Illustration: ihappened

First let me introduce myself to Music Is Art. I will be on a weekly basis, featuring the best of British music. The vision I’ve got for this column is not just direct music review, more so I will be incorporating a column-esque style to it all. So, with my self-indulgent introduction over, let’s move on to the first feature in Thoughts for Tonight.

In September last year I moved to London. After a dull August, September was peaking up and I was about to make my first venture out to ‘Blue Flowers’. ‘Blue Flowers’ was a monthly event held in Chiswick, London. It was set alongside West London diners and higher-end supermarkets. The clientele, as a result, was often rather different from those usually frequenting the up-and-coming London music scene of the East. Yet when it came down to musical showcases there was no room for snobbishness amongst the East-London musical elite. It was here, I first saw the inspiring Mumford & Sons.

Mumford & Sons, started off life in West London; writing, rehearsing and performing in the pubs and streets of Chelsea. Last year they released the first in what has become a trilogy of releases; ‘Lend Me Your Ears’. The E.P. debuted the band’s signature sound; that of wonderfully quaint British, bluegrass-inspired folk. Their second E.P. released in Autumn last year followed suit; melting the hearts of teenage girls, while inspiring men everywhere with self-deprecating honesty, that seemed to win over the aforementioned hearts. Effortlessly stylish in both appearance and attitude, Mumford & Sons ended 2008 on a high that any performers should be proud of.

‘The Cave and the Open Sea’ is the final installment in the previously mentioned trilogy, and the first in 2009. The Mumford & Sons sound is undeniably still here; their wonderful interlacing of instrumentation, dynamic verse and chorus structures and memorable melodies feature prominently, but a subtle and charming progression has been made.
In the band’s progression comes refined yet still captivating lyricism, the warmth and glow of Marcus Mumford’s voice is more refined and confident. The band’s ability to bring-to-life a folk melody, that other bands could only attempt, is still prominent.

Everything has matured, and if that is misunderstood to be synonymous with ‘mellowed’, then ‘But My Heart Told My Head’ should dispel such skepticism instantly. The maturity comes from growth within their sound; showing further influences away from bluegrass and folk. Their confidence has grown as a band, which has continued from E.P. to E.P., and as a result the new recorded songs brim with endearing charm and warmth.

Last year, I was working in a summer job that played Radio 1 relentlessly. The pop mix was usually poor, but Noah and the Whale really provided a well-rounded summery alternative. This year, Mumford and Sons are capable of achieving something in a similar vein; a perfect, summer, folk-pop soundtrack, yet where differences lie, is the band’s ability to do that little bit more as well.

White Blank Page (from ‘Lend Me Your Ears’)
Little Lion Man (from ‘Love Your Ground’)
Mumford and Sons || Myspace

My father was a very talented sculptor. When I was a kid, he was buying art magazines from Europe and used to hide them in the attic, because there were nude paintings in them that he didn’t want us to see. I come from a very conservative little town. But as soon as my parents were out of the house, I would run to the attic and spend hours looking at the art. I discovered Toulouse Lautrec, Rembrandt, Renoir, mostly the Impressionists at that time. And that’s when it started for me. I discovered that I was in love with art, especially with painting.

May you share about your academic background concerning art? Did you study art formally? What were your art studies like in general — any influential instructors?

I actually have a baccalaureate in teaching arts and crafts, but I realized very early on that being a painter and teaching other people how to make art are two very distinct worlds. I tried teaching to high school students for two years, but I got fired. At the time, I was 22 years-old, tiny girl with platinum blonde hair, I looked like a punk. I would get in the class and get a round of applause. I was a joke! The kids never took me seriously. I would rather have lunch with them then play ping pong with my fellow teachers. I didn’t have the credibility or the background to guide my students, to properly teach them. I didn’t know what I was talking about.

If you had to explain your work to a stranger, how would you do so?

I like to define myself as an urban expressionist. That is actually the headline of my blog. I always find it hard to describe my work to strangers. You kind of have to see it. I do figurative paintings with bold color mixes. Movement, energy and light are at the core of every single one of my paintings. That’s how you recognize my style.

What are your favorite colors to work with and what aspects do you like most?

As much as I love vibrant, fluorescent colors, I also like to work with yellowish grey, earthy shades – I call them my potato shades. I love working on contrasts. I usually create color mixes with shades that have nothing to do with each other – one that’s completely off, another that’s excessively flashy. I think color is one of my trademarks in my work.

What are your inspirations?

My biggest inspiration is to live New York: the people, the billboards, the urban style of NYC, I can’t find this vibe anywhere else. You’re the first to see everything, it’s right in your face. It’s such a melting pot of culture, and there are so many brilliant people who live here: the best people in the world, the most extraordinary artists, too. That triggers my creativity.

When you’re working, are you fully involved or is your mind already planning ahead? On average, how long does it take you to finish one of your pieces?

One painting brings the next one, but it’s not a conscious process. When I’m painting, I’m really living the moment, and I can be concentrated for hours. That’s actually one of my biggest strengths. Some take two days, some take two months, but the answer is: it took me thirty years of work to get there.

Do you prefer long periods of time alone, or are you energized by interaction?

Long periods of time alone. You need to be alone to create, painting is a private thing. I have lots of friends, but not a lot of people come to my studio.

Do you have a favorite way to relax when back home?

Two words: Dirty Martini!!!

What part of your process is the most challenging and do you dislike the most?

To be an artist is a non stop challenge. You can never stop the fucking clock. Sometimes, I want to turn the switch off and say: I don’t want to be that person for 2 months. But when you’re an artist, you always want to create something new for the world to see. You’re born with a karma that is so strong. Sometimes you want to be married with two kids, a dog and a swimming pool. Usually, that wish does not last for more than 10 minutes. Soon enough I find myself back in the studio.

What has been your favorite experience thus far in your career?

Moving in New York… to be able to afford living in Soho. Being here enabled me to travel all around the world, also. I’m all wrapped up in my dream.

What turns you on? What turns you off?

Smart people turn me on; people who evolve, who learn and who can teach me things. Close-minded people turn me off. They are like living dead. People with no juice – no energy are unbearable.

What do you hope people take from seeing your art?

I want to give them energy, it’s like when you watch a movie or you listen to music, you get a strong emotion from it. There is a big range of feelings in my work and the perception is subjective: it can be anger, sadness, happiness, fear, grief, love.

If you could meet with one visual artist, living or dead, who would it be and what would you like to ask them?

Julian Schnabel. I’d like to know what he thinks about life after death. I’d share with him the spirituality of being a painter. It’s such an intense thing. I want to know if he perceives it the same way that I do. If he gets in that zone.

On Music Is Art, our mission is to show how music and art are truly connected. Which albums do you credit as having the biggest influences as far as your art and life are concerned?

I can’t paint without my headphones. What I listen to sure does influence the way that I work. I listen to so much music, and I am inspired every week by something different… it’s hard to put only one thing forward. If you want me to choose three I’ll give you five, in no particular order: Outrospective by Faithless, Ready to Die by Notorious BIG, Pornography by The Cure, Mezzanine by Massive Attack, and Cross by Justice.

What is the basis for your upcoming solo show in Dubai?

It just happens that this show is charged with blondes and has a lot of fluorescent colors. It’s extravagant in that sense. I don’t think I created these pieces specifically for the show for Dubai. They could have gone anywhere else. I don’t create a show for a city; I work where I’m at now. And I really can’t tell what’s coming up next.

Aside from your new exhibit, what other exciting projects do you have coming up?

I’m working on a book that documents my story – moving to New York, all the crazy shit that happened. I have a lot of young admirers in Canada and I feel that now, I have something to teach, I have a story to tell. That’s why I write the blog, I feel the need to broadcast more stuff where the people are at, i.e. online. It’s part of my artistic development.

What are your favorite words to live by?

Either you sink or you swim! (laughs)

Please create a mix tape within a theme of your choice.

In for the Kill – La Roux

Easy Love – MSTRKRFT

Paris (Aeroplane Remix) – Friendly Fires

Love Lockdown – Kanye West

She Wants to Move – N*E*R*D

Electric Feel (Justice Remix) – MGMT

Ooh Ooh Baby – Britney Spears

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A few weeks back, I set my camera up over my drawing board, put on some headphones, played Mike Viola’s “Good Ideas Grow On Trees” on repeat and made a drawing.

If you’ve ever heard a Mike Viola album, you know that his ability to craft perfect pop is as good as it gets and his smartly economical production is the kind of thing that makes a person want to listen again and again. Viola is an artist, a pop scholar and a craftsman.  His albums and his performances look forward and back at the same time, displaying a root system of influences and a constant growth in new directions. His most recent album, Lurch, is full of tuneful and breezy songs tinged with the subtly submerged melancholy that is the essential ingredient to all classic pop.

A little over a year ago, in February of 2008, Viola had a one month residency at Joe’s Pub, playing a late show every Friday night at 11:30. Live and in person, augmented by his recent collaborator Kelly Jones (whose astonishing album,  SheBANG!, Mike co-wrote and co-produced) and their top-notch band, Viola delivers energetic versions of his songbook with the kind of amazing harmonies that rarely happen outside of a studio.

But what’s really special about a Mike Viola show is the sheer unpredictability of it. Viola likes to hijack his shows, take them over to the dangerous border between self-indulgent digression and sheer genius, and walk that line like a man balancing on a wire. At any moment, Viola and his band might change an arrangement or rip in to a cover of a song they don’t know if they can play until they’re playing it. At other times he’ll improvise a song from scratch, singing lyrics and calling out chord-changes as they occur to him. Sparked by a random comment from the band or a shout from someone in the crowd, Viola can deliver those perfect pop tunes out of thin air. His shows can sprawl, appear dangerously out of control, seem to have lost the thread and still send an audience home with the feeling that they had been part of the magic appearance of something singular and unique.

I’m the archival artist at Joe’s, which means that I draw a lot of the performers during their sets and soundchecks. I like to draw in ink, without any pencils and without any planning. I want my drawings to be live reactions to the moment; drawn improvisations, immediate responses. I don’t like to rip out pages and start again; I like to be surprised by where my mistakes and impulses lead me. I was introduced to Mike’s music last year, late to the party, but glad to have been invited, staying up and discovering a form of pop-perfection in a constant state of becoming that resonated with the way I like to draw.

All of which is to say that when Mike pulled out his acoustic guitar and I heard “Good Ideas Grow On Trees” for the first time at that first show, I knew I wanted to create a video for it. I am often asked how long it takes to do a drawing and my general response is that it is not about time. That said, it took me 45 minutes to make the drawing of this song, but it took me over a year before I actually sat down and did it. That is because, as Mike Viola–pop craftsman, under-appreciated genius, and legend in any other period of pop save the lifetime he landed in–sings, “Good ideas do not fall out of thin air: good ideas grow on trees.”

Mike Viola (with Kelly Jones) is appearing again at Joe’s Pub for a late night show, April 30.

From New Zealand, The Veils are washed inside many layers and textures of piano, string sections and guitars lingering.  The way lead singer Finn Andrews takes full control with his deep passionate screams and lyrics, creates their entire sound into romantic, lush, yearning intensity. Finn, the son of Barry Andrews (keyboardist of XTC),  became a musical prodigy as a young teen.  The Veils’ debut album “The Runaway Found” triggered an opening reflection of chaos and self discovery, and as the band matured another year, giving into their sophomore release “Nux Vomica”, their music became it’s own spiritual release, letting a sense of every single void fall away.  Now the Veils prepare to share their third studio masterpiece “Sun Gangs” this Tuesday April 7, as true anticipation awaits all over the world for the band to follow with a national tour.

L I S T E N The Letter [Sun Gangs, 2009]

Recently,  Finn Andrews kindly contributed to Music Is Art.
Please enjoy his music, words and personal mix below!

MIA: How old were you when you became drawn to the performing arts and music?

FINN ANDREWS: I’d say 13 or so. That’s when I started playing the guitar and listening to Van Morrison.

MIA: What did your parents listen to?

FINN ANDREWS: My mother has a massive record collection, everything from like, obscure Ethiopian Jazz to Sunn O))) to Townes Van Zandt. She was the one that made me understand, what it was I wanted to make.

MIA: Describe the feeling of living and making music in London opposed to New Zealand.

FINN ANDREWS: New Zealand musicians really club together in a way the English ones do not. London’s a very cut-throat place to be in a band, which is great in some ways, but everyone’s constantly stepping on each others toes. They have got that real scent for and only money.  I go back to New Zealand to write because I feel like I can get away from all that there, and just do what I need to without much concern for anything or anyone else.

MIA: Do you have a favorite way to relax when back home?

FINN ANDREWS: I’m starting an aquarium of rumble fish. I think it may be the beginning of a major obsession.

MIA: There is so much honest and intense emotion throughout your songwriting.  What is this musical process mentally like for you?

FINN ANDREWS: Well shucks, thanks very much. I don’t know how it affects me. Though if I couldn’t do it anymore, I really think there would be a serious risk of me embarking on some highly disorganized killing crazy rampage. I’m such a wanker and it’s an anchor,  I guess is my answer.

MIA: Regarding the upcoming release of the Veils’ album Sun Gangs, how long did the recording process take to complete and to finally believe that it was ready?

FINN ANDREWS: It took 3 years to write and 3 weeks to record. Sometimes it doesn’t feel entirely finished. It’s still kind of a stranger to me in a lot of ways. I’m incredibly proud of it though.

MIA: What qualities do you hope listeners may take from listening to your music?

FINN ANDREWS: I’d like our music to punch people square in the guts, give them a big messy kiss, but then shake hands with them at the end of it.

MIA: Do you enjoy to perform live? What has been the most impacting compliment, or criticism, that you have ever received?

FINN ANDREWS: I’m starting to realize that playing live is the single greatest pleasure you can have in your life.  I want to do it all the time forever and ever. Somebody once said, “the stage is the only place in the world where you can be the perfect idea of yourself” and that really stuck with me. There’s nothing more fun than that.

MIA: The writer Sylvia Plath is one of your influences, how does her work resonate with you?

FINN ANDREWS: Plath was what initially got me into music in a strange way. Her words are so rhythmic and, I don’t know, her words fucking hurt. I think that’s why the punks all liked her so much. Though Ryan Adams does too. If we’re still alive and here, I think ‘Ariel’ will be regarded as a holy book in a thousand years time.

MIA: Name some albums you’re currently listening to.

FINN ANDREWS: I’m really into Jonny Greenwood’s score for ‘There Will Be Blood’ at the moment, and some of Beck’s new record ‘The Modern Guilt’ is great fun too. I’m really hanging out for a new Low record at the moment though.

MIA: Do you have a favorite visual artist that inspires you?

FINN ANDREWS: Simon Schama got me really into Rothko recently. He’d always been someone I never really understood before as there are too many reproductions in hotel lobbies.  However, I really like how he insisted on the lights being dimmed in galleries where his paintings are shown. You can just sit with them for hours, its like staring out into a big deathly sea.

MIA: Please share a mixtape with a theme of your choice.

FINN ANDREWS: My theme is ‘Songs For Getting Out Of Dodge’.

Open Spaces by Jonny Greenwood
Where I Lead Me by Townes Van Zandt
Ghost Rider by Suicide
Gun Street Girl by Tom Waits
North By North by The Bats

From Long Island, New York, Beat Radio is the beautiful and genuine work of singer/songwriter Brian Sendrowitz. Nostalgically written full of sweet guitar folk-pop arrangements, cathartic melodies and melancholy layers, the music represents emotional and visual connection in the best way. Taking live shows to the next level, Beat Radio collectively joins as a band of close collaborations, soaring with humbled confidence,  exposed vulnerability and heartfelt energy. Recently, Brian kindly contributed to Music Is Art. Please enjoy his music, answers and personal mix tape below!

L I S T E N

Teenage Anthem for the Drunken Boat
[Sunday Matinee, 2008]

Mexico
[Great Big Sea, 2006]

Treetops (Demo)
[Four Track Demos, 2005]

Everyone’s Starting Over (The Diggs Cover)

MIA: Musically, how did the band form, what past experiences do you carry with you?

BRIAN SENDROWITZ: We played our first show in June of 2005. I’d made a bunch of 4 track demos of some songs I’d written really quickly in the month or so before, sort of in a flash of inspiration. it felt like a departure from the music I had made before, which was more acoustic based singer songwriter material. I got together the best musicians I knew to start playing live shows. Since then the lineup has changed a few times and it’s gone back in forth between being a band and a solo project in varying degrees. At the moment, I’m working on new material alone in my home studio.

MIA: Describe the feeling of living and making music in your city, feel free to share a memory or a certain place that makes you feel like home.

BRIAN SENDROWITZ: There’s a few places that come to mind in the sort of collective dream world of Beat Radio songs. I grew up and live in Bellmore, New York, on Long Island. There used to be this bar called the Juke Joint, it was my favorite bar ever. They had Tom Waits’ records on the jukebox, and Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde. I used to put “Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands” on and make the punk rock kids sit through all 11 minutes and 20 seconds. When I sing our song Treetops, I’m thinking about that place. It closed a few years ago, but we’ve played at a few places since then that have felt like home in the same kind of way. My favorites are Union Hall in Brooklyn and Asbury Lanes in Asbury Park, NJ.

MIA: Do you enjoy to perform live? How does the band like to get ready and is there a favorite song that you like to play for your audience?

BRIAN SENDROWITZ: I absolutely love performing. We actually don’t have any shows set up at the moment as my wife and I just had a baby. I’m still working on recordings but I’m anxious though. I can’t wait to get the next thing together and get back out with some new songs. My favorite songs change, but at the moment I’m pretty fond of one of our newer songs, Sunday Matinee. to get ready for a live show I don’t do much. I like to be alone before hand to sort of go into my own world. i don’t like to rehearse too much.

MIA: What has been the most impacting compliment, or criticism, your band has ever received?

BRIAN SENDROWITZ: Early on, I got criticism to work harder on melodies. Lyrics always came more naturally to me. I was a literature major at school and had started writing poetry when I was young. I really worked hard as a songwriter on melodies, and it makes me happy when people compliment that part of the craft. It feels like its something I earned.

MIA: Within your songwriting, is there some type of element that has brought about a certain mood in yr writing, making you feel more/less different than when you started? How long has the recording process taken to complete your album and to finally believe that it’s ready?

BRIAN SENDROWITZ: The Great Big Sea LP came together over the course of a year or so. With those songs, I had made a conscious effort to simplify the writing, and write songs that were really direct and hopefully universal. I’ve written about an albums’ worth of songs since then and think the songs are a bit more adventurous musically and lyrically. I’ve had a lot of fun with words on the newer material. I think no matter what I write, the way I sing the songs evokes that same sort of mood. I can’t really do it any other way it just sort of comes out that way naturally.

MIA: What qualities do you hope listeners may take from listening to your music?

BRIAN SENDROWITZ: I like music because it makes me feel better. Even really sad songs make me feel better. I hope my songs make people feel a little bit more alive, than they did before they heard them.

MIA: Name some of your favorite albums of 2008.

BRIAN SENDROWITZ: Ctrl-Alt-Del by the Diggs is really brilliant. They’re great friends of mine, but this album of theirs is one of my favorites ever. it’s a powerful, emotional, dynamic record.

Wye Oak is a band we played with at Union Hall and they’re absolutely incredible. Their LP If Children has some really beautiful, wonderful songs on it. Reminds me of great 90′s indie rock when indie rock actually had a particular sound.

49:00 by Paul Westerberg was really great and i love how he was messing with the whole concept of how we listen to music by putting out the album as 1 45 minute mp3 file. He’s sort of my idol.

The Midnight Organ Fight by Frightened Rabbit is really great and just the sort of heart on your sleeve kind of songs that I love to listen to.

I liked the Conor Oberst record a lot. I’ve always had sort of mixed feeling about the Bright Eyes work, but there’s no doubt that the guy can write great, great songs. I’d recommend this one all the way through.

I also really love M83′s Saturdays=Youth and For Emma, Forever Ago by Bon Iver. There’s a lot of albums from this year i haven’t been able to get my hands on yet, particularly the Sun Kil Moon record. I really love Mark Kozelek’s work. It’s on my Christmas list.

MIA: Name any favorite visual artists, pieces of artwork and how it may inspire you.

BRIAN SENDROWITZ: I love Robert Frank’s photography. That’s the most direct inspiration I could think of in any visual medium. Particularly his book, The Americans, it’s just about the great mythic American road. The “endless poem” as Kerouac said. I like Jackson Pollock and Andy Warhol alot also. I’m fascinated by the lives of artists.

MIA: Please share a mixtape with a theme of your choice.

BRIAN SENDROWITZ: These songs all make sense together to me..

…And In the End Shoot Back
by The Diggs

Unsatisfied
by The Replacements

Bobby Malone Moves Home
by Casiotone for the Painfully Alone

The Temptation of Adam
by Josh Ritter

What Happens When the Heart Just Stops (Live)
by The Frames

Chancellor
by Gordon Downie

Kim and Jesse
by M83

It’s All Over Now Baby Blue
by Them

Who Are You
by Tom Waits

Left and Leaving
by The Weakerthans

Carry Me Ohio
by Sun Kil Moon

Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie
by Joanna Newsom

A R T W O RK
Beat Radio & Subinev

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Fujiya and Miyagi are an English electronic band that create minimalistic beats under whispered lyrics and calming synthetic melodies. Known for their inspiration and love for “krautrock” in bands such as Kraftwerk and Neu!, F&M formed and joined together in Brighton, UK. Their name was easily pieced together using a character in The Karate Kid movie and the brand of a record player.

Currently signed to Full Time Hobby Records, Fujiya and Miyagi have created three albums and are currently on a US tour in support of their 2008 release, Lightbulbs. Recently F&M’s vocalist and guitarist, David Best kindly contributed to Music Is Art.  Please enjoy his answers and personal mix tape below!

L I S T E N

Knickerbocker [Lightbulbs, 2008]
Collarbones [Transparent Things, 2006]

MIA: Musically, how did the band form, what past experiences do you carry with you?

DAVID: Steve and I met playing football, and later we were talking about music and discovered we had quite a few groups that we liked in common like Can, Carl Craig and Talking Heads. Steve was coming from more of a techno background and my background was playing guitar in a more than less electronic group.

MIA: Describe the feeling of living and making music in your city, feel free to share a memory or a certain place that makes you feel like home.

DAVID: The thing about Brighton, UK is that it’s quite laid-back. I don’t think it really effects how we write in as much as if you were writing dub-step in a high rise block of new flats in a big city. My favorite part of Brighton is Preston Park, as its one of the first things to see when we are coming back home.

MIA: Do you enjoy to perform live? How does the band like to get ready and is there a favorite song that you like to play for your audience?

DAVID: I enjoy it once I get there but I don’t really enjoy the traveling that much. I try not to think too much before we go onstage as if I do I forget the words. You sort of go on autopilot. I like playing “Pterodactyls” at the moment, especially the noisy bit at the end.

MIA: What has been the most impacting compliment, or criticism, your band has ever received?

DAVID: I try to ignore any compliments or criticisms we receive as I don’t want it to effect what we do. Sometimes I feel like I could drown in a sea of opinions but these are often from people who have never created anything in their lives. I get upset if people get the wrong end of the stick with my lyrics.

MIA: Within your songwriting, is there some type of element that has brought about a certain mood in yr writing, making you feel more/less different than when you started? How long has the recording process taken to complete your album and to finally believe that it’s ready?

DAVID: I think with this record we wanted to be more positive than negative, even if that was not how we were feeling. There’s a melancholy that sometimes breaks through but I think its overshadowed by the idea that you are striving for life to be better, not embracing the fact that sometimes its not. “Lightbulbs” took about 6 months, a lot of the other songs were written before that time but never recorded. I think at some point you really have to say it’s finished, otherwise we’d be constantly changing things.

MIA: What qualities do you hope listeners may take from listening to your music?

DAVID: I hope people see that although we are obviously fans of certain genres or artists, we are trying to do something that is not swayed by what is currently fashionable or current trends.

MIA: Name some of your favorite albums of 2008.

DAVID: My two favorite records are Beck’s Modern Guilt and Gnarls Barkley’s The Odd Couple, both produced by Dangermouse. I’ve always liked Beck, the combination of his new songs and the production produced show this as his best record since Sea Change. The Gnarls Barkley record seems to me like they exist in their own world, which is something I always admire.

MIA: Name any favorite visual artists, pieces of artwork and how it may inspire you.

DAVID: I like a few artists like Sigmar Polke, Oskar Kokoschka and Jean Dubuffet. I like how Polke combined different unpainted aspects in his work and incorporated it into the pieces. There’s a Kokoschka painting called “Time Gentlemen Please” which has always stayed with me. It’s probably about death but I just like the image of being kicked out of the pub.

MIA: Please share a mixtape with a theme of your choice.

DAVID: The theme is Clowns…

The Clown by Chuck Wilder
Death of A Clown by Kinks
Everybody’s Clown by Johnny Dynamite
The Lady and The Clown by Silver Apples
Rockin Pneumonia by Huey Smith and the Clowns

Waiting Room is the 2008 debut from Vary Lumar, a quartet of talented musicians from Boston, MA. Their album which was produced by 37ft Productions and released by indie label Swoom Records, was proudly recognized by NE Performer Magazine as album of the month. Together Vary Lumar integrate their own personal influences of rock, punk and shoegaze, transcending their own individuality throughout their ever-changing and mesmerizing sounds. To personally witness Vary Lumar live is an experience that casts a hypnotic spell, always engaging the entire crowd. Recently vocalist/guitarist of Vary Lumar, Paul de Pasquale kindly contributed to MIA. Please enjoy the following Q&A below.

L i s t e n

Grapes II
Lost Parade

MIA: Musically, how did the band form, what past experiences do you carry with you?

PAUL: The band formed while attending college, focusing on music and other art forms in Boston, MA. I met Rob Fusco (drums) the first night in town, shortly after moving into our apartments right behind one another. We spent many nights during our first year at school just making noise, with one guitar and as many pedals as we could get our hands. It was during one of these nights the word Vary was written down in a notebook and on the other side of the page there was Lumar. Within six months we met Rob Laff (bass) through mutual friends and shortly after that we put the pedals away, and spent most of our time jamming. By mid 2005, we had played a hand full of shows changing up our lead guitar player from show to show. It was during that Summer we met Ben (guitar) who had watched the show from the crowd..approaching me right after the set saying “great set !..you guys really have something strong and alive”…I responded with a “hey!..thanks..I’m glad you enjoyed it”….and then he followed up with ” I want to be in your band ” and within is week he was. The rest of the time up until the recording of “Waiting Room” was spent playing shows, discovering the Vary Lumar sound, and trying to finish school.

MIA: Describe the feeling of living and making music in your city, feel free to share a memory or a certain place that makes you feel like home.

PAUL: I have never thought about how Boston has shaped or inspired our music. We all grew up in different states throughout the east coast…so home is very different for some of us. I can say personally, hitting the tail end of my teen angst, as well as being fed up with school… my earlier creations for the band would of been loud and angry despite the city we were in. Sometimes, we found it difficult after a day of school or work to meet up and get into creating music..mainly because we spent all day away from one another, never making a stop home, and even never having time to eat dinner. However, Boston has been good to us for the most part, and we were all lucky enough to live in the backyard of Fenway Park. I think having our little small neighborhood with a small community park right outside gave us all the sense of “home” that we needed at the time. It was also within these few blocks, we had met many of our earlier supporters, as well as contributors to the local art scene. During the Fall of 2007 the band moved a town over to Allston, MA, into a real old home to call their own…you know the kind that lets the warm air out, and traps the cold air in…the good kind. Living together has put us more often on the same page, putting out the same vibe while having no restraints when playing or writing, which is allowing us to fine tune and define our sound. Living together has taken our music to a whole other place…unfortunately, we have not been able to share the newer sounds outside the Lumar home yet..but I am sure we will sooner than later.

MIA: Do you enjoy to perform live? How does the band like to get ready and is there a favorite song that you like to play for your audience?

PAUL: Rituals are great, but we don’t have any kind of set thing…I guess it depends on where we are and what day it is. I can say for sure that Saturday night gigs or any shows on the road allow us more time to get on the same page…which usually means a long car ride or just a bite to eat together. Sometimes we come from long days and have about a total of 30 minutes of face time before we play..so we do our best. During the past summer we found much inspiration tending to our vegetable garden hours before a set….now we like to build robots. We enjoy mostly everything we play…if we really don’t enjoy it then it gets taken out of our set pretty quickly….although Lost Parade is always a good time. Lately we have been playing new material which is just exciting.

MIA: What has been the most impacting compliment, or criticism, your band has ever received?

PAUL: In this day and age everyone has something to say about your music…somethings open your eyes and somethings turn your head. We make sure to not let the compliments go to our head and to not completely ignore the criticism…because the outside perspective is always good. Like any other band we have been given our fare share of good and bad reviews, but the only compliment I can say that has had a huge impact on us would be on the quality of our live show. The band has always had a different type of connection on stage, which to me I value more than anything else we could be doing.

MIA: Within your songwriting, is there some type of element that has brought about a certain mood in yr writing, making you feel more/less different than when you started? How long has the recording process taken to complete your album and to finally believe that it’s ready?

PAUL: Songwriting changes just like anything else in one’ s self. Personally, when I started writing I was 15 years old and very inspired by acoustic singer/songwriter types. Around the time the band started to form, I was tired of writing about love and was starting to feel that being a solo artist was a bit too self absorbed. I felt that connecting with other musicians would help bring up new feelings and experiences to write about. The material on “Waiting Room” has a bit of everything…love, hate, raw points of realizations, & honesty. Some people would say that the lyrics have political undertones, but I wouldn’t put it like that…maybe more social undertones. If anything the lyrics do more visually.

Waiting Room seemed to never be finished. I don’t thing an artist can ever be finished with a piece of work..but then again it depends on what kind of artist you are. We went into recording the album with a good strong base of material to work with…somethings we kept, some ideas were trailed and scratched, and some just happen to come alive at the right moment. I think the biggest struggle for us was trying to accept that we had to finish, and once we did we couldn’t go back and add or take away. In the end, we are happy with the majority of the album and if anything have a better understanding of what to do and what not to do next time.

MIA: What qualities do you hope listeners may take from listening to your music?

PAUL: Well, our new music will offer something quite different from “Waiting Room”, but overall our music no matter how it changes from song to song or album to album, we like to express a wide range of emotions. I think listeners can expect anything from feelings of your everyday life to being lost in an unfamiliar mystical place.

MIA: Name some of your favorite albums of 2008.

PAUL: Anything I would write down probably wouldn’t have a release date of 2008, but more so just albums I took more of a liking to in 2008. It is kind of exciting listening to an album for the first time after it has been out for 20 years. There has been some good new stuff out in 2008, but not a whole lot that screams out in my mind. Not that music in 2008 is horrible or anything……well put it this way I own a record player and it gets turned on more than my ipod. So I will do my best.

Sigur Ros – Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust (2008) – One of the only releases this year that grabbed my attention, not only have I enjoyed every release from this band, but this album was such a new direction for them and I thought they did a great job. Usually, changing your sound once you have made a career off of it can be a great turning point for a band, and sometimes it can be a band’s downfall..and this album shows the bands longevity, which is hard to come by these days.

Squarepusher – Just A Souvenir (2008) – I have always been into listening and creating electronic music, as well as drum & bass. Squarepusher blends a unique mixture of acid jazz, funk, hip-hop, rock and classical music in a electronic/drum & bass form. Squarepusher is an unbelievable musician in many ways and truly gifted on bass and drums. This in another artist who demonstrates longevity from album to album. One of my favorite albums is his 1998 release “Music Is Rotted One note”.

MIA: Name any favorite visual artists and how it may inspire you.

PAUL: Any artist that is ahead of their time…is usually enough to inspire me. Usually most eastern art I find to be extremely inspiring. Paintings & sculptures of Tibetan cultures , Nepal, and many other art forms of the Himalayas. If you find inspiration in this form of art….take a trip to the Rubin Museum of Art in NYC…an amazing experience.

Stanley Kubrick – 2001: A Space Odyssey – Visually, a masterpiece and still to this day has elements about it that you can not find in other films. The collaboration between the cinematography and the music within the first 30 minutes of the film comes to be an inspiration every time I watch it.

Arrested Development – TV series – one of the funniest tv shows (soon to be a movie) of my time. Extremely clever writing and performances by everyone involved. Another unique & ahead of it’s time work of art.

MIA: Please share a mixtape with a theme of your choice.

PAUL: Colorful…

Echoes – Pink Floyd
Castle Made of Sand – Jimi Hendrix
The Great Curve – Talking Heads
Great Expectations – Miles Davis
You Enjoy Myself – Phish

Music Is Art was recently asked to play a game of war against Pretty Much Amazing. The rules include two music websites that are paired up with one song (for this round, Boyz by M.I.A.) and 25 songs based from each blog’s Itunes Genius Playlist feature.

Below are a few songs from this week’s game:
Please visit PMA to view more of the MIA playlist and vote!

Boyz – M.I.A.

Sad Sad City – Ghostland Observatory

Operate – Peaches

Mirando – Ratatat

~*~

Artwork by
Natasha Wescoat

Originally based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Tally Hall is a five-piece band that creates infectious music, self-described by the group as fabloo.  Known for their good humor and uniform of different colored ties, Tally Hall has built a strong fan base who loves their music, ideas and style all across the world. Recently, vocalist and guitarist of the group Rob Cantor, kindly collaborated with Music is Art to share in on a few questions and answers about the band. Enjoy!

Listen: The Whole World and You

MIA: Musically, how did the band form, what past experiences do you carry with you?

ROB: The band took shape in our sophomore year at college, when Andrew and I ended up living together through a mutual friend. Enlisting Zubin on the bass (which, until that time, he’d never so much as touched), we played our first show in a basement theater in Ann Arbor – we got the gig because we could supply the PA system. Soon thereafter, we accrued the skills of Steve (our brief first drummer) and Joe, and began taking every gig we could find, most of which were at frat parties. Musically, I’m sure those shows were abominable, but there was a carefree feeling in the party gigs that we still try to channel.

MIA: Describe the feeling of living and making music in your city, feel free to share a memory or a certain place that makes you feel like home.

ROB: We’ve recently re-located to NYC from Ann Arbor, MI. I’m not sure this new place is home yet, but there are certainly spots in Ann Arbor that well up band memories. The one that comes to mind most clearly is the dingy, dusty, crypt-like basement at our college house on Division Street. The floor was crumbling cement, the walls were caked in cobwebs, and the ceiling was unadorned floorboard underbelly, but we managed to coat in enough Christmas lights, posters, and cheap area rugs as to make it feel remotely homey. We’d spend hours down there working out the arrangements for the songs on “Marvin’s…” The transformation was such, in fact, that Seventeen Magazine, for a “On Campus” story of some sort, held a photo shoot down there — one photo from the shoot made it into the magazine, none of us were in it.

MIA: Do you enjoy to perform live? How does the band like to get ready and is there a favorite song that you like to play for your audience?

ROB: Performing live is half of the job, and it’s the more direct part. There is instant gratification in it, whereas writing and recording is a much more delayed and labored form of satisfaction. It can also be nerve-wracking, especially for someone so self-conscious as me. Not thinking too much while performing is the ideal – just feeling. We don’t have any special preparation practices – just rehearsal and such. Favorite song to perform live? Right now it’s a new one called “Never Meant To Know,” but this changes often.

MIA: What has been the most impacting compliment, or criticism, your band has ever received?

ROB: My parents like everything we ever do; that’s very nice.

MIA: Within your songwriting, is there some type of element that has brought about a certain mood in yr writing, making you feel more/less different than when you started? How long has the recording process taken to complete your album and to finally believe that it’s ready?

ROB: I can say that “some type of mood” is just the thing a song is trying to evoke. The arrangement, the lyrics, the instrument timbres and the little nuances join forces and transform into a singular, particular, and emotive idea- a mood of some kind. The process for our new album is still in the early stages – we’re writing and recording demos, and we hope to begin recording early in 2009. Not sure how long it will take when all is said and done.

MIA: What qualities do you hope listeners may take from listening to your music?

ROB: Truth and Beauty?

MIA: Name some of your favorite music or albums to listen to.

ROB: I’ve been listening to old Soul and R&B music lately – Motown (especially Marvin Gaye and the Four Tops), Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, and many more.

MIA: Please share a mixtape with a theme of your choice.

ROB: Bands We’ve Had the Pleasure of Playing With:
Summer Grof by Spinto Band
Presents by Via Audio
Hold It In by Jukebox the Ghost
Hard Times by Parlor Mob
Means To An End by De Novo Dahl