your material on your own and following a pretty strict DIY lifestyle, what drew you to working with Topshelf Records?

Carly: We knew how to put our own record out, and we knew how to tour, but we didn’t know how to reach more people. Kevin and Seth at Topshelf are amazingly sweet (and very normal) dudes, and they have helped us so much. They pretty much have the PR that we don’t have. Last summer, when the new record wasn’t even out yet, kids came out to our shows because we were on Topshelf Records. It was insane. We hadn’t seen that kind of label loyalty since we were kids.

Topshelf along with their bands and other labels have created this great nationwide community of artists, how much does that community aspect help a band like Slingshot Dakota?

Carly: It helps because we have this huge family everywhere we go, and all of the bands are incredibly talented, friendly and awesome. We all help each other out, and it’s wonderful.

Tom, you run Bird Apt. printing on the side, what got you into printing and what are the benefits of being a printer and being in a band.

Tom: I first got interested in screen printing when I received a small package from a friend back in 1994- all it had was a stack of “Andre the Giant has a Posse” stickers and a letter that said something along the lines of “this is an experiment” and it told me to stick them wherever I saw fit. I tirelessly sought out what this was all about and eventually learned all about Shepard Fairey and his project, which led me to street art and graffiti, which led me to screen printing. I have a strong love for screen printed posters and fine art, and that is what I really would love to concentrate on in the future. Printing

shirts is great, and it definitely pays the bills, but printing flatstock is my main love when it comes to printing.

The benefits of being a printer in a band are many; you set your own hours, you print whatever merch you want, you can do whatever crazy design you come up with and then print it on anything, and then you can sell it for whatever price you want. Also, when you go on tour, you meet other bands that need merch, and you have that instant connection where you can provide them with what they need, but more importantly, most bands want to support people in other bands instead of going with some random shop that they have no connection with.

What kinds of services does the Bird Apt. offer to other bands your size?

Tom: Currently, Bird Apartment Printing is currently on hiatus. Carly and I moved into a small apartment so that we could afford to tour more often, so all the equipment is in storage. The great thing that came out of it was that my good friend Chris “Reject” Regec, who not only runs Square of Opposition

Records, also owns a screen printing business, Lehigh Valley Apparel Creations, and has taken me on as a printer and sales rep. Together, with the help of our friend Amy, we hope to expand the business even bigger than it already is, and become a onestop shop for bands to get the merch they need. We can print almost anything you might need, and in almost any quantity - and because we come from a punk/DIY background, we understand that money is tight, so we can provide affordable options and small minimum quantity orders. Come check us out at www.xlvacx.com - we do shirts, hoodies, koozies, buttons, and so much more!!!

Tom, being a designer and printer, you know more about the process of printing than most designers.

What are some things that you think designers should know before they bring their projects to get printed?

Tom: I feel a great deal of designers have a basic understanding of how to prep their art for screen printing. The most common problem is when the designer doesn’t properly separate the colors in the design. We can do that, but it’s always way better

(and easier for us) when the designer does it for us… it saves everyone time and money. Another issue is that some designers don’t understand why certain designs just won’t work as a screen print.

It’s a bit hard to explain, but some designs don’t translate to our way of printing. The only other thing I can think of at the moment is that designers really have to consider the medium that the design is being printed on - for example, printing on towels or burlap (yes, I had to print burlap - hahaha) are very rough and can’t capture fine detail.

Carly, in addition to playing in Slingshot Dakota, you’ve also done some solo stuff and put out a release with Ryan O’Donnell called Keystone Kids. When you write piano parts, do you write for specific projects or write parts and then see which project fits best?

Carly: A little bit of both. If I know what I’m writing for, I write for that project. But sometimes I’ll specifically write a song for Slingshot that works better for Keystone Kids. So it’s a little give and take. I originally wrote “Falling” for Slingshot, but it seemed to slow and unfitting for SD.

With everything else that you two do, (jobs,other musical projects) what role does Slingshot Dakota play in your lives? Is it something you treat as a job or a hobby?

Carly: I’d love for Slingshot to be my job. Although, I’ve been lucky enough where my part-time waitressing jobs are amazing. I have the best co-workers, and we all inspire and support each other on a daily basis. But, I’ve always kept my jobs separate from SD, until this year. I was still working in NYC AND Bethlehem, and I recently left my NYC job.

Now I have all of this time to play shows during the week that I never could, and we can let these shows pay for the van payments/insurance instead of me.

I’d rather spend my days doing something I love, and I’d love for playing music to be my only job.

But, like I said, my waitressing job is so lovely that I don’t mind balancing both.

Carly, In the almost 7 years since the “Everyday” video was released, looking back on the exposure you got from it, do you think it helped or hurt your musical career?

Carly: It definitely helped! I had people who have never heard of Slingshot Dakota buying our CD because they were into the song “Everyday.” I had non-punks showing up to house shows, and then writing me on Myspace (back in the day) saying “I tried to go to your show, but the address was a house. Sorry I missed it” and I’d have to laugh. It was a pretty cool experience for me.

“Everyday” was used in a segment on The Simpsons that went on to win an Emmy for that episode it was in, did you receive any recognition for having the song in that episode?

Carly: I received a certificate from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for my contribution, as well as a beautiful hand written thank you card from Ian Maxtone-Graham (the show’s head writer/producer.). I also got the coolest limited edition Simpson’s picnic set ever, which hangs out in our practice space. I also later found out that Ricky Gervais is the reason that episode, and my song in it, existed. Ian MG sent me a copy of the British Esquire magazine where Ricky talks about the episode, and I guess he pushed for them to use the original song for the Noah-Homer parody scene.

How does it make you feel that you’ll always be associated with that video?

Carly: Wonderful :) I’m so lucky and thankful that Noah Kalina made me a part of it.

You’ve licensed your music for commercials, are there any products or TV shows that you’d be opposed to having Slingshot Dakota music playing in?

Carly: Yes, we do not want our music associated with cigarettes. We hate them. Somehow “Intro” on Dark Hearts got inappropriately named on some sites as “Another Cigarette.” Which is crazy, being that neither of us smoke. We do love Taco Bell, Yamaha, and any drum related products, though.

HEAR THAT, COMPANIES? Dark Hearts has been out for a few months now, how has it been received and how does it feel to finally have a record release show in a couple weeks?

Carly: It feels AWESOME! It has been received very well, which we are so grateful for. We worked on it for so long that we didn’t know if people thought it would be good or bad; we were just happy with it, and we didn’t care. Our record release show happened last weekend and it felt like my future wedding day. All of our friends from different walks of life came, and all of the bands that played were amazing! Bethlehem’s music scene is incredibly tight knit and caring.

What are the plans post record release show?

More touring, more writing?

Carly: Touring, writing, napping and more writing.

We already started writing new songs, so I’m thinking the next record won’t take 3 years :)

This icon denotes an album that has been made available by the band free of charge or for a donation. Links are on page 65.

1994!

Fuck It Recorded on an iPhone at the tail end of their UK Tour earlier this year, the grittiness of recording on an iPhone fits 1994!’s style to a tee. Loud, brash and kind of all over the place, but if you’re looking for more music from this band, Fuck It will do.

(Self-Released) Allison Weiss Say What you Mean Allison Weiss’s debut album, Say What You Mean, is probably the biggest surprise album for me this year. I kept hearing about Allison as a singer/songwriter so I immediately assumed the album would be just her and her guitar, strumming some tunes.

Turns out this 10 track album is chock full of fullband indie pop goodness that is better than I even imagined. Definitely an album of the year contender.

(No Sleep Records) American Thunder Band (Texas Instruments) Neither Here Nor Thayer After some legal trouble with the calculator people, Texas Instruments is now American Thunder Band, and while the name change is significant, the music stays the same. It is still some of the most interesting screamo in the genre. Neither Here Nor Thayer reminds me of early mewithoutYou, but way angrier.

(Count Your Lucky Stars)

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The Appleseed Cast Illumination Ritual The Appleseed Cast is one of those bands in the indie/emo scene that has pretty much reached legend status. They’ve continually released albums since their 1998 debut, The End of the Ring Wars, and even though some of the albums weren’t as good as others, the band has grown, evolved and still remained interesting. Illumination Ritual is the apex of all the past year’s experience rolled into one 44 minute album and it’s their best album since 2003’s Two Conversations. (Graveface Records) Bad Bad Hats It Hurts Searching for some good local indie music, I came across Minneapolis’s Bad Bad Hats and my heart nearly exploded with the joy of finding such a fun band. Singer Kerry Alexander has a voice similar to Laura Stevenson, but the music emotes a feeling of sitting on the shore/swimming in the lake during a hot Minnesota summer. Download the stand out track “Secrets Are No Fun” and you’ll get what I’m saying. (Afternoon Records)

Banquets Banquets Banquets are a band that are on the brink of breaking and this can be evidenced by the stand out track “Call It a Comeback”, off their latest self-titled album. The song has a wicked hook that’ll have people climbing all over each other to shout at live shows. (Black Numbers) Barrow Though I’m Alone Switching back between quiet singing and all out throat killing screaming, Barrow’s brand of screamo will have you reaching for a throat lozenge by the end of the LP. I’m pretty picky when it comes to screamo, but Though I’m Alone is right up my ally.

(Mayfly) Belgrade Belgrade Featuring current and former members from nearly a dozen known Philly bands, Belgrade reminds me a bit of Maritime, but a little more daring. This self-titled full-length is actually quite fun and bouncy with catchy melodies and insightful songwriting.

(Self-Released) The Belle Game Ritual Tradition Habit The Belle Game is an orchestral dark pop band from Vancouver that sort of reminds me of hip New York indie in the vein of Vampire Weekend, but with female vocals and a ton of layers to their music.

(Boompa) Betterment Looking Up I’ve been following Betterment since their very first impressive debut EP, Defined, and it’s been fun hearing the band grow and change as line up

changes have occurred. Looking Up is their long-awaited full-length and it’s everything I hoped it would be. With a bit of experimenting with sound that has been going on, on their past EPs, the songwriting and music really comes into it’s own on this album. The guitar ventures in to math-rock territory slightly and the bass lines make me think of Cheshire Cat & Life In General era Blink 182 & MxPx in the best way possible. (Self-Released/No Spaces) Bicycle Sunday Remnants of Past Lives How these guys haven’t been picked up by Count Your Lucky Stars yet astonishes me. I suppose CYLS already has Joie De Vivre, but Bicycle Sunday would be a perfect fit for the label. Remnants of Past Lives has an American Football/Empire!

Empire! feel to it, or at least is in the same vein as those bands and is probably the best most overlooked emo album this year. (Self-Released) Brave Bird Maybe You, No One Else Worth It I was a little on the fence about this band when they released their Ready or Not EP in 2010, but like a fine wine, they have matured with age and have put out one hell of a full-length. Maybe You, No One Else Worth It is one of the best emo/twinkly albums to come out this year. (Count Your Lucky Stars)

By Surprise Criteria Criteria, the follow-up to 2011’s fantastic Mountain Smashers, is Pavementesque in it’s delivery, and at the same time displays a modern feeling. For a band that doesn’t tour much, they sure put a lot of effort into their music and it shows greatly.

(Topshelf Records)

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Campaign The Black Album I like that Campaign has always released EPs of their music, but I think it is time to crank out a full-length. If you are familiar with Campaign, I’m sure you would agree that it would no doubt be the greatest punk album released that year.

(No Breaks Records)

Cerce/Stresscase Split This split features two powerful female fronted hardcore bands that slay harder than most bands in the genre, male and female. This is my first time hearing Cerce and I am highly intrigued by their unrelenting sound and sometimes squeaky screamed vocals. (Mayfly Records)

Captain, We’re Sinking The Future Is Cancelled I’m not sure what happened to the Captain, We’re Sinking I remember, but I fucking love what they have become. I remember their 2010 EP It’s A Trap being forgettable and I brushed off the band.

Upon hearing just the first track of The Future Is Cancelled, Captain, We’re Sinking has proven that they are an incredibly talented band that deserves the attention. (Run For Cover)

Citizen Youth Citizen’s Youth reminds me a bunch of Balance and Composure, which seems like the way independent rock music like this is heading. While I’m not completely sold on this album, there are a few songs on it that are stone cold jams that I can get down with.

(Run For Cover)

Caravels Lacuna It’s hard to explain how good Lacuna is and even how it sounds. The vocals are shouted from back behind the music and the music sounds like a mix of These Arms Are Snakes and Young Widows. It’s heavy without being sludgey, but also fragile and deliberate with each note. (Topshelf Records) Center of the Sun Machine Gun Center of the Sun took me a little by surprise with their heavy yet shoegazey sound. Ally Hoffman’s vocals lead the songs through their dreamy pop journeys and brings you out unscathed. Machine Gun is a great listen that will hook you instantly.

(Mayfly/Self Aware Records)

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Cloakroom Infinity Shrouded in mystery since its inception, it’s been revealed that Cloakroom is the newest project from ex-Grown Ups frontman Doyle Martin that also includes Bobby Markos from Native and drummer Brian Busch. Any guesses you have at this point on how Cloakroom sounds are incorrect. It sounds like neither band and is quite a surprise from Doyle’s normally upbeat Grown Ups. Infinity is slow, dark and moody, but in a good way. The songs take time to develop, but there is no rush as Martin’s haunting vocals overlay the music. The album runs like a slow moving thunder storm with quiet rumbling here, loud crashes there, and the occasional beam of sunlight between clouds. (Run For Cover) Crimes Crimes Crimes sounds like a modern day Replacements, but less talented, due to the fact that The Replacements are untouchable. Don’t let that stop you from

checking out this four song self-titled EP though.

It’s pretty good and it hints at really great future material. (Black Numbers) Diamond Youth Orange Diamond Youth is the swagger that this indie scene needs right now, plus, I feel like this band also has a great potential for commercial success. I can’t think of any other band that sounds like them, which I’m sure I could be proven wrong easily. Orange is a really great and diverse EP that just plain kills it.

(Topshelf Records) Dikembe/Hightide Hotel/Jet Set Sail/Monument 4-Way Split 7” I’ve expressed my love for these 4-way splits in the past and that love continues on with this latest 4-way with Dikembe, Hightide Hotel, Jet Set Sail and Monument. It’s great to hear new stuff from Hightide Hotel and Monument as I feel like they are the least active of these four bands and their songs are incredible. Dikembe’s song is obviously good and Jet Set Sail I was least familiar with, but they won me over with their song.

(Count Your Lucky Stars) El Sportivo & The Blooz Nights and Weekends El Sportivo & The Blooz sounds like a blues/folk version of Portastatic, at least that’s the closest band I can peg it to. I actually surprised myself by how much I like Nights and Weekends as I’m not a huge fan of folksy type music. Don’t let the name dissuade you from listening to this either. There are good things to hear here. (White Iris)

The Elwins And I Thank You The Elwins are a indie pop band from Toronto, Canada that play dreamy 60’s inspired indie pop.

Even if this kind of music isn’t your cup of tea, it’s hard to not like the songs on And I Thank You. Given the period they represent, these songs would be perfect for the television show, Scooby Doo, Where Are You!, if you had a time machine, that is.

(We Are Busy Bodies) Eric & Magill Two Travelers The follow up to 2010’s All Those I Know and the predecessor to the soon to be released, Night Singers, Two Travelers is a quick glimpse of what Eric & Magill have to offer. Always on the move, these two former Camden members connect via the Internet to craft their songs and enlist members from other bands to round out their recordings. Two Travelers is an excellent EP and is just the appetizer before the gourmet meal that Night Singers will be.

(Self-Released) Face To Face Three Chords And A Half Truth The way I feel about Face to Face is the same way I feel about MxPx. Both bands have been playing for extended amounts of time, both have devoted followings and both have pretty much stayed the same musically since their inception. With that much experience, the music improves with each album and everything gets better and better. That said, Three Chords And A Half Truth is a fantastic album that every Face to Face fan will love.

(Rise Records)

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Football, etc./Plaids Split 7” I was super stoked for the Football, etc. side of this release because it’s been a while since I’ve heard anything new from them. Their song is what you’ve come to know and love about this band and only makes you want to hear more new material from them. Once their fragile form of indie rock ends, you flip it over to the Plaids side, still contemplating Football, etc.’s lyrics when Plaids ruptures out of your speakers. Musically the two bands are on opposite ends of the punk spectrum, but as a single release, they put out something for everyone.

(Count Your Lucky Stars)

The Gateway District Old Wild Hearts You’ve probably heard of Minneapolis’s The Gateway District before and know what to expect, but I’ve been lazy about this band and Old Wild Hearts is my first time listening to the band. The first listen took me a little by surprise. “This is great” I thought to myself. Why haven’t I listened to this band sooner, I mean I enjoyed the other bands that make up this band; Banner Pilot, The Soviettes and Dear Landlord. Sometimes bands like this slip the cracks, so do yourself a favor and buy some crack sealer and pick up this new album from The Gateway District. (It’s Alive)

Freddy Knop Polyphonies EP Berlin based producer and musicologist, Freddy Knop is back with his latest EP, Polyphonies. You may have heard his other musical endeavors Ponk and Mock and like those bands, his latest release is a worthy of a listen. I’m no expert on electronic/ sample based music like this, I’m not even sure if that is what you’d call it, but I really like how Freddy mashes all the sound bits, samples, and instruments into a song. With each listen, something new is revealed and it makes the listening experience enjoyable. (Circle Into Square)

Grey Gordon Still At Home Here Grey Gordon is pretty similar in music and energy to Into It. Over It. and while I do somewhat enjoy this EP, I’d love to hear these songs with a backing band.

I think it’d give the songs a fuller sound and make them a little more interesting. (No Sleep Records)

Free Throw Free Throw / Lavender Town Bookended by sound clips from the show Boy Meets World, Free Throw’s self-titled EP is a surprising bit of music. This Nashville 5-piece reminds me a lot of State Lines’s Hoffman Manor, but louder and heavier. Their second EP, Lavender Town, is littered with sound clips from the show Undeclared and is a continuation of their previous EP, but with more experience. The music and lyrics show growth on this release and it is a matter of time before everyone is talking about this band. (Self-Released)

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Have Mercy The Earth Pushed Back While the lead single off this album, “Let’s Talk About Your Hair” is an instant classic, the rest of the album definitely took some time to grow on me.

Eventually though, the album started to make sense and became a favorite. Have Mercy is like the Jimmy Eat World of today’s indie music obsessed youth.

Even though Jimmy Eat World is still playing music, a few albums from now, people will be talking about The Earth Pushed Back, like other people talk about Clarity. (Topshelf Records)

Haverford Wisdom Lost More than once this album has come on and I’ve confused it with their Long Island mates State Lines. Their must be something in the water up there, because tons of bands coming from that area just sound great. To get a better feel for this band, check out the stand out track “Counting Days”.

(Self-Released) The Here and Now Born to Make Believe Part 1 Featuring Alan Day of Four Year Strong, Born to Make Believe Part 1 is an eclectic group of songs.

The EP starts out quiet and slow then bursts out into a fuzzed out guitar rock song. The next song has a heavy rock vibe to it, while the middle of the EP has an acoustic song with really great vocals.

The whole EP has an 90’s rock anthem feel to it.

(Black Numbers)

Joan of Arc Testimonium Songs Testimonium Songs is a collaboration between Joan of Arc and experimental theater ensemble Every House Has a Door, to be performed live in the piece by the group called, Testimonium. It’s hard to call this a departure from their previous works because each Joan of Arc album is practically a departure

from the ones before it. It’s stylistically similar to Life Like, Boo Human and maybe a little bit of So Much Staying Alive and Lovelessness. Even with a discography as diverse as Joan of Arc’s, they still manage to pull out some surprises that have never been done on any of their albums before this one.

(Polyvinyl Records) Koji Crooked In My Mind I’ve been hearing and seeing the name Koji for a few years now, but this is the first chance I’ve taken to check him out. Koji is in the same league as Allison Weiss and Into It. Over It. All of them accomplished singer/songwriters in their own right that sound good with a backing band or solo. (Run For Cover)

Laura Stevenson Wheel Oh Laura Stevenson, you and you’re band are amazing. Wheel is an outstanding follow up to Sit Resist and is sure to put this band in the view of a larger audience. Laura’s voice is warm and engaging and pulls you in like the Sirens in Homer’s Odyssey.

(Don Giovanni)

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Lawnmower Whack Yer Brain There seems to be a lot of bands that are rehashing 90’s indie and pop punk and Fenton, MI’s Lawnmower is another one of them. Their sound is of the constant fuzzed out guitar kind with a 90’s Butthole Surfers kind of vibe. Whack Yer Brain is a throwback that actually works well with the material.

(Save Your Generation) Lemuria The Distance Is So Big The latest album from Lemuria, The Distance Is So Big, is full of pop perfection. I had my assumptions on how this band sounded, but they were shattered after listening to this album. Really great stuff from this Buffalo, NY based trio. (Bridge Nine) Little Big League These Are Good People Featuring former members of Post Post, Titus Andronicus, and Strand of Oaks, Philadelphia’s Little Big League’s debut full-length, These Are Good People, is what you’ve been looking for in indie rock.

Michelle Zauner’s unique vocals helm this ship, while the creative indie pop rock behind it, keep it afloat. (Tiny Engines) The Little Ones The Dawn Sang Along The Little Ones had a sort of hit a while back with “Lovers Who Uncover” and have been trying to reach that point again. The Dawn Sang Along has a bunch of great quirky indie pop songs on it that are as good or better than anything they’ve done before.

(Branches Recording Collective) Louder Than Bombs What Resonates Carrying the pop punk torch in their clenched fists, Louder Than Bombs play a faster version of pop

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punk than most and I think this sets them apart from other bands in the genre a bit. What Resonates is pretty good and would be perfect for someone looking for a little more punk in their pop punk.

(South Division Records) Man or Astro-man?

Defcon 5..4..3..2..1 It’s been nearly 12 years since Man or Astro-Man?’s last release, but Defcon 5..4..3..2..1 sounds like the band never quit. They still have their signature space surf rock feeling that they’ve always had and if anything, this album shows the band at it’s best.

(Communicating Vessels / Chunklet) Man Overboard Heart Attack While I wasn’t really impressed with their previous self-titled album, Heart Attack helped renew some interest back in this band. Sometimes pop punk gets a bad reputation, but Man Overboard seem to do the genre justice. I keep picking up little influences of early Blink 182 and New Found Glory, and there’s nothing wrong with that. (Rise) Modern Baseball Sports It took a little while to get into this album. The quirky vocals I felt worked on some songs and not so well on others, but the more I listen to it, the more I like it. (Lame-O Records) Nobody, Ever Everyone Stood By the Side of the Road It’s barely distinguishable that these gents hail from Leicester, England. They sound like they’d be from the South East states like the Carolinas or Virginias. Their sound is a mixture of Red Collar and Old Flings, with less of a 90s influence and deeply personal lyrics. (Brave or Invincible Records)

Oddczar One Word One Word sounds like someone took an early mewithoutYou album and screamed all the vocals. That may sound a little strange, but even though the vocals are screamed, they are still totally decipherable, which is usually rare when vocals like this are sung with such ferocity. (Bitter Melody / Self Aware) Old Gray An Autobiography If Old Gray was a religion, then call me born again.

Previous releases from this band never really caught my attention, but An Autobiography is screamo mastery at its best. (Broken World Media) Orphans Pack Mentality Orphans reminds me a little bit of La Dispute, but more metal. The vocals are really great and powerful and the music weaves everything together nicely.

(Never Lost)

Owen L’Ami du Peuple The last couple albums from Owen are the albums Owen fans have wanted for a while. L’Ami du Peuple is Mike Kinsella’s most ambitious album to date and certainly one of his best. This album shows really how far Kinsella has come from the early days of

this project and I don’t think anyone at the time would’ve guessed he would release anything as good as L’Ami du Peuple. (Polyvinyl Records) Paint Branch I Wanna Live Paint Branch is the new band from John Davis and Chris Richards, two former Q and Not U members.

Like Davis’s Georgie James band exploring the 60’s pop sound, Paint Branch has a decidedly 70’s lite rock sound. Upon first listen, I wasn’t really impressed and further listens didn’t help me like it any more. (Self-Released) Painted Palms Carousel The B-side of this 7” is definitely the winner of the two songs. “Click” is upbeat and fun in a sitting on the beach with your feet in the Pacific kind of way.

(Polyvinyl Records) Perfect Future Irrational, Malleable, Inevitable Perfect Future is becoming one of the more impressive bands to watch on Count Your Lucky Stars.

They’ve been getting better and better with each release and it really shows on Irrational, Malleable, Inevitable. (Count Your Lucky Stars) Pet Symmetry Two Songs About Cars. Two Songs With Long Titles Featuring members of Into It. Over It. and Dowsing, this release by Pet Symmetry is absolutely perfect.

While not sounding like either aforementioned band, Evan Weiss’s lyrics are storytelling at its best and the music is top notch. The horns on “Please Don’t Tell My Father That I Used His 1996 Honda Accord to Destroy the Town of Willow Grove, Pennsylvania in 2002” were unexpected, but really made the song great. (Asian Man Records)

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Psychic Twin Strangers These two songs from Psychic Twin are rooted in 80’s synth pop, topped off with singer Erin Fein’s vocals. The songs are upbeat and a little bit fun without overdoing it. (Polyvinyl Records) Restorations LP2 For years, NASA and the US Government have secretly been sending manned missions to asteroids sailing closest past Earth in an effort to someday learn how to destroy one if one was ever on a direct path to colliding with our planet. After numerous attempts, the missions were called off when no amount of nuclear bombs could break up an asteroid. The program was shut down, lips were sealed and memories erased. All was good on our planet until 2013, when NASA scientists spotted an asteroid deep into space hurtling towards Earth.

Calculations were calculated and a direct hit was imminent. A world wide press conference was held alerting all humans that their time on this planet was limited. Mass hysteria ensued. In an effort to escape the madness around him, one young NASA scientist flipped on his record player to play Restorations latest album LP2. A moment after the opening guitar wail of “D” penetrated his ears, he had an epiphany.

“Music this powerful could destroy anything”, he thought to himself. He conference called his colleagues and the President with his idea, they too agreed that the music was powerful. But to put on a live show in space, on an asteroid no less is quite near impossible. The President called Restorations and pleaded for there help. Restorations agreed and flew to Florida for their space training. Following a bunch of funny montages of members falling down in space suits and puking during centrifuge training, Restorations were ready for their mission. The plan was to land their modified Ford Econoline space shuttle on the asteroid. Load in and setup a wireless P.A. system, then take off from the asteroid. Once at a safe distance, the show would begin. Wearing space age flexible space suits, Restorations began playing LP2 from front to back. The vibration from

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their instruments sent wirelessly to the asteroid had an immediate impact. Chunks of the asteroid began breaking off. From Earth, humans of all nationalities watched a live stream of this all happening and began cheering. As the asteroid grew closer, everyone started getting nervous that this plan wouldn’t work, but as the final song, “Adventure Tortoise”, came to a close, one last deafening guitar strum was struck, and the asteroid erupted into a million tiny pieces. The result was the most epic light show as flaming pieces of asteroid rained upon earth.

It made Pink Floyd’s Laser Spectacular look like a bunch of 4 year olds with laser pointers. Even the gods in the heavens bowed and saluted Restorations. Upon returning home, they were greeted with a hero’s welcome and for weeks, radio stations across the globe played only Restorations songs.

The band retired back to Philadelphia were they recorded more albums and spent their days living up the legacy of being rock gods until....bum bum buuuuuuuuuuum! (Side One Dummy) Rika How to Draw a River, Step by Step Austria’s Rika are more than an emo band, they are the soundtrack for living life. Just like life, the music is absolutely beautiful and emotional as it cascades up and down with the intimate lyrics. How to Draw a River, Step by Step will be the soundtrack to your life’s greatest moments. (Count Your Lucky Stars) Rookie Town New Forest Floors Rookie Town is a band from the Pacific Northwest that is destined for big things. They have a sound that teeters back and forth between punk and screamo, often meeting in the middle, with stadium sized background gang vocals. New Forest Floors is a great introduction into the scene for this band.

(Self-Released)

The Saddest Landscape Exit Wounded The always exciting Saddest Landscape are back with the Exit Wounded 12” EP, which at only five songs, is a quick little nibble of great music. Andy Maddox’s vocals are again emotionally straining and one-of-a-kind and the music is hard hitting as ever.

(Topshelf Records) Shugo Tokumaru In Focus?

Shugo Tokumaru is a Japanese songwriter and multi-instrumentalist that is extremely gifted.

Sung only in the Japanese language, the music is Beatlesque in a small way. In Focus? is a wildly interesting album that will keep you entertained from start to finish. (Polyvinyl Records) Signals Midwest / Worship This!

Split 7” What can go wrong when two of Ohio’s best punk bands get together for a split, absolutely nothing.

The new Signals Midwest song is great and acts as a teaser for their upcoming full-length. They also do a great job covering one of Worship This!’s songs.

The new Worship This! song is quite good and they also do a great cover of “Quiet Persuader”.

(Mayfly Records) State Champs Over Slept These new three and a half songs form State Champs are pretty good and are a louder and harder version of pop punk. Fans of Handguns and The Wonder Years would definitely like this.

(Pure Noise Records) State Lines For The Boats Being one of the most anticipated albums for me this year, For The Boats didn’t impress me as much as I had hoped. The band has definitely grown from their last album, Hoffman Manor, and their songwriting has gotten better, but I just think the expectation I put on it was too high. I’m sure with a

few more listens, my opinion will switch and I’ll be singing this album’s praises. (Tiny Engines) Statistics Peninsula It’s been forever and a day since we’ve heard from Denver Dalley’s Statistics whose last release was Often Lie in 2005. Since then, Dalley took a break from the project, collaborated with a bunch of people for Intramural, reformed Desaparecidos with Conor Oberst, and toured with a number of artists including Har Mar Superstar, who also makes and appearance on this album. Peninsula starts off where Often Lie left off just to get people back in the groove, and then kicks it up a notch for the lead single “Nineteen Ninety Nine”. The great thing about this album is that it bounces back between the Statistics you’ve known, “Lock Me Down”, and the Statistics you’ve yet to hear, “Take The Lead”.

Peninsula is a great comeback album, if you can call it comeback. Either way, I’m happy Statistics is back. (Afternoon Records)

Their / They’re / There Their / They’re / There You could call this band featuring Evan Weiss of Into It. Over It., Mike Kinsella of Owen and Matt Frank of Loose Lips Sink Ships a super group, but they’ll just tell you it’s three friends having fun, writing music together. What really makes this group work is everyone in the group is a badass at their instrument. Kinsella is a naturally amazing drummer, Frank’s guitar work is amazing and Weiss’s vocals on “Concession Speech Writer” are so smooth and so good. (Polyvinyl Records)

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Thinking Machines Extension Chords Thinking back to their previous album as being not memorable, Extension Chords is a sonic blast of jagged rock music that is much more memorable and interesting this time around. (TMvFM) TTNG (This Town Needs Guns) 13.0.0.0.0 Without realizing that they have a new singer on their latest release, 13.0.0.0.0 is the epitome of soft core indie rock. It’s so chill and relaxing, even Henry Tremain’s vocals are warm and soothing. With all the line up changes this band has gone through, any doubts you may have had that this album wouldn’t be good will be extinguished upon listening.

(Sargent House) Transit Young New England I don’t know what all the fuss was about when this was released. It may be different than what the band has done before, but it is still a perfectly good album. A little heavy on the New England references maybe, but that is to be expected if you’re from the area. (Rise Records) Turnover Magnolia With all the awesome releases already this year, don’t forget about Turnover’s Magnolia. It is an incredible piece of music that people growing out of pop punk will relate with and enjoy. Sure it still packs a pop punk punch, but they’ve graduated from that genre and taken it to the next level.

(Run For Cover) Villagers Awayland Helmed by Conor O’Brien, Ireland’s Villagers is lyrically one of the most intense albums I’ve heard in a while. The songs are sung along like dialog to a manifesto which makes this album quite fascinating.

(Domino Records)

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Warren Franklin & the Founding Fathers Every Letter and Souvenir There is something about Warren Franklin’s music that just warms my heart. It’s gotta be the enthusiasm he puts into each song, because it just pours out of the speakers. Every Letter and Souvenir is a great EP, with his new project with the Founding Fathers, that is sure to make you smile.

(Count Your Lucky Stars) Woodpigeon Thumbtacks and Glue Woodpigeon is a Canadian indie folk collective centered around vocalist Mark Andrew Hamilton. The music is often soft and quiet, but has some loud moments. Overall, Thumbtacks and Glue is pretty good and is something I would find myself listening to while laying in a hammock with summer’s warm breeze blowing around me. (Fierce Panda/Boompa) The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die Whenever, If Ever The long, long, long awaited full-length by The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die is finally here and it is fantastic. With all the EPs they have released, there was some doubt that the band could pull off a cohesive long form piece, but they fucking nailed it. From beginning to end, the songs flow into one another like streams flowing into rivers, building and building until you have this massive unstoppable force of nature. Whenever, If Ever is everything you wanted it to be and more.

(Topshelf Records)

Downloads 1994! // Fuck It // 1994withanexclamationpoint.bandcamp.com/album/fuck-it Bad Bad Hats // It Hurts // badbadhats.bandcamp.com Betterment // Looking Up // betterment.bandcamp.com/album/looking-up Bicycle Sunday // Remnants Of Past Lives // bicyclesunday.bandcamp.com/album/remnants-of-past-lives Crimes // Crimes // blacknumbers.bandcamp.com/album/crimes Eric & Magill // Two Travelers // ericandmagill.bandcamp.com/album/two-travelers Free Throw // S/T & Lavender Town // freethrowemo.bandcamp.com Haverford // Wisdom Lost // http://music.haverfordband.com/album/wisdom-lost The Here and Now // Born To Make Believe Part 1 // blacknumbers.bandcamp.com/album/born-to-make-believe-part-1 Nobody, Ever // Everyone Stood By The Side of the Road // nobodyever.bandcamp.com/album/everyone-stood-by-the-side-of-the-road Old Gray // An Autobiography // brokenworldmedia.bandcamp.com/album/an-autobiography Orphans // Pack Mentality // iloveorphans.bandcamp.com/album/pack-mentality Rookie Town // New Forest Floors // rookietown.bandcamp.com

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Photo Credits

COVER: Jake Cunningham // jakecunninghamphoto.tumblr.com Pg 06: Garrett Born // garrettborn.com Pg 07: kris shacochis // kshacochis.net Pg 08: Nick Cavalier // 1manshow.tv Pg 09: Unknown Pg 10: Unknown Pg 11: Unknown Pg 12: Zac Suskevich Pg 13: Mitch Wojcik Pg 14: Kellyann Petry // kellyannpetry.com Pg 15: Molly Clark // molly-clark.com Pg 16: Unknown Pg 17: Unknown Pg 18: Jake Cunningham Pg 19: Evan Mcgrew Pg 20-21: Amber Nicole Photos // flickr.com/photos/wokenfullen Pg 22-29: Tyler Mantz // flickr.com/photos/95440066@N04 Pg 34-40: Jake Cunningham // jakecunninghamphoto.tumblr.com Pg 46-52: Joanna Moreno // flickr.com/photos/joh_moreno Pg 54: Unknown Pg 59: L: John W. Sisson Jr // R: Dave Garwacke Pg 61: Shervin Lainez Pg 63: Mitchell Wojcik

SUPPORT

Bands: A Great Big Pile of Leaves // agreatbigpileofleaves.com

By Surprise // bysurprise.bandcamp.com Cut Teeth // cutteethband.com Diamond Youth // diamondyouthmusic.com Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) // empireempireband.com Have Mercy // wearehavemercy.com Into It. Over It. // intoitoverit.com Lion Cub // lioncub.bandcamp.com My Fictions // myfictions.bandcamp.com Pianos Become the Teeth // pianosbecometheteeth.tumblr.com Prawn // prawnmusic.tumblr.com Pswingset // pswingset.com Sirs // sirsmusic.bandcamp.com Slingshot Dakota // slingshotdakota.tumblr.com

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The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die // theworldisa.tumblr.com You Blew It! // youblewit.bandcamp.com People: Kevin Duquette // kevinduquette.com Brian Meitz // dinerstate.net Ads: Topshelf Records // topshelfrecords.org Better Days Will Haunt You // betterdayswillhauntyou.com Skeletal Lightning // skeletallightning.net Labels: Afternoon Records // afternoonrecords.com Asian Man // asianmanrecords.com Bitter Melody // bittermelodyrecords.com Black Numbers // theblacknumbers.com Boompa // boompa.ca Branches Recording Collective // branchesrecordingcollective.com Brave or Invincible Records // boirecords.bandcamp.com Bridge Nine // bridge9.com Broken World Media // brokenworldmedia.tumblr.com Circle Into Square // circleintosquare.com Chunklet // chunklet.com Communicating Vessels // communicatingvessels.net Count Your Lucky Stars // cylsrecords.com Domino // dominorecordco.com Don Giovanni // dongiovannirecords.com Fierce Panda // fiercepanda.co.uk Graveface Records // graveface.com It’s Alive // itsaliverecords.com Lame-O Records // lameorecords.com Mayfly // mayflyrecords.net Never Lost // neverlostrecords.com No Brakes // nobreaksrecords.com No Sleep Records // nosleeprecs.com Polyvinyl Records // polyvinylrecords.com Pure Noise Records // purenoise.net Rise Records // riserecords.com Run For Cover // runforcoverrecords.com Sargent House // sargenthouse.com Save Your Generation // saveyourgenerationrecords.bandcamp.com Self Aware // selfawarerecords.com Side One Dummy // sideonedummy.com South Division // southdivisionrecords.com Tiny Engines // tinyengines.net TMvFM // thinkingmachines.bandcamp.com Topshelf Records // topshelfrecords.org We Are Busy Bodies // wearebusybodies.bigcartel.com White Iris // whiteiris.tv

Now available from

TOPSHELF RECORDS topshelfrecords.com // tsr-store.com