Release of the Day: Rectal Hygienics - Ultimate Purity

Album Art by Ted Sweeney

Have you ever kissed a loved one's tears at a moment of tenderness only to realize that, perversely, you enjoy their salty viscosity? And when you begin to kiss the rest of your cherished one's face where the trace of saltwater makes slick trails of pain, are you kissing to sooth or to lap up one more drop of that tantalizing, cascading cocktail?

Rectal Hygienics is a band that sees the base of human behavior, where a lingering hug is the symptom of an underlying sexual craving, a smile conceals a forked tongue, and all the cellar doors in the world hide abuse and hurt and anguish. Let's not kid ourselves either: these are realities. The boogeymen and ghosts that lurked in our childhood closets pale in comparison to some of the very real people who walk our streets every day. These are the characters who haunt Ultimate Purity, Rectal Hygienics' sophomore LP, out February 17 on Permanent Records.

The record begins with a sampled exposition detailing an aberration men in high-powered positions of prestige often have. Without explaining the corruption, Rectal Hygienics launch into their dirge-laden noise rock while vocalist Matt Ibarra, seemingly level-headed, begins speaking. Ultimate Purity features a band willing to experiment with the formula that made Brainbombs infamous. Matt is unsatisfied with harsh barks of distaste; perhaps more disturbingly, he's going to try and coax you into camaraderie. You might even find yourself singing the mantra "Rid all emotion" along with him during "Esteem." Music this irredeemable shouldn't be so catchy.

So why should we acknowledge something so charged with darkness?

Because the truth is that I find myself wondering why I shouldn't walk out of 7-Eleven without paying for my Coca-Cola or why I shouldn't stab the guy who cut me in line with my house key or what would happen if I pushed a stranger into oncoming traffic. Because there's a yin to every yang. And because we couldn't see in three dimensions without shadows. And because there are bullets not being fired in a gun range on the South side of Chicago. And because even though curiosity killed the cat, sometimes I spend minutes staring into a mirror trying to figure out what's staring back.

Release of the Day: Bitchin' Bajas - Krausened EP

Aside from boasting one of the greatest band names around, Bitchin' Bajas make post-krautrock ambient-like music a la Zeit-era Tangerine Dream, albeit with a bit of flourish and fanfare, utilizing rise-above-the-miasma flute, synths, and percussion to sound more like textiles from dreams than monotonous drone. The band, a partnership of Cooper Crain, Rob Frye, both of pointedly kosmische band Cave, and Dan Quinlivan.

Their EP from 2013 Krausened has recently been repressed by Permanent Records in support of an upcoming tour with Circuit Des Yeux through bits of the South and Midwest. I am also a big proponent of this tour, as these are a couple of my favorite acts from experimental Chicago, so I figured I'd do a write up on the excellent EP.

The record is titled Krausened, properly pronounced "Croy-send," which Urban Dictionary tells me to mean being pretty much tanked from drinking beer, though it has an appropriately scientific definition in the brewing process. I had to look that shit up though. My immediate reaction was just seeing the "Krau," which makes me think of Germany, and (duh) Krautrock. And this specific record is definitely more in a classic electronic Krautock than Berlin-school drone and ambient music like some of their full LPs of recent. The record itself is made of two side-long compositions driven by percussion and synthesizers, rather than focus predominantly on mood, and is totally recommended.

And just a quick editor's note about the tour: these two acts WILL NOT disappoint. In my opinion, Bitchin' Bajas are one of the premiere improvised electronic groups in the U.S. right now and Circuit Des Yeux pretty much makes me cry each time I see her, so DO NOT miss this tour!!

Release of the Day: The Chicago Triangle - Emergence

Face the facts: we're in the golden age of reissues. Hard to find records are getting their dues by labels like Light in the Attic, Numero Group, Sundazed, and 4 Men with Beards (though with somewhat all-over-the-place results on that one). I personally think some of this has to do with the success and limelight of Searching for Sugarman, but I'll take it - oodles of documentaries and reissues and reads are coming out with the same story: someone with a ton of talent got looked over. And General Public Steve and Sally declare "Oh my god! How could they do that to good ol' Sixto?" before resuming a scheduled listen to the new Katy Perry single. That ain't news! Talent gets passed over because talent might be unfamiliar or at least different from the most popular form of tuneage. For people like me, though, it just means getting to see some good flicks and finally being able to buy coveted wax.

So let's talk about The Chicago Triangle. These Latino cats came out of Chicago in the late 70s before disco pissed away all the guitar bands, playing their own amalgamation of funk, soul, prog, and rock n' roll to anyone who would listen - allegedly, they played to about five hundred people at their album release show so why did this album take so long to become possible? I mean, this band isn't even on discogs at the moment of writing - this is more elusive than elusive and don't that just make your inner music nerd squeal? To make a long story short, people didn't know this record but people KNEW OF this record until it was found at a record fair in Austin, TX. From there, the dudes at Permanent did their magic with Rob Sevier of Numero to track down the original band members who turned out to be true lifers! Longhairs with bandanas and first class tickets on the rad times express. These guys are even playing a free show at the Empty Bottle on November 3. A total pipe dream that became reality.

And man, the music really speaks for itself. For my money, there's no better word for the record than "lively." There's a real energy to the music here that could only possibly come from true belief in what they were doing. And now you can get your filthy meathooks on the dang thing!

Release of the day: Leather Slave - Leather Slave

The post on Permanent Records' website  quotes Julian Cope's review of the Brainbombs' record "Obey"  as being the same review of Leather Slave. It's funny, but it's totally true. Leather Slave are a sick, noise rock band from the battery acid and corrosion infested sewers of Los Angeles making filthy, deranged music. It does sound like Brainbombs a lot, and it features heavy riffing with fucked up lyrics and one of the most offensive album covers I've seen this side of Dawn of the Black Hearts.

Permanent really did a number on this package too. Oxblood wax on a 45 rpm 12". I played this the other night when I was going to bed and had nightmares. I am on a massive Boeing jet going to California, but almost immediately, it careens in the wind. A tumultuously dancing plummet, skitter scattering across low-gliding nimbi. Like a fan rattling before shuddering to a halt because the power went out. The plane crashes silently. The wreckage is quiet. I blink once. Twice. Blood leaks from my face. A femur crests from out of my thigh.

In real life, I wake with a lingering, dull pain. Safe for the time being.

Release of the Day: Rectal Hygienics - Even The Flies Won't Touch You

The bassline for "Bad Behavior" is like the Jaws theme. It's sound signifies that some primordial beast is about to surface from some interminable maw. Matt Ibarra begins "My anger is nothing to do with hate. Business is business and that's all that it is to me." The guitars scream too in a symbiotic relationship, burbling, cracking, whirling, turning in some widening gyre. The centre cannot hold.

The obvious comparison to make is Brainbombs, but I think Rectal Hygienics is a bit more sophisticated. Lyrically, there are similar themes, but Rectal Hygienics utilizes less repetition in words and phrases, or at least spreads out the repetition. There are full scenarios and characters, making near-suites in the Rectal Hygienics catalog.

I haven't heard the second Rectal record yet, but my friend Jeffrey was present during the instrumental recordings and he said that it will be his favorite record of the year. And he's got incredible taste. I've heard one song actually and the vocal delivery was completely different than the howls that I was used to. For now, I'll make due with their first visceral document.

Here's a live recording of their set at Varnish

Interview with Purling Hiss

I discovered Purling Hiss basically because I trust Woodsist Records completely. I snatch up almost every release of theirs and I have never been let down. This label introduced me to Real Estate, White Fence, Woods, and a lot more. I picked up a copy of Purling Hiss' Public Service Announcement a while ago and really enjoyed it. When I saw that they had signed to Drag City I was ecstatic because Drag City is another label that does no wrong. It also meant that Purling Hiss was signed at home base for me in Chicago. For me, it's really inspiring to see a bunch of really great labels from Chicago doing some really incredible things. Big labels like Drag City obviously kind of spur the movement but with awesome labels like Permanent Records, Tic Tac Totally, Trouble in Mind, and Hozac all holding their own and releasing consistently diverse, incredible music, Chicago's doing pretty A-OK.

Purling Hiss is the brainchild of Mike Polizze from Philadelphia. Though it began as a home-recording project, it grew into a three-person band. The songs have become bolder, bigger, and recorded in higher fidelity. And Mike has released a lot of music, all of which I enjoy. He's been on a bunch of labels and played a lot of shows and continues to just hone his craft. The new band finds recordings that are a bit more collaborative, which Polizze admits.

I have been able to listen to the upcoming album and it is an absolute party. It's a well-rounded kick of adrenaline at times and also a tool of restraint, demonstrating Polizze's ability to a great song-writer in addition to a balls to the wall guitar player.

You can learn more about the band on their FACEBOOK PAGE or give them a spin on their BANDCAMP PAGE

Check it.

Jordan: Tell me about how Purling Hiss got started. Who all is in Purling Hiss and when did you all start making music?

Mike: Okay, I started off by myself without a band. For me, it’s something that I’ve always been doing. I’m almost thirty-two now but I bought my four-track when I was eighteen and I’ve always been recording songs on it for the last ten or so years. In 2008 I had another recording project I was working on and I happened to call it Purling Hiss. Permanent Records in Chicago found it because I had put it up online and I ended up working with them. I put a record out on Richy Records, Woodsist, and Mexican Summer too. Basically, because all of those small labels put it out. What prompted me to start a live band was being invited to do a tour with Kurt Vile and the Soft Pack in 2010. I’m buddies with him and he just asked if I wanted to take the show on the road. I had enough time to get the band together and it worked great. It’s the same three people now than it was at the beginning. Purling Hiss at first was a bedroom recording project but it’s cool because the new album that’s coming out is a big step up for us. It’s the first album that is in a studio. It’s the first album that has the band on it.

J: I just got into home recording too. I was thinking about getting a four track or something. Any recommendations for people starting with that?

M: Yeah, any basic four-track. I had a Yamaha - don’t even know what the model was. But just a basic four-track. It’s a good way to start out. I’m not the most skilled person when it comes to engineering. It was more about documenting my ideas. You do learn. In the time we’re living in, it’s easy to do everything on a computer but it’s nice to have some palpable - a physical four-track recorder is a great way to learn. It’s simple. You just get a tape and pop it in. I think that’s a good way to start out and then using that to export onto the computer. I personally would love to have a 388, a reel-to-reel. In the 70s and 80s they were the top of the home recording stuff that you could get, but I never used a reel-to-reel before but I’ve heard it’s easy. I love doing recordings at home. You get used to it and it’s fun to mess around with once you get into it. It’s funny - I don’t even remember the model, but you can’t go wrong with the four track.

J: Did your early output sound a lot different than the stuff you’re making now?

M: Yeah, between the ages of eighteen and twenty-two I was really slow. I would really only record a couple tracks, but probably around 2004 is when I would hold onto recordings. There is stuff that you can still hear now that I recorded then. I haven’t played anything earlier than 2004 because the stuff before then isn’t really complete or worth showing. It’s changed. Between 2004 until the last few years I’ve gotten better at it, but now I’m at a point where I’m with a band. I won’t stop recording at home but it’s not the only thing I do.

J: What’s the live band like? Do you guys collaborate on songs or is it still pretty much just you?

M: I just roll with what works. I laid the groundwork for the band and I guess I’m the primary songwriter. It’s cool because I’ll write a basic idea and then we’ll put it through the band where we work it all out together. I’ll basically write a song at home and bring it to the band and work it out there. That’s how we did this last album and then we’ll jam together and take it to the studio. That’s the basic dynamic. The band has a defined sound now, which is good. 

J: Do you guys have other jobs than this or is it a full time gig?

M: Right now I’m not really working. When I started touring I quit my job and I’m in between my mom’s house and my girlfriend’s house. The music is starting to work out with better money though. The other guys have jobs, and I do a bunch of odd jobs. I worked full time for ten years of my life from 19 to 29. When we started touring I had a couple odd jobs, but have been mostly concentrating on the music so we tour as much as we can and I think that when we do this album we’re going to try and stay on the road as much as possible. When we aren’t touring sometimes I do work too and the other guys have jobs too.

J: Are you guys gonna do anything for SXSW?

M: No, I don’t think we’re doing anything for South By Southwest. We did last year. It was fun - I’m glad we did it. I really don’t feel like there’s a need for us to do it. I think it depends on what a band really wants out of going. We went there last year and were doing an album with Drag City, but just figured we’d do it anyway. We played a show for Permanent Records at Beerland. We played the Austin Psych Fest party at the Spider House and we actually played Jack White’s showcase, but that was interesting since it was so different. He’s a big rockstar. But we got paid to play it. It was cool to be down there and see it with certain bands. Most of the shows I saw were at Austin Psych Fest. This year we have a new album and you’d think that we would go down and promote it. Like a rat race. But I don’t have that mentality. Everybody is going there, and instead we’re going to tour in April. The album’s out March 19, so we’re just going to wait and do it on our own terms. As much fun as it would be, it’s going to be a clusterfuck. Imagine loading in. Have you been there before?

J: No I actually haven’t even been to Texas.

M: Well, there are just so many people and vehicles and it’s terrible to park. There are no loading zones and it’s really exhausting. I’m not complaining because it was really fun but I just don’t think we need to do it right now. It’s more fun for people who are going to see music. They get a vacation out of it.

J: It seemed overwhelming seeing all the bands there and the crowds. I really want to go to Chaos in Tejas.

M: Yeah, I don’t want to speak to soon. We might play that. I don’t think so though. I’m not sure. I don’t know if we can make it happen because of schedules. I would love to play it.

J: The lineup is unreal every year. For me, being in Chicago and working makes it hard to take off time to go to Texas for just a short period of time. But I should probably grow some balls.

M: Yeah man.

J: So what’s the album like? What made making this album unique?

The new album

M: I think the fact that all these past albums were just me and home recordings. This time it’s a band and the old recordings were cerebral, but half-baked ideas. With the band and in a studio, we have more ideas. We can also let loose. I don’t like things to be too perfect either. I like to have improvisation in my music too. It’s cool to have the band to collaborate with. It’s really well-rounded. Some of my albums before were just blown out and shreddy and I had some albums that were more pop-oriented, with hooks. This is just the logical bridge. It’s meeting halfway. It’s a good opportunity to make a well-balanced album. There are some blown out guitar songs and there are some hooks in it too. The goal is to round it out and have both opposite ends on the spectrum without sacrificing anything. It doesn’t lean to much to one side, to be honest. It’s a solid half hour of a power trio playing hard rock. It’s got heavy guitars. It’s got a psych element to it. And it’s also got some great hooks and pop-sensibility. I think what ties it together is me mining from the same place in my mind. I’m being creative in the same way but the band puts their stamps on it.

J: What would you say influences the sound that you have? Can you pin down any bands?

M: It’s funny because I’ve said this in other interviews. I feel like a deer in the headlights when I get that question in interviews, but it’s a perfectly reasonable question. It’s something that should be asked. But you’re influenced by so many things. The guitar sound comes from my earliest memories, being a little kid listening to the oldies station. I’m influenced by my parents. My mom was very into rock music. My dad was too, but he was more into jazz. You could hear someone in the house playing music. He played saxophone. When I could watch MTV, I would hear Guns n Roses and when I was old enough to get a guitar, Nirvana was big. I had no mentor, like an older cousin or sibling. I had to try stuff on my own. I was a late bloomer in terms of cool music. In middle school I realized MTV wasn’t doing it for me. I had to turn to classic rock and discovered Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones. It’s guitar rock 101 - rudimentary fundamentals about loud electric guitar. I had to figure out what was cool and what wasn’t. Boston was not cool.

M: For me in High School I tried to imitate Jimi Hendrix. And then I get into punk rock. I was a kid with some 70s rock influence. Just a squalling stratocaster. Then I discovered Black Flag and Minor Threat and the Bad Brains. Eventually I got into Dinosaur Jr. You’re Living All Over Me is still one of my favorite albums. I know that’s a lot for me to explain to you, but for two minutes going off, that’s the history. Going from oldies to MTV to Classic Rock to Punk Rock then getting my own gear. The band I started really playing with when I was 22 was Birds of Maya. I’m still in that band now. We’re active when we want to be but we don’t tour all that much.

J: What other bands are you in right now? I haven’t heard of Birds of Maya.

M: Birds of Maya is the band where I really started out. I was in bands perpetually in High School. Birds of Maya is the first notable thing I did. I moved to Philly and became best friends with those dudes. We played more devolved, broken-down, fucked up classic rock but it feels really off-the-cusp. We’re kind of intuitive when we play since we’ve been playing so long. Songs don’t begin or end. We just jump into it. It stops when it stops. It’s a three piece that’s fuzzed out and fucked up. You’ll hear some stuff in 2013 from them. Nothing I can really talk about yet. But we’re definitely in the middle of some cool things.

J: So you have Purling Hiss, Birds of Maya, an album, and a bunch of tours. Sounds like 2013 is a big year for you.

M: Yeah, hopefully. Birds of Maya is awesome because we just get together and jam when we can. That’s a thing we always have. Purling Hiss is being done big this year. Got some recordings done and then we’re going to hit the road.

J: Do you guys have any tour plans yet?

M: Yeah, we are almost confirmed for a two week tour in the U.S. in April. We’re going to start with a record release show in New York and then we’re going to go to the midwest like Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Madison. We’re going to do a loop and as long as everything works out, we’ll go to Europe for a month in May and after that, we’re looking to go out to the West Coast. The summer and fall are pretty open, but we’re trying to fill it up. Should be cool.

J: Yeah. Psyched to see you.

M: I think we’re going to do a free monday show at the Empty Bottle. You know about those?

J: Yeah, those are the greatest!

M: Awesome. Well guess what? We’re doing it. If my memory serves me right I think it’s like April 15. I was just working on it the other day. We’ve got a couple cool bands that we’re booking some things with. It’s not confirmed yet, but if all goes well, we’ll have some touring bands yet. Chicago is like home base. Permanent Records is the first place we did a record and Drag City is in Chicago too.

J: Yeah Permanent is definitely my favorite record shop in Chicago. It’s great to see the proliferation of all sorts of labels here. It’s incredible.

M: Definitely. Fucking cool. It’s great to have so much and being able to go to Chicago whenever basically. Got me excited.

J: That’s about all I have to ask. You have anything else to say?

M: Not really. Just excited. Thank you for the interview. I’m glad that you’re excited enough to invite me to interview. I think it’s a real joy to have the album and happy you dig it and I can’t wait to get on the road. We’ll meet up in Chicago. Stay tuned. We’ll have more shit announced then.

Interview with Alex from Running

Cover Art for Running's First Record

Ariel Pink may be my favorite songwriter of all time. It's between him and Tom Waits - put Kurt Cobain there too...aw hell, ok, Bjork can come too. The point about Ariel Pink, and the rest of those musicians, is that they come from a long line of history, most of which results from some sort of Blues derivative, even though for Bjork and Ariel, it may seem a bit less bluesy. Ariel Pink writes really really poppy songs - poppy not in the sense of Rihanna vs. Chris Brown, but in the sense of the good ol' days, like if Tom Petty did a lot more mushrooms and Bruce Springsteen sang about gender change, all the while Kraftwerk is dancing on the recording device. That's a terrible comparison. I'm just having fun.

The point here is that Ariel Pink worked with a lot of different people early on, most visibly John Maus, synthpop savant extraordinaire, and Geneva Jacuzzi, a brunette pixie who appears in Pink's newest Video "Only in my Dreams." A little bit less known is Gary War, who I saw at the empty bottle last week. Before Mr. War emerged onstage, however, a little band called Running played and they blew my mind. I don't know if I've ever seen drums played as hard as Alejandro plays. Jeff, the guitarist, hunches over with a classic sneer and eyes the crowd and the singer. And then Matthew, vocalist and bassist, gives his everything as he is carried away by the tubthumping rhythm of his bass.

I had to get to know these guys so I approached them and asked for an interview and they were kind enough to give me one. I also picked up their awesomely-titled Asshole Savant. It's a one-sided 12" with an etching that comes with a flexidisc, making for one hell of an odd package. I loved it. It sounds awesome. A lot like their live show.

A Live Show

You can pick up their earliest release at THE PERMANENT RECORDS WEBSITE. You can also check out their record Asshole Savant HERE And this is their Website - there isn't much on it.

Jordan: Who all is in the band Running and how did you guys meet each other?

Alex: Jeff, Matt, and Alejandro. 3 guys. We met here in Chicago, met Jeff hanging out around town, met Matt in some dark bleak corner.  Running started in 2009, August for sure. Our relationship blossomed right away

J: When did you first come up with the idea of being in a band together? Had you guys been in bands together or bands in general? 

A: Possibly when some Wolf Guys were playing some flutes made out of toilet parts at the now defunct Mopery, then Matt slurred the words let's start a hardcore band and i said fuck yeah homey. We had never played music together. Then, same week I saw Jeff, he looked very tired, and I asked him, how about you and me in a punk rock band?

He nodded, he was in. We jammed, he busted out that heroin-skronk guitar tone--we were all in love.

J: How important is the music scene in Chicago to the band? Have you guys always been here?

A: Running is a Chicago band--a sweet place to be. People are supporting, friends play killer jams, you chill. Love the many gigs at weird basements, creative spaces, and other wacky places. 

J: What do you all do when you aren't making or playing music?

A: For Internal Revenue Service reasons we cannot disclose that information, we are fully, and legally employed. 

Running works but fuck it, I'll tell you everything. Matthew is the CEO of a multi media empire known as Priority Male ®, Jeff and I just count wads money and gamble other people's money and homes all day at the Chicago Board of Trade. Do you PayPal?

J: What is the process like for making a song with you guys? Do you have set times in which you're specifically "writing" a song, or does it kind of just end up happening?

A: We get drunk, and bang some instant classics, recorded on an phone. Its simple, Running pays the rent for a space, our instruments live there. 

Asshole Savant Cover

Personally, I just listen to The Fall, I hate everything else, and I rip off their drums, often, very often, but its just like their old fuck M.E.S. stealing all kind of tunes--and making them better, of course.

J: Do you ever have to consider the label that you're working with in order to come up with a product, or do you take a mostly finished idea to someone when you want them to put it out?

A: We typically put together a recording and know who we need to hit to find out if it can be released. Permanent Records picked up the first one, and I think it happened when their minds were blown when they connected the dots that their pals Matt, Jeff and I were Running and knew each other...WOW! Liz loved #1 Dad (a Running song, the slowest and longest), so I knew they were giddy about releasing that slab. They released our first piece of wax, with beautiful art made by a machine, depicting Chicago's grid, definitively a wolf in sheep clothes. Then when CAPTCHA honcho's Mr. Funke asked us to release something, we knew about his roster of bands and got pretty excited. He also experienced the excruciating pain of dealing with Running making an art statement on wax, kindly baptized Asshole Savant.  We had the songs, took them to a studio, Cooper from Cave manning the board, Asshole Savant was born. Funke paid the bill, it was that simple.

J: How did you arrive at your present sound? Is it a conscious thing as well, or did it just happen because of noises that you all enjoy?

A: Naturally, we play loud, to make sure we are effective at ignoring the sounds of our own tormenting thoughts, you know, about life in general in this mundane world, paying the bills, drinking pale ales, skeletons biting bird's asses, common things. I enjoy harsh damaged sounds, and Jeff delivers then pretty well as I've seen tweakers looking even weirder than their regular selves during a Running set. 

J: How would you say that one of your records translates into a live show?

A: Personally I like the live shows because people smoke me out and i get free drinks.  Live is where is at for me but Running on record is the awesomest shit i've ever done. I have played in other bands and I have never listened to my own shit as much as I listened to Asshole Savant. I stare at it constantly. Running sounds like the record, and the record sounds a lot like Running think its sounds live. 

J: What makes a good show for you guys in addition to free beer and getting paid?

A: People getting wasted, buying our record and leaving it behind at the pisser. Girlfriends telling their boyfriends: What have you done with your life? Why aren't you in Running? Pass ME the CornNuts ®

J: What are some upcoming shows of yours that we can look forward to?

A: Good question! November 8th with Cave at the Hideout (I think) kick off show for the Cave/Running tour 2012. 

Maybe somewhere before that, just google Running for more information. 

NOVEMBER

8 - Chicago, IL @ Hideout

9 - Cleveland, OH @ Happy Dog

10 - TBA 

11 - Easthampton, MA @ Flywheel

12 - Boston, MA @ Great Scotts w/ People of the North

13 - New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge w/ White Hills

14 - Brooklyn, NY @ Kent 385

15 - Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brendas w/ Purling Hiss

16 - Pittsburgh PA @ 6119

17 - Columbus, OH @ Double Happiness

18 - Detroit, MI @ TBA

J: Are any of you guys actual runners, or is the name just something you thought was cool?

A: Frankly we do not remember why we are called Running. My dad was a runner, a marathon man, he had a bunch of trophies, I made "smoking devices" out of them. I would love to teach a workshop on that, 2 week internship. 

J: What can we look forward to in the future of Running's output?

A: Expect more tapes and bullshit gimmicks we'll be peddling at shows but, if you want less uncertainty in your future, do not fret,Running is excited about this Castle Face release.. GROUP FLEX II - SON OF FLEX is almost ready to go. This playable flexi book features new and exclusive tracks from Warm Soda, Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall, Mikal Cronin, The Mallard, Running, The Fresh & Onlys, Kelly Stoltz, White Fence, Blasted Canyons, Sic Alps, and Burnt Ones. It's going to be see through, and kinda 3D, and awesome, so get ready. Joe Roberts did the art and it's insane and we should be doing presales once we're a little closer to getting it made but we're really excited and wanted to get some details in people's brains.