Tag Archives: feature

THE HUSH SOUND: Making a Fresh Start, Independent and Label-Free

Label-free and recently off-hiatus, The Hush Sound have done a lot of growing up for their digital 7-inch, Forty Five. We spoke with singer and guitarist Bob Morris in advance of the release about what it was like work on the band’s first release in five years.

Where are you guys at in the recording process? Is there more left to finish?

We finished about a month ago. We did four songs. We still have to tweak one of them, but we’re mainly getting back our third set of mixes now. It sounds really cool. This might be my favorite Hush stuff that we’ve done so far, so I’m definitely excited about it. It’s interesting to kind of see how everybody has grown up and changed since the last time we recorded together. Continue reading →

PURLING HISS on Using Connections in the Underground Scene to Facilitate Touring

From simple one-man recordings to a touring trio opening for buddy Kurt Vile, Purling Hiss takes the show on the road thanks to a blend of heavy yet catchy recordings and the tight-knit underground Philadelphia music scene.

Founded in Philadelphia, singer and guitarist Mike Polizze had no intention of forming a band when he began making music under the moniker Purling Hiss, since the idea was simply to record the ideas in his head.

“I didn’t really know what it was going to be, I was just recording ideas and just documenting,” explains Polizze. “I didn’t even know the first recording was going to be an album.”

Continue reading →

Garrison Starr Embraces Co-Writing

… and Finds Inspiration in Creative Limitations

Garrison Starr is no stranger to the music scene, as she enters her second decade in the music industry. After all those years, Starr has finally found a place where she’s happy with the direction of her career, and is learning to be less precious with her songs, as she explores more licensing and co-writing opportunities. Starr has made music her day job, and attributes a shift in her attitude to the upward swing of her career’s trajectory. We recently spoke with the Southern singer/songwriter about home recording, letting go of past bitterness and how formulaic song structures actually inspire new bouts of creativity. Continue reading →

Gangstagrass Discusses Mashing Up Bluegrass with Hip-Hop

Instead of writing what we think of the band, we’ll let them introduce themselves in their own words: “Gangstagrass is a dirty fightin’, gator wrestlin’, foot stompin’ bluegrass-hip-hop project of Brooklyn-based producer Rench, who has spent the last decade making gritty, soulful country hip-hop music that you will actually like. Yeah, Gangstagrass did the theme song to Justified. Yeah, Rench and T.O.N.E-z got nominated for an Emmy for it. Yeah, this is real bluegrass pickers and real emcees making music. And yeah, we do it live, too.” Fair enough, now on to the interview… Continue reading →

Aimee Bobruk

Stripping Emotion From the Creative Process & Leading Spontaneous Studio Sessions

Aimee Bobruk, the artist behind the sultry, folk-rock album /ba.’brook/ is not your average songwriter. Most of her recent music is the result of games; she tries not to include emotion, and she is a proponent of quantity over quality when it comes to songwriting. Continue reading →

Fiddlin’ Around with Sarah Wilfong

Nashville Violinist on Recording String Sections & Managing A DIY Career

Nashville-by-way-of-Chicago’s Sarah Wilfong is a world-class violinist and one helluva fiddler, having toured the world with the country band Mustang Sally, performing over 200 dates a year for nearly a decade, and even making it all the way to the Carnegie Hall. Wilfong is poised to release her latest full-length solo record, and we got the chance to speak with her about how to properly mic a string section and the struggles of managing a DIY career. Continue reading →

Ricky Skaggs: Bluegrass Icon on Choosing The Right Producer & Honoring His Past

Ricky Skaggs, the multi-instrumentalist, neo-traditional bluegrass ambassador has been out on the road in Europe this year, going from an all-acoustic set crossing over to electrified country during the second half. Skaggs added to his 14 Grammy Awards and countless other music awards with an induction into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame this year alongside Aretha Franklin. Skaggs recently sat down with Performer to discuss his new Skaggs Family Records release Music To My Ears, which features a song written and performed by Barry Gibb. Continue reading →

Mystical Weapons on Improvisation, Vintage Gear & Weirdo Synths

Mystical Weapons is the brainchild of Deerhoof drummer Greg Saunier and Sean Lennon, who recently teamed up to form and record an album of the same name.

The two met several years ago and first played together as Mystical Weapons after Deerhoof opened for the Plastic Ono Band. Lennon’s own Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger needed an opener the next night, and although Lennon said he was shy about asking Saunier if he wanted to do an improvisational duo with him to open the show, Saunier jumped at the chance. In that evening, Mystical Weapons was born, and Lennon describes the show as “once-in-a-lifetime fun.” The two decided to record together, trying to, in Lennon’s words, “emulate the feeling that we had at that first show.” Continue reading →

Crushed Out On Analog Mixing and Learning From Fellow Musicians on the Road

Three years ago, Frank Hoier and Moselle Spiller probably didn’t picture themselves here: 1,200 miles from home, killing time between tour stops in a Kansas City bowling alley. The duo, known today as rock outfit Crushed Out, began as so many musical projects do: two friends sharing a mutual love of music (in this case, early rock and roll) jamming for nothing more than the fun of it. Yet it’s progressed in a way that many projects don’t, spawning four national tours, a well-received 2010 EP and now a debut full-length, Want To Give (released November 6th via the band’s own Cool Clear Water imprint). What’s made it work? Making sure it never felt like work in the first place. We recently sat down with Hoier to discuss… Continue reading →

Joshing Around with John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats

Acclaimed Singer-Songwriter, John Darnielle, On Compositional Development, Finger Painting and the Band’s Latest Album

Like a jovial and wise sycamore John Darnielle has been a poignant totem for the pathos-powered indie music of Generation Y. Having led The Mountain Goats through more than twenty years of straight-to-tape recordings and supple tree sadness, his catalogue alone holds more cards than the average fake Jamaican tarot reader.

Their latest LP, Transcendental Youth, is an honest sonnet of powerful pianos and indie-rock ideals that wades through seas of doubt, trundle bed talks and analog admiration. Continue reading →