Richard Dreyfest Interviews Chad's Friend Bill

in ,

by Ty Herman

Hiya fellas, who are you? Do you think the earth is really spherical?

Spherical is lyrical. 

Your band name is very intriguing, and I sense a lot of hidden meaning within it. How did you come up with it?

We are bad at coming up with band names. Our first official gig, wherein David Cleaves asked us what our name is and we said we didn't know, he introduced as Chad and his Friend Bill. That was too long so we shortened it to Chad's Friend Bill...

Have both of you lived in Billings for a while?

Chad was here for a while, then he escaped, then he came back. Bill has not been here for a while. 

I'm a huge fan of some of your atypical melodies and groovy syncopated drum patterns. Who are some of your biggest influences and what have you been listening to lately?

Chad's major influences are the band Low, and Radiohead. He has been listening to Low and Radiohead. Bill's influences: Sergio Mendez, Elise Regina, and Pavement.

Chad interjects, "Bill have I told you about my Lord and Saviors Low and Radiohead?" 

Bill responds, "No, I am not interested in Low and Radiohead!"

I’ve heard that zombies are piss poor fighters, but do you think a zombie apocalypse is a significant possibility? If so, what would you do?

It’s always a possibility. My advice is to give in. Zombies are way less stressed and sad during those things. Bill recommends the album "Across the Fall of Sunset" by the band Wagner and the Zombiemen. All the answers are in that album... I mean all of em' baby.

Bears are scary. What's your favorite kind of bear? 

We like to drink Street Fight at Angry Hank’s Microbrewery. We have been getting more and more into lagers. Budweiser is nice and we like sours. Not sure why you are scared of bears.

Where did you boys learn to play music? Do you have any tips for the people out there that are learning and just starting out as bands?

Look up the song "In my Room" by George Possley. That’s where we learned. We learned ourselves real good. Then Bill got a fancy ass degree. He always reminds Chad. If your just starting out stick to it, have fun, and don't do what we do to get famous.  

Do you think the Rothchild's are a bunch of smelly lizard people?

The other day I was walking my dog and I saw a lizard.  Then I was walking my lizard and I saw a smaller lizard. Then there's the thing about the Rothchild's, who can really say.  But back to the tiny lizard; he looked up and told me that one day I would name my son Jim Moron-son and he would free the people from their scathing wealth and poor bodily hygiene. Didn't think much of it though till someone asked me about my fear of da bears.

Both of you have been playing music for quite a while and in a few different cities, what are some of your most crazy or memorable gigs?

Arthouse.....Michelle painted. It was good. This place Chad played in Minneapolis had the most amazing urinals you have ever seen!!!!!! It's called the Stasiu's Bar and they have beautiful stately urinals, fit for a KIng or Chad's Friend Bill.

Thank you guys very much for being a part of this year’s festival, I love hearing your music! Would you rather sweat a gallon of peanut butter every week of your life or have Cheeto fingers until you die?

I want both, says Bill.

Yeah seriously why would you make us choose, says Chad.

 

Chad's Friend Bill's Links:

Richard Dreyfest Interviews Cayden Taylor

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by Colton Young

Anyone that has seen you perform knows you are one of the young guns of the Billings comedy scene, how long have you been doing stand up for?

I have been doing stand up technically since January of 2016 when my friends urged me to tell them some jokes, but I've been performing in front of public crowds like Laugh Jurassoff since April of 2016.

Being only 17, and a the new owner of a drivers license, what made you want to pursue comedy at such a young age other than the hope for possible female interaction?

What actually drove me to write and perform was dealing with a bit of depression after some heartbreak during my sophomore year, which I've gotten over thankfully. Also, I am a really big fan of Bo Burnham and Donald Glover who got their start in comedy at really young ages, so that made me want to at least give it a try.

What’s it like having your parents in the crowd while tastefully delivering dick jokes?

It is something that should be awkward, but my parents and I have an understanding that I am trying to be weird for the sake of being weird, so they know it's not 100% me on stage.

I’ve gotten the chance to see you perform some musically inspired and comedic poetry on stage in the past, any chance we can expect to see something similar at this year’s Dreyfest?

There is a very good chance people might see poems and/or music in my act this year, but the only way to find out is if you come see me and my friends at Dreyfest!

Before this interview, did you know who Richard Dreyfuss was? 

Unfortunately, I hadn't. However, that is the cool thing about this festival, you get to learn about the talent around Montana and be able to enjoy the different varieties of art and culture that those talent created. I have heard of some of the bands that will be playing, such as Silverbow Society (make sure to check them out as well!)

Whats your take on Bigfoot?

My take on Bigfoot? Over 7 ft. tall, girls dig a man that's over 7 ft. tall.

What does life consist of when you’re not bumming around in school or cracking jokes on stage?

My life consists of working at a restaurant, listening to music, attempting to write something comedic, and of course lots of eating and sleeping.

An English speaking garden gnome walks through the door wearing nothing.  What does he say, and why is he there?

The gnome says "I'm killer keemstar" and he's there because I'm not iDubbbz and he knows I won't hurt him. (By the way, both are pretty funny dudes, I recommend watching them)

Congrats on making it all the way to the finals of the Montana Comedy Competition this year. That’s no easy feat. I’ve noticed you have a pretty large following of young folks at all your shows. What do you refer to this legion of loyal lads as? Some have loosely labeled them as “Caydens Comrades” in the past, but what do you as their master call them?

I call them family; they've stuck with me through my really bad and really good times. I cannot thank them enough for that, and I am forever in debt in giving back to them.

 

Cayden's Links:

Richard Dreyfest Interviews Parker Brown

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by Eric Toennis

Hey there, Parker! Looks like you're a Billings guy. Are you from Billings originally?

Yeah, I am…In most ways. I think I drank ditch water enough to have it affect my DNA before my family moved out to the glacial lakes of Coeur d'Alene, ID when I was eight. I ended up coming back to Billings when I was nineteen and now I have ripened to thirty-four .  

You've got a band you call the Bleeding Hearts. Is this some LIBERAL PROPAGANDA or what? Are you going solo for Dreyfest, or will there be a Bleeding Heart or two with you?

Hahaha! It’s a total ploy.  But also, when I thought about it I really liked the idea of us all being a sensitive band, ya know, a bunch of feelers, so I just put it out there and as it turns out I think my band mates are maybe even more emotional than me. I am going to talk at least one member to join me at Montana Gallery for the show. 

On your website you've got a picture of you playing guitar, drums, AND upright bass. 1) Did you invent a cloning machine?  2) If you are not just one of a series of clones, what instrument did you start on?  3) Would you say you have a "favorite" instrument to play among these?  4) If you are one of a series of clones, is the real Parker Brown still alive?

1) I almost had a cloning machine, but the prototypes proved to be a little too dangerous, so we scrapped it. I always liked how brothers or family members intrinsically have this “thing" that happens when they play music together. I think that Parker, Parker, and Parker could probably come up with some pretty intense music together (or a super solid law firm name). I am sure that ultimately I would get sick of myself and we’d break up. 

2) My first official instrument was the upright bass in fifth grade and after two years I quit orchestra and went to electric bass. Then I went fully to guitar until I was about twenty when I picked up the upright and electric again and I started making money as a freelance musician playing bass. So, it’s always been good to me.

3) Now I am kind of finding a nice balance with all my obsessions with other instruments and each instrument that I play is may favorite in certain contexts, but upright bass and I have always had a really deep relationship together. I think that is because when I was younger the music that was the most powerful and “spiritual” to me had the upright bass in it, i.e. Mingus’ “Ecclesiastes” and Albums Oh Yeah and Ah Um; John Coletrane’s album A love Supreme and most of his later catalogue; as well as the great trio of Bill Evans, Paul Motian, and bassist Scott Lafaro.

4) I like to think of it like Rick on Rick and Morty. There are an infinite amount of Parkers out there in the multi-verse, but they all know that I am the greatest, or whatever. We all get along well when we get together though. 

My father and I used to watch you play years ago with your first big act that I remember in the Montana music scene as The Tyler Burnett Band and later just Tyler Burnett. I remember being a young lad and going to what seems like dozens of your shows, and you guys being a big influence on the younger generation of musicians. How would you say this experience has helped shape you as a musician and what kind of influence do you hope these early years had on the music scene in the Big Sky?

Wow! Thanks! I feel like we cracked something open that was already about to burst.  I would like to think that what we did just looked fun and was also a bit professional looking. That seems to have possibly been our influence on a few of the kiddos. That band helped me know who I was on stage better and learn the ropes of the business from booking gigs/tours, band dynamics, handling money for a band, writing songs, mailing posters and albums to venues and reviewers; recording, setting up sound, "turning on" in high pressure situations. It was an incredible learning experience for me. 

Describe your music using the words "pizza," "particles," and "wooden." Oh! And "firey Hollywood car crash.”

Imagine a person who has eaten far too much pizza, saddened by all the fiery Holloywood car crashes he’s seen on the television, writing songs about particles of energy connecting us together (mostly unconsciously) on a nice wooden instrument.  

The Bleeding Hearts at the Pub Station in Billings.

The Bleeding Hearts at the Pub Station in Billings.

Your website also says you're a freelance musician. What does this mean? How do you like working as a freelancer?

I love being a freelance musician*. It means that I can get hired for almost any gig and be able to perform the music as if I was a member of the band (or on a recording). I learn the parts and come in and play—it usually ends up being a permanent spot in the group, but it also moves around a lot, especially in jazz settings. I used to do a wider variety of projects as a "hired gun," but now I have a few outfits that I play with regularly and it just spreads out around on the ol' calendar. Adding my own group to the list has been interesting as well as challenging. Basically, I am a freelance musician in my own band as well. 

*I also teach as kind of a freelancer as well. I am adjunct at Sheridan College, Rocky Mountain College, and this fall I will be at MSUB as a bass instructor. I also have my own private studio where I teach private lessons.

Do you have any other talents besides being a stellar musician that the adoring public may not know?

I can do a couple of tricks on the old skateboard still…  

I noticed that some of your lyrics reference some pretty cosmic shit, like the Earth's rotational velocity. Is this the "neomystical" aspect of your music? Do you consider yourself a pretty spiritual dude?

Well yeah. I like to think about that stuff a lot, like gravity, vibrations, energy, breaking down things and getting as micro, macro and as meta as my brain will allow. Phil Griffin and I talk about it a bit and try to pin point just what neomysticism means - he's the one that used the term to describe my music - but it’s hard because I think he’s making up some new shit with that one. I am just trying to fit into it because I love the term. I spent a lot of time going through the tunnel of modern/not-so-modern Christianity and I have been trying to unravel a lot of things in that arena as well as the things that we take for granted or are unaware of because our system doesn’t allow us to look beyond the walls in which we’ve placed ourselves in—what ever that might be, whether it’s religion/thought, food, Netflix, or capitalism, etc. I believe that there are some pretty fantastical things happening around us that are generally missed by most of the population because of the distractions of everyday life. So yeah, something simple like voluntary actions in the body or the earth spinning and us not even feeling it is something that I like to find joy in. It’s pretty fucking incredible…uhhh…at least to me. 

Read any good books lately?

Yeah, I did. I just recently finished Dave Caserio’s book This Vanishing. Whew. It is some of the most beautiful poetry that I have ever read (and there is a lot that I haven’t read), but his writing really hits me right in the heart. There were many times when I would finish a poem and just set the book down to let it soak in. I highly recommend it. Before that it was a Rumi compilation of love poems and David McRaney’s book You are Now Less Dumb. They both flip you out in their own way. 

If you were on death row and were being served your last meal, what would it be? 

Most definitely a medium thin crust with pepperoni, mushrooms, and black olives from Dominoes. I’d eat it in one sitting and then just be blissed out for the chair. 

Can you kindly give the dear readers some links??

Richard Dreyfest Interviews The Photoshoplifters

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by Nels Jensen

Who are you two?  Where are you from?  What do you play?  Do you know who Richard Dreyfuss is?

We are Justin Senger and Maddie Murray. We have both lived here nearly our entire lives! Justin plays guitar and vocals, and Maddie plays drums and programs tracks. We didn't know of Richard Dreyfuss before we were contacted about this festival!

I couldn’t help but notice the references and alien imagery.  Is this a nod to “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” or something else?

We both have a love for aliens, ufos, and the supernatural. It was an idea for our artwork on our first EP and from there we continued the theme of aliens.

You guys started in 2016… and you already have a release… you’ve obviously been busy!  What does the songwriting process look like for you?  Were these songs all new, or were some of them songs before this project was started?

Justin had 4 songs written before we started this band. We currently have 14 songs officially from the many others Justin has written over time. He writes the lyrics and songs, and Maddie writes the back tracks. These tracks include the bass guitar, synth, orchestra, bells, keys and any electronic elements we want to throw in.

There doesn’t seem to be anyone in town doing a similar thing to you two.  As far as influences go, was there anyone local that helped you solidify the sound you were going for?  Or just national acts?

We also noticed that no one else seems to be doing what we are doing locally. No one locally influenced us it's more on a national acts level. Starset, Linkin Park, Blink 182, and Twenty-One Pilots are some major influences for us.

Do you not like bass (guitar)?

Justin's main instrument is actually bass guitar! He's played bass for several bands around town. When we started up, we tried to find a bassist, but no one seemed interested or didn't want to be in our band. We have bass written in our back tracks, so fear not my friend!

Do you not like bass (fish)?

We like fishinnn for bass!

Do you not like phish (because I could totally understand that… I mean… who likes jam bands)?

We don't know enough about the band to answer that question, ha ha.

The perfect show would consist of ________________, and _____________, and ____________.

The perfect show would consist of Weird Al, Sarah Mclaughlin, and Twisted Romance (just kidding ha ha).

The perfect show would consist of Starset, Linkin Park, and Breaking Benjamin.

Before someone sees a Photoshop Lifter’s show for the first time, what should they know going in?

Before people see a live show, they should know its not just live music they'll be hearing. It will be an experience to remember. And they have to be prepared to be abducted.

 

Links for The Photoshoplifters:

Richard Dreyfest Interviews Abby Rausch

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by Mary Kate Teske

Your name is what and you hail from where?

My name is Abby Rausch. I was born and raised in Helena, and recently graduated from Rocky with degrees in Studio Art, History, and Political Science.

Did your parents celebrate in any certain way when you exited the womb?

My mom’s line was "get this shittin kid outta me" and my dad missed the birth because he was stranded on a broken down boat on Fort Peck when his pager went off. However he did show up at the hospital with celebratory cigars.

Tell me about the stuff you create and get your hands on.

I make prints, like to paint with acrylic, and use various found items in my pieces. Everywhere I go I try to collect things - I've been in DC the last two months and so far have found many feathers as well a squirrel tail I picked up in George Washington’s botanical garden at Mount Vernon. Almost all my art has animals in it, but it's not western at all, rather it has a very illustrative or graphic quality. Also, I just got into making crystals, ha ha.

A squirrel tail? What other strange types of items have you found for your work?

I have boxes of bones sitting in my parents’ house waiting to be turned into a project. I smuggled a flattened out snake with me from the Italian Alps, was gifted a chunk of elk vertebrae, found a fish skeleton by a dried up lake in Arizona. I collected snail shells from the Burren in Ireland and smuggled those across the border, and I've got many deer and elk bones, as well as a good-sized collection of feathers and rocks. For my graduation my cousin gave me a juvenile robin skull, so it seems to be fairly well known that a good bone is something I love. I try to pick things up everywhere I travel.

I see you have a love of politics as well as art. Do you see yourself pursuing anything in the realm of democracy the future?

Yes, I am very interested in politics, specifically international relations. I have been in Washington DC the last two months working on a nonprofit journalism project for Palestinian youth, and participating in an institute for economics and international affairs. I'd like to work for the State Department or the UN someday.

Okay, one last question, if one of the animals you collected for your art came back to life and turned you into a piece, what would you want to be?

I'd like my skull to end up as a prop for a Hamlet performance. I've got a gold tooth that would look great.

 

Abby's Links:

Richard Dreyfest Interviews Bull Market

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by Kelly La Croix

Hiya. Who are you and what do you do in the band and where can find a decent pair of jeans?

Phil: I'm Phil and I play guitar and provide vox. I'm actually a bit obsessed with my jeans - they're raw denim and I never wash them. I recommend The Unbranded Brand. Some real hipster shit.

Nels:  I’m Nels, I hit things.  Decent jeans?  Pissed.

Tell us about your band's sound using a school-style analogy:  Bull Market is to ____________, as _____________ is to ______________.  

Really Kelly?  “School-style analogy”?  I’ll give you a school style analogy… we’re playing shows all the time, and kids are hearing us, but are they really listening?  If they were, I’m sure they’d realize that they need to invest… not in a few years, not next week… NOW.  Compound interest, people! Get in at least with some index funds.  You want to be affluent investors, get your head in the game.  Now.  INVEST!

If you were to start an online petition, in an effort to get thousands, if not millions of signatures on, what would the stated purpose of that petition be?

To get some decent interview questions...

What band was your gateway drug to the seedy world of rock and roll?

Phil: Ooo. I dunno, there's probably a few. I'd just happen upon a cd and get kind of obsessed. I remember once getting a live Backstreet Boys album from a Burger King in Minneapolis when I was like ten. That was weird, looking back. I've never seen that since. Another time in 4th grade I got Highway to Hell and listened to that for a long time. There was also some Blink 182, Good Charlotte, and RHCP through middle school and high school.

Nels:  I’m not sure I tried to grab every one of a band's albums before Nirvana…  

Phil, you are currently part of Beatnik City Council, could you tell us a little about it?

Phil: Yeah! So me and a gal named Brie Ripley and a guy named Ty Herman started meeting weekly with the goal of opening a DIY venue in Billings. We decided to reach out to other artsy groups in town to see about common interests and ran into some folks with a project called Artspace. They were trying to get a fancy live/work space for artists built downtown and had a hearing with the city council coming up. We decided to show some solidarity and testify on their behalf - personally I was pretty pissed about the political goings-on and wanted to make an appearance on behalf of artists in Trump Country. Some old white guys in the council made comments about "beatniks" so we cheekily adopted the term for our name.

As far as the DIY space goes, we realized it was gonna take a lot of work and $$$ to make it happen, and have since refocused our efforts to put on shows (including DF!), gauge community interest, and hopefully-maybe apply for some grants in the next year or two. You can read more about BCC here.

Nels, you have had a long and storied career as an nighttime astroturf layer for several major stadiums. How is that going?

Nels:  I’m liking it mow and mow as time goes on… I mean, I’m makin’ some real green because I’ve been in the business for such a lawn time.  It’s actually the only “side” job that I’ve got at this point… all of the other jobs weren’t cutting it, and I didn’t see the growth potential that astroturf has.

Most fun thing you've done in the past year:

Phil: I've been experimenting with ice baths and hot-cold therapy. There's a great hotspring outside Missoula I always make a point of visiting because you can dip in the icy creek and alternate with the spring. I grew up taking saunas and jumping naked into the snow, so it kinda makes sense. I also got married last summer, that's been a weird kind of fun.

Nels:  Oh man… I dressed up in a suit with some of my friends (bow ties) and pretend to play a song at a bar… there was all of this drama, like this girl threw her phone before the first chorus, and then this guy busted a prop bottle over her head. There were fights and explosions… but we just kept on pretending to play. People were running around with X-mas lights on…and slicing fruits with swords…people were eating other people's faces, but you know, we are young.  

Most challenging thing you've done in the past year:

Phil: I worked in a law office for the entirety of 2016. That was tough. But I quit in January and decided to pursue art stuff full-time, nannying, walking dogs, and house-sitting as a side-hussle.

Nels: I had to listen to Phil complain about his job at a law office.

Stupidest thing you've done in the past year:

Phil: When I decided to play in a band with this yayhoo! Nyuck-nyuck-nyuck.

Nels: We don’t have that kind of time, Kelly.

 

 

Bull Market's Links:

Richard Dreyfest Interviews Panther Car

in ,

by Austin Finn

To start off, something simple. Names, birthstones, and zombie apocalypse home base location (ie, where you would go to setup as your central HQ in case of a zombie apocalypse)?

Connor, Chrys, Andrew, and Scott. 

Kidney Stone, Cold Stone, Black Stone Cherry, and Amethyst, respectively.

If zombies were to apocalyze we would head straight to the Morty Dome, where the walls are made of hundreds of screaming Mortys, distracting the zombies, and allowing us to pinch ‘em off one by one

Describe your sound in three sentences or less using the words “belly”, “Sheffield Wednesday Football Club”, and “oblong”.

Our oblong tones have often been a popular choice at the Sheffield Wednesday Football Club‘s annual pig roast, where the residual grooves tend to sit in one’s belly and cause indigestion, leading to the customary passing-of-the-Tums-bottle.

Do you guys remember, like 5 years ago, we played a show together at a place in Billings called the Terminal. That show and venue has sort of become legendary now, for a lot of different reasons. Do you remember anything about that show? What did you think of the space and the bands?

That was the first time we saw Idaho Green! It totally changed our perception of Billings, we had no idea that anything like that went on there. In a way it seems like Dreyfest is trying to preserve the legacy of the vibe of that show.

Dreyfest organizer and MSU alumn Nels Jensen is obsessed with La Parilla. I went with him twice and both times he got the fettusccine alfredo burrito. Can you please talk some sense into him?

It seems like Nels has got his head on straight now, he’s joined the hordes of us addicts at Taco Montes, with their tantalizing array of fusion tacos

Ever play the Haufbrau? It’s still one of my favorite places to play in the entire country.

The best, coziest, shittiest, drunken, noisy, fun-times are had there. The first show we ever played was at the Haufbrau and we still piss off patrons there constantly    

Ever play shows with Tales From Ghost Town? I’m convinced he’s the punk poet laureate of Montana. 

Tales From Ghost Town is great - we played with him years ago in Helena. Nick plays with another group, Gang Member, who also rule.

Any tours of up coming projects you guys are stoked on in the future?

We’ll be trying to release our new EP in the first-ever boof-able format…so look out for that

First word that comes to mind when you think of Billings?

Rims

Panther Car's links:

 

For more info about Panther Car, check out an article about the band from Gabba Gabba Magazine by clicking here. See the rest of the lineup for Dreyfest or check out some more interviews.

Also, check out this year's venues and get your tickets!

Richard Dreyfest Interviews In Rapture

in ,

      by Kelly La Croix

Hey folks - who are we interviewing, what’s your age, what is your stance on pineapple on pizza?

Nate, 28. Samm, 27. Zach, 25. Tony, 24. JR, 22. One of us could die from consuming pineapple. So….we aren’t entirely fond of it on pizza.

I read in your bio that you started as a solo project that needed to be fleshed out. Nate, how did you choose who you would want to work with?

I knew Tony and Zach from a band called My Soul Beside Me. I recorded some of their songs and after that I showed them some material I was working on and we just started experimenting and building. I had known Samm for a few years before that. And we met JR through We 3 Bears, another band I had recorded.

Not too long ago, you all recorded at Robert Lang Studios in Seattle. First, was it at all intimidating going to a renowned location to record, knowing that so many great bands have been in the space before (small sampling of bands who have recorded there: Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Death Cab For Cutie, Heart, Sunny Day Real Estate)? Second, I see a former Billings-ite in some of the pictures on the studio’s webpage…was he your hookup? Third, how was the experience, overall?

It wasn’t too intimidating at first. But we had practiced, and practiced and played a lot of shows up until then so we were primed and ready. Our good friend Kee Curlee was working there and invited us out to record Oceans to Arsenic at the studio. We could not pass that opportunity up of course so we jumped at it! The experience was amazing and we met a lot of cool people! It was pretty intimidating having Robert Lang come steal some of our potato chips though. 

What has the general reaction been to your live shows when people learn you play instrumental music?

A lot of people are really surprised! Some people come to us and say, “I don’t really like metal, but you guys are awesome!” It’s a different reaction from everyone which is really cool because you can tell how their experience to your music truly was.

Since you are into a wide range of sounds, if you could add one more instrument to the band, what would it be?

We all like strings because of the amount of emotion you can play across the instrument. Violin, or Cello would be amazing.

Favorite Netflix/tv/online show?

It changes over time but at the moment:

Nate: Better Call Saul, South Park

JR: The Office, Seinfeld

Samm: Metalocalypse, Once Upon A Time

Zach: The Leftovers, Game of Thrones

Tony: Rick and Morty, Attack on Titan

I know that at least some of you are from Laurel (Billings’ quieter, smellier younger sibling). What’s the best thing about the place?

Skating the ghetto half pipe that was only available when the big ditch running through town was actually empty. Shit was off the chain.

A piece of music that you own that people probably wouldn’t guess that you own:

JR: My Chemical Romance, “Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge”

Nate: Sir Mix A Lot, “Mack Daddy”

Samm: Insane Clown Posse, “The Great Malenko”

Zach: Nightwish, “The Poet and The Pendulum”

Tony: Childish Gambino, “Awaken My Love!”

Can anyone do any stupid human tricks? Y’know, like balance a mop on your forehead or triple flip into a pool of bees or whatever?

Zach can open a bottle with his teeth. It’s pretty hard to watch though. Nate’s talents are impossible to describe via text because they’re ungodly, high shrieks created using his voice. Samm can sound exactly like Jigglypuff. JR can turn purple. Tony can nail the Herbert the Pervert voice off of Family Guy.

Got any links for the readers to check out?

 

Richard Dreyfest Interviews The Windermeres

in ,

      by Kelly La Croix

 

Hi Windermeres! Who are you and what do you do and what is that awful smell?

Jeremy: I play drums and provide harmonies.

Andrew: I play guitar and sing backing vox.

Chris: I sing and play guitar and am the bossy jerk of the Windermeres

Andrew: That awful smell could be any one of us after 3 days of touritos.

Are you native Denverinians or are you from elsewhere?

Chris: We are! We are all from different suburbs of Denver.

I saw a photo of you guys and one of you had a fucking Assorted Jellybeans shirt on. First: I can’t believe anyone knows who that band is in 2017! Second: Do you guys like a lot of mid/late 90’s stuff?

Andrew: That is kind of our wheelhouse, haha.

Chris: We are pretty into all Fat Wreck and Epitaph stuff - especially mid-to-late 90s.

Will Dreyfest be your first trip to Billings/Montana in general? What (if anything) are you looking forward to?

Jeremy: Nope! We actually played shows in Billings, Bozeman, and Butte in our last tour. So this will actually be our second time in Billings this year!

I see you’re on For the Love of Punk Records, a venture, I assume, that is linked with Johnny Wilson honcho of the website For The Love of Punk. How did that relationship happen? (Side-note: Johnny has some Billings ties - when he was in Moral Crux they played out here a few
times and a few of us know him. Tell the guy hi from Billings!)

Chris: Johnny has been a fan of ours since we opened for The Gamits a few years back. When he heard that we were doing a new record, he asked if we had anybody putting it out. We didn't so he offered.

Andrew: My favorite Johnny story is how Moral Crux's first show was opening for Jawbreaker.

Chris of The Gamits produced your record. Did he impart anything to you fellas… sage words of advice or anything you observed that taught you something valuable?

Chris: Practice, practice, practice your songs before you get into the studio. Good drums and good vocals sell a record. Fogal is a pretty laid back guy. Oh! He likes to have his singers liquered up a little when doing lead vocals. He thinks it helps get them to be a little more loose and emotive.

Looking over your past and current releases, it seems like the subject matter has changed; do you intend to write socially conscious lyrics or is that just what’s at the forefront of your mind when you’ve been writing lately?

Jeremy: It's kind of hard not to be more political with the state of the country - and the world - right now. That definitely influences our music.

Chris: I feel like the first record is just as political as this one. Maybe, it was just a little more poetic or subtle. Maybe we were a little more aggressive about it on the second record? Hahaha

You guys recently lost a member. Will you be tuned up and ready in time for the fest??

Andrew: Hell yeah, we will. Nothing really slows us down.

Jeremy: We actually had a good friend fill in on our last tour and it was no problem at all. We have a similar situation for Richard Dreyfest.

You go to the corner store with $4 in your pocket. What do you purchase?

Jeremy: Water and rolling papers! Hahahaha

Andrew: Orange vitamin water and sriracha almonds.

Chris: Water and spearmint gum.

The ol’ job interview question: Where do you hope to be in 5 years?

Chris: Drinking beers and eating burritos with Daisy Riddley.

Jeremy: Supporting Billy Joel on his world wide farewell tour! Hahaha

Andrew: Brand new house, wife, kids, fast car, ...welll except minus the house, car, wife, and kids. Hahaha

Thanks guys! SEE YOU AT DREYFEST

-Richard P. Dreyfest

Links for The Windermeres:

Waste Books- "A Wild Sheep Chase" by Haruki Murakami

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In this episode Jordan, Phil, Dan, and Cooper talk about Haruki Murakami's novel, A Wild Sheep Chase.

This episode's book was chosen by: Cooper

Also available on iTunes!

Overview

“The thing is you’re looking for something two-dimensional and not quite real. It never lasts. But you can’t expect something unreal to last anyway, can you?” The ordinary, desultory, and nameless protagonist of Haruki Murakami’s A Wild Sheep Chase is not the character one immediately wants to identify with. At times incorrigible, mostly helpless, and constantly at a loss for understanding his farrago of a life, Murakami throws our “hero” out of his mundane Tokyo life and into a phantasmagoric raft of characters, situations, and – sheep.

Accompanied by his newfound girlfriend (endowed with supernatural ears), the hapless lead meets with a nefarious rightwing organization demanding that a certain oddly marked sheep be found – or else. More schlemiel than samurai, the two then embark across the country, finding a conspiracy worth of secrets that align the sheep’s history with Japan’s checkered past. With the protagonist’s anxieties with direction and certainty, his quest for the sheep slowly becomes even more problematic and less coincidental then thought, something destined – and all in a world seemingly meaningless.

Murakami’s work grapples with fate and knowing, plumbing depths that never seem to have a tangible bottom, yet can’t help but be explored with a child’s bungling wonder. This fiction’s lack of character names and cultureless settings provide a Kafkaesque backdrop for raising universal questions about the human condition, about what it means to know someone, and if our fantasies are more real than humdrum banality.

Murakami’s tone is fitting then. His writing only reifies enough to depict surreal conversations without the specificity of most novelist’s minutia. Unpretentious and lean, the prose suits a journey one part philosophical feint into the abyss, and two parts deadpan comedy. We find a narrative replete with nuggets of the uncanny and memories of the mundane that define living’s splendor and significance.

Entrancing and attention-grabbing, A Wild Sheep Chase retains its literary quality without implementing beguiling references or long-winded descriptions. In short, it does what the novel is meant to do -  utilizing the vehicle of story to foist insoluble riddles, only to toy around with the answers. Wacky and hard-boiled, comedic yet forlorn, A Wild Sheep Chase tries to mystify the demystified and concoct meaning in contradictions of the determined and happenstance. We discover a wonder embedded in Murakami’s mediocrity, but a wonder that only arrives after we count sheep and fall into a deep slumber traced by dreams. 

 -Jordan Finn

This episode's music features a track called "CNG" by wastoids Halfway Killed.To catch up on the rest of our episodes and delve into some more great books click here!

Podcast Produced by Phillip Griffin

Waste Books- "Watt" by Samuel Beckett

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Join us for this episode of Waste Books as Jordan, Phil, Dan, and Eric discuss Samuel Beckett's oddball novel, Watt.

This episode's book was chosen by: Dan

Also available on iTunes!

Overview

Be prepared for Watt. Few novelists find the ability (or gall) to include the syncopated musical notation of three croaking frogs or a two-page description of the twenty ways four objects in a room are positioned. There are sentences written backwards, a man who eats the same meal every day, and an unseen dog that has its origins explained for longer than any other scene in the novel. This unseen dog’s story begins to feel more real than most of the surreal novel, and these moments clarify that amidst the abysmal tones and purgatorial drudgery, Beckett is trying to tell you the most important fact about life.

The story about the peculiar protagonist, Watt, is not a direct one. All that can be said of the plot is that our Watt ventures to a manor in the Irish countryside where he works for an obscure duration for obscure reasons, eventually leaving having learned nothing. Watt works for a Mr. Knott, even more enigmatic than our “hero” whose quotidian tasks epitomize the banal and tedious. The details surrounding Watt and his environs do nothing less than chronicle a prevailing sense of absurd purpose. The characters are ugly, their treatment of each other inhumane, and those considered the most sane are more vapid than the universe the audience is forced to recognize.

Heralded as the last modernist, Beckett stretches the movement to its disintegration point and exhausts the function of the narrative. He sequences the story out of order, distorts the events, enumerates catalogues worth of permutations resembling either pretzel logic or the most precise and thus insane depictions of analysis. Always, the metaphorical specter of death looms over the characters, influencing their nonsensical behaviors, the few most resistant to its terror are those most aware of the beckoning soil beneath their feet.

The mirror that Beckett lifts to our face through Watt is of an unmistakable absurdity in something unmistakably familiar, the two contingent on the other, the familiar birthing the absurd. As hopeless as Watt or Beckett appear, the two find a way to reconcile truth and existence, a means to abide with honesty and selflessness. Watt finds a way to speak of our eventual absence in the only thing more real, our presence: “For the only one can speak of nothing is to speak of it as though it were something…” the darkest iteration of affirmation in our modern times.

-Jordan Finn

Further Reading

Here's a review of Watt from the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/08/03/reviews/beckett-watt.html

Here's an interview with some shitbird whose favorite book is Watt:

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/11/you-begin-to-breathe-again-samuel-becketts-humor-as-a-coping-mechanism/281642/

Here's an article about a gathering celebrating Beckett's death:

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/12/theater/celebrating-beckett-against-his-will.html

Here's a longer piece about Beckett as a whole:

http://www.samuel-beckett.net/laughter.html

Here's a long piece on Watt by some bum:

http://samuel-beckett.net/Gyorgy/Dragoman.html

 

This episode's music is a track called "Levees" by Waste buddy Parker Brown. To catch up on the rest of our episodes and delve into some more great books click here!

Podcast Produced by Phillip Griffin