Urban Vinyl Magazine-Issue III

URBAN VINYL Issue III

The Novel Ideas • The Midnight Hollow •

• Parachute • Step Rockets • Genevieve • The Lumineers • Glassio • • Panama Wedding • The Griswolds • Magic Man • Coasts • Young Empires •

About

Founded and launched in February 2016 by Sophie Hsu, Urban Vinyl Magazine is a new and currently independently-run outlet that harmonizes a passion for music and food. Based in New York City where both music and food are at their best, the artists and restaurants featured on the site and the upcoming issues are individually handpicked in order to reach a diverse spectrum of sound and taste. Created by a music lover and a foodie, the aim is to provide high quality content for fellow music lovers and foodies.

LISTEN. EAT. EXPLORE.

Sophie Hsu • Founder • Photographer •

Thank You • Lucy • James • Anna • Violet • Rich •

• Editor-in-Chief • Writer • Layout & Design • Content •

• Lauren R. • Winnie • Lauren P. • • Lauren N. • Jessica • • The Novel Ideas • Magic Man • • Parachute • Glassio • • Step Rockets • Genevieve • Coasts • • The Novel Ideas • • 180 Orchard St, Lower East Side • • The Lumineers • Young Empires • • Panama Wedding • The Griswolds • • April 30, 2016 • • The Midnight Hollow • • And most importantly, my family and friends for always supporting urbanvinylmag.com my photography and my love for @urbanvinylmag music. • @urbanvinylmag • And of course, to my readers! You make this happen! • For booking and inquiries:

On the Cover

Stay Connected

sophie@urbanvinylmag.com • All social media icons by Good Stuff No Nonsense •

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• This issue would not have been possible without all of you! •

Contents

Main Artist

• The Novel Ideas • 29-34

Featured Artist • The Midnight Hollow • 11-16

Live Shots • Parachute • 3-4 • Step Rockets • 5-6 • Genevieve • 7-8 • The Lumineers • 9-10

• Glassio • 17-18

• Panama Wedding • 19-20 • The Griswolds • 21-22 • Magic Man • 23-24 • Coasts • 25-26

• Young Empires • 27-28

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• Irving Plaza • March 30, 2016 •

Parachute • Charlottesville, Virginia • • Will Anderson • Johnny Stubblefield • Kit French •

@parachute @parachute /Parachute 3

• Will Anderson •

• Alex Edwards •

• Johnny Stubblefield •

• Kit French •

• Jonathan Soderholm •

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• Baby’s All Right • April 7, 2016 •

Step Rockets • Minneapolis, Minnesota •

• Brady Lillie • Joshua Schmidt (Josh Von Mink) • Johnny Syn • Anthony Schulz •

@StepRockets @steprockets

Step Rockets’ sound in 3 words: Spacey Dance Rock

Favorite song to perform live: “Love Is Just A Chemical”

Favorite food or drink: Thai food and Beer

/StepRockets 5

Favorite spot in NYC:

Baby’s All Right where we held our EP release show!

• Joshua Schmidt •

• Anthony Schulz •

• Johnny Syn •

• Brady Lillie •

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• Wind-up Records • April 8, 2016 •

Genevieve

• Chicago, Illinois • Los Angeles, California • • Genevieve Schatz •

@HelloGenevieve

Genevieve’s sound in 3 words: Colorful, Emotional, Epic

Favorite song to perform live: @forgenevieve /HelloGenevieve 7

It changes all the time.

Favorite food or drink:

Southern Soul Food; baked sweet potatoes with butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon; fresh-squeezed lemonade

Favorite spot in NYC: Central Park; The Grey Dog

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• The Marlin Room at Webster Hall • April 8, 2016 •

The Lumineers • Denver, Colorado • • Neyla Pekarek • Jeremiah Fraites • Wesley Schultz •

@thelumineers @thelumineers /TheLumineers 9

• Wesley Schultz •

• Neyla Pekarek •

• Jeremiah Fraites •

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• The Midnight Hollow • Mercury Lounge • April 9, 2016 • @TMHOLLOW @themidnighthollow /themidnighthollow

Featured Artist • The Midnight Hollow •

themidnighthollow.com

The Midnight Hollow lies at the intersection of music and fashion.

Formed and based in Brooklyn, New York, The Midnight Hollow features Spencer Draeger (lead vocals, guitar), Andrew Segreti (drums), and Matt Leibowitz (bass). They have self-released two EPs, Self-Titled (2014) and For The People Inside (2015), which illuminate their dark, mysterious sound perfect for any hour. Not only is The Midnight Hollow gaining a wide range of listeners in and out of New York City, well-known fashion designer Todd Snyder featured “Forward” at one of his past runway shows.

April was surely an exciting month for the band; they performed two nights in a week (April 7 at Baby’s All Right and April 9 at Mercury Lounge), and also released a prismatic, mind-bending, and stylish music video for “Forward.” Spencer kindly shared some of his time to thoroughly discuss the spark of the band, the process of creating and crafting their songs and sound, and even some of his childhood memories that involve Super Nintendo and musical instruments. With individuals as dedicated to music as Spencer, Andrew, and Matt, their 11 show is definitely one to check out!

What’s the story behind the formation of The Midnight Hollow?

I moved to NY from SF and wanted to have my own band. I’m painfully cynical but still a huge dreamer, and I really wanted to start a band in the impossible odds of this hell of a place. I blew my brains out jamming with people over Craigslist, and then met someone with as big of an ego as me, Andrew. I could tell he was the frontman behind a drum set in all his bands, and there was just an energy of someone who took pride and wasn’t afraid to be bold. He then pulled Matt into the band on bass because they worked together. Matt didn’t really talk much and was pretty quiet altogether in the beginning, but he balanced everything out, and now to this day after having so many different members in and out as the fourth member, the three of us realized we click more as a trio.

What was the first instrument (musical or non-musical) you started making music with? How has that contributed to your songwriting?

Andrew and Matt have been playing music longer than me, but since I’m the one doing this interview, I’ll just speak from my own experience. My mom tried to get me to play guitar as a kid, but I just wanted to play Super Nintendo. Bless her heart. I even used to show off her rad electric guitar she had to my friends when I was younger like, “Yeah I know how to play this bad boy.” But I was full of shit. I still kind of hate myself for not picking up the guitar sooner, but you can’t force kids to do anything. You gotta let them explore it themselves.

I, like every other kid, had to play some instrument for school, though, and I hated it. I played the flute with all the ladies in the 5th grade. I definitely was your classic kid that probably was seen as, “Oh, this guy is just trying to get through this class and isn’t practicing.” I guess I was like that with everything I didn’t care about. If I don’t like something, I won’t even try to be decent; I just reject. My parents moved a lot growing up and when I went to live with my father, I wanted to start a band with absolutely no knowledge of music. I still don’t know why I wanted to be in a band at all. So I sang. My buddy was way better at guitar, and he knew what he was doing.

After years of being the singer, I later got into keyboards, and then when my last band fell apart, I decided to learn how to play and record everything. Doing it all was a necessity for me because after playing with a band for so long, I wanted to try and have it my way like at Burger King. Sometimes, the politics of sharing music with another felt counterproductive to writing great songs. At least the classic going to the rehearsal space and writing songs was a lot of energy that didn’t always lead to productivity. I tend to push myself more when I’m alone. I have to hear everything objectively not in the way like, “I’m the guitarist, so I want to hear the guitar.” If you can sit and listen to something back with no attachment to “your” instrument, you can write the best song and not get tangled with the ego of cutting out parts. You can mute something and be like, “There doesn’t need to be any of this guitar at all in this; it’s distracting from the vocals.” If I were just the guitar player, it would have bruised my ego. I guess it’s best to treat every instrument as just a texture, rather than defining yourself by what you play. I think no specific member in a band is more important than the song. Writing music is really half listening, half playing in my opinion and it’s hard to listen when you’re in a loud room playing. I still have never had a lesson in music of any kind, which keeps it all interesting.

I think keeping things a mystery keeps me curious and wanting to explore music. If I get all the answers from someone spoon-feeding me and teaching me, then I may not write weird, fucked up songs because I will know the conventional meaning of why certain chords or rhythms go together, etc. You experiment more when you don’t know what will happen, so I like to keep myself out of the knowing in a way.

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• Spencer Draeger •

• Andrew Segreti •

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• Matt Leibowitz •

• Matt Leibowitz •

• Spencer Draeger •

• Andrew Segreti •

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You released your sophomore EP For the People Inside just about a year ago.

What was the process of writing, recording, and producing it?

I really like that album-we finished it the same time as our first EP; to be honest, maybe technically before.

We actually mixed with three different people on the first Self-Titled EP, and then by the time it was done, we had already finished For The People Inside. I don’t listen to anything after it’s mastered. In a weird way, songs kind of die once they’re recorded but like in an immortalizing way. When we came out to play our first show, we spent a lot of time making noise and building atmosphere; friends used to say, “The Midnight Hollow couldn’t write a song under five minutes.” There was a slight stigma and I can be very spiteful, so I wanted to make a record that didn’t fall into the stereotypes. But when I reflect on it, F.T.P.I. was actually meant to be attached to our first Self Titled album, and in the beginning, it was only “Forward” and “Easy Village.” I then wrote “Nostalgia” and “Walls,” and “Nostalgia” had a baby with “Walls,” making “Cat’s Game.”

Those three songs were all written in the same week. Because our first album was already due to come out, we just sat on F.T.P.I. for 6 months, but really, they could’ve been combined to come out as a LP. The recording process was pretty organized, unlike the Self-Titled. I wrote everything in 3 months , and then Andrew had to take my ideas and play drums over the demos without us even practicing together. I had a lot of rhythmic ideas already in place for the drums, but he brought them to life and revised my parts.

I then overdubbed the bass, guitar, keys, and vocals, and we put a lot of unique percussion on it. I did everything in my apartmentm and used a lot of my own recording equipment after we spent a ton on recording the drums in a nice studio out in Long Island. I did it in the winter time and pretty much stayed in tracking everything in 3 weeks while it was negative-kill-me-now-cold outside. I guess that’s the perk of winters in NY. They bring productivity with the cabin fever. In the spring time, we mixed and mastered with this incredible dude Matt Shane. I connect with this album a lot maybe more so than everything we’ve done. I don’t hear my mistakes on this record like I do with the other. We got lucky on this album because we would usually experiment more together as a band, but we only really go to do that after it was complete.

Our live versions of these songs are really fun, and I think it keeps it all fresh.

Which song (released or unreleased) are you most proud of?

God, we have so much unreleased stuff. Seriously, deciding what goes on an album and what get’s recorded take up more time than writing the next song. I send new songs to Andrew and Matt every other week, and I always say like, “Oh man, this is it guys, behold…!” I must say, this is my best work every other week because new stuff always excites me. Any day I’m not working, I’m trying to write the next album. If it weren’t so expensive to record, we’d probably have seven albums right now instead of two EPs. I can’t say my favorite song, but it’s always the newest song, and it changes. Of the first two EPs, there were six different unreleased songs that got tracked and are sitting in my computer. Maybe we will release them, maybe they’ll stay in my graveyard hard drives of songs. We just recorded, and I wrote over 20 songs for it, so I wonder how many will eventually come out. It’s hard to say what I’m most proud of. There are some songs I like playing live better as a whole, and some songs I think are great songs that we’ve never played live. For the sake of answering the question I guess I really like “Downstairs,” (the electric version), which we have only released an acoustic version of, at the moment. Maybe we will release the full electric version in the future, but at the moment, it’s eight minutes long.

What happens before you guys go onstage? Is there a The Midnight Hollow pre-show ritual?

I usually take like five pisses from adrenaline. Even the smallest shows, I get juiced up. We all feel that every show is important, and I honestly really go for it every time. When I don’t, it’s a bad show, which can happen once in a while. Still somehow, ironically, an hour before the show, we are all ready for a nap. Then, we perk up super hard. I definitely have a couple drinks; as a band, we love Tequila and Mezcal. We have played with a few bands that mediate or do weird ceremonial deeds, and I wish we were that organized and mythical sometimes. We recently all got hypnotized together before recording to help in focusing. Before all that, when we were in LA last year, a friend of ours touring with us saw a witch in LA. She told him, which then resulted in telling us that we should try to pick one moment in the show where we all try to envision what we look like during that moment on stage. When that moment comes, we try to really focus on our selves, which results in us just listening, and it kind of brings a sense of unity. I guess it’s not a ritual before but rather, during. All this build up to show in rehearsal, loading gear, promoting, and then the 40 minutes on stage can be a haze. Playing live is the greatest feeling for us; you would think there would be a special ritual other than pissing, drinking and sleeping, but the ritualizing goes down on the stage. I think the only thing I like to do is find somewhere quiet. A polar opposite experience from the stage. I guess where I can look myself in the mirror like in Boogie Nights.

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Out of all your songs, my favorite track is “Easy Village” Can you touch on the inspiration and creation of that song?

Yeah, “Easy Village” is a nickname for East Village. We all used to hang there; I actually met Andrew at this bar over there. It’s an interesting part of town because there’s a huge overlap of artistic, successful and toxic people under one roof. A lot of judging and fantasizing comes with the territory. I guess what really stuck out was the dichotomy between the creatives and those who lived the ideal lifestyle of a “creative.”

You start to realize that much of what we see or read about is fabricated and really a matter of politics and hot air. I had a lot of mixed emotions after long nights getting pulled down from a night of indulging in both vice and fantasy. This song is about the fantasizing more so than the resentment aspect.

This was also the first song written for the album, when I think about it. “Forward” is the same tempo as Easy Village. This is the case because Andrew and I were joking around when I was showing him the “Easy Village” demo. Andrew put this silly pulsing bass over the dance beat on “Easy Village” maybe as a joke or something I don’t remember, but we just kind of went with it. I wanted to do something more electronic anyways. I then went home and tried to write a song off of it. So “Forward” was the result of goofing off.

What’s your favorite restaurant and/or food in NYC?

I can’t speak for everyone in the band, but I usually live off of Thai and Mexican food. However, I think right now, I gotta say my favorite spot is AWOL (right off the Graham stop). Andrew and I go there a lot. Farm-totable, cheap, and hits the spot.

If there were a pizza with the name “The Midnight Hollow,” what toppings would it have?

“Feeling Hollow at Midnight” with a mediocre buzz and you need to stuff your face? This will fill you up, give you bad breath, and make you sweat out all the toxins from this evening. It’s got habaneros, bell peppers, sausage, garlic, onions, mozzarella, and tomato sauce. Gluten free is available.

What can listeners expect in terms of upcoming projects and/or releases?

We finished recording half of an album with Jorge Elbrecht, who’s produced with bands like No Joy, Ariel Pink, Travis Bretzer, and also plays with Ariel Pink. The stuff we just finished is definitely more on the faster side of things. It’s got a massive sound with everything at 11. We had a lot of talks about it; I even had some moments while mixing where I was kind of concerned that it was more “rock” and bigger-sounding than I had envisioned. It kind of makes me laugh. I tend to listen to really melodic, experimental, down-tempo stuff or dance music, but when it comes to writing songs, The Midnight Hollow always seems to pull something more volatile out of me. What we just recorded solidifies that statement. I even had doubts about too much one side of the spectrum, but Andrew kind of reassured me that sometimes, what comes out isn’t necessarily what we listen to but really, just where our heads are at subconsciously. I’m sure when we go in to record the next five songs, they will be a little more on the dreamy, synth side. Right now, it’s surely more visceral. I think this third release will be a combination of our first EP and For The People Inside, or maybe something completely different. Honestly, there’s nothing less accurate than a musician talking about what his or her songs will sound like.

What’s a question you have wanted to get asked in an interview, and what’s the response?

All I want to say is come see us live!

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• Mercury Lounge • April 9, 2016 •

Glassio • Brooklyn, New York • • Sam Radseresht • Charlie Pinel •

@glassiomusic @glassiomusic

Glassio’s sound in 3 words:

Glossy, Poptimistic, Plastic

Favorite song to perform live: “If I Was Your Boy”

Favorite food or drink:

Jerk Chicken at Miss Lily’s

/glassiomusic 17

Favorite spot in NYC: Black Flamingo

• Sam Radseresht •

• Dillon Treacy •

• Nick Guinan •

• Charlie Pinel •

• Mike Haldeman •

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• Webster Hall • April 14, 2016 •

Panama Wedding • Brooklyn, New York • • Peter Kirk •

@panamawedding @panamawedding

Panama Wedding’s sound in 3 words: Feels Like Summer

Favorite song to perform live: “Infinite High”

Favorite food or drink: Ramen; Coca-Cola

/panamawedding 19

Favorite spot in NYC: Greenwich Village

• Peter Kirk •

• Chris Geller •

• Brett Spigelman •

• Ryan Hall •

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• Warsaw • April 15, 2016 •

The Griswolds • Sydney, Australia • • Daniel Duque-Perez • Christopher Whitehall • Lachlan West • Tim John •

@wethegriswolds @thegriswolds /thegriswolds 21

• Tim John •

• Christopher Whitehall •

• Lachlan West •

• Daniel Duque-Perez •

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• Warsaw • April 15, 2016 •

Magic Man • Boston, Massachusetts • • Sam Vanderhoop Lee • Alex Caplow •

@MagicMan @magicmanmusic /MagicManMusic 23

• Alex Caplow •

• Austin Luther • • Webster Hall • • April 14, 2016 •

• Sam Vanderhoop Lee •

• Frances Litterski • • Webster Hall • • April 14, 2016 •

• Pepe Hidalgo • • Webster Hall • • April 14, 2016 •

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• The Gramercy Theatre • April 21, 2016 •

Coasts

• Bristol, England • London, England • • Liam Willford • Chris Caines • Ben Street • James Gamage • David Goulbourn •

@coastsband

Coasts’ sound in 3 words:

Upbeat, Nostalgic, Euphoric

Favourite song to perform live: “Lions”

@coastsband

Favourite food or drink: Mexican food of any kind

Favourite spot in NYC:

/coastsband 25

We’ve been to New York only a handful of times, and have never had a chance to explore a great deal. We need to be schooled. We like the Brooklyn area a lot.

• David Goulbourn •

• Chris Caines•

• James Gamage •

• Liam Willford•

• Ben Street •

• Matt Willford •

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• The Studio at Webster Hall • April 27, 2016 •

Young Empires • Toronto, Canada • • Matthew Vlahovich • Taylor Hill • Jacob Palahnuk •

@youngempires

Young Empires’ sound in 3 words: Electric Haute Rock

@youngempires

Favorite song to perform live: “Mercy”

Favorite food or drink: Old Fashion/Champagne

/youngempires 27

Favorite spot in NYC:

Cafe Select; Jack’s Wife Freda

• Taylor Hill • • Matthew Vlahovich •

• Dan Saitua •

• Jacob Palahnuk •

• Rob Bezanson •

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• Courtesy of The Novel Ideas • @thenovelideas

@thenovelideas /thenovelideas

Main Artist • The Novel Ideas •

thenovelideas.com

Putting forth a relaxing sound that surely stands out, The Novel Ideas began in Massachusetts in 2011, with 2014 initating their start as a five-piece. Bringing out the beautifully crafted melodies and harmonies of three unique songwriters, The Novel Ideas features Daniel Radin (guitar, vocals), Sarah Grella (vocals), James Parkington (bass, vocals), Danny Hoshino (guitar, pedal steel, vocals), and Karl Grohmann (drums). The band has released numerous tunes, beginning with a batch on Home (2012), the 10” single “Lost on the Road” (2014), and very recently, the St. Paul Sessions (April 2016).

Currently on the road playing shows in different cities on the East Coast, Daniel generously contributed some time to chat about the formation, how they get ready for a show, and even selected a restaurant and a bar they would recommend.

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What’s the story behind the formation of The Novel Ideas?

The Novel Ideas formed around an album Danny and I started in the summer of 2011 and released in 2012. When we started recording, we honestly had no intention of starting a band. Once we decided we wanted to try and play the songs live, it slowly became more real until we ended up where we are now!

What was the first musical instrument (musical or non-musical) you started making music with?

I started playing bass in middle school, but didn’t start writing songs until 3 or 4 years later, when I picked up guitar. I was always so terrible at remembering other people’s songs, which is initially why I started writing music in the first place. I still love playing bass, though!

You recently released a new EP of tunes titled The St. Paul Sessions. What was the process of creating the EP, including the idea/vision of it? What differences did you encounter in creating a studio versus live EP?

We’ve been working on our studio album for a year or so now, but decided while we finish that, we’d put out something that captures our live performance, since we’ve been playing live so much since the release of Home. We all set up in this beautiful church in my and Danny’s hometown called the Parish of St. Paul (hence the name of the EP), and just played those 6 songs a bunch until we got takes we were happy with. It’s definitely a very different experience recording live; it’s kind of nice not to be able to rework things. For example, if something is a bit out of time or out of tune, that’s just the take! We can be perfectionists as a group, so it was a relief to be constrained by the fact that the EP was recorded live.

Which song (released or unreleased) are you most proud of?

“I Was Not Around” is one of the first songs we collaborated on as a band, in terms of arrangement, and is one of the most fun but challenging to play. Sarah had written a bunch of sections of songs and after practice one day, we worked on combining some of them into a song, and then arranged our parts from there. I like how much space you can hear in the recording of that song on the EP; it feels like you can really imagine the space.

What happens before you go onstage? Is there a The Novel Ideas pre-show ritual?

We generally warm up, run some harmonies to make sure we’re on the same page, go to the bathroom multiple times, and then do our secret pre-show huddle!

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• Daniel Radin •

31

• Sarah Grella •

• James Parkington •

• Danny Hoshino •

• Karl Grohmann •

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Eat

• Mikey’s •

134 Ludlow St, New York, NY 10002 Describe the vibe of the restaurant in 3 words.

Fast, Food, Alanis-Morissette

Why and how did you choose this particular restaurant?

Mikey’s is a place we’ve gone to after a bunch of our shows at Rockwood; they have a super good veggie burger and excellent French fries.

What’s the signature “The Novel Ideas” choice off the menu?

Veggie burger (4 out of 5 of us are vegetarian.)

If you were to create a dish or meal inspired by your sound and your band, what would it consist of?

Probably the “Vanny Special,” which would consist of foods most often eaten in Vanny, our tour van. It’d be a burrito filled with candy.

Drink

• Rockwood, Stage 0 •

196 Allen St, New York, NY 10002 Describe the vibe of the bar in 3 words.

Pre-show, Post-show, Show-show (We aren’t too much of a bar band; though, we do enjoy a good post-show beer.)

Why and how did you choose this particular bar?

It’s directly next to Rockwood, Stage 1 and Stage 2.

What’s the signature “The Novel Ideas” drink off the menu?

Typically bothering the bartender for another refill of water.

If you were to create a drink inspired by your sound and your band, what would it consist of?

“The Warmup,” which would consist of a large glass of water next to a shot of whiskey with crushed Prorpanolol on the rim.

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Out of all your songs, my favorite is “I’m Not Waiting.” Can you touch on the inspiration and creation of that song?

That’s a song I wrote while alone in an empty, dark room, literally and figuratively...that’s far more melodramatic than I had meant for it to sound, but oh well. I used to sing it at our shows, and it used to sound a bit different, but we decided Sarah sounded really great on it, and worked on the arrangement a bit to get the version we have today. It’s a song about growing up and figuring out who you are and who you want to be. It’s also a song about willpower-how you can think you have this strong set of values and self-worth-but all it takes is one person to challenge it, and you can throw it all out the window.

Which can listeners expect, in terms of upcoming projects and/or releases?

We’re hoping to release our full-length studio album this year! Fingers crossed!

If there were a pizza with the name “The Novel Ideas,” what toppings would it have?

Probably veggie sausage, pineapple, and tears.

What’s a question you have wanted to get asked in an interview, and what’s the response to it?

Hmm! Maybe, “What’s your most listened to song in the van?

Either “Carter Hall” by The Western Den or “Have a Little Faith in Me” by John Hiatt.

• Rockwood Music Hall, Stage 2 • April 30, 2016

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LISTEN. EAT. EXPLORE.

urbanvinylmag.com