Tastemakers Magazine (TMM): I wanted to first ask you about the album title: Beware and Be Grateful. Is that some personal reminder or mantra?

Erin Elders (EE): You know, it’s funny because that actually came from a casual conversation that we had during our time in the studio. It all seemed kind of random like someone just said that and it was almost like a really great album title. We started thinking about it and it just felt really fitting for some of the themes and overall vibes for the record. So it came from this almost random connotation but ended up taking off.

TMM: How long have the songs on this album been in the works?

EE: Some of the songs have kind of been around for a long time and some of them were written right before we went in to the studio. So it’s kind of been all over the place but the whole process was started last year. We would do a couple weeks in the studio and then go on tour and have some time to let the songs percolate in our heads and then come back and do a couple [more] weeks in the studio and then go back on tour. Overall the songs were being worked on for a little over eight months or so [but] we were touring while that happened though so the process was sort of elongated.

TMM: Were you trying these songs out during those spurts of touring?

EE: No, we actually didn’t play any of the songs live until pretty recently. All the songs are pretty much written as a stripped down versions and then all of the arrangement and textures end up being written in the studio. That’s kind of a fun challenge too where it’s like we have to take some time to figure out how to present the songs in a live setting.

TMM: It sounds like there was an effort to use more of a pop-ish or funky sound on this album.

EE: Yeah, this is the first album we did almost totally in a studio so we definitely made the decision to have that studio polish on it. Going to the studio also led us to experiment with the crazy sounds and effects and tools that we never would have gotten to use. We kind of ran with that. We wanted to do something that was a little more high fidelity but at the same time was still challenging and experimental.

TMM: Yeah I hear a lot of effects on [singer] Dave [Davison]‘s voice at times and it sounds like the guitars are frequently made to sound like other than guitars.

EE: Yeah, definitely.

TMM: Okay so I was curious, on your wiki page, it says you play in a thrash metal band called Skullzone –

EE: [Laughs] that’s sort of defunct at this point. That was something for fun that I did with some friends of ours and actually, [Ryan Duggan], the guy who does all of our artwork played drums in that project. I don’t know how that ended up on Wikipedia but maybe someday there will be a reunion.

TMM: Well I was going to ask if the thrash metal explains why finger-tapping is so integral to Maps and Atlases’ sound.

EE: I definitely grew up a metal kid, [but] when I was in high school playing in terrible death metal bands I didn’t do any finger-tapping. That kind of came out of us experimenting as a band together and we stumbled upon that percussive quality of it. It’s weird though, because I think some of my guitar playing, if you dig deep enough, you can see those metal roots. Those two things are kind of related.

TMM: I’ve always thought the way you guys use finger-tapping is the most interesting and least cheesy use of the technique.

EE: oh well thank you. For us it was always sort of about the percussive elements. We really like that. We’re a band that almost thinks like four drummers. I think the way that it all comes together is very drum like and experimenting with that style early on helped us get to that place.

TMM: I wanted to bring up your relationship with Good Old War. Are the any plans to work with them more in the future?

EE: We go a ways back with them and they’re definitely dear friends of ours. It’s funny because I feel that both of our bands are really different but there are some common musical philosophies. Those guys are amazing musicians. Their band is super different but then they can bring their part to it, like their collaboration with us on “Israeli Caves”, which is totally fits really well with our band. We would definitely love to do that [again].

And Tim played some drum stuff on this record. He came to the studio for a couple of weeks and was doing all kinds of crazy stuff. We are still really close with those guys and I hope to do some stuff in the future. For the last couple years it’s always been like, “When are we going to do a Good Old War/Maps and Atlases tour,” and it hasn’t happened yet but we still talk about it. I hope it happens some day.

TMM: In my opinion, our 2010 Tastemakers Presents show with Maps and Atlases and Good Old War has been our best to date.

EE: That was a super fun show.

TMM: What’s the current state of beards in the band?

EE: Well Dave’s beard is now longer than ever. My beard: I’ve been keeping it pretty short but we’re also about to go on a six week tour and I don’t really plan on dealing with it. So by the end of this tour it should be back in the running. Shiraz’s is pretty short. And then we have Chris who can’t really grow a beard.

TMM: Is the length of the beard proportional to the band’s power?

EE: I don’t know I think it’s more about trying to keep the quality of the beard. You can have a really good short beard. So I think if we all can pull our efforts together to have just quality beards we’re going to be producing a good sound for sure.

TMM: Well I wish you a quality beard for the future.

EE: Thanks, man. Thanks for taking the time to chat.

TMM: Oh, thank you! 

Maps and Atlases new album, Beware and Be Grateful, is available now at all the usual places. Get tickets for their 5/18 show in Cambridge, as well as the rest of their tour dates, at mapsandatlases.org.

San Diego’s Delta Spirit have been winning fans over with their unique instrumentation ever since they started banging on trash can lids for their 2008 full-length Ode to Sunshine. And on their newest, self-titled effort, the five-piece is still trying new things, like recording in a converted church and working with renowned producer Chris Coady (Grizzly Bear, Yeah Yeah Yeahs).

Tastemakers got a chance to catch up with the band before their March 17 show at the Paradise. In between discussions of craft beers and exchanging hugs with old friends, bassist Jon Jameson talked about Delta Spirit’s new album, the benefits of recording in unique spaces and the reasons you should keep your eyes out for cool bathroom artwork.

TMM: You guys said that you set out wanting to make this a “Great American Record,” which is pretty ambitious. What sorts of components go into making an album like that?

JJ: I think part of it comes just from finding your place in the world, finding something you have to contribute that’s hopefully unique. I mean, we aren’t very interested in just reliving the past or just copying something that’s popular. I think America is about bringing something to the table that the world needs, and so I think that’s what we were trying to do with our music.

TMM: When I saw there were two songs on the album named after states, I thought maybe you were going to interpret the American theme very literally.

JJ: [Laughs] The weird thing is that I didn’t even realize that until, like, last week actually. I knew “California” because that’s the single, and I kept thinking about it. But I kept forgetting we had a song named “Idaho,” too. It’s weird, and definitely not as intentional as one might think. It was almost subconscious even.

TMM: It’s also interesting that before this album, you only had one really overtly California-y song: “Golden State.” But on this record you have “California,” which has a really beachy, West Coast feel.

JJ: Yeah, we’re into a lot of different stuff. We like airy, atmospheric, bright sounds, and then at the same time I think that there was maybe even something subconscious about that. A friend of ours mentioned, “Oh, it’s cool that you threw that Beach Boys beat in for ‘California,’” and that was another subconscious thing. None of us were like, “Let’s throw a Beach Boys, ‘50s beat in ‘cause it’ll remind people of California.” It was just something that we tried, and it sounded good.

TMM: Could you actually talk a little bit about the album art? I thought that was really eye catching.

JJ: Thank you! It’s funny because weirdly enough, the cover was a collage that the owner of the studio that we recorded in had made in the bathroom. All of us saw it, day after day, while we were using the bathroom there. I remember seeing it and saying to myself, “Wow, that looks so cool and weird and unique.” But I never thought to, like, take a photo of it or do anything with it. Then our friend Matt Wignall, who did the photography and art direction, it was just a random photo he took. He sent us a list of several different photos and ideas for covers and that was one of them. Immediately it stuck out to me because it was already in my mind – subconsciously again! – as something that really stood out and at the same time was a part of every day of us making the record. It was something we interacted with, albeit via the bathroom. But it was cool, and I’m really happy with the cover.

TMM: Producer Chris Coady worked with you on this record, and he’s someone who’s worked with a lot of – I guess you could say indie rock heavyweights: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Grizzy Bear, Beach House. Did his presence have an impact on the album?

JJ: We had the album pretty well pieced together as far as the songs, but with the production, he definitely did things that we normally wouldn’t have done. We usually air on the side of big, reverb-y, roomy drums and as many harmonies as possible, and he kind of honed that in. For example, “California” has really tight, mic’d drums, that people keep hearing and asking, “Why is there a drum machine on there?” It’s actually not a drum machine. It’s Brandon playing drums, but really tightly mic’d. It’s a sound that we haven’t used much in the past, partially just because we’ve been figuring it out ourselves, and he has a different perspective which I think really brought the album to where it needed to be. I love all the songs, but I think what he did really brought everything full circle.

TMM: As far as location goes, you recorded your first full length at a cabin in the mountains and your latest effort at a converted church in New York…

JJ: Yeah, and the last one was in a refurbished chicken coop in upstate California.

TMM: Right! So how do you guys come across these spaces?

JJ: We definitely seek them out. We always look for places that will bring us out of our every day life and the distractions of hanging with friends or loved ones. Even though that’s hard at times, it really helps you to focus. We kind of like the idea of completely putting ourselves into the album, so we’ve looked for places like that. We’ve looked at spaces in Greece and Malibu and all these weird places that are isolated. We had wanted to record at this place, Dreamland, in the past, and Chris Coady had made two records there. He did the Beach House record there and he also did Gang Gang Dance there, so he was comfortable with it, knew it, and was into the idea. So it just made sense. He was already ready for it and we were interested in it.

TMM: I’ve read that you guys don’t particularly like being dubbed an Americana or folk band, so how would you describe yourselves, stylistically? I realize there might not be one word, but…

JJ: It’s definitely hard. I think when it really comes down to it we just consider ourselves… well, we want to be the best rock band possible. But there’s a lot that goes into rock music and it’s so vague these days. I think, not to be even more vague, but I think we like the idea of making old things new and doing new things in a fresh way. Like I said before, we don’t just want to be copying something that’s been done. We respect tradition, but we don’t want to regurgitate it. At the same time, we’ve been doing this long enough and are disinterested enough in the zeitgeist, the spirit of the age, that we don’t want to instantly go along with whatever seems to be happening. Because by the time we get into it, it probably won’t be cool anymore. We constantly want to be re-envisioning. It’s a natural thing for us. We’re five people that are very different, with very different opinions, different perspectives, and different musical tastes. Whenever we find something where all five of us agree, that’s the band that we are. It’s weird for us because we’ve liked folk music and American music. But I mean, I love Pulp, you know? I love a lot of other things. I think, in a lot of ways, we sound more like Pulp than Woody Guthrie. So it just seems unfitting and a little bit like bad research to call us an Americana band.

TMM: So the five of you all have different musical tastes, how difficult is that?

JJ: It’s maddening. It’s crazy. It shouldn’t work, but that’s the great thing about it. A lot of bands have a – warlord is the wrong word – but someone that’s the taskmaster that makes the decisions and tells people what to do. And Kelly and Matt write most of the basic ideas of the songs, but everyone has free reign of what we do with it, and we can bring up new ideas. It’s really hard to get everyone on the same page, and it takes a while. We spent three or four months hashing out what we wanted this new album to sound like and finding where we all fit together. It’s something that so far has worked out, and it’s happened every time. We finally hit the point where we’re like, “Yes, we all love all of these songs.” And if it doesn’t happen, I don’t know! Maybe that’s it, you know? But I think we give and take and respect each other, even though we’re different. That’s what a good relationship is, and that’s what a good band is.

Check out Delta Spirit’s self-titled effort, out now on Rounder Records!

In the eternal wisdom of Del Paxton, “Ain’t no way to keep a band together. Bands come and go. You got to keep on playin’, no matter with who….” Yes, I just quoted That Thing You Do. Nick Zammuto’s sound-collage collaboration, The Books, broke up last year. He considered quitting music all together but friends and family convinced him to get back in to it right away. We’re all glad he did and his new band, Zammuto, released its debut, self-titled album today. Zammuto (the man) was kind enough to sit down with us before the band’s third show ever, at Brighton Music Hall, back in February. The full interview will be available in the next issue of Tastemakers but here is just a little erh… taste of what he had to say. 

Tastemakers Magazine (TMM): Last summer you began this project by releasing song demos on Tumblr for 24 hours at a time. Why did you choose that method?

Nick Zammuto (NZ): It was a way to stay connected to people. I really like transparency in the artistic process. I don’t want people to view it as this magical thing, because really it’s just a lot of work. I kind of wanted people to see the pacing of how a record is made or, at least, get a sense for how I work and test the waters for people’s interest for this slightly new approach – or in some cases [this] radical new approach. It was a way to test the waters and a way to kind of get people thinking in new directions in terms of their expectations around what my output was going to be like. It’s worked really well. And as you would expect, the more direct your relationship is the more people will listen.

TMM: And why did you take them down after a day?

NZ: I wanted to leak them into the world and then step away from it and no longer be the source of it. Everybody was clear that when I released [the songs] these are for sharing. Like ‘Please, send them to your friends,’ but I didn’t want to be the guy giving them out all the time saying, ‘Hey listen to my music.’ I want other people, if they like it enough, [to] share it. So instead of me having to force it into the world, it would go by itself if I [only] released it for 24 hours. Rather than being thought of as the source of it I would just kind of light the match and see if anything caught on fire. And I can’t thank people enough for spreading the word. It’s been extremely effective.

TMM: So it’s sort of like you created a new disease?

NZ: Well, I don’t know. You can think of music as some kind of disease I suppose, like an earworm.

TMM: What previous misconceptions would you warn Books fans not to carry over for Zammuto?

NZ: [laughs] I don’t know expectations lead to disappointment as they say. We were worried about it. We were like, ‘oh man we’re going to play in front of a Books crowd essentially at first and they might all walk out.’ They could easily say this stuff isn’t for me, but so far it’s been the opposite. Every body comes up to me after the show and says this is a step forward.  I’ve been waiting for this in a way. It feels really good. But you know, given the fact that there are live drums and I’m playing electric guitar, I wouldn’t say it sounds like rock and roll because it’s usually not in 4/4 and it doesn’t have rock attitude, but it’s definitely the same type of instrument. It’s a show that you can stand up [for]. We want to play in front of standing audiences because right off the bat that changes the expectations of the show. We’re not exactly aiming for the lower chakras but it’s nice to be able to go there once in a while.

TMM: So the new album is out April 3^rd on Temporary Residence.

NZ: Yes, in all formats: CD, Vinyl, downloads and for free. I don’t particularly care if people share things but sort of where I draw the line is if you listen to it more than a dozen times, you should probably buy the record.

The new album is available today at zammutosound.com. It looks like there are still limited edition vinyls available that will come in hand screen-printed sleeves done in his home screen-printing studio. Yes, Nick Zammuto has a screen-printing studio in the home that he built himself; he is more interesting than you are.

Catch Zammuto on their upcoming tour with Explosions in the Sky, beginning Thursday April 5, 2012. And if you want to learn more about Nick Zammuto’s new band check out the full interview in the upcoming Tastemakers Issue 28. 

With both a new album and a Coachella debut in view, Brad Oberhofer was able to have a quick phone chat with us and based on the conversation he seems both relaxed and excited about the wild year ahead of him. The 21-year old frontman of the four-man band, Oberhofer, has mastered the art of new wave rock combined with dreamy pop and his music makes it nearly impossible to dissect with intricate layers of instruments, whistling, chants and melodies. Although he refused to give us some hints as to what we should expect with his band’s upcoming album, Time Capsules II, all we can do is expect the best.

Tastemakers Magazine (TMM): Hey, man, what’s up, how are you?
Brad Oberhofer (BO): I am super good! I’m actually working on a new song right now.

TMM: Oh awesome, how’s it going, what kind of vibes are going on?
BO: I don’t know it’s kind of like a pop song. We’ll see how it goes.

TMM: So, you’re on tour now. Have you played any specific gigs where you’ve been like ‘yea, I’m really excited to get back there and play at that venue again.’
BO.: Um, yea there was a show we just played in London three nights ago at a place called Cargo. It was just this really cool venue.

TMM: Its been announced that you’re playing Coachella this year. Are you stoked? Nervous?
BO: I’m really stoked honestly. I’m excited for it to be, ya know, like near summer time and to be in California and to be playing with some of the coolest bands on the face of the planet.

TMM: Any specific bands that you’re excited to see and play alongside?
BO: Uh, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg

TMM: Yea that’s gonna be awesome. It’s also two weekends this year. Is there anything you’re gonna be doing in between in that weird week?
BO: Um yea, I think we’re flying to Europe.

TMM: Oh wow, that is gonna be crazy. Aren’t you gonna be tired?
BO: No, dude, I’m never tired!

TMM: Well that’s good to hear! Line-ups are being announced for other awesome festivals like Sasquatch and Bonnaroo. Are you planning on chilling and attending any of these or is it hard to find the time?
BO: I don’t think that we’ll really get any chilling time honestly. I think it’s just gonna be like pretty much crazy for the next year and a half not doing anything.

TMM: You have an album coming out at the end of the month. I’ve listened to it and it’s really, really awesome. Could you tell me a little bit about the vibe people should expect?
BO: No, you know, I think its better when people don’t expect vibes.

TMM: Well I have to say that I would listen to some of those tracks when I would commute to NYC and it would make the commute that much more bearable. So, thank you for that.
BO: Aww man, that rules.

TMM: I read somewhere- and I mean, you can never really trust the Internet- that you kind of have a classical music influence in your music. Is that true?
BO: I don’t know really, I mean I listen to a lot of classical music but like I don’t really know if it has a huge influence. I couldn’t say.

TMM: Would you say anything really influences your music? Any specific bands or experiences that you’ve had?
BO: I think a bunch of bands probably influence it and I think probably every experience I’ve ever had influences it. So no, I think nothing specific really, just probably everything I’ve ever listened to in my whole life…everything equally.

TMM: Are there any new bands that you’ve listened to recently? Any new songs that are out?
BO: Well, there are a couple new bands that are pretty sweet. I just saw a band last night called Celestial Shores and they were really cool.

TMM: Last question for you and it’s blunt. You’re pretty young as far as I know. 21, right?
BO: Yea.

TMM: Well, what is one of the most important things you want to accomplish in your music career?
BO: Umm, I don’t know…just make people feel good.

TMM: Well, I think that’s a very important thing. Alright, well that’s everything. Anything you want to add?
BO: I hope you have a nice day

TMM: Well thank you, I hope you have a nice day as well and I hope you enjoy the rest of your tour. It seems like you’re gonna have a great year ahead of you.
BO: Yea, it’s gonna rule.

Oberhofer will be at Brighton Music Hall in Alston on Thursday, March 22 and Time Capsules II comes out March 27 on Glassnote Records.

Tastemakers Magazine (TMM): So this is Tastemakers Magazine and you put out a food and drink recipe with your preorder package.

Lazerbeak (L): I certainly did. Let me give you one right now. My recipes: the nacho cheese LAVA BANGER Nachos and LAVA BANGER Shots.

TMM: So, what’s your favorite taste?

L: What’s my favorite taste? I like Budweiser beer quite a bit. I really like Dominoes pizza. That’s the thing on the road that I crave. I love ordering a Dominoes pizza back home and watching a movie with the wife.

TMM:  What exactly is a ‘Lava Banger’?

L:  Lava banger is just a name we came up for my beats based on the terminology of fire and uses of fire in rap music, hot flames and whatnot. My old band The Plastic Constellations — we were on tour about five years ago and it just came up. We were just joking around and it somehow stuck. I remember at my bachelor party I had like a list of things I had to do and I had to say “Lava bangers for life.” For like an hour, I had to finish any sentence with “Lava bangers for life,” and after that it really stuck. That’s just a term used to describe a Lazerbeak beat. It’s just a total knocker.

TMM:  So you’ve been making them for a while. What prompted the actual album; the full LAVA BANGERS experience?

L:  Actually, I had always been kind of against instrumental hip-hop records.  Or, at least, I didn’t want to make one because I thought there were so many of them out there and so many of them were boring and what not. And I just always assumed my beats were best with rappers on them. But, Plain Ole Bill, like when I was making Legend Recognize Legend, which was like my pop singing album, at that point I was hanging out with Plain Ole Bill and he was like ‘You know what,’ because I was worried that people were going to think that I had gone soft or whatever, ‘We should just hit them with another record that shows you still know how to make bangers.’ He said he would help me and it would be cool. It wouldn’t be like five-minute sprawling loops, it would be really quick. I said, ‘Okay, let’s give it a shot,’ then he came on board and helped kind of executive produce it and it came together. So that was like a year and a half ago maybe.  We started talking about it and of course everything takes forever. But it came together pretty quick actually. So yea, then I kind of gave into the idea and was like ‘Yea this could be easy.’ We had a lot of fun.  We drank a lot of beers. We had like 150 beats that we had to whittle down and figure out transitions and shit so that took a little while but it was all fun stuff.

TMM:  How has it been touring with the album? Haven’t you been opening the Doomtree sets with your own stuff?

L:  Yea, so every night there’ll be an opener and then I’ll go up and kind of do a ten-minute…almost like a cleansing or whatever. I play like a ten minute block of about four of the songs on there just to kind of get people warmed up and then introduce everybody and bring everyone on stage. It’s been awesome. I think it’s helping sell records on the road, too. But it’s been nice to just kind of set the pace or whatever. And then also, just to give people a chance to see actually what I’m doing up there as opposed to just kind of being hid behind everybody. In those ten minutes you get a pretty good idea of what I’m doing and then we run into the whole set.

TMM:  Tell me about the occupational hazards of playing so frequently, I see you have your fingers taped up.

L:  I split my middle fingers. I hit those pads pretty hard. I don’t need to. It doesn’t make it louder or anything but I’m coming from playing in rock bands and we move around a lot. When I started figuring out how to play live with rap, the only thing I knew to feel comfortable was to move around a lot. Because of that, I hit those pads pretty hard. Over time, they split open on tour. If it’s just one show here and there it’s fine, but after like three or four in a row it’s not fun. I’ve got gauze and gaffe tape and that helps pad it.

TMM:  Last question: I always put future interviews on Facebook and see if there are any solid questions. This is the best question I got for your interview. I’m going to read it to you verbatim. (Question submitted by Max Melby)

“It’s not secret that dude’s got a dichotomous set of tastebuds. How does one develop a taste for something as crispy sweet as Mike’s Hard Cranberry and something as savage as LAVA BANGER Nachos at the same time?”

L:  (Laughs) You know, it’s been a lot of years kind of developing the palate. Mike’s Hard Raspberry, to be clear. I don’t fuck with the Cranberry. I’ll drink the Cranberry but Mike’s Hard Raspberry is what I’m really going for. I just talked to our management today and they put a pack together to try to get me a solid endorsement deal with Mike’s Hard Raspberry. I’m already putting it out there. Even if they could just send me a case every week on the road and I’d drink it onstage, that makes total sense to me. I don’t know why, but that shit on ice is like the most refreshing…. Our rider just has beer on it. So I drink a lot of beer and I get burnt out on it. So, Mike’s Hard Raspberry, very refreshing! And LAVA BANGER Nachos is like the spicy to the refreshing cool of Mike’s Hard Raspberry. That’s a recipe that my mom always made at Super Bowl parties. It’s typical Midwestern, just like a brick of Velveeta cheese and chili. I tweaked it, added some heat to it and it’s fairly addictive.

TMM:  Sounds good.

L:  You’ve got the card! You should really make it. It’s not that expensive….you should make it!

——

For all interested, here’s the recipe:

1 can of Firehouse Chili

1 jar of hot salsa

½ jar of drained jalapeños

1 large brick of Velveeta cheese

(add hot sauce to taste)

Directions:

Cut cheese into cubes and put into crock-pot on HIGH.

Add all other ingredients once cheese has partially melted.

Stir often until cheese has fully melted.

Turn to LOW and enjoy with your favorite tortilla chips.

On paper, Joe Nice and dubstep are a bit of an odd couple.  While dubstep has found success in understatement – bare percussion, minimalist sub-bass, and a squinty, red-eyed gaze – Joe Nice thrives on a bold personality, off-beat catchphrases, and a contagious enthusiasm for music.  Sporting an easy demeanor, a bald head glistening with sweat, and a steady stream of conversation, he helps fill in the blanks left between dubstep’s sub-bass pulses.  Based out of Baltimore, Nice has been the leading American dubstep DJ since he co-founded GourmetBeats Radio in 2003, where he has broadcasted the best in dubstep over the Internet ever since.  On December 9, Joe Nice brought these sounds to Good Life Bar as part of Boston’s longest running dubstep party, Bassic.

Following his tradition of beginning his sets with an old school tune, Joe Nice kicked things off in Good Life’s basement with MTume’s 1982 funk hit “Juicy Fruit” to a crowd evenly split between young professionals and dreaded glow stick twirlers.  Tucked inside the exposed brick DJ booth, Nice sifted through his bag of records for the next plate to throw onto his turntables, most of which were unreleased and bore a simple white label with a handwritten ID tag.  Indeed, much of his appeal stems from his extraordinary access to songs that either will not be released for a while or will never see an official release.  These exclusive tracks, both old and new, help distinguish Joe Nice from other DJs and reinforce the idea of going to a club to hear music you can’t enjoy anywhere else.

As advertised, Joe Nice delivered the goods.  Fresh cuts from Mala (“Brazil Electronica,” “Harvest”), DJG (“Melon”), Goth Trad (“Seeker”), and Pinch (“Grump”) were interwoven with established rarities such as Mala’s “2 Much Chat” and “DMZ vs. MZN.”  Out of the 30 tracks played over the course of an hour and a half, I only recognized nine and could take a guess at the producer credit for a few more.   This wasn’t a problem though, as Nice’s selection was consistently on-point and interesting, mixing tribal drum rollers, peppy 4/4 grooves, staggering wall shakers, and everything in between to great effect.  Joe Nice’s exclusive dubplates may place his record bag head and shoulders above the rest, but it’s his taste, timing, and personality that set him apart as a DJ.  The night was another huge win for Bassic and a testament to dubstep’s ongoing evolution.

Tastemakers Magazine (TMM): You usually start your sets with an old school track.  Why is that?

Joe Nice (JN): I want to let people know the sounds I grew up on and the tunes that influenced me. Plus, I enjoy easing the crowd into dubstep. You always dip your toes in the water…you never dive in head first. The same goes for me and my sets.

TMM: How has your new night, Reconstrvct, been going?

JN: Reconstrvct has been excellent. V.I.V.E.K., GothTrad, Lost, DJG, BunZer0, CDubs and a few others have played the event. The show takes place at The Morgan in Bushwick, Brooklyn. We decided to go back to basics: a room with big sound, top notch talent and tunes. In my opinion, that’s always been the way to experience dubstep and we want to uphold that tradition. Reconstrvct isn’t a substitute for DubWar, another party I helped create. [DubWar NYC, started by Joe Nice and Dave Q, was the first dubstep club night in the US].  DubWar was a separate experience and a separate time and place. It can’t ever be duplicated. Reconstrvct is a new chapter, the next chapter.

TMM: Is “Low Frequency with Decency” the “Meditate on Bass Weight” of the United States?

JN: Yeah…I’ll agree with that. It’s funny, at DubWar, we always had a “slogan of the night.”  It was something silly that we’d all say, like “save your receipts” or “blame Dubwar” or “tell your friends.”  One of those slogans was “I AM NOT OK.” I’ll say this much, that slogan had legs.  Buttons were created.  After a while it became a mantra.

TMM: You have been a vocal opponent of brostep’s rise in popularity and deep saturation into the dubstep scene, especially in the United States.  Do you feel pressured to play more aggressive tracks in America versus the UK and other parts of Europe?

JN: I never feel pressured to play more aggressive tracks. I play what I feel to play. I’ve been involved with dubstep for ten years. I believe I have reached a certain level of consistency with the tunes I play and how I present the music to the audience. I’ve been doing GourmetBeats Radio for eight years. When you see my name on a flyer, promoters and partygoers know what to expect.

TMM: You’ve famously held onto using dubplates [acetate pressings of songs in the 12" format] even as many DJs have moved towards CDJs out of practicality.  Aside from your preference for exclusive and unreleased tracks, what leads to your preference for the dubplate?

JN: I am a DJ. Disc. Jockey. A disc has 3 characteristics: it’s flat, circular and resembles a plate. A jockey: someone that operates a specific machine, vehicle or object. It’s also someone that rides a horse. In either example, the operator is in control. Stop. Start. Fast. Slow. Dubplates are the truest representation of that disc jockey ethos. When you play a record, there is rotation. With rotation comes vibration. Vibration equals physicality. Dubstep is a physical sound. In my opinion, dubstep is best heard in that format. Vibration is also a feeling. Vibes. Dubstep is vibes. Dubstep is also emotional.

TMM: How did you start receiving so many exclusive dubplates?  Is there a large degree of trust involved between you and the producer?

JN: Honestly, all I did was ask. If you don’t ask the question, the answer is always no. Plastician was the first to send me tunes on the MSN Messenger (yeah….remember that?!). Old bits like “White Gloves” and “Pump Up The Jam.”  From there, other producers started sending me tunes. There’s a large degree of trust because these tunes are their work. They value their work, as do I.

TMM: Despite being involved in the dubstep scene since the early days, you haven’t really expanded outside of your role as a DJ.  I know you’ve experimented with production, but is there any interest on your end to form a label and release records?  It seems like it would be the natural extension of your taste as a DJ and ambassador of the dubstep sound to America.

JN: I am dabbling in production, but my passion is playing and performing dubstep. If I did create a record label, easy…GourmetBeats Music. When you see a gourmet meal, you instantly recognize that a level of quality has to be attained in order to be called “gourmet.”  Same for what I would need to do with the label. Cream of the crop tunes. Best of the best. Nothing else will do. Quality control is a must.

TMM: Dubstep seems to be headed in many different directions in 2011.  You have James Blake and Darkstar making the more melancholy, vocal tracks, Addison Groove and Ramadanman bringing in strong Chicago house influences, and others like LX One only getting deeper and more submersive.  Who are your favorite producers that are shaking things up and keeping the sounds fresh?

JN: There are so many talented producers that are making fresh beats, but I’d rather focus on labels that are continually breaking boundaries. Deep Medi. For me, they’re the best going. There’s a focus on the sound the label wants to represent and the target is always hit every time. Chestplate, Get Darker, Hessle Audio, Hyperdub, Tempa, Keysound Recordings, Swamp 81 are some other labels that are consistently making moves.

Joe Nice hosts a monthly radio show at GourmetBeats.com, with all past shows dating back to 2005 archived and available for free download at JoeNice.net. Follow him on Twitter @JoeNiceDJ for the latest updates.

TMM (Tastemakers Magazine): You were talking about The Revival Tour tonight. What would you think ten years ago if you knew you were going to play with Chuck Ragan of Hot Water Music.

Brian Fallon (BF): It would freak me out. I was actually thinking about that. I was wishing that I could call some of my friends from home that I lost touch with. That was a big deal for me. Hot Water Music is a huge thing. I distinctly remember the very moment that I first heard them. It was life changing. To hang out with Chuck and have all of those guys be my friends and to know that I can call them up at any time, it’s cool.

TMM: When did you know that you had to do The Horrible Crowes?

BF: American Slang had just come out and we knew we wanted to do something else. I talked about it with the guys and I said, ‘what do you think about this’ and they said, ‘why don’t you just do it?’ We knew that we ended the tour cycle for American Slang last year and then it was like well ‘what are we going to do’ because we aren’t going to have a record come out for two years. I wanted do something, so I did The Horrible Crowes. Then this (Elsie) came out and it got really busy, so I had to stop because I had to do the next Gaslight record. It was a weird time for Elsie to come out, so it was bizarre.

TMM: When can we see The Horrible Crowes tour?

BF: I don’t know. We did a couple shows and that was probably it. We thought we would be able to tour more, but then The Gaslight machine just got going. 15 songs into a record and you have to just do that. It’s just the way it goes.

TMM: On the past Gaslight albums, there has definitely been a theme. Is there a clear theme for the new album? 

BF: Yes, this one is extremely literal. There aren’t stories and there are no names for characters. I’ve kind of done away with a little bit of that because it was…. For a while you kind of come up with something that becomes your own, but when you’re a band you have to change after a while. We realized that now is kind of the time for it to become something else and what it was, was great. You can always play those songs, you can always be that, but you kind of have to find your own thing.

We started to do that on American Slang  a little bit, but on this record there is definitely a theme where all the songs were written very organically, they were written by hand. I have a notebook of all the songs. It was the first time I’ve ever done that, where every song was written out by hand. It was really cool and then it makes it very personal because you think about every line. When you’re typing on a computer, you can just delete something very quickly and that’s gone and then you can change lines and move your text around. By hand, you have to really think about, ‘I’m writing this by page’. Ya, you can scribble it out. But you don’t really work like that because when you open the notebook there is something blank there and you have to fill it by what you put down and it’s very, very connected.

And I also felt that I didn’t have anything else to say about the characters that I was working with before. I feel like all the bands that I’ve liked, whether it be U2 or Pearl Jam or Bruce Springsteen, they’ve all had a mark in their career where they’ve changed. Something happened and it was exciting. I think as long as you don’t forget what you were and you don’t change completely, it’s okay. We’re finding something that’s ours, which is good.

TMM: Tonight you discovered Tumblr. Are you going to go home and raid all of your Brian Fallon pages?

BF: No, no, no. I don’t read anything. People send me stuff from magazines, like our management and stuff, and I look at the pictures and that’s it. I don’t read anything anybody says anymore. I used to read every little thing and I used to keep up with the Internet. It would start to affect the way that I wrote songs. I would be like ‘well they want to hear this’, but you can’t do it like that because when I used to paint houses, I would paint houses the color that you wanted, but I didn’t get into this to do what people wanted. I did it to be an expression of myself. The true thing is that’s why people liked you in the beginning, because it was a true expression of yourself and it resonated inside of them. In order to fake that and try and make something that is resonating inside of someone else isn’t exactly what I would consider right or artistic. Why would they listen to that when they could just write those songs themselves?

There’s this new thing when people charge money and you can give them a topic and they write a song just for you and I think that is horrible. I think it’s absolutely horrible and I don’t care if it’s the guys from that guy (Max Bemis), I don’t care. I think that it’s lame and that you’ve got some explaining to do and I think you’re taking your art and you’re prostituting it, that’s what you’re doing. Sure, do we all do that by selling CDs and could we all just give our music away, absolutely. Am I going to do that, no way and I don’t think anyone else should do it either. I like that thing where you go to the movies and you pay nine bucks and you see something that’s worth something and I would hate it if someone called me up and was like ‘what do you want me to make a movie about for you?’. That’s ridiculous, man. I want to see what you are thinking and your experiences and I want to hear something that I don’t know. There’s a lot of stuff out there that’s cheapening art. I’m bitter about that. How do you put a price on that?

TMM: You mentioned the elections tonight. Would you ever be willing to offer your political views as a band?

BF: Sure, we all have four separate views, but there is a lot of things that we agree on. We all agree that the whole benefit to the new America is that we have a choice and that we can all go and say ‘well I want to be a musician’ or ‘I want to be a carpenter’ and sometimes your situation dictates that and I’m not naive to that, but if you look at guys like us, like I was a carpenter and decided that I wanted to be in a band. It takes a lot of work, but you can do it in this country. None of us are Republicans or Democrats or Liberals or Conservatives or anything. We strictly look at who is the best for that period in time. I think that we all feel like they are not giving Barrack Obama the chance. We all feel that way, all four of us feel that they’re blaming things on him like the economy. Well, the economy has been in a downturn and he’s trying to pick up the pieces and you’re not giving him the chance because he has a House full of Republicans. There’s nothing wrong with Republicans, but you can’t fight all the time. It’s a country, it’s not a contest. But yeah, as we get older we start to care more about this stuff. We didn’t care in the beginning. We were like, ‘nobody cares what we think’, but people do care what we think and it’s important to stand up for that. It may seem ridiculous that we talk about polar bears and stuff, but it’s important because if ice caps melt, you’re going to have your house flooded. It’s about people.

TMM: It seems like a lot of bands are afraid to state what they think.

BF: I think there’s that and there’s the thing that makes me mad when they say what you want to hear. All of us have such different opinions and we have opinions on things that are not popular. Some of us go along with a more liberal mindset and some of us are much more conservative and that’s just the way it is. You just need to state your opinion. It doesn’t mean you’re right. I think as long as you’re looking out for people and you’re not taking people’s freedoms away, then it doesn’t really matter. I think that you can think that something’s wrong and not be against it, which is tough. That’s a tough line to walk and not be cruel to someone who you think is fighting against you, but I guess that’s how the president feels, but he’s handling it very well. But looking at the candidates is scary. We were watching the Michelle Bachman thing and it’s crazy. There was some weird stuff. I heard that gay people are possessed by the devil. I was like, whoa alright. Geesh! I don’t want to live in your house. Don’t walk by the windows! That’s crazy.

TMM: Alright, last question: What is your favorite Springsteen lyric?

BF: I don’t know. I mean, there’s a lot; he’s a good writer. My favorite song of all time is not one of his, it’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright” by Bob Dylan. But lately, actually what I really love is “Keep On Rockin’ In The Free World” by Neil Young. I love that line when he says, about the drug addict that puts her kid away, “That’s one more kid who will never go to school, who will never fall in love, never get to be cool”. That’s my favorite lyric for right now. That’s a good one.

White Arrows were kind enough to sit down with me after their gig opening for The Naked And Famous. The L.A based band easily claimed their territory as a band to watch with their beach infused electronic rock. Between the Hawaiian shirts, raw energy, and their down to earth nature, White Arrows won the Paradise over that night.

The White Arrows is Mickey Schiff (frontman), Henry Schiff (drums), J.P. Caballero (guitar), Steven Vernet (bass), Andy Naeve (keys).

Tastemakers (TM): I heard your cover of Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire” which is totally different than the music you are working on now. How much have you guys evolved?

Mickey Schiff (MS): I don’t know if it is evolution as much as manic schizophrenia of being influenced by so many different things that so many different sounds come out.

J.P. Caballero (JPC): Sometimes your Pokémon evolves.

TMM: During the show you (MS) said you lived in Boston for a year?

MS: Yeah, before I moved to New York and made the E.P, I lived in Boston for a year. I was actually just talking about it because my dad was at the show tonight and asked, “Do you remember what you were doing when you were here in Boston?” and I do remember. I lost 50 pounds, I was emaciated, I had a beard, and I only biked around on a little BMX bike because I didn’t understand the T and I didn’t have any interest in learning it. But I would bike from Boylston and Tremont or around Southie to Paradise, The Middle East, and T.T the Bears three nights a week.

TMM: You’re brave!

MS: Especially on a little BMX bike that was built for a six year old girl (laughs). I’m six foot three and it looked like I was in clown school, but I saw some of the best shows I’ve ever seen while I was living here in Boston. I saw the Black Keys at this club (Paradise). The Red Sox were in the World Series against the Yankees and everyone was watching, so there were five people in the audience.  The drummer gave up and gave me his drumstick after they played. I saw the Libertines here too when Pete Doherty was still in the band so this is a big night for me to play this place.

TMM: What do you miss most about Boston?

MS: Pretty much this club. It’s hard for me to say what I miss in general because the people that I missed in Boston have since moved, but I haven’t been back to the Middle East or T.T the Bears. I would love to go back to those clubs. I was actually here for school at Emerson for a year before I transferred to NYU. I loved Emerson. The people I met there I have reconnected with when they moved to Los Angeles. They are all awesome, creative, but intelligent people.

TMM: The face painting in your video for “8050 (Too Fast Too Slow)” set the bar pretty high for your Halloween. What are you being this Halloween?

MS: I might go back to the face painting and become a Juggalo for Halloween.

JPC: I’m going to be an airline passenger in economy seating because we are flying back to L.A. I’m going to get a little blanket and get comfortable.

TMM: If you guys were in any movie what would it be?

MS: I would probably be in a surrealist movie, something that’s not so narrative, but has kind of a story like 2001 Space Odyssey, like El Topo or The Holy Mountain. Just like a 10-year-old boy walking naked alongside a Zoro looking character riding a horse.

JPC: I would choose something like The Cannonball Run.

TMM: How do you guys pass the time on tour?

MS: We are in an RV and we listen to a lot of music, we read some books, we play some guitar…

JPC: …we try to work out at the YMCA.

Henry Schiff (HS): Not all of us do that. A lot of just veg out and just stare out our thumbs for like 40 hours (laughs).

TMM: Who’s reading and what are you reading?

MS: I’m reading a book called 2030. Albert Brooks wrote it. It’s like what happens to America and the world in the year 2030.

Andy Naeve (AN): I’m reading all of my Vonnegut books on Kindle.

HS: My Kindle broke during the first tour, so I’m pretty bummed.

TM: What newer music are you guys listening to?

MS: We love Deerhunter and Animal Collective…

HS: I’ve been listening to this band called Wiseblood. We played with them at The Echo and they’re rad. I’ve been listening the E.P a lot.

MS: …The Black Keys and I’ve recently discovered Oberhofer. It’s funny, you listen to music after people compare you to the music, so there’s no way that you could actually be influenced by the music. Then you try to find the similarities that people are talking about.

TMM: What are you guys excited for this year, in general?

JPC: The Coming Apocalypse.

MS: The Olympics and for us personally, our first full-length album. It will be due out this year and it’s the most exciting thing to date.

HS: I’m excited about it! I think about it every night before I go to bed.

Check out photos from White Arrows’ set at Paradise!

Tastemakers Magazine: Since you’ve played around Boston so much and you’re something of a “local legend” here, can you talk about growing as an artist in this city?

Will Dailey: A legend, eh? [Laughs] A local legend. Well, I’ve just kind of pounded the pavement here for a while. This is where I’m from, and it’s where I want to remain. I just love it here. I love the music scene, and I love the diversity of the music scene. It’s strong no matter what club you’re going to or what kind of music you’re going out to see. And I’ve also been lucky. A lot of people work hard here, and I’ve had the fortune of having great fans here that help propel this and keep this afloat.

TMM: Let’s talk about the new album, “Will Dailey and the Rivals.” It’s your fourth full-length – what are some of the things you were hoping to achieve as you worked on it?

WD: Well prior to this when I’ve done interviews, they always say “singer-songwriter Will Dailey.” And I guess it’s an appropriate way to start an article or description of somebody, but it means something different in today’s music culture than it does in my brain. [Laughs] To me, a male singer-songwriter that I admire or look up to would be John Lennon, or Tom Petty, or Elvis Costello. That, to me, is a male singer-songwriter. But you don’t call them that, they’re just musicians. They’re songwriters. They’re performers.

This time in the studio, we just made it about us as much as possible. With producer Tom Polce, we just kind of locked ourselves in there and banged it out together. I think in the past, I had done it a little more on my own. [This time] there would be more people involved in the studio process – other musicians, and they would pitch in equally – and now it’s definitely more of a democracy with the four of us. With the Rivals and myself.

TMM: And I’m guessing that’s why you decided to self-title the record?

WD: Yes, absolutely. And also because we wanted to make a rock and roll record… There’s something very special and unique about being able to take your best friends and people who you’ve created these things with, locking yourselves in a studio, and just all focusing all day and all night together. Taking that ride, and not stopping until it’s done.

TMM: You guys don’t get sick of each other?

WD: Of course we do! [Laughs] But that’s what any relationship is. You go through these things. Sometimes you rebuild, sometimes you explore deeper within yourself to find what’s bothering you. That’s when you know you have a good relationship and you work well together.

TMM: During your in-store event at Newbury Comics, you mentioned – and I forget your exact wording – but you hinted that the process of putting this record together was laborious at times. Can you expand on that?

WD: Well sometimes you’re making something and… at this point in my career, I’ve had these successes that I’m excited about. But we’re still breaking out and building a name nationally. Sometimes it’s difficult when you’re locked up away from the world and you’re making this thing. You get out and you wonder, “Okay, now what?” At the time, I wasn’t on Universal Republic. I was just making [the record]. That’s what made it hard on us. We didn’t know how we’d even put this record out, exactly. We were just making it what we wanted. So while it was cathartic, I think it was also scary.

TMM: What about the title track, “Counting on Karma?” Wasn’t it inspired by a conversation you had with a friend?

WD: Yeah, you know, you have those conversations with a friend and they’re in kind of a “woe is me” type of mind frame. They’re just letting it out, and saying how opportunities don’t come to nice people. And I have to disagree. And it was actually my friend who said, “Well, I’ll count on karma, then.” It was one of those light bulb moments, so I just wrote it down: Counting on Karma. [The song] poured out pretty quick later on. But there’s plenty of good things that come to good people.

TMM: So is that your favorite song on the new album? Do you have a favorite?

WD: Right now I’m really liking “Loved You First” and probably “Out on the Floor,” just because we’ve been playing it the past couple of events… those are my favorites right now, but I try not to play favorites at the same time. I try not to think too much about the songs as I’m performing them, I’m in the moment of each one.

TMM: What kind of music were you listening to when you put together the record?

WD: Well, it’s hard to find music that I don’t like or appreciate. Even music that the blogosphere might not deem “worthy” is good music in somebody’s life.

TMM: So you’re saying you listened to a lot of the Jonas Brothers?

WD: [Laughs] I couldn’t tell you a single tune by them, it’s not for me, but I’m glad it’s out there. Some young girl has music in her life, and later on she will discover the Beatles, you know? She’ll get into something else because she found that it’s fun to get into music. It’s an important muscle to exercise. There can really be no “bad music” if it’s filling that gap in someone’s life. If everything sounded like the cool band of the week, there would be so many left-out people. We’d be in a terrible state.

But while making this record, particularly for me, I focused on what I thought was a gap in the music world. A gap that Tom Petty filled with songs like “Into the Great Wide Open.” The way he constructed that album, where it was rock and roll but there was adventure – sonic adventure and lyrical adventure – that was kind of my focus on this album… songs that are rooted in rock and roll, but are accessible pop tracks.

TMM: One last thing: I read somewhere that you actually had to sell your car in order to be able to afford putting out your first record. Is that true?

WD: Yeah, which made touring incredibly difficult. But yeah, I did. I was out of money towards the end of it, and I sold it to finish a couple days of tracking and mixing. And I’d do it again. I might sell the car I have now, who knows. But what’s more important? There is public transportation. And I have a bike.

Check out Will Dailey & the Rivals’ self-titled album – out now on Universal Republic!

With Coheed and Cambria being back in the news, it seems appropriate to revisit this interview with the band’s guitarist, Travis Stever, from last year. Since 1995, Coheed and Cambria have been melting faces while telling the story of The Amory Wars, an epic series created by singer and mastermind Claudio Sanchez.  The story of  Coheed and Cambria is a theme that unifies the band’s albums and solidified them as a true concept band.  Fifteen years later, Coheed and Cambria released the prequel to the series, Year of the Black Rainbow, and have been touring on it ever since (which is where their recent incident occurred.)

Although primarily known as a concept band, Coheed and Cambria’s infectious hooks and irresistible guitar riffs make them relatable on any level.  I got the chance to catch up with guitarist Travis Stever to talk about the being a concept band, the writing process and summer festivals.

OS:  First off, how did you get into music?

TS: I know a lot of people probably hear this, but my father was a musician.  Actually, it was my mother and father.  But, my mother decided that she didn’t really want to do it anymore.  So I grew up around my father and his songwriting and at the time, it seemed like the least appealing thing ever.  Then I guess I started to hear bands that I liked from Metallica to Guns ‘€˜N’ Roses and then got into the older stuff like Sabbath and Iron Maiden.  Eventually I got into even more classic stuff like Neil Young and I wanted to be a musician.  I realized I wanted to try it because I saw my dad doing it.  So I picked up one of the numerous guitars around the house and was like, ‘€œI’m gonna try that thing.’€ It’s been a passion of mine ever since.

OS: Through the years, you have told the story of Coheed and Cambria all while growing as musicians with side projects and as a group.  How has your personal growth manifested in the music and the story?

TS: Well, we’ve all grown as musicians in terms of musical growth.  In terms of personal growth through the concept, Claudio’s personal life has been dictating the outcomes of that concept throughout the years.  It’s very much a big part of it.  If you take The Year Of The Black Rainbow novel, however, it’s very concise and to-the-point introduction to a complex story.  You can follow every word and understand exactly what’s going on.  It still has parts of his real life in it.  Anyone who feels like they’ve been missing out before because they didn’t know where to start‘€” this is it because this is the beginning.  It is a prequel.  I think it’s the most to-the-point, even though it’s a long book.  It’s a perfect place for anyone to start digging into the concept.  Back to the growing part, I think really on The Year Of The Black Rainbowyou can just tell how everyone reaching into the bag and going back and taking some of their earlier sounds from the first albums and also adding in the new aspects of our individual playing.  On the other side of the coin, you have Chris who this is his first album to be able to record with us.   And you can his influences are all over the album.  So, that’s definitely played a huge part in how this album turned out.

OS:  So Claudio writes the hard copy story, but it needs to translate to music somehow.  How does the writing process go for you guys?

TS: Well, he’ll have the skeleton of the song and we’ll all write our parts around that and there’s been occasions where he and I will sit down and put the music together.  Usually with a lot of the songs, he already has the skeleton and lyrics and already gone in a direction, but the music can completely change when it comes to the band.  The lyrics most likely won’t, because he’s telling a story. But, the story doesn’t dictate what’ll be played musically.  His music is really influenced by real life experience, just like anyone else.  That’s why people who don’t give a shit about the concept whatsoever can still relate to our records.  When it comes to it, it’s a group collaborative in every angle.  Especially on this album everyone’s parts and every note is paid attention to so everyone felt happy.

OS: What would you say are the advantages and disadvantages of being a concept band?

TS: People sometimes won’t take it seriously because there’s this concept going on and sometimes people take it a little too seriously and it can get a little complicated.  You don’t have to read into it too much.  Like I said, you can enjoy us as a rock band and relate to us on the normal, ‘€œI can get it’€ level.  Whether it be about heartbreak or something about religion‘€”it’s masked by a concept and some people can’t get past that concept to accept the music on its own.  So sometimes we get judged quickly for that in reviews and such.  People just take a shit on something that we’ve done because it’s concept‘€”Dungeons and Dragons, which is bullshit.  We’ve never played Dungeons and Dragons, let alone it’s totally the opposite of the way the band is.  We are first and foremost all musicians and we’re very proud to have this concept going through the music because it’s very, very unique.  It’s a unique way to get your point out and get your music be more of an inclusion to the story.  Have the music have something extra so that the listener can feel more included in it.  The story makes it so that the listeners can indulge more in the music and become more involved in each song and each note and know what it means.

OS: How have you seen your audience grow with you guys as you’ve gotten bigger and your story’s progressed?

TS:  We have the best fanbase ever, so’€¦ Sometimes they can find it hard to take certain new things and be like ‘€œwhy did they go this direction?’€    For some people, it’s hard to see your favorite band change and go in a new way.  For me, I’ve always been a fan of seeing those bands change a little bit from album to album‘€”especially in classic records.  I mean, there are people who listen to Led Zeppelin and love that early sound and then Graffiti is their cutoff.  Then if you mention In Through The Out Door, it has the more kooky keyboards going on and they think that album doesn’t cut it.  But I love that album and I love it because it’s different.   Sometimes it’s hard for people to accept those changes and to have an open mind like that.  When I listen to our newest records, I actually think we have a lot of the old sound and old albums on it.  It’s probably because we did the Neverender endeavor where we played all 4 albums and released them on DVD.  I think that that affected our music more than the fans realize.  When we put new music out, there are so many ready to critique it.  I’ve been there before and done the same thing.  Sometimes in this day and age with everything at our fingertips, I guess they’re more prone to be a critic right away.  I think the fact is that most of our fans, it’s been a grower.  They’ll listen to the album a couple times and then come back to it and get blown away and get really excited about it.  I think it’ll be that way with a lot of the people because there’s a lot to take in.   But once you take it in, I would hope that it’s inevitable that it will grab you.

OS: I think what’s going to pull people in even more is your video series giving insight to each track of this new album.  How did you get the idea to give fans an explanation of where you’re coming from with album?

TS: Honestly Kathryn, I think has to do with the way things are with the Internet.  You’ve got to brainstorm and be like, ‘€˜Okay, how do we work with the way things are?’ Because we love giving things to our fans.  We always have and we’ve always wanted to make them as happy as possible.  It’s almost like we’re working with the times because everyone’s looking for that extra thing now.  Music is so easy to get, which in it’s own way could be sad.  At the same time, it’s music.  You have to get creative in finding other ways to make it more unique and more personal.  That’s why we find thing to make it more special.

OS: Well, as a fan, I’m interested in what you have planned next.  Now that you’ve gone back and done a prequel, what will be the next step?

TS: Right now, we’re just really excited to be touring on this record because we’re so proud of it.  Within the concept, I know there are so many different angles we could go with.  There’s this whole universe that Claudio has developed and we can explore things in there or we could just record a regular rock album.  I hate to skim the top, but really the sky is the limit.

OS: Speaking of touring, I got the chance to catch you guys at Coachella in 2010.

TS: With USC? That was awesome!  That was a lot of fun playing with the marching band.

OS: How did that come together?

TS: Pete Stall, who works in our management, approached them because they had already played ‘€œWelcome Home.’€  It was a no-brainer.  We wanted to do something special for Coachella and they already knew the song so we put the combination together and we have a really fun experience.  A lot of bands have done that before especially with USC.  Fleetwood Mac did it and Outkast used them.  It was a lot of fun’€¦ a lot of fun.  It was one of the highlights of being in the band for me.

OS: What is your favorite song to play live?

TS: Right now, I’m really enjoying playing ‘€œWorld of Lines.’€  It’s been a lot of fun, but it changes night to night.  Obviously, ‘€œWelcome Home’€ is a blast to play because we feed off each other from fan to band.  Everyone knows that song and goes buck wild and it’s a blast.  It always feels like brand new.

The Dirty Dishes have made quite a stir in Boston over the last year.  Between rocking the Converse sponsored stage at SXSW, being hand-picked by Passion Pit as one of Boston’s best bands, and being nominated as a “Best New Act” by The Phoenix, the group has garnered more than their fair share of attention.  Playing their own brand of brooding shoegaze, The Dirty Dishes walk the tightrope between the snarl of rock and pop’s melodic sensibilities. Tastemakers sat down with them after their set at the two day B.O.M.B. Fest music festival to discuss their recent successes, their In The Clouds EP, and plans for the future.

Tastemakers Magazine (TMM):  So you all attend Berklee School of Music.  Is that how you met?

Dirty Dishes  (DD): No, we met out in Boston through a bunch of mutual friends.  Mike and I played in a different band a long time ago… (laughs)

TMM:  You’ve been making music for about two years now?

DD: Yeah, I guess so.  In the fall of 2008 we were first like “Oh, let’s have a band,” but we didn’t play a show until the beginning of 2009.

TMM: Your EP (Stolen Apples) came out about a year and a half ago.  How has the reception been and how are things shaping up for your forthcoming release?

DD: Well In The Clouds was really haphazard.  We recorded it in a bunch of different places.  Drums and guitar were recorded in Mike’s basement, bass was done in Jay’s room and we even did some vocals in the back of our van. (laughs)  It was a bit weird but we worked really hard on it.  I guess the reception’s been well because we’re almost out of it!  We’re pleasantly surprised; we didn’t think anyone would listen to it.

The new one…we have no…we’re working on it.  We’re done tracking most of the stuff.  We still have to track vocals and do a bunch of shit.  We have to mix it, that will take a while.

TMM: Is that being recorded a bit more consistently or are you doing it in scattered sessions?

DD: We did it all in one studio, except for vocals, in Wooly Mammoth in Waltham.

TMM: Nice.  How do you like B.O.M.B. Fest so far?  Have you been on the festival circuit for long?

DD: It’s fun.  We haven’t done too many festivals.  We just got done with a two month tour in February and March so this is one of our first festivals.  Well, we’ve done South by Southwest the last two years and then North by Northeast.  But we like playing outside!

TMM: How was the second go around at SXSW?  It seems like it’s pretty grueling…

DD: It gets better every year.  We did eight shows in three days and that was an experience.  A good one, but a lot of work.   It was nice having people load our gear for us!

TMM: I’ve heard that SXSW can be a bit of a crapshoot in terms of who’s coming out to your shows and if you’re reaching the people you need to reach.  Do you feel like SXSW has been helpful for you?

DD: Oh hell yeah.  Way more than last year.

TMM: So you feel that it was better the second time?

DD: Yeah, we had more shows, but the first time was pretty sick.  We had a nice crew with other bands that are from our scene and had more friends out there.  That was awesome.

TMM: Any standout memories?

DD: We did a Converse showcase that I liked because it was outside.  It was on a roof right off of the main street.  It was a lot of fun.  The museum show was awesome too…

TMM: A museum?

DD: Yeah, the Austin Museum of Art.

TMM:  Wow, how big is that space?

DD:  You could fit a couple hundred people in that room.  It was packed.

TMM: I saw you played a show with Mike Watt (ex-The Minutemen).  Was that a full tour or just a show?

DD: Yeah, we played with them at TT The Bear’s.  They were super awesome and nice.  We were surprised.  He came up and met us individually and the rest of the band were great too.

TMM: Was that a weird crowd to play for?  He seems to play a sort of jazz/punk hybrid that doesn’t fit with your sound.

DD: The crowd was older, but everyone was so nice and the reception was good.  After our first song everyone just stared.   I feel like like no one clapped.  But then by the end everyone was so into it.  We sold a lot of CDs.  We like playing for different audiences because we’ve sort of run dry our main spots in Boston.

TMM:  Have you been making an effort to tour outside of Boston?  Are you seeing certain cities are supportive of your sound?

DD: Maybe not a whole city, but certain shows.  We played Portland, Maine and we’re going back there tomorrow and they are so receptive and good people.  We did a lot of DIY spots when we toured in February and March and some places are just way more open, like Strasburg, VA.   We played in Alex’s cousin’s  kitchen and we were like, “Hey we’re touring and we need a place to play” and he’s like “Alright, come to my house” and we get there and he says “I thought we’d just play in the kitchen!”  So we set up in the kitchen with the band we were touring with, Grass is Green, and played with Alex’s cousin’s hardcore band.  The reception was unbelievable.  We were all really surprised.

TMM:  Aside from the EP that you guys are piecing together, what else is coming down the pipeline?  Any big shows or tours that you’re lining up for the summer?

DD: We’re playing a festival in Brooklyn called the Northside Festival in June with the band that we were touring with, Grass Is Green.   We’re also playing at Great Scott  in late July but we’re mostly focused on recording and playing shows in the New England area outside of Boston.   We love playing Boston but we feel bad making our friends come to see us… (laughs)

TMM: Will you be self releasing the EP?

DD: Yeah, probably…unless someone really cool wants to help us get it pressed and help us push it.  We did the last one all by ourselves so it worked [and] it’s likely we can do it again.

TMM: How’s Band Camp working for you guys?  Do you see a lot of people buying your record through there or mostly streaming it?

DD:  Well, we’ve noticed that with Band Camp vs. iTunes, people are way more likely to buy the entire album with Band Camp.  People on iTunes will buy a song or two and on Band Camp they’ll buy the album.  Band Camp’s awesome.

TMM:  Alright, thanks guys!  Have fun for the rest of the day.  Who are you guys looking forward to seeing?

DD: Best Coast, definitely.  I was looking forward to seeing George Clinton…

TMM: Weezer?

DD: Oh hell yeah.

TMM: Blue Album or Pinkerton?

DD: Both.  What do you think they’ll play?

TMM: Probably everything…

DD: Everything but the Blue Album.  Where do you think they’re hanging out?

TMM: I figured they’d be with you guys!

DD: Well if you see them, tell them to call us.

Despite our best efforts, we weren’t able to reach Weezer.

The Dirty Dishes will be performing alongside Grass is Green at the Northside Festival in Brooklyn, New York on on June 18-19th.  They’ll also be at Great Scott with Craft Spells and Garden & Villa on July 31.  You can download their debut In The Clouds EP at Bandcamp.