Andrew WK

Published June 5, 2008

When picturing Andrew W.K., most Ohio University students see a partier with a bloody nose, an image plastered on posters promoting ACRN’s annual three-day concert Lobsterfest that starts tonight.

Despite this illustration, Andrew W.K. whose real name is Andrew Wilkes-Krier, now balances being a motivational speaker and a rocker.

“I used to be unsure (about becoming a motivational speaker) but I thought, wait a minute, being happy is the best feeling in the world, so I set aside people thinking I would be corny,” Wilkes-Krier said.

Wilkes-Krier said he enjoys being able to work with people as a motivational speaker, exciting them about life the same way he tries to excite people through his music. He said he believes his songs stand alone well, regardless of being a part of products such as Bud Light, Madden NFL 2003 and Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

“I really love TV, advertising and large corporate products,” Wilkes-Krier said. “I grew up with a lot of friends that hated mainstream culture, so a way for me to find my own path was to contradict those sensibilities. People would write to me for putting my songs on beer commercials saying I shouldn’t support it, but I don’t, they gave me their money.”

Regardless of earning money for advertisements, Wilkes-Krier said performing is the biggest thrill for him. He said he is happy about playing Athens’ Lobsterfest this year and his parents are even coming down from his native Michigan to see him perform.

As a teenager, Wilkes-Krier expressed an interest in music, participating in jazz band at school and taking piano lessons at the University of Michigan where his father taught. However, he wasn’t fond of the rigorous schedules of school and lessons.

“(My father) spent a lot of years in the academic climate, but once I seriously started thinking about college I always got excited about something else,” Wilkes-Krier said.

The “something else” Wilkes-Krier was more excited about was music — a passion that he said was greatly influenced by his high school friends Nate Young and James “Twig” Harper.

After high school, he worked any job that would fund his desires until I Get Wet was released in 2001. Out of necessity, Wilkes-Krier plays all the instruments for all of his albums for the studio recording and then brings in various friends and artists to play with him when he goes on tour.

“I wanted the music to have a certain energy, even without words,” Wilkes-Krier said. “I wanted the words to be singing about the feeling I hope people have when they hear the music, especially on the first album.”

Wilkes-Krier took this energy from his studio album to his live performances, playing all across Europe, Ozzfest and Warped Tour, and now he’ll bring it to Lobsterfest on Saturday.

This year, Lobsterfest will hold today and tomorrow’s performances at The Union and the third day will take place on the South Green lawn. Other headlining acts besides Andrew W.K., include The High Strung, Mouth of the Architect and Defiance Ohio.

Dead Will Rise

Dead Will Rise, an Athens metal/grind band, holds the same anti-corporate mentality as Fight Club's Tyler Durden, but instead of running an underground boxing club to release its aggression, it writes and performs music.

Band members, including guitarists Doug Cherryholmes and Thomas Owens, drummer Jim Watson, bassist Al Etoll and former vocalist Jordan Holland, released the album Entrepreneur on Jan. 8. The band’s current vocalist is Matt Bowling.

“We decided we wanted (an album title that is) short and to the point,” Owens said. “It has a duel meaning because while we dislike (corporations), we put a lot of work and time into turning Dead Will Rise into what is kind of like a business.”

Having a business work ethic has paid off for the band, as it was signed in early 2007 to Twelve Gauge Records, which released Entrepreneur.

“The owner of the label is a very cool guy and very stubborn with his ethics, which is good for us,” Owens said.

“Recently he was dealing with one of his bands trying to go to a bigger label, and he didn’t accept the buy out … we all feel strongly about our beliefs and we like to be on a label that does that as well.”

Aside from its Entrepreneur, Dead Will Rise released an EP, Rest Assured The End Is Upon Us, in 2005.

“We started recording that two weeks after I joined so that was a learning process for me,” Owens said. “It was the first time in a studio for all of us.”

Although the band knows how to put forth serious effort as a business, it also knows how to have a good time, listing Pabst Blue Ribbon beer as one of its “Influences” on its MySpace page.

“We always seem to have more fun than everyone else,” Owens said. “We played in Detroit last weekend at a roller rink, and I was excited because they told me because I was in the band I got some skates for free and we were skating around like crazy.”

The band’s attitude has sparked some tension from some of the Christian and straight edge bands they play with when they tour in the South, Owens said.

“We have had some Christian venues not allow us to sell our merch, but we just sell it out of the back of our truck like M.C. Hammer,” Owens said. “We haven’t (had a lot of problems) being rowdy … even if you’re straight edge you can hang out with us.”

The band has not been able to play shows and tour as much as it would like because Owens is an audio production major at Ohio University. However, if its upcoming summer tour goes well he might drop out of school and finish classes online, he said.

“I have found more possible job opportunities through the band than with being an audio production major,” Owens said.

“I fully intend to move back in with my mom and live off her so I can be in the band.”

Hayden, opening act for Feist tour

Published April 22, 2008

Acoustic singer/songwriter Hayden will open for Feist tonight. Hayden, a Toronto native, has released seven albums, the first being Everything I Long For in 1995 and most recently 2008’s In Field & Town.  He spoke with The Post’s Kelly Kettering about his start in music, touring with Feist, and whom he would like to tour with in the future. 

The Post: How did you first start to get into music? 
Hayden: I played rhythm guitar in a band in high school and my initial sort of writing my own songs kind of happened over a span of a couple of years. I borrowed a friend’s four-track, had some of my friends sing my song, and then I entered the song to a radio contest, and I started doing shows.  

Post: What is going on in the Canadian music scene, where you are from, right now? 
Hayden: It’s a very healthy music scene right now in Canada and people are recognizing it around the world, which is nice. Years ago, you had to leave Canada to get recognition, so it’s nice that we can stay. … And the number one genre is indie rock, that’s a big one now for sure … Canada is a good place for musicality and comedy. 

Post: What made you decide to make music your career? 
Hayden: Well, it was sort of a dream in high school that I would be in a band like R.E.M. or something, but it died away after high school and I went to college and stopped playing music for a little bit. But when I put that four-track together, I had hopes I would have a career in the back of my mind, but I didn’t think it was realistic. However, one thing led to another, and suddenly I was on the road. I quit my last part-time job in 1995. 

Post: What inspires your music? 
Hayden: It’s definitely things that happen to me or things that happen to someone close to me. Or it’s just something that is interesting or strong enough for me to want to sit down and write. ... That is generally the force that affects me. 

Post: You released your first official album in 1995. How has your music changed since then? 
Hayden: Fundamentally it hasn’t changed that much. I don’t generally write with other people so, just being inspired to write. I usually write on guitar or piano — on this last record, it was piano. 

Post: What has been your favorite music to listen to lately? 
Hayden: I haven’t been listening to music actually. … I’m listening to Feist every night which is pretty nice. 

Post: What do you like about being Feist’s opening act? 
Hayden: It’s great because she is one of the special ones, you know? She has all the ingredients that make up a classic artist that the world won’t forget any time soon. It’s a pleasure to be a part of what she is doing; I have been listing to her voice for years. 

Post: Have you hung out with Feist or gotten to know her at all? 
Hayden: Yeah, I’m not allowed to look her in the eye, haha … No, we’ve known each other for years, everyone hangs out with each other, it’s a very friendly atmosphere. 

Post: Who would be another major performer you would like to tour with? 
Hayden: Well, there are a few artists that I respect that are recording right now; for example, Wilco. That would be nice.

Blueprint For Murder

Published April 10, 2008

Southern Comfort might be a 100 proof whiskey blend, but it’s a way of life for Nelsonville’s death metal thrashers Blueprint For Murder.

“We get drunk and fight each other at night, but in the end, we’re still a band,” said guitarist Justin Roman.

This petulant and rowdy group of metal heads certainly likes to embrace the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle whenever possible.

“Anyone that can out-shotgun a beer with Jim (Foley, guitarist) at a show, we will give them a free CD,” said Mike Lannan, bassist.

Self-proclaimed “trailer thrash,” Blueprint For Murder’s members are all from Southeast Ohio and most of them went to high school together in Nelsonville. The band, formed in September 2005, includes Roman, Lannan, Foley, Brian Saxton on drums and Brandon Bohlen as the lead vocalist.

Even at its first practice in 2005, the band was easily able to come together creatively and write its first song. The band members said they usually start writing based upon a cool guitar riff that someone comes up with.

“We’re fast, we have breakdowns, and we all have very different influences when we come in to write,” Lannan said. “Guys that come to our shows said they think it’s pretty brutal and like to get in fights to it … but it’s really all about sex, drugs, rock and roll … and Satan.”

Blueprint for Murder released its first album under Disjoined Records, an Athens recording company. TitledClosed Casket, the album never had an official release date but can now be purchased at any of their shows or from their Web site. The album’s cover art was created by artists from the Athens tattoo parlor Decorative Injections. The same artists are also coming up with T-shirt designs for the band.

With an album under its belt, the band is now eager to tour anywhere and everywhere.

“It’s a goal to get signed, but if we don’t we will still just play,” Saxton said.

Everyone else in the band wholeheartedly agrees.

“We will bring metal where it’s unwanted,” Lannan said.

In the past, Blueprint For Murder has enjoyed playing with bands like Mushroomhead and Skeletonwitch. This weekend the band will be playing in Nelsonville at Nelsonville Eagles, 67 ½ W. Washington St.

Skeletonwitch

Published April 3, 2008

Skeletonwitch, Athens’ well-known black metal band, will soon be packing up its gear and leaving for its first European excursion to showcase face-melting guitars and thrashing vocals.

The band started five years ago, stemming from a love of metal that started with bands like Iron Maiden and Slayer.“I got the albums Metal Health by Quiet Riot and Twisted Sister’s Stay Hungry and from then on out, I figured that’s what I wanted to do for a living,” said lead singer Chance Garnette.

Skeletonwitch was formed when Garnette’s brother, Nate Garnette, met Scott Hedrick in 2003. Both are now guitarists for the band and share a love of metal.

“Nate played in a band that broke up and he had a demo tape of songs, and I ended up meeting him,” Hedrick said. “We both loved metal and hanging out, and he couldn’t find anyone else to play, and I showed up with my guitar and a case of beer and we started playing.”

Once Hedrick and Nate started to play together, the rest of the band fell into place with Chance as singer, Derrick Nau on drums and Eric Harris on bass.

After honing their talent in Athens, the band’s members released their first EP, Worship The Witch, in 2005. The band sent this release to many record labels and went on its first small tour before being picked up by Prosthetic Records, a metal label that has also signed Lamb Of God, All That Remains and Through the Eyes of the Dead.

“The label puts our stuff out all over Europe and the U.S. and in stores like Best Buy — major distributors,” Hedrick said.Once signed to Prosthetic in early 2007, the band wrote and recorded its first full-length album, Beyond The Permafrost, which was released in October and sold out after one day at Haffa’s record store in Athens. After gaining experience playing and writing, the band said its album benefited from their EP experience.

“Nate is the main songwriter. We don’t really write stuff together,” Hedrick said. “Nate will record stuff on a four-track with a drum machine, and Eric and I will do the same thing with different parts and riffs. It’s kind of like tape trading, but Nate will show up with an entire song sometimes and we’ll pitch in and throw in some dynamics.”

Once the music is complete, Chance comes in to write the lyrics for all the songs. He said that with more experience, he has been able to make his words clearer without having to sing or sacrifice his raw, screaming vocals.

With the release of an EP and a LP, the band has had the opportunity to tour across the country with bands like The Red Chord, Arsis and Dying Fetus.

It was apparent that the members were becoming experts at being on the road this winter when driving to a show in a snowstorm.

“Nate was driving us to the show and Job For A Cowboy, a younger band on the tour, whizzes by us on the highway,”

Hedrick said. “So I mentioned to Nate that maybe we should speed up too. But he said no, we were wise to drive slowly … 10 more miles down the road, Job For A Cowboy wrecks their van … and we helped fix it.” Hedrick said.

Band members intend to take that experience on their European tour. The band will be performing with Hate Eternal, Cephalic Carnage and Deadborn.

Skeletonwitch will begin the tour early next month in Germany.

“I don’t know what to look forward to in Europe, but I want to French kiss a French girl,” Nau said.

Review: Southeast Engine, A Wheel Within A Wheel

Published February 22, 2008

Even though indie rock band Southeast Engine has been out of town on tour for the past few months, its name is as well known in Athens as the Burrito Buggy or The Ridges.

This national tour is in promotion for the band’s most recent release, 2007’s A Wheel Within A Wheel.

Southeast Engine formed in 2003 and has released two prior albums, Love is a Murder, a Mystery of Sortsin 2003 and Coming to Terms with Gravity in 2005. Members of the band are Adam Remnant, Leo DeLuca, Michael Lachman, Adam Torres and Jesse Remnant.

Despite Southeast Engine’s popularity and its ability to be signed to a record label — something many bands aspire to but never do — the band is still a tad bit overblown. The band’s music does achieve a nice balance between Woody Guthrie folk and Conor Oberst melodramatic indie rock musically and vocally, but the lyrics, which should really be the heart of such songs, don’t always pack a punch. Unfortunately, the band lacks Guthrie’s revolutionary 1960s impact and Oberst’s talent for perfectly absurd analogies.

Without these elements, the band’s music comes off — not surprisingly — sounding just like every other indie rock album. Such angst-ridden lyrics without some kind of unique twist of thought or wordplay just come off like a depressed teenager’s juvenile poetry. Such is the case in the song “Oh God, Let Me Back In,” where Remnant croons “If I return/would you take me back/teach me to learn/to face the facts.” Like all of us didn’t scrawl something similar in our biology notebooks during high school.

Conceptually, however, the band deserves credit for tying the “wheel” element to every song. “Pursuit of Happiness Part I” is quite catchy and manages to sink the hook “and everybody wants you … to keep inside their jewelry box” into listeners’ heads. The band also knows how to play quite well, and the album musically flows well from lazy croons to more upbeat, peppy songs to clap along to, such as “Ezekiel Saw the Wheel.”

The band will be returning to Athens briefly tomorrow to play at The Union and March 1 at Casa Nueva before it continues its tour with dates in Arkansas and the South by Southwest music festival in Texas.

Kevin Devine

Published February 15, 2008

Even though he grew up with all the privileges of a well-educated suburbanite from Brooklyn, indie rocker Kevin Devine knows how to work for what he wants.

“You’re responsible for raking the leaves in your yard and everyone else’s yard is their problem,” Devine said.

With this lesson in hand, 28-year-old Devine said he knew he loved music and he loved making it, but even though he began writing music at age 14 and joined the band Miracle of 86 in 1995, he never thought he would be able to make it a career. The band released a few demos and EPs ,and the full-length album Every Famous Last Word in 2002 and went on some brief Canadian and European tours before it broke up abruptly in 2003.

In 2001, Devine released a mellow, acoustic album as a solo artist titled Circle Gets The Square because his band had a harder punk sound that his individual music did not fit. After Miracle of 86 broke up, Devine returned home to Brooklyn to work in a friend’s restaurant. It was there he realized that the solo album he had put out as an afterthought was receiving positive press reviews.

“I was stunned to be written about in The New York Times and Rolling Stone,” Devine said. “I was shocked because we made that album on such a whim. For some of those songs (when we went in to record that) was the first time the drummer heard the song. But I started to do more touring and somewhere in 2003 or 2004 I was able to be predominantly living off music.”

Another advantage of the release of Devine’s first album was that Triple Crown Records heard it and was interested in signing Devine. In addition, Jesse Lacey, Long Island native and lead singer for Brand New, also got his hands on Devine’s music and was impressed. In 2006, Devine was an opening act for Brand New on the band’s U.S. tour.

“I actually (met Lacey) in an amateur archery camp in 8th grade in Queens,” Devine said. “It was for these glam-rock city kids that don’t get to do a lot of outdoor activities. But we only came really close about five years ago. In that time he has been amazingly cool and supportive of me. Fifty to 60 percent of the kids who come to see me are Brand New fans, and I will never complain about that.”

Once signed to Triple Crown, Devine released a lot of new material. Make the Clocks Move was released in 2003, Split the Country, Split the Street in 2005, and his most recent album, Put Your Ghost to Rest, was released by Capitol Records in 2006. Since then Devine has been on multiple tours around the world with roughly 50 different musicians depending on the city where he is playing.

“I’ve been really lucky to incorporate this many people in my music. It helps you to become a better songwriter and the songs can shape shift in so many different instrumental formats,” he said.

Once Devine finishes his tour, he will head to Los Angeles to finish his next album, which he says he already has 11 songs ready for. That will be followed by a four-week European tour this summer.

Winter Jazz and Blues Festival: Interview with Mark Pender of The Max Weinberg 7, from Conan O'Brien

Published February 1, 2008

Bebop, blues and R&B all are a part of jazz music and all are coming to Athens this weekend for the first Winter Jazz & Blues Festival.

Many jazz acts will perform, including The Jazztet, a quintet that plays classic, contemporary and Latin jazz in addition to the music of Miles Davis and Pat Metheny. Old School Union is a seven-member band out of Columbus that plays funk and old-school R&B and has performed with The Temptations. II Juicy is fronted by a vocalist reminiscent of Aretha Franklin. 
Also performing is R & B Station, which plays a great range of music from blues to classic rock to soul, and whose bandleader Mike Doughty brought in the lead act, Mark Pender.

Pender is the trumpet player for The Max Weinberg 7, the opening band for the late-night television show Late Night With Conan O’Brien. Pender has been in great musical company, having performed with Diana Ross, Bon Jovi, Joe Cocker, They Might Be Giants, Robert Cray and Bruce Springsteen.

“The only shows I’ve missed with Conan were to do a few dates with (Springsteen) a couple years a go, and he is such an inspiration to work with,” Pender said. “Every time I’m around him I feel like I have learned something … I always just wanted to do jazz, but once I got a load of what that guy was doing I was like, ‘Whoa, you have mad skills.’ ”

While one of Pender’s greatest experiences was playing with “The Boss,” such an opportunity would never have come about if he hadn’t auditioned for Conan O’Brien in 1993 after meeting Max Weinberg.

“Max is a real go-getter; he has an eye for how things work and he got the audition … I was on tour with Robert Cray but we just so happened to have a couple of days off, so we did the audition and while I was on the road I found out we got the gig,” Pender said. “I was blown away … and we taped our first episode of Conan on Sept. 13, 1993.”

Although the stability of 15 years on Conan has given Pender the feeling of being a true New Yorker, he misses his days on the road. Pender got his nickname “The Loveman” from his time playing with Steven Van Zandt, a guitarist for Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band.

“(Van Zandt) was knocking on my hotel room door one night and I had on Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing” and I was singing in my room with headphones on and so I didn’t answer the door,” Pender said. “So that night he introduces me as ‘The Loveman’ and it stuck … its kind of hard to explain (the nickname to your wife) when you are married,” Pender said. 
But now Pender gets his chance to get back on the road — at least temporarily — to play the jazz festival this weekend, as well as hold a music workshop for junior high and high school kids Saturday.

“It’s going to be great working with the students directly,” Pender said. “We’ll probably talk about improvising and then just get to playing.”

Pender will be playing each night of the festival, beginning with a jam at Casa Nueva with R & B Station.

Guitar Hero VS Rock Band

Published January 29, 2008

When walking down the hallways of any dorm on Ohio University’s campus, it’s hard not to hear the sounds of Guns N’ Roses, Slayer, and many other bands erupt from students’ doorways as they rock out on their Guitar Hero and Rock 
Band games.

With the release of the video game, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rocklast year and with the new game Rock Band being released by a competing company in November 2007, a rivalry has not only erupted between the two companies but fans of the games as well.

Both games include a guitar-shaped controller and players must press the coordinating colored buttons as they appear on the screen but Rock Band also includes a drum set, a guitar and a microphone.

Scott Solomon, an OU senior electrical engineering major and his friends, seniors Sean McMillen, a social criminology major and Luke Lindsey, a mechanical engineer major, said they think that Rock Band is more fun and addicting than Guitar Hero.

“We play every Thursday, Friday and Saturday,” Solomon said. “We play from about seven at night until nine, then we go to the bars, then come back and play from about two until five in the morning … it definitely gets our neighbors upstairs 
pissed off.”

Harmonix and publisher RedOctane first released Guitar Hero in 2005 but did not originally anticipate such an addiction to the game.  After the release of Guitar Hero II, the companies sold more than 5 million units that generated $375 million in sales, according to Blendermagazine.

Such success attracted bigger companies and in 2006, Activision bought out RedOctane and MTV bought out Harmonix. This caused an odd fissure between the two companies.

Even though it is growing in popularity, Rock Band is still the runner up to Guitar Hero because the game has a two-year head start on the market and more games have been released.    

“I like Guitar Hero better for sure,” said Mike Petruccelli, who performs as singer/songwriter Arthur Killroad.  “I mean, I’m a drummer and I like Rock Band for that aspect, but what few songs I’ve played onRock Band, they just don’t structure the songs the same and they aren’t as good.”

Solomon, McMillen and Lindsey said they like Rock Band because the game has an infinite number of songs which players can download offline.

Rock Band is also more interactive at parties because it requires not only a guitarist, as with Guitar Hero, but a singer and drummer as well.

“If you have Halo, you just sit at this screen and shoot,” Lindsey said. “With Rock Band, people just come over all the time and just watch us play, not even playing themselves.”

Both games, however, establish a connection with people that already play an instrument.

“When I first saw (Guitar Hero), I was like, ‘What is that? I need that!’ because after playing normal guitar you look at the game and think I can totally do that,” Petruccelli said. “You’re not just playing a game, it teaches you a lot of hand/eye coordination and it works those same muscles that help you play regular guitar.”

The biggest draw for both games, however, was being able to be a rocker right in your own living room.

“People like to get up to sing and they like to take of their clothes for some reason,” McMillen said. “Guys like to take their shirts off like they are real rock stars.”

Weedghost

Published January 24, 2008

Take the Arch Villians, remove the drummer, and you have the grotesquely gloomy and ambient sound of Weedghost.

Band members Kris Poland and Andrew Lampela play bass guitars, creating a droning, dark sound. This type of music falls under the ambient/doom metal category, with no vocals and only instruments with a low bass sound. Some especially experimental bands of this genre implement other odd items on their albums including chainsaws and jackhammers.

Lampela first met Poland when he played in the band Collapse. The two played in many bands together before Weedghost, including Kid Panda Hands, another ambient noise band.

But since 2002 they have both enjoyed the sound and creativity of Weedghost, with its one-take recordings and a heavy use of distortion pedals.

“When we were both in the Arch Villians, we always got to the practice space before our drummer, and after a while of making noise on our basses we just thought we should do it,” Poland said.

And so Weedghost was born. To release their self-titled first album, Weedghost signed on to Disjointed Records, run by their friend and Lampela’s ex-band mate, Mike Makosky.

The band customizes each album by painting on every cover themselves, making every copy unique.

After the album dropped, Poland moved to Dayton for work, and so the band’s relationship has become a long distance one, as Lampela still lives and works here in Athens at Haffa’s Records.

“Right now we are working on a double disc where one will represent West and one will be East, since I’m in western Ohio and he is eastern,” Poland said.

Weedghost plays the last Sunday of every month at Arts/West on State Street, but this weekend their monthly show is being preceded by music performances at Aquabear Legion’s 2nd Annual Pancake Breakfast.

“We’re all going to need a few drinks after all that music,” Lampela said.

Juno Soundtrack Review

Published January 16, 2008

The Juno sound track contains songs that reflect the attitude of the movie, which has the same sardonically cheap-shot jokes as Napoleon Dynamite and Superbad, but balances it out with the naïveté of the MTV-watching, Doritos-eating, sharp wit that also comes with being a teenager.

This tone carries throughout the entire sound track in a compilation of 19 folk pop tunes. These songs are sung in a style similar to a children’s CD, but juxtapose this soft fluffy sound with hardened lyrics about drugs, killing yourself and President Bush.

“All I Want Is You” by children’s singer/songwriter Barry Louis Polisar works perfectly as the first song on the sound track, since through all the complicated quirkiness of her teenage pregnancy, Juno MacGuff still manages to embrace her love for Paulie Bleeker.

Alongside the kiddie pop, songs from rock artists from varying decades creep into the sound track: The Velvet Underground from the ’60s, Mott The Hoople from the ’70s and Sonic Youth from the ’80s.

However, the sound track’s real impact comes from The Moldy Peaches lead singer Kimya Dawson, who performs six solo tracks.

In fact, Juno star Ellen Page suggested to the film’s director, Jason Reitman, that he use The Moldy Peaches in the sound track because it was the band that she immediately thought Juno would listen to, according to Pitchfork Media, a music Web site.

Unfortunately, The Moldy Peaches were on hiatus when contacted to contribute their songs to the movie’s sound track, but they still contributed songs to the sound track. The band played two concerts together this past December in honor of the film, fueling rumors that the band will re-unite because of their newfound popularity with Juno, according to Pitchfork Media.

The last song on the sound track is the perfect fit; The Moldy Peaches’ song “Anyone Else But You” is performed by Ellen Page and Michael Cera in the last frame of the movie.

Abstinence in Athens: Straight Edge in a College Town

Published October 25, 2007

When freshman Kerry Emery arrived at Ohio University, she knew she wasn’t interested in the party atmosphere.

Emery considers herself to be straight edge, a lifestyle in which a person abstains from drinking, drugs or promiscuous sex.

“I’ve seen other people get drunk and do drugs and I thought it looked stupid and I didn’t know what was so fun and cool about it; it seemed pointless to me.” Emery said.

While straight edge scenes are more prevalent in cities like Columbus, where the straight edge group Courage Crew lives, the Athens music scene is geared more toward indie rock bands than toward the hard and fast sound of straight edge hardcore.

“(With so much drinking here) I feel like there is an opportunity to impact people and make a change,” OU freshman Tyler Barton said. “(But I feel like) there’s no voice of reason here, and I’ve had to explain to a lot of people what straight edge is.”

Straight edge culture officially began in the 1980s with punk band Minor Threat and their 1981 song “Straight Edge,” sung by Ian MacKaye. MacKaye said that by abstaining from drugs and alcohol, he had an advantage, or an “edge,” compared to the typical rock and roller who indulged too heavily, according to Straightedge.com.

The letter X became a straight edge symbol when the underage hardcore band Teen Idles wanted to perform at a bar in Washington, D.C. The bar owners drew big X’s on the band member’s hands so that they could perform in the club and the bartenders would know not to serve them alcohol, according to Discord.com.

Today when straight edgers go to see bands play, they often draw the X’s on their hands before arriving at the venue, regardless of their age, to indicate their pride in being straight edge; XXX has also become a prominent symbol, one X each for no drugs, no drinking and no promiscuous sex, according to Straightedgelifestyle.com.

Twenty years later, straight edge music and culture is still alive and well today in bands like Throwdown, Casey Jones and Champion.

“I became straight edge in eighth grade,” said Barton. “I got into Throwdown … and that was when I saw other people there that were substance-free and were conscious of what they put into their body, like I was.”

Having a hometown where substance abuse was prevalent encouraged Tyler to remove himself from those situations at a young age.

Recently, a small amount of straight edgers, including Barton, have decided not take prescription drugs or drink caffeine because it is technically a stimulant and an addictive drug.

Another extension of straight edge is “hate edge” — extreme straight edgers who greatly dislike anyone who is not straight edge and have been known to start fights with anyone they see smoking or drinking.

Barton used to be a supporter of hate edge but he said he realized that violence wasn’t accomplishing anything.

“Taking a violent standpoint is hypocritical (to the straight edge movement), but when I was younger and saw the negative effects of substance abuse, seeing a straight edge dude beating up a drunk was cool to me,” Barton said

For some students being straight edge is a lifelong commitment, but others have changed their minds over time. Brian Roberts, an OU senior, was straight edge for most of high school, but became less enthusiastic about it soon after he graduated and “broke” edge a few months into college.

“I wasn’t militant about it at all, I just didn’t want to drink at that time,” Roberts said. “It became something that meant more to those around me than to myself, so I broke edge … my parents even bought me a case of beer and said congratulations!”

Although he is no longer straight edge, Roberts is still dedicated to his love for straight edge music.“If it’s loud and fast, chances are I’ll like it.” Roberts said.

Jesty Beatz

Published October 18, 2007

Although Darrel Greene, more commonly known as the rapper Jesty Beatz, has performed with the likes of The Game, Mike Jones, Paul Wall and Kelis, he has never forgotten his Ohio roots.

A former interactive multimedia major who graduated in 2006 from Ohio University, Jesty Beatz enjoyed his four years of college.

“When I got into drawing and saw I was actually good at it, I was going to be content sitting behind a computer doing art (as my job),” Jesty Beatz said. “I learned so much at school. The most valuable thing I learned here is time management ... I had to learn to multitask … I can’t tell you what I learned in Philosophy 130 but I knew I had to study Philosophy 130 and play a show, and all that … four years here was the greatest experience to date.”

Although Jesty Beatz was doing well in his classes, he was always creating beats. During his sophomore year, Jesty Beatz created Blockrunnaz Records and worked with some unlikely collaborators.

“The Internet is the great equalizer,” Jesty Beatz said. “This guy from Germany started making beats and asked to be a part of what I was doing and we started producing songs together (via the Internet).”

Friends and teachers at OU also saw Jesty Beatz’s passion for music and supported it. His Visual Communications professors encouraged him to combine his love of art and music by suggesting he make CD covers or his own Web site. But when music came knocking, art took a backseat.

“I got the opportunity to perform in Mexico for spring break with some bigger artists,” Jesty Beatz said. “Once I figured out my music was able to translate outside of here, I refused to stop.”

He has not stopped. With several tours and three albums under his belt, Jesty Beatz is currently on an Ohio college tour, with sold-out stops at Ohio State University and Marietta College. He also promises great things with his new album, Deal Or No Deal 2.

“Instead of expressing change (as some artists do), I want to be the change,” Jesty Beatz said. “We’re meshing genres together and building upon a sweet hotness (in the studio). From start to finish it’s going to be an experience.”

The Avett Brothers

Published October 10, 2007

The North Carolina town of Concord may not have much of a music scene, but The Avett Brothers have definitely escaped their hometown musical vacuum.

“We’re on the road 215 days a year touring,” said bassist Bob Crawford.

With brothers Scott Avett on banjo, kick drum and vocals, and Seth Avett on guitar, high-hat and vocals, Crawford is the only non-relative in the band.

Scott and Seth were originally in a rock band but in 2001 they decided to try a more folk and bluegrass sound and met up with Crawford through a mutual friend.

After two years of playing in the North Carolina area, a Ramseur Records representative contacted them about signing them and releasing their next album.

After that, the frenzy of touring began.

“On our first trip to New York City, we went to a small venue and only about thirty people were there, but two of them were Regina Spektor and Langhorne Slim,” Crawford said. “It was definitely an interesting night.”

In New York City, the band appeared on Late Night With Conan O’Brien.

“(Conan) was really nice, and really funny, just as you would imagine him to be,” Crawford said. “He also really liked our music and really enjoys music in general.”

After five albums, The Avett Brothers' latest release, Emotionalism, has been drawing more fans and more critical acclaim to the band.

“We had matured when we released this album,” Crawford said. “We also recorded in a nicer studio with some different producers, which allowed us to learn as a band.”

The band will be playing a sold-out show at Stuart’s Opera House in Nelsonville today at 8 p.m.

The Good Life

Published September 28, 2007

Contrary to popular belief, The Good Life is not just Tim Kasher’s side project from Cursive.

“I read somewhere that people thought Tim wrote all of the music and lyrics to our songs. I don’t know where that came from,” said Stefanie Drootin, bassist for the band. “Tim writes the lyrics, but [the rest of us] write the music and we all arrange it together.”

Started in 2000 by lead singer and guitarist Kasher, The Good Life came together from various bands and locations. Kasher and Drootin migrated to Omaha, Neb., with drummer Roger Lewis and fellow guitarist and keyboardist Ryan Fox. The band’s label, Saddle Creek Records, is based in Omaha.

The Good Life has released six albums and EPs over the years, but the first to gain critical acclaim was Album Of The Year, where each song refers to every month of a couple’s yearlong relationship. They break up in the ninth track, and the last three speak of how the woman moves on but the man mourns and misses her.

“(That album) was Tim’s concept; he has a whole vision, always … he knows what he wants to do, artwork and everything … but we all make decisions together in the end,” Drootin said.

The band’s newest album, Help Wanted Nights, was released Sept. 11, and coincides with a screenplay Tim wrote with the same name. It is about a man whose car breaks down and how he interacts with the locals in a small town bar.

“We have become very comfortable with our sound and what each person brought to it,” Drootin said. “That’s why we can do such a stripped-down sound with our new album; it has a live [feel to it].

”Most recently, the band made a video for the song “Heartbroke” off its latest release, and kicked off its latest tour in promotion of the album Wednesday night in Missouri.

Denison Witmer

Published September 20, 2007

Denison Witmer talks just like his music sounds: soft yet articulate, gentle yet confident. It’s no wonder he has been releasing albums for over ten years now.

Raised in Lancaster, Pa., Denison began taking guitar lessons as a boy with Don Peris, who encouraged Denison to record his first CD.

“(Peris) recorded my earliest work as well as my latest CD. He’s kind of a mentor to me,” Witmer said.

After making 1,000 copies of his first CD, Denison gave some to his friends and family and then decided to sell them during his tour.

 Near the end of the tour, Scott Hatch of Burnt Toast Vinyl contacted him about selling his CDs, but Witmer was nearly out of them.

“Scott offered to print them again through Burnt Toast Vinyl, and that is how it all began,” Witmer said.

After releasing six more albums and EPs, Witmer expanded his repertoire by joining up with a full band, The River Bends. Together they released an album titled And Flows Into The Sea with a different label, Tooth & Nail Records.

“The River Bends is a little different than my music, a little bit harder (of a sound). I didn’t want my die-hard fans to think I was doing something entirely different,” Witmer said. “But maybe I’ll do another one of those records in a year or two.”

Although he returns to more of his own sound on his latest solo album, Are You A Dreamer?, Witmer still embraces variation with some new musical contributors on the CD, including Sufjan Stevens.

“I’ve known Sufjan a long time, nearly six years,” Witmer said. “He was actually my opener after his Michigan album was released … and when he needed a new drummer, I suggested my friend James, and now James drums for Sufjan … Working with him was a very natural process,” Witmer said.

Other than his latest album, Witmer’s current passion is working for his charity organization, Happy Birthday Denison. Every year on his birthday, November 4, Denison releases new tracks,  unreleased songs, covers and podcasts, free of charge, in hopes that people will donate to the charities he chooses. For more information, visit happybirthdaydenison.com

Shapes And Sizes

Published September 17, 2oo7

Low crime rates, Niagara Falls, Dan Aykroyd—lots of good things are associated with Canada, including the indie rock band Shapes And Sizes.

Originally from Victoria, British Columbia, the four members of the band met at school. Guitarist Rory Seydel and keyboardist Caila Thompson-Hannant went to the same high school as drummer John Crellin and bassist Nathan Gage.

Once the band became established in its local scene, it released its self-titled first album and began to tour. When it reached a tour stop in New York, it visited Sufjan Stevens at his house.

Once Stevens listened to its music and met the band, he decided to sign it to his label, Asthmatic Kitty Records.

“They are amazing supporters of what we do. I don’t know about other labels, but they are wonderful…they even sent us a fruit and nut basket to congratulate us on our latest tour,” Seydel said.

Once signed to Asthmatic Kitty, Shapes And Sizes released its second album, “Split Lips, Winning Hips, A Shiner,” on which three out of four members of the band contributed to the writing. They plan to do the same for their next album.

“In the past we would write separately at home and then bring them to rehearsal, but more and more we have been working on collaborating…we are trying to change, and pull everything we have together to make it wonderful…we are in (the music industry) to make the best music that we can,” Seydel said.

Shapes And Sizes will be bringing its unique collaborative sound with them when they play in Athens tonight.

Murder By Death

Published June 1st, 2007 

An old West saloon, an ominous haunted house, and an opulent orchestra: these places and more are the inspiration for the indie-folk rock band Murder By Death. The band includes college buddies Adam Turla, vocals, guitar; Sarah Balliet, cello, keys; Dagan Thogerson, percussion, and Matt Armstrong, bass. Tonight, the band will be coming to Baker Theater for ACRN’s Lobsterfest. The Post’s Kelly Kettering spoke with Armstrong about the band’s start and its inspirations.

The Post: How did the band originate?

Matt Armstrong: We all went to Indiana University together. The band started right out of college. We all thought, why not play together? We all met through friends of friends at parties and stuff.

Post: What was it like to be discovered by Geoff Rickly, vocalist of Thursday?

Armstrong: Geoff went to some of our early shows and met up with us afterwards. Once Thursday became big, he was able to help us get out there more, and he hooked us up with Eyeball Records.

Post: How was working with Eyeball Records?

Armstrong: Well, Geoff called Alex from Eyeball and set that up for us, they were very helpful and supportive.

Post[/b]: Why do you self-release albums now?

Armstrong: We just wanted to try something else; we didn’t have a bad break from Eyeball or anything. (The music industry) is such a weird business, and there are so many ways to put out a record. We are just trying to find the best way for us, it’s quite an educational experience to release your own records.

Post[/b]: Your old band name is Little Joe Gould; why did you switch to Murder By Death?

Armstrong: We thought that the new name would work better. People thought we were a one-man blues act with the old name. We wanted to change it to something dark and stupid.

Post: How is it that as a band from Indiana, you have such a diverse group of intellectual influences, like the Italian In Bocca al Lupo?

Armstrong: It comes from being a serious reader, and we all like to watch a lot of movies.

Post: What is it like to tour with such a diverse group of bands from such different genres such as Lucero and Against Me!?

Armstrong: It has been very cool to tour with different bands with different crowds. If you’re just a metal band, for example, you just play with other metal acts. You don’t learn as much as we do, or have the opportunity to gain such a unique fan base.

Post: How do you decide to come up with albums with such a detailed narrative, like your record Who Will Survive, and What Will Be Left of Them?

Armstrong: We just realized we liked it and it kind of made the writing easier. The first album we created was just an album to do an album. The concept album was something nice and creative to work with.

Past Articles

I just created this online portfolio and blog today, so I am going to post some of my past articles. If you would like to see all of my articles for The Post, go to www.thepost.ohiou.edu and search my name, they will all come up. 

NOTE: They are for a newspaper so the writing is a bit straight-forward and formulaic. 

Mae, PUBLISHED MAY 2, 2007

Multi-sensory Aesthetic Experience. That is what the acronym for the band Mae stands for, and that is what its members consider their music to be. It seems to be true because Mae, a self-described indie-rock band, has played with the likes of the Foo Fighters, Weezer, Simple Plan and Brand New.

“Maybe we just get lucky sometimes,” said Mae guitarist Zach Gehring. “It was awesome to play with the Foo Fighters after listening to them as kids growing up.”

Mae originated in 2002 in Virginia Beach, Va., with childhood friends vocalist and guitarist Dave Elkins and drummer Jacob Marshall. Through contact with roommates and friends, bassist Mark Padgett and keyboardist Rob Sweitzer soon joined.

Over the next year the band recorded its debut album Destination: Beautiful, which released in May 2003. After that album, Gehring joined the band.

Once Destination: Beautiful was released, John Fraiser from Drive-Thru Records heard it and really liked it, Gehring said.

Fraiser, however, was in the process of transferring from Drive-Thru Records to Tooth & Nail Records. During his transition, the Fueled By Ramen label also showed interest in Mae, but Fraiser managed to sign the band to Tooth & Nail. Fraiser always has been there for the band and recently helped them transition from Tooth & Nail to Capitol Records, Gehring said.

Once signed to Tooth & Nail, Mae released its second album, The Everglow, in March 2005. The beginning track explains how to listen to the album, along with the enclosed pamphlet. It is like a book on tape, with each track lending itself to one cohesive story.

The Everglow was written while the band was on the road touring, and time was always an issue. With the new album, Mae stayed in a house in Virginia Beach and constantly wrote. The band has been listening to a lot of ’90s rock recently, which contributes to the sound of the new record, Gehring said.

Due out late next year, Mae’s third album has been listed as one of Alternative Press’ Most Anticipated Albums Of The Year.