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INKWELL MEDIA / RVA MAGAZINE WWW.RVAMAG.COM ORIGINAL RVA FOUNDERS R. ANTHONY HARRIS & JEREMY PARKER PUBLISHER, CREATIVE & EDITORIAL DIRECTOR R. ANTHONY HARRIS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ANDREW NECCI ADVERTISING JOHN REINHOLD DAN ANDERSON CREATIVE DIRECTOR BRYAN WOODLAND EDITORIAL ASSISTANT APRIL KELLY RVAMAG.COM R. ANTHONY HARRIS ANDREW NECCI BRYAN WOODLAND APRIL KELLY RVA TV JONATHAN MARTIN WRITERS DAN ANDERSON,CARL ATHEY RACHEL BRAFORD, GRETA BRINKMAN R. ANTHONY HARRIS,ANDREW NECCI, ALEXANDER ROSE, BRYAN WOODLAND PHOTOGRAPHY RACHEL ALBRIGHT, BOBBY BRUDERLE JAKE CUNNINGHAM, NICK GHOBASHI KATE JENNINGS, KYLE JOHNSON KEN PENN, LAUREN STEWART ILLUSTRATION MAU PATARROYA LAYOUT DESIGN R. ANTHONY HARRIS BRYAN WOODLAND
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RVA #6 / FALL 2011 / RICHMOND, VA USA IN THIS ISSUE
10 Sleigh Bells 16 Boom Boom Basics 22 The Head And The Heart 26 RVA Music Fest 34 Kate Jennings 40 Cough 46 Noah O 50 Jenna Chew 52 Hold Tight 56 Best Friends Day 10 58 Julia Scott 60 Record Reviews RVA MAGAZINE ARTICLES ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT RVAMAG.COM. Deanna Danger cover photo by KEN PENN
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SLEIGH BELLS INTERVIEW BY ALEXANDER ROSE ILLUSTRATIONS BY MAU PATARROYO
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Sleigh Bells, an electronic duo consisting of Alexis Krauss and Derek Miller, have been on a very fast-paced rise to fame. Alexis, a full-time teacher, met Derek for the first time in 2008. She saw potential in Derek’s idea for a new musical project, and decided to commit to it full-time in 2009. Derek, who had previously played guitar in legendary hardcore band Poison the Well, seemed to have met his match. They released their first self-titled EP in 2009, their first LP, Treats, in spring 2010, and by the end of 2010, they were one of the most hyped bands in the blogosphere. Last summer, I was able to catch their performance during M.I.A.’s infamous HARD NYC event. I was blown away by their unusually short set, which occurred just before that of South African rappers Die Antwoord. When they played Richmond in May with Brazilian rockers CSS (Cansei de Ser Sexy), I was anxious to see how they would hold up to my previous impression, and was far from let down. Opening with several distorted bars of Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man,” they hit harder than I remembered. Having just watched the always-awesome CSS, I knew Sleigh Bells would close this show right. I was able to chat with Alexis briefly about the early Sleigh Bells days and touring with CSS, and was surprised to learn what she had heard about Richmond before coming here! I read that in the early Sleigh Bells days, you were balancing being a full-time school teacher and being in the band. Did either bleed over into each other at any point? Not really. We met over the summer and then I had to return to work in the fall. Derek and I would try and meet as much as we could--which wasn’t often, probably once a week, as my workload with school was so much. As we worked more and more over the following months, it became obvious that it was something that we wanted to be able to dedicate our complete time to. Throughout the school year, even though we weren’t working together TOO much, I began making plans to not return to school the following year and jump into the band full time. Being a teacher is a demanding job, and requires your full attention; that’s what the kids deserve. I was just playing a scenario in my head where my already badass teacher slowly turns into a rock-star and starts bringing in early Sleigh Bells demos to play us, hah. Hah, they were definitely aware. They found out because I told them I wasn’t returning the following year and that I was going to be going down this route. What’s funny is that the following year, I brought in some of my students to record spoken parts on some of the tracks. You can hear them on “Kids,” being those weird girl voices. I definitely keep in touch with some of them, and there are even a couple who have said they listen to the music. What are some of the earliest memories you have playing live with Sleigh Bells? We got offered to play a show by a few friends of ours, [who did us] a favor by letting us jump on the bill. Thanks to Youtube, you can actually watch some of the earliest shows. There’s one show I remember that someone was filming, at a place with no lights, no aesthetic really. Kind of funny to watch. The latter part of 2009 and through 2010, Sleigh Bells was just exploding in every sense of the word. You were being booked on bigger and bigger shows with more and more promotion. How has 2011 been treating you? 2011 has been amazing. We are continuing to tour up through this summer. That’s really what our 2011 has been: show after show after show. We kicked off 2011 with a show in Australia, which was pretty amazing and symbolic for us. To think we would be playing a huge festival in Australia after such little time together was very surreal. We’re going to finish up our touring this summer and then go into the studio full time. Derek and I are both dying to record some material that we’ve been playing with over all this time. How has touring with CSS been? They blew my mind the first time I saw them a few weeks ago. It makes sense to see you guys on the same bill, but at the same time, you both have very distinct sounds. How did that come about?
“THERE’S ONE SHOW I REMEMBER THAT SOMEONE WAS FILMING, AT A PLACE WITH NO LIGHTS, NO AESTHETIC REALLY. KIND OF FUNNY TO WATCH.” RVAmag.com | RVA Magazine | 11
It just kind of came about naturally. We wanted to do a co-headline tour from the start. We were offered to do support tours but those don’t necessarily allow you to play to a large number of your own fans. [CSS] were looking to do a tour and Derek and I were both fans of the band, so we jumped on the bandwagon as soon as we could. Our sounds are very different, but the energy levels between both them and us are very similar. I feel the crowd gets a very fulfilling experience from seeing a show on this tour. Those guys are just great to be around. I’ve always wondered how a co-headlining tour works. Do you flip a coin to decide who closes out the night? It basically just means we split the ticket sales evenly. During this tour, we’ve been closing the majority of the nights. Musically, it makes the most sense for us to close. We play a much shorter set. They build up all this momentum and energy when they play and then we come on and punch everyone in the face and wrap it up! I read in another interview with Derek that some of the electronic backing tracks on Treats were made with some very low quality equipment. He even said that you screamed into the microphone input on his computer for some vocals. For your next album, do you want to emulate the same sound you achieved on Treats, or do you want to take advantage of the superior equipment that will be at your fingertips this time around? What was probably referenced were just the early Sleigh Bells demos. Treats was made and mastered in a fully-equipped studio. Everything was pretty much remade in the full studio. The album version of “Infinity Guitars” is essentially the demo version. Those vocals were the same vocals involving me screaming into the microphone input on his computer. I think when Derek and I begin recording our ideas for the next album, there is the chance we might do some of the same types
“ MUSICALLY, IT MAKES THE MOST SENSE FOR US TO CLOSE. WE PLAY A MUCH SHORTER SET. THEY BUILD UP ALL THIS MOMENTUM AND ENERGY WHEN THEY PLAY AND THEN WE COME ON AND PUNCH EVERYONE IN THE FACE AND WRAP IT UP!” of things, such as using an internal computer microphone. But it all just depends on how the end result sounds. We’re not married to one method or another. As far as genres are concerned, I know you’ve seen the countless genre hybrids being used when writing about you. Do you have a favorite subgenre or genre hybrid used to describe you that sticks out as being the most entertaining? Hah, there have been quite a few. Last year, when we played Coachella, we were written up by a pretty big Los Angeles based publication, I forget the name, but they referred to us as being rap-rock. That was a new one for us. I think people are kind of desperate to try and find a way to classify us. Have you ever been to or played in Richmond? What comes to mind when you hear someone reference the city? We have not. We played in Charlottesville, but never Richmond. My fiancé, who was in a touring punk/hardcore band, played Richmond a lot and from talking with him I picture all of these cool underground shows with lots of energy and everyone sweating everywhere. I hope we have some time to kill; I hear there’s a huge rope swing or bridge jump or something into a lake or river. That’d be awesome. What has been a standout tour experience so far? I got off stage a few weeks ago after one of the first shows and could not move my neck! I ended up in the ER until about 5AM with a neck brace on. I was in the ER, in my jersey, a neck brace, spandex leggings and all of this stage makeup. Luckily it was just a sprain. It was quite the sight and experience to kick off the tour! myspace.com/sleighbellsmusic
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A Journey Into the Art of the Tease with Deanna Danger By Rachel Braford / Photography by Ken Penn
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y first impression of Deanna Danger was that she had a sweet sort of approachability. When I asked to interview her, she responded with a grin, “Fuck yes!” With her kewpie-doll looks and obvious candidness, I was well aware she is not a lady to be overlooked. I could tell you how Deanna has been dancing since she was three. I could tell you how she moved to Richmond
in 2003 on a post-graduation whim. I could tell you how she worked at Plan 9 and sold her handmade pasties at Taboo until she got laid off from her Assistant Marketing Director position for downsizing. But these details wouldn’t scratch the surface. I wanted to know what made her tick. How does Deanna Rose become Deanna Danger? A couple of weeks later, after a sushi dinner, we concocted a master plan.
We decided that Deanna would lead me down into the proverbial rabbit hole. I was to enroll her in her beginners’ burlesque class, Boom Boom Basics. She loved the idea, and I was up to the challenge. Maybe it was the sake. Granted, I was no virgin witness to a burlesque show, but before diving into the deep end of pasties and six-inch stilettos, I thought it best to first wade into the kiddie pool and see a show. Deanna was kind
enough to let me talk to her while she was getting ready for a performance at Gallery 5. Welcomed warmly with a smile and a hug, what I saw when I arrived was a freshly scrubbed face and hair braided in pigtails. She looked like she had just come from yoga class and was sitting crossed legged in the center of a pile of crafting materials, glue gun in hand. I wondered if she realized she was going to be on stage in two hours, but if she was nervous, she hid it well. RVAmag.com | RVA Magazine | 17
You have developed a little empire around Deanna Danger. How did you become a burlesque dancer? I’d been wanting to get into it, I just couldn’t find an avenue in Richmond. Fallout, a club that I’d danced at before, had a burlesque night, so I said “I HAVE to do a burlesque routine,” and they said yes! So it just sort of snowballed? Everything just fell into place. It’s what I was supposed to do with my life. Every aspect of it suits me. From everything I learned in theatre classes and the weird mythology things that I’ve been into, to graphic design… it all just came together. 18 | RVA Magazine | RVAmag.com
But what inspired you? It wasn’t really until college that I discovered it. I was pretty sheltered as a girl growing up. I was always on the dance team, competition squads, and all that. Then I went away to college and was like “Oh, the real world.” So that’s when I started going to shows and experimenting with letting loose and figuring out what’s out there. That’s when I discovered Betty Page. She was my avenue into all of it. Then of course there was Suicide Girls, which I never modeled for. That’s more like porn; I’m into the classier side of things. How did Deanna Danger become your chosen name?
I just needed a name. I asked my thenboyfriend, now-husband because I wanted something to match Deanna. He said ‘well, how about Danger?’ It was like, duh. The longer I sat there and watched Deanna get ready for the performance, the more I realized that I was still talking to Deanna Rose. I realized that despite every brush stroke of makeup, every piece of costume, and every speck of glitter (and there is a LOT of glitter), these things were still not the stuff that made Deanna Danger. To really understand the process of the art of the tease, I was going to have to experience it for myself.
She told me how she had only been performing burlesque for two years, and how she has finally been able to quit her day jobs. I travel a lot. I try to do all kinds of things to pay the bills. It’s really hard to do this full time and be able to eat. The classes help a lot. I started teaching and when it really began to grow, it helped so much. Now I can actually contribute to the bills. You live like a gypsy. Exactly. I’ve worked in offices, and in all kinds of retail. Nothing is like this. I can go where I need to when I need to. I do
what I want to do and all that jazz. It suits me. Working from home suits me.
just women stripping for men. What do you have to say about that?
So about Boom Boom Basics…when you teach a bunch of rising starlets, how does that impact the performance world in Richmond?
It couldn’t be more opposite of what actually goes on. Women that are burlesque dancers are stripping for themselves. It’s all about coming out with what you have inside and being like, “I’m fucking fabulous and fearless, and I have these things to say.”
It’s grown too full since Fall because of the amount of girls that have been interested and wanting to get into it, but I think the crowds are catching up. It’s time to get more word out to different areas of town. Some people out in the West End are probably like “What’s this burlesque thing?”
So it’s obviously more than just stripping. It is definitely stripping, but it’s classy, and you never show the whole thing. The point is to leave them wanting more. It’s extraordinarily empowering. That’s why we do it. Many of us just have the performance bug in general, and the costuming bug. But you can explore different costumes, themes, and characters.
There are so many different directions to take burlesque. The audience just gets to be along for the ride. There she was. I’d found her. I was meeting Deanna Danger, finally, for the first time. This was the moment that I realized that burlesque is an art form that comes in the shape of an attitude.
is like this. I can go where I need “ Nothing to when I need to. I do what I want to
There tends to be a preconception, specifically from men that burlesque is essentially
do and all that jazz. It suits me.”
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“ The awkward little girl dissolved, and a grown-ass woman capable of being professional And sexy revealed herself.�
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About a month later, I walked into Dogtown Dance Theatre for my first class of Deanna’s six-week beginner course. Not entirely sure what to expect and feeling a little awkward, I sensed the other girls in the room felt my pain. With all different body shapes and varying insecurities, we glanced around at each other. I didn’t sense that we were sizing each other up, but it was a stark reality and a relief to realize that burlesque truly is for everyone. We were all there for different reasons, but to me, we all looked like silly little girls playing dress up. I didn’t realize right away that this would be my greatest challenge to overcome. This was my journey into burlesque. The realization that I am indeed, in the words of Deanna Danger herself, “fucking fabulous and fearless, and I have these things to say.” Over the next couple of weeks, we practiced the group routine and learned how to apply makeup for burlesque and craft costumes to suit our characters. I kept thinking to myself that all of this seemed so simple. Learn a few dance moves. Apply sequins and tassels to make sweet looking pasties. Come up with a cutesy name, and put together something sexy to take off in front of strangers. Done. Right? Not even close. It wasn’t until a week before the recital
that I finally admitted to myself that part of my assignment as a student of Boom Boom Basics was to create an entire persona. Not just any persona, but one that expresses a part of myself… sensually. This meant that I would need to break down a wall. A woman’s sexuality in society today is something that is as much revered as it is abused and demonized. How does one find the balance between crudeness and beauty? How do you overcome what you have perceived as imperfections and own up to your differences? I still felt like a little girl playing dress up. I felt strange that I would be taking off my clothes. I panicked and scheduled a private session with Deanna to help. My costume wasn’t ready, my routine wasn’t ready, and I felt completely insecure about what I had gotten myself into. I relaxed after I scheduled the appointment. I figured Deanna would teach me some moves and baby me along the way of making a costume. A day or two later, I had an epiphany. I recalled a line from burlesque icon Dita Von Teese. Her exact words escape me, but the main point of what she said was that we are the sexiest when we are being ourselves. I cancelled my appointment with Deanna that afternoon. I knew that I’d only set it up because I wasn’t ready to take the responsibility of overcoming my own fears. Deanna knew it too. I was finally up to the challenge of discovering burlesque. Deanna, my guide, helped
me realize that one can only get there by finding what already exists within themselves, and then taking that leap. I finally felt that I’d scratched the surface of burlesque as an art form. With only a few days before the recital, I buckled down, locked myself in my room, and tried to relax into the mood of the song that I chose for the recital. Eventually the walls began to crumble. I started to see the movements as a conversation, and I began to see myself more and more in control of it. The awkward little girl dissolved, and a grown-ass woman capable of being professional AND sexy revealed herself. My previous judgments about wearing loads of makeup and body-modifying clothing faded. It is a show, after all, and despite myself, I was even getting excited about the glamorous aspect of things. Man-made beauty doesn’t have to carry negative stigma, as long as real life expectations of what a woman really is are accepted first. When the day of the recital arrived, I was surprised at my own calmness. We met a couple hours before the show, shared a toast amongst ourselves, and congratulated one another for being brave enough to go through with it. I was truly amazed at the sense of camaraderie and support. We had all faced our own demons, and the day had arrived that we were to show a side of ourselves that, six weeks prior, we probably didn’t even know existed.
Our admiration for what Deanna had brought out in each of us was obvious. I had a newfound respect for the art form, and felt gratitude for the opportunity to experience it firsthand. Just before my solo performance, I watched as one of the other girls finished her routine. My heart was racing, but I was glowing with excitement. Even if I were to trip over a heel or make an awkward face, I’d gotten so much more than I bargained for. What began as an interview with Deanna Danger became a journey into an art form. Will I perform again? Maybe, maybe not. But I learned this: Burlesque exists inside the part of yourself that society asks you to put inside a cage. It represents an individual’s sensuality, and creatively explores avenues that not only tell the story of the performer, but bring out the caged animal in the audience as well. Will I get up and disrobe those feelings of being a silly little girl in a society that demeans sexuality? Will I tell a story while I take off my clothes and be damn proud of my sexy self? Am I fearless and fabulous, and do I have something to say? These are the questions that Boom Boom Basics made me ask myself. And in the spirit of Deanna Danger’s first words to me, I’d have to grin and say, “Fuck yes!” www.facebook.com/deannadanger
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P
ack your bags. Drive across the country. Join a band. This all seems like a movie plot we’ve seen time and time again-a plot many of us are unable to think of in a realistic light. For those who have ventured down this path do not often reach the light at the end of the tunnel. Following your dream and leaving those who care about you behind can provide for one hell of a story…assuming you accomplish what you are setting out to achieve. For Tyler Williams, deciding to leave his job, family, girlfriend, and current band behind and travel across the country to play in a band that he thought would be his big break seems to
have worked. Tyler is beginning to experience everything that comes with being in a successful band: making an album, getting signed to Sub Pop, and touring alongside famous acts like Dave Matthews Band and Iron & Wine. His band The Head and The Heart are showing up on many people’s radar since selling approximately 10,000 albums without the help of any label--quite the feat in today’s plummeting music market. The Head and The Heart have since been on a steady rise to fame: a television debut on Conan, a European tour with indie heavyweights Death Cab For Cutie, and sold-out shows across the country.
Having spent several years of his life in Richmond, Tyler Williams decided, after hearing a demo from his former roommate’s new project in Seattle, Washington, that he would take this chance and relocate to the West Coast. Almost three years since that move, a lot has changed. Not only has his trip paid off, he even decided to move back to Richmond. After seeing The Head and The Heart perform to a packed Bonnaroo crowd on the final day of what feels like a weeklong festival, I decided to give Tyler a call and congratulate him on his success. I was curious about the events that placed Tyler where he is now, and was anxious to hear about the inner workings of The Head and The Heart.
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I’ve read that you lived in Richmond for quite a few years before moving to the West Coast to pursue The Head And The Heart. What are a few things that you can reflect on that only a person who lived in Richmond would remember? Oh man. I remember some friends and I would ride our bikes to Hollywood Cemetery late at night and sneak in to light off fireworks. That’s one of my most cherished memories from when I first moved there. Jonathan [Russell], who is also in the band and [was] my roommate at the time, and I would go out there all the time. Another thing would be Church Hill. That’s probably my favorite neighborhood in all of Richmond. I like all of Richmond, but Church Hill has a special place in my heart. How was the transition from Richmond to Seattle? I’m told you were initially sent a demo of The Head & The Heart song “Down in The Valley,” and you
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subsequently packed your bags and travelled to Washington. That’s quite the commitment! Yeah, I was listening to the song with my girlfriend. We couldn’t believe that it was the same guy who I grew up with and, at one point, had wanted to play music with forever. It was such a quick and drastic change for the better. I was getting tired of trying really hard to do music in Richmond and not really breaking out of the area. It seemed like the right move at the right time. I’m going to assume that a high level of nervousness set in at some point? I was actually pretty naïve at first. I thought, “Sure! I’ll move across the country and everything will be fine.” I think that the day I started the drive, I got about as far as the Shenandoah Valley before I started to freak out. I was leaving everything I knew; my family, girlfriend,
a somewhat stable restaurant job, even my band. It was pretty nerve racking when I realized what I was actually doing. Before then, it was kind of a cocky confidence that was driving me to do it. I just kind of put the blinders on and put my head down and decided I was going to do it. Well it seemed to have paid off! It’s pretty funny because before I was set to leave, I was with some friends talking about how Sub Pop was in Seattle and how I wanted to move out there and play music and get signed to Sub Pop. Never expected that to actually happen. Did you meet Josiah Johnson before moving to Seattle? No, the only person I knew was my roommate Jonathan. Jon had moved first, meeting Josiah at an open
After you had solidified the line-up and began recording demos, did you have a specific sound or direction you wanted to work towards? Somewhat. We had been jamming on songs for a while, and pretty much just wanted to have some demos out there so people could have something from us if they saw us at a show. Once we started recording, we realized that we could probably do an actual album. Sonically, my bass player, Chris [Zasche] and I were going for a muted 70’s tone for the rhythm section. I think we got that somewhat near where we wanted it. Other than that, we just put to tape everything that we had up until that point. The initial run of your self-titled album was released independently. Could you tell us a little about that? We basically started burning the record to CD-R’s and cut up all of our old blue jeans and began sewing them into sleeves. We started selling those and began
doing a little touring around the west coast and people really wanted them. We’d sell out every night. We then decided to start actually pressing the CD through disc makers, and we’d sell those to record stores on consignment. By the time we signed to Sub-Pop we had been through 10,000 records on our own. I read that the local music stops couldn’t even keep the CD’s on the shelves. It ended up being the number one seller of ALL records at Sonic Boom Records in Seattle. That was pretty ridiculous for us to see. mic night, where they hit it off and began playing music together. It was a few weeks later that I was sent the demo and eventually took this leap of faith, hoping that I would enjoy playing music with these guys. So you move to Seattle, then what? Was the priority to just start performing live or was it to record a demo? We had a show the weekend after I got there. I had to learn all the parts and make up parts for certain things. It was pretty awful at first and I was actually pretty bummed. I thought it was further along than it was, and there was no way it was going to take off. But we all sat down after that first show and I was like, “Hey, I just moved 3000 miles. We’ve got to work really hard and make this happen.” After that, we began tracking demos and eventually got a practice room in an area called Georgetown. Over the next few months we interchanged a few band members until we had a solid lineup. From roughly September until February, it was a pretty scary time.
How did Sub-Pop come into the picture? They came about in a pretty funny way. We had been talking to Warner Bros and a few other major labels,when an article about us showed up on the front page of the weekend edition of the Seattle Times. A rep from Warner Bros was talking about how he wanted to sign us and there was a quote from me, which I actually felt kind of bad about, where I talked about how Sub Pop was one of the only labels who hadn’t expressed any interest towards us. They called us a few days later and apologized for not making contact sooner. I think signing to them was the right decision. It’s like a big family over there. What are your thoughts on the re-mastering of your initial album? I liked it a lot better. The only song we re-recorded was “Sounds Like Hallelujah.” For the initial recording
of that song, we had actually recorded it the week after I moved to Seattle, pretty much in a basement. It was the only song that didn’t really match the rest of the album’s recording quality. We also recorded “Rivers and Roads” for the first time, making the album a full 10 tracks. Other than that, the other songs were just tweaked and mixed a little better than before. After seeing you guys open on the final day of the four-day Bonnaroo Music Festival earlier this summer, I was blown away by not only the performance you gave but by the amount of people you were able to convince to overcome the exhaustion of partying for three days and make their away over to see your early set. I left after that feeling truly elated. When we first heard what time we were playing, we were a little nervous. But then, we started getting a lot of tweets and saw some writeups about how we were one of the “Bands to Watch at Bonnaroo.” That started making us think that it probably wouldn’t be
as bad as we might have anticipated. As soon as we got there and the crowd started filling in, it was insane to see so many people there, having partied hard for three days straight. It was incredible. Bonnaroo was the first time I was able to catch The Head And The Heart performing live, and unlike some other bands I had seen for the first time that weekend, I left feeling very pleased with how well you guys held up live. Between the guest horn section you had on stage and the vocal harmonies between the band and the crowd, it was one of the most enjoyable sets I saw over the weekend. The horn section was actually Iron & Wine’s tour section and it was their last day of being on tour. From about two weeks prior, Iron & Wine and The Head & The Heart had been touring, and we asked them to join us onstage. Everything came together there at Bonnaroo. It was fun, to say the least. It was one of those shows that happen every once in a while that we all just wish could happen every time. What’s next for The Head And The Heart? We are definitely touring for the foreseeable future. [laughs] We’re going to Europe for three weeks with Death Cab For Cutie, and we also have a show in London with My Morning Jacket in July. Then we come back and tour with the Decemberists for a few weeks on the East Coast. I’m really excited. I hope to actually have a Richmond Head & The Heart show at some point in the near future. theheadandtheheart.com
RVAmag.com | RVA Magazine | 25
RVA MUSIC FEST GUIDE
45 BANDS OVER 2 DAYS SEPTEMBER 10TH & 11TH 2011
PRESENTED BY PHULL ENTERTAINMENT & RVA MAGAZINE
26 RVA Magazine Magazine || RVAmag.com RVAmag.com 28 || RVA
featuring
gregg gillis
aka
girl talk
27 RVAmag.com | RVA Magazine ||29
MUSIC FESTIVAL
THE RMF SCHEDULE The full rundown from Saturday to Sunday to make sure you get to see what you want to see.
BEST COAST
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10TH Hat faCtOrY
140 VIRGINIA STREET (804) 788-4281 10PM - 18+ $9 ADVANCE/$12 DOOR HeaVYgrinDer was born in Seattle and spent her teenage years traveling the globe as a model before settling down in LA and beginning her DJ career. She has performed all over the United States and the world, headlining the biggest clubs from Los Angeles to Ibiza. She’s released singles on labels like Star Fruits and Soundmen On Wax, and had an iTunes top 40 hit with her track “Mind Eraser,” which featured Zelma Davis of C + C Music Factory. (msheavygrinder.com) nint3nDO Consisting of DJ Skywalk3r, DJ Rent, and DJ Yen, Nint3ndo is a dynamic three-headed hydra of a group that loves video games, anime, hot chicks, and partying like a beer-breathing dragon! We can all thank these guys for providing the giant panda head used by Steve Aoki on the cover of the recent RVA Magazine! They bring the anime style to the club and turn up the heat on the party. (facebook.com/Nint3ndo) aMeeraThis local singer and model, who just recently signed with Night Life Promotions, has been performing her original songs around town lately at places like The Camel and RVAlution. Her soulful vocals bring an element of classic house music to the electronic backing tracks laid down by NLP’s DJ M.A.S.S. Fx. Expect her to dominate the stage whenever she appears over the course of the RVA Music Fest. (ameeraofficial.com)
tHe rePuBliC
2053 WEST BROAD STREET (804) 592-4444 FREE lOng arMs Led by former Funsize/River City High vocalist James Menefee and featuring members of Prabir/Goldrush, Long Arms burst onto the scene last year with their debut LP, Long Arms To Hold You. Their most recent release is a split 7 inch EP with fellow local indie rockers Horsehead. Though they are clearly influenced by the work of Paul Westerberg, both as a solo artist and with his legendary band The Replacements, influences from both James’s pop-punk past and 30 RVA Magazine Magazine || RVAmag.com RVAmag.com 28 || RVA
DIAMOND CENTER
NO BS BRASS BAND
the more countrified instrumentation of Goldrush’s Treesa Gold come through quite strongly as well. (facebook.com/longarmsmusic) lOreM iPsuM This Richmond band is relatively new, but features multiple longtime veterans of the local scene, including former members of 90s-era post-hardcore bands like More Fire For Burning People, Lazy Cain, and Askance. That post-hardcore sound is recalled by the music Lorem Ipsum makes now, though their style also features a significant amount of straightforward, bluesy rock n’ roll. They’ve got an EP coming out soon, which will be pressed on yellow 7 inch vinyl and will feature some of their “most aggro, rock songs.” (loremipsummusic.com) nO DiCe This trio from Richmond plays no-frills rock n’ roll with folk and country tinges. Singer/guitarists Ryan Stevenson and Ryan Crenshaw switch back and forth on songwriting and vocal duties, and while each songwriter has his own musical personality, their styles integrate flawlessly into a unified, enjoyable sound. They’ve just released their first LP, Do Nice, which you can check out at their facebook page. They’re preparing to release a new three-song EP produced by Rich Stine and mixed by Mitch Easter, who has worked with R.E.M., Wilco, and Pavement--keep an eye on their facebook page for more info on that release.
neW YOrk Deli
2920 WEST CARY STREET (804) 358-3354 FREE DJ ePOC This Richmond DJ has been rocking parties and pushing the dance scene to the next level for nearly a decade. He spins a unique blend of world dance anthems and American top 40 tracks that distinguish his sets from the masses and put him in a class by himself. Raised in New York, his European travels have given him a wider variety of influences that mesh to form his signature style of performance and composition. His goal is to harness the emotions that live in each of us, in order to bring shared passions for music to life. (djepoc.com)
BLACK GIRLS
BELLYTIMBER
1501 WEST MAIN STREET RVA (804) 592-5592
THE CAMEL
1621 WEST BROAD STREET RVA (804) 353-4901
THE REPUBLIC
2053 WEST BROAD STREET RVA (804) 592-4444
strange Matter
929 WEST GRACE STREET (804) 447-4763 10PM - 18+ $8 ADVANCE/10 DOOR Miniature tigers Miniature Tigers are a band that belongs to this generation. From their inception, they have been widely praised as a band that could be compared to everything under the indie-rock sun. With the release of Fortress, their first full-length LP, Miniature Tigers have expanded and refined their sound to escape easy comparisons to the Flaming Lips and Animal Collective. Thus, they demonstrate their ability to evolve in exciting new dimensions within their genre.(myspace.com/miniaturetigers) BaBY HelP Me fOrget Starting as an amalgam of Richmond favorites The Milkstains and The Color Kittens, Baby Help Me Forget have become one of the strongest live acts the city has to offer. Their nostalgic embrace of what rock music meant to all of us in our youth is the perfect remedy for nights when boredom is a symptom and whiskey a potential cure. Singer Jamie Lay prowls across all corners of the stage, and if the moment feels right, he may hurl a microphone stand into the audience as the band plays on unrelentingly. (myspace. com/babyhelpmeforget) fire BisOn Mixing elements of Dischord-style post-hardcore, riot grrrl sounds, and post-punk from overseas, it should come as no surprise that Fire Bison have been taking the scene by storm. After only a handful of shows, the group shows a ridiculous amount of promise, which makes music nerds and peers eager to see what they do next. Fire Bison are planning to record and release an EP by the end of this year. Until then, catch them any chance you can get. (facebook.com/Fire-Bison) MariOnette Don’t let this acoustically-driven Richmond indie group fool you--despite their quiet instrumentation, there’s still a dark, ominous quality to what they do that shines through no matter how gorgeous their vocal melodies get. Their complex, delicate song construction yields fascinating moods and gorgeous sonic textures that will enrapture listeners and command atttention, regardless of volume. (marionettemusic.com)
from his production work with French MC Pierre The Motionless to his recent collaboration with Baltimore rapper PT Burnem and his new indie-rock group, Double Rainbow. (isaacontheinternet.com) Cain MCCOY is probably best known to you as the face of Slapdash, an underground promotion company that has made its name organizing and hosting refreshingly good hip hop shows here in Richmond. But Cain is also a skilled young emcee who keeps his rhymes fun and his performances raw. He has been tearing up local venues in 2011. Watch out for the Eardrugs! (soundcloud.com/cainmccoy) Just Plain ant The founder of local hip-hop crew Just Plain Sounds has been producing music since he was a teenager. He incorporates a variety of influences into his shifting sound, which merges hip-hop and soul with jazz, electronic music, and more experimental styles to bring a unique feel to his own work, as well as that of quite a few other Richmond artists. His latest release is a single called “The Bridge,” which also features the talents of local MC The Honorable Sleaze, and is the first track from his upcoming full-length, [albumtitle] (no, that’s not an editing mistake, that really is the name of the record). (justplainant.bandcamp.com) OHBliV This local beatmaster has been doing a lot of work lately. In addition to his Yellow Gold mixtape with Nickelus F and his Hydrosub mixtape with his Chocolate Milk crew, he’s released two solo EPs this year (Monoatomic and Raw Oasis), and is always posting new tracks to his soundcloud. His solo music consists of instrumentals that incorporate classic jazz and soul grooves along with psychedelic sounds to create a pleasant sound that’s not too far from some of Madlib’s work. (soundcloud.com/ohbliv) YOung riCHMOnD Outkasts This six-man hip-hop crew have got plenty of Southern-style jams to get the party started and the crowd hyped. Each of the members has their own distinctive rhyming style and the results of their collaboration are clearly greater than the sum of its parts. Their newest mixtape, I’m An Outkast And I Don’t Care, dropped this spring and features productions by Johnny Juliano (Wiz Khalifa) and Klap Montana (Maybach Music). (myspace.com/youngrichmondoutkasts)
BellYtiMBer
BalliCeauX
1501 MAIN STREET (804) 592.5592 FREE lOng JaWns (SEE AUDIO AMMO WRITEUP)
tHe CaMel
1621 WEST BROAD STREET (804) 353-4901 10PM - 18+ $7 ADVANCE/$10 DOOR auDra tHe raPPer This hot young female rapper is blowing up fast, with recent appearances in The Source magazine and on MTV’s Sucker Freestyle, as well as high-profile gigs opening for nationally-known artists. Her mixtapes, The Miseducation Of Audra and No Such Thing Does Exist, have both gotten a lot of attention, so we can expect bigger and better things from her in the very near future. Catch this young star while she’s still on the rise! (audratherapper.com) niCkelus f One of the hardest-working artists in Richmond, Nickelus F never seems to stop coming up with new ideas and new ways to get his music out. In the last year or so, he’s released his second full-length album, Season Premiere; RARE, a mixtape that used the music of Portishead and led to a collaboration with that group’s producer, Geoff Barrow; and most recently, Yellow Gold, a collaboration with local producer Ohbliv. Nick has no plans to slow down as 2011 continues, so you can expect nothing but the best from this BET Freestyle Friday Hall Of Famer. (nickelusf.com) nOaH O This MC is probably the biggest success story in Richmond hip-hop right now. Without benefit of a label or a full-length release to support, he nonetheless managed to crack regular MTV Jams rotation with the video for his self-released single “I Got It.” With his long-awaited LP Struggle Music dropping soon, everyone’s paying attention to see what he’ll do next. Now, Noah returns to the location of his “I Got It” video for his RVA Music Fest performance. Things should be off the hook, so don’t miss it. (noah-o.com) BlaCk liQ This hardworking MC has been getting out in front of a lot of local hip-hop fans lately, from opening for artists like Snoop Dogg and Bone Thugs N Harmony to headlining The National. He also does two different local hip-hop radio shows, one on Mondays from 11 PM-1 AM on WDCE (90.1 FM), and one on Saturdays from 1-3 AM on WRIR (97.3 FM). Last year’s This Is Hip-Hop got a lot of attention for its single, “Richmond,” which threw the spotlight on RVA hip-hop and proved that Black Liq is always trying to represent for his home city and state. (myspace.com/blackliq) artik PHreeZe This rapper and occasional producer hails from the Petersburg area and brings his hardcore boom-bap style to the local rap game. He’s done three volumes of his Precipitation mixtape series, which are available for free from his label, Smooth Dirty Productions, and has collaborated with talented local hip-hop crew Suburban District. Expect to hear a lot more in the near future from this talented young MC. (myspace.com/artik1) sWOrDPlaY This local hip-hop veteran has been involved with a lot of different projects over the years, and although he hasn’t released an album under his own name since 2007’s Cellars And Attics, he’s got plenty of irons in the fire,
203 N. LOMBARDY STREET (804) 355-3008 $5 DOOR DeaD faMe It’s so beautifully obvious which bands Dead Fame had huge crushes on when they started writing songs. With their gothic cues, the newly formed group seeps personality in every lyrical swoon and electronic dash. Their songs could find a home as the soundtrack to a Bret Easton Ellis party or in the dirges of a society missing its core. Dead Fame’s new wave sensibilities are very much at home in a city whose eclectic nature continues to flourish. (deadfame.com) CanarY OH CanarY take elements of shoegaze and experimental rock to create a style that is entirely their own. In just a little under a year playing out, the group has already developed a strong fan base (with even Kyle Harris of Diamond Center calling them one of his favorites from Richmond). It’s no surprise that they will be sharing the stage with Dead Fame, as both bands represent different ideas prevalent during the eighties. (facebook.com/canaryohcanary) league Of sPaCe Pirates With a cavalcade of dance beats and noisy programming, League of Space Pirates brings an apocalyptic vibe to the party scene. Watching their songs unfold is a treat, both for socialites and the misanthropes that can’t believe they even bothered to come out in the first place. Imagine the antithesis of Matt and Kim’s positive attitude, without sacrificing any of the catchiness, and you’ve got League of Space Pirates. (spacepirate.org)
Cafe DieM
600 N SHEPPARD ST (804) 353-2500 FREE DOWnBeat sWitCH This rock n’ roll band incorporates funky guitar riffs and intriguing rhythmic gymnastics into their groove-oriented sound, which is topped off with dueling male-female lead vocals that incorporate a hip-hop influence into their catchy, melodic sound. Downbeat Switch have a free EP available for download at their website, which provides just a taste of what you can expect from them live.(facebook.com/downbeatswitch) tHe kinDling kinD This band, which spotlights the excellent songwriting and vocal talents of singer/guitarist Miriam Martin, use acoustic instrumentation to create surprisingly melodic tunes with some downright poppy choruses. They should appeal equally to folk music aficionados and fans of pop/rock songcraft. Their self-titled EP is currently available on iTunes, and they’ve already incorporated some great new material into their live sets, so don’t miss out. (facebook.com/thekindlingkind) Muelle This veteran acoustically-driven local group mixes folk, funk, jazz, and rock styles in a manner that some might associate with jam bands, but also recalls groups like Sublime, The Wallflowers, and Counting Crows. Their album Falling Anyway has been out for a few years now but is still available and gives a good idea of what this band is capable of. However, you can surely expect to hear some catchy new material from them at their RVA Music Fest performance.
(muelleband.com)
RVAmag.com || RVA RVA Magazine Magazine || 31 29 RVAmag.com
sHOCkOe BOttOM festiVal MaP tHank YOu tO Our sPOnsOrs
10 tHings tO keeP in MinD 1) Main street statiOn The front of the
5) VCu transPOrtatiOn All four 2
8) Wrir sOniC stage Want to meet the
train station should be a good dropoff/pickup point for anyone getting a ride. The driver can wait in that parking lot, and it is both a good landmark and a central, well-lit area.
Bottom N Back buses will be running all day back and forth on Main and Cary Streets between the festival, U of R, and VCU. Check the route schedule at 2bnb.org, or track it in real time at 2bnb.org/bus-tracking
bands? WRIR 97.3 FM Indie Radio is setting up inside McCormack’s Irish Pub to do interviews with the bands and a few acoustic performances. Band merchandise will also be available at this location.
6) COMe earlY The gates open at 2 and
9) Beer There will be beer served at the festival, but you cannot leave the barricaded area with it. Also, remember to pace yourself. You don’t want to be “that guy” and have to leave the event because you were acting like a rookie.
2) staY HYDrateD Water and juice will be available for sale. We all know that it can get hot in RVA in September, so be sure to drink plenty of liquids (and not just beer!).
3) fOOD Restaurants like Tiki Bob’s, McCormack’s Irish Pub, Mexico and that lil chicken joint will be open. With the addition of Nate’s Taco Truck, Boka Truck, and Halligan’s food tents, there’ll be a pretty great selection.
the music starts at 3, so get there before it gets packed so you can enjoy the entire experience.
7) get uPDates in real tiMe Follow the @RVAMag twitter feed and get realtime updates all day during the fest, plus exclusive information and #SWAG giveaway.
10) HaVe fun We’re throwing a giant party, and we hope it blows you away! Leave your problems at the gate.
4) nO glass Or WeaPOns We really shouldn’t have to tell people this, but: safety first. We want to be able to do RMF again next year. RVA Magazine Magazine || RVAmag.com RVAmag.com 32 || RVA 30
Additional information at RVAmusicfest.com!
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 11TH Main eVent
gates OPen at 2-10PM 18tH & e. Main street sHOCkOe BOttOM $22 aDV / $30 gate / $100 ViP
stage One
PresenteD BY PHull entertainMent girl talk 8:45 - 9:50PM Pittsburgh DJ Gregg Gillis may not have invented the art of the mash-up, but few would deny that he’s perfected it. His recordings may exist in a legal grey area, but there’s no doubt about the awesomeness of his performances. Creating music with nothing but a laptop covered in shrinkwrap (to protect it from sweat), Girl Talk’s live sets are explosions of dance-floor passion. The stage is a mob scene as dancers surround and overshadow the man providing the soundtrack. Venues full of thousands of people move as one and glory in the perfectly off-kilter juxtapositions of Black Sabbath and Ludacris, Faith No More and Busta Rhymes, and so many more. (illegal-art.net) Best COast 6:50 - 8:20PM This lo-fi pop trio from California transform the dayto-day reality of frontwoman Bethany Cosentino, a 20-something slacker who loves weed, TV, and her cats, into catchy tunes that draw equal inspiration from 60s retro sounds and the post-grunge indie rock of the 90s. Their most recent album, Crazy For You, is an instant classic, on which Motown girlgroup vocal arrangements meet the pounding jangle of Pavement and Tuscadero in a simple but clear production that gets all the studio glitz out of the way and brings excellent songcraft to the forefront, where it should be. (bestycoasty.blogspot.com) tHe trilliOns 6:20 - 7PM These pop-savvy veterans of the Richmond indie scene have done time in such groups as Prabir And The Substitutes and The Awesome Few, and that experience shows through in their complex, brainy, but most importantly catchy power-pop tunes. Think The Strokes or the Walkmen, but with lush, Beatlesque harmonies creating additional layers of gorgeousness. Their latest EP, Flux, is available for free download from their website. During the RVA Music Fest, (thetrillionsband.com) DiaMOnD Center 5:30 - 6PM Coming to Richmond by way of Lubbock, Texas, The Diamond Center bring the influence of the warm, hazy West Texas climate to their music. Their psychedelic epics evoke the feeling of high noon in the desert, while the voice of frontwoman Brandi Price provides the same sort of cooling relief as a strategically located oasis. The Diamond Center have only been in Richmond for a short time, but their impassioned live performances and their most recent release, a 7 inch vinyl single featuring the songs “Caraway” and “20 Twin,” have created quite a buzz around town. (diamondcentermusic.com) WHite laCes 4:40 - 5:10PM This Richmond quartet plays indie rock with an emphasis on the ROCK, using gallons of distortion to give their songs a harsh, noisy feel that complicates but does not obscure the melodic tendencies at the core of their sound. White Laces have a big, loud sound that requires earplugs in a live environment, but that doesn’t mean that they’re devoid of nuance. Fans of The Jesus And Mary Chain, Sonic Youth, and My Bloody Valentine are particularly encouraged to give a closer listen. (whitelacesmusic.com) tHe silent age 3:50 - 4:20PM Myke Terry left Richmond a few years ago to sing for Boston metalcore band Bury Your Dead, but as with so many other Richmond creative types who’ve left the city over the years, he’s found himself back in town again, leading a brand new band. The Silent Age are a much more melodic group than anything Terry has previously done, with a guitar-driven sound that mixes emo and alternative rock. (thesilentageband.com)
CliMBers 3 - 3:30PM These up-and-coming young Richmond tunesmiths use digital instrumentation to craft lazily beautiful soundscapes featuring slow-motion pop hooks galore. Influences from recently popular indie-electronic musicians such as Animal Collective or Washed Out can be heard in Climbers’ music, but they incorporate enough variety in their sound and production to keep things fresh and interesting. Check out their latest album, Everything Is On Purpose. (climbers.bandcamp.com)
stage tWO
PresenteD BY riCHMOnD CitY DPu nO Bs Brass BanD 7:40 - 8:10PM This group, consisting of a drummer and somewhere around a dozen horn players, combines traditional brass-driven music like Dixieland jazz and R&B funk with influences taken from all over-klezmer, calypso, heavy metal, punk rock, you name it. Their live sets combine creative original compositions with all kinds of unexpected cover tunes (Rush, Led Zeppelin, Agent Orange, and more). Over the past few years, No BS! Brass Band has cultivated a multigenerational fanbase from all different scenes and walks of life, and with the recent release of a double LP, No BS!, they’re only going to take things farther from here. (nobsbrass.com) BlaCk girls 6:50 - 7:20PM This young Richmond band has been together for a relatively short amount of time, but are creating quite a buzz with their off-kilter brand of soul-infused indie rock. The sunny, cheerful-sounding music calls to mind recent popular indie groups, such as Vampire Weekend, while the layered vocals, which often rely on multi-part harmonies, are more reminiscent of Animal Collective. They’ve got a brand new selftitled album out on Worthless Junk Records, and are playing all kinds of shows up and down the East Coast, so they’re only gonna get bigger from here. (facebook.com/blackgirlsband) gOlDrusH 6 - 6:30PM Former Substitutes frontman Prabir Mehta takes his new backing band in a different direction; incorporating violin and double bass, Goldrush’s music adds folk, country, and classical music influences into Prabir’s power-pop sensibility. At points they sound like Lou Reed collaborating with Hank Williams Sr. Then, a couple of songs later, they’ll throw a Beethoven string quartet breakdown into an upbeat rock n’ roll tune. There’s a little bit of everything here, mixed together in a decidedly unique way. (goldrushlovesyou.com) anterO 5:10 - 5:40PM This Richmond reggae band has grabbed some attention with their soulful, organ-driven sound and creative percussion rhythms. Regular gigs at Martini Kitchen’s Reggae Mondays and other clubs around town are winning them a lot of fans. But they aren’t just a good-time party band--they keep reggae’s protest-music tradition alive in the lyrics to songs like “African Nation” and “One Decision,” from their 2008 album Do Something. (reverbnation.com/antero7) luggage 4:20 - 4:50PM This local hip-hop duo have been around for most of the past decade, but have been keeping a low profile in recent years. However, they’ve recently burst back onto the scene with a brand new mixtape that proves they haven’t gotten rusty during the intervening years. Excellent lyrics, funky beats, and interesting, original productions demonstrate that Luggage has what it takes to rise to the top of the local hiphop scene once again. (myspace.com/605389) PrOVerBial 3:30 - 4PM This seven-piece jam band mixes elements of reggae, funk, jazz, hip-hop, and alternative rock together into a sound consisting of catchy, eclectic grooves for miles. Proverbial formed only two years ago, but have gotten a lot done in the short time they’ve been together, winning both Y101’s 2009 Rock Off and 102.1 The X’s 2010 Local Exposure competition,
and playing plenty of gigs opening for a variety of national acts over the past couple of years. They’ve also found time to record a new self-titled album, which was released earlier this year and is available for purchase on iTunes, so check it out! (proverbialband.com)
tHe rePuBliC & BrOWn’s DJ tent DODDie, lOng JaWns, BOBBY laBeat / auDiO aMMO Audio Ammo have been changing the party scene in Richmond for longer than some people want to admit. With their Brain Drain parties garnering attention from heavyweights around the world, it’s no wonder this super-group of DJs and producers have become famous in Richmond electronic music circles. The Audio Ammo crew is set to wreak havoc at what might be their most massive performance to date, RVA Music Fest! (audioammo.tumblr.com) Mr. Jennings, tHe reinHOlD, akasHa / Plf This local group includes more than just DJs; membership extends to fire dancers, circus performers, poets, musicians, visual artists, and more. They bring an entire multimedia extravaganza with them wherever they perform, and strive to encourage creativity and a positive, inclusive atmosphere. Their group philosophy is based on the 10 principles of the annual Burning Man festival, and they seek with their events to both expand your mind and move your body. (plf. podomatic.com) sHugaDaDDe, JMungZ, rOMetti / euPHOria Euphoric Productions began in the Richmond area in 1995 and has been making things happen ever since, hosting electronic music events and underground parties in four different states since its inception. They’re currently hosting the longestrunning monthly EDM party in Richmond, Throttle, which celebrated its four-year anniversary in February. (myspace.com/euphoricproductionsva) M.a.s.s. fX, skYWalker / nlP Nightlife Promos Inc. have been planning parties and events around Richmond and the surrounding area for years now. They’ve been involved in such high-profile ongoing local parties as RVAlution and Brain Drain, and have brought artists like Steve Aoki, Manifesto, and Starkillers to the area. (nightlifepromosinc.com) Jesse sPlit, JOanna O / turnstYle Turnstyle is two different things at the same time: not only is it a record store specializing in underground house, techno, and dubstep vinyl as well as street wear, it’s also a DJ crew that spins many of the same sorts of sounds they sell. They’ve been rocking parties around town for the past several years, notably at PUSH, their ongoing Thursday night events, as well as every Saturday night from 7-9 PM on WRIR (97.3 FM), and at First Fridays and other art openings around town. (turnstyleonline.com)
tHe rePuBliC & BrOWn’s ViP area WeirD sailBOat & Mau The artistic variety shown by this collaboration between local artist Mauricio Patarroyo and Steady Sounds co-owner Drew Snyder is no surprise in light of the collective resume of these two DJs. They’ve been collaborating lately on spinning an eclectic mix of tunes around the Richmond area, both at their semi-frequent Drop parties at Balliceaux and at other local clubs like The Nile and Bellytimber. Expect to hear anything from indie rock and worldbeat to hip-hop and dubstep from this crew. (steadysounds.tumblr.com)
fOr MOre infOrMatiOn CHeCk Out rVaMag.COM & rVaMusiCfest.COM
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STICKY RICE
DELIVERS (804) 358-2633
NILE
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KATE JENNINGS OF NAN NIN VINTAGE INTERVIEW BY BRYAN WOODLAND
I really get psyched about people that have passion. Honestly, it can be for anything. I don’t care if you’re into collecting stamps--as long as you know your stuff and have a good collection to back it, I’m sold. Kate Jennings seamlessly balances a few different passions, from teaching, to photography, to running her own online clothing store, Na Nin Vintage. She is geniune, talented and hard-working, and these qualities combine to make her the kind of person you don’t come across too often. Kate was nice enough to take some time away from her busy schedule to tell me about her personal history and that of Na Nin, as well as what she wants to achieve with her current projects.
How long have you been here? I first came in 2003 when I started undergrad. I graduated in 2007. Right after I graduated I moved to South Korea for a year to teach, but I’ve pretty much been here since 2003. When I came back from Korea I did graduate school at VCU. My undergrad is for psychology and I focused most of that on child psych. For grad school I did early and elementary education. And now you are currently a teacher in Richmond?
Where are you originally from, and why did you decide to move to Richmond? I’ll be beginning my first year being a kindergarten teacher starting in a few weeks. I’m from Fauquier County, Virginia, which is about two hours northwest of here. I grew up in this really nice small town [that] got our first stop light a few years ago. When it was time to go to college I had no idea where I wanted to go. VCU accepted me, and being in state, and [compared to] my other choices, I just liked how diverse it was. It seemed big city compared to where I was, so I came here.
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Is that something you always wanted to do? It definitely wasn’t something I always saw myself doing. I never really knew what I wanted to do. I thought I’d be a writer, I thought I’d be an actress, I thought I’d be a
fashion designer. When I went to South Korea, I fell in love with teaching. Is thrifting something you’ve always been into? Yeah, I’ve been thrifting ever since I was a child. I didn’t go to a mall until I was in middle school. Everything that I had was either a hand-me-down or from thrift stores. My parents are big bargain hunters, so I grew up traveling on the weekends to nearby thrift stores, yard sales. I got more into it in high school, because I was starting to get interested in fashion. I was pulling stuff from my mom’s closet. I was really into the stuff she wore in her hippie days, and kind of mixing it up with my own style. How did Na Nin Vintage start? Did you ever think that you would make a business out of it? From thrifting so much, I collected so many things that I had a hard time letting go of. I honestly don’t wear but maybe 5 to 10 percent of what I own. I would find
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“ I WOULD FIND SOMETHING [AND THINK], OH, THIS IS SO GREAT. THIS IS ONLY A BUCK, I HAVE TO HAVE THIS.” something [and think], “Oh, this is so great. This is only a buck, I have to have this.” Or “This is so rare.” Then one day I was looking in one of my rooms, and I was like, “I have a living-room-size room that’s full of clothes. This is kind of wrong. I need to get rid of some stuff.” A girlfriend of mine was like, “Have you ever heard of Etsy?” It just seemed exciting, so I called up my best friend Samantha, who I really couldn’t have done Na Nin without. I said, “Hey, do you wanna come over and model some clothes for me and I’ll take some pictures? I wanna see if I can sell some stuff on Etsy.” So she came over, and I shot [her wearing] like 15 things. She’s so beautiful; everything looked great. I put it up, and then within a few days people were buying. All of a sudden I had a pretty strong clientele--people wanting first dibs on things before I would post. I was personally shopping for a couple girls in New York. It was working great.
Was there a certain demographic or areas you found you were selling to more?
Where did the name Na Nin come from?
They would give me their sizes, send me pictures of looks they were going for--things like, “If you find a pair of brown leather ankle boots in a size 7 and a half, this is what I’m looking for, so give me first dibs.” It was working out great for me because that’s guaranteed business, and I like having relationships with people. It makes it more personal and enjoyable, and the whole experience is just extremely flattering. And it honestly is selling a style. In my descriptions I help people envision how they could wear it. So people would contact me, and I have a handful of girls to this day I’m doing business [with].
I taught in South Korea for a year, and when I went there I didn’t know Korean. I just got my ESL certificate and I decided I’d go teach abroad, and Korea’s the place that hired me. I befriended a Korean co-teacher of mine, and she offered to tutor me in Korean if I tutored her in English. One of the first things she wrote was “na nin.” That means “I am.” What she wrote was, “I am very happy because I’m with you.” When she told me what it meant it just affected me so much, because I was communicating with someone I thought I was never going to communicate with. I made friends with someone who cared about me and wanted to help me. I’m forever thankful for that. Little acts of kindness are something that is very dear to me, and I want to remember I’m supposed to be doing that for other people too. So when I came back [to the United States] I just thought that Na Nin Vintage sounded really cool. I like where it comes from very much. I feel like I made a friend that I’ll think about for the rest of my life.
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Yeah, definitely. In the states I sell [the] most to New York. I think in New York, there’s such a scene of people who are looking for this style of clothing, and when they’re going thrifting they’re competing with thousands and thousands of other people trying to get there first. What I’m selling on Etsy is as affordable as going to a vintage store or thrift store [in New York]. But then, I was super surprised how much I was selling to Australia. I would say that at least 40 percent of what I sold to was sent to Australia. So the people that contacted you to shop for them--
So you still keep in touch with them? Yeah, I have a lot of internet friends that I like very much. Since you first started, how much has it grown?
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I have emails maybe weekly, [from] people [who] are interested in selling Na Nin Vintage, or wanting to know about it. I just had a girl contact me in New York asking me if I wanted to do a lookbook video for her, because she sees what I do for my own things, so it’s grown a lot. I’m starting to make connections with a com pany in New Zealand that’s interested in me. But most of that is definitely thanks to Need Supply. Talk a little bit how that collaboration came up with Need. I have a couple friends who work at Need Supply, and one of them showed my Etsy to Krystal, who’s the buyer there. She liked what I was doing--my inspiration, my photography, my own clothes, just what I had going on. I was sitting in Carytown outside of a sushi restaurant and Krystal came up and introduced herself to me. I was so surprised because this is kind of a stranger, and she was like, “I really like what you have going on. I’d love for you to come in and maybe we can talk about doing guest blogging or something to do with Na Nin.” I was just so elated and excited. I went in there, and she was like “Would you like to have a pop up shop and we can sell your stuff?” YES! Exclamation exclamation. Then I went in there in January, we shot a lookbook, gave them a ton of stuff, and it sold really well. It was just great. How did you start taking photographs? Were you doing that for fun before or did it start when you were shooting your friends who were modeling your clothes? I’ve always been interested in photography. I did it high school. I took a course at VCU. I like old things. I like using film. When you see things on the internet, there are all these fashion blogs and things going on. You see what they’re doing, [and] you get ideas of how you wanna represent yourself. I’m not just selling a piece of clothing. If I was doing that, I would just have a thrift store. I am trying to sell a style, a vision. I got into photography because I wanted to represent my style the way I envision it. And when you have control, when you are the one that’s behind the lens, it’s a lot more fun. I like using film, because it makes me a little more selective in what I’m shooting and I’m always surprised, or maybe disappointed, how it comes out. But it’s still exciting to me. One thing that I think is really exciting right now is that fashion is so expressive. You can go on the internet and you are constantly seeing inspiration. You are seeing fashions from all over the world. You are seeing people who are taking vintage clothing and mixing it up with modern clothing. And it’s not about having something extremely form fitting--everyone is having their own personal style and inspiring each other. I think that’s a great way to use the internet. It’s easy [to] get caught up in social media or just killing time, but the internet is such a network of creativity and self-marketing, which I think is really cool. With my own personal fashion, I don’t just want to be wearing what’s hip or anything. I like wearing band t-shirts. 50 percent of the time, people see me wearing my Smashing Pumpkins t-shirt, like I’m wearing right now. Maybe it’s a little masculine, but maybe I’ll mix something feminine in. I like to represent myself, what I think is great and what means a lot. A lot of your subject matter is your friends. Have you found that they are into modeling for you, or do you have to do some persuading? I feel extremely lucky, because I have amazing friends. Any friend I’ve ever asked anything from, whether its modeling or anything else, has been pretty excited. My best friend Samantha, who I feel like is the face of Na Nin, has definitely helped more ways then just modeling. Invoices, business stuff, helping me get stuff to the studio, just being an inspiration and putting in a lot of time with me. I feel like you are always doing something new. At some point you were talking about music or being in a band. When I see anyone doing something, I can’t help but want to do it. When I was in high school all of my guy friends skateboarded. And like, I wanted to skateboard. I didn’t wanna be a bowl troll. I don’t think I’m an expert at anything. I don’t think I’m an amazing fashionista or a great musician or a wonderful writer. But I write songs. I was playing with my friend Joe Talman last summer a little bit. I wrote a children’s story that one of my best friends Mo Vargas is in the process of illustrating. I just wanna do everything. I know that sounds really cliche, but I just want to be a part of it. At least be able to bring something to the table. Would you want Na Nin to be a main means of supporting yourself, or do you want to keep it a side thing that you do for fun?
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“ O ne thing that I think is really exciting right now is that “ fashion is so expressive . You can go on the internet and you are constantly seeing inspiration . You are seeing fashions from all over the world .” With Na Nin, I want it to grow. I’m working on my own product design, and making it into not just a vintage line but also a brand. I’ll have my own product. I definitely won’t be selling it myself, but I do want having my own brand to be able to support me at some point. But I’m really happy where I am now. Even though I am getting older, I feel like I’m getting younger. I love teaching. Being around kids all day is wonderful. I feel confident in it. I’m curious to see what that will bring out of me. I wanna be a facilitator for other people who have creative minds. I expect a lot from myself and a lot from Na Nin. Is there anything else that you want people to know about you or Na Nin? I just want to say that above anything I’m really thankful for the community and friends I have in Richmond and outside of Richmond, the positive feedback that people have given me, the ideas... I think you need to be inspired to inspire, and it’s so important to be around people who are inspiring. It doesn’t have to be artists or a photographer or a fashion designer, but people you are learning something from. It’s important to be positive and to push yourself and to do things that you might be scared of doing. I was nervous to put myself out there. Having a blog, posting pictures of myself and my best friend in my clothing, I’m putting myself out there. I’m just as likely to get negative feedback as positive feedback. And I have gotten some, and I appreciate that. I’m willing to respond to that, and to take it for what it is. I think I just want people to know that I’m a grateful person and I expect a lot from myself. naninvintage.tumblr.com
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COUGH WORDS BY GRETA BRINKMAN
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any years ago I heard an interesting theory. It said that women musicians generally tend to be bass players because they’re drawn to lower frequencies, which are more like a man’s voice. Meanwhile men like playing guitar because they like high frequencies: more like a woman’s voice. I can’t speak for everybody but it’s certainly true for me. I could not care less about guitarists and their annoying, self-indulgent “look at me!” wankery, but I LOVE to stand in front of a bass cab (with proper hearing protection, of course!), pants legs flapping in the wind, having my entire self rumbled. No type of music does this more effectively than Doom Metal. If you’re not hip to the genre, let me try to ‘splain (if you’re already in the know, please bear with me). To grossly oversimplify, imagine Black Sabbath. Every-
“ NOW TAKE A SABBATH ALBUM AND SLOW IT DOWN TO HALF SPEED. NO, SLOWER. DON’T ADJUST FOR PITCH, BECAUSE YOU’RE ALSO TUNING DOWN. LIKE, WAY DOWN.” one knows Sabbath, right? Now take a Sabbath album and slow it down to half speed. No, slower. Don’t adjust for pitch, because you’re also tuning down. Like, way down. Most Doom bands play in low C or even B, which is 4 or 5 notes below the stuff you’re used to! The end result of this is a soothing bath of low frequencies, and strings flapping so loosely that’s it’s nearly impossible to play fast even if you wanted to. After *mumble* years of playing in punk and hardcore bands, I too, am now in a Doom band with the genius name of Druglord. Let me tell you, it’s a whole new discipline. Drummers especially have a tough time
with Doom; they generally get really nervous anytime there’s empty space. Rare is the drummer who can show the necessary restraint to play every fourth beat. If you want to see a zen master of Doom drumming, you need look no further than Richmond’s own kings of Doom, Cough. Joey Arcaro is absolutely not afraid of the slow. To my surprise, Joey wasn’t the original drummer. He used to play in another band that practiced next door to where bassist/singer Parker Chandler and guitarist/ singer David Cisco were writing songs. “The whole time we’re playing, I can hear Parker playing bass. It’s RVAmag.com | RVA Magazine | 41
so fucking loud. I’m like, ‘That sounds fucking badass.’ And it seemed louder than what we were doing in our space. I ran into Dave at a bar and said, ‘If your dude doesn’t work out, let me know.’” Eventually Joey took his rightful place behind the drum kit. I visited Cough at their practice room in haunted Shockoe Bottom on a classic Richmond summer night: at 11:00 PM it was still 95 degrees, and stepping outside felt like wading through a giant bowl of hot, faintly rancid soup. We sat on the fire escape and gazed at the skyline, the eerie silence broken only by the occasional pop of beer can tops. “We saw boobs over there one time,” said a band member wistfully, indicating a window across the way. “Now we have to look every time.” I first saw Cough when they were a trio. They had been around awhile already, and were well on the way to being masters of the genre. Later on they added Brandon Marcey on second guitar. At the time, I thought, “Brandon’s way too HAPPY to be in that 42 | RVA Magazine | RVAmag.com
band!” “We’re working on that,” says Parker, pokerfaced, when I tell him this. Still later I saw them at a house show at the Charlie Mansion, where paint chips drifted gently from the ceiling like lead-based snowflakes. It was the kind of scene that would have Community Assisted Public Safety (CAPS--basically, the Richmond anti-fun police) frothing at the mouth, and exactly the kind of thing that makes life in RVA worth the ennui, the backwards thinking, and the frustration. Cough just finished their first tour of Europe, which turned out to be an odyssey that could most charitably be called a learning experience. But before getting to that, I wanted to know how they got where they are as a band. “What was the impetus for starting this particular band?” I asked them. “Had you all been in bands before?” Refusing to go into detail, they very reluctantly cop to having been in “...some bands.” “Yeah, I guess we all had, but we wanted to do something depress-
“ YEAH, WE THOUGHT ABOUT MAYBE PORTLAND FOR A WHILE.” “THEN WE STARTED TOURING, AND WE REALIZED WE JUST WANNA COME HOME. IF YOU’RE TOURING A LOT, YOU KINDA SCRATCH THAT ITCH TO PICK UP AND BE SOMEWHERE ELSE.” ing,” offers Parker. “It was an excuse to buy a whole lot of really expensive gear,” adds David. At the time they were listening to a lot of Cavity, Goatsnake, EyeHateGod, and the Melvins, as well as seminal doom pioneers Electric Wizard. It didn’t take them long to write and record the first EP, Kingdom (2006), followed by their debut full-length, Sigillum Luciferi (2008), on Richmond’s Forcefield label. That album, along with their seven (!) tours of the US, got them the attention of Relapse Records. Now, with the release of Ritual Abuse (2010), they are one album into their three-album agreement with the famed metal label. In spite of having hit the big time, though, they have only kind words for Tim Harwich, the guy behind Forcefield. Joey reminisces, “He was the dude that took care of us when no one else would. A double LP from a band that doesn’t have shit out? No one else was going to put that [album] out. THANK YOU, Tim!” Many tours of the US later, they have a few favorite places, like New Orleans and Chicago (where they recorded the first record with the famous Sanford Parker). NYC has treated them OK for the most part, Philly can be hit or miss, but “Baltimore and Athens always suck.” Last time they played Tampa, it was crazy. “They were CROWDSURFING. They were up on
the stage doing this headbanging, crowdsurfing shit...” To your 30-beats-a-minute stuff? “Yeah!” says Joey. “And this was all like three feet away from me, so I had to stop looking at the crowd, ‘cuz it was so intense, I was laughing at myself. They were losing their SHIT.” What about Richmond? “It’s the fuckin’ best place,” says Joey without hesitation. “As soon as you leave, you wanna come back. But then when you get here, you wanna go back on tour.” Did you ever consider relocating as a band? “Yeah, we thought about maybe Portland for a while,” says Dave. “Then we started touring, and we realized we just wanna come home. If you’re touring a lot, you kinda scratch that itch to pick up and be somewhere else.” Did they ever see being in a band as a way to make a living? The question elicits mostly rueful chuckling. “We’re more successful now than ever [Ritual Abuse is in its third pressing!] and now we have more debt than ever... more people to pay. [It’s] a marginal amount, really reasonable, but it all adds up. The European tour really topped it off.” That tour, their first one of Europe, was extremely hard on them. On the upside, “We met a lot of good people, we played a lot of great shows..The fans were great, They’re really honest. One girl was like, ‘I liked your first record a lot better.’ ‘I saw you guys
the other day and I saw you guys today. And I didn’t like it.’” Joey: “Czech Republic was incredible. A dude came to the show on a HORSE.” This memory sets the guys off on a free-association of memories, everyone talking at once. People showering outdoors with buckets. Dirt roads. “The most incredible bacon I’ve ever had.” “They grow weed in their gardens.” The club in Hamburg was so small “Dave was onstage and getting beers from the bar.” Everyone laughs. It wasn’t all yuks and excellent beer, however. Brandon remembers, “The first show we played, the amp that RVAmag.com | RVA Magazine | 43
I rented caught on fire. And I got blamed for it.” Joey: “The whole first week, all of our sets got cut short, ‘cuz we were too loud, or every band played so long we only had 20 minutes. By the end of the first week I was pretty sure that’s how the rest of the tour was going to be. ‘I guess we play two songs and fuck off.’” Dave relates a moment when a giant PA speaker rattled from its perch and fell right onto his pedal board, rendering it banana-shaped but still functional. Parker recalls, “We got the cops called at least once a week, and we’re playing on rental gear that’s like half the size of our normal equipment, turned up to one, you can’t feed back...” “We went there for too long for a first time,” opines Brandon. “It didn’t suck, it was just that ...the people that we needed to rely on for information and support were the wrong people. They gave us a bad rental company, a shitty tour route thatcaused a lot of backtracking, and a lot of our money down the drain. We went through Birmingham, England five times in one week and never played there.” 44 | RVA Magazine | RVAmag.com
The tour, 50 shows in 54 days, was absolutely grueling. Everybody, band AND promoter, lost money. “I think we broke up three times on that tour,” says Parker. To make matters worse, the band and their driver, to put it mildly, did not have a meeting of the minds. “ At one point we asked him how far the airport was and if he would take us there.” Brandon’s passport got stolen from the “so-called backstage” at the club in Christiania, Copenhagen. He had to go to the embassy in Berlin to replace it. “It was cool. I took a shit on American soil.” He laughs. “It was a blueprint of what not to do,” says Joey. “But next time, we’ll have a better grasp.” They did play some amazing gigs and have some classic rock ‘n’ roll moments. Like when they went to the sleeping quarters at the end of one night, only to find the door blocked by an unidentified member of Voivod, who was (ahem) “getting acquainted with” a young lady from the area. They played 4 or 5 gigs with Voivod, saw some amazing bands like Leech
Feast and Caronte, and actually got to meet Electric Wizard! And they have only good things to say about the one-person enterprise that is the European branch of Relapse. “Dude totally hooked us up. He gave us a place to stay, a phone, took us to a coffeeshop...” They see being on Relapse as being a net gain so far. “We’re really happy with all the people, yeah.” “And we’re able to play a lot of larger festivals now, which is cool.” In fact, they have just been confirmed for the 2012 Maryland Death Fest, which is a giant, huge, hairy deal if you are into the metal scene at all. By the time you read this, they’ll have gone to NYC to play the premiere of the metal documentary Slow Southern Steel, and played at the famous Stoner Hands of Doom festival in Maryland. Currently, they are in the process of writing for a new record. Lyrically, it’ll continue to be dark. Some of the lyrics on the existing records are taken right from their personal experiences, like the “Year in Suffering” they experienced living at their unheated, unairconditioned
practice space, a warehouse on a desolate stretch of Hull St. “It tried us pretty hard,” says Joey. The Relapse artist page for Cough states: “Ritual Abuse is the result of all the shit and suffering we put ourselves through to continue to write this music. Hopefully you all feel as miserable listening to it as we did creating it.” What’s your favorite thing about Richmond? “Our friends.” (Stage whisper: “Inter Arma!”) “Beer, metal and fire.” Joey: “I like that we get all the seasons. I like that there’s a thriving metal scene. I like that if you’re into metal, and I don’t know you, I know someone that knows you. Everyone seems to be on the same page. And even with all the drama and whatever, there seems to be a huge lack of bullshit here, and that’s badass.” It’s now after midnight and everyone is rambling. We get started talking about the late lamented Nara Sushi, which leads to lots of funny stories (which I’ll save for a Nara Sushi article). We deconstruct the
Rammstein “Pussy” video, and talk about Melvins lyrics-is Buzz really saying “Heavy metal beachball”? And the band tells a few stories of characters they’ve met and played with, including Brian Patton of Soilent Green and EyeHateGod. “Dude was givin’ us a hard time and he was like, [deep Southern drawl] ‘Man, I can see it now.
I can see y’all 15 years from now, like me, bein’ like, why the FUCK am I doin’ this?’” Everyone laughs. “He basically told us we were fuckin’ up. ‘You’re not qualified to do anything else in life.’ I love that discussion.” www.myspace.com/cough666
“RITUAL ABUSE IS THE RESULT OF ALL THE SHIT AND SUFFERING WE PUT OURSELVES THROUGH TO CONTINUE TO WRITE THIS MUSIC. HOPEFULLY YOU ALL FEEL AS MISERABLE LISTENING TO IT AS WE DID CREATING IT.” RVAmag.com | RVA Magazine | 45
INTERVIEW BY DAN ANDERSON 46 | RVA Magazine | RVAmag.com
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hen I met Noah O nearly ten years ago, he appeared from a distance to have a chip on his shoulder. Based on his rough exterior, dressed in baggy colorful clothes, I assumed he was a common thug and labeled him unapproachable. Looking back, I am grateful the universe saw fit to reveal to me the error in my assumptions. I would have been denied the experience of interacting with one of the few genuine, honest, inspiring and talented people I have been blessed to know. Common thug he was not. I remember wishing I had half the resilience he exhibited, and walked away from our interaction both inspired by him and ashamed by my initial assumptions. We shared several more experiences over the next few years, and I was fortunate to work with him on his first music video and a compilation album titled All Roads Lead To Richmond. Since those days, he’s come a long way, especially in light of the recent success of his “I Got It” video, which we discuss below. Noah wears many hats--he’s not just a rapper but an MC, a husband and a father, who has at times worked two jobs to make ends meet. But on top of all the hats Noah O wears is that of a teacher. Some people might think his sound is not for them; I beg to differ. The positive messages, the inspiration, the wisdom, the passion for life, and the love for those he keeps close to his chest--those things
are for everyone. We could all learn a lot from Noah O, so I sat down with him in the smoking room at Café Diem to celebrate his recent accomplishments and defuse any snap judgements people may have about this Richmond MC. Last time I saw you, Devine Sunz was still going strong. Did DS call it quits? My other group members had started getting involved in production. The heavier they got into production, [the more] DS began to take a back seat. During that time, I just started growing more into my solo thing. I was encouraging them to do their production, but I met a lot of younger guys who had home studio set-ups, [and] I just started recording by myself. I ended up with a lot of material, and I decided to put a mixtape out. People started liking the stuff I was doing solo, and we just never came back together as a group. What’s the story on why you started Charged Up Entertainment LLC instead of just shopping to major labels? I didn’t have anybody who ever took to me and said: “Hey, I like what you’re doing. Let me walk you into this major label.” [Charged Up Entertainment] was born out of necessity. If nobody’s there to pick you up, you pick yourself up
and do what you’ve got to do to get what you want. I looked at other people who were successful and followed their blueprint that I saw. I started my own company. I went and got a lawyer. Everything else just fell into place. “I Got It” recently premiered on MTV Jams. How’s that feel and what’s the response been like since? The feeling is great! People are beginning to see that it’s for real, and it’s helping to inspire other artists, especially in this area. You don’t have to be with a major [label] if you believe. Like, I believe in myself. Nobody can claim credit for what we are doing but us. We’ve just been on our own. [taking it to] independent, small AM/FM radio stations, independent magazines and Internet radio whoever would listen. I treated ‘em like they were BET and MTV, and I’ll do that forever. People have to realize that you have all the channels at your disposal; you just have to take advantage of them. (Holds up his cell phone) [“I Got It”] just came on [MTV] like forty minutes ago. Every time it comes on, people start blowing my cell phone up. This is really significant. People around the country are recognizing Virginia right now. They’ve seen Clipse, Chris Brown and Trey Songz, but this is history because we’re independent. [The “I Got It” video shoot] was at The Camel. I didn’t spend a bunch of money and have a
before we filmed the video last September. MTV has had the video since January. It’s a long process from pushing something til it finally catches on and people are familiar with it. But I definitely feel [“Winning”] shows more range and more who I am. “I Got It” is a bouncy song, and I knew it would get attention, but when people delve deep into my material they’ll see the things that are more like classic hip-hop. Do you feel that a message of materialism and excess is necessary for a rapper to achieve mainstream success in today’s market? Nope. People aren’t living it. For example, Wiz Khalifa is successful, but he talks about getting high and having fun. I feel you just need to be true to yourself as an artist and you’ll find people out there that relate to you. Before, people only got exposed to what the system wanted them to be exposed to. With the internet, whatever you want, you can go and find. Do your kids have any influence on your music? Definitely. I try to be conscious of what I say. I don’t want to put anything out there that influences anyone negatively. Of course I make stuff my kids can listen
bunch of cars or women in it. It’s just raw hip-hop. I wanted to show Richmond, Virginia. It’s a bunch of people holding up PBRs rocking in the club in the middle of the week. I wanted people to see that. It captures who we are.
to, but at the same time there’s stuff I don’t want them exposed to, like the things that have happened in my life that they’ll better understand once they’re adults. I want my music to be fun, socially conscious and relevant.
“I Got It” is off of your forthcoming album Struggle Music. My research stated that it was dated to be released in 09, then 2010, but I can’t find it or any further info on the album. What’s the deal?
Tell me about VyAy (Virginia Youth Are Yearning).
I really wanted the demand to be there. A lot of artists now just put out a lot of good material, but I feel like if the demand isn’t there for me to put out an album, then I’ll just put out mixtapes. What I’ve been doing is the process of elimination. The songs that I felt really fit the theme of my album, the ones that were quality, timeless material, I kept. Everything else I just put out mixtapes with. Hopefully by the end of the year, somebody’s willing to finance it, but until then I’ll just put out singles till the demand is there. The B-side to “I Got It” is titled “Winning.” In my opinion, it’s more of an A-side. Why did you choose “I Got It” as the A-side over “Winning”?
We give back to the community and try to keep [kids] out of trouble with performing arts. When I was growing up, I had a mother that recognized that I was into music and the arts, and so she pushed me in that direction. A lot of kids don’t have anybody around them sane enough to recognize their gifts, to push them down that road. Hopefully we can help some kids. Some of the other members of Charged Up, Freeze and Steve (Fire Marshal Skrill of Devine Sunz) just completed a course at Henderson Middle School, an after-school program teaching kids about music. They taught kids how to produce music, to perform, and at the end of the program they had a talent show. With the way our budget for education is getting cut, things like this are really important. noaho.com
We had been pushing “I Got It” for two years. It was featured in O-Zone Magazine. It took a year of pushing it RVAmag.com | RVA Magazine | 47
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JENNA CHEW INTERVIEW BY R ANTHONY HARRIS
Jenna Chew is an up-and-coming young artist who is making an impression in the Richmond art world. She draws inspiration from works of literature as disparate as cyberpunk science fiction and biographies of historical figures, as well as from her favorite haunts around the city. Recently graduated from VCU, she’s already had her work shown at Ghostprint Gallery-Shapes Not Ours, her show with fellow Richmond artist Crystal Cregge, appeared there in August 2011. She’s also done freelance illustration work for high-profile clients like Capital One and the National Press Club. She may question in the following interview whether her work stands out in her field, but one look at the artwork on these pages should make clear what the answer to that question is. How long has it been since you decided to take art seriously? My principal struggle has been in learning to take the arts with anything less than grim-faced seriousness. I’m sure I’ve collected a few instructors along the way, from first grade on, who would love to tell you stories about the-frowning-kid-who-draws-all-the-time. It wasn’t until I threw up my hands in my last few years of college and tightened my vision down to a few key goals that things really began to move. It’s been a wild, but extremely rewarding, ride. In a crowded field with so many talented people, how do you stand out? I’m not sure I do. I think it’s important to do what you love, and then work from there. Cultivating a unique voice can be crucial, especially in an over-saturated commercial market, but potentially beside the point. I’m still working it out. What do you look to for ideas and inspiration? There’s nothing like a good walkabout to get my brain in motion. Throw in a little overseas travel, some NPR, and good company for flavor. Love to learn, learn to look. Above all, read everything you can. William Gibson is a fantastic author, but so is Kipling. Failing that, have a beer and settle into McLuhan’s Understanding Media. Don’t get discouraged. What are you are constantly working to get better at? There’s still so much I’d like to be able to accomplish on a technical level, especially when it comes to skillful use of traditional media. Right now, nothing grabs me more than a luscious, oil-laden Munch or the expert design of Vuillard. jennachew.com
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! T H G I T D L O H Introduction by Carl Athey / Interview by Jake Cunningham Hold Tight! have helped lead a resurgence in Richmond’s basement pop-punk scene. They blend pop-hardcore influences like Kid Dynamite and Lifetime with an almost adolescent “let’s have fun and make as many friends as possible because that’s what this is all about” view of music, informed by a deep commitment to the
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stylings of bands like Blink-182 and Green Day. Fast, loud, and fun, this band is one of Richmond’s best. Their new EP, Call the Zoo, is a seven-song, six-minute release, available for free (as are two other EPs and their first full length, Can’t Take This Away) through their Bandcamp or the Death to False Hope Records website.
Photo by Jake Cunningham
“ WE DON’T GO OUT OF OUR WAY TO WRITE
ABOUT OR AVOID WRITING ABOUT ANY PA RTICULAR EMOTIONS. WE JUST HAPPEN TO WRITE M ORE POSITIVE SONGS.”
How long have you all been playing together as Hold Tight!? Where did the name come from?
At the time of this interview you are all on tour with This Is Your Life. How is your tour going so far?
We have been playing together in Hold Tight since early 2009. James made a list of names when we started and Hold Tight was in there. It didn’t come from anything. Everyone shot down every name on the list, but then two months later he brought it up again and we all liked it. Not sure why.
It’s been great! We’ve managed our time a lot better this time around and have gotten to see a lot more of the cities we’ve played in. The shows have been some of the hottest we’ve ever played – one show was at some kid’s shed in the middle of Missouri, which was under a heat advisory. They’ve all been awesome though.
While Hold Tight! plays easily two shows a month in Richmond, this is the first time many of the towns you are visiting are seeing you all play. How is the music being received? It’s all been really positive. At a few shows we’ve had kids drive pretty far to see us, which has meant a lot to us. At the time of this interview, we’re currently en route to Birmingham, AL and have about two weeks left.
Like most pop punk bands, your songs are generally fast and catchy. But unlike most of what we hear in the genre, Hold Tight! songs bleed positivity and explore more ground than the typical broken-hearted affairs. Is there a conscious effort in your songwriting process to bring out more of those positive themes and stay away from the well covered ground of bad relationships? We don’t go out of our way to write
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about or avoid writing about any particular emotions. We just happen to write more positive songs than not. Not to say that we haven’t expressed negative feelings in any of our songs, but we would rather focus on the positive aspects of life and our relationships. Along with bands like Pedals On Our Pirate Ships, Sundials, and This Is Your Life, Hold Tight is a part of a successful and growing Richmond music community What elements do you think make for a good and sustainable music scene? I guess it’s a cliché term, but a sense of community and a willingness to work together is seriously the most impor-
tant part of a positive underground music scene. One person can’t be the only one who plays in bands, books shows, donates their basement for shows, their living room for bands to sleep, their kitchen to feed bands on tour, their artistic ability to make flyers, etc. It takes a lot of people working towards the same goal, and that’s important. We are fortunate enough to be part of a great DIY community in Richmond – at any show, it seems like everyone knows each other and are friends. It’s awesome. Your new 7 song EP Call The Zoo clocks in at around 6 minutes. Tell us a little bit about how the EP came together.
We had a bunch of shorter, more aggressive songs that we had written, that we didn’t think would fit well on our next full length. So, we decided to record them on a short EP and release it for free online. It’s also going to come out on cassette and 7 inch.
Any plans to record another full length album in the near future?
Have you all played with any bands on this tour that you’d like to give a shout out to?
What have been the top three kooks you’ve encountered on tour?
Revision Plan in Chicago and Thunderbolts in Nebraska are both awesome bands and took care of us really well when we were in their cities. Neither band tours much, but definitely check their songs out.
Yeah, hopefully we’ll have a new one out in Spring of 2012. We’re recording a bunch of stuff for splits and compilations before then, though.
Chocolate brain, powerviolence kid, and beer guy. Debbie, OH MY GOD. holdtightva.tumblr.com
“ ONE PERSON CAN’T BE THE ONLY ONE W HO PLAYS IN BANDS, BOOKS S HOWS, DONATES TH EIR BASEMENT FOR SHOWS, THEIR LIVING ROOM FOR BANDS TO SLEEP, THEIR KIT CHEN TO FEED BAN DS ON TOUR, THEIR ARTISTIC ABIL ITY TO MAKE FLYER S, ETC.”
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Best Friends Day 10 56 | RVA Magazine | RVAmag.com
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JULIA SCOT T
INTERVIEW BY BRYAN WOODLAND
Bruised, bloody and beaten: these were a few words that came to mind when I first saw Julia Scott’s work. While doing some research on local design group Yours Truly, of which Julia was a member, I came across a few posters and illustrations she had done. I felt a little uncomfortable about the violent and abusive feelings that I got from her work, but was also drawn in. I immediately wondered who and what was behind the work. I was able to ask Julia a few questions about her process and subject matter. How did you get into illustration? Did you have any formal training? I’ve always been a drawing-stuff-kid. I grew up trying to explain things to myself with pictures. I remember being really young and watching movies I didn’t understand, and then drawing what happened in them and making little story packets. I’m a desperately visual learner, and drawing wasn’t so much a passion I developed over time as it was a tool I’ve always used to teach myself how to figure things out. I started asking my mom to take me to the comic book store to pick up the individual MixxZine issues of Sailor Moon when I was about 7 or 8, and I think it was after reading that first issue that I realized it was possible to do drawing as a real job. It seemed crazy that I could do the 58 | RVA Magazine | RVAmag.com
one thing I spent all my time doing anyway, only to somehow professionally make a living. I attended Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) to much enjoyment, and to this day, there is still nothing else I would rather do than explain things to myself with pictures. The subjects of your illustrations often look in distress, beat up, or upset. Is there a particular experience or emotion that transfers into your work, creating this look? There’s something really electric about moments like these to me. I’m very into the idea of the Pregnant Moment. The filthier and more violent, the better. Real human emotion can best be seen in moments of duress, slipping through the cracks into those little quiet places between action and reaction. I like searching for the original emotion behind the action, and pulling it to the forefront for a thoughtful pause. I think violence can be quite beautiful if spun the right way. Physical damage to the figure in any given piece of this theme is more about a manifestation of an inner struggle. What process goes into creating the vibrant colors and heavy strokes and lines that make up your work? I have a routine. We could say this routine might involve putting on a really huge smock. It might involve brewing an obscenely big pot of coffee. And most secretly, it may or may not involve a Rambo headband. But it always involves a soundtrack, and it always starts with frenetic pencil scribbling. By the time I can move on to inks, my hand will have picked up the sort of electrical charge I associate with being in The Zone, and then things take over themselves from there. My hand runs on kinetic energy, and the inking process swings between tiny knuckled gestures and broad sweeping strokes. My biggest mantra is Have No Fear. The inking process is the most violent, and the most cathartic aspect of any one piece. Coloring, done mostly digitally in photoshop, is by far the most time consuming. I will create three or so different color palettes and alternate between them, taking bits of contrast from here and there that I like, and combining them into one final piece. A lot of staring is involved.
What kind of materials do you use to create your illustrations? When normally getting down to business, I like to use any manner of size of sable brushes (mostly 0-3), teamed up with my good friend, waterproof Sumi ink, in the friendly green bottle. Recently though I’ve discovered the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen, which will run you a little more than your average brush, but is totally worth it for the convenience. They come with two ink cartridge refills, and move like a dream. You can get them in different colors and tip sizes, and they are a good balance between fine hand brush work, and what using a felt-tip pen feels like. Additionally I’ll sometimes rock a little masking liquid for neat background effects, and sometimes a little compressed charcoal powder for some texture. I’ll get some nice paper if I’m doing a final, but most of my work can be done on plain old printer paper. And then it’s straight onto the computer for piecing everything together. Though all of these steps are subject to change if a lightning bolt hits me and I get a different idea. Are there any particular influences that have helped you develop as an artist? Comic books, without a doubt, are my favorite format of illustrations in action. I read a lot of them. I draw them. I dabble in the Marvel/DC universe, but my heart truly lies in the indie comic scene, in the land of small runs and funny book shapes and paper that smells like screen printing ink. I also have a deep
“ There’s something really elec-
tric about moments like these to me. I’m very into the idea of the Pregnant Moment. The filthier and more violent, the better.”
and abiding love of manga, specifically Shonen adventure titles and post World War II gekiga. Some artists I’ve taken into my visional arsenal include Taiyo Matsumoto, Paul Pope, Nate Powell, Katsuhiro Otomo, Becky Cloonan, Vasilis Lolos, Akimi Yoshida, Jillian Tamaki, Osamu Tezuka, Hayao Miyazaki, and the always hilarious Kate Beaton. In my heart though, all of my most valuable experience and influence comes from working with friends, and feeding off of the communal artistic enthusiasm. Some other things that inspire me include Heraldry, Urban Planning, Aquariums, Intergalactic Travel, Super Saiyans, the writings of JD Salinger and Ursula K LeGuin, Lady Ankles, and Preordained Mystical Destiny. gloriaperpetua.blogspot.com RVAmag.com | RVA Magazine | 59
RECORD REVIEWS by ANDREW NECCI
We’re Here Because We’re Here (The End) The eighth album by progressive/post-metal veterans Anathema mixes epic emotional ballads and uptempo melodic pop into a work of stunning beauty that demands repeat plays. Like Opeth’s mellowest moments, or Katatonia’s more recent work, this album may not strictly qualify as metal. But when it’s this good, who cares?
The Rip Tide (Pompeii) On their third album, indie favorites Beirut continue with their project of mixing indie songwriting tropes with Eastern European folk instrumentation. Zach Condon’s mournful, epic travelogues share a certain elegaic, Old World mood with the early works of Tom Waits, and will comfort the weary traveler inside us all.
BEIRUT
Cannabis Corpse
FREEMAN
Anvil
Boston Spaceships
CAVE
FUCKED UP
Archers Of Loaf
BRAID
FLECHETTE
GIRLS
Anathema
Monument Of Metal (The End) A documentary about these 30-year veterans of the metal scene helped resurrect them from obscurity. Based on the evidence here, it was long overdue. This 19-song career overview is solid throughout, with highlights that stand alongside the best of Venom or Exodus. Old-school thrash fans take note.
Icky Mettle (Remaster) (Merge) This North Carolina band’s 1993 debut dates from the era when indie rock still rocked. Nearly two decades later, it’s still better than most current releases in its genre. This remastered reissue, which sonically outclasses my original vinyl copy, also includes an outstanding bonus disc of B-sides. Buy it now! 60 | RVA Magazine | RVAmag.com
Let It Beard (Guided By Voices Inc.) Former Guided By Voices leader Robert Pollard continues to crank out indiegarage classics, and this solid double LP largely avoids his weirder tendencies in favor of catchy, well-constructed tunes. Pollard doesn’t always bring his A game, but this is top-level material, and deserves your full attention.
Closer To Closed (Polyvinyl) This EP marks the return of these 90s-era emo-popsters, who have much more polished production than in their heyday, but retain an unerring talent for perfect choruses. I miss the traces of hardcore roughness that they seem to have outgrown, but have no complaints about these four flawless pop gems.
Beneath Grow Lights Thou Shalt Rise (Tankcrimes) This local death metal band may do a great job of parodying the genre’s gore fixation through constant marijuana references, but don’t let that fool you into thinking that their awesome music should not be taken seriously. Even metal’s large humor-deficient contingent should love this classic slab of brutality.
Neverendless (Drag City) The five songs here are long on duration and short on dynamics. However, Cave’s psychedelic motorik epics are of sufficient quality to place them in the company of Ash Ra Tempel and other cosmische innovators. Casual listeners may find Neverendless difficult, but the dedicated astral travelers among you will love it.
Flechette (Sound Era) This noise-laced post-hardcore band keeps the pedal to the metal throughout their debut EP, blowing through six songs with such propulsive energy that you can almost forgive them for making such a short record. If you loved Drive Like Jehu and early Fugazi, you’ll want to play this record five times in a row.
It Doesn’t Matter (Failsafe) 3/4 of Avail’s classic Satiate/Dixie era lineup join with excellent new singer Freeman Martin--a vocal dead ringer for Down By Law’s Dave Smalley--to revive their classic sound and produce their best release in 15 years. Regardless of band name, this album gives Avail fans longawaited cause to rejoice.
David Comes To Life (Matador) Ten years ago, this band were the kind of raw, angry hardcore you’d expect from their name. Today they are so much more. They’ve found a way to be progressive, multifaceted musical pioneers without losing any of the energy, aggression, and fury that characterized their earliest work. Fucking essential.
Father, Son, Holdy Ghost (True Panther) Pulling from a variety of influences, most of which originate in 1960s California-Frisco psych, sunshine pop, hippie-fied folk, etc--Girls come up with some great moments here. However, their sound changes so much from song to song that the album doesn’t really cohere. It’s catchy, but inconsistent. Buyer beware.
GREEN BOYS
Grenn Boys (greenboysmusic.com) This local group plays a mellow, emotionally-tinged country/bluegrass mix. I like it best when they step up the tempo, but for the most part they keep things slower and more laid-back. This is a solid listen for old-time country aficionados, but it’s not really my cup of tea.
JASTA
Jasta (eOne Metal) Hatebreed singer forms new band named after his stage name, which he took from his pre-Hatebreed band. Confused? The music here won’t help. Brutal yet ultimately monotonous metallic hardcore shares space with truly misguided attempts at melodicvocal nu-metal. This misguided effort never comes close to justifying its existence.
Patois Patois
(patoismusic.net) This psychedelic slab from Virginia musicians Grant Bauley and Karl Morse applies retro-soul and spaghetti-westernsoundtrack nuances to a fundamental base of dark, heavy dub reggae. Occasional vocal numbers lighten up the vibe and keep things interesting, but it’s the spaced-out dub jams that make this record essential. v
TITLE FIGHT
Shed (SideOneDummy) Melodic hardcore tends towards positivity, but on Title Fight’s new album, they’ve moved in a decidedly more melancholy direction. The added emotional depth allows their songs to hit on a deeper level, and their increased sonic resemblance to Hot Water Music doesn’t hurt in the least. Great album. Get it.
HARVEST
Monster Violence
Sleep ∞ Over
The War on drugs
JACKASS FLATS
PALEY AND FRANCIS
SNOWING
WOODEN SHJIPS
Years Of Defiance, Years Of Disgust (Good Fight) The triumphant return of one of the original metallic hardcore bands of the late 90s, who spawned a (mostly terrible) scene in their image. Harvest still sound every bit as ferocious and unrelenting as they did on their original recordings, with the bonus of even thicker production. An instant classic.
Rusty Feeling (jackass-flats.com) This rules. Straight-up Grand Ol Oprystyle country from this local group who plays like the whole Garth Brooks revolution in Nashville never happened. I’ve mostly hated the last couple decades of country music, but Jackass Flats prove that it’s not the recording date that matters--it’s the inspiration.
Monster Violence EP (self released) A huge improvement over this local band’s previous EP, this release finds them pared down to a keyboard/drum duo. They’ve forsaken their previous metal sound in favor of a more original, electronically-infused alt-rock sound. The production still has a few kinks to work out, but on a strictly musical level, this rules.
Paley And Francis (Sonic Unyon) This collaborative acoustic album between Black Francis of the Pixies and veteran songwriter Reid Paley was done quickly and reflects that in its inconsistency. Some songs, especially those Francis sings, are enjoyably off-kilter pop. But at other times, this is a grating listen. Recommended only for completists and diehards.
Forever (Hippos In Tanks) Despite retaining their original dark, dragging sound, Sleep ∞ Over branch out from their witch house roots here, creating warped synth-pop, instrumental space-travel soundtracks, and moments reminiscent of the Cocteau Twins at their most ambient. Their sonic explorations result in a strange, eclectic, yet ultimately engaging album.
I Could Do Whatever I Wanted If I Wanted
(Count Your Lucky Stars) It’d be easy to lump Snowing in with the other new bands taking influence from Cap’n Jazz, but their overt pop choruses and wistful mood offset their Kinsellaesque guitar arpeggios nicely, provoking a strong emotional response that makes me reach for this record time and again. One of this year’s best.
Slave Ambient (Secretly Canadian) The instrumental passages here are droning psychedelic shoegaze, similar to early Verve. It’s good stuff, but the singer sounds so much like Bob Dylan and Tom Petty that it totally throws me. Can you imagine a psychedelic Krautrock Traveling Wilburys album? Get this LP and hear it for yourself.
West (Thrill Jockey) Wooden Shjips have always mixed the spacy, effect-laden guitar sound of the most far-out psychedelic rock with the monolithic repetition of Krautrock bands like Neu and Can. Now, on West, they’ve incorporated a more melodic songwriting style that makes this album their most interesting and enjoyable yet. Totally necessary. RVAmag.com | RVA Magazine | 61
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