8/29/2013

Liars Performing Live at MoMA PS1 this Saturday, 8/31

Liars will be performing live at MoMA PS1's last Warm Up of 2013,
Following their two incredible shows in New York City - a special performance in The Temple of Dendur at The MET and a more traditional set at Le Poisson Rouge - Liars are pleased to announce that they will be playing at MoMa PS1 on August 31st as a part of the Summer Warm Up series. Also playing on that day is the stacked lineup of Cajmere, Lil Silva, IO ECHO, Jon Hopkins and Miles.

“Rules are made to be broken, 8/10"
- NME
“One of the most consistently inventive bands on the planet, 8/10”
- Clash
“Liars are still one of the bravest bands around, 7/10”
- Loud & Quiet
“ One of the greatest avant-pop groups of our age”
- The Quietus
 

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Deap Vally Announce West Coast Tour Dates

Deap Vally Announce West Coast Tour Dates
Band To Play On Lynyrd Skynyrd's Simple Man Cruise VII in October
Release Day Show At Mercury Lounge in New York City on October 08
Watch "Baby I Call Hell" Live Clip from In Depth Sessions

 

Los Angeles based rock-duo Deap Vally have announced a run of West Coast dates this September. The "Moon Block Party presents Deap Vally & Friends" shows begin on September 16 in Seattle and travel south through Portland, Pomona, San Diego, Aspen and Denver. Deap Vally have already made quite a name for themselves opening on the road for Mumford & Sons, Muse, Queens of the Stone Age, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The band will be playing a few upcoming shows with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club as well. For the full details of the tour, please see itinerary below.

To get a taste of the band's live performances, check out this live clip of their song "Baby I Call Hell" from the In Depth Sessions filmed at London's Eastcote Studios at the link below:


The girls will be joining multiple bands on the Simple Man Cruise VII in October, including Lynyrd Skynyrd. The Simple Man Cruise sets sail October 20-24th from Miami to Key West and Great Stirrup Cay on the beautiful Norwegian Pearl. The cruise is four days of nonstop shows on stages all around the ship, topped off with wild and crazy activities! Lynyrd Skynyrd brings another exceptional music festival, promising an incredible lineup of bands and the biggest rock n' roll fan reunion the open seas have ever seen. For more information, please visit: www.simplemancruise.com.

Deap Vally have also announced a show at the Mercury Lounge in New York City on October 08, the day that their upcoming debut album Sistrionix will be released via Cherrytree/Communion/Interscope/Island. The album was released in the UK to acclaim, with The Guardian hailing it as "a thoroughly unironic, seriously fun, rock record," and All Music Guide saying the band "...sound like the White Stripes or the Black Keys made over from the female side of things, with a sound that hits the same crunchy, thumping, swampy groove and looseness." Consequence of Sound hailed their live performance at Lollapalooza, saying: "Beautiful? Yes. Rock stars? Hell yes. If you're unfamiliar with Deap Vally, I pay them the ultimate compliment by asking you to imagine that Janis Joplin was able to play lead guitar à la Jack White... Needless to say, the audience offered up raucous applause."


Sistrionix Track Listing
1. End of the World
2. Baby I Call Hell
3. Walk of Shame
4. Gonna Make My Own Money
5. Creeplife
6. Your Love's A Lie
7. Lies
8. Bad For My Body
9. Women of Intention
10. Raw Material
11. Six Feet Under/Spiritual

Deap Vally On Tour
Sept 14 San Pedro, CA @ Lobster Fest
Sept 16 Seattle, WA @ El Corazon - Moon Block Party presents Deap Vally & Friends 
Sept 17 Portland, OR @ Hawthorne - Moon Block Party presents Deap Vally & Friends 
Sept 19 Pomona, CA @ Glasshouse - Moon Block Party presents Deap Vally & Friends 
Sept 21 San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar - Moon Block Party presents Deap Vally & Friends 
Sept 24 Aspen, CO @ Belly Up - Moon Block Party presents Deap Vally & Friends 
Sept 25 Denver, CO @ Moon Room - Moon Block Party presents Deap Vally & Friends
Sept 27 St Louis MO @ The Pageant supporting Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Sept 28 Cincinnati OH @ Mid Point Music Festival-Grammers Tent 
Sept 29 Pittsburgh PA @ Mr Smalls Theatre supporting Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Oct 02 Baltimore MD @ Ramshead Live supporting Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Oct 03 Asbury Park NJ @ Stone Pony supporting Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Oct 04 Austin TX, @ Stubbs Jr
Oct 05 Austin, TX @ ACL
Oct 08 New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge // RELEASE DATE SHOW
Oct 10 Washington, DC @ LivingSocial 918 F Street
Oct 12 Austin TX @ ACL 
Oct 13 Mexico City, MEX @ Corona
Oct 19 Miami, FL @ Bardot  
Oct 20 -24 Miami, Fl @ Lynyrd Skynyrd's Simple Man Cruise


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The Growlers are in Manhattan on Oct. 5th as part of the Burgerama



 

The Growlers return with a new EP, Gilded Pleasures
-
Out November 12th, 2013 on Everloving Records!

 

Catch them live in Manhattan on October 5th
at the Bowery Ballroom.


Listen and share the lead single, "Humdrum Blues," that premiered recently at Noisey.
 

by Mookie Stevers at Waversons Magazine
The Growlers new EP Gilded Pleasures is a sweet new little brother to Hung at Heart that is fresh, plump and ready to slap. "We are still confused on what the point of releasing little increments of music at a time is worth. If we had it our way we would be doing a full length album every couple of months," says Nielsen. And so again with little time and a lot of ideas, The Growlers have put together 9 songs whittled down from 13 in under two weeks. "Writing songs comes easy, our love for creating is never-ending, its the guidelines that create difficulties." The album titled Gilded Pleasures has an R&B makin' out on mushrooms feel that accompanies their previous release perfectly.
It was recorded and co-produced at an old pump house in Topanga Canyon by Kyle Mullarkey and The Growlers. Mullarkey has been an influence and big brother to them from the beginning, especially his work with The Grand Elegance and the Abigails. Two bands that had helped prepare Mullarkey for confined corners with the infamous Big Kids Los Growlers.
When asked why the name Gilded Pleasures? "We made simple songs with a little soul for our satisfaction, then we brought them into the studio and covered them with reverb and ribbons of tape for our fans listening pleasure. This record is simple and soulful and reminds me a lot of the early Growlers that a lot of our new fans never got the chance to hear," said Nielsen.
 
Share "Humdrum Blues" off Gilded Pleasures with your readership using this
Soundcloud player.

Press photos, bio, album art and more at The Growlers press page.
Burgerama Tour Dates & Beach Goth II

09.19.13 - Vancouver, BC @ Electric Owl 
09.20.13 - Seattle, WA @ Neumos
09.21.13 - Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
09.24.13 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
09.25.13 - Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater 
09.26.13 - Omaha, NE @ Slowdown
09.27.13 - St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club
09.28.13 - Chicago, IL @ Subterranean
09.29.13 - Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick

10.01.13 - Toronto, ON @ Lee's Palace
10.02.13 - Montreal, QC @ Il Motore
10.03.13 - Boston, MA @ Sinclair
10.04.13 - Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church
10.05.13 - New York City, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
10.06.13 - Washington, DC @ Black Cat
10.08.13 - Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West
10.09.13 - Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge
10.11.13 - Houston, TX @ Fitzgerald's
10.12.13 - Austin, TX @ The Parish
10.18.13 - Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory - Beach Goth II

10.19.13 - Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory - Beach Goth II


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TYPHOON DEBUTS AT #2 ON BILLBOARD + UPCOMING TOUR

TYPHOON'S NEW ALBUM WHITE LIGHTER
 DEBUTS AT #2 ON NEW ARTISTS CHART

NORTH AMERICAN HEADLINING TOUR KICKS OFF
NEXT THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5

KEXP SESSION NOW ONLINE

Typhoon  

Typhoon's new album White Lighter debuted at #2 on the Top New Artists Chart and #101 on the Top 200 this week, marking the bands highest debut to date.

In support of White Lighter, which was released last Tuesday August 20th via Roll Call Records, Typhoon will head out on a North American headlining tour next Thursday September 5th. The six-week run also includes performances at the Austin City Limits Music Festival, Pop Montreal and Music Fest NW, along with sold-out shows in Brooklyn, Austin, Chicago, DC and Philadelphia. Tour dates below.

Fans can also look forward to upcoming sessions with NPR's Tiny Desk, WXPN's World Café Live and more!!

Listen to the fan-favorite and critically acclaimed first single Young Fathers here (approved to embed): http://snd.sc/11ILE5Q

Typhoon recently stopped by KEXP for a session. Watch here:

"Mighty, powerful songs whose instrumentation conveys big, bold joy ... 
White Lighter takes the promise they've shown and delivers completely. The uplifting melodies and rhythms that sway and swing, mixed with lyrics about hopeless dreams and cold realities, works so well." - NPR's All Songs Considered
  
Young Fathers is a "mind-boggling chunk of orchestral pop ... this latest epic dives into the group's enormous range: Morton's earnest vocals lead the charge, his wondrous delivery flanked by left-field riffage, sudden fits of silence, chirping backup singers, and triumphant horns - and those are just a few of the sounds thriving inside 'Young Fathers.'" - Spin Magazine 
"White Lighter is built on the urgency of death and the beautifully fleeting nature of life: Morton unspools his tortured poetry over lush blankets of sound - pianos and guitars and multiple drum kits; horns and strings swelling to angelic crescendos." - Paste Magazine

"[Young Fathers] just grabs you right from the beginning. It jolts you. You think, almost, it's by accident. But there's this huge and complex sound coming from [11 members] ... there are these big, booming, sweeping, majestic pieces all in the same song. And the juxtaposition, to me, is very powerful."- NPR's Here & Now

Fans can purchase White Lighter at iTunes, Amazon and other digital retailers:


Tour Dates (more to be announced):

September 5-6                       Music Fest NW                                      Portland, OR
September 9                           The Rickshaw Theatre                         Vancouver, BC
September 10                        The Crocodile Café                                Seattle, WA
September 11                        Top Hat                                                     Missoula, MT
September 12                        El Korah Shrine                                       Boise, ID
September 13                        Urban Lounge                                         Salt Lake City, UT
September 14                        Hi-Dive                                                       Denver, CO
September 16                        The Waiting Room                                Omaha, NE
September 17                        The Old Rock House                             St. Louis, MO
September 19                        Cedar Cultural Center                          Minneapolis, MN
September 20                        Lincoln Hall                                               Chicago, IL
September 21                        Beachland Tavern                                  Cleveland, OH
September 22                        Wexner Center                                        Columbus, OH
September 24                        The Garrison                                            Toronto
September 25                        Pop! Montreal                                        Montreal, QB
September 26                        Higher Ground                                        South Burlington, VT
September 27                        The Iron Horse                                        Northampton, MA
September 28                        Littlefield                                                   Brooklyn, NY
September 29                        Brighton Music Hall                               Boston, MA
September 30                        Le Poisson Rouge                                   New York, NY
October 1                                Johnny Brenda's                                     Philadelphia, PA
October 2                               The Rock 'n Roll Hotel                           Washington, DC
October 4                               High Watt                                                   Nashville, TN           
October 6 & 13                     Austin City Limits Festival                    Austin, TX
October 9                               Three Links                                                 Dallas, TX
October 10                             House Of Blues [Bronze Peacock]    Houston, TX
October 12                             Lambert's                                                  Austin, TX
October 15                             UCSD [The Loft]                                      San Diego, CA
October 17                             The Satellite                                              Los Angeles, CA
October 19                             WOW Hall                                                  Eugene, OR
 
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8/28/2013

Sean Lennon & Greg Saunier to Headline Spy Fest 9/8

Spy fest
Mystical Weapons
Sean Lennon & Greg Saunier
Spy Fest is less than two weeks away and there are some big updates. We’re extremely excited to announce that Sean Lennon & Greg Saunier (Deerhoof) will now be headlining the September 8th date (10 pm @ 285 Kent) with their Mystical Weapons project, backed by the ecstatic projections of frequent-collaborator Martha Colburn. The guitar/drum shredding duo of Thurston Moore & John Moloney (Caught On Tape) had to postpone their Spy Fest appearance but rest assured there will be a heavy Caught on Tape performance for Northern Spy not too far down the line.

We've put together a late night, festival pre-party Friday, September 6th at The Grand Victory (245 Grand Street, Brooklyn, $5). Drink specials provided by Sixpoint Brewery and performances by Swindlella (mem. Cloud Nothings) and Colin L. Orchestra (USA is a Monster). Word is that there’ll be a Cloud Nothings members jam with Colin Langenus doing his best Hendrix guitar wrangling. And the night will be hosted by the cross-dressing comedian Sticky Greg with mood music by DJ Shanmations. The pre-party is free with a festival pass.

Click here to score tickets for any night below or pick up a festival pass for just $20 while they last.
Hope to see you all at the shows!

9 | 7
@ Spectrum | 121 Ludlow, NYC | $10 | Cocktails by Pam Garber “Water Courses”

10:20 CHARLES GAYLE
9:30
ODO (FORMA)
8:40 LOREN CONNORS & SUZANNE LANGILLE
7:50 DIAMOND TERRIFIER (ZS)
7:00 DRIPHOUSE

9 | 8
@ 285 Kent, Brooklyn | $10 | Free Sixpoint beer with admission !

11:45 Aa
11:00 CHRIS FORSYTH & THE SOLAR MOTEL BAND
10:00 MYSTICAL WEAPONS : SEAN LENNON & GREG SAUNIER
09:00 NYMPH
08:15 SEAVEN TEARES
07:30 AVA LUNA
07:00 PC WORSHIP

Get more info and updates at
www.spymusicfestival.com


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Still Corners Premieres "Fireflies" Video w/ Vogue


Still Corners Premieres “Fireflies” Video With Vogue
http://bit.ly/1cgTLgz
 

Still Corners have premiered a glistening new video for the song “Fireflies”, from their recently released album Strange Pleasures, with Vogue.com. The stylish and ambient clip, directed by returning director Christian Hansen Sorenson (“Berlin Lovers”), stars band members Greg Hughes and Tessa Murray in a series of epic landscapes. Vogue calls the bands album, Strange Pleasures "A sumptuously expansive soundscape lifted by Murray’s ethereal soprano (see Video Premiere August 28th)."

Still Corners have scheduled a series of European tour dates from September 14th through November 28th. Please find a complete list of tour dates below.

Still Corners’ Strange Pleasures, the follow up to Creatures Of An Hour, the band’s acclaimed 2011 debut,  will be available everywhere via Sub Pop. The album is available on CD, LP and digitally, and features the singles “Berlin Lovers” and “Fireflies” as well as highlights “The Trip,” “Beginning to Blue,” “Future Age,” and “Beatcity.”  Strange Pleasures was produced by band leader Greg Hughes at his Greenwich studio in London.

What people are saying about Still Corners:
“Tessa Murray’s ethereal vocals are trance-inducing...sounds as if it could loop on into some dreamy eternity.” - Stereogum

"Fireflies"...is no less beholden to the past-- only, this time, the band's drawing from the spangly, huge-sounding sounds of 1980s synth-pop. It's their most immediate and starry-eyed song to date, with Tessa Murray's multi-tracked vocals navigating their way through gorgeously empty terrain dotted with cymbal washes and gently pulsing synth tones.” [Best New Track]  - Pitchfork

“…starry-eyed, cinematic ’80s prom slow-dance vibes…” Gorilla vs Bear
 
“…Compellingly strange, endlessly relistenable strobelit pop that in a different world might be inescapable on Top 40 radio.” - Pretty Much Amazing
 
“Continuing to challenge themselves, the band are able to move forward without losing sight of the flavours which made their debut so seductive.” - Clash
 
“…Pure, infectious pop.” - Paper Mag

"...The music is ephemeral, but not meandering, the lush arrangements striking a balance between organic instrumentation and the synthetic, the crystalline guitar lines offsetting digital pop effects and subdued drum machine beats." [8/10] -  Pop Matters

"A welcome, and ultimately pleasurable return." [8/10] - Drowned In Sound

"The feel is consistently of an eerie twilight, perched high above a near-future city." [8/10] - Clash

Strange Pleasures is an album of cinematic charm and where, with the weight lifted off his shoulders, Hughes has created a journey along a dark motorway that adds light and colour to stand out from the traffic.” - This Is Fake DIY

"...A brilliant dream-pop record." - Treble

"Like Creatures of an Hour, Strange Pleasures is a piece of great beauty..." [8.1/ 10] PASTE

Tour Dates
Sep. 14 - Leffinge, BE - Leffingeleuren Festival
Sep. 16 - Tilburg, NE - Incubate
Sep. 17 - Paris, FR - Fleche
Sep. 18 - Nantes, FR - Festival Scopitone @ Stereolux
Sep. 20 - Lille, FR - Grand Mix
Sep. 21 -  Metz, FR - Festival Zikamine
Oct. 07 - London, UK - Bush Hall
Oct. 10 - Thessaloniki, GR - Eightball Club
Oct. 11 -  Athens, GR - An Club
Oct. 12 - Patra, GR - Mikros Pripigas
Nov. 28 - London, UK - Heaven*
*w/ Little Boots

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All the bands I played in 1980s

All the bands I played in 1980-2012
BY Alexander Laurence

Besides all the noise I made with my brother when I was 10 years old, my music career probably started around the summer of 1981. The plan was to form a band with Patrick Quinn, who I knew in High School. Patrick was good a classical music guitarist and he liked punk rock music. I took guitar lessons that summer and learned to read music. It was very traditional. I remember studying the cover of a Plasmatics single and learned how to do a bar chord. In the Fall of 1981, Patrick moved to SF to go to college and I was still in high school. Through some friends, I met Rick Harrison, and we decided to form a band along with Benny Rapp and Greg Sisson. Greg Sisson was in one the first punk bands from Huntington Beach, called The Slashers.

We called ourselves THE SLIP KIDS. We were named after a song by The Who or China White, a punk band who were our friends. Sisson didn't play with us for the first few months because he didn't have any gear. We rehearsed as a trio for a few weeks. I was horrible. I knew how to play but I had no experience playing with others. Rick Harrison had one song, and I wrote three songs pretty fast. I realized that in this band we lacked a vocalist, a songwriter, but it was okay. I realized that even though I didn't know what I was I doing, I had to be the main songwriter and default leader, even though it was Rick's band. There was a big difference in direction we all wanted to go. Rick and Benny wanted to be like the Damned or Generation X. I was more into the Buzzcocks and Wire. I think that we sounded unique: a combination of lack of ability and the confusion of ideas. None of our songs had titles, but to me a few came to be known as "Genocide" and "Another Reality." It was late 1981, and I was feeling that punk had already been done. What we did was a little pop punk and very limited musically.

(Greg Sisson and Rick Harrison, Slip Kids 1982?)

For a few weeks we practiced with Don Snell, who was a great guitarist and a lot older than most of us.  Me, Rick and Benny were all 17 or so. Don was at least 20. With Don, he was more of a lead guitarist and I played rhythm. With Don, we played all our five original songs, and one song by Don, and also "Untouchables" by Gen X. The song by Don was like a hardcore punk song. It was more like an instrumental song. I was thumbs down on that one. It was actually more like a weak song by Wire. The band was getting ready to actually play a show. We all hung out in Hollywood one night. Benny told me how they wanted Frank Martinez (at one time in The Vandals) to be the lead singer. In my own mind I wanted to be the lead singer, and I wanted Craig Stonoff (Movement) to be the guitarist. 

A week passed and I was out of the band, and Frank and Greg Sisson were in. A few months later I heard THE SLIP KIDS were playing at a party at a friend's house. I watched them and was bored. Rick nodded his head when they played one of my songs. It all sounded a little dated to me. It took so long to write songs and find people to play with, by the time the songs were actually played to an audience, it was a little dull. I remember trying to start another band very quickly. I heard that Don Snell and Jeff Milucky were forming a band, and I wanted to join, but that never happened. Stonoff wasn't really doing Movement anymore, but he was very negative about any new bands. He was really jaded.

Around this time I wrote my first decent song entitled "Powerline." 

I found a flyer in Zed's Records in Long Beach. There were two guys in Palos Verde looking for a guitarist. I was getting better at guitar and had taken a class in music theory. I taught myself how to play a little piano. One of these guys in PV was Steve Brown (later he would be in the SF band Broom). These guys were great musicians. They could play anything. We played during 1982 when I was 18, and they were closer to 15. We were more like some post punk bands like Magazine and Joy Division and Outer Circle. I played guitar and keyboards. The drummer played a different beat on each song. We had slow songs and fast songs. I had a big tape recorder and recorded most of our practices. We created a ton of material quickly. We had one song called "The Other Room." I met this guy named Adam who wanted to play with us, but Adam ended up playing with Jesse Rodrigues from Movement. It was a long drive to Palos Verde, and sometimes we wouldn't practice for a month. I had left high school and a few months had passed. When I came back to Palos Verde, Steve Brown was playing with a whole new group of guys. It was more rock oriented. By the end of 1982, I was more into Birthday Party and stuff like that. The Palos Verde Group never had a name, and soon we went our separate ways. We did have one song that was a little like Nirvana "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and I had written a song with very similar chords to Mazzy Star "Flowers in December" in 1982. We were a little more advanced and probably could have done something interesting.

Towards the end of 1982, I had met Jeff McCann. He had just moved to Huntington Beach from Texas. The band we formed was called SATAN'S CHEERLEADERS. It was mostly Jeff's esthetic and style. We played a bunch of instrumentals by The Cramps, Pink Floyd and The Rolling Stones. For a while it was just me and Jeff, and then we were joined by a guy named Mark. It was the first two guitar and drums, no bass guitar band that I knew about. Some girl who played bass in our band was in The Cramps for a few years. I think now that Jeff was ahead of his time. I wanted to write some original songs, but my songs didn't really go with this band, which was more like a psych garage band. I quit some time in 1985, and was replaced. I met up with Jeff again at Long Beach State, and we played for fun again, in 1988, after they had played a few gigs. They were doing this retro garage rock instrumental thing in 1983, and now, a few decades later, it seems like every other band now is like that.

                                       (Mark and Jeff from Satan's Cheerleaders)

Satan's Cheerleaders live at Safari' Sams 1985: https://archive.org/details/sc1985-10-10

At the same time I had try to form a band with Greg Yalch. We were in this band called MASQUE for a few weeks. But the other guys wanted to be a Bauhaus clone band. I wrote a few songs with Yalch. One has survived called "So Happy." By 1983, when there was idle time, we were joined by Clark North (who is now an important Tattoo Artist). We hung out more than actually did anything. I left and was replaced by Brad Logan and Rob Whitecotten. They called themselves Cinema of Cruelty, or COC. I remember one show at Clark's house by Edison High. Greg used to play me wild tapes of his new band. Logan quit and went on to join a hundred punk bands. Some new guys joined and they called themselves THE BELLJAR. I saw them play at Safari's Sam in 1986, and Greg was the only original member left. It was a far different band, more like The Doors and the paisley underground bands. The Belljar was one of those bands that wore a lot of black and could be taken as a Velvet Underground revival band. Greg Yalch got heavily into drugs and the band broke up by the end of the 1980s.


The Bell Jar (Greg Yalch, left, and Clark North)


I also played with Sharon Vaughnn in a band called HOUSE OF CARDS. I had met her when she worked at Fedco. Sharon was in a rockabilly band. Me and Sharon played with a number of people. One who I remember was Dave who later played in Swamp Zombies. I saw them play a few years later in San Francisco. I was originally the guitarist, but Sharon found some guy who wanted to play guitar and wanted me to play bass. I lasted a few weeks. I heard that they played some places like Radio City, where many of these bands also played.



From 1982 to 1985 I was always making tapes. I had a little recording studio in my bedroom. I would record demos all the time with anyone who would come over. I had a drum set in the corner of my room that belonged to my girlfriend. Mark Held and I had a band called FUMES. We also did some rap songs in 1984 and performed them live at a poetry night at Safari Sam's in 1984. Our best songs were "Recovery Room" and "Fuck The World." They were like anti-punk songs. I recorded a lot of dub reggae tracks. I recorded hours of drums tracks, in case I wanted to use them as a backing track. The Mark Held stuff was more experimental. More anti-rock. In my own mind I wanted to do something more like Eno and Talking Heads.


Mneumonic Devices




THE IMMACULATE CONCEPT 1985
a film by Alexander Laurence



By 1985, I did record some songs with Ann De Jarnett (Mneumonic Devices). I started making 8mm films and most of the stuff we did was like soundtrack music. Ann De Jarnett and Greg Yalch were in my first film The Immaculate Conception (1985). For about a year all we did was films and photography. I sold my guitar and my amp and retired from bands for at least a year.

For about a year, I didn't do much music. I started to take college more seriously. But I still had time to try out for a goth band. I was in EX-VOTO with Larry Rainwater and Greg Bevington for about a week. I couldn't play it with a straight face. It was like a Sisters of Mercy clone band with drum machine. We played songs by Steppenwolf, Joy Division, and Bowie. I couldn't get the guitar part right in their song "In The Modern Time." They wanted me to make noise and play power chords, and not play any real guitar stuff. It was secondary. The bass riff was on top of everything. They were goths.

Ex Voto


I had lost focus. I was never going to be in a proper band. I was in the middle of an English Lit degree. But in 1987 some things happened. Wire reformed. I had written a ton of poems. Patrick Quinn was going to move back to the west coast from Boston. I had envisioned a band ever since the days when I hung out with Ann of Mneumonic Devices. It was like a band that combined rock and classical influences. I had written about 30-40 songs. This new band I called THE ELIZABETHANS. But Quinn didn't actually move back to California until 1989, and when we started to play the new songs, he struggled. We could only play the simplest stuff, the drones of songs like "Heliotropes Turn Black." Then we co-wrote a bunch of songs together, but there was no band. Just a massive amount of songs on tape and ideas. As the years went on, it was easier to record songs, and do demos. I started out with a two track tape machine, where you could only record live takes, or music, and dub in the vocals.

In the meantime I recorded some stuff with Devin Rench. We called out new band VICTIM. It was more industrial sounding. We had a friend who worked for Yahama and we recorded a few tracks at his studio. I showed Devin the songs I had written previously. He wasn't interested. Devin wanted to write his own lyrics and wanted me to do the music. We tried to play some parties with backing tracks but it never really worked. 

That is mostly what I did during the 1980s.

PS.

1) I probably only played two real gigs in the 1980s.

2)  I wrote about 100 songs during this time.

3) I also wrote 20 short stories and 3 novels.

4) I focused on going to college during the later part of the 1980s.


5) There was no internet in the 1980s, so you had to do demos and play live shows to be noticed.


6) The bands I was in, Ex-Voto, Satan's Cheerleaders, The Belljar, released records years later after I had left the band.


7) All this happened in LA and Orange County.


8) There were hardly any PR people in the 1980s. Now there are 3 publicists for every journalist.


9) There were no computers like today and no itunes in the 1980s. If you wanted to hear a record you had to own the record.


10) I realized that I didn't have the patience for bands. I moved to San Francisco in 1988. Things would be a lot different there during the 1990s.















Scott Sellers RIP 2017. Top left with blonde hair. 
Other guy in these photos is Clark North, now a famous tattoo artist based 
in Las Vegas. Both were in The Bell Jar and Bar Twang Blues.

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