In part two, guitarist Jack Armondo, vocalist and percussionist Gretta Rochelle and I talk a variety of topics including the fact their songs have been remixed by both The Hood Internet and T-Minus 321, what I found to be a slight 1980’s stylistic inclination in their music, their amazing “Violet Eyes” music video, non-musical personal heroes and the future of the band.
So, once again, grab some popcorn, sit back, relax and enjoy the conclusion of my conversation with My Gold Mask.
“Making something out of nothing, basically” – Christopher Mondo
The air in “The Spook House” is dense, like smoke, but there is no evidence that anyone in Earth Program lights-up, at least not habitually.
Maybe a fuse is broken – a valid concern given the volume at which the band rehearses – but it’s more likely that the feeling is just imagined, conjured visually by the cluster of amps on the floor and the hypnotizing beam on the wall (literally, there’s a hypnotizing beam on the wall).
If you’ve been paying the least bit of attention to Chicago’s dense and diverse music scene over the past few months, then My Gold Mask need no introduction. The dark, art-rock duo consisting of vocalist and percussionist Gretta Rochelle and guitarist Jack Armondo have taken the windy city by storm.
There are shows and then there are shows. You know what I’m taking about. Performances in which the band are just completely feeling it – the crowd, the room, their band mates. Everything in the universe aligns at that one precise moment and it’s perfect. There could be a natural disaster, earthquake, flood or, most likely in Chicago, blizzard, and it wouldn’t make you flinch for a second because the band on stage are absolutely killing it.
This was the scene last Saturday night at Lincoln Hall when Chicago’s influential post-rockers Tortoise offered an immaculate performance during which they were received as hometown heroes – and rightfully so.
Sometimes a band can take sounding retro too far and venture into straight replication of previously chartered ground. Unfortunately for Yeasayer, and their sophomore effort, Odd Blood, what they achieve sounds like an 80’s new-wave cover band attempting to write originals of their own. What results is a collection of stale and regurgitated sounding songs that don’t compel multiple plays.
For producer Michael Slaboch, seeing this labor of love come to fruition has been a long time coming and so far has garnered two sold out screenings at the 92Y Tribeca in Manhattan.
“The project took four years from first thought to the screening in New York City last weekend,” said Slaboch. “The first two and a half years it sat on the dry erase board.”
We had a smashing idea here at Loud Loop Press labs. How about bring our readers some behind the scenes footage of a local band shooting a video from the concept to the filming to the finished product and more? Well, today we bring you the first installment, The Making Of…The Gorilla Press -- “Anger in the Drains” which was premiered just last week. The Ichiro Hino-directed video features some killer stop motion animation interlaced with dramatic storytelling and band performance shots. So sit back, relax and enjoy a behind the scenes look at the “Anger in the Drains” video from the Gorilla Press.
*Filmed by Britni Day *Edited by Britni Day & Richard Giraldi
Photo by Lenny Jimenez | Porter's Tap (Hammond, IN) 03.28.09
Rock music has always skewed toward worship of the ones who exude cool. Chicago quartet the Maybenauts hope audiences discover that dorks have more fun.
“We don’t want people to think we’re cool; we’re total nerds,” said Leilani Frey, lead singer of the Maybenauts. “Being cool is not cool. Being a dork is cool.”
Wander into any Maybenauts show and you will find that all eyes fall on guitarist Vee Sonnets dressed in a space suit and panda mask.
