Urban Vinyl Magazine-Issue VIII

URBAN VINYL Issue VIII

Great Good Fine Ok • The Novel Ideas • Meet Me in Orbit • Cobi • Vacances • • Abbot Kinney • Dangermaker • Panic is Perfect •

About

Founded and launched in February 2016 by Sophie Hsu, Urban Vinyl Magazine is an independently-run outlet that harmonizes a passion for music and food. Started in New York City and now currently based in the San Francisco Bay Area 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 • • Editor-In-Chief • Writer • Layout & Design • Content •

On the Cover • Great Good Fine Ok • • Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco • • July 26, 2016 •

Stay Connected urbanvinylmag.com @urbanvinylmag @urbanvinylmag

For booking and inquiries: sophie@urbanvinylmag.com • All social media icons by Good Stuff No Nonsense •

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Thank You

• Sara • Seth • Anna • Violet • Blythe • • Great Good Fine Ok • • The Novel Ideas • Cobi • • Meet Me in Orbit • Vacances • • Abbot Kinney • Dangermaker • • Panic is Perfect • • And most importantly, my family and friends for always supporting my photography and my love for music. • • And of course, to my readers! You make this happen! • • This issue would not have been possible without all of you! •

Contents

Main Artist

• Great Good Fine Ok • 7-12

Live Shots • The Novel Ideas • 3-4

• Meet Me in Orbit • 5-6 • Cobi • 13-14 • Vacances • 15-16 • Abbot Kinney • 17-18 • Dangermaker • 19-20 • Panic is Perfect • 21-22

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• Redwood Grove at UC Botanical Garden, UC Berkeley • July 21, 2016 •

The Novel Ideas • Boston, Massachusetts • • Daniel Radin • Sarah Grella • James Parkington • Karl Grohmann • Danny Hoshino •

The Novel Ideas’ sound in 3 words: @thenovelideas @thenovelideas

Fine, Sad, Folk

Favorite song to perform live:

We just started performing “Silver Spring”

by Fleetwood Mac; that’s been really fun.

Favorite food and/or drink: Veggie Burgers!

/thenovelideas 3

Favorite spot in SF:

We didn’t get to see too much of SF but we loved loved loved the Berkeley Botanical Garden.

• Danny Hoshino •

• Daniel Radin •

• Sarah Grella •

• James Parkington •

• Karl Grohlmann•

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• Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco • July 26, 2016 •

Meet Me in Orbit • Walnut Creek, California • • Jared Brannan • Brandon Bews •

Meet Me In Orbit’s sound in 3 words: @MeetMeinOrbit

“Never-ending hammock upswing,” as declared by @Scandylan on Twitter

Favorite song to perform live: @meetmeinorbit

“Another Day”

Favorite food and/or drink: Round Table Pizza and IPAs

/meetmeinorbit 5

Favorite spot in SF: JARED: The Chieftain BRANDON: AT&T Park

• Jared Brannan •

• Brandon Bews •

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• Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco • July 26, 2016 • @GreatGoodFineOk @greatgoodfineok /greatgoodfineok

Main Artist • Great Good Fine Ok •

greatgoodfineok.com

Two musicians living around the corner from each other in Brooklyn marks the spark of Great Good Fine Ok. Great Good Fine Ok combines the musical minds and ears of (according to photo above) multi-instrumentalist and producer Luke Moellman and singer/songwriter Jon Sandler. Shortly following their formation in Brooklyn in 2013, Great Good Fine Ok released their debut track, “You’re The One For Me, “ followed by two EPs, Body Diamond in 2014 and 2M2H in 2015, both via Sony Music Entertainment UK. Having collaborated with a range of other great musical artists, they recently released “Easy Lover” with Panama Wedding via Glassnote Entertainment in May and “Shapeshifting” with Orla Gartland via Duck L’Orange Records in June, in addition to “Always” also via Duck L’Orange Records in May. They have toured with acts such as Magic Man, Betty Who, and Joywave, and besides SXSW, have played at festivals such as the Sun God Festival at UC San Diego.

They are currently touring the East Coast, having wrapped up a first leg of shows on the West Coast, including a stop in San Francisco. Before their show at Bottom of the Hill, Jon and Luke kindly shared some of their time and thought to discuss their encounter and the formation of Great Good Fine Ok, the process of creating “Not Going Home,” and even some fun facts about themselves.

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What’s the story behind the formation of Great Good Fine Ok? JON: Luke was living around the corner from me with my friend and piano player at the time, Dominic. I got to know Luke a little bit when I would go over there. A year or so passed, and we were talking about collaborating. We ran into each other on the street randomly, and we were like, “We should write a song together.” He sent me the music for “You’re the One For Me” that night, and I wrote the lyrics and melody. We just kept writing more and more stuff, and people liked it. So that’s how it started. With the band, Luke put together from musicians and friends he knew from school.

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

JON: Well, I played piano for a minute; I took piano lessons when I was really young. When I was 9, I started taking guitar lessons, so that was my first instrument.

LUKE: I guess my first instrument was the piano. There was apparently a tape recorder that when I was 3 or 4, I would just wear tapes down to the point there would just be space missing because I would listen to things so much.

You released the single, “Already Love” in March. What was the process of writing, recording, and producing it?

LUKE: That one started out as just a track idea that I had started back in January or something. We went down to Miami to work with some people down there, and we were working with our friend Alex Delicata; we kind of just got into that one. We redid a bunch of stuff with the music, and came up with all the lyrics and melody together.

JON: Since then, we’ve released the song “Always” and the song “Shapeshifting” with Orla Gartland. “Always” is interesting because that was one of the first songs we wrote, but it took about a year of chipping away at it and evolution for it to get to a place where we were happy. So that was an old song we recently just got excited about again and released.

“Shapeshifting” was with this girl Orla from Ireland, and we got in touch on Twitter. When we were in London, we met her. And then she was in New York, and we decided to write together. And that’s what happened.

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• Jon Sandler •

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• Luke Moellman •

• Danny Wolf •

• Carey Clayton •

• Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco • July 26, 2016 •

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

JON: That’s a tough question. Since we do this thing where we release singles, we really love all the songs we release; we’re very proud of all of them. So that is a really hard question.

I mean, if I had to pick one, I’d say “You’re The One For Me” because it is the one that started everything. It kind of feels like the spark song. Maybe since then, I personally enjoy other ones of ours more, but that one definitely is special.

LUKE: I might say “By My Side” is my personal favorite.

What happens before you go onstage? Is there a Great Good Fine Ok pre-show ritual?

LUKE: We stick our hands in and do a little group chant. As soon as the chant finishes, it turns into a slap-each-other-as hard-as-you-can fest for about thirty seconds. The idea is it gets your adrenaline up. It stimulates the adrenal response.

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

LUKE: That was the second song ever that we wrote. At that point, all we had was “You’re The One For Me,” and we were like, “How are we going to come up with other songs? What are they going to be like? What is this band going to sound like?” So I was actually home at my parents’ place, and I was just messing around with the music, and sent it over to Jon. JON: That was one of the easier ones for me, inspiration-wise. I was going through a lot because my parents had just sold my childhood home, and so it was one of the ones where the lyrics and the melody just came out right away. That’s kind of what that one is about. It’s about not giving up; I always say it’s like a two-parter because in my mind, I was thinking about home in the literal sense, but I was also thinking about not giving up on your dreams and not going home in the metaphorical way.

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What’s your favorite restaurant and/or food in San Francisco? Any places back home in Brooklyn?

JON: Personally, I haven’t been here enough to have a favorite. Every time I’m here, the food is delicious.

LUKE: We went to this place called La Palma, which has really delicious Mexican food.

JON: Too many, lots of great places. There’s this place in Park Slope called Purbird that we love. You’re going to want to go there if you’re in Brooklyn. It’s Amish, farm-raised chicken.

If there were a chocolate bar with the name “Great Good Fine Ok,” what type of chocolate would it be, and what would it have?

JON: It would definitely be dark chocolate.

LUKE: Dark chocolate probably with almonds or something.

JON: Maybe some nuts, maybe some sea salt.

LUKE: Bacon?

JON: Maybe a little bit of bacon. Dark chocolate, bacon, sea salt, and almonds. That’s a Great Good Fine Ok Bar.

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

JON: They can definitely expect more music, whether that’s just more singles or an EP, or sometime in the future, an album we’re not sure of. For shows, we’ll keep playing them because we love touring and performing live. Lately, we’ve just been concentrating on releasing singles and releasing the things we’re most proud of whenever we want to, and having that flexibility. Like I said, who knows if that will change or how we’ll release music in the future.

But, we’re staying flexible and doing what we want.

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

JON: I’ve always wanted someone to ask whether I can do a great mouth trumpet, and the answer is yes.

JON: What’s it like having an epic beard?

LUKE: It’s easier than shaving.

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• Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco • July 28, 2016 •

Cobi • Minneapolis, Minnesota • Los Angeles, California • • Cobi •

Cobi’s sound in 3 words: @CobiMusic

Roots Rock Vibe

Favorite song to perform live: @cobimusic

At the moment, “Don’t You Cry For Me”

Favorite food and/or drink: Kombucha

/cobimusic 13

Favorite spot in SF: Golden Gate Park

• Jeff Kinsey •

• Cobi •

• Al Cleveland •

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• Courtesy of Vacances •

Vacances • San Francisco, California • Brooklyn, New York • Dan Bindschedler • Nick Gonzalez • Danny Lannon •

@VacancesNY

Vacances’ sound in 3 words: Dark, Rebellious, Romantic

Favorite song to perform live: @vacancesny

Our new song “Legacy Girls”

Favorite food and/or drink: Can’t beat those SF burritos.

/VacancesNY 15

Favorite spot in SF: Lucky 13

• Danny Lannon •

• Allen Davis •

• Dan Bindschedler •

• Nick Gonzalez •

• Chris Chan •

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• Great American Music Hall, San Francisco • August 20, 2016 •

Abbot Kinney • San Francisco, California • • Jared Swanson •

Abbot Kinney’s sound in 3 words: @ABBOTKINNEYTV

Raw Melodic Rock

Favorite song to perform live: “It’s the Middle of the Night”

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@abbotkinney

Favorite food and/or drink:

/abbotkinney

Favorite spot in SF:

Filet Mignon on my birthday Watermelon juice on a hot day

Grace Cathedral for Yoga on Tuesdays

• Dakota Salazar •

• Tony Bednar •

• Jared Swanson •

• Carmen Caruso •

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• Great American Music Hall, San Francisco • August 20, 2016 •

Dangermaker • San Francisco, California • • Dave DeAngelis • Adam Brookes • Carlos Rodrigues • Neko Fuzzmonk •

Dangermaker’s sound in 3 words:

@Dangermaker

Dark Indie Pop

Favorite song to perform live:

Lately, I think it’s our next single, which may be called “Pressure.”

@dangermaker

/dangermaker 19

Favorite food and/or drink:

Ramen; good BBQ ADAM: whiskey; NEKO: gin; CARLOS: champagne; DAVE: micro beer

Favorite spot in SF:

To perform-Great American Music Hall To see a show-The Chapel; Rickshaw Stop

• Adam Brookes •

• Neko Fuzzmonk •

• Dave DeAngelis •

• Carlos Rodrigues •

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• Great American Music Hall, San Francisco • August 20, 2016 •

Panic is Perfect • San Francisco, California • • Mike Hoffman • Bob Byers • David Monzon • Ty Parker • Joey Hassid •

@panicisperfect

Panic is Perfect’s sound in 3 words: Percussive, Ecstatic, Anthemic

Favorite song to perform live: @panicisperfect

“Nothing’s Wrong With It”

Favorite food and/or drink: Strawberry Kombucha

/panicisperfect 21

Favorite spot in SF: Tempest

• Mike Hoffman •

• David Monzon •

• Ty Parker •

• Bob Byers •

• Joey Hassid •

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LISTEN. EAT. EXPLORE.

urbanvinylmag.com