21 DISARMing Questions for Annette Zilinskas of Medicine

Medicine, the pioneering shoegaze band from Los Angeles formed in 1990 has returned with a brand new 11-track album entitled Scarred For Life.  Comprised entirely of cover songs including tracks from Neil Young, Judee Sill, Miles Davis, The Monkees, and even Bob Welch, it’s described as a record that is “killer no filler” and has been released by Drawing Room Records.

Medicine were the fist American band to sign with the legendary UK label Creation Records on the basis of their original demo. In their home country,they signed to Rick Rubin’s American Recordings label in 1992.

We asked Medicine singer Annette Zilinskas, also known as the original bassist for The Bangles and vocalist with influential roots-punk outfit Blood on the Saddle, 21 of our DISARMing questions about music, art, and life in general.  This is what she told us.

DISARM: Hello Annette. Thanks for taking the time to answer our DIARMing questions. It’s great to see all your latest activity with The Bangles and Medicine lately. It feels like things have come full circle with both bands and we really love the Scarred For Life album. So here we go.

What are you listening to right now?

Annette: I’m listening to a lot of Coolies partly because I love their music and I’ll be performing with them playing bass on March 15^th for Kim Shattuck’s ALS Benefit at the El Rey. I’ve also been listening to a lot of Fall, Modettes and Ty Segal lately.

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

It was a 45 that I got as a child from a garage sale…Chipmunks red vinyl. First LP was Carol King and Linda Ronstadt.

Vinyl or CD/Digital?

Vinyl (of course, and still!)

Who are your favourite artists?

Have a seat….there are just too many but I’ll take a whirl…Yardbirds, early Linda Ronstadt, Tammy Wynette, Peanut Butter Conspiracy, Reverands, Mercury Rev, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Butthole Surfers, Buffalo Springfield, Warm Drag, Beatles, early Stones, The Fall, Gene Vincent, Ty Segal, Led Zeppelin, LA Witch, Leaving Trains, Opal, Black Flag, the Outsiders, Gun Club, M17, Public Enemy, Ethyl Meatplow, Johnny Cash and June Carter…I know I’m forgetting something really obvious but ah well…

Why do you live where you do?

It’s where I landed.

What is your favourite journey?

Road trips – I like the high desert at night such as Joshua Tree, Landers. I enjoy the Sci Fi’ness and expansive quality of it. My next stop hopefully will be Marfa Texas to check out the Marfa lights.

What’s your idea of a perfect Sunday?

Just plopping down and watching something classic or a cool underground 60s movie…not having any deadlines or having to do anything is an ideal day for me.

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

Eye Drops, Brush, Dentine, Lip Gloss, Sunglasses.  

What is your dream vacation if money was no object?

Any place that I have never been to before.

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

Coffee number one. Walk around and see if there any good bookshops or old cathedrals to discover. Read the local paper.

Photo: Beatrix Zilinskas

What inspired you to take up music?

Linda Ronstadt. Major girl crush. Also, AM radio. And hearing The Carpenters the Yardbirds and Elvis.

What was your most memorable day job?

Working at the Chipmunks production company. My first job and one of the best I had.

What advice should you have taken but didn’t?

Music should always come first…not boyfriends lol.

What should everyone shut up about?

I’m sure you know the answer 😉

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

James Dean, Montgomery Clift, Robert Mapplethorpe, Dorothy Dandridge or Sharon Tate. Italian food or Mediterranean.

Who is your favourite hero of fiction?

Sinuhe – from the novel The Egyptian.

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

As a fan, when my uncles, Ray and Vic, took my sister and I as kids to see the Rolling Stones at the Forum. As an artist, playing Arroyo Seco with the Bangles.

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

You forgot podcasts…right now I’m delving into “You Must Remember This”.

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

A video project Kal Spelletich (from the band Semen) and I did. We filmed very tight close-ups of pigeons who had gathered around the video camera that we set down on the ground with breadcrumbs scattered around it. They got in close to the lens eating the crumbs. Playing it back, the pigeons were almost unrecognizable and looked like abstract white and grey spotted movement. One couldn’t make out that they were birds. When we slowed it down, it had an almost hypnotic drug like effect on the viewer. I also love Chiho Aoshima video installation piece called “City Glow”.

What does the next 6 months look like for you?

Hopefully touring doing music or a spoken word adventure across the continents.

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

Probably not.  I usually prefer one’s imagination better. But not always!

Thanks Annette!

You can buy Scarred For Life now from Medicine’s Bandcamp page HERE.

 

Tombstones In Their Eyes – Maybe Someday

When listening to a record for the first time, I can usually tell within the first thirty seconds of song one if I’ll want to hear it through, skip to song two (or deeper) in search of the chords and vocals that will connect with me, or stop it and never look back. There are also occasions when song one gets repeat playback because it’s so good. And then the same happens with song two. And song three. Music lovers understand this “Eureka!” moment.

Maybe Someday by Tombstones In Their Eyes was my 2019 “Eureka!” moment.

Comprised of John Treanor (vocals/guitar), Josh Drew (guitar), Mike Mason (bass) and Stephen Striegel (drums), Tombstones In Their Eyes is a band from Los Angeles that appeals to fans of psych, noise, shoegaze, alternative, and even sludgy doom metal. James Cooper, an old school friend of Treanor’s now living in New York, is also considered a member as he helped start the band and works with him on song creation. The band released a number of EPs, including 2017’s Fear which was my first introduction to their signature melodic yet crunchy sound, and 2018’s Nothing Here.

On November 15th, 2019, Somewherecold Records released Maybe Someday, and what could be described as a well-polished, cohesive collection of gritty psych-infused noise rock songs.

There is an immediate feeling of immensity on album opener “Open Skies” and the tangibility of this “bigness” caries throughout the title-track and “I Want You”, amplified by the swirl of guitars and the drone of Treanor’s ethereal vocals.  Bass lines and drums are clean and not overstated, effectively complimenting and driving forward the wash of sound enveloping them.

“Down In The Dirt” has a decidedly sludgier feel to it that fans of Philadelphia’s Nothing will appreciate and is a personal favourite, of many favourites, on the album.  Coming in at just shy of six minutes, it’s best played loud, with eyes closed and head bopping.

When listening to the “The One”, it’s not at all surprising that Treanor listed Electric Wizard as one of his favourite bands in our 21 Disarming Questions interview. It’s a dark and heavy stoner rock song, yet feels not at all out of place on Maybe Someday. Like “Down In The Dirt”, it pushes the six minute mark, but I’d welcome an extra long extended version of this one.  It’s that good.

Another shift in direction happens on “I Believe”, the most upbeat song on the album and closest to a “traditional” alternative/psych song before we slow down and slide back into the fog of “I Can’t Feel It Anymore” and “Up And Down” that fans of The Black Angels will surely enjoy.  We leave Maybe Someday with “Dreams”, an aptly-named soundscape of surreal fuzzed-out guitars, vapory vocals and keys.

Tombstones In Their Eyes manages to interlace so many sounds into Maybe Someday without defining the album as any one genre nor lose the mood set out from the album’s opening notes.  It’s a perfect balance and pace and warrants repeated play through from start to finish.

You can get Maybe Someday from the Somewherecold Records Bandcamp page on CD and digital.  Coming soon to vinyl.

Dave MacIntyre

21 DISARMING Questions for John Treanor of Tombstones In Their Eyes

Easily one of the best albums released in 2019 was Maybe Someday by Los Angeles psych shoegazers Tombstones In Their Eyes released by Somewhere Cold Records.  We’ve been fans of the band since they first caught our attention back in early 2018 with their release of their Nothing Here EP, and the new record delivers more of the noisy droning melodies we loved from the start.  Fans of The Black Angels and Nothing will definitely dig this band.

We asked vocalist and guitar player John Treanor our 21 Disarming questions about music, art and life in general.  This is what he told us.

DISARM: What are you listening to right now?

John: Soundtrack of our Lives – Broken Imaginary Time

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

The Kinks (can’t remember which record, but it was from the mid-60’s with some of the great stuff on it).  Bought it at a garage sale and thought I was buying The Beatle’s Magical Mystery Tour because that’s the sleeve the record was in, haha.  The 7-year-old me was very confused.

Vinyl or CD/Digital?

The cool answer would be vinyl, but I am on board with digital.  I get to play my favorite music from my laptop (or the cloud, really) through a great pair of Sonos speakers via Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Spotify, Pandora and my own music collection online.  So I sit and listen in the living room all day while I work. And this brings up a point about me as a music listener.  I’m really a song person; there were days when I listened to whole albums but mostly I look for the song or songs that really do it for me and then put them in a playlist (remember mix tapes? – god I loved making mix tapes).

Editors: Mix tapes were everything!

What are your favourite bands?

A lot to list.  Old Rolling Stones, Spacemen 3, Pussy Galore, Butthole Surfers, The Cramps, Black Flag, GBH, Elton John (early stuff), Aerosmith (same – early), Germs, Devo, Beach Boys, Interpol, Turbonegro, Built to Spill, The Byrds, Ministry, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Rammstein, EyeHateGod, Dandy Warhols, Metallica (early) Songs:Ohia/Magnolia Electric Co. “Newer” bands that are faves: Jesus on Heroine, Guitaro, Frankie Teardrop Dead, Power Trip, Electric Wizard, The Black Angels, Magic Shoppe, Film School (only their first ep, though), Rev Rev Rev, Chatham Rise.   I could go on and on.

Editors: The latest from Rev Rev Rev is a favourite of 2019 too!

Why do you live where you do?

Good weather, although I complain about the heat sometimes. Friends. Good music scene. Work.  Nice little house with a nice wife and 4 dogs/4 cats.

What is your favourite journey?

New York. I go at least once a year by myself to visit my friend James (who founded the band with me) and just soak it in.  I get my own place and just dig the city.  No plans, no tourist junkets, just whatever I want to do each day. Oh yeah, and comedy shows.  New York is great for comedy. 

What’s your idea of a perfect Sunday?

No work. Time to go down to the basement and try to write a song/riff or two. A nap in the afternoon with the 4 dogs all around me. Hanging out with my wife, Karin, in the evening and watching something good.

Photo by: Cathryn Farnsworth

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

Kindle. Music. Toothbrush/toothpaste, haha.

What is your dream vacation if money was no object?

It was Hong Kong, but I don’t know about that now.  Maybe Japan.

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

Good coffee. People watch. Read the local papers, if I can understand the language.  Walk around and do more people watching.  Find an interesting part of town or maybe a museum.

What inspired you to take up music

Music has been critically important to me since I was very young. My father took me to see the Rolling Stones in 1975 when I was 10 and was very into music himself. Punk rock changed my life musically and opened me up to so much new music (not just punk rock, whatever that means now). I had to be around music and started little bands, managed a friends band on some tours and finally got around to learning to write songs of my own. I came into it later because I had some “substance abuse issues” standing in the way, but once I got it together enough to keep a guitar out of the pawnshop I just kept doing bands.

What was your most memorable day job?

Working at my uncle’s auto wrecking yard when I was in my late teens.  It was a crazy, lawless scene down by the border of San Diego and Baja Mexico. Full of speed freaks and weirdness.  Crazy time.

What advice should you have taken but didn’t?

Tell my mom I wanted guitar lessons instead of piano lessons.  I still can’t play guitar worth a shit, but enough to write songs.

What should everyone shut up about?

I’m a live and let live type, just keep it out of my face, haha.

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

James Ellroy, steak at the Pacific Dining Car in downtown Los Angeles.

Who is your favourite hero of fiction?

I like spies, but not the James Bond type, so I’ll say George Smiley from the LeCarre novels.

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

Rolling Stones 1975, Capitol Centre, Maryland – changed my life.  Last year, Power Trip at the Regent in downtown LA. Those guys are on fire.

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

I read the NY Post and Daily News every day, haha, for my taste of NY city life, and the NY Times, LA Times, Guardian. Dangerousminds.net, Please Kill Me Online. Brooklyn Vegan. Slate, especially Dear Prudence. A little Daily Beast and Buzzfeed.  Digg is a good source of some excellent reads from around the web. And one of my most relaxing reads is Ask A Manager (askamanager.org) – I can’t explain that one. 

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

For me it’s all the music I listed earlier and the shows I saw as a kid.  Going to see the Cramps in a small hall in San Diego when I was 16, The Gun Club, Stranglers, Christian Death, Black Flag and many more shows that I can’t remember now. That stuff literally altered my mind.  And the most mind blowing day of all was when I went down to Licorice Pizza in Pacific Beach (San Diego) and picked out two records based on their covers – The Germs (GI) and Devo’s Duty Now For The Future.  My mind was blown when I played those records at home in my bedroom. The Germs were so dark and harsh and Devo just did what they do and it really opened me up to a whole new world.

What does the next 6 months look like for you?

We are currently rehearsing for our first show in a while – a vinyl release show. The vinyl is coming in soon and it looks fantastic. Then, once we’re up to speed and I know the songs, haha, probably some more shows.  And at the same time, we want to record 4 more songs to put on Side 4 of our planned vinyl compilation – we’re going to take all the earlier EP’s and singles and put them together on a double record set.  Those songs deserve vinyl.  Then there is a possible rumor of a European tour but that’s more than 6 months away.

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

I would say always meet your heroes.  It’s okay if they’re dicks sometimes.

Thanks John!  Go get Maybe Someday on CD or digital download from Bandcamp today, and coming soon to vinyl.

Dave MacIntyre

Rev Rev Rev – Kykeon

Italian Shoegazers, Rev Rev Rev, have released Kykeon via Fuzz Club, a crunchy 10-track album that is as much a marriage of doomy metal and psych as it is a reverb drenched Shoegaze album.

Kykeon moves along slowly, but threateningly giving it a lava-like quality; sludgy, thick, deadly and unstoppable.  Tracks “3 not 3” and “Sealand” are great examples of this.

There are a few lighter moments. Mid-way track, “One Illusion Is Very Much Like Another” dials back the abrasive fuzz in favour of crisp guitars and unsuppressed vocals, as does “Summer Clouds”, but the menace is still there, barely hidden beneath the surface.

More “metal” moments include “Gate Of The Dark Female” that could pass for a Black Angels/Sleep collaboration, which is never a bad thing and album single “Clutching The Blade”, the fastest of Kykeon’s songs that has an early Smashing Pumpkins vibe that will guarantee repeat listens.

Kykeon is a perfect record for those that enjoy a band that can mix genres without losing cohesiveness.  Psych, Doom, Shoegaze and Alternative all play their part to keep the record fresh and interesting throughout all 10 tracks.

Buy Kykeon on CD and vinyl from Fuzz Club HERE or digital download on Bandcamp.

Dave MacIntyre

Ride Live at The Danforth Music Hall

Ride takes the stage at Toronto’s jewel, the Danforth Music Hall, like visiting old friends. This is one legendary British band who never forgets us, not in the period of recent global shoegaze resurgence or once they began recording new music again in 2017, with return visits on both album tours since. This venue feels a bit like a secret, where so many great British bands we could largely only long for in the 1990s as we pored over back pages of NME and Select magazine, have found their way regularly in recent years.

They enter to “R.I.D.E.” beginning a nineteen song set confidently with two more brand new ones: the shimmering “Jump Jet” and the infectiously jangly, harmonious and optimistic “Future Love”, rounding out their opening set with the eternally fresh, still urgent call to creative soul action: “Leave Them All Behind”, its extended outro firmly setting tonight’s musical mood. We are in for a treat, with classics and new tracks seamlessly mixed, a range of moods and sounds blended together with mastery, and all of it united by Ride’s iconic harmonies and tight-as-a-drum rhythm section.

The new record (the band’s sixth) is the extremely well received This is Not a Safe Place, their second new album in two years (2017’s Weather Diaries was their first since 1996’s Tarantula). Six new songs are played tonight, including one for the very first time (“End Game”). There’s the blistering, driving and psychedelia-tinged “Kill Switch” the exciting driving dance beat of “Repetition” and “Shadows Behind the Sun”. “Eternal Recurrence” sounds as if it could have emerged from any era of this band, and all the new music is stunningly impressive. It is the sound of a band – still united today with all four original members – who still have much to say, who won’t be pigeonholed by genre, era, or scene – the hallmark of true artistry.

The rather foreboding yet presciently titled This is Not a Safe Place speaks to this precise moment of late 2019, at the close of the first twenty years of a new century, so far from the defiant optimism of the 1990s we remember. The title suggests: Don’t get too comfortable. Stay alert. Be ready to move. It seems to connect to 2017’s Weather Diaries, then a darkening global moment when we were, perhaps, still looking for signs mystical, tribal or elemental, to save us. Ride’s new message is received clearly by the realest communities, global ones, a people united by music, values, critical thinking ability, and taste. Music is still a powerful form of protest, of rebellion, and of activism. It shakes us awake from the 24-hour news scroll, and fortifies our spirits for the daily onslaught, the next bad headline, or the gloom that’s come to rest on our shoulders too permanently. This album and its messages are sure to top the best of lists for this year as well as inspire both emerging bands and Ride’s contemporaries alike to create something new, urgent, and fearless in 2020, in defiance of all the noise.

The rest of the set is judiciously spread across the strong back catalog, including: “Chrome Waves” “Chelsea Girl” “Twisterella” “Drive Blind” and “Vapour Trail” (custom designed to ricochet you like a DeLorean back to whatever age you were in 1990).  The crowd may not be too familiar with the weeks’ old new album yet, but they are committed and enthusiastic throughout. It is always heartwarming when lager louts don’t push forward for just their favourite old song, but a crowd settles into some sort of harmony for two hours. It is the ideal, and somehow, in the alchemy of rock and roll, it’s influenced by the artists themselves.

Shortly after the show, the band casually reconvenes at a nearby pub, itself a local institution that still welcomes new and traditional music to its small stage. Here, music talk is avid and casual, all barriers removed, as Ride’s harmonies still run through our heads and a few keen-eyed fans suss them out for a shy hello. The band are gracious, chill, and the epitome of cool, standing right there at a neighbourhood local, at ease with all of it: life, music, us, and the road, their home away from home.

Jacqueline Howell

Photos: Dave MacIntyre

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 Ammo Bankoff of Brass Box

Los Angeles’ Brass Box “allures listeners into a velvet sea of atmospheric waves” and “invite their audience onto the spectral shores of a dream”.

Brass Box first caught our attention on the New Music Radar with their infectious song “Tragedy”.

With their debut album The Cathedral now available from Dune Altar, we caught up with singer and bass player, Ammo Bankoff, to ask her about music, art, travel, and life in general.

This is what she shared with us.

What artists are you listening to right now?

Dead Can Dance, Rowland S Howard, The Damned, The Soft Moon, Jozef Van Wissem, Boris, Anna Von Hausswolff, Vas, Zanias, INXS, Bryan Ferry…

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

My first tape was Gloria Estefan and that was fabulous as a 7 year old, but the first tape I willingly got my hands on was a mix tape with Dead Kennedys Frankenchrist on one side and Subhumans EP/LP on the other.

Do you prefer Vinyl, CD, Cassettes, or streaming?

It depends on the experience. I prefer vinyl if I really love the album and want a real listening experience. Vinyl is interactive and forces you to pay attention. Streaming is portable and lovely when you want to check out new music.

What are your favourite bands?

We can’t play favourites here. Too many variables and moods that can determine those choices on an hourly basis. Although moody, heavy, dreamy, pretty are typical requisites.

Why do you live where you do?

I got sucked into a vortex.

What is your favourite journey?

One that never ends. It’s always about the journey.

What’s your idea of a perfect Sunday?

Perfection does not exist.

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

Rose water, sunnies, hooded coat and a camera.

What is your dream vacation if money was no object?

Blood Falls

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

Walk endlessly.

What inspired you to take up music?

I’d always been a fan of music, but I never thought of pursuing it. I didn’t think becoming a musician was something I was “allowed” to do as a career so it was never something I was consciously trying for.

I found my dad’s electric guitar in my youngest years and played around with that for a while even though we didn’t have an amp. In high school I stole a friend’s guitar and tinkered with that for a while. I still write most of music with that guitar. But really their wasn’t one moment where I planned to do anything with music. One thing after another kept happening and it was fun and challenging so I kept going.

What was your most memorable day job?

None of them!

What advice should you have taken but didn’t?

I always ask for advice and never take it.

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

Luis Buñel. Roasted Sheep.

Who is your favourite hero of fiction?

A toss up between Korben Dallas and Candide.

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

Coachella where my bandmate and myself went to a strip club and casino to gamble instead of going to the festival.

Editors:  Love this!

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

I’m a book and film person.

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

The Bible and a hit of LSD.

What does the next 6 months look like for you?

Not close enough and not far enough away for any thoughts.

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

I have ‘accidentally’ met some of my hero’s and find that it depends on the person. People are just people meaning some are assholes and some are lesser assholes.

Thanks Ammo!

Now go get The Cathedral on Dune Altar HERE.

15 DISARMing Questions for Richard Millang of Bethany Curve

After a 15-year hiatus, Santa Cruz Shoegazers, Bethany Curve, have released Murder! on Kitchen Whore Records. The new record is described as “a visceral experience that draws the listener in deep towards the beating heart of the band and showcases the dynamic vocal styles of Richard Millang and Lisa Dewey”.

Bethany Curve formed in 1994. Although some members have come and gone over the years, Richard Millang and David MacWha have been there since the beginning. The band currently consists of Richard Millang (songs, vocals, guitars), Nathan Guevara (guitars), David MacWha (drums) and Lisa Dewey (vocals).

We asked Richard Millang about music, art, travel, and what’s on the near horizon for the band and this is what they told us.

What are you listening to right now?

John Maus. Specifically his last record Addendum and more specifically, the song “Dumpster Baby” and “Figured it Out”. I’m also listening to the latest Residents record, Intruders, which I like because it reminds me of my favorite Residents record, Demons Dance Alone. Other than that, David Lynch, Tame Impala, Exploded View, Odd Nosdam, Caretaker, HTRK…

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

We played a lot of Beach Boys, Doors, Mamas & Papas, at home when I was a kid but the first record I ever purchased myself was U2 Rattle and Hum in 1988. That was my prize possession until I then quickly discovered PiL, Jane’s, Siouxsie, Joy Division, Love & Rockets, etc.

Vinyl or CD/Digital?

All things being equal, probably vinyl. But it also depends on the record you want to listen to. Some records just sound better on vinyl and others on CD. For example, I LOVE listening to records like Bowery Electric, Boards of Canada, Pygmalion, Black Moth on vinyl. 

What are your favourite bands?

Are you kidding me? Way too many to possibly list. Even my top of the top of the top is an impossible list. But, I’ll narrow it to the bands that had a direct impact on my music and songwriting. Cocteau Twins, My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive and Pixies. Probably no surprises here. 

Why do you live where you do?

I live in Santa Cruz, California. It’s the Garden of Eden if you ask me. We have the ocean and beaches, giant redwood forests, more agriculture, vineyards, wineries and breweries than you can imagine. Hiking, biking, surfing. SF is about an hour away and so is Big Sur. Not a bad existence living here. 

What’s your idea of a perfect Sunday?

An all day hike with my wife and our puppy, then an early dinner in Davenport overlooking the cliffs and ocean while sipping on Gin and Tonics. 

What is your dream vacation if money was no object?

I had an amazing time in both Capri, Italy and San Sabastian, Spain last year. It ruined me! All I want to do is visit more places like that for many months at a time. Once the stress of life and work lifts off your shoulders and you just immerse yourself into the culture of these beautiful places, it’s euphoric. 

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

Immediately find the finer bars and restaurants within reasonable distance. That, and also record stores. 

What inspired you to take up music?

My parents had me in piano lessons at 4 years old. I hated it. Too much structure. Quit piano around 10. Starting really getting into bands at 12. Started playing piano again but on my terms. Songwriting on piano by ear. At 14, I realized I needed to teach myself guitar. My dad had an old Guitar Standards book by Mel Bay. I taught myself from that book. By 16 or 17, I started playing leads from the Cure, Pixies, etc by ear. Wore out a lot of cassettes. Starting writing my own songs on guitar. By 18, there was nothing that would stop me from finding or starting a band. Then started Bethany Curve with the other members at age 19. I was 20 years old when we wrote and released Skies on CD. I felt so grown up then. 

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

David Lynch. I have so…many…questions. He apparently loves quinoa and my wife makes this insane quinoa with warm apples and caramelized onion that is both sweet and savory. I’d probably pair that with a 2010 Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou. I hear he loves Bordeaux!

Who is your favourite hero of fiction?

Three come to mind. 1) Special Agent Dale Cooper, 2) Daniel Plainview from There Will Be Blood and 3) Captain Hawkeye Pierce from MASH. 

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

Slowdive 1994 at the Roxy in LA and Cocteau Twins 1994 at Warfield in San Francisco. Those 2 shows literally motivated me to start a band. 

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

I was at the MoMA in New York in 2017. We were on the 3^rd floor or something. Installation pieces all over the place. Can’t recall the theme. I see this museum staffer, standing in the middle of the room just staring forward with no expression. I approached her wondering if maybe she’s part of the exhibit. When I got within just a few feet, I noticed a clear nylon looking string or wire that was connected to a steel disc on the floor and went all the way up to the ceiling and connected to a steel disc on the ceiling. The staffer was standing there because otherwise people would be walking into this thing. It’s invisible from 10 feet away. Once I realized this was the art piece, I had a visceral reaction. How could someone connect a clear string from the floor to ceiling and make it into MoMA as a legit piece of art? Are you kidding me??? That altered my mind you could say. 

What does the next 6 months look like for you?

Basking in the glow of a record that took too many years to complete. Birthing this thing was more emotional and painful for me than any record in my past. I will say that I’m so glad it finally happened because it’s by far my favorite BC record. I’m very proud of Murder!

Always meet your heroes or never meet your heroes?

Meet. Because it humanizes them. And you could probably learn even more from what they have to say to you.

Thanks Richard!

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.

18 DISARMing Questions for HOLYGRAM

HOLYGRAM describes their music as a blending of Post-Punk and New Wave with Krautrock and Shoegaze elements into a headstrong, multi-layered and thoroughly contemporary homage to the sound of the 1980s, including a resolute look to the future: driving, dark and full of catchy moments. The wide range of influences of the five band members, who got together in Cologne’s vibrating musical landscape in 2015, are unmistakable: New Order meets NEU!. Their unpretentious approach to their own icons proves that references to the past must always be future-oriented, too. Previously impossible-to-combine elements come together cleverly to become the soundtrack of a city that appears threatening in the twilight.

The band is currently touring North America and took some time in between gigs to answer some questions for us.

What are you listening to right now?

All in the tour bus: Rendez Vous – Superior State

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

Patrick: Talking Heads – Stop Making Sense
Pilo: New Order – Blue Monday
Marius: Trio – Trio
Bennett: Queen – Night At the Opera

Vinyl or CD/Digital?

Patrick: Vinyl
Pilo: Vinyl
Marius: Vinyl
Bennett: Vinyl

What are your favourite bands?

Patrick: The Cure
Pilo: There’s too many to mention

Why do you live where you do?

Patrick: I moved to Cologne for work but now there is so many things that keep me there
Marius: My sister lives there
Bennett: I was born there and I like it

What’s your idea of a perfect Sunday?

Patrick: Hanging out in a café with a warm coffee and a piece of cake
Marius: Good food, good series or movies, and a bed
Bennett: Pizza, videogames, and music

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

Patrick: Travel sickness tablets
Bennett: Nintendo DS – mind-altering
Pilo: We don’t have a tour bus
Marius: A blanket

What is your dream vacation if money was no object?

Patrick: The moon
Bennett: Pluto
Pilo: Staying at home
Marius: Also anything in space

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

Patrick: I get lost in the noise
Bennett: It depends on the city…getting food?
Pilo: Use Tinder
Marius: I really don’t know, anything could happen

What inspired you to take up music

Patrick: A sound, a thought, a good movie
Bennett: A mood which drives me to do it like Patrick said – a sound, a painting, etc.
Pilo: My nails

What advice should you have taken but didn’t?

Patrick: Learn an instrument
Bennett: Patrick can play an instrument other than his voice. He can play Bass Keys and Guitar
Marius: Learn all kinds of gymnastic skills

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

Patrick: Vincent Price, anything…
Bennett: Frank Zappa
Marius: Michael Jackson

Who is your favourite hero of fiction?

Patrick: Batman
Bennett: Solid Snake
Marius: Sephiroth

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

Patrick: The Cure (any gig I saw)
Bennett: Sting
Pilo: Deichkind

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

Patrick: Post-punk.com
Bennett: Freitag.de

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

Patrick: Surrealism in general and Max Ernst in particular
Bennett: Alien, Blade Runner

What does the next 6 months look like for you?

Patrick: First I need to wrap my head around the last few weeks of touring…

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

Patrick: I would like to meet some of them and some should probably stay a mystery

Thanks guys!

You can pick up their excellent album, Modern Cults, by visiting one of the links below, or catch them while you can during their North American tour.

CD order https://cleorecs.com/store/shop/holygram-modern-cults-cd
Vinyl order https://cleorecs.com/store/shop/holygram-modern-cults-2-lp
Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/12LJJjf8OkMNhJHkWdzM2w