October 2012 - Ellie Goulding

TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB

TYLER JAMES WILLIAMS

DRAGONETTE

VARIANCE VOL. 3, ISSUE 4

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O C TO B E R / F A L L 2 0 1 2

JOHN KRASINSKI LAST DAYS AT THE OFFICE

THE AVETT BROTHE RS BACK AND BETTE R THAN EVE R

A FINE FRENZY SLEIGH BELLS

E I L L E

G N I D L U O G D

BEYON

THE

LIGHTS

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EMELI SANDÉ

ONE BIG WONDERFUL YEAR

OLLY MURS

SETS HIS SIGHTS ON AMERICA

GARY CLARK JR.

THE SAVIOR OF BLUES?

good music makes good times.

Sweaty Dance Party

Relaxing at Home

Playlists by Music Experts.

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DI ST R I B UT I ON

TATE MUSIC GROUP PRODUCTION TAT E M U S I C G R O U P. C O M

MA R K E T I NG

ME DI A

IT’S YOUR TUR

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T H G I L T O P S N TO TAKE THE

FIRST THINGS FIRST In preparation for our Fall 2012 issue, it was impossible not to look back at what an incredible year this has been so far. If you’ve been following along, you’re well aware that a lot has happened already. And we’ve done our best to bring you the culture stories that matter to you most.

From fun. to Gotye to Imagine Dragons to Of Monsters and Men, we’ve brought you up close with some of this year’s breakout artists. We’ve shone a spotlight on indie singers that have stunned the music world with their sudden rise and recordbreaking success. We’ve taken you behind the scenes with some of the year’s most popular TV shows, like Fox’s New Girl, NBC’s Smash and MTV’s Teen Wolf. If it was important to you, we did our best to cover it.

The last nine months have certainly set a precedent, and you— the readers—have given us valuable feedback moving forward.

In August, we launched version 2.0 of our website, which was admittedly in need of improvement. It had become apparent that Variance had outgrown its former home as it has evolved.

The magazine is still here (you’re reading it), but you needed a place for daily updates. That’s why we’ve made it easier to keep up with The Latest.

In addition to a simpler format, we’ve added the The Community, which features only content directly from you, the reader.

We’ve also created a special section just for members. We call it our Perks, a collection of exclusive content, freebies and dis-

counts. It’s still a work-in-progress, but we think you’ll like it.

This brings us to the latest issue of the magazine. Over the last few weeks, you’ve provided us with insight, and we worked hard to cover the stories you were talking about most. The new issue features musicians you told us were important to you—Gary Clark Jr. and A Fine Frenzy among them. We also talked to actors Tyler James Williams, Charlie Weber and John Krasinski, of NBC’s new show Go On, MTV’s upcoming Underemployed and the long-running comedy The Office, respectively.

On top of a full list of readers’ favorites, including Sleigh Bells, The Avett Brothers, Emeli Sandé, and Olly Murs, is our cover story. Fitting perfectly in the company of previous covers such as fun. and Gotye, British songstress Ellie Goulding is one of the year’s hottest music makers (and chart-toppers). Her hit song “Lights” has overtaken radio airwaves and topped multiple Billboard charts, and her music has been mimicked and parodied all across the Web. Her new album Halcyon releases on Oct. 9, and it’s clear this is only the beginning for the young singer.

As always, your feedback is crucial. Let us know what you think of this new issue. Let us know what you think of the new website. Let us know what you think we should add or take away. We can’t make any promises about changes, but we’ll definitely hear you out. After all, these are The Sights and Sounds You Love, and we’re committed to keeping it that way.

“Madness” by @jenileereyes

CAT POWER

MUMFORD & SONS “I Will Wait” by @JennEMethod

FRANK OCEAN

“Ruin” by @ivft

“Thinkin Bout You” by @JessieLindley_

HOLY OTHER

THE XX

“Nothing Here” by @dieterbxl

“Angels” by @becktbh

∆ (ALT-J)

GRIZZLY BEAR

“Tessellate” by @Alexx_Lewiss

“Speak In Rounds” by @bendreamboat

KANYE WEST, JAY-Z & BIG SEAN

IMAGINE DRAGONS

“Clique” by @zoltarSpeaks

“Radioactive” by @BrooksNoonan

STARS

ELLIE GOULDING

“Hold On When You Get Love...” by @keatssycamore

“Anything Could Happen” by @denisebeighton

OUR FALL PLAYLIST —PREPARED BY YOU—

mixtapes

MUSE

0 8 D r a g o n e t t e 1 0 S l e i g h B e l l s 1 3 Tr e v o r H o r t o n 14

P h o t o D i a r i e s : L O L L A PA L O O Z A 2 0 1 2

2 2 G a r y C l a r k J r .

2 4 O l l y M u r s 2 6 E m e l i S a n d é 30

The Avett Brothers

3 4 A r t i s t C o n f e s s i o n a l : G a r r e t t D a n z 3 5 S c a r l e t t R a b e 3 6 C h a r l i e W e b e r o f M T V ’ s U n d e r e m p l o y e d 3 8 F u t u r e S o u n d s 4 2 E L L I E G O U L D I N G 47 Web Wonder: Noah 4 8 Jo h n K r a s i n s k i o f T h e O f f i c e 5 2 A F i n e F r e n z y 56

T y l e r J a m e s W i l l i a m s o f N B C ’ s G o O n

5 9 T h a I n C r o w d 6 0 T w o D o o r C i n e m a C l u b 63

A u t h o r A b b y R y a n

6 4 E a r C a n d y

CONTENTS

0 5 F a l l 2 0 1 2 M i x t a p e [ P l a y l i s t ]

VARIANCE October 2012, Vol. 3, Issue 4 Editorial Director Jonathan Robles Managing Editors Rachel Faylene & Weston Shepherd Editor-at-Large Amanda Morad Features Editors Merlyn Hamilton & Emily Hulseberg Editorial Assistants Christa Littlefield Michael Garcia Laurie Tomlinson Contributing Writers Garett Danz A.J. Duncan Aaron Lachman John Mouser Photography Mike Windle | mikewindle.com Contributing Photographers & Artists angelaandithyle.com Paige Asachika Jon Baker John Beaty David Black Jay Brooks Lesley Bryce Peter Burnham Cole Camplese Jory Cordy Dan Curwin Lauren Dukoff Simon Emmett Gabriel Goldberg Chris Haston Amnesia Ibiza Pamela Littky Frank Maddox Patrick O’Dell Mark Owens Andy Patch Franz Pfluegl Heidi Ross Emily Shur Mark Sink Michael Sitarz Harper Smith Pavlina Summers Axel Taferner Kristin Vicari Eli Watson Jennifer White Michael Wilson Steve Wrubel Web Production & Design Nicholas Clayton JP Jones Jonathan Robles Project Development Bryan Norris

THE SIGHTS AND SOUNDS YOU LOVE. w w w. v a r i a n c e m a g a z i n e . c o m

oct. 12-14

www.aclfestival.com

dragonette

by Amanda Morad

How does one know when a band is on their way up?

Maybe it’s when they sign with Universal. Or when they land a Juno (Canada’s Grammys) nomination. Or maybe it’s not until they pack out a tent at a major music festival like Coachella. For Martina Sorbara of electro-pop trio Dragonette, any of these could provide a clue.

“This is an awesome job,” Sorbara says, soaking in the band’s rising exposure. Coachella marked a major milestone for the seven-year-old group. “If you can imagine being a band our size, we have a fan base, but we don’t have the kind of security that big bands have in terms of showing up and expecting people to be there. For us, there really was a question of who’s going to be there?”

To their relief and awe, some 6,000 fans were there, overfilling the tent and providing a seminal moment for the band to realize they really are living the dream.

Dragonette got a rocky start in its early days as single after single promoted through Mercury Records didn’t fare well, but based on the response to the singles from their newly released album with Universal Canada, Bodyparts, those days are long behind them.

Bodyparts is an electro-popdance album that Sorbara says is even more outside the lines than 2009’s Fixin to Thrill. “This album is quite accessible and really fun to listen to. I’m really proud of it,” Sorbara says. “We never really know how to stick to anything, and the songs include whatever whimsy we felt like adding. The songs ended up still pop music, but it’s unique.

I think it would be considered experimental. “ “Experimental” is a label

Sorbara is getting quite comfortable with. And with tracks as diverse as the driving pop anthem, “Live in This City,” to the Madonna-esque pop ballad, “Ghost,” that’s probably a good call.

“It was definitely experimental for us because every song we write is an experiment,” she explains. “Even if it sounds completely middle-of-the-road to someone else, it’s a new adventure every time.”

The pinnacle of the album for Sorbara is “Ghost,” which feels like it could have also lived among the big ballads of the ‘80s. “I did this really different thing with my voice and it’s really fun to sing even though it’s slow and kind of a sad song,” she reveals.

Having just finished their U.S. headlining tour and wrapping up a Canadian tour this month, Dragonette is feeling the pressure in the best way.

“As the pressure grows, the infrastructure of the band grows and there’s more support,” Sorbara contends. “We’re all really good friends and we’re all growing together.”

The band is taking their growing fame in stride, living up to their own expectations instead of others’. “[Exposure] hurdles are all in little increments,” Sorbara explains. “Carly Rae Jepsen, who has been around for a long time and has suddenly become this global superstar—I can imagine that every time she releases a single that must be petrifying.

And that kind of pressure doesn’t apply to us. Everything has been in baby steps and we function like a well-oiled machine.”

While she doesn’t expect any major jumps like Jepsen’s, Sorbara is prepared to handle

whatever exposure comes her way. “I remember this moment of realizing that people actually like us and I was like, ‘F--k! I don’t know what I’m doing,’ but that was short lived and I learned very quickly to just meditate on being myself. I don’t have to represent anything that I’m not. I don’t have to dress differently or look differently or talk differently.”

The music industry is changing all the time and the global pool of indie artists is constantly sloughing off its own: the not-quite-good-, not-quitecommitted-, not-quite-excitingenough. What results is a deepseated gratitude among those who remain.

“When you’re a musician and you live in our world of indie bands, there’s so many people that kind of fall off along the way and don’t get to do the job that they wanted to do, and they can’t live being a musician,” Sorbara acknowledges. “The fact that this is our job, this is what we want to do, is so f--king lucky.”

Sometimes just living the life and doing the work you love is enough, Sorbara concludes: “The goal is to be able to keep writing music and making albums; to have people still be interested in us next year and for us to still be interested in us; to be impressing ourselves with the songs that we write and exciting ourselves and our audience. That’s way more important than Top 40.”

Check out Bodyparts and watch the new video for “Live in This City” at dragonette.com.

SLEIGH BELLS

BY RACHEL FAYLENE

I L L U M I N A T I N G

vocals, a touch of leather, and a sound comparable to a sonic boom are all key elements in the formula that make this Brooklyn duo eminent. Alexis Krauss (vocals) and Derek Miller (guitar) crossbreed their individual talents to create the music of Sleigh Bells. The group first received notable media recognition after the 2009 release of the Sleigh Bells EP, gaining even more attention in 2010 with their debut album, Treats. February was a celebrated month for the band as they released their sophomore record, Reign of Terror, to fans. Founder of the group, Derek Miller, spills about the new record, fashion, and his relationship with band mate Alexis Krauss.

Variance: What’s been new with Sleigh Bells since the release of Reign of Terror?

Derek Miller: Basically we’ve just been doing a lot of touring, a lot of recording. We haven’t really taken any time off. Right now we’re not on tour but we’re in the studio. So yeah, we’re either doing one or the other. I don’t mean to rush ahead but I’m pretty much thinking exclusively about the third album. We’re constantly writing. If we’re not in the van, I can do it in the hotel room at three in the morning without disturbing anybody. So yeah just touring and working on new music.

V: Do you have any idea of a release date for the third album?

M: Yeah we do have one but it’s a little too soon and I don’t want to announce it and have it pushed back, so I have to wait. But it’ll be out in early 2013, which is a quick turnaround, but like I said, I don’t really like taking vacations. This is my life so I’d rather just work.

V: Jumping into the new record so quickly, you must be able to write a song within a short period of time.

M: Well the best ones always happen quickly. You know, most people that make records for a living will tell you that. For example, “Comeback Kid” —I think we did that in about six hours and it’s easily my favorite song on Reign of Terror.

V: When you’re writing new material are you collaborating with Alexis and what does the writing process consist of now, as opposed to when she initially began working with you?

M: When she first joined, I pretty much had everything done and she just sang the songs. When we started trusting each other, we were collaborating a lot more. This third record will be our first, true, 100 percent collaboration. I also record all the instrumentals myself and I’ll probably handle most of the lyric writing, but I’ll give her instrumentals and she’ll come back after five minutes or the next day with some crazy ideas. She’s crazy talented, mad respect, and what she can do is much better, much more sophisticated than anything I can do. So it allows me to really step my production game up and type in new arrangements and just be a better producer.

V: What will differ on the third album from previous releases, especially since you started writing so quickly from the previous record?

M: A lot of guitars — I’m really sick of hiding guitars.

With Reign of Terror, I’m using the same guitar sound on every song and recycling a lot of my kicks and a lot of my snares. I’m really just trying hard to step up my production game and write better songs.

I forgot to mention the chemistry, [Alexis] and I have a very real chemistry now that we didn’t have before.

A couple things are just coming very quickly and very easily in the studio for us right now. It’s sort of that thing where you feel like you have lightning in your veins.

V: Do you plan to continuously release albums back to back at this pace?

M: Yeah I’d love to. There’s no sense in keeping it bottled up. That’s what it’s all about for me, making records.

V: How did you transition from a hardcore band like Poison the Well to Sleigh Bells?

M: I’m a different person. That’s funny because I would get that in the beginning from Poison the Well fans. There were Poison the Well fans that weren’t Sleigh Bells fans. The last few shows they were like, “How did you end up doing this?” And I’m like, “Well how did you end up at the show?!” You know, it’s built into the same effort as when we were teens. I’m very me now. I joined Poison the Well when I was sixteen, so that was a lifetime ago. There was a lot of direction with anger. I just have different interests, listen to different stuff, and a lot in life has happened to me; that’s the way it goes.

V: Is Sleigh Bells still the band that you envisioned it to be when you first started out?

M: In a way. I was really crazed with a writing partner—someone to do this with, specifically a female vocalist, and the universe did me a huge favor in the form of Alexis. She is one of my best friends now and I know it sounds dramatic but I feel like she’s changed my life. I don’t know what I’d do without her. She’s amazing.

V: When you moved to New York in search of a female vocalist, what was it that you were looking for specifically?

M: Honestly, I didn’t have anything specific. I really don’t know; it could have manifested itself in many different ways.

It’s just how it turned out. I think when I met her I was working at a restaurant.

I called her and got her voicemail and I could just tell by listening to the talent in her voice in the message—I just knew it was going to work. I was like, “Thank God!” Because I’ve been looking for so many years and just failing, and failing, and failing; and finally I’ve found somebody that trusted me, you know? It was pretty simple really. All the girls I had before thought I was just hitting on them and it didn’t register for all these years, for whatever reason, but not Alexis.

V: That’s so strange that you can hear the talent in her vocals just by hearing her voicemail.

M: It was just soft, and sweet. She had a higher register and not like a low sultry thing. You know what I mean? It has an airiness to it, which is really beautiful.

My Bloody Valentine would be an obvious reference. I’m generally not into big booming husky voices, you know? I like something more feminine.

V: After meeting Alexis was there any possibility of using somebody else or were you completely certain?

M: No that was it—that was it. I stopped looking and I was like, “Cool, let’s get to work.” We recorded before we knew each other, really. We had a band before we had a friendship. Now we know each other and we realized we really actually like each other. So yea, it’s been great.

V: What was her reaction to the first track you played for her?

M: She was really excited. I’m not patting myself on the back here at all, but she was like, “I’ve never heard anything like this before,” and “I’m in, you know I think I can contribute and I’m really excited.” She was into it; she was a fan.

V: Alexis was a school teacher while your focus was music. What made you guys get serious as a duo?

M: Yes, that was a process. From the get go I was like, “You got to take this seriously,” you know. I was making a lot of promises that I was hoping I’d fulfill. It was only because I was excited and confident, you know? I was just psyched in what we were doing. I felt like there was a chance that people would decide two of us was better and would give a s---. She took her job very seriously; she’s very passionate about it. Just over time, I think she started to realize she started to love it more. The more songs we had, she realized that it wasn’t just a walk on fame, that I had a few ideas and that’s it. I think she saw how hungry I was and she recognized my ambitions. I don’t know, maybe that inspired her.

V: What would have happened had it not worked out?

M: I would’ve felt terrible. I can be stu-

pidly optimistic at times. I think really the only way to get anything done is just to convince yourself that it’s going to work.

So at no point was I ever really afraid of that, you know? Failure is nothing to me.

I’m so used to it. It doesn’t mean anything.

I just work and try to get things done but yes, it would’ve been very disappointing and I would have been very disappointed in myself if it got nowhere. I’ll be honest, I think we’re just starting; we’re just really developing chemistry. We only have two records under our belt and I feel we have many more in us.

V: As far as style goes, you and Alexis have similar taste. Is that part of the band’s image or did you two always have that fashion in common?

M: We just started being honest about our tastes. She was a school teacher, but it’s sort of like behind closed doors you want to be a million things. Well, honestly, I would wear like, cut off jean shorts and leather jackets because that’s f---ing badass; there’s nothing wrong with that.

I was like, “Well, I like leather, camo, and Def Leppard so f--- it.” You just get to a point where you’re honest with yourself and that will be reflected in your aesthetic. We just have a lot of those things in common.

V: You guys are a really loud band in the studio and on stage. What can people experience from your live shows?

M: I mean really, it’s the physicality of music. It’ll shake your rib cage. It’s fascinating to me. I do not at any time listen to records quietly. It’s impossible for me to appreciate them. Everything has always been loud. I’m sure I’ve suffered hearing loss, but I don’t notice because I don’t know how anyone else hears things.

As a young child in Rochester, N.Y., Trevor Horton grew up around music and a lively family just trying to have a little fun. Horton remembers not being able to reach the pedals of the piano but playing his heart out regardless. It wasn’t until his teen years that he even discovered he could sing.

Horton recalls being little and telling his parents he was going to be a singer. “They would smile and say, ‘That’s nice,’” Horton says. Then one day, singing came to him naturally.

During his sophomore year at Carnegie-Mellon University, Horton decided to drop out to pursue a career in music. “Although I had written some songs before I turned 20, it was then that I went into overdrive and really started punching them out,” he explains.

SPOTLIGHT

trevor horton Horton is set to release his debut album, Stars In Between, this month.

A pop-rock album that draws from many types of musical genres, the album creates something unique to Horton’s style and personality. “I tapped into all the styles of music that influence me,” Horton says. “From rock, to jazz, to bluegrass. I’m kind of all over the place, but somehow it all sounds like me—it all works.”

The album, which was recorded strictly from Horton’s living room, has something for everyone. With big sounds from horns and orchestras to simple guitar riffs, the rhythm and energy that make up this album are abundant and varied.

Horton tells of musical influences from all over the map, from French composers to indie rock bands across

Stars In Between Available Oct. 9

the pond, but a love for music is what stands out the most. “Typically, I don’t care what style of music it is, as long as it moves me in some way,” explains Horton.

And like any true musician, Horton is most comfortable performing and connecting to his audience. He sees each opportunity he performs as a chance to create an emotional experience for the audience. “Music is the thing that moves and drives me that most,” he says. “There are certain songs that just transport me, and I absolutely love that feeling!”

Horton’s debut album, Stars In Between, releases Oct. 9.

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VARIANCE

LOLLA 2012 LOLLAPALOOZA PHOTOS

by Mike Windle

P H O T O D I A R I E S

THIS PAGE, L TO R: THE WEEKND, M83’S ANTHONY GONZALEZ, THE BLACK KEYS’ DAN AUERBACH, CROWD AT LOLLAPALOOZA

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THIS PAGE, L TO R: NEON INDIAN’S ALAN PALOMO, FUN.’S NATE RUESS, AT THE DRIVE-IN’S CEDRIC BIXLERZAVALA, CHILDISH GAMBINO, CROWD AT LOLLAPALOOZA

P H O T O D I A R I E S

P H O T O D I A R I E S

JACK WHITE

FRANK OCEAN

“I ENJOY BRINGING PEOPLE TOGETHER AND HAVING A GOOD TIME— FOLKS FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE JUST HANGING OUT AND LETTING GO.”

— Gary Clark Jr.

GARY CLARK JR. THE SAVIOR O F B L U E S ?

Gary Clark Jr. is at a pivotal point in his career.

Following a string of independent music releases, the Austin-born musician-actor is set to make his major label debut with Blak and Blu on Oct. 22 via Warner Bros. But the gifted guitarist, who has been heralded for his intricate lyrics and soulful sound, isn’t as complex as some would make him out to be—at

least according to Clark himself.

“I keep hearing people ask about the title, Blak and Blu,” he explains with a chuckle. “‘What does it mean?’ They want something fancy, but that’s not what I’m trying to do.

It’s actually just random. I just took out some letters, but you can still make out the words.

WRITTEN BY JONATHAN ROBLES

“[BLUES is] not going anywhere, but it’s cool to be associated with the music because it’s definitely my foundation. I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing if it wasn’t for that music.”

There’s nothing to read into.”

For Clark, his focus isn’t on titles or formalities. He’s simply about making music he’s proud of, and music that makes people feel good.

“I enjoy bringing people together and having a good time,” he says. “Folks

from all walks of life just hanging out and letting go, jamming and dancing around a bit, you know, laughing. I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to do that, so I only hope people keep digging it.”

While the 28-year-old singersongwriter insists his goals are simple, the reviews of his music have been anything but that. Widely praised and even referred to by some critics as the “savior of blues,” Clark acknowledges the feedback, but he resists some of the labels.

“It’s hard to really respond to stuff like that,” he humbly admits. “When people say things like that, I hear that and I get it, but I don’t want to wrap my head around labels like that, especially because I don’t really think blues needs saving. It’s not going anywhere, but it’s cool to be associated with the music because it’s definitely my foundation. I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing if it wasn’t for that music.”

Although his blues foundation is evident in his previous releases, with this new album, Clark is setting out to showcase that his musical influences are wide: “That’s what I’m going for with this record, and I’m not really holding back, just so there’s no confusion. I don’t want to be pigeonholed. I love many types of music.”

Citing influences such as Curtis Mayfield, Prince, Otis Redding and Nina Simone, this young entertainer is seeing his own star rise, already having

had the opportunity to perform with the likes of Eric Clapton, Sheryl Crow, Dave Matthews Band and Alicia Keys, the latter of which developed into a set of collaborations.

“I’m just a fan,” Clark says of working with Keys and contributing to her forthcoming album Girl on Fire. “She just reached out to me and was like, ‘come and play a show with me,’ but she’s very wise and she’s done great things. I’ve been a fan of hers for so long, so to think that she would be a fan of mine is still kind of unbelievable. It’s been really cool to work with her.”

Clark, who still resides in the Live Music Capital of the World, is proof that opportunity in the music industry today isn’t limited by location. “I’ve been all over the place, and I understand certain points of view about needing to relocate to do this, but why go anywhere else? I was fortunate to travel, go around and chill at other places in the world, but I’m in a really good place right now.”

Literally and figuratively, Clark has reason to feel good about where he’s been lately: “When I go to bed at night, I have a lot going through my head—what happened during the day, what’s going to happen tomorrow, but I’ve got to say, I sleep pretty well.”

Clark will need his rest as he hits the road this fall, kicking off his tour on Oct. 10 in none other than Austin, Texas. He’ll be promoting Blak and Blu, which releases on Oct. 22.

OLLY MURS IS COMING FOR AMERICA

written by emily hulseberg

W

ith a resumé that includes being X Factor’s runner up in 2009, a self-titled album that debuted at No. 2 and went certified double platinum in the U.K., and a sophomore album, In Case You Didn’t Know, that debuted at No. 1 and also went certified double platinum, pop sensation Olly Murs now has his sights set on winning the hearts of music lovers in the United States.

Hot off a tour with a band that has had their fair share of skyrocketing fame, Murs teamed up with boy band-Brits One Direction and made his U.S. tour debut. Now having a taste of what the U.S. has to offer, Murs is convinced he wants to make a name for himself in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Murs got his start just a few short years ago when he auditioned for the U.K.’s X Factor. Having had disappointing experiences the two years before, the 2009 auditions proved to be just what this young singer needed. Third time’s the charm, right? With his boyish grin, dapper bowties and sweet harmonies that sound as if they could have been a collaboration between Michael Bublé and Michael Jackson, Murs came in second to Joe McElderry, but it was a sweet second place

finish when looking at the big picture.

Murs didn’t always see himself on stage with thousands of screaming girls wishing to be serenaded by him. He once dreamed of a career playing professional soccer, but those dreams vanished after a serious injury made his plans a thing of the past.

Coming to America was something Murs had dreamed about since he broke his leg that fateful day on the soccer field. That was the ultimate turning point in what was supposed to be a career.

“Soccer was the only thing I was interested in, so when that happened I needed to do

something with my life,” says Murs.

“Music was the only thing I could do, so I decided to do it and, lucky enough, here I am now.”

For the tour with One Direction, Murs was presented with an opportunity of a lifetime. “[I was] nervous to come to America, but the good thing was there was no pressure. I could come to America and really enjoy myself and see what happens.

Hopefully people buy my music and like it and just enjoy it,” he laughs.

Murs’ first single to drop in the U.S. was “Heart Skips a Beat” featuring Chiddy Bang, a collaboration that came from being a fan.

“It was really random,” the British singer recalls. “We really looked from afar and Chiddy Bang kept coming up … It was quite retro and quite cool. He was the perfect choice for the record, and he just makes it sound amazing and gives the U.S. fans their own song which no one else has had across the world.”

Originally planning to release In Case You Didn’t Know last month in the U.S., Murs decided to change things up a bit, pushing the release to December. Fans can expect a collaboration with Flo Rida, and an entirely new name for the album, Right Place, Right Time. This album could be just as the

title suggests.

Trying to follow suit with what The Beatles did in ’64, Murs has high hopes for what’s to come for him and his American pursuits.

“I am really excited that the Americans are going to hear it for the first time,” Murs says.

“The music has done so well for me here (in the U.K.) and been such a huge success and I can only hope that it’s a big success across Europe and in America.”

ODD FACTS ABOUT OLLY • Used to be in pub band called the Small Town Blaggers • Won $10 on Deal or No Deal before he was famous in 2007 • Holds Guinness World Record for making most cups of tea in one hour • Favorite lyrics: “Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand. With an equal opportunity for all to sing, dance and clap their hands.” –Stevie Wonder, Sir Duke • Did a 100km trek across the Kaisut desert in northern Kenya • Danced with David Hasselhoff to LMFAO for charity

EMELI ´ SANDE’S BIG WONDERFUL YEAR

by MERLYN HAMILTON

“ofI writing never really sit down with an intention about something specifically. So usually it just kind of comes out subconsciously, something that’s probably on my mind, something passionate in my lifE . . .

”

I

n July, 24-year-old British singer-songwriter, Emeli Sandé, captured the eye of every viewer as she sang at the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics. Where did this talented vocalist come from?

A former medical student, Sandé took a leap to pursue music full time.

“I was in med school and at that point, I graduated with a degree in Neuroscience, so I felt like one chapter of the education process was closed,” says Sandé. “…I was published by EMI, because I had a song in the charts. Everything kind of accumulated at the same time to really just push me to move to London and to take the risk at that point. I really felt a window had opened to me and it was time to really go for it.”

With the support of her fiancé, family, and friends, Sandé released her debut album, Our Version of Events. With hits like “Heaven” and “Daddy,” it’s no wonder Sandé was asked to sing at the Olympics. How does one get asked to sing at such a grand event as the Olympics?

Sandé claims that it was actually a coincidence. “[Director] Danny Boyle’s team invited me,” she says. “They had a secret Olympic meeting room or whatever. So they invited me there and they played me the idea they had for the opening ceremony. They had a part in the show, ‘Abide With Me’, the kind of end section. They said, ‘we’d love you to sing this.’ And then maybe a week after that, a completely separate team that was doing the closing ceremony came and asked me if they could use my song ‘Read

All About It.’ So for me it was incredible and a real honor to be asked by both parties to take part. It really makes [for] a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

After performing at the Olympics, Sandé’s album rose to the top of the U.K. Charts and sat at No. 1 for weeks. But with everything going on, Sandé says that she has not really had the time to sit down and take it in, or celebrate.

“We’ve kind of been rushing around, there’s always something,” explains Sandé. “Even when we were doing the Olympics, I was thinking, next week ‘we’re going be in L.A. because we’re going to do this so this needs to be prepared.’ Then, there’s a November tour coming up.”

With her rise and success, specifically on the international stage, Sandé describes how it raises the bar.

“You just want to bring in your best,” she says. “You want to just kind of keep going and be busy all the time. But for me, I really just want to approach it the same we did in the U.K. … The music is the most important thing to me. As long as I’m writing, and creating things that I feel are my personal best, then that’s really all I can bring. So I just want to find the right way to introduce it to people over here (America).”

Beloved by U.S. and international audiences, it is evident that all her hard work is paying off. As a U.K. artist, Sandé describes her initial feelings of coming to America as “excited and daunting.”

“You know, when you’re coming from the U.K., it’s such a faraway place and we’ve listened to so many

incredible artists and been inspired by so many artists from [the U.S.],” says Sande. “So it’s a quite daunting thing, thinking, ‘Wow, okay, I’m going to try and shoot my music over there.’ I’ve just kind of contemplated how big the States are.”

Despite any apprehensions she might have had, there are nothing but positive words to speak when referencing Sandé’s music. Whether in America or internationally, Sandé’s songs are recognizable.

But where does the inspiration for her music come from?

“I guess just what I go through in my life, to be honest,” the young singer recalls. “I never really sit down with an intention of writing about something specifically. So usually it just kind of comes out subconsciously, something that’s probably on my mind, something passionate in my life, or that’s happened to people very close to me. That kind of comes out when I sit down with a piano.”

So what can be expected next of Sandé? In addition to touring, she says she’s writing a lot for other artists but starting to think about how she wants to approach her next album.

“There’s a tour coming up in the U.K. in November,” she reveals. “I’m touring here [in America] before that in October; lots of live music and just trying to introduce my music over here more and more, and spread the word.”

For more information on Emeli Sandé, visit www.emelisande.com.

TM

underemployed premieres tuesday, oct. 16 at 10/9c

A BRAND NEW CHAPTER FOR The

AVETT Brothers

BY EMILY HULSEBERG

>>

Whether in a huge venue or an intimate local landmark, an Avett Brothers show is something incomparable to other musical experiences. With the most sincere expressions amid songs (“Y’all are great!”), the trio takes us back to love, loss and every emotion between.

My first Avett show was in Oklahoma City, armed with my cowboy boots and a desire to dance to “Kick Drum Heart.” I was ready to experience the brothers who had made their way into my life over the last few years. I wasn’t, however, prepared to be at my favorite concert I have seen to date. Standing room only, the sold out show was hot and sweaty with the perfect amount of alcohol stench in the air. The two-hour-plus show was everything I could have hoped for— and more. There were highs that came with “Slight Figure of Speech,” and the romance that accompanies “January Wedding,” and sadness with “I Would Be Sad.” But more noticeable was the likability of a band that captures the true essence of what music is about. No gimmicks; no fancy lights or lasers; no auto-tune, just music in its purest form. Just a few good men armed with a piano, guitars, cello, upright bass, drums, and, of course, that banjo.

A

lthough The Carpenter is composed of the usual upbeat songs that are true to Avett form, it is also an emotional work of art dealing with things very close and personal to these three men. Scott Avett recalls how the themes and stories came together to create this album that touches matters of the world, and matters of life and death.

“Well, from mild to extreme, every day has the opportunity for drama, and drama to me is, simply put, up and down, light and day, in and out, life and death,” explains the elder Avett. “From the small examples to the very dramatic and heartwrenching terrible situations, it all kind of falls within that.”

One example of life from the album comes in the form of becoming a father.

In “A Father’s First Spring” Avett sings, “The realest thing I ever felt was the blood on the floor and the love in your yell. I was a child before, the day I met Eleanor.”

Although this song is clearly very personal to him, he sees a point in revealing a part of his heart through his lyrics.

“There’s no doubt that during the process, Seth and I both discussed, like, maybe we stop this here, stop developing this because you feel a bit of danger of exploitation of the dearest things in your life,” he explains. “But that’s a good thing, whichever angle or perspective I decided to take, and I try my best to choose the positive ones.”

While different interpretations can be made for songs, The Avett Brothers seem to be pretty straight to the point with their music. Songs like, “I Never Knew You” and “Live and Die,” are straightforward and can be known simply by their titles.

The latest release is their second to be produced by Rick Rubin. This time around, the guys knew more about what to expect. “I think [for] I and Love and You, we had a lot of figuring out. As seamless as it was, we still knew we were going into a new chapter, into new territory

with having another party—producer— in the studio with us, and working with more people in general,” Avett says.

“I think it’s a balance you have to walk, a careful balance, but I think it was understood much better this time. Plus, we’re closer to Rick now; we’ve become better friends with Rick, so there was less need to involve our getting to know each other during the music because that has already happened, so it was just developing further.”

When it comes to song development, there is no right or wrong way a song comes together for the group. “It’s all very different,” explains Avett. “That’s one of the many things that Rick and we would agree upon, that there’s not one way that all of them are going to come together.

Sometimes, they come very quickly; sometimes, it takes many years; sometimes, it takes many recording sessions before the right treatment happens and one falls in the right place.”

Sometimes the way they thought a song was going to sound and the instruments needed to create that sound turned into something entirely different. “All of our songs were open to that change as we were recording. There’s no definite anything until the song is stamped and recorded,” he says.

One theme that seems to stick with the group is the “Pretty Girl” songs. Since Mignonette in 2004, the songs have cleverly and whimsically told stories about pretty girls the brothers have encountered in places from the mundane (“Pretty Girl at the Airport”) to the exotic (“Pretty Girl from Chile”).

Although left out of I and Love and You, they picked back up with the songs for this album. “It started as a protective step for protecting the name of a girl that we had titled the song.” When they realized that the name of the song would sell the girl out, they decided to name it more cleverly. “We started to talk about these old yodels that Jimmie Rodgers used to do…we said, well let’s do a series or let’s speculate that we will do this long enough to do a series, and so it’s just carried on and the subject matter seems external, internal, and broad in general and infinite—seems to be plenty of subject matter out there.”

Whether it’s songs about girls, or life, or death for that matter, The Avett Brothers seem to capture the perfect emotion for each song they create. Nothing captures that better than their live show.

Part of Scott Avett’s identity is his banjo that he is always twanging on stage. While the banjo cannot always be heard during album versions of a song, it seems to make frequent appearances live. “It’s kind of like the banjo is my tool; it’s my ax,” laughs Avett. “In some ways, it tends to be a prop for me; it’s something that I love playing. I play it more in the bus than on stage but it’s part of my voice; it’s part of my expression.”

Their live show is a must-see. The energy that everyone on stage possesses is inspiring to witness. At points, when the lights hit just right, you can see the hairs on cellist Joe Kwon’s bow falling off from the powerful way he handles the instrument.

“The energy has to come to us,” says Avett. “Years ago, when we were younger,

we would try to maybe get our heart rate up before we got on stage and warm up. I found out that it’s usually better if we’re in a sleepy state or almost bored or meditative state before we go on stage, and let it climb and peak and climax, and it’s much healthier for the show, for the fans.” They want to make sure their performances are natural and not forced in any way.

Something else unforced is their sheer connection and sincere enjoyment of doing what they do. Being the humble guy that he is, Avett is not one to admit how well the group connects to their fans. “I think we have to be sincere to ourselves and be respectful to our lives and nature—honesty in our songs and making sure that we’re delivering something that we believe, which is natural. If we do that, then we’re not intentionally connecting to anybody; it’s got to be an organic thing.”

He said he would never have brought the topic up had it not been asked, proving again why these guys are just regular people with kind hearts, not trying to boast about their success in any way.

Avett describes the relationship between him and his brother Seth with two beautifully thoughtful words: “resiliently fragile.”

If music was always in the cards for these two, Avett didn’t know it. “I don’t know if it’s something I’ll be doing any further than what I’m doing now. I always assumed that I was doing something on stage—something with an audience.” But if music were not in his path, then being an artist of some sort always will be. Already an accomplished painter, he says, “I would be making art one way or another.

If that was cabinets, if that was building barns, if that was painting paintings, if it was sculpting, if it was welding, it would be some type of creation of something and trying to move forward with that.”

Constant movement and progression seem to accompany the many albums the band has released, and to people pursing a dream of any kind Avett says, “Wake up.”

He’s doing his best to take his own advice. Avett had a little waking up to do as the social media world imposed upon just about every artist in the industry.

“I’m a bit guilty of putting myself in a bubble and not knowing what’s going on around me,” laughs Avett. “Let’s face it, today social media is a great way of knowing what’s going on around you, and as an artist, it’s really important to know what’s going on around you because that’s what we’re interpreting. It’s such a volatile place, but so is any conversation. I think it’s a double-edged sword, but I think it’s necessary,” he says.

Even with six albums under their belt, they are constantly ready and waiting for the next. Avett says, “We’ve been thinking about the next one well before this release.”

The Carpenter is available now, and the brothers are currently on tour.

Garrett Danz is a film director and graphic artist who grew up in Oklahoma, but relocated at the beginning of 2012 to pursue his dream in Los Angeles. Working on many independent projects, and recently assisting with the new Akon music video, he is also planning to launch a clothing company with his fiancée Hannah. He is proof that if someone has a dream, with enough passion and hard work, anything is possible. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy.

Check out his current and future projects at garrettdanz.com.

At the time of this writing, I’ve spent the last week working around spaceships, witnessing wolf attacks, assisting with chemical explosions in the middle of the desert, and I even found out what 12 miles of holographic Mylar looks like.

Let me back up a little. My name is Garrett Danz, and I’m a director and graphic artist working primarily with music. I’m 20 years young, trying to work my way

up in this industry. My boldest of actions towards chasing these dreams came in the form of moving from my home state of Oklahoma to Los Angeles, Calif., in February.

I began directing in December 2010, starting with music videos created for friends’ bands. Making use of whatever I had available, often building what I couldn’t otherwise get my hands on.

In September 2011, I got the opportunity to be a production assistant on a music video directed by Robby Starbuck for the band Oh, Sleeper. I’ve been a fan of Robby’s for a long time. I drove four hours from Tulsa, Okla., to Dallas, and did anything I could to help on that shoot. Little did I know, I would be presented with an opportunity afterward to work in California with the director and producer of that music video.

After months of planning, my fiancée and I headed west through multiple ice storms and adverse conditions to con-

director, graphic artist

GARRETT DANZ

ARTIST CONFESSIONAL

tinue chasing these dreams.

A little less than two weeks after arriving in our new home of L.A., I found myself on set assisting with multiple music video projects, my first being Jon McLaughlin’s “Summer is Over” feat. Sara Bareilles.

Since that video, I have been fortunate enough to work on the set of music videos for artists such as Yellowcard, Circa Survive, Machine Gun Kelly, Shiny Toy Guns and Versa Emerge.

While assisting on other director’s projects, I’ve been steadily working on some of my own projects. I’m working to pay my dues to this industry that I love so much, and even though it isn’t easy, I’ll do everything I can to assure this won’t be the last you hear of me.

Needless to say, I am grateful most of all. Thank you to all who have helped me so far. You can make your dreams a reality.

-Garrett Danz

SPOTLIGHT ON

SCARLETT RABE

BY EMILY HULSEBERG

Armed with an orange Sharpie and her bedroom ceiling, Scarlett Rabe writes the names of her musical idols whom she one day hopes to work with.

Currently working on her debut fulllength album, Rabe is getting to collaborate with many of the people whose names she so faithfully wrote. Without giving away any secrets, she explains: “It’s so that every night when I go to sleep and every morning when I wake up, their names are right there. I don’t write very many people, just people that I really idolize, and I guess that’s kind of worked because I have been able to meet almost all of them so far.”

Coming off her EP, Love Scars, Rabe says listeners can expect a difference in her forthcoming album. “My music I’m currently working on has a different sound than what I’ve released before. It’s thoughtful, smart, quirky—it’s kind of all over the place.”

When explaining the album, Rabe describes it in terms of food. She says sometimes putting strange and different foods

together creates something extremely tasty. That’s what this young musician is trying to do with her album—minus the calories.

Rabe grew up in a very strict household.

As a piano prodigy, she practiced for hours a day and only listened to classical or religious music. Her piano-teaching mother was thrilled the day she realized that her daughter could play Mozart Sonatas at the tender age of three.

“After [a] student left, I climbed up on the piano bench and… I just started picking the song out and playing it, and she discovered I had perfect pitch and she was thrilled,” Rabe recounts, according to her mother’s recollection.

When she wasn’t in school, practicing music, or doing laundry for herself and eight siblings, she was sneaking off to listen to the radio on a tape player her piano instructor gave her for practicing classical piano pieces.

“I would listen to 99.9. It was like, light rock and pop and had an oldies hour, but I didn’t have context for who it was or

what,” Rabe recalls. “Now I’ll hear, let’s say, a Billy Joel song that I didn’t know back then was Billy Joel. I just knew the song.”

The music she wasn’t exposed to at a young age is now translating to her new music. “I don’t really have a time context for anything (music), so I am developing a taste for them all,” she says.

For Rabe, music has always been in the cards. Be it her parents’ wish of having their kids all playing music in church to what Rabe has turned into her own musical dreams. “Yes, I have always known that I was going to do music, but the story that [my parents] wrote for me was very different than the one that I decided to write for myself.”

Paving her own way, Rabe is excited for what is to come. “For me, success would be always creating and always finding more people to share with,” she says. “I want to find the boundaries of myself and I have a lot of discovering left to do.”

GET READY FOR

CHARLIE WEBER by jonathan robles

Generation Y has been particularly affected. With unemployment rates in August climbing in 26 states, those graduating from college are realizing that a bachelor’s degree doesn’t guarantee a job, and many of them are finding themselves lowering their expectations and settling for less as they enter the “real world.”

Enter MTV. The network formerly known as Music Television recently announced it’s trading in the cast of Jersey Shore to make room for some programming that hits a little closer to home.

Underemployed follows a group of recent grads as they confront a harsh reality of selling donuts and bartending in order to make ends meet. Not exactly the “gym, tan, laundry” that has made the network must-see TV in the past.

“It’s a bold move for MTV,” admits Charlie Weber, who plays Todd, an advertising hotshot that stirs up some trouble for new unpaid intern Daphne.

“I think it’s really brave that MTV is ending some of its core shows that have been big hits, and it’s taking a chance on some new things. I think our show is definitely relatable.”

He may be right. Dubbed a comedic drama, the series is likely to resonate with young audiences who know the feeling of putting lofty dreams aside upon reaching adulthood. But Weber is quick to clarify that the show is just as sweet as it is sour: “What I love about [producer] Craig Wright is that he has taken something that does hit home for many people, and he’s offering a lighthearted approach.

Yes, there’s the fact that these characters have to work some s----y jobs, and that’s part of life, but the show has a lot of heart. It makes you laugh. Yeah, they’re underemployed, but this is about their lives, and it’s about so much more than just the jobs they have.”

Weber, 34, knows a thing or two about taking an unconventional career path.

The Missouri native attended college briefly before deciding it wasn’t for him and pursuing acting. “My path was different,” explains the actor, whose face fans may recognize from his days on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. “I had some opportunities and things that happened, and I chose not to finish school, but even in today’s environment or economy, you have to make the right decision for you. It’s different for everyone, and it’s important to do what you know you’re supposed to do.”

As his schedule has tightened up, one thing he has been sure to keep in focus is his health, something that isn’t always easy with hectic production days.

“You just make it happen,” Weber reveals. “Even if I feel like I’m busy all day, I try to get in a workout at least five days a week. When I’m working, I might work out on Saturday and Sunday, and then try to find two or three days in the week. I have to lift. Some people just have to run or jog. They don’t feel right if they don’t get to run. I don’t feel right if I’m not lifting weights. I grew up playing football and stuff, but once I hit 30, I realized I had to focus a little more on staying healthy.

I couldn’t just eat whatever I wanted anymore like I did in my 20s. So that’s when I got serious. I think it’s important.”

As Weber admits, his health and fitness are likely of interest to producers as well,

Photography: Gabriel Goldberg; Grooming: Elle Leary.

As the American economy appears to be at a standstill ,

considering some of his steamy scenes on the upcoming MTV series. “Todd kind of fits into the whole older-boss-youngintern fantasy. It’s great. That’s definitely what they’re going for with his character, and it’s going to be—interesting.”

As for what fans can expect next, Weber—who will also appear on season four of Syfy’s Warehouse 13—says right now he’s enjoying some time off. “I’m taking a break. We’re done shooting season one, and I just want to take a breather for now—take some time off and figure out the next move. We won’t know right away if the show gets a second season, so I’m just going to enjoy the down time, even if it’s temporary.”

MTV’s Underemployed premieres Oct. 16.

future sounds A

fun band with a quirky name, ∆ (pronounced Alt-J) formed when its members met while attending Leeds University in 2007. Composing this group is Gwil Sainsbury (guitar/bassist), Joe Newman (guitar/vocals), Gus Unger-Hamilton (keyboards) and Thom Green (drums).

The name comes from the command to achieve the Greek Delta sign on a Mac computer. According to the British indiealternative group, another inspiration for their name is that “Delta” in mathematical equations shows change.

Having had great success in Europe with their debut album, An Awesome Wave, the four guys have released the album in the States and are currently on tour in the U.S. And their music is already catching fire.

Easily creating a genre within itself with sweet falsettos, vocal harmonies, and an all-together interesting mixture of musical forms, this quartet from across the pond surprises with each track. While the band is still very much in its infancy, they have already been compared to the likes of Radiohead. And fellow English act Mumford and Sons—whose album Babel is on track to break multiple records for 2012—has even taken notice, covering the group’s song “Tessellate” last month.

The band spent years building a presence and perfecting their craft before releasing their first full-length album. All the years of practice in their tiny dorm rooms have paid off with their early success and the attention this band is attracting around the world. ∆ currently has dates lined up in various parts of the globe, from the U.S. to the U.K., with a few stops in Australia and France.

∆ (ALT-J) the sounds you need to hear

ICONA POP

I

cona Pop, a Swedish duo comprised of best friends Aino Jawo and Carlonie Hjelt, have taken the interwebs by storm this year and plan to keep the momentum going with their sophomore EP, The Iconic, releasing this month.

This project features new tracks and a few previously released titles. It serves as a follow-up to their debut EP, Manners.

Included in the new EP is their contagious and most popular song to date, “I Love It.” The group first jumped into the scene and gained international attention from their first single, “Manners.” In 2011, the group was featured on “Mind Your Manners,” a song from the popular U.S. hip-hop group Chiddy Bang, and the title was also the first single on the latter’s debut album, Breakfast.

With an infectious blend of pop hooks and punk beats with an electronic flare, the duo has more than 22,000 “Likes” on Facebook and is adding to that number daily. The group is constantly active on the web, positing about tour travels and interacting with their fans throughout the day.

Having made their U.S. debut this summer with dates in New York and California, the group has added several more U.S. shows this fall with festival dates in Los Angeles, New York, and Austin.

Keep an eye on these two. 2013 looks pretty bright for them.

DIVINE FITS

F

orming just this year, Spoon frontman Britt Daniel linked up with former Handsome Furs frontman, and member of Wolf Parade, Dan Boeckner, to form the band, Divine Fits. Having come together in a less-thantypical way, the band found itself in the studio alongside New Bomb Turks drummer Sam Brown, and with the help of keyboardist Alex Fischel and producer Nick Launay, they recorded their debut album, A Thing Called Divine Fits.

While all members come from commercially successful bands, they’re finding out quickly that there’s plenty of room for their new collaboration. They are already filling dates across the U.S. and at the 2013 Laneway Festival, which makes stops in Singapore, New Zealand, and Australia. The guys also made a recent appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, performing “Would That Not Be Nice,” a song laced with the vigorous drum beats and anthem lyrics that make up the band’s signature sound.

Buzz continues to grow for this odd ensemble, but it appears all the initial success is just a preview of what’s to come.

With some shows already selling out, the band can only go up from here.

Their album is available now and many of their U.S. dates are still on sale. To follow along on the band’s adventures and for more information, visit their website, www.divinefits.com. News and videos are posted regularly.

future sounds

W

hen brothers Jason and Baron Harper decided to leave the band Scattered Trees, it left the remaining members questioning what was to become of the now trio. Nate Eiesland, Alissa Ricci, and Ryne Estwing were still scheduled to record a follow-up album to Scattered Trees’ Sympathy, but they just didn’t feel like the same band anymore.

While in line to watch Miike Snow perform at SXSW, the three decided to play the remaining dates of their tour under the previous name, but after that, ON AN ON would rise from what was left of Scattered Trees.

With a new name came a new sound.

The group has branched from what some would have described as indie-pop into a more electronic sound that meshes the old with the new. The experimental sound that comes from ON AN ON might surprise some fans that followed the group from their previous act, but it’s such a good sound.

A prime example of the new band’s endless potential can be found in the addicting single “Ghosts.” It’s one of those repeat-worthy songs that could play multiple times without complaint.

The band just finished up tour dates with Reptar and their new album, Give In, is slated to be released from Roll Call Records in January. If that seems like too long to wait, go ahead and give “Ghosts” a listen in preparation for the full-length.

ON AN ON

BEYOND THE LIGHTS

ELLIE

GOULDING

THE BRITISH SONGSTRESS TALKS FOOD, FITNESS AND HER FUTURE AHEAD OF A BRAND NEW ALBUM

E

BY RACHEL FAYLENE

Ellie Goulding originally set out to pursue a career in drama while she attended the University of Kent.

Her life plan, however, took a turn in a different direction, eventually landing her an unexpected career in music.

“I suppose I just started singing. People paid a lot of attention to my voice and I started writing my own songs, so I just got a bit more attention,” says Goulding. “I felt people were giving me praise, and I started doing open mic nights a lot and doing little shows with my guitar, and eventually I developed a reputation, a good reputation.”

She went on to win a singing competition during her time at Kent, which served as a launch pad to her musical endeavors. Once she realized how musically capable she was, Goulding took a leap of faith and decided to leave the university before graduating, trusting that the world would accept her as a singer-songwriter.

“I had no idea what was going to happen,” she admits. “I left with no money, moved to London, and just hoped for the best. There was no guarantee of me succeeding at all.”

The EP titled An Introduction to Ellie Goulding was released in 2009 after she signed to Polydor Records. Shortly after, she released her debut album Lights in 2010, nabbing the No. 1 position on the U.K. albums charts and selling more than 850,000 copies. Following in the footsteps of the talented Adele, she managed to become only the second musician to win the Critic’s Choice Award as well as top the BBC’s annual Sound of… poll back-to-back.

The success of the album didn’t stop there, however. Lights contained what would eventually be the hit single that spiked her popularity and made a way for her into American music. Goulding hit the scene strong with the U.S. release of

the title single “Lights” in March 2011.

The track then climbed Billboard, having spent a year and a half in the Hot 100 and peaking at No. 2, while topping the Radio Songs and Pop charts.

With numerous musical accolades and achievements to her credit, taking a long, uncertain road proved her days as a drama student were worth leaving behind.

Making TV appearances on shows such as Saturday Night Live and The Late Show with David Letterman, collaborating with other well-known artists, and performing at major events (including the royal wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton), Goulding’s success is evident.

And now comes the release of her second studio album, Halcyon.

The formal use of the term “halcyon” can be defined as a period of time in the past that was idyllically happy and peaceful. It is also known as a brightly colored tropical Asian and African kingfisher.

“I’m really fascinated with what ended up being the theme [of the album], which is the ocean,” she explains. “[Halcyon] is actually like a bird. It’s something that I’ve been interested in because I write my songs about the ocean, poetry about the ocean…absolute happiness and peacefulness.”

The soprano singer expresses excitement to move forward in her career and to start a new adventure, confessing “‘Lights’ has been out for a while and I’m not over it, but I’ve sang it so many times now. I’m just excited to sing a new song really.”

And with the new album comes renowned inspiration. The tracks for Halcyon are said to be influenced by a poem titled “Dead in the Water.”

“It’s a poem that I read about this guy drowning at sea, engulfed at sea. I just felt it was the saddest thing I’d ever heard,”

says Goulding. “Some of [the songs] are quite emotional. I like the idea of the escapism of light, of peacefulness. I have a very big connection to every single song.”

Goulding’s traditional songwriting techniques include her guitar and voice accompanied by a bigger vision of what the full instrumentation version would consist of in the studio. The writing process for Halcyon, however, took a different approach.

“I have this love affair with particular instruments and sounds, and it just so happened that on this record, it was the harp,” says Goulding. “I’m fascinated with piano because I can’t play it very well. I still do play guitar, but it’s actually electric guitar that I love.”

Hoping to surpass the triumph of her previous works, Goulding sat down with her harp and grand scale imagination to create a record that she is truly proud to release. She was also accompanied by her trusted producer, Jim Eliot, who seems to have made a significant impact on the album.

“I get this rush of vision for a song in my head before I write it so I can almost imagine everything else, but also it’s good to have someone to collaborate with all the time,” she admits. “They can bring something even more special to the table and that’s how I found Jim Eliot, which was, like, heaven-sent because he was such an asset to this record and such a strong person, such a strong character to work with; I struck gold with him, I think.”

Goulding and Eliot partnering together for Halcyon appears to have generated a positivity that is reflected in the sound.

Both artists poured their creative differences into the album in a manner that left Goulding feeling appreciative and confident.

“ RIHanna is actually an inspiration because I just think she never stops working or making music—she’s been an inspiration to me.”

“Me and Jim didn’t argue about anything,” she recalls. “He’s very trusting and he puts his faith in me, in my decisions. It was just a perfect combination.”

In comparison to her previous electronic-favored album, Halcyon is better categorized as a pop record, according to the songstress.

“It’s a bit more tribal and anthemic; a bit more piano and vocal than anything.

The last album was very electronic, but it was tied in with my voice; this one, to me, is way more of a pop record.”

Growing up with influences surrounding both the electronic and pop world gives Goulding an advantage in magnifying her personal style with the two sounds.

“Stuff I grew up to is what I listened to on the radio a lot, and my mom would make mix tapes of radio DJs. I liked a lot of different types of music when I was young,” says Goulding. “My mom and my uncle used to listen to a lot of electronic [music]. They were really into house and dance music when I was young, so when I rediscovered electronic music in a completely new way, I felt like I already had a familiarity with it.”

In some cases, the pop genre and radio hits are frowned upon for not being “organic” or “authentic” enough.

Today’s pop icons can appear as puppets for major labels and, at times, can be forced to churn out a song or an album for the sake of staying relevant. Goulding, however, recognizes hard work and dedication, giving credit to those that she looks up to in the industry.

“Rihanna is actually an inspiration because I just think she never stops working or making music—she’s been an inspiration to me,” reveals Goulding. “Also, the singers that are just coming out… I’m just so happy to hear so

much good news coming from female singers.”

Legend and Iceland singer-songwriter Björk also makes the list, frequently noted as the No. 1 placeholder on Goulding’s list of influential people.

“My hero is actually Björk because she just seems completely fearless,” she contends. “Björk was the singer that made the biggest impression on me. I loved her lyrics, I loved the things that she focused on...the enormity of the production of her songs and the fact that she could have such a fragile voice and then have the biggest voice in the world.”

Additional influence derives from boyfriend and musical partner Sonny Moore, better known by his stage name Skrillex. Moore is known for his top ranking in the EDM (electronic dance music) world and collaborating with many other well-known artists, including Goulding.

But she is slow to define her own music as EDM, although fans and critics have done it for her in the past.

“I’m so in this electronic dance music world because of all the remixes and because I provide vocals for some producers, and I just kind of got put into this world,” she admits. “My stuff gets remixed a lot; I think that’s it.”

And while she appears hesitant to claim her impact on the scene, she and Skrillex are perceived to be an EDM powerhouse couple, sharing their music, fans, and fame.

“It’s cool that we can influence people, I suppose. We both were mutual fans of each other,” Goulding says. “We can help each other and work with each other, and maybe we might have similar fan bases, I guess.”

As an artist on the road and in the studio, maintaining a fan base, a boyfriend, and a healthy lifestyle can be draining. But Goulding puts time and energy into the things that are important to her.

“I make sure there is always a gym at a hotel or a place to run [while on the road],” says Goulding. “Also, the rider is always out for me, so there is always a specific rider for food. I just stay low carb, really. That’s what I try to do most of the time. I like to cook but I don’t want to lie and say that I cook all the time, because I don’t. I’m never really home,” she confesses.

Wherever the road may take her, Goulding makes it a point to eat healthy, even if life leaves her no time to cook. Her tour rider differs from the rest of her team’s

requests in multiple ways. Salad, humus, cheese, and meat are a typical spread for the health-conscious singer. The rest of the group indulge in crepes and bread for sandwich making to accompany their whiskey and vodka, she says.

Whether it’s her healthy diet and exercise that keep her going or just a pure drive to succeed, she comes off as headstrong and dedicated to her personal needs while entertaining her fans on the road.

During her downtime, Goulding likes to indulge in some of her favorite cuisines that consist of Japanese- and Thai-inspired foods. She also enjoys chowing down on lots of chicken, vegetables, and fish to keep the low-carb trend going. There are, however, items that will never be found on Goulding’s list of must-haves.

“I can’t stand olives, can’t stand coffee.

I just hate them,” she says. “I can’t stand the taste—it makes me sick just thinking about them.”

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle on and off the road keeps Goulding in shape and determined. She pushes herself professionally and physically with her love for running and appreciation for the finer foods in life. Participating in half marathons and influencing people to pick up the habit are part of her routine.

“I think I’ve run further than half marathons, I just stopped a few times on the way to walk for a bit,” she says. “One day I just started running. I can’t explain it other than I just had this urge to go for a run one day, and I had never really ran in my life apart from school and stuff.”

While Goulding has made a habit of hitting the track regularly, she confesses that it wasn’t an easy thing to get into at first, claiming, “[Running] is genuinely a really hard thing to do when you first start because your body needs to understand what is going on.”

It is refreshing to have an influential artist emphasize the importance of fitness over appearance, specifically with young women. And while she stresses the importance of a healthy lifestyle, she also dishes about her guilty pleasures: chocolates, desserts, and cereal.

“Now and again, I really have a sweet tooth,” she admits. “I like the cereal called Lucky Charms, but I’m upset because it’s so bad for you.”

Like Goulding’s favorite sugary snack, her music is a sweet indulgence fans have come to crave. But while Goulding believes in a healthy moderation, her fans can’t get enough of her music, and will keep coming back for more as long as the singer keeps dishing it out.

-V

WEB WONDER

NOAH

Noah Guthrie’s story is like that of many other up-and-coming musicians. He has played music since a young age, as well as developed and matured in his songwriting.

He has performed at many coffee shops and talent shows, and in front of an audience of none. But he has also performed in front of millions without having to leave the comfort of his own home.

With technology being so pervasive in pop culture today, it can take just minutes for a video to get uploaded on the Web and shared by millions across the globe. That’s what happened to Guthrie with his spin on the popular LMFAO song “Sexy and I Know It.” Within 48 hours, Guthrie had a million views and was being contacted by The Today Show. “I flew to New York, met Matt Lauer and Ann Curry, and I think I cried a little bit,” jokes Guthrie.

Even though Guthrie writes original music, he knew that people weren’t trying to find him online. “Nobody was typing in ‘Noah Guthrie songs’ or anything,” he says. “So it was just a way to get my ideas out there and my music out there. I think it’s worked.”

Worked it has. With millions of views on numerous videos, Guthrie is now working on his debut album filled with all original songs—no covers needed. Collaborating with the likes of Vinyl Pinups, Guthrie is excited to get his album out for all of his fans.

So what’s to be expected from a guy with a bluesy voice that takes on songs from Taylor Swift to LMFAO? Guthrie says to just expect his own sound. “Hopefully it will be kind of soulful…it’s hard to describe the genre I’m going after.”

Not everyone is as lucky as Guthrie with the route he has chosen to get his music out to the public, but he sees it as a great tool for everyone trying to pursue music dreams.

“Anyone, anywhere, with an idea or some kind of influence they want to put on the world can literally go from the bedroom to the Internet, and it’s going to go everywhere,” explains Guthrie. “For musicians especially, the musician goes and plays shows constantly.

But the old grassroots way is kind of—it’s not dying, but it’s getting smaller because technology has taken over the music industry in certain ways. It’s just an awesome tool.”

BY EMILY HULSEBERG This tool has brought Guthrie an experience that others only dream about, the chance to make an album and collaborate with other great musicians.

Regardless of the path taken, Guthrie sees music as the only option for him. “I would be happy to just play music all my life, to make my living off my music and just be able to support a family and myself. Yes, if fame comes along with it, that’s wonderful, I welcome it with open arms, but I would be happy writing music and playing music for the rest of my life.”

Some advice from Guthrie to others trying to take on the Web world: “If you have a really original idea, people [will] kind of latch on and give you the support you need.”

There is no date set for the release of Noah’s album, but his covers can be found at youtube.com/only1noah.

BY JONATHAN ROBLES

IT’S SO HARD TO SAY GOODBYE . . .

JOHN KRASINSKI ON JIM AND PAM & THE FINAL DAYS AT DUNDER MIFFLIN

E I G H T Y E A R S after introducing viewers to Michael Scott and the hilarious 9-to-5 antics at Dunder Mifflin, The Office is only a few short months from closing its doors forever. And for fans and cast alike, it’s starting to sink in that one of the most beloved comedies of the last decade is about to come to an end.

“It’s bittersweet,” says John Krasinski, whose Jim Halpert has been pulling pranks since the show’s first season. “It’s really, really sad to think—I don’t think any of us have actually internalized the fact that this was going to come to an end. I think I know how Steve [Carell] felt. But it’s also incredibly thrilling. What an honor to be a part of a show that’s gone on long enough and had a fan base of dedicated people long enough that we can actually end the show the way we want to, and end the characters the way we want to.”

For many loyal fans, it’s these characters that have drawn them in to Scranton, Penn., week after week for nearly a decade. Even after Steve Carell (who portrayed Michael Scott) left the show in 2011, viewers still tuned in to follow the paper company’s latest activity because of the power-driven Dwight Schrute, the

senile Creed Bratton, the sociallyinappropriate Meredith Palmer, and of course, Jim and Pam. Joining the ranks of a few select TV couples, Jim and Pam (Jenna Fischer) have arguably become the Ross and Rachel of a new generation, and as reality sets in, fans will be watching closely to find out what is to become of “PB and J.” Will they get their happily ever after? Will they stay at Dunder Mifflin forever?

Krasinski himself doesn’t know how it all will end, as the writers will be keeping the cast somewhat in the dark about the comedy’s final episodes until early 2013. But he does know where things are heading: “Starting with the season premiere, you just have to pay attention. There are things that are going to happen early on that are important. There are things from past seasons that didn’t seem like a big deal, but they mean something, and we finally find out why.”

One of The Office’s trademark strengths has been in its ability to carry storylines out over multiple seasons, playing at times almost like a mini soap opera. And according to Krasinski, that’s been part of the thrill. “Jenna and I—I remember from the early days—would just run to our desks and run to our trailers to see the new scripts and see where we’re going, and where they were go-

ing to take us, which is pretty thrilling … To do the Jim and Pam story was phenomenal, and to be a part of this is truly the most proud I’ve ever been of anything.”

While the long-running series has had a great run, ratings have dipped in recent years and many of its stars have translated their success on the show into bigger opportunities. Krasinski has taken his humor to the big screen while Mindy Kaling (Kelly), who appeared in the season premiere, recently debuted her own comedy The Mindy Project on Fox, and Rainn Wilson (Dwight) is planning to spin his character into a show of his own.

As for The Office, the timing is right.

“There’s a good feeling on set,” Krasinski reveals. “The energy is high and the creativity is running stronger than ever. We know this is it, and we’re ending it on our terms. I know as we get closer to the finale, it will be harder, but it’s hard not to feel good about nine seasons of a great show like this.”

The Office airs Thursdays at 9:00/8:00c, with the series finale slated for May 2013.

W H E R E V E R Y O U R S TO R Y TAKES YOU, W E’LL BE THERE.

TAT E P U B L I S H I N G TAT E P U B L I S H I N G. C O M

A

merican folk singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile recently released her fifth major label album, Bear Creek. Named after old barn-turned-studio in which it was recorded, the album was completely written and produced by her and band members Tim and Phil Hanseroth—identical twins who also spent time as members of The Fighting Machinists.

“I’m closer to Bear Creek than I have been to any other album,” Carlile says.

“Me and the twins made this record essentially without a producer, so I feel very different not to have anyone at the wheel to blame if people don’t like it. What I want to know is what fans think of the album because if it doesn’t resonate with someone, or if it doesn’t work out, then there’s no one to blame but me and the twins.”

But why did she choose to do this album without a producer? Carlile says it’s something they’ve always wanted to try.

“The presence of T-Bone Burnett and Rick Rubin, that’s a massive presence when you’re making a record,” says Carlile of their previous recording experience. “It was pretty special because we learned a lot from it. But we kind of wanted to take the knowledge that we gained from those two men and learn how to apply it ourselves, to our own lives. It’s kind of that perpetual student concept; like you learn and you learn and eventually you have to learn to apply what you’ve learned yourself and that’s why Bear Creek is what it is.”

The trio did bring on Grammy-award winning producer, Trina Shoemaker, to co-produce—a decision Carlile raves about.

“Trina Shoemaker is a fantastic producer, engineer; someone that I admire undyingly,” says Carlile. “I had such a great time working with her. She blew my mind. She’d get to the studio and she wouldn’t leave. For like a month, she just stayed there.”

Part of not having a producer meant that the band didn’t have to go anywhere to do the album.

“We did it at home [in Woodinville, Wash.] and our band played on the record. Our road band and our road crew were the administrative assistants in the studio,” Carlile explains. “Our sound en-

gineer was the assistant engineer. So it felt like the road. This album sounds like the road.”

Carlile possesses a wisdom and perspective beyond her years, because eight years after the release of her first album in 2004, she says she’s learned so much and hopes to keep learning.

“It’s the moment that you think you’ve arrived that you’re furthest away from it,” Carlile believes. “I’ve spent a great deal of time on the road and when I come home over the years, I’ve had a difficult time integrating or assimilating back into my life.

I think the most important thing that I’ve learned personally is to completely intertwine the two. Try as hard as you can not to make yourself two separate people because the closer you stay to your roots, the closer you stay to who you are, the better art you’ll create. It’s cyclical.”

Sound advice for any artist.

It’s clear Carlile is doing what she loves and is thankful for that. Her idea of success in the music business is just being able to continue what’s she’s doing.

“I think anyone in the art business knows that it’s a gift just to be able to continue, to not have to stop,” she adds. “Every day I wake up and I can still sing, and I can still travel and I can still relate to my fans and my family.”

It’s no secret that touring is a big part of Carlile’s life—the last decade has been spent building a career on the road. But her approach to touring is about more than the bottom line.

“I’ve toured and built my fan base on the road because I believe that’s where music happens. It happens in front of other people,” she explains. “For me it’s not a solitary pursuit. I love to perform and I want to know what people think about my songs and my voice and my presence. I don’t feel reserved or shy about it. I think there’s something to be said about for taking the word on the road.”

Having started out on her own with just a guitar and a Texas-sized voice, Carlile’s roots give her much to say about what makes good music.

“I think there’s room in the world for all kinds of music, but I come from the school of thought that a song is only a good song if you can play it when the electricity goes out,” says Carlile. “If you can sit down and play a song on an acous-

A FINE FRENZY SHE’S BACK.

IN

2007, a wave rippled through adult contemporary music as Alison Sudol, the singer-songwriter and pianist known as A Fine Frenzy, made her debut with the bittersweet breakup ballad, “Almost Lover,” on her first studio release, One Cell in the Sea.

Between then and now, Sudol’s music has gained momentum on television shows from House to The Hills, and her second album, Bomb in a Birdcage, gave listeners more spunky and thoughtful alternative pop in 2009. But then, the sweet red-tressed songstress went silent, and fans wondered if they’d heard the last of her powerful and playful pipes.

It’s been three years, and Sudol is breaking the silence with a groundbreaking new creative project that touches every sense. Part music, part storytelling and all raw emotion, PINES releases Oct. 9, accompanied by an original short film and book by Sudol.

“This project is just more,” she explains. “It’s deeper. It’s wider. It’s softer

BY AMANDA MORAD when it’s soft; it’s bigger when it’s big. The highs are higher, the lows are lower. It’s just a much more colorful record. And then it’s also a story. The whole record is a journey from one song to the next so there’s a thread that winds through the whole record.”

That’s right. PINES tells the imaginative story of a pining conifer who is magically

given the chance to make her own decisions and create a life outside the forest.

“There once was a forest, vast and deep, which grew as wide as the eye could see,” starts the story. “But that was another time. Now there was only one lonely pine.”

The animated short film, narrated by Sudol’s soft and sultry voice, integrates

hand-cut sets, puppets, stop motion, physical effects, and layered glass, giving it just the right touch of childlike wonder and whimsy. The film premieres on Take Part TV on Oct. 2.

Sudol’s thirteen new songs pay homage to their namesake in the breadth and depth of their musical landscape. The newest single, “Now Is the Start,” (cur-

rently heard in ads for American Eagle and American Greetings) brings in layers of upbeat voices in the new “tradition” of pop bands like Grouplove and The Naked & Famous, but “Avalanches” returns to the soft and soulful ballad that made A Fine Frenzy a household name five years ago.

“I wanted to create an environment where a person could retreat to, somewhere vivid and real where their minds and hearts could wander freely,” she says. “I wanted it to be a place you could go to feel, like a quiet spot in a forest or the sea on a cloudy day.”

As a consummate storyteller through her writing (with or without a piano), Sudol constantly has irons in the fire, writing songs and stories and other creative pieces all at the same time. For some artists, this produces a war of passions, but Sudol uses each part of her creativity to feed the others.

“I have a huge amount of creative energy, but sometimes things get stuck in one particular medium or another,” she explains. “So when I was writing the record and the book I just kind of passed the torch back and forth. I would get stuck on the song but then I would work on the book or the story, or I would think about the film. Everything kind of fed everything else, and it was really a balancing thing because it wasn’t like all my focus and attention was just stuck on one medium.

“I think I got the benefit of objectivity.

I could step away from things and still be creative, and then come back. It was great.”

Even now, as her “baby” releases, she’s still writing. “I’m trying to focus on the album, but it’s kind of a stress reliever for me to be creative. So I just started writing another project today, like a nut case,” she quips. “There’s going to be a lot over the next few years.”

Sudol isn’t wasting any time in promoting the project. Her co-headlining North American tour with Joshua Radin starts Oct. 11. “I’m excited to connect with people again because I’ve been quite, I wouldn’t say a hermit, but I’ve been quite silent the past few years, and I’m really excited to connect with fans,” she says. “I’m also excited to see the

world and travel and to grow, because every time I tour, I always grow.”

One major change fans will notice as Sudol comes out of her creative cocoon is that her trademark fiery red hair is now blonde. An effort to remake herself? Quite the opposite, actually: “Everything I do comes from a personal place. I don’t usually do anything to make a statement without having some sort of reason for it. For me, I just needed to return—pardon the pun— to my roots. I am blonde naturally and I just wanted to be really there with this record. I wanted to be exposed as a person and that meant kind of returning to who I am naturally.”

This natural self is what Sudol says she wants fans to really see this time around, and that starts long before her first appearance on tour. On social platforms like Twitter and Instagram, Sudol is constantly engaging with fans through conversations and photo contests.

“The whole reason that I make music, that I make art or anything is because I want to connect with people and I want to help people to connect with themselves,” she explains. “I want to give back to the people. I want people’s hearts to be affected by what I do, and that’s the greatest joy that I get out of it.

Sometimes it’s a bit more work to sit and go through thousands of photos to pick my favorite, but it’s important to me because I can tell it’s getting people to think creatively and also to get outside and look around at their environments and to feel like they’re being heard and seen. To me, that’s a gift even though it’s time consuming. It’s worth it.”

This attitude extends to her perception of pressure in the face of having thousands of young fans—especially young girls—looking up to her. “You know, it is a pressure but it’s a healthy one. It makes me think about my choices really carefully and it makes me step back from things a lot of the time and really look around and evaluate to make sure what I’m saying is something I believe in. I think it’s a responsibility and it’s also an honor to even have that position, so I take it really quite seriously. I think it’s crazy, but it’s wonderful that I would be able to help people like that.”

In light of her place as a role model, Variance took a few questions from A Fine Frenzy’s Twitter followers: Are there any plans to release fanfavorite song “Ride-Goldrush” soon?

Gosh, that came out ages ago! I don’t think we have any plans to release it currently, but it’s nice to know that someone’s into it. That’s cool (laughs). It’s not even on my radar, but I’ll check into if lots of people are asking about it.

What’s the most difficult process to go through when writing a record?

I always just write what’s natural and authentic. Sometimes songs just come naturally and easily. Sometimes, there’s just one part that I can’t quite get to the truth on and I have to dig and dig and dig and dig ... but it’s part of the process, there’s not anything really particularly difficult, it’s just all what it is.

What’s a song by someone else that truly moves you?

“Which Will” by Nick Drake. It’s one of the most living, breathing songs. I don’t know, it just does something to my heart that’s pretty powerful. “Harvest Moon” [by Neil Young], I listen to all the time.

“Stacks” by Bon Iver. “Those to Come”

by The Shins. Those are some of my favorites.

Do you have a favorite track on the new album?

No, it just depends on my mood what I gravitate towards more, but each song is very special to me in its own way. They’re all my children. I can’t choose favorites.

We can’t get enough of your music.

Whose music can you not get enough of?

Oh, I love all kinds of things. I love Grizzly Bear, I love Bon Iver. There’s a band called Here We Go Magic that I’m like totally obsessed with; Gonzales’s piano project, I love; Nick Drake, Simon and Garfunkel, Cat Power and Fleet Foxes are my favorites!

PINES is available everywhere Oct. 9.

Also check out the upcoming tour with A Fine Frenzy and Joshua Radin.

Tyler James Williams sure has grown up a lot over the last three years.

Following his breakthrough role as a young Chris Rock on Everybody Hates Chris, Williams decided to step into the shadows for a while.

Having worked on theatre and film projects since the show ended in 2009, it wasn’t until reading a script for NBC’s new comedy Go On that he suddenly felt like the time was right to come back to television.

“The thing about TV is that it’s exhausting,” Williams, 19, explains. “I made a decision after doing Everybody Hates Chris that I didn’t really want to jump back into another series. The schedule is really draining, but it’s also very stressful to carry a show. When I read this script and I noticed that it was an ensemble, I was like, ‘OK, maybe this can happen.’ Reading the script for the pilot, I was really attracted to it. There was something about it that stood out.”

Go On centers around sportscaster Ryan King’s (Matthew Perry) attempts to move on following the loss of his wife by joining a support group. Seen as a risk for the network, it received high marks for its preview during the Olympics and has done well in early fall ratings. Although full of laughs, the show also has its fair share of emotion. For example, Williams’ character, Owen, has a brother in a coma following a skiing accident, and he has been unable to open up to the group about it until a plausible exchange with Perry’s character.

But according to Williams, those teary-eyed moments may be part of the show’s draw.

“This was one of the main reasons why I decided to do it,” he reveals.

“It’s not just a comedy. These char-

acters are dealing with loss, and that’s part of their story. They are going through real things and, in the midst of all that, some funny things happen. I was talking to my mom about the episode where Ryan (Perry) kept waking up at 1:23 a.m., and it’s like, ‘Wow, this guy still expects his dead wife to turn over and hit him in his sleep.’

It’s one of those crazy mixed salads, where you get something salty and very sweet. You go through all of these feelings in 30 minutes and, yes, there are moments that are going to touch your heart. You realize that these people love that guy, and you’re going to eventually love him, too. That’s what makes the show what it is.”

It’s certainly a much different environment from 1983 Brooklyn that Williams was used to in his last TV role, but he welcomes the challenge: “With the role of Chris, these almost ridiculous situations were happening around him.

With Owen, there’s not as much material written out in words. I have to actually do more work to figure out, OK, how does he feel about this? What is his relationship to each person? How does he feel about this person? Then I have to make it as vivid as possible, while still meshing with all the other characters’ stories.”

As Williams acknowledges, one of the great challenges of having an ensemble cast is having an ensemble of stories, but he credits Perry for helping bring it all together.

“Working with him is great,” he says of the former Chandler Bing.

“He’s getting to show a different side of himself here, but I feel like he’s definitely handling it very well. He doesn’t have a ‘this is my show’ mindset. He views it as an ensemble, which keeps the energy up when we’re in those group rooms until 4 a.m., shooting in a circle. It keeps us creative and it gets rid of all forms of ego.”

Fans of another ensemble show

recently targeted Go On as being too similar to fellow NBC comedy Community. But Williams doesn’t agree: “As much as I love Community—I don’t feel like it gets its due and I feel it’s one of the most underrated shows on television right now—and I can see how people would make the comparison, I don’t necessarily think it’s fair. Mainly because of where the characters go. I can understand it for the pilot, but as we begin to see the characters break out and how their lives shift, that’s what separates us. It’s going to be interesting to see how they evolve in the future.”

As for Williams’ own future, this former child actor has definitely put himself on a good path, starting with his latest role. But he’s not stopping there. He will also appear early next year in Tyler Perry’s We The Peeples, and it appears he’s just getting started.

Go On airs Tuesdays on NBC.

TYLER JAMES WILLIAMS HE GREW UP & MOVED ON

BY JONATHAN ROBLES

NOW PLAYING

THA IN CROWD

SPOTLIGHT

P

op culture is just a mere thought, and music is a way of life—it has no boundaries.” That is according to Deandrea “Q.Z.” Williams and Josh “J-5ive” Leonard, who together form the Mississippi-based hip-hop duo Tha In Crowd.

Williams and Leonard met in high school math class, and they played together on their school’s basketball team. They both had big aspirations of becoming basketball stars, and they spent their high school years chasing big dreams. Unfortunately, due to injuries, those Lebron-sized dreams came to a crashing halt, and the two were left to figure out where they wanted to go in life now that their plans had changed.

That’s when they began to focus on music, something neither had ever considered before.

Drawing attention in the hip-hop world and gaining recognition from the media, Tha In Crowd seems to be hitting all the right notes, making basketball fantasies a thing of the past. But the music industry

is no cakewalk either, as the duo is quick to acknowledge.

“The greatest thing we’ve learned since being in the music industry is patience,” reveals Williams. “We now understand it’s a business, and there are separate machines at work that have to come together. Patience is truly a virtue.”

Having endured past sports injuries and other setbacks, just as it seemed their music was starting to progress, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf region in 2005, leaving both musicians without a home. But they refused to give up, and after having a chance to recover from the storm and regroup, Tha In Crowd reemerged, this time stronger than before.

While both members still maintain other projects outside of their joint act, the challenge now is keeping everything in balance.

“It’s very hard,” says Leonard of their efforts to keep everything in check. “We’ve been fortunate to be blessed with separate ventures apart from music, [but] spending time with family becomes very important

when you’re always in the studio working to be great. Sometimes we have to take that time out and just relax and free our minds.

Other than God, family is number one to us.”

Although starting to make their mark on the industry they love, they also acknowledge that the hip-hop and R&B categories can tend to be full of overinflated egos and a great sense of competitiveness compared to most other genres.

But that’s not the game they’re playing.

“We are humble guys,” explains Williams.

“We are very appreciative to be where we are and we love doing what we do.”

The duo is currently working on separate projects as well as music together. With a current playlist consisting of Frank Ocean, Lana Del Rey, and Gotye, one can only imagine the sounds these two will come up with next.

In the meantime, check out their album Balance of Power, which is currently available on iTunes.

Q&A TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB

BY JONATHAN ROBLES

In 2010, electropop/rock trio Two Door Cinema Club unleashed Tourist History on the world, and they spent the next two years touring in support of that album—which somehow made its way across the world, sparking a movement of fans who had apparently been eager for the eclectic sounds this Irishborn band offered.

Two very short—or very long— years later, the boys are back with a full-length album that seems to build on their debut without tarnishing their previous offering. One listen of Beacon, and it’s obvious this is still very much Two Door Cinema Club, with overflowing energy ready for a small dance party and determined guitar riffs appropriate for the big stage.

As these humble rockers prepare to tour America and the world for the next half year (and beyond), bass player and vocalist Kevin Baird took some time to fill in fans on the latest happenings, including the trinity of food, beer and politics.

Do you ever sit back and think about the fact that there are people all over the world listening to your music—right now? How does that feel?

It’s a good feeling when you really think about it, because we come from a very, very, small, tiny island, and we also never really look at ourselves as British or like a London band.

We never focused primarily on the U.K. like some bands do; we were always interested in playing everywhere. Of course, America is somewhere we did put a lot of good priority, and even so on the first record, and probably even more so on this record. We love coming here and we love playing shows for the fans here; it’s really great. It’s just nice because it’s almost like starting all over again when you come to America, starting a whole new territory.

You’re actually touring through a ton of places, into March, right?

We’re much further than March, but we just haven’t told anyone yet. (Laughs) Assuming you tour just as much as the last album, how do you guys deal with being on the road for such a long stretch of time?

We got pretty used to it by now.

We drove a lot on the first record, and it took up three years of our lives, so I guess it’s kind of what we’re used to at the moment, you know? We probably spend like three days out of the month where we’re not on the road somewhere. It’s kind of crazy but I mean, I’m not going to

lie, sometimes we don’t plan, we get homesick, but we deal with it. I don’t think we would be able to deal with it if we didn’t love what we were doing. It would be impossible to deal with it if we didn’t love it.

Considering how much time you spend together constantly, how do you deal with conflict?

We, of course, have arguments and fights and things like that.

I think early on we probably didn’t handle it so well, and I wasn’t pleased with how we did, but we were very stubborn. I think it comes down to us knowing each other since we were 13 or 14 years old. Throughout that history, we know that one silly little fight is not going to break up the band or break up our relationship or anything.

Someone new to equation for the album was producer Jacknife Lee. What was it like working with him?

We’re really in love with a lot of the stuff he’s worked on before, and we were kind of sold to work with him. He’s just a really great guy, but I think we had preconceived ideas in our heads about what a big rock star would be like and all the negative thoughts, but we were just totally absent when we met him.

There’s not a single person I’ve met that I think loves music more than him. He’s just like a normal guy with a family. We got to know him on a personal level, and we like the same sorts of music. It was a real pleasure working with him.

Beacon as a title seems to be a reflection on you as a band. Would you agree?

Yes, specifically, it comes from the last track of the album, but it nearly summed up where we’ve been on the first record and where we’ve gone by the point of doing the second one. It kind of summed up our lives in the past couple of years, our core expansion and the band going on the road and having relative success. It’s reflective on the second album a lot that this is what comes next, our next chapter.

From the first time you guys posted the album artwork, fans were talking.

How did that come about?

(Laughs) Well, it basically came from a friend’s art collector, which we work with. We have worked with them quite a few times before, because they did the job for our first album and they did the music video for “I Can Talk,” so we really love their style. We just love what they do, and we wanted them to do the artwork on our second record as well. I just played them some of the tracks and gave them some references of what we like. We didn’t give them that much direction, so we kind of were interested in what they would come up with. They came up with that first idea, and we loved it.

Obviously, many Americans love your music. Are there any American artists whose music you like?

Oh, we really love many of the classic albums. That’s what inspires us. It’s hard to think of anyone currently, although there are certainly some we really like.

Definitely Passion Pit’s new album.

Since you’ve had the chance to spend so much time in this country, what is the biggest difference between American culture and that of Ireland?

Well, Ireland is a little different from what most Americans perceive of us. It is very similar, but everything is just bigger here in the States, like sizes of food and clothes. We don’t have any of that.

Some things kind of make more sense here though, like cities. Cities are laid out better here, and the roads make a lot more sense here. I would also say Ireland is a quite liberal establishment compared to America.

fresh mint, some avocados, smoothies, sandwiches, beer, ginger beer—lots of ginger beer. And low alcohol usually. We also had probiotic drinks, and then we realized what they are made from, so we took them off. Don’t ever drink those!

That’s probably true of many countries compared to America. It’s also an election year for us, which means non-stop news coverage here. How much do you all pay attention to our election?

It’s good that you know what you like, because you have a lot of sandwiches and ginger beer ahead of you, being that you’re all 23 or almost 23. Have you guys thought about the future and what’s come next after this?

It’s actually very important to us. I think that’s maybe another big difference.

Politics in Ireland, and really in Europe, aren’t like they are in America. But everywhere you turn, it’s American news. Many of us watch closely because we are interested in future relationships between both countries, and I mean, it’s probably the most popular story every year in Europe, the American elections.

Remember, America is pretty massive.

It’s pretty much the size of Europe. I think even New York City is probably bigger than Ireland, as well as France.

(Laughs) As you mentioned, the food options differ in America compared to other countries. But the band has had considerable success, so can you basically ask for anything you want on your concert rider now?

We’ve had a lot of experience when it comes to all that, and we know exactly what we want. At the moment, some of the highlights of the day have been some

Not really. We try not to think about it too much. We don’t set ourselves a goal of ‘we have to be playing at these size venues by the time we’re this huge,’ or anything like that. We’re happy either way. Yes, we’re much happier when the band is progressing, getting bigger and bigger. But we just love making music and doing shows, and hopefully our skill would get bigger and bigger over time.

The most important thing is that we have to love our own music first. I think it’s hard to imagine doing anything else but this, but as long as we’re still making music we like, we’re going to keep making albums.

-V

ABBY RYAN

AN AUTHOR

AGAINST THE ODDS

“I often get told I’m crazy,” claims young author Abby RyaN. At 20, she has written nearly as many stories to match her age, having started writing at 8 years old and seeing her first book Orphan of the Shadows published as a sophomore in high school. While her ambition at such a young age is noteworthy, it certainly isn’t an easy road to follow for a teenager.

“I have dyslexia, so reading books in school was never my favorite activity,” reveals the Iowa-born author. “That doesn’t help in writing either. I misspell a bunch of words, but spell check is amazing, and [my younger brother] comes in and fixes stuff spell check doesn’t catch.”

Although a little young for an industry that typically skews older, Ryan isn’t letting any obstacles hold her back. Her determination is evident, and her passion for what she does is undeniable. Last year, she set herself a lofty goal of writing 18 books over the next several years, a bar that might seem high even for some of her more accomplished idols. But the young

scribe has never shied away from a challenge, and she isn’t starting now—even if that means being “crazy.”

“I just chuckle and say ‘thanks,’” Ryan explains of her reaction to critics. “If being crazy is what I have to be to do what I am supposed to do, then I’m not ashamed. I’d rather spend my life being called crazy, than to hide in the corners scared of what people will think of me.”

This young woman certainly has a clear vision of what she wants, admitting that since releasing her first book, she has spent a great amount of time planning and plotting, learning the best approach for marketing this book—and the next one.

Right now, Ryan is already preparing for the upcoming release of Orphan’s sequel, The Black Trinity. The book is currently slated to release sometime in 2013, but she’s already writing ahead for future projects.

So with all these characters and plotlines, how does she keep up? And where does she find the inspiration?

“I generally have an idea for how the book will end,” says Ryan. “And [I have]

a huge surge of passion when I start my book. The scenes just fly at me. I can write about 7-10 chapters in a week when I start my books. After that, the fire dies a little and it’s an upward climb.”

But what separates Ryan from many of her young counterparts is that she keeps going. Inspired by many other accomplished authors such as Cassandra Clare, she knows that there is great reward in perseverance.

“Sometimes I have to force myself to write,” she admits. “But I’ve learned that if I just sit down and write, something will come. If I don’t exactly love something I wrote, I try to tell myself not to worry about it and just keep it. I go on and finish the book, then come back and fix the story.”

With an enviable work ethic and a gift for storytelling, this is likely only the beginning for Abby Ryan as she pursues her dreams. Orphan of the Shadows is available now, but be on the lookout for The Black Trinity.

earcandy

by Aaron Lachman

RYAN HUNT W

ANAÏS MITCHELL

I

n 2010, Anaïs Mitchell released an album called Hadestown. Conceived as a theater project based on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, the project evolved into a concept album with lush orchestration and guest singers playing different roles, including Ani DiFranco and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon as Orpheus.

The folk opera received rave reviews and earned Mitchell many new fans who wondered what she would do next.

Following up a critically acclaimed album can be a monumental challenge for any artist, but when it came time to work on her newest album, Young Man in America, Mitchell shrugged off the pressure. “[Hadestown] was a completely different animal,” Mitchell recalls. “It’s like this crazy scavenger hunt building this thing, and there’s no way that this record was going to be like that. Essentially, it’s just a collection of songs that I happened to write during that period of time through the end of Hadestown.”

Although it’s not a concept album, Young Man in America is still a looselyconnected collection of songs, featuring wandering recurring characters. Produced by Todd Sickafoose, the album features sparse instrumentation and rich harmonies. The “young man” of the title explores relationships with women and with family throughout the album.

Family was a big part of making Young Man in America. The picture on the front cover of the album is a picture of Mitchell’s father, Don, when he was younger. One track on the album, “Shepherd,” is based on a novel Don Mitchell wrote

around the time he was 30, the age Anaïs is now.

Mitchell thinks her father “had mixed feelings about me retelling that story from his book. He was really happy that I did it, and proud. I think he was excited that I was interested in his work from that time in his life, but he was really young when he wrote that, and I don’t know if he feels embarrassed, but it’s not necessarily a story that he wants to tell now.”

Don Mitchell’s father died a few years ago, and in watching him cope with the loss and his feelings about his father, Anaïs Mitchell saw her dad in a new way. “He’s not just my dad, he’s a character like any other character struggling,” Mitchell says.

This new perception of her father went into the inspiration for the record. “The thing about ‘Shepherd’—and I think about a lot of the songs on the record— is that there are these characters that are really single-minded. They’re pursuing something,” she explains.

These themes are brought to life by the instrumentation, like the quiet piano ballad “Coming Down” or the gentle guitar of the lonely album closer, “Ships.”

Young Man in America is getting just as much attention as Hadestown did, and it’s taking Mitchell and her Young Man Band out on the road, opening this fall for old friends Bon Iver on their fall tour, and in the U.K., opening solo for Richard Thompson. She’s also playing a few “Barnstorming” shows with Michael Chorney (arranger/orchestrator of Hadestown) ths fall that feature music and a farm-to-table dinner.

ith a passion to help others find hope and a wish to change the world, singer-songwriter Ryan Hunt is jumping into the music scene with his new album, Control.

Hailing from eastern Kentucky, Hunt grew up being surrounded by music and family. “As early as I can remember, I have loved music,” Hunt says. “I’ve had a guitar in my hand since I was seven years old.”

As an adult, Hunt grew to love the power that music possesses. “It has such an impact on people and culture,” Hunt explains. “As an art, it has a unique ability to inspire the heart.”

Whether it was his family telling stories or the movie Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Hunt drew inspiration from a number of memories from his childhood.

As his inspirations have done for him, Hunt wants to “help others find hope through music.”

Control has given Hunt something to really be proud of. “I would have to say it is an authentic portrait of my life experiences,” Hunt says. “The music and the content is the best reflection of my heart to date.”

Bands like U2, Switchfoot, and Lifehouse have played major roles for Hunt. “I love music that has depth and tells a good story,” he says.

Hunt chose music because of the opportunity it presents to help people. “It allows me to create something out of nothing. It doesn’t just end up on mom’s fridge…it has the opportunity to move hearts.”

Hunt’s album Control is set to release on the Oct. 9.

THE HELIO SEQUENCE

SEAMONSTER

G

AVALANCHE

CITY

F

or The Helio Sequence, creation came from destruction. While on tour supporting their previous album, Keep Your Eyes Ahead, their practice space back in Portland, Ore., was flooded with almost a foot of water.

Luckily, most of their gear was on tour with them or high enough to stay dry, but they were still out of a space. When they found a new, larger space in an old warehouse, they took the opportunity to take new approaches to their songwriting.

With the extra room, they decided to invest in vintage and analog equipment to add an increased depth to their songs. With the new-old equipment, drummer-keyboardist Benjamin Weikel would create loops of random, spacey chord progressions and arpeggios, then he’d get together with singer-guitarist Brandon Summers, pick a loop, and jam on top of it with guitar and drums, recording their rehearsals. From those recordings, they hammered out specific parts to make the songs that would become their new album, Negotiations.

The new studio provided The Helio Sequence with isolation, away from other bands and distractions, and they took advantage of the seclusion. Some songs, like the first single “October” and “One More Time” are the result of a carefully measured collaboration process. They also took time to experiment in the studio.

Summers would often spend time alone with improvised recordings and spontaneously sing lyrics until late in the night. The song “Harvester of Souls” was completely improvised by Weikel and Summers in one take. This loose recording process results in an introspective, atmospheric record that fits The Helio Sequence’s catalog, but also takes them to new places.

Negotiations is available now on CD, LP and online.

D

ave Baxter likes to stay busy. The New Zealander used to play guitar in hardcore bands, and later wrote music for TV stations, but what he really wanted was to record his own album. Inspired by artists like The Rocket Summer, Baxter wanted to perform all the instruments on the album and record it himself, but he had to overcome one obstacle first: he had to learn how to sing.

He would privately do vocal exercises and sing scales, recording and playing them back until he noticed progress. Six months later, he played his first show as Avalanche City. Six months after that, he was ready to record the album that would become Our New Life Above The Ground.

Taking his instruments and some food, Baxter secluded himself in a small community hall near Auckland, churning out a collection of songs in this week of isolation. The result is an earthy pop album resplendent with acoustic guitars, piano, and handclaps. The time spent learning to sing paid off, as his plaintive, expressive voice colors each track.

The world took notice. Baxter made the album available online for free until it hit 11,000 downloads. When it was taken down and released commercially, the album debuted at No. 1 on iTunes, hitting No. 4 on New Zealand record charts, and quickly going platinum. The lead single “Love, Love, Love” was used in station promos for New Zealand’s TV2, and it shot to No. 1 on New Zealand radio charts. With a solid foundation, Baxter put a full band together as the live version of Avalanche City, hit the road, and didn’t look back.

His future looks bright. He played SXSW and saw a lot more of the U.S. opening for fun. during their spring tour.

Roadrunner Records picked him up, and released the Love, Love, Love EP in the States with a full-length project slated for later this year. Avalanche City will appear at international festivals, including Australia’s Big Day Out in January.

reat works of art always start with a blank canvas. Painters then add layers of paint, until what was once an empty space is a colorful new creation. It’s with this approach that Todd Webb, the only member of Seamonster, created his new record.

Webb decided to name the album after conceptual artist John Baldessari, and then chose to base each song off of a painting or an artist he admired. Then Webb (also a comic book artist) decided to write the songs like he would create a picture, adding layers of sound instead of paint. Using a unique pallet of sounds from vintage keyboards, toy sound machines, homemade samples, guitars, live and manipulated vocals, Webb created the basic tracks. As a further act of tribute, Webb used computer programs that convert pictures into sound waves. With these programs, he turned several of the paintings into noise. He tweaked and manipulated the noise into the tracks until he was happy with the album, creating a new work of hazy dream pop.

Based in Virginia, Webb started performing as Seamonster in 2005, traveling the country with a guitar and sampler, playing anywhere he could while refining his sound. While his earlier work was compared to heroes like Neutral Milk Hotel or the more melodic Animal Collective, with Baldessari, Seamonster has come into its own.

Simultaneously beautiful and jarring, familiar and strange, occasionally haunting and frequently whimsical, this album is a fully realized collection of songs representing an artist at his prime.

To complement the visual nature of the songs, Baldessari is available on yellow vinyl with a download code from Gold Robot Records. The album is currently available at seamonster.bandcamp.com.

Walk the Moon’s Nick Petricca paints fans’ faces at this year’s U.S. Open of Surfing. (Photo by Paige Asachika)

THE FINAL SEASON

thursdays at 9:00/8:00c on NBC