Friday, 30 June 2017

***SEEYOUSPACECOWBOY exclusive interview***

Band: SEEYOUSPACECOWBOY + Exclusive Interview
Genres: Punk / Metalcore / Screamo / Hardcore / Emo-violence / Sass
Related artists: The Shotgun Message, Letters To Catalonia, Meryl Streaker, René Descartes, Leechbath, Recluse and Flowers Taped To Pens.
Country: San Diego, California USA
Years Active: 2016-present
Song: "Pep Talk From a Nihilist"
Album: "Fashion Statements of the Socially Aware"
Year: 2017
For fans of: Fear Before The March Of Flames, .gif from god, Letters To Catalonia, Wristmeetrazor, The Blood Brothers, Usurp Synapse, (early) Examination Of The..., The Exploder, Black Nail, Heavy Heavy Low Low, Me And Him Call It Us, Hayworth, The Shotgun Message, Caust, The Cambodian Heat, The Red Light Sting and Daughters aka PROPER SCREAMO.
Label(s): React With Protest Records / Zegema Beach Records / Structures//Agony Records / Contrition Records / Middle Man Records
This post's artist is from the May 2017 Mix. This is track #4.
You can download: the May 2017 Mix#5 right here or get the new June 2017 Mix#6 here.

I became aware of SEEYOUSPACECOWBOY relatively early as I was following (and preparing to help release) the vocalist's previous endeavor called René Descartes and was initially interested. It wasn't until a few spins of their 'Demo' EP followed by just a single listen to the (at the time) previously unreleased 7"EP 'Fashion Statements of the Socially Aware' that I became fucking obsessed. I was telling all of my friends that the new 7" was going to blow them the fuck away. In retrospect I hit the nail on the head because this new, sassy, screamy metalcore band has a substantial following after releasing a total of 10 songs in a mere six months. Connie was kind enough to ask if OMSB would premiere a song from the 7" back in March of 2017 (linked here) that gained pretty heavy traction by this blog's standards - and for good reason. Before I gush about the new 7", I'll take a quick look at their debut.

 The 2016 'Demo' was released right at the end of the year and contains four songs of convulsive, venomous and unstable metalcore with enough screechy vocals to be considered in the emo-violence spectrum, also. After a quickly sold-out tape run Lars from React With Protest released this less-than-10-minute affair on cd, and it has spent a good deal of time on repeat in my vehicle since, sometimes going on repeat for over an hour. Opener "Left Turn Right Way" sits on feedback for the first 10 seconds or so, then gangs out "See you space cowboy" and panic laden riffs until 38 seconds when shit hits the fan and the dual vocals clash in whirlwind of chaotic instrumentals. "Rejection Hotline Greatest Hits" is ballistic from the get-go and includes some of my favourite riffing by the band, most of which is included in the first 25 seconds and is followed by some spoken word stuff that hits somewhere between sass and singing. The song then pulverizes the listener with heaviest vocals on the 'Demo' and the entire thing fades out from the 1:30 mark. "Diss Tracks In Iambic Pentameter" barely reaches a minute but is perhaps most representative of what the band brought to the table with their 2017 7"EP. It's spastic, sassy, screamy and fucking unrelenting with an unreal transition at 41 seconds. "Albert Camus Is My Life Coach" is an awesome song that eventually comes apart at the seams and spills out deceased on the floor by its conclusion, but the massive breakdowns accompanied by insane vocals make it my favourite on this debut SEEYOUSPACECOWBOY release.

The 2017 cassette/7"EP ''Fashion Statements of the Socially Aware' will likely be on a heap of Best Of lists by year-end (or early December if you haven't learned patience, yet), including ours. This absolute beast of a release opens with the witty "An Introduction for People Who Hate Introductions" which brings the Fear Before The March Of Flames reference up nice and early. Following a stable and repetitive opening riff, the song explodes like a firecracker at 32 seconds with pummeling drums, murderous guitars and bass along with acidic screams, which is an excellent precursor for the remaining five tracks. "Jimmy Buffet Doesn't Even Surf" gets batshit crazy right out of the gates with unreal dual vocals that take over by 18 seconds and dominate the track until Connie's venomous solo screams drive the song into an early grave with their sheer potency. Easily one of the best SEEYOUSPACECOWBOY songs, in my opinion. "Soap Opera Stardom is a Single Tear Drop Away" follows the same formula, more or less, for the first 20 seconds and then calms down for a mere 12 seconds and then the tempo change hits and the song takes on a Heavy Heavy Low Low meets The Blood Brothers feel. The aforementioned OMSB premiere was for "Pep Talk From a Nihilist" and, in all honesty, is my least favourite track on here. That being said, it's still killer and delves into a few areas not focused on in other songs, such as gutteral growls and the entire Dillinger Escape Plan-esque final half. Song five is the title track "Fashion Statements of the Socially Aware" which is another harsh number, but opts for some clean guitars and sing-along midsection that fits surprisingly well and gives the song the biggest breather found on the entire record. That being said, shit goes ballistic again at 1:10 with panic chords and breakdowns not unlike .gif from god, Black Nail and the band's older sibling Letters To Catalonia. "Absolutely Absolute Absolution" closes out this phenomenal release with a blood curdling scream followed by the sassiest and most feedback driven section of the record. By 40 seconds the song begins to move into heavier territory and the final 30 seconds is downright mesmerizing, as the guitars swirl around a breakdown foundation sprinkled with Connie's screeching and Jesse's low-end vocals.

Hot damn, if you haven't already checked out SEEYOUSPACECOWBOY now is your chance. And I promise, it won't let you down. Best EP of 2017? 'Fashion Statements of the Socially Aware' makes a damn strong case for it. Be sure to read our exclusive interview with Connie below, as well as their You Don't Need Maps interview, podcast interview and feel free to grab some stuff from the ZBR store as I know the band and some other labels sold out a lot faster than the Canadian label.

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DISCOGRAPHY

2016 - Demo cd/cassetteEP (stream/donate/download here) [buy cd from ZBR here]

2017 - Fashion Statements of the Socially Aware cassette/7"EP (stream/buy here) [buy 7" from ZBR here]

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(2017) SEEYOUSPACECOWBOY - "Jimmy Buffet Doesn't Even Surf" (from 'Fashion Statements of the Socially Aware')

(2017) SEEYOUSPACECOWBOY - "Absolutely Absolute Absolution" (from 'Fashion Statements of the Socially Aware')

(2017) SEEYOUSPACECOWBOY - "Soap Opera Stardom is a Single Tear Drop Away" (from 'Fashion Statements of the Socially Aware')

(2016) SEEYOUSPACECOWBOY - "Rejection Hotline Greatest Hits" (from 'Demo')

(2016) SEEYOUSPACECOWBOY - "Albert Camus Is My Life Coach" (from 'Demo')

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SEEYOUSPACECOWBOY additional links

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SEEYOUSPACECOWBOY
Exclusive Interview
+
Summer Tour 2017
July 7th: Tacoma, WA
July 11th: San Francisco, CA


1) Who are you and what do you do?
I'm Connie, I am the vocalist for SeeYouSpaceCowboy, I do design work for bands in the DIY scene and also run the soon-to-be dead Structures//Agony Records.

2) What led to the Cowboy Bebop reference for your band name?
Well I have always loved the anime and that sequence with the name always struck me as compelling, so when it was time to choose a name I just kinda threw the idea into the mix, honestly didn't really expect everyone to be down haha. The name stands more as just a statement I found interesting versus a direct love note to the series, if that makes sense? We aren't like an anime meme band haha.

3) What has your musical progression been like since you started listening to music?
Well when I was really young I basically listened to what my parents did so stuff like The Chemical Brothers and Massive Attack. Then I eventually kinda branched out into listening to radio music like Interpol, Bloc Party, Bravery etc. Had a short phase with System of a Down, Korn, and Slipknot before middle school lol. Then started listening to a lot of 80's hardcore/goth/new wave in middle school. Then became a hipster in high school and the mainly started listening to screamo/emo like sophomore year of high school with a closeted love for metalcore/scene shit. and now here I am mostly listening to alt hip hop, trip hop, and metalcore with occasional bursts of screamo/emo haha.

4) What are the biggest influences for yourself and SeeYouSpaceCowboy? Have they changed since your 'Demo' release?
Currently, definitely Daughters, Heavy Heavy Low Low, Jon Mess' contribution to Dance Gavin Dance and The Blood Brothers. Originally with the demo I was def drawing more influence from Drop Dead, Gorgeous, The Cambodian Heat and The Red Light Sting, but I am playing around with my vox more on this newer EP.

5) How did you get your demo released on React With Protest? That's insane!
Well the person who runs it (Lars) just hit up and told us they were a fan of the demo and wanted to distro some stuff, but unfortunately we were basically sold out of tapes so they offered to do a version on React With Protest. It was kinda funny cause I swear I was just talking to someone about RWP releasing their stuff and then I got the message haha.

6) How did you come into contact with the other labels for the new 'Fashion Statements of the Socially Aware' 7"?
Well I basically knew everyone who is helping releasing it to some capacity over the years of doing stuff in the DIY scene so it was more just a process of asking people if they were down.

7) How have the songs from the new 7" been received thus far? I'm guessing pretty good considering you seem to be getting interviewed a lot!
Haha ya, it's wild I had never done any interviews until this year starting with the We Don't Need Maps one and then after that I just got asked to do hella interviews lol. So far they have been received very positively, more positively than I thought they would lol.

8) I know this 7” was written initially as Shotgun Message. Would the EP sound any differently had it been written under the moniker SeeYouSpaceCowboy from the get-go?


I don't think so, since mostly everyone in SYSC was in The Shotgun Message as well I think it would be generally the same.

9) You've done a tour and have another coming up, how was the first and what are you excited for with the second?
The first one was super fun, it was really mellow since it was just a couple days in Kali. We had all of our Bay area shows fall though haha but it was fine because we had a really cool house to stay in and appreciated the gnarliest rain storm I had ever seen for a couple days in San Francisco.

10) Will you work on future recordings in the near future? What do you think it might sound like?
I imagine in the future we will probably work on making our grindy parts more chaotic and unpredictable, throw in a bit more wild shit and get weird. Probably incorporate more sass and adding some more varied sections, like combining the faster sass vocals from the 'Demo' with the slower meticulous vocals from the EP to find a nice middle ground. We have discussed moving forward with sound a little bit but haven't quite nailed down what we exactly want to do.

11) It seems like I hear a lot about scene politics and other negative things from other people but don’t really see much of it myself. What scene politics do you experience?
I've experienced a lot of dismissal or resistance when I ask people in the community to be critical of themselves. I think there is an interesting dichotomy between people who are in the DIY music scene for the history, leftist roots and it influences a lot of how they go about things/their ethics and those who are just in the scene because they like the music. That creates some conflict when political issues are discussed in public settings, you get folks whining about politics in music and then retorts from people who bring up the history of the leftist influence in punk and the ethics many people carry with that. It gets really convoluted and frustrating a lot of the times haha.

12) There are an insane amount of horrible things happening in the world, what issues do you focus on and want people to be aware of?
Ooof that would be a very long list, I mean to sum it up with the current U.S. figurehead in office and the slimy confidence it has given to the bigoted and dangerous. It's important to continue to stand with the people that are oppressed in marginalized in our society and are now under greater threat (poc, trans/queer,women, etc). It's also important to continue to speak out against US imperialism and remember the class struggle as this country continues to get run by hyper capitalists who don't care about the proletariat and would sooner exploit them than lend a hand.

13) What’s it been like transitioning (both personally and socially) to using the “they” pronoun? Do you have any advice for those who are perhaps nervous about making their preferences known?
At first it was scary to be openly trans and interact with everyone, especially when it came to asking/correcting people when it came to my identity. It was so scary I wouldn't do it very often and would just roll with it, until it got to a point where I felt more comfortable/empowered with myself and had little issue being upfront and correcting people/asking people to use my correct pronouns. I guess a big part of it was as I went along it started to feel terrible to become misgendered so that was a big part of it as well.

Honestly that's a really hard one because I would tell people to do what they are comfortable with, but that also means they might have to subject themselves to being misgendered. So I guess what I will say is you are valid regardless of what people address you as, and if you are uncomfortable letting people know your pronouns or confronting them when they don't use them you don't have to be ashamed, it can be a very difficult thing to do, especially in a society that actively tries to invalidate and disregard. Just know that you have a community with you and that you are you, no matter what.

14) What's coming up next for you, personally? You seem to be completely immersed in music currently. What's your outside-of-music life like?
Well I have been doing a lot of commission design/art pieces for bands so I am planning on dedicating more time to that to see if I can grow that aspect of my life. I am also starting school again in the fall and that's fucking terrifying haha. That's about it.

15) What are your top 10 releases of all time?
Alright imma try to do this without repeating bands or else it would mostly be Modest Mouse and Aesop Rock haha.

1. Modest Mouse - this Is A Long Drive For Someone With Nothing To Think About
2. Aesop Rock - Labor Days
3. Of Montreal - Paralytic Stalks
4. Ten Thousand Leagues - Demo
5. Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights
6. Kodan Armada - Collection (kinda a cop out but ya lol)
7. Norma Jean - Bless the Martyr and Kiss the Child
8. Massive Attack - Mezzanine
9. iwrotehaikusaboutcannibalisminyouryearbook - Discography
10. Fear Before the March of Flames - Odd How People Shake

Thank you so much for talking with us! <3
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Thursday, 29 June 2017

QUASAR

Band: QUASAR
Genres: Punk / Post-Hardcore / Screamo
Related artists: Sign Of Disgust and Jesus & Paka.
Country: Montpellier, FRANCE
Years Active: 2013-present
Song: "À la vie"
Album: "Fondation"
Year: 2016
For fans of: Viva Belgrado, Rinoa, We Never Learned To Live, Young Mountain, Ravin, Potence, La Parade, Vi Som Älskade Varandra Så Mycket, Yarostan, Sed Non Satiata, Past and Daïtro aka PROPER SCREAMO.
Label(s): Self Released
This post's artist is from the May 2017 Mix. This is track #2.
You can download: the May 2017 Mix#5 right here or get the new June 2017 Mix#6 here.

 Jérémy from QUASAR sent me their new album 'Fondation' back in April of 2017 and after 10 seconds I responded with something along the lines of, "Hot damn, this is sick!" So here we are while I'm vacationing in Sweden near the tail end of June 2017, perhaps a little late on this review.

QUASAR first released their self titled EP 'Quasar' a year or so after their inception in Montpellier, France. These five songs are well constructed and offer up a very enticing debut release. The post-hardcore meets French screamo isn't all that far from root bands such as Amanda Woodward and Sed Non Satiata, but doesn't really tie in the clean, groovy and atmospheric parts that balanced those bands out so well. And this isn't to say that QUASAR should have said parts, it's just the comparison I've got for ya. I like all the songs on here but nothing really blows me away.

Late last year QUASAR released 'Fondation' (also on cd) which is a big step-up for the band. Boasting only two members from the self-titled era (the guitarist and vocalist), the songs have taken on a much more organic form that relay additional nods to European screamo, as newer bands like Yarostan, Young Mountain, Rinoa and perhaps even Mihai Edrisch come to mind. The opener "À la vie" is a serious and accurate stab at screamo/post-hardcore and probably comes off most like Spanish all-stars Viva Belgrado. As previously mentioned it was this song that started my salivation over QUASAR, so maybe hit that track up first. "Bonjour la mort" begins faster than anything previously recorded and might be the heaviest in the vocal department, too. I think Young Mountain is probably the closest comparison here, and the song even includes some of the aforementioned softer, European post-rock/post-hardcore sections not found on their debut. "Nova" reminds me of Daïtro albeit a little heavier, but not as menacing as Potence. "Damoclès" follows the same path for the most part but injects more melody, playful guitar work and includes a nice, dreamy midsection. Closer "Le vent se lève" is a fitting closer that situates itself primarily in the post-hardcore realm, with valleys and plateaus that resemble Rinoa, if anything.

I believe the band is currently writing for an LP, but whatever they release next I'll be waiting eagerly for it.

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DISCOGRAPHY

2014 - Quasar cdEP (stream/buy here)

2016 - Fondation cdEP (stream/download/buy here)
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(2016) QUASAR - "À la vie" (from 'Fondation')

(2016) QUASAR - "Bonjour la mort" (from 'Fondation')

(2016) QUASAR - "Damoclès" (from 'Fondation')

(2014) QUASAR - "Ma Chair" (from 'Quasar')

(2014) QUASAR - "Sur Ta Route" (from 'Quasar')

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QUASAR additional links

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Wednesday, 28 June 2017

***VI SOM ÄLSKADE VARANDRA SÅ MYCKET exclusive interview***



VI SOM ÄLSKADE VARANDRA SÅ MYCKET

So this is David Norman (blog person) interviewing Arvid Ringborg (vocals) and Mark Shaw (guitar) of VI SOM ÄLSKADE VARANDRA SÅ MYCKET. The other members of the band are Tomas Brisman (bass), Johan Angantyr (guitar), Jens Gentzschein Lager (guitar) and Gösta Jonasson (drums). This interview took place via emails but last night I was lucky enough to spend time with both of these amazing people at Arvid's apartment in Stockholm, Sweden.

1) Tell us about the two songs chosen for the 2x12”…split? Comp? What would you call it?

 Arvid: You approached us about the release, which we think of as the 8-way split, right after we released 'Den sorgligaste musiken i världen'. Besides the split we did with They Sleep We Live, these are the first songs we wrote and recorded after that. When we saw the other great bands from the three other countries that were going to be involved in the 8-way split — and not to forget our Swedish friends in the awesome Via Fondo — we were really excited about the opportunity to get to share our music with other scenes alongside great bands. The songs we chose are a natural progression from what we have been doing before and really we just try to write better material all the time. We were particularly excited about how these two songs were coming together in the recording process, so we thought we would be putting our best foot forward to share with others in our own and three other scenes, and wherever else the 8-way split finds its way. Both these two songs were recorded together with "Skymningstimmen" that appears on the split with мятеж and are mixed by Tomas in our band and mastered by Magnus Lindberg (Cult of Luna).


2) You did a split with my other band мятеж, did you want to talk about that song and why it ended up where it did?

 Arvid: We recorded three songs in the same session for the 8-way split. One song we were going to use for a split 7” with Mark’s old band The Khayembii Communique with an old song that never was released. The only person who knew where the only copy of that recording from 2000 was was Nick, who founded and ran Blood Of The Young Records. As many know, Nick tragically passed away last June and we had no possible way to recover that song. Since that split can’t happen, the consequence for us was that then we had one song too many with nowhere to go. We decided not to put "Skymningstimmen" on that split because it was the least representative song out of the three. We really like the song, but for us it has a little bit of a weird structure. If it wasn't for you we probably would have never released it. We have fully recorded several songs that we never released for various reasons. I sent it to you and then you suggested the split. We have no intention of releasing it digitally also, so those 70 cassettes are the only way to get it. For us, as Swedes, it´s a good story that we released a split cassette limited to 70 copies in Canada. Just goes to show that we do some obscure music. Haha. But 70 tapes isn’t as obscure as some other ideas we have had. For example, Jens used to have a really terrible old car that barely worked, but it still had a working cassette player in it. we used to talk about writing and recording a song for release on cassette — but just one cassette. And it would be sold exclusively in the tape deck of Jens’s car. We would write our name on the hood of the car or something as well, just to make it an immersive experience. Whoever bought the car, would get the tape and would be the only person with the release of that song. Unfortunately, Jens got rid of his car before we could do it.


3) As you mentioned, in 2016 Nick Blood passed away. Please tell us all about him. How did you meet? What was he like? Stories? Did you want to say anything about his passing?

 Mark: I met Nick when we were both in 5th grade in Minnesota, so probably 10 or 11 years old. He was a friend of a friend and we both made the super cool choice to play the saxophone in the school band. If you forgot your instrument, they made you sit there and pretend to play a wooden stick. Nick and I both forgot our instruments one day and we spent the whole class rolling our eyes at the absurd situation of pretending to play "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" rather than doing literally anything else. So I guess it was music and a shared disrespect for hollow authority that brought us together! Over the following years, we grew closer and closer until we ended up evolving from listening to metal/grunge, to finding our way to punk. Keep in mind, this was the early and mid-nineties, so the music you found was based a lot of hard work and luck. I got my driver’s license first and we started driving to Extreme Noise in Minneapolis from our suburb to spend whatever we had on records, often taking wild guesses as to whether something would be good based on the cover. You had to listen to a lot of bad and mediocre to find the good and a few great records. We eagerly shared all music we found together and eventually we started to find hardcore bands like Born Against and then screamo bands like Portraits of Past and Shotmaker. I was playing music with Mark and Brian (which became The Khayembii Communique) and we also evolved from covering Metallica then Nirvana to writing our earliest songs, like "Lacking". After leaving the US to live in a Sweden for a year, we came back and became Khayembii and Nick was right there, ready to start his label along with us. We always considered him the fourth member. Nick’s family asked me to do a eulogy at his funeral -- along with Tim, Nick’s dad and Nick’s former boss at his computer day job -- which was both the highest honor and biggest challenge I’ve ever faced in my life. Nick had some hard times with substances, as many know, but he had done so much hard work to get himself better. There isn’t anybody who knew him who thought he was anything other than the kindest, smartest, and most loyal person they’d ever met. He really was nicer and smarter than all of the rest of us. Really. And I’ve never seen a person care more about music. When we were teenagers, we were roughly equivalent in our passion, but as we got older I stayed interested but he kept that youthful intensity up, perhaps even increased it when he restarted Blood of the Young. Nick’s love of music and the care he gave to all those around him made a huge impact. Before Nick passed away, he spent several days in the coma at a hospital in downtown Minneapolis. Throughout it all there was a constant stream of visitors coming to support Nick’s recovery and then ultimately to say goodbye before he left us. It was a remarkable thing and even the staff of the very busy hospital was in wonder at it; they had never seen anything like it where a patient received more than a hundred visitors. Nick would do anything for anyone and gave freely of everything he had. And he wanted to give the world music he loved, so he did.

 Arvid: I met Nick the same time I met Mark, when I was a 17 year old exchange student in the US. I lived in Sioux City, Iowa; my cousin Erik also did a year but in Minneapolis and went to the same high school as Nick and Mark. This was a couple of years before Nick started BOTY, but being into punk rock we had a lot in common. We just met a couple of times but he was always super cool. A couple years later I went to Minneapolis and crashed on the couch where Mark and Nick lived for a month. They actually lived with my friend Jamie who played in Song of Zarathustra that I knew from Sioux City. This summer was super hot and Nick’s room was the only one in the house with air conditioning. We ended up hanging out a lot and he was one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. He was warm and generous and fun to hang out with. When we started VSÄVSM Nick was getting BOTY up and running again so we started talking about doing something together. For me it was special to do the record on BOTY. He started the label to put out Mark’s old band The Khayembii Communique and he also put out a lot of great stuff. Also, my cousin Erik is the logo of the label. I am happy to have been a part of Nick’s legacy.


4) What was it like being in Khayembii Communique? In retrospect? Tell us about the reunion show. Arvid, what was that like?!?!?!

Mark: It’s pretty funny because when we were in Khayembii, it was mostly just us playing in our own basement in Minneapolis when touring bands like Milemarker rolled though. We moved into a house that had been having basement shows for a few years prior called 1021 House, though initially known as Castle Danger. I remember our first official show as Khayembii Communique was with Saetia, which I know blows some minds these days. But back then, it was just a bunch of us in a basement -- things like that only look like a big deal in retrospect, if they ever do at all. Only a handful of people who weren’t our friends cared - for some reason, we really won over Milwaukee! - so we didn’t break up thinking I would be answering questions about it 17 years later. But at the same time, when people connected with us, it did seem to happen in a rather strong way. So I guess there was something real there within ourselves that we accidentally accessed which a small number of people still connect with, and that’s pretty amazing. The reunion show was fun but it was a bit stressful. The show was a tribute to Nick’s memory involving a huge range of artists and it was at First Avenue's main room, which is a very iconic place if you’re from Minneapolis, or if you have seen Purple Rain. Khayembii playing at First Avenue was unthinkable when we were around, it would be like Vi Som playing at Coachella or something. Just way beyond the scope of what was possible. And, man, it turns out those songs are really hard to play and scream. I didn’t do my future self any favors back then by writing so many lyrics and writing guitar parts that are just at the upper edge of my ability on a good day. So there were some missteps in the performance, but Mark and Brian are amazing musicians and since I grew up playing with them, we really understand each other musically so we more or less pulled it off. We just tried to be as real as we could. Some people from back in the day came up and said they were extremely moved by seeing us play again; it really took them back to those basement performances, although this time I tried harder to scream into the microphone rather than just lay on the floor screaming into the air. Also, we got to have Arvid on stage with us, which was like a bridging of my worlds in a really meaningful way that’s hard to articulate. A lot of those Khayembii lyrics are about living in Sweden as a teenager, directly or indirectly, so it’s just a surreal scenario to be on stage at First Avenue with Arvid, Mark, and Brian, playing those old songs in memory of our dear friend Nick who left too soon, but who managed to release music I’ve been a part of over the course of a couple decades. It’s too much for words, really.

Arvid: When Nick passed away it hit me really hard. Even though we weren't that close he has had a lot of impact on my life. I went to Minneapolis to play a song with The Khayembii Communique for Nick’s memorial show and that was the first time I met his parents. We just hugged, no words were necessary. There were a lot of emotions that night and it just goes to show how important Nick was to a lot of people. He will forever be missed.


5) You ended up moving to Sweden, how did that all come about?

Mark: Arvid told a bit of this above, but when I was in high school in Minnesota, some guy named Erik showed up as an exchange student with a t-shirt with a hardcore band on it. Besides Nick, there was NOBODY in my school who even knew what hardcore was (this was a very long time ago). So I went up and asked him about that shirt. Anyway, we immediately became good friends and after a time I jokingly told him I was going to come live with his family in Stockholm the following year. He responded, "Well, our apartment in Stockholm is small, but my cousin Arvid's house probably has room." Arvid was also an exchange student, but in Iowa, where he was coincidentally befriending the dudes in Song of Zarathustra. Point being, I ended up living at Arvid's family's house for a year as a teenager, which was amazing. I went back home to Nick getting ready to start a record label. Erik, who was wildly beloved among our friends back in Minnesota, became the face of Nick Blood's label. Many years later in 2012, through coincidences and the course of adulthood, my wife Arielle’s job really wanted her to come work in their head office in Stockholm. So much that they were willing to import me and our little dog as well. When we told Arvid we were moving to Sweden, Arvid told me I should join Vi Som, to which I at first was like, "Come on, you already have two guitar players, what are you talking about?" But the idea of 3 guitars started to seem cool and, spoiler alert, I ended up joining anyway. Things happened fast as Arvid had me in the recording studio like 48 hours after landing in Sweden. It's been a bunch of odd and unintentional twists and turns over so many years that got me here. But I’m really grateful for all the lucky twists and turns that got me where I am. I couldn’t have predicted it, let alone planned it.


6) Why the name, Vi Som Älskade Varandra Så Mycket?

Mark: It’s an homage to an Italian film called 'C'eravamo tanto amati'. In Swedish, the title is Vi som älskade varann så mycket. In English, the film is translated as “We All Loved Each Other So Much.” though we would say our actual name translates "We Who Used To Love Each Other So Much". We titled one our very first songs we released 'C'eravamo tanto amati', so it’s no big secret where we found our inspiration. For us, it’s just a beautifully wistful title that we felt fit some of the musical qualities and conceptual approaches we were going for.

 Arvid: Most of my lyrics deals with love and loss and are really a way for me to deal with things that I have gone through. 

 Mark: Given the length of the name and the fact that it’s in Swedish, it’s not the most commercially accessible name internationally. I definitely keep having to teach and re-teach my American friends how to say it. I don’t think that’s going to change!


7) What are the most prevalent and/or important influences for yourselves and your band?

Mark: Since we’re all a bit older than some other people in the scene, we’ve been around and been influenced by many different things over the years. Every band member could give you an almost endless list, some of which will be in a similar vein to us, and some of it not at all.

Arvid: I grew up listening to a lot of punk and hardcore and always played music. Me, Jens and Gösta (and briefly Tomas) had a band called the Comedy that played some weird kind of garage rock for several years. It was a lot of fun but maybe lacked substance. I always wanted to start a screamo band and then we just did. Some of the guys in the band never listened to that kind of music at all, so they bring another perspective into the songwriting.

Mark: For me, I still really strongly identify with the mid-to-late nineties screamo bands that I first got into when I was young and mentioned earlier. There are of course so many newer bands that are great and that I am inspired by, but nothing ever feels as strong as the love one has of those first bands. Day to day I listen to a wide range of things that often aren’t anywhere near screamo. The main thing for me, in music, is sincerity. If something is real, I’m going to be open to listening to it regardless of the genre. I like a lot of “indie” whatever which is more likely to be coming from sort place of authenticity, but I don’t like a whole lot of mainstream hits, which sound and feel to me like they are mass produced in a factory somewhere.


8) How do all of the members contribute to the final sound that is the Vi som sound?

Mark: It differs from song to song, but everybody plays a role. Usually, one of the three guitar players or Tomas comes up with a song idea and records a home demo to share with the rest of the band. Once we’ve all heard it, we will do some rehearsals all together to develop the basic structure with a lot of input from Gösta and Arvid, and then go into the studio to record drums. Once we have the drums, the main songwriter usually does most of the guitar with the others contributing their own ideas for layers or other elements. In addition to adding vocals and lyrics, Arvid contributes a huge amount of ideas throughout the whole process, including suggesting guitar, bass, or drum parts for others to play. So everybody plays a very major role from start to finish, though there is usually one guitar or bass player taking the lead in writing and recording the key parts.


9) What is next for the band in terms of recordings/releases?

Arvid: We used to have access to a studio whenever we wanted, which made the process we just described easier since we could record almost whenever we wanted. Unfortunately, that time came to an end and we don’t have the studio anymore. Now we have a practice space deep underground in central Stockholm, right next to a highway tunnel. Really, you can open up a door and see the cars rushing past just a meter or two away from you. But we found a solution that allows us to record similar to how we did before: we are recording over time in a studio that shares our highway tunnel practice space. We have just started recording our follow up full length and hopefully the process will not take that long (we worked for one and a half years on our first record). Our ambition is set really high and for that reason it takes a lot of time. We go through a lot of demos to find the songs we end up working with.


10) Is there anything else you’d like to say?

Thanks for all you and Zegema Beach have done to support us and to support and release great music from all over the world! We’re so honored to get to be a part of it all.

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Tuesday, 27 June 2017

MONARCS

Band: Monarcs
Genres: Punk / Post-Hardcore / Emo / Screamo / Hardcore 
Related artists: Capsule, WRONG, Tune For Bears to Dance to, Kylesa, Shitstorm, Tyranny of Shaw, Tilts, House of Lightning, Psychic Mirrors, Trilobite, Dead Lions.
Country: Miami, Florida, United States
Years Active: 2005-2008
Song: "The Grasshopper Lies Heavy"
Album: "Monarcs/Thank God split"
Year: 2007
For fans of: Capsule, Scowler, At The Drive-In, Hot Cross, Neil Perry, Thank God, Osceola, Off Minor, Tunes For Bears To Dance To, Kidcrash, High Almighty, Itto aka PROPER SCREAMO.
Label(s): Escucha! Records, Blessed Hands Records, Get Stoked Records, Mashnote, Dippy Records
This post's artist is from the May 2017 Mix. This is track #?.
You can download: the May 2017 Mix#5 right here or get the new June 2017 Mix#6 here.

 Do you like Capsule? Then there's a big chance you'll love Monarcs as well, as they shared 2 of the same members. Listening to them you can understand why Ryan would be moved from bass to 2nd guitar in Capsule, because he shreds in Monarcs. If you take some of the clarity in riffs from No Ghost and make it a little more repetitive, add in some scream/sing vocals in the vein of At the Drive-In and Scowler except a bit deeper in pitch, then you basically have the Monarcs sound. The songs from Apocalyptic Bebop and the split with Thank God are definitely my favorites, as they are pretty consistently heavy and closest to Capsule. Some of their songs on Early Recordings and the split with Osceola I'm not as into the vocals, but musically it's pretty consistently great, although the early recordings aren't as banging as most of their other stuff. 
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DISCOGRAPHY
Click )==>here<==( to download the band's complete discography in mp3 form.

2006- Apocalyptic Bebop cd

2007- Monarcs/Thank God split 10"

2008- Monarcs/Osceola split 7"

2008- Early Recordings cd
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(2007) MONARCS- "The Grasshopper Lies Heavy" (from 'Monarcs/Thank God' split)



(2006) MONARCS - "Apocalyptic Bebop" (from 'Apocalyptic Bebop')



(2006) MONARCS- "Alphabet Retraction" (from 'Apocalyptic Bebop')



(2008) MONARCS- "Creating Gods" (from 'Monarcs/Osceola' split)



(2008) MONARCS - "Kellen James" (from 'Early Recordings')



(2008) MONARCS - "Courtney's Friend" (from 'Early Recordings')



(2007) MONARCS - "Kallisti" (from 'Monarcs/Thank God' split)

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out of print mp3 discography download

(download here)

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Sunday, 25 June 2017

CARNIVAL OF DARK-SPLIT

Band: The Carnival of Dark-Split
Genres: Punk / Screamo / Hardcore / Noise / Noise Rock
Related artists: Bonescratch, The Sun, Kiwiroll , Gomnupers, Fix, Discotortion, Next Style
Country: Sapporo, Japan
Years Active: 2000-2001
Song: "Melt Delusion"
Album: "Focus"
Year: 2001
For fans of: Thank God, The Sun, Black Film Dance, Kulara, XBXRX, Scowler, Threadyarn, Bonescratch, There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, Tiala
Label(s): HG Fact, Fine Tuning, Real Life Recordings
This post's artist is from the May 2017 Mix. This is track #?.
You can download: the May 2017 Mix#5 right here or get the new June 2017 Mix#6 here.

 review by Jesse Mowery

THE CARNIVAL OF DARK-SPLIT were a pretty short lived band that made some wild and weird music that is equal parts hardcore, Ebullition Records-ish screamo, and noise-rock. The band ended when the singer died suddenly, and Envy dedicated their album "A Dead Sinking Story" to him. This band is absolutely crucial in my opinion when it comes to Japanese screamo, so give them a listen and download their stuff. 
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DISCOGRAPHY
Click )==>here<==( to download the band's complete discography in mp3 form.


2000- Demo cassette (I don't have this, please send it to me if you do!)

2001- Focus cd

2002- The Carnival of Dark-Split/Black Film Dance split cd

2002- Sapporo City Hard Core Ism cd compilation

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(2001) THE CARNIVAL OF DARK-SPLIT- "Melt Delusion" (from 'Focus ')


(2001) THE CARNIVAL OF DARK-SPLIT - "New Normal" (from 'Focus')


(2002) THE CARNIVAL OF DARK-SPLIT - "Crash the View" (from 'The Carnival of Dark-Split/Black Film Dance split')


(2002) THE CARNIVAL OF DARK-SPLIT - "Demon's Tail" (from 'Sapporo City Hard Core Ism')


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out of print mp3 discography download / additional links

(download here)

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Thursday, 22 June 2017

PORTRËIT

Band: PORTRËIT
Genres: Punk / Screamo / Hardcore / Emo-violence / Skramz
Related artists: ?.
Country: Giessen GERMANY
Years Active: 2016-present
Song: "B"
Album: "demo"
Year: 2017
For fans of: Arches, My Life With The Spaniard, Cease Upon The Capitol, Subjects/Rulers, Orchid, Virginia On Duty, Coma Regalia, Descubriendo A Mr. Mime, Danse Macabre, My Heart To Joy At The Same Tone, Komarov, Jiyuna, Jeanne, Hugs, Mesa Verde, Foxmoulder and The Sky Above And Earth Below aka PROPER SCREAMO.
Label(s): Self Released
This post's artist is from the May 2017 Mix. This is track #10.
You can download: the May 2017 Mix#5 right here or get the new June 2017 Mix#6 here.

 PORTRËIT sent me their demo EP in early 2017 and right away I was taken aback. With gutteral screams of anguish and pain washing over either dreamy instrumentals or pummeling hardcore, these German screamo folks have got their shit together and mighty quick. Although the EP is only two tracks, technically each side houses numerous songs but they were all recorded together. The vocals bear a strong resemblance to bands like Arches, My Life With The Spaniard as well as Matt from Cease Upon The Capitol, Dolcim and Subjects/Rulers fame, which are very throaty and lyrically difficult to decipher. The guitars, in particular, stand out most boldly when the music chills out and lulls the listener in with plodding, melodic, single note or chorded progressions. Check out the opening of "A" for a prime example or tail-end of "B". If you only have time to check out one of the 7+ minute sides I'd recommend shooting for "B" first although both are excellent. I do hope in the future they break up the sides and post individual songs or perhaps most will be recorded again for subsequent endeavors. I'm very interested to see what pops up next from PORTRËIT.

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DISCOGRAPHY

2017 - demo digitalEP

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(2017) PORTRËIT - "B" (from 'demo')

(2017) PORTRËIT - "A" (from 'demo')

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PORTRËIT additional links

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Tuesday, 20 June 2017

BRUME RETINA

Band: Brume Retina
Genres: Punk / Hardcore /Screamo / Noise Rock / Post-rock
Related artists: Gameness, Revok, DSB, General Dub, K-Iman, Lab°, Urine, Call Us As You Wish !, Ride That Sexy Horse, Seekers Of The Truth, You Will Never Appear On TV With Such A Face
Country: Paris, France
Years Active: 2005-2011
Song: "Recrache"
Album: Brume Retina / Hiro split
Year: 2007
For fans of: Gameness, Daitro, Gantz, Envy, Amanda Woodward, Loma Prieta, Beau Navire, The Third Memory, Mihai Edrisch, Funeral Diner, Hiro, Baron Noir, The Sons Of Saturn, A Flower Kollapsed, The Mock Heroic aka PROPER SCREAMO.
Label(s): Desertion Records, Cité De Chenilles, Rejuvenation Records, Ape Must Not Kill Ape, Impure Muzik, Emergence, Recap Records, Fux, Unbeliever, I've Come For Your Children, Old Skool Kids
This post's artist is from the May 2017 Mix. This is track #?.
You can download: the May 2017 Mix#5 right here or get the new June 2017 Mix#6 here.
Brume Retina were a French hardcore/screamo band that helped push the French screamo sound forward. While there are still plenty of quiet guitar breaks and wonderful melodies going on, Brume Retina stays a bit more in touch with their punk roots, coming off as a bit more aggressive than many of their peers. The sound is much in line with the last couple of releases from Gameness, which 3 of the members played in beforehand, plus many others from their country such as Daitro, Amanda Woodward, and Gantz. The tension they create is a huge key to their sound, yet things still seem to explode out of nowhere even though you know it's coming. While there's a pretty consistent sound between releases, their last album Agresse Gueule is their heaviest. I'm most fond of the split with Hiro, partially because it was the first I heard, but I also feel like the songs on it sum up their sound the best. All of it is great though, I highly recommend listening to all of their material.

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DISCOGRAPHY
2006 - Linéaire Des Libres

2006 - Bonus 3xFile (included with Linéaire Des Libres)

2007- Brume Retina/Hiro split


 2010- Agresse Gueule

 2010- We Fucked Up Our Lives | A Tribute To Tantrum
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(2007) BRUME RETINA- "Recrache" (from 'Hiro' split)

(2007) BRUME RETINA- "Hymne A La Loi" (from 'Hiro' split)


(2006) BRUME RETINA- "Ma Vie N'est Rien" (from 'Linéaire Des Libres')



(2006) BRUME RETINA- "Huis Clos" (from 'Linéaire Des Libres')

(2006) BRUME RETINA- "L'employe du mois" (from 'Bonus')



(2010) BRUME RETINA- "Un temps de merde" (from 'Agresse Gueule')



(2010) BRUME RETINA- "Acquisition de moulins à vent" (from 'Agresse Gueule')





(2010) BRUME RETINA- "3 Alternatives" (from 'We Fucked Up Our Lives | A Tribute To Tantrum')

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BRUME RETINA out of print mp3 discography download

 (download here)
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***мятеж / KELUT split 12" exclusive premiere***

Welllllll fuck. It's bittersweet, but here is the exclusive premiere of the мятеж/KELUT split 12"LP along with the news that our European мятеж has officially been cancelled. In a nutshell, our drummer's passport was stolen the day of his flight and our guitarist and head honcho was also unable to get to Europe. Mike (bass) and myself (vocals) can't really do the tour by ourselves so we've had to pack it in and accept defeat. I'm very sorry to those who booked or helped book shows for us, especially considering that some of said shows have now fallen through. Everyone in Croatia was amazing in every way and we also caught a sick show with Ostraca, Komarov and Adrestia. As of this post I am now in Munich, Germany with my family. It's fucking gorgeous here. We just ate vegan donairs with vegan baklava and cinnamon cream sauce for Lisa's birthday. At least things are on the up and up now. Okay then...let's begin.



мятеж is an project that consists of Chris Story (ex-Makara, Jenny Piccolo, Yaphet Kotto, The Anasazi and Anal Knievel) on...everything instrumental and myself (ex-The World That Summer) on vocals. This split 12" is a mixture of songs recorded by Chris over the last three years that I assembled into a much more ambient and atmospheric mix when compared to our other releases.

"Intro"is just that, a mild and dreamy afternoon floating down a river on your back. "Van Llewyn and Burke, Carter J. - Welcome to 2017 (you pieces of shit)" was initially released on Zampler #5 (with demo vocals) way back in 2015 and has always been one of my favourite songs for a myriad of reasons, the most obvious (perhaps) is because the entire thing, including audio samples, are about the movie Aliens. The song was apparently 4 bits of songs thrown together with different audio samples, but as I was unaware of this when writing the lyrics I just thought it was one killer track. I removed the initial samples and included the sound bytes from Aliens in order to put a spotlight on the movie's incredible depiction of selfishness, greed and lack of empathy for others via government and corporate entities. Jesse Mowery (our touring buddy and third head) lays down some scathing vocals from 1:26 onwards with "all the dreams we've ever seen".

"Interlude" is track that houses Chris' only vocals on any release thus far, so I can't say exactly what it's about. "The Dark Ages 2.0 (Copyright 2017 USA)" was first written as an instrumental track for a tape comp that didn't end up happening, so I decided to throw down some vocals for it. It's pretty mellow for a мятеж song and is about my pessimistic attitude regarding the future of the USA before Trump was even considered a presidential candidate and my subsequent realization that said pessimism was actually a little too optimistic. My favourite lyrics on this one are, "What are we to do when reason won't put a fight? Turn off the lights and disintegrate into the night". The finale is "Straight the Fuck Down", which is probably one of our best songs to date. The opening 30 seconds or so is your typical мятеж screamo/powerviolence that recedes quickly into a single, hypnotic guitar riff that balances out the remainder of the song. It also includes one of my favourite samples from Copland as well as the final movement of the very first (and only, as I was listening to a hell of a lot of Carlos Cipa at the time) piano song that I ever wrote. That piano clip is actually myself and my amazing wife Lisa playing together.

KELUT is, for lack of a more succinct synopsis, the next step for the majority of members from Yusuke. Pretty much gone are the pretty, noodly and more Saetia sounding sections, as the band goes apeshit here with five tracks of mind-numbing and ear-splitting screamy, dark hardcore. Tracks 1 and 2 were previously released on Zamplers and the KELUT bandcamp page, with the final 3 songs being premiered right now. Prepare yourself for multiple vocalists taking almost constant shots at you, with raging instrumentals and some fucking sick sweeps. Ryan, the drummer from Yusuke, said farewell to his drum kit in order to just scream maniacally along with the former Yusuke vocalist Tony, thereby giving the band some awesome dual screamers. The always intricate and amazing Tyler on guitar recently moved away, so I am unsure if the band will continue, but I am beyond stoked to share this 12" split with them.

The 12" comes in screenprinted jackets by Nevin from IFB and artwork by the extremely talented Connie Sgarbossa of SeeYouSpaceCowboy in a polybag with two lyric inserts. The vinyl sleeves are black, as is the 12" vinyl, with handstamped centre labels by yours truly. The records are sitting at a house back in Canada and will ship out as soon as I return for a July 20th release date. All Zegema Beach Records pre-orders come with a free 12" split with Yusuke and Lori AND a free Zampler compilation cd! Order from all the labels below.

Pre-order from: 


мятеж:
Bandcamp
Facebook
Buy:
T-Shirts = here / here / here / here / here / here / here / here

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