21 DISARMing Questions for Rein Fuks of Pia Fraus

Pia Fraus is an Estonian Shoegaze / Dream Pop band comprised of Eve Komp, Kärt Ojavee, Rein Fuks, Reijo Tagapere and Joosep Volk, six art school students, that formed the band in 1998. Described as mixture of “Dream Pop, subtle Shoegaze and beautiful Electronica, blissfully topped off with shimmering layered male-female vocals”, the band have released five studio albums and several EPs.

We caught up with Rein Fuks to ask him our 21 DISARMing questions about music, art, day jobs, holidays, and life outside of the band.  This is what he shared with us.

DISARM: What are you listening to right now?

Rein Fuks: Sasami, Angel Olsen, Omni, Yumi Zouma, and so on….

What was the first LP/tape/CD you remember owning?

The very first tape was Guns n’ Roses Appetite for Destruction it was the year 1991. My first CD was Sex Pistols compilation Kiss This, the first vinyl was The Beatles Love Songs. I still own it, such an excellent collection!

Vinyl or CD/Digital?

I buy vinyl, CD and also digital files. I like music, and I like the idea that I can support the bands and small labels.

What are your favourite bands?

It’s tough to pick one. 

My first favourite band was Estonian punk group called J.M.K.E when I was six years old. I still like the band a lot. They sound like Dead Kennedys.

One of my all-time favourites has also been The Pastels. I really liked The Wedding Present and Stereolab when I was a teenager, these two where biggest influences when we started with Pia Fraus in the late nineties. And of course, I like Yo La Tengo, Hood…. But my newest favourite artist is Sasami.

Why do you live where you do?

Because it’s not that bad in here 🙂 I live in Tallinn, which is the capital of Estonia. A lovely little town on the North coast of Estonia. I think my second favourite city is Glasgow in Scotland. I think it would be cool to spend some years in there.

What is your favourite journey?

I kind of like them all. I travel a lot with my day job, but I also like to stay at home.

What’s your idea of a perfect Sunday?

Spending some time at home with my daughter and wife, and a few hours in the studio!

What essentials do you take on a plane or tour bus?

In-ear headphones!

What is your dream vacation if money was no object?

Somewhere at the country house, surrounded by beautiful nature and my instruments. Btw, It’s doable without billion dollars 🙂

What do you do with 4 hours to yourself in a new city?

Vegetarian restaurants and record stores!

Photo by Lauri Liivak

What inspired you to take up music?

Punk music made me do it 🙂 I started when I was eleven.

What was your most memorable day job?

I used to work in a record shop. It was my dream job until I started to hate it. I still like the music and the records, but there was something that made me quit the job. Btw in the past 15 years I have best day job ever! Living in a dream 🙂

What advice should you have taken but didn’t?

Listen and learn!

What should everyone shut up about?

Freedom of expression!

Who’s your ideal dinner guest, living or dead, and what would the menu be?

My own friends, bandmates and family. Vegetarian Mexican or Indian food!

Who is your favourite hero of fiction?

Spiderman! (Pia Fraus “Thank You, Peter Parker”) 😉

What was the best live gig or music festival you attended (as a fan or artist)?

As a fan, the Yo La Tengo gig in Malmö, Sweden in 2003 was life-changing. Best in the last year was Cass McCombs in Glasgow at The Great Western Festival.

What are your “must” read magazines, news, websites, blogs?

Good news only! Life is too short for bad ones.

Name something you consider a mind-altering work of art.

Art is everywhere 🙂 I like record covers!

What does the next 6 months look like for you?

Day job, family, home, rehearsals, gigs, recordings.

Which musician rule do you agree with? Always meet your heroes or never meet your heroes?

You don’t always need to meet your heroes, but it would be nice to meet some of them. I have met many of my idols, and it’s great 🙂 

I have also worked with some of them, which is even better than just meeting them.

Thanks Rein!

Check out more from Pia Fraus on their Bandcamp page HERE.

21 DISARMing Questions for Dean Garcia of SPC ECO

Curve multi-instrumentalist Dean Garcia and his daughter Rose Berlin formed SPC ECO in 2008.  An electronic musical maverick, Dean’s style complements Rose’s vulnerable yet tender vocals. As a father and daughter, they explore their relationship and the world around them through music, creating heartfelt sounds to express the language of their souls and conversations that are often too difficult to be encapsulated by mere words.

With the recent release of Fifteen in February, Dean had this to say about the new album.

“This album means everything to us. A collection of songs that simply happened to us over a period of the 9 months or so it took to record, during which time there have been numerous uncomfortable, unsettling and challenging changes all around us, not just to our personal real life situations as to where we live, but also to the catastrophe of various unaccountable, blatantly corrupt governing bodies that perch menacingly over us all like death itself.  This record is about that, this and the other, a selection of recordings that mean more to us than we can ever possibly know.”

Recently, Dean was kind enough to answer Disarm’s standard volley of questions sharing his thoughts about music, art, and life in general.

Hi Dean. Congratulations on the release of your new SPC ECO Fifteen album with
Rose Berlin.

Thank you 🙂 X

What are you listening to right now?

The soundtrack to The Favourite.

What was the first LP/tape/CD you remember owning?

Paranoid by Black Sabbath.

Vinyl or CD/Digital?

Any either.  Vinyl is romantic.

What are your favourite bands?

Pink Floyd, Beatles, Radiohead, Massive Attack

Why do you live where you do?

Because of the Faeries.

What is your favourite journey?

Anywhere on a train.

What’s your idea of a perfect Sunday?

Very late start, big roast dinner followed by lots of various enhancements.

What essentials do you take on a plane or tour bus?

Plane: Paranoia. Tour Bus: Humour

What is your dream vacation if money was no object?

A tour of India with all the trimmings.

What do you do with 4 hours to yourself in a new city?

Go back to the hotel room.

What inspired you to take up music?

Music.

What was your most memorable day job?

Chef at a Wimpy Bar in the 70s.

What advice should you have taken but didn’t?

Stay on the path at Grizedale Forest.

What should everyone shut up about?

Nothing, keep on shouting.

Who’s your ideal dinner guest, living or dead, and what would the menu be?

Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz (has to be all three). Gin and Tonic, Lemons, and a shit load of ice.

Who is your favourite hero of fiction?

Postman Pat.

What was the best live gig or music festival you attended (as a fan or artist)?

Prods at Alley Pally 2017.

What are your “must” read magazines, news, websites, blogs?

No idea, whatever you want is fine by me.

Name something you consider a mind-altering work of art.

A Thousand Years by Damien Hirst

What does the next 6 months look like for you?

Possible stroke, heart failure, and musical block but I try to look on the bright side.

Which musician rule do you agree with? Always meet your heroes or never meet your heroes?

Meet them. Trouble is, you turn into a single celled jellyfish the moment you’re with them.

Thank you for your time Dean!

Most welcome.. (funny questions) X

Get Fifteen from SPC ECO’s Bandcamp page HERE!

20 DISARMing Questions for Aaron Mills of Burning House

Hailing from Southampton, Burning House is comprised of front man and guitarist Aaron Mills, drummer Dominic Taylor and bassist Patrick White. Mills, the band’s sole songwriter has refined the art of recording music over the past decade, in parallel with his technical skill as a guitar player. Their music rides the soft/loud dynamic well, producing music ranging from beautiful melancholy to loud feedback-driven post rock.

We asked Aaron Mills twenty questions about music, art, life, and travel, and he provided us with these very well thought out responses.

What are you listening to right now?

At the moment I type this, Oneohtrix Point Never – “Nobody Here”. A seemingly endless loop of Chris De Burgh singing “There’s nobody here”. It’s incredibly calming and zen. This brings to mind the Baudrillard quote: “There is nothing more mysterious than a TV set left on in an empty room. It is even stranger than a man talking to himself or a woman standing dreaming at her stove. It is as if another planet is communicating with you.” One can imagine this music used for quelling anxiety.

What was the first LP/tape/CD you remember owning?

The first utterable one I can think of is Bros – When Will I Be Famous though that may have been the machinations of my mother who, incidentally, also named me after Elvis. The first with my own money might be Blur’s Parklife. Damon Albarn was a brilliant songwriter. No question.

What are your favourite bands?

Undoubtedly My Bloody Valentine’s heavenly malevolence impacted me significantly. I am endlessly fascinated by synesthetic guitar textures in no small part thanks to Kevin Shields. The other worldliness of Billy Corgan’s fuzz-arsenal on Siamese Dream blew me away, and I’ve been collecting pedals ever since. Sonically, Glenn Branca is up there too. My favourite songwriters include: Elliott Smith, Mark Kozelek & Robert Pollard. The cinematic experience of latter-day Swans has definitely informed the idea of ‘live performance’ to me, that is, theatre at a knife’s edge. The Necks are also an incredible live prospect I would urge anyone to see. I love improvisational music in general and I believe it integral in creating broad, far-reaching compositions. On heavy rotation always is the sublime musique concrete/ Neo-nostalgia of bands like Broadcast and Stereolab. I also really enjoy Deerhunter and the majestic voice and guitar of Robbie Basho.

Why do you live where you do?

Convenience, also I’ve made friends here that I would miss terribly if we were sundered.

What is your favourite journey?

The journey of the mind, or “soul” that resolves some entrenched confusion.

What’s your idea of a perfect Sunday?

Watching milquetoasts on Sunday’s brunch while eating toast.

What essentials do you take on a plane or tour bus?

Gravol and a gavel.

What is your dream vacation if money was no object?

Space. But watching Kubrick’s 2001 recently, I could just as well conclude I’m more interested in human imagination in relation to the unknown – what we project out and upon the void.

What do you do with 4 hours to yourself in a new city?

Imbibe the culture and attempt to fraternize with its citizens.

What inspired you to take up music?

Music is transcendent. It exists beyond the measure of what we understand. It can hypnotize, move us to tears, fill in the blanks where words and actions fail. There is nothing like it. For example, cinema is transformed by the music that accompanies it. A nondescript moment can take on meaning that reaches within us and draws something to the surface with the introduction of music of unquantifiable vibrations.

Burning House. Photo by George Evans

What was your most memorable day job?

Designing armatures for Salvador Allende.

What advice should you have taken but didn’t?

Well I think that “advice” alone is not enough. You have to burrow beneath, almost to a substrate level, to engender change. If you go to the gym, you might be initially buoyed by something that inspires you to go, but to continue with it you have to go deeper. The body is just one part of the puzzle. But in making this journey you will realize just how strange your consciousness is, and how unknowable you ultimately are.

What should everyone shut up about?

Trump. I absolutely detest the guy but I also think that he’s emblematic of the mass confusion of late-stage capitalism. The system is disintegrating around us and we’re just concentrating on this ego maniacal buffoon. It’s like going to a sporting event, baseball or whatever, and focusing all your attention on the mascot – he of course revels in this.

Who’s your ideal dinner guest, living or dead, and what would the menu be?

The painter Francis Bacon. I would probably misconstrue the affair and make something unnecessarily elaborate when he’d only really care about the wine on offer. I think he liked bacon sandwiches and eggs anyway.

Who is your favourite hero of fiction?

Myself.

What was the best live gig or music festival you attended (as a fan or artist)?

I really enjoy the OFF festival in Poland. They’ve done it very well. I hope we can play it some day!

What are your “must” read magazines, news, websites, blogs?

Primal Music Blog/ Drowned in Sound/ Atwood Magazine/ Big Takeover

Name something you consider a mind-altering work of art.

I loved the film ‘Under The Skin absolutely incredible. I think the greatest art in many ways is that which doesn’t easily “volunteer” its meaning. The uncanny writ-large.

(Editor: We love it too!)

What does the next 6 months look like for you?

The band! I’m extremely ambitious with this project and intend to make it the central focus of my life. Rome is indeed burning, but to invoke Werner Herzog, we must make images or we go extinct – and I believe that to be the case, spiritually as well as literally.

Which musician rule do you agree with? Always meet your heroes or never meet your heroes?

The latter seems more accurate. As anyone who had the privilege or misfortune of meeting Mark E Smith can attest!

Thanks Aaron!

Check out Burning House on their Bandcamp page HERE.

15 DISARMing Questions for Crooked Ghost

We recently featured “Sleepwalker”, the dreamy Post-punk music by Crooked Ghost, on our New Music Radar, and now, front-man Ray Clark has been kind enough to indulge us with answers to some of our DISARMing questions.

What are you listening to right now?

The sound of my cat purring.

What was the first LP/tape/CD you remember owning?

The Best Of Blondie on cassette. I wore it out!

Vinyl or CD/Digital?

There’s something magical and nostalgic about vinyl, though I do like the accessibility of digital formats. We release our albums on all of those formats.

What are your favorite bands?

My top 3 would be The Cure, Siouxsie And The Banshees, and Cocteau Twins.

(Disarm – NICE!)

Why do you live where you do?

Asheville is very kind to artists and musicians. The mountains here are beautiful, you can see the stars, and there are a lot of wickedly talented people here. 

What is your favorite journey? 

Touring with my friends in Crooked Ghost. We look forward to touring our new album Skeleton House in the Spring!

What is your idea of a perfect Sunday?

A day spent with my loved ones filled with music, great food, and nature.

Crooked Ghost – photo by Rome Widenhouse

What essentials do you take on a plane or tour bus?

Good books, things to draw/write on, lots of music, trail mix. A nice pillow is a must.

What is your dream vacation if money was no object?

To sail around the world playing music.

What do you do with 4 hours to yourself in a new city?

Go to ALL the record stores, thrift stores and antique stores in the vicinity.

What inspired you to take up music?

Music has always been a big part of my life from a young age. Starting on piano, violin, then later guitar and singing. Mostly all self-taught, I was a bit too rebellious for violin lessons. Music was the ultimate escape for a reclusive person like myself.

What was your most memorable day job?

Working at a bar was pretty wild.

What advice should you have taken but didn’t?

I try not to think about that! I live in the “now.”

What should everyone shut up about?

I think everyone should be vocal about the things they believe in. Never shut up.

Who’s your ideal dinner guest, living or dead, and what would the menu be?

Frida Kahlo. We’d dine lavishly on fruits in a beautiful garden with lots of wine.

With thanks to Ray and Crooked Ghost!

Check out more from Crooked Ghost and buy their newest album, Skeleton House, from their Bandcamp page HERE.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Live with Cigarettes After Sex

When I told a work colleague that I had never been to a Nick Cave show, the reaction was immediate and in all caps.  “YOU HAVEN’T SEEN HIM LIVE?”  Followed by “Oh Man.  He’s the best.  He really plays to the front of the audience”.

What I didn’t quite understand at that time was how much he played to the front of his audience.  I had always assumed Cave was a stoic performer that put on a quality music and vocal performance but kept audience interaction to a minimum.  A “thank you” here and there, then on to the next song.  Maybe it was his tall, slender and always immaculate appearance that gave me that impression, but I couldn’t have been more off the mark.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds walked out to an anticipation-filled crowd at the Scotiabank Arena Sunday night.  The venue was set up to be more intimate than a typical arena show; the stage was moved forward to the centre-ice line in front of a standing-only floor space, the upper seating decks closed, so there wasn’t a bad sight line in the place.  It was also the last night of the Skeleton Tree tour, so an added electricity was in the air.

Starting off with “Jesus Alone” from 2016’s Skeleton Tree, Cave stepped over the gap between the stage and a surprisingly narrow catwalk, so he could get up close and personal with the front row worshipers.  And as lithe as a cat on a fence, he moved along clutching the hands of adoring fans while he sang and locked eyes.  So, this is what my colleague meant about playing to the front of the audience.

On stage, The Bad Seeds were a marvel to behold as well.  Warren Ellis can pull sounds out of a violin that rival the best heavy metal shredders and does so with a manic fever on stage that immediately switches to an absolute calm while he blows grief out of a flute and makes your eyes well up.  It’s a roller coaster ride in every sense.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds performed a mesmerizing two-and-a-half hour set with too many highlights to reasonably list, but personal stand-outs included “God Is In The House”, “Shoot Me Down”, and the gut-wrenching “Girl In Amber”.  During the quieter moments, I was both shocked and impressed by the respect of silence paid to Cave.  These are dedicated fans here tonight.  No chatter heard in an arena?  Complete attention paid to the man on stage. It’s wonderful.

Opening the night was El Paso’s, Cigarettes After Sex.  Enveloped in dry ice, the three-piece led by Greg Gonzalez, played an ethereal set of dreamy ambient pop songs including “K”, REO Speedwagon cover “Keep On Loving You”, and “Affection”.  Gonzalez’s hypnotic vocals mixed with swirling shoegazey guitars and deep bass chords made for a nice precursor to the Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds experience.

Dave MacIntyre

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

Cigarettes After Sex

Wild Arrows – Dreamlike Dream

Wild Arrows
Dreamlike Dream
2018
Black Vinyl

Dreamlike Dream, the second album by Brooklyn duo Wild Arrows pushes further into the realm of New Wave and Shoegaze than the band’s debut release Tell Everyone, which throughout, had an almost menacing Post-Punk angst lying just below the surface. Shiori Takenoshita’s departure from the band to return to Japan resulted in Mike Law joining forces with Yasmin Reshamwala on this album which at times is reminiscent of early New Order and OMD (specifically “Alphabet Girl”).

Opening track “Dark Me” starts with airy waves of synth and crisp electronic percussion followed by “Breathe Through” which is the closest to full-on Shoegaze the band gets without burying Law’s vocals, which is important because, despite the more upbeat music of Dreamlike Dream, the lyrics still contain darker themes that we loved on Tell Everyone.

The title track, a fast favourite that highlights Reshamwala’s vocals, is a moody song that pulses and hums electronically while its momentum slowly builds and slows again. The 50s-esque jangle guitar strum is reverb-drenched and haunting throughout. It is quickly chased by “Oh-H”, a song that would complement an Arcade Fire album, when Arcade Fire were at their best (Funeral, Neon Bible) and if the band ever delved in Dream Pop territories.

Closing out Dreamlike Dream is “Seahorse/Hummingbird”, a hymn-like soundscape complete with angelic horns that Robert Smith would approve of, and “Dead Ends” to complete the 9-song journey. Some songs immediately grab and don’t let go (“Breathe Through”, “Dreamlike Dream”) whereas others need to simmer, their deep flavours leeching out over time (“Deceiver”, “Dark Me”). But like all great music, the time invested in listening will pay off.

Dave MacIntyre

Wild Arrows – Tell Everyone

Wild Arrows
Tell Everyone
2014
Black Vinyl (Gotta Groove Records)

Wild Arrows, the Brooklyn Alternative/Dream-Pop duo once consisting of Mike Law (vocals and other instruments) and Shiori Takenoshita (drums) released Tell Everyone in 2014, an album that was planned for release two years earlier, but had been cut dead by the devastating arrival of Hurricane Sandy. The band’s instruments, recording equipment, the studio itself, and all the countless hours of time invested in the album were wiped out by the ruthless winds and rain. Amazingly, Law and Takenoshita persevered and overcame these overwhelming obstacles to ensure Tell Everything saw the light of day.

It’s an interesting and complex album both lyrically and sonically. Musically, the album floats in and around Alternative, Post-Punk, New Wave, Dream Pop and even Psych-Rock aesthetics without losing any cohesiveness. Album opener “Ruiner” sets the dark lyrical tone that is consistent throughout the entire record.

 

Despite the obvious angst in both the lyrics and Law’s vocals, they are offset and complimented by the warm jangle of guitars and background wash of synths. Takenoshita’s drumming is a driving force throughout, adding yet another layer of contrast to the warmer sounds coming from Law’s instruments that are unrushed despite the urgency of the percussion.

 

Without knowing the backstory of how the album came to be, it’s still perceptible upon listening that Tell Everyone was a labour of love. There is care, purpose, and meaning infused into the record that bears repeat listening sessions to fully appreciate.

Stand-out songs:  “Ruiner” “Hey Liar”, “All Of You”, “Disease”

(We will soon follow this piece up with a review of the band’s newest release, Dreamlike Dream.)

Dave MacIntyre

An Interview with Jeppe Dengsø and Ludvig Kastberg of Moon Loves Honey

On our 21st playlist of Shoegazers we’re listening to, we featured the rather excellent “Tell Me More Of Your Lies” by Denmark’s Moon Loves Honey.  Guitarist/vocalist Jeppe Dengsø and drummer Ludvig Kastberg accepted Step On Magazine’s challenge and answered our invasive questions about music, inspiration, and what the future looks like for them personally and as a band.

Step On Magazine: What are you listening to right now?

Jeppe: I have been listening to a lot of Mazzy Star and Soundgarden lately. Other than that, I’ve recently discovered Anderson Paak. He plays a really cool mixture of rap, jazz and soul.

Ludvig: I’ve been listening to the new Tame Impala album, Currents, a lot lately. It’s quite catchy, you know! I’ve also been spacing out to Washed Out a lot. Also, I recently discovered a Danish band by the name, Kentaur. They made a live-recorded album called “Ode 314”, which I think is the best they made. And it’s really beautiful, very organic, slightly psychedelic and catchy).

What was the first LP/tape/CD  you  remember owning?

Ludvig: System Of A Down – Toxicity

Jeppe: I think my first CD was a James Brown album. But I don’t remember which one. Probably a compilation album of some sort. I was into funky stuff when I was a kid.

What is your favourite band(s)? OR Who is the most underrated band that you just can’t understand why they weren’t more celebrated (any era)?

Ludvig: Vulfpeck! Everyone in the world should listen to Vulfpeck. Whenever I introduce people to this band it makes them so happy, because it is so groovy and immediate that it’s hard not to like.

Jeppe: I have listened to lots of different styles of music – old and new-  which makes it difficult for me to really narrow down who my favorite artists are, but there are some that I regularly revisit without feeling that their music has been outdated for me. Artists such as Pink Floyd, Bill Evans, Alice In Chains, My Bloody Valentine, Beach Boys and Beatles. Newer acts like Kendrick Lamar, Tame Impala and Beach House are artists whose music I expect will stay with me the rest of my life too.

Why do you live where you do?

Jeppe: I live in the second largest city in Denmark, Aarhus. It seemed like the natural next step after finishing high school in a smaller city. Moving to Copenhagen or another country seems like the only options for the next step from where I am now, but I don’t know when I need to take it. 

Ludvig: I live in Aarhus because that’s where all my bands are.

What inspired you to take up music/ How did you get into music?

Jeppe: I come from a quite musical home and I began playing guitar at the age of 12, because I started feeling the need to play an acoustic guitar that had been in my room all my life, but I had never touched for some reason. Soon after that, I started playing drums and piano too and started some bands. Whenever I heard something that sounded cool, I wanted to be able to play it. So I just started listening to all kinds of music, letting it enter my head and figuring out how to play it. Music is endlessly fascinating and the mystery and magic of it is what initially inspired me and still inspires me to keep writing, listening and playing.

Ludvig: My mom had a drum kit in our basement that my dad gave to her as a birthday present, and she didn’t really use it, but I did. I had no idea how to do it, but after all it is basically just hitting stuff with sticks, so I felt that I was pretty good at it, so I just kept playing.

What advice should you have taken but didn’t?

Ludvig: My mom wanted med to learn some theoretical stuff, but I really hated it and so I rejected it. Also I didn’t ever practice what my teachers wanted me to practice. And when I think about it, I realize that it would be nice to have some more of those theoretical and technical advances, that I never wanted to practice.

Jeppe: I’m not sure that I’m old and/or wise enough to know yet.

 What should everyone shut up about?

Ludvig: Themselves.. Which is quite ironic since I am sitting here writing about myself.

Who’s your ideal dinner guest, living or dead, and what the menu be?

Ludvig: Ghandi and the menu should be salt.

Jeppe: I would love to have a chat with Michael Jackson to find out how much of his music he created himself, and how it felt to be the king of pop, dealing with pressure, expectation and adoration. Talking to Jesus could be interesting too. I’m no religious man, but hopefully he would have some useful advice for life. I’d serve him homemade pizza.

Who is your favourite hero of fiction?  What are your favourite films?

Ludvig: Dr. Manhattan from Watchmen is my favourite superhero. He’s beyond space and time! He’s omnipresent! He’s the cleverest and most over-powered man-like being, with a good excuse for his insane powers.

Jeppe: Some of my favorite films are; Up, because of the romance in it. The Truman Show, because of the beauty of it and Full Metal Jacket, because of the intensity and style.

What was the best live gig or music festival you attended?

Jeppe: The best live gig I attended recently was The War On Drugs at Roskilde Festival last summer. The entire show was extremely captivating and had a great flow. Emotional but upbeat. Their songs are great.

Ludvig: The best concert I’ve ever been to is probably Sigur Rós at Roskilde festival 2013. I was in ecstatic trance for one and a half hours.

Name something you consider a mind-altering work of art.

Jeppe: Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys. The harmonies, layers of instrumentation and melodies have not stopped blowing my mind yet, even though I have listened to the album since childhood.

Ludvig: Björk made a music video with a guy by the name Andrew Thomas Huang, which goes so good together with the music that it makes me cry every time I see it. Alex grey, the guy that makes art for Tool, makes very beautiful, visionary art. There’s a whole lot of mind-altering art! Actually I think all art is mind altering in some way or another.

What does the next 6 months look like for you?

Ludvig: I am touring Germany and Holland in May with a band called Captain Casanova. And when I come home in June I will attend some festivals in Denmark and rehearse with my bands. Then in July I’m going to Indonesia with a friend of mine. From September I only have rehearsals scheduled, but I will have to find a job as well.

Jeppe: We will play a couple of shows before summer, and then I think we’ll take a short break during the summer to travel. Then we’ll reconvene and work on new material that we’ll release inside of a year and a half hopefully. We will keep playing shows and hopefully we will be able to go on European tours in not too long.

Thanks Jeppe and Ludvig!

Check out more of Moon Loves Honey on their SoundCloud page!

Beliefs Live at The Garrison

The 16th installation of Wavelength festival featured must-see Toronto band Beliefs on Saturday night at The Garrison.  Josh Korody and Jesse Crowe formed the Dream Pop duo after meeting at a party and discovering a shared love for My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth, and other bands of the ’90s that still matter to so many.  They have since released a self-titled album and 2015’s brilliant follow-up Leaper, which is making great impact with friends of Step On’s in the UK.

The bitter-cold of Saturday night (the first really cold snap Toronto has had this winter) did not prevent fans from filling The Garrison, and Beliefs did not disappoint.  Accompanied by supporting musicians, the set was short but sweet including a highlight performance of wall-of-sound “Ghosts” from the Leaper release.

Listen to “Ghosts” below.  Get the rest of Beliefs releases from Hand Drawn Dracula.

Photo by Dave MacIntyre