Interview with Joshua Touchton of Virgin Flower

There's this distinct moment from Joshua Touchton's International Noise Conference set as Virgin Flower where he bares his teeth and hisses in air. Is it a smile or a grimace? Does this gesture come from a place of exaltation and affirmation or pain and oppression? It's memorable because that idea of illusory context is an important one, not just to performance, but to our identities. Sure, a person mixes sounds together, but there's more to it. What lays the bedding of the mind that makes the sounds? Who watches the watchmen, dig?

I often don't get the answers, but one of the great joys of doing interviews with artists I respect and sometimes admire is getting glimpses of it. This is one such instance. I'm a bit honored to have gotten such an open response from Joshua about the darkness in his life surrounding his more recent output, including the excellent Absence of Essence on the consistently great PopNihil label, a swampy mix of beats, electronic samples, and distorted vocals, languishing somewhere between Suicide and Dr. Octagon.

The new tape is as much a reflection of Joshua's haunted past as it is his looking forward. Rather than stay trapped, Joshua casts out his darkness. The listener becomes witness. Does he or she empathize or dance along? Perhaps the two are not mutually exclusive.

Jordan Reyes: So tell me a little bit about the tape you just put out on PopNihil. That is your first tape, right?

Joshua Touchton: No, there was a tape I put out about two years ago on a Jacksonville label called Rainbow Pyramid. It was a split with my brother John in his previous band. She does the Mouth Mouth thing now. There were called Ascetic. We did a Virgin Flower/Ascetic split. This new release on PopNihil is, I don’t want to say more intimate, but it means a lot more to me.

JR: Why does it mean more?

JT: It’s all sample-based - I use a sampler, but the new samples were made from scratch. I use a drum machine and a synthesizer. The old samples were with a Synthesizer, an oscillator, and obscure tape samples. I feel like I found my niche now. I feel comfortable. I’ve developed a consistent sound. Since that tape, I’ve actually written a couple more songs and they’ve got a similar sound and feeling. So I’ve gotten out of that last phase and begun to do what I’ve always wanted to do by myself. I feel like the new Virgin Flower tape is an extension of a band my brother and I used to be in, which was a heavy noise rock n’ roll band. I played drums and he played guitar and synth. Where we left off, I picked up. It’s noise punk rock by one man.

JT: I like the previous tape a lot too, though. That’s why I kept the name. It’s out there on the internet. Actually, I also did a split with Baby Ghost on PopNihil so there was another previous Virgin Flower PopNihil release that had two songs of mine on it. It’s a really short split - about twelve or fourteen minutes altogether.

JR: Have you known Matthew for a long time?

JT: Yeah, I’ve known him since 2012 I believe. We’re going on three years of knowing each other.

JR: Are you and your brother John [editor’s note: John Touchton from Severed + Said] close? Do you guys get to bounce ideas off each other?

JT: Yeah, well, outside of being my brother, John’s my best friend. He’s definitely someone that I’m influenced by greatly. We live and work together and have made music for a long time. I actually just bought some drum sticks today and we played music for the first time in a long time. We’ll play electronic stuff together too. But in terms of bouncing ideas, totally. I ask him questions and he asks me questions. I would say we’re both inspired by each other, though I can obviously only speak for myself.

JT: Beyond an artistic level, on a personal level, I think he’s a really good person. I like what he does. I think he’s smart.

JR: I really enjoy talking to him too. I met him at Sweat the night after you played and we ended up talking about Philip K. Dick for like half an hour. It was awesome.

JT: He’s a smart dude and I’m inspired by the way he lives. He lives a very balanced life, I’d say. He’s helped me when I’ve been in fucked up places. There’s a couple people who have helped me through some crazy shit. I’m glad to have had that come around. I can’t imagine what my life would be like if we hadn’t grown up together or what his would be like.

JR: So what was your first encounter with experimental, darker, noisier music?

JT: I’d say when I was about fifteen I saw and met these dudes Chris Spohn and Logan Owlbeemoth. They would do Telepathic Friend and Friendless Outsider. Logan has gone to form Os Ovni. I don’t keep in contact with either of those dudes anymore. So that was in 2005 to answer your question. A lot of the older noise, experimental dudes I got into are either totally burnt out or very competitive and afraid of other creative outlets, afraid of other people having success. A lot of the noise dudes are really fucking strange, man. They’re burnt out or isolated or weird internet dudes.

JT: So in 2005, I saw some more experimental projects at this place The Pit in Jacksonville. There were two pits. One was an outside DIY space and a lot of good bands came through there. Thank God came through there. Upside Down Cross. Wolf Dick. Super Pizza Party. Telepathic Friend.

JT: Before that, I was into punk music, but I found out about Suicide when I was about thirteen. I remember seeing “Dream, Baby, Dream” and thinking “this is fucked up.” Seeing that, I recognized it as something that I related to that wasn’t full-on punk rock. Ultimately I feel like that stuff affects the way I make music. I sound like some mix of electronic punk and I’m really excited that I have people like Matthew and John to encourage me to do what I’ve been doing.

JT: Jacksonville is a weird place to play experimental shows at. I don’t play out that much because it’s not worth it sometimes. I like going out of town to play.

JR: That’s what I was going to ask next, like, how is Jacksonville for an artist like you?

JT: It’s great in the sense that there are a lot of creators here doing experimental stuff. Matthew, John, and a couple other people are a steady foundation for that. But the people who go to shows here seem to be less concerned with the cultural aspect. They’ll just go out with no intention to hear music. There’s a lot of that. That’s okay. That’s better than no one being there, but I feel like most of what’s going on here isn’t thought of the same way that I think of it. But I believe in what we’re doing and I believe in Jacksonville. I love Jacksonville, though. I would move if I weren’t happy here.

JT: There’s exchange too. There’s a lot of hardcore here, but maybe that’s everywhere. There’s a lack of punk rock, though. There’s not a lack of experimental stuff, but there’s not that much support. At the same time, you have people like Matthew who’s doing something special. He’s the dude and his fucking label has put out so many releases in two years.

JR: I can’t believe how much he’s done.

JT: He’s an impressive dude as far as that goes. I think Jacksonville is on its way up. I think people are going to recognize what’s going on here. Maybe not, but we’d all be doing stuff even without the recognition. John just got that release on Not Not Fun for Severed + Said too. That’s a really big deal. I’m really proud and happy for him. 

JR: That’s massive. I guess he’s doing a East Coast tour soon too.

JT: I think Matthew’s going with him. I don’t know if he’s going to play any shows, but I know he’s going with John. That’s good news for anyone who releases a tape with Matthew - he’s going to go out of his way to help people on his label.

JR: Have you gotten much response for the tape?

JT: To be honest, not yet. There’s a lot of people I personally know who gave me some. I couldn’t be happier, but I don’t think too many people have bought the tape at this point - I don’t think it’s sold out. I’m kind of happy, though. I don’t want a bunch of locals owning it. I don’t want to waste copies on people that I already know or something. I’m keeping all of my copies - I mean, I’ve given it to a few important people. I told most of my friends who want it to either order from Matthew or listen to it on the internet. It’s really special to me.

JT: So this is the most response I’ve gotten - from you and some dudes from Orlando who have asked Matthew to book me there. Like I said, I’m releasing music for response, but whether or not I get any sort of response doesn’t keep me from doing what I’m doing. I don’t do music to be popular or to get credited. I like people hearing it. I want people to, but I think it’s more of an outlet or a therapy than anything. It’s my journal. It’s my exegesis (laughs).

JR: A lot of your vocals are pretty distorted on the tape. What are you talking about?

JT: Most of it is about self-obsession, negative desires, drug addiction. My last few years were very intense. I stopped making music for a while. I put a lid on some things and started doing music again. All the music I’ve made since then has been about the last two years of my self-obsession, physical and psychological abuse, self-destruction. I mean - it was just a really rough couple of years. There’s a lot about hard drugs, being alone, and being happy with everything I was doing, living only for my desires, and being okay with that. Now I’m not. I’m still sick in a lot of ways, but not in the way I was. There’s no hard drugs now besides alcohol.

JT: That description sounds dark, but to me what’s truly dark is poppy music with the same concept. At least when you put on headphones and listen you know it’s dark. There’s no subliminal message. It’s obvious by the packaging and style of music. It’s still poppy in a way. There’s still a beat to it.

JR: I think a lot of pop music isn’t just dark but it tells people to embrace a lifestyle prepared to make you an unhappy person.

JT: Definitely. That’s what I’m saying. I had this conversation with a dude Genre Baptiste. His shit’s really catchy and amazing. I love it. I saw him in St. Augustine and got to meet him so I told him “Wow, that was great. It was really dark.” And he said “No, it’s not dark. It’s poppy.” And I was like “Yeah, it’s poppy and catchy but your subject matter has so much discontent that I can relate to.” I felt like he slipped it in and covered it up behind a poppy song. So, yeah, I completely agree with you. All these songs on the radio that are scientifically going to make you dance, where there’s no way you can hate the chord progression, has a message that’s “Get drunk and fuck. Get fucked up and fuck.” To me, that’s way more dark than what I’m doing. My shit’s obvious. It’s obviously about an outlet for the dark sides of myself.

JR: It’s sort of like, this is maybe a weird way to put it, it’s what the devil from Christianity would do. It’s that sick-smelling honey that brings you close and ends up making you ill.

JT: That’s a good way to put it. It takes the negative things that you’re told not to do or be careful in doing and making them appealing. To me, that’s the darkest shit ever. I covered a Backstreet Boys song a couple years ago. My intention was to show how to how that culture is a distraction and negative for girls, urban girls, or whatever. It’s telling you to go to a mall and get a dress and new jeans. It takes all the industries of the world and tries to destroy culture. Any threatening culture out there they try to neutralize as quickly as possible.

JT: Pop music is down to a science. The frequencies and chord progressions are things you can’t dislike. Underneath that is an undertone of darkness that, if you thought was the secret answer, would cause you to hate your life and potentially die from being too intoxicated or getting an STD.

JR: But it also make you consume. It makes you buy. You begin thinking “I could do the same thing as these guys if I buy the right car or if I look the right way.” And everyone is in on it together and it’s totally terrifying.

JT: You’re right. And it’s terrifying that sometimes the jobs we have, which we need to live, leaves us with a certain amount of money that we don’t spend on bills. I know that I’ll be bored and go spend money that I have on something, or go out to eat. Buying something because I’m unhappy or have an impulse. They got to me. I like to think of myself as being on a minimal level of that idea, but we’re all stuck in this cycle of work, which gives you extra money and you have two days off on the weekend - what are you going to do? Will you spend it on drinking or buying shit? They’ve got me where they want me.

JT: But I also don’t have a car. I like to think of myself as being on a lesser level, but I like to buy cigarettes or alcohol. I don’t buy any drugs that come from gas or have blood on them. Being a consumer is a real thing, and it’s been going on since we were children, or even infants. They’ve been trying to get us and they did. It’ll be okay (laughs).

Interview with Shawn Reed of Night People & Wet Hair

Shawn Reed

Night People Records has been around for ten years. Shawn Reed, label mastermind, put out his first Night People release, Raccoo-oo-oon's Is Night People in 2005 and has consistently exhibited, cultivated, and released compelling, invigorating pieces of art since. Though started in Iowa City, Night People has moved, along with Reed, to the Twin Cities of Minnesota as of a couple years ago. The label has a diverse sound, having put out artists like Dirty Beaches, Merchandise, Circuit Des Yeux, Raccoo-oo-oon, Wet Hair, Broken Water, Some Ember, and more. At the point of writing, Night People has put out more than two hundred tapes, CD-Rs, and LPs. Though prolific, the label also bats near 1.00 in terms of good material. I've yet to find a Night People release that I don't like, which isn't to say that I've heard everything the label has done, but I do have a pretty good running collection of its tapes and LPs, at least enough to say I have a fairly informed understanding of its ethos, outlook, and repertoire. And to be impressed.

Shawn Reed, no stranger to the musical underground, has also been active in the creative, auditory side of music. The afore-mentioned projects Raccoo-oo-oon and Wet Hair are both his own, another indication of his tutored, eclectic heterogeneity. He also designs the visual aspect of the label with psychedelic, geometric allure. So he's a man with many hats, but each one fits snug on his head.

The label recently released a new batch of material, including Broken Water's new LP Wrought and offers a deal on their website for the whole kit & caboodle (the first hyperlink at the top). I highly recommend searching the back catalogue if you're a newcomer and, of course, the new releases.

Jordan Reyes: How often (ballpark) do you think you have to explain that people still buy and listen to cassettes?

Shawn Reed: Not often at this point because over the years it's gotten redundant and annoying to try and explain it so I kind of avoid it ,navigate around it, and try not to go into detail about what I do or initially just keep it to the Vinyl and Digital end of the label. It's known again in a bit of a general way that vinyl is around and popular (supposedly) again, so I stick with that angle more. 

JR: Night People is hard to pin down. I'll hear a cassette from a post-punk project in Florida (Merchandise or Ukiah Drag at one point), a synthpop project from New York (Sandy), or a more ambient instrumental project from a not-exactly-tied-down project (Dirty Beaches). How do you meet these people? Who reaches out to whom?

SR: Historically, the label is mostly working with friends, mainly people I met through making music and touring. Dirty Beaches I don't actually remember clearly because it’s been so long ago. I might have just discovered it digging and got in touch with him. I definitely remember hanging out in Montreal and becoming friends pretty quickly from running into each other on the road and then just writing often and having so much in common or just sharing a good vibe. It’s usually been natural like that. With Dirty Beaches, it was just great music and Alex is interesting, charismatic, and to me just such a good person. It was weird his stuff had been overlooked at first. I got to know Merchandise via mutual friends. I was aware of the Tampa scene in general, initially through stuff like Russian Tsarlag and having Carlos be a friend. I started running into the Tampa people pre- Merchandise on the road in different cities, one year at SXSW stands out. Another time in Chicago when Wet Hair was playing some shows with Circle Pit, I ran into Neon Bluhd (a band with Carson and Dave from Merchandise and Zach from Ukiah) at a record store before the show. They had a day off so I invited them out to the show put them on the list. We talked a bunch, and I gave them some records from the label to take home. Soon after that, Carson and I started writing and sending music back and forth. It was really amazing for them to do a record with NP because by the time that record got going, they had so much attention on them. To stick to doing the record on a really small label like NP was really special. I love those guys. I was just down in Tampa recently hanging out with them just to hang out. So it’s usually just things like that meeting somehow and keeping in touch and having things evolve naturally. Sandy is a more rare case - Blanche Blanche Blanche being another stand out in this way - where things get going from getting a demo in the mail. Sometimes I get more demos than actual orders, which is frustrating. I don't have the time to write most back and it’s usually stuff I would never put out. People are often oblivious on how to approach the label - it’s a bit sad and funny. Sandy is that rare case where even through an email or as a package in the mail, it comes across right and the music is great so I get back in touch. Early on I did a bit of digging/ contacting bands I liked but didn't know, though steadily less of that happened as the label has become more established. 

JR: Wet Hair is similarly eclectic. I might hear a synthpop song two or three tracks away from a more kraut-influenced song. I think it keeps things interesting, but a person can run across listeners who rebuke straying from form. With Wet Hair, though, was there a form to begin with?

SR: I’m a bit puzzled on how to answer this question because everything has form. It’s a bit of a bummer if someone listens to Wet Hair at any point in the Discography and just thinks its random and unintentional. I really don't see how that could be possible with the later stuff but I guess if someone has a totally consumer radio/square version of what music is then maybe they could think that. I'll just say this - I'm not a person that is into being defined by one set of things or operates around cliche. I'm not going to ever be one dimensional or express one-dimensionality.  Refining and evolving aesthetics is important to me, but I don't want to be anything in particular. I'm not interested in gimmicks or pigeonholing something for the sake of profitability. If you are talking about form being the imaginary boundaries people put around things to define themselves and what they like in rigid, safe, boring and often times really unintelligent ways, then yeah fuck that. This kind of question is weird to answer because it’s so far away from my life or my brain because I don't see any boundaries. I think about passions/hobbies of mine like playing basketball or lifting weights in the same kind of  intelligent, artistic way I think about music or art. I have a sense of aesthetics, values, ethics etc. I know generally what I'm not interested in or don't like, but the list of likes is way more expansive. I just don't see any purpose into trying to cage myself in. I'm not into hanging out with narrow-minded people so I guess that the label isn't interested in narrow-minded listeners. 

JR: What do you think makes music interesting? Can you pin it down?

SR: Reality isn't something that is easily pinned-down or described, so things like art and music are outlets for expressing experience or culture in a way that is to me automatically interesting because of the relationship between being human and trying to understand really what life is. Music is interesting because of how affecting it can be, how all encompassing it can feel, and how it can change and affect your sense of reality, time whatever etc. There is something special about arranging sounds to create something to have an effect. Even songs created to be consumer and pop-oriented are still abstract if you think about it as related to human and cultural evolution or even the science of sound and time. Getting to the guts of it though, which I think is what you are asking, - what makes me love a song, a band or an album? It’s a whole bunch of factors relative to timing and circumstances, but a lot of it is gut feeling, for lack of a better way to describe it. It’s just feeling the music, and having it sound fresh and interesting. It’s like a point of potential in a lot of ways for me. Something that is still a bit raw, something in a state of flux that isn't fully figured out is what often catches my interest, something that is good on its way to being great. I love that build up of potential. 

JR: Why did you decide to put out your last two Wet Hair full-lengths on De Stijl as opposed to Night People?

SR: At the time it was about just trying to spread it out and hoping De Stijl had an angle, pull or direction NP didn't have, for variety I guess, and it had a majority to do with respect for that label too, feeling honored to be on it. Over time, honestly it’s not exactly a total regret but it is a bit because I think personally it was more about a friendship or relationship with De Stijl working with them, but long-run I don't think it was about that for De Stijl as much, which was disappointing to me on a personal level in the long term and I don't separate those things well.

JR: How’d you get to do that Deep Freeze Mice comp? Is that the first archival release that you've had on Night People?

Is Night People

SR: Yeah it was the first Archival thing. I stumbled on to them via a blog - maybe Mutant Sounds or DIY or Die back in the day, I loved them instantly. That zone of music late 70's early 80's DIY post punk etc. especially stuff from the UK, Australia, NZ  is an area of music I always gravitated towards and loved. I felt like they were an underrated band that not enough people knew about so I got in touch with Alan Jenkins, the leader of the band who had done other cool related bands and kept the albums in print on CD. It was really easy working with Alan and it ended up making sense to do a kind of “best of” for them because they had so much good material and it is all really hard to come across on vinyl. I felt like it needed to happen. I'd like to do more but its really just finding the right thing. A big desire is to do a different new side label that is all 80's Dancehall reissues - it’s something I think about, but is complex and perhaps a bit deeper water then I fully know how to swim in. I'm really deep on historical Jamaican music in general, but 80's Dancehall is my favorite. It's also an area of music I feel to be overlooked a bit. It's just something I wish I could rep or give back to because I have gotten so much enjoyment and positivity out of listening to it especially in the last few years. 

JR: Your first release, at least in catalog #, was Raccoo-oo-oon's "Is Night People." I never got to see you all play, but I know you were in the band. Did the label come out of a need or desire to put out music attached to your name?

SR: It came out of necessity at first because we had no other way to release the music than starting our own label and going from there, especially being from Iowa at that time period making that kind of music. It was also a way to release stuff related to the band but not exactly side projects like things our friends were making that we liked etc. 

JR: You do your own visual art for Night People. It's always striking and often geometric. I know you use screenprinting, but what is the actual process for laying out and putting together the artwork? Obviously the music on a release has a big impact on what guards the cover - are there certain elements of music that affect the art more than others?

SR: The process just depends on the project. For some LP designs, I end up using photoshop a bit in the final stages of coloring and working with transparencies, which is for covers that aren't silkscreened.  The tapes and silkscreened LP's are made by hand, using a light table, and working with xeroxes I collect from man sources, drawings etc. all done in an old school cut and paste way. I consider the music for sure when I am doing the art but the heavier influence is the evolving aesthetic of the label. I tend to work on art in batches, making many tape covers all at once one after the other and then not working on any visual stuff for a bit. I think I just try to capture the mood of the music and the feel, but not anything literal usually. 

JR: Are there many projects from Iowa City that end up working with Night People? It seems that you guys release a lot of music from other places, oftentimes very far away.

SR: I haven't lived in Iowa City for a couple of years now after being there in a very dialed-in way for 10 years, and before that being in orbit of Iowa City, so a lot has changed.  At this point, I have very few ties to Iowa City and most of the people I was close to there have moved on. I have a few friends still there: Brendan O'Keefe who does the Cuticle project being the one in a music context I would rep for the hardest. I felt loyalty to Iowa City when I lived there, but it was more in a way of trying to bring in good bands and put on good shows and put Iowa City on that map with underground music. That didn't translate over as much to releasing music from there because there wasn't enough that would have fit on NP.  Stand outs historically on the label outside of the bands I was in or side projects related to the bands I was in would be Evan Miller, Jeff Witscher projects (Rene Hell) as he lived there off and on for a while and the Savage Young Taterbug who I still work with. Those are stand outs to me. I toured so much that I felt just as much dialed into a sort of international underground thing as I did to Iowa City. 

JR: Asking out of near ignorance so bear with me. To a non-resident layman, are there any projects from Iowa City that you'd recommend?

Wet Hair - Spill Into Atmosphere

SR: In the next few months I am putting out a 12" EP by the Savage Young Taterbug. He lives mainly in N. Cali at this point, but will maybe always be considered an Iowa guy since he is from Des Moines and cut his teeth in Iowa City. The record is his best material so I recommend that and then my good friend O'Keefe and his project Cuticle his new record is really great. Overall though I don't have much of any contact with Iowa City really at this point. 

JR: Have you read any good books lately that you could recommend to someone reading this?

SR: I'm reading all the time with a pretty wide variety. I also keep up with sports, especially basketball and NBA (live as well, being a T-wolves season ticket holder), listen to a lot of sports-related podcasts. I'm also a movie person and, at times, I watch a movie a day. Lately I have been trying to go through and watch every Zatoichi film, which has been fun. Japanese cinema from the 60's and 70's is a passion.  So I am always consuming a lot of information and media between records, sports, books, movies. I'm an information junkie in a way. Historically, I haven't read much fiction but I have been on more of a tip lately reading two books at once, one fiction and one non fiction. I've been on a bit of a pulp western kick, reading a pile of old Louis L'Amour books my grandfather gave me a few months ago. Some science fiction too: Hyperion by Dan Simmons had been recommended to me for years by a few old friends and I finally read that and enjoyed it. I don't feel as confident talking about literature as records, or even visual art or film but am starting to get a little bit deeper with it. I'm often reading books about music. I read anything I can find about Reggae/Dancehall etc. I just got a pile of old Reggae Quarterly Magazines and am going through those. Beth Lesser from Toronto is connected to the mag and she has a lot of great books and photography concerning 80's Dancehall and the people who made it happen. I've enjoyed her pictures and books greatly and am so happy I finally got a hold of the magazines. I read an oral history of Rough Trade recently as well but was a bit disappointing. I am currently reading Last Night a DJ Saved My Life and feel sort of 50/50 on it. 

JR: Any records from this year stick out to you?

SR: Stand outs to me are what friends are making because I guess that is what I am in the most touch with. I ended up in LA in the fall on a trip and did a DJ spot at the Peaking Lights record release and that stands out because I was driving around a lot in LA in the rental car jamming the newest Peaking Lights and Merchandise records. Merchandise had been in the Twin Cities the day before I left for LA so it was nice getting both of those records in the same week and driving around listening to them in LA while going to the beach to go surfing or going out to the hills to go on trail runs with some buddies, blasting around in the rental and jamming new music by good friends. So those two stand out the most to me. I think whatever either one of those bands does next will be even better because both of those bands are mixing it up again. Both of their most recent records were a bit more straight forward, which was necessary from a creative arc standpoint, but maybe also as another way to then step in a different direction. Peaking Lights live really killed it. I don't even think the new record, although I liked it, did justice to the live vibe when I saw them the couple times I did. I mostly hunt for old records and then with the label being invested and interested in what I am releasing, it's hard to catch what is new and absorb it enough to have an opinion. I should mention too that I really love what Duppy Gun is doing - it's a very cool project or series of projects under one bigger idea. Wolf Eyes live at a small gallery was my favorite local show of the year. Those dudes never get old, and always kill it year after year. The show they put on blew me away. I'm still thinking about it, which is impressive because I have seen them play so many times. Another recent one was re-connecting with old friends the Twerps from Australia. It had a been a couple years sense I had seen them. I DJ'd their show here and then they played a late night basement after party and that was great. It was really special and nostalgic in a positive way to me. I Really loving the new LP by them Range Anxiety. It fits with the weather too as it leads into summer. 

JR: Have you seen the new Star Wars teaser trailer? What's your read on the situation?

SR: It’s getting old. Hollywood just keeps remaking things instead of bringing much of anything new to the mix.  

JR: What all is in the future for Wet Hair/Night People?

SR: The future is always right now for NP. It’s hard to know, and it’s such a hand to mouth thing. That isn't the enjoyable aspect but it is a big part of the label, trying to survive, stay afloat, and keep it alive not in terms of passion but just the amount money it takes. I hoped by now after all these years it would be more stable but it’s not and it’s something that takes a toll, but hopefully it can continue. That said, month to month and year to year it’s hard to tell. It takes so much time doing the label. The amount of work is so hands on and it’s just one person trying to do it all.  Right now it's all about this new Broken Water LP called Wrought. It’s a special record by a mature band that has been around a while doing things totally on their own terms.  Some of the songs on the record really hit me: maybe "Love and Poverty" is the standout for me because of the content and feel of the song and how I relate it to own experience. It’s a great record and people should hear it. I'm trying to make that happen. 

Broken Water- Wrought

SR: Wet Hair has one more record sitting in the dark, though it’s unknown if it will ever come out. It’s the final record for the project, and it’s probably the best record we made. It’s my favorite but it's also a record that sits almost too close to me in terms of feeling and subject matter. It’s probably the most directly personal thing I have ever been a part of artistically. There are many sore spots concerning the record for me, though, so it’s hard to visit. The end of living in Iowa City, the end of a major relationship, maybe even the end of the band itself expressed in that record for me. All very big, dense things in my life. I want to put it out eventually but again it’s just having the funds to it. The bass player of Wet Hair and I, after moving to the Twin Cities, had a bit of a falling out as well and that makes the process a bit weirder and it’s touchy: that situation is a bummer, losing such a close friend. Maybe we will reconnect. I hope we do. I think of all the years Ryan and I spent on the road together in Raccoo-oo-oon and Wet Hair and all the time making the music and recording, and how so much of our lives revolved around it. It’s a really dense thing to get into trying to sum up, describe, or even properly process. I've wanted to sit down and write about it all, the tour experiences, the ups and downs for 10 years spent touring and being so deep in the lifestyle of underground music. I haven't made any music in over 2 years. The last thing I was a part of or did was finish that record. I haven't been sure if I could make music again but I'm starting to feel much more inspired and I'm trying to create something in new territory.  It’s an electronic project that uses hardware and mostly vintage gear. I'm trying to get it going with my old friend Jeff Eaton, who is a pretty well known as the vocalist for the respected hardcore band Modern Life is War. So yeah, I think that project will probably be pretty weird and different and I'm really hoping it happens because I think it would be good for my life right now.

JR: Anything else you'd like to say?

SR: Life is beautiful, man, but it’s also a grind. Doing this label all these years has been great but it’s also a grind. I'm not sure the future looks so bright. It’s hard to imagine the label being able to survive maybe even too much longer, but I'm trying to maintain. I just appreciate anyone who supports it. I'm sorry I'm not better at it too, as far as just keeping up sometimes with things like correspondence and mail - it’s a labor of love - records are so big in my life, but they're a blessing and a burden. They really influence what I did and what I continue to do in the world, where I lived, how I moved around. It all boils down to being in love with records.

Interview with Thee Tsunamis

What’s up with Bloomington, Indiana? What’s with all the good tuneage? Betsy from the Thee Tsunamis suggests something in the water that spawns “mutant bands.” There may be something to that as there seems to be a constant stream of great music coming from the hometown of Indiana University. My first introduction to the town’s music was through Plan-It-X records, though I began picking up records and cassette’s from Bloomington’s Magnetic South label a few years ago when Apache Dropout put out their first LP. A lot of interesting music comes from the label from Circuit Des Yeux to Thee Open Sex to Psychic Baos and more.

I heard Thee Tsunamis’ cassette A Goodbad Man is Hard to Find on recommendation from a friend. The layout and design struck me – a minimally-masked elfish head sits atop a gag gun. The music didn’t disappoint either, as the band ripped through rock n’ roll with a bit of color. There’s a definite element of surf in the music, which justifies the band name, and here and there an odd patch of twang, all penciled in with attitude. Recently, the band put out their first vinyl release, which is a 7” entitled “Delirium and Dark Waters,” boasting the same comically disturbing artwork and a couple hit songs to boot!

You can listen to their songs on their Bandcamp and follow the band on Facebook. I also highly recommend picking up their records from Magnetic South or wherever fine records are sold.

Jordan: Who all is in Thee Tsunamis? When did you guys start the band?

Betsy: Thee Tsunamis is Betsy Shepherd on Mustang, Jenna Beasley on Jazz Master, and Sharlene Birdsong on the beats. Original Tsunamis bassist Josie McRobbie is saying sayonara to the Hoosier State for a job offer in North Carolina, and she will be missed greatly.

B: Josie and I started the band in the summer of 2012. We bonded over the Seeds, the Cramps, and Half Japanese, and decided we had a defunct musical voice that needed some airing. So after years away from songwriting and playing music, I got back on the horse, my Mustang, that is. Most of the songs from the first tape were written over the summer of 2012 (Thee Tsunamis, Crazy Love, Seeing Red, Ray Davies, Jitters) while in between jobs, loves, and locales.

B: We owe a lot to Lori Canada, Bloomington tour-de-force and mistress of ceremonies, for not allowing us to be liars. We said we were starting a band and when she booked our first show, we had to do it. Quick, write the songs! Quick, learn the covers! Quick, come up with a name! Band name? We donned ourselves Catsup Forever, terrible and twee and as ephemeral as the stuff that comes out of a squirt bottle. We gave up the condiment game, but decided to stick to liquid matter: I wrote “Thee Tsunamis” anthem about an imaginary band, and thought well, could it be that, well, maybe…we’re Thee Tsunamis? Yep, we’re thee T-S-U-N-A-M-I-S! Catsup maybe thicker than water, but the stuff is loaded with corn syrup, which causes diabetes, obesity and, as it turns, environmental degradation. And that’s not a cool way to go out. Watery myths…sirens, the kraken, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Here Be Monsters of ancient maps, were way more up our alley.

For, to quote that bumbler J. Alfred Prufrock:

We have lingered in the chambers of the sea

By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown

Till human voices wake us, and we drown.

B: Sharlene Birdsong is a water sign, and was born to play the part. She joined us on drums in December 2012, and immediately started writing/singing Tsunami songs…check out “Goner,” her fuzzed out cautionary tale about dark waters, to see how hip Birdsong was to the Tsunamis schtick. In truth, we became Thee Tsunamis in full swing when she joined the band.

J: Why did you start the band?

B: For the chicks.

J: How is the music scene in Bloomington? It seems like there's a lot of stuff going on there from Plan-It-X to Magnetic South!

B: I know, right?! There must be something in the water to make people crazy enough to want to start their own rock n’ roll labels. Whatever it is, it’s non-biodegradable because it seems that there’s always a fresh batch of cool mutant bands sprouting up. The hay day of Plan-It-X was before my Bloomington residency. But I vividly remember my first trip to house-show venue/label Magnetic South’s music festival Can of Worms and thought, this is some crazy shit. Who would host a music festival in their house…and in winter?

B: Being from Louisiana, where you can’t even bury the dead underground, I’d never seen a basement before and never knew the world of secrets that lie under mezzanine floorboards. So when I saw rock n’ roll in Magnetic South’s subterranean kitchen I couldn’t resist the pun: This is REAL underground rock n’ roll! I started regularly going to shows at Magnetic South, and Thee Tsunamis were lucky enough to play our second show there (in June 2012) with Apache Dropout and the OBNIIIs. Hook, line, and sinker…from there on out it’s been rock n’ roll or BUST.

J: Are there any bands from Bloomington that you particularly like?

B: Sleeping Bag, the Cowboys, Bloody Mess, Sir Deja Doog, Frankie and the Witchfingers, Jerome & the Psychics, and our psycho-delectable label mates Apache Dropout, Vacation Club, Sitar Outreach Ministry, and Thee Open Sex.

J: You guys have released a cassette and now a 7" on Magnetic South. How was it recording those songs?

B: Like a camping trip, but in a tent made of cement foundation and sewage pipes. We brought our guitars, food, and party supplies and parked ourselves in the basement, removed from the quotidian world, and told ghost stories over an open fire of our own making (albeit with the help of tubes and circuits). We recorded all the basic tracks on Friday (the 13th), recorded overdubs on Saturday, mixed on Sunday, and went back to work on Monday with a renewed sense of mystery at the natural world. But recording was way cooler than camping, because we didn’t have to shit in the woods, and we got a cool EP, Delirium and Dark Waters, out of it.

J: Do you get to play live often?

B: As much as possible, because we love playing shows with our hometown homies and sharing the stage with touring rock n’ roll bands.

J: Are you guys going to tour behind the 7" and cassette by any chance?

B: Funny you should ask! We’re taking off in early May to baptize the South with waves of Tsunamis reverb. Here are our landing sites:

May 1 Knoxville w/ Apache Dropout, Psychic Baos

May 2 Atlanta w/ Apache Dropout, The People's Temple

May 3 Nashville@ Grimey's

May 4 Chattanooga TBA

May 5 Birmingham, Bottle Tree w/ TBA

May 6 Little Rock, Whitewater Tavern, w/ TBA

May 7 Memphis w/ She Bangs

May 8 NOLA, Siberia, w/ The Bills

May 9 Lafayette, LA, Artmosphere, w/ Amazing Nuns

May10 Austin, Cheer Up Charlie’s, w/ Gory Details

May 11 Beaumont, TX, Texas Rose Saloon, w/ Raw Hunny

J: You guys played one of my favorite venues! The Pinhook in North Carolina. How did you get hooked up with playing there?

B: Chaz Martenstein from Bull City Records set up the show and was the most gracious host we could hope for. Durham has a great little slice of the rock n’ roll pie, and the Pinhook is the Platonic ideal of rock n’ roll venues…dingy but not too dingy, drunk but not too drunk, friendly but not too friendly. We had a total blast playing there with Apache Dropout and Pissed Jeans, and can’t wait to play there again!

J: What all have you been listening to lately?

B: Meet the Residents, Love at Psychedelic Velocity by Human Expression, Between You and Me by Fabienne Delsol, Les Marinellis S/T

J: What's in the future for Thee Tsunamis?

B: We’re touring May 1-11, and we’re playing IN CHICAGO with Heavy Times on May 24, in Indy with the Allah-las on June 13, and in Bloomington with White Mystery on July 3. And we plan to start recording a backlog of songs for a full-length record sometime this summer. Stay tuned!

J: Anything else you'd like to say?

B: Read The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book. And, THANK YOU!

Interview with Zach Robinson of D/A/D

I bought the D/A/D album The Construct on a whim. It was released on a great label, Hausu Mountain, run by Doug and Max from Good Willsmith and I always figure it doesn't hurt to buy a cassette. A tape is a tape. It's generally worth a cheap purchase and a listen. At the time I listened to the album (and still I suppose), I had been reading a bunch of 20th century Japanese lit - Yukio Mishima, Junichiro Tanizaki, Kenzaburo Oe. During my initial listen, however, I was reading a great book put out by Duke University press called Japanoise, which talked about the transnational cassette trade sparked by Japanese noise output and North American curiosity. At one level, it seemed appropriate because of an industrial fetishization of Japanese culture that results in fictitious cities like the Neotokyo of Blade Runner or Stephenson's Snow Crash - a concentration on technology and its impact. And then, of course, there was the fact that I was listening to a cassette.

Having recently been listening to a bunch of Japanoise like Hijokaidan, Merzbow, MSBR, and more, D/A/D's pleasant sound was a bit of a change, but a more than welcome one. The Construct seems like a forgotten 1980s relic. Parts of it sound like a John Carpenter movie and parts of it sound like J-pop. It's happy music though, which is somewhat novel to me if I'm serious. It's also different than anything that I had been used to hearing from music in 2013.

The project is made by Zach Robinson who describes D/A/D as "Channeling the 1980s through cyberspace exploration and sonic synthesis." It is a totally appropriate description of the music and ideology. You can read more about the project on D/A/D's FACEBOOK PAGE.

Zach also recently released a music video, which can be seen HERE. It's a really fun video of some alien humanoids who enjoy jetskis and tropical fun!

D/AD has recently been featured on NPR as one of the best cassette releases of 2013 and I couldn't agree more.

Jordan: Does D/A/D stand for anything? How did you decide on the name?

Zach: It originally didn't stand for anything. A friend of mine told me I should name it that, haha. It's very random but I never thought this project would pick-up in any capacity so I didn't think too much about the name. About two years after I started, I retroactively made it stand for "Day After Discovery" in order to optimize my Googleability. I ended up hating that and went back to plain old D/A/D! Pronounced DEE-AY-DEE, by the way.

J: Your music seems inspired a lot by the 80s and also a sort of textured playful machinery. Is that on purpose? What inspired it?

Z: Absolutely. D/A/D is indeed heavily inspired by the music, pop culture, aesthetics, and attitudes of the 1980s. My goal was never to straight-up imitate sounds from this decade though, I've always strived to create my own sound while paying deep homage to the '80s. I don't remember exactly why I started to create this music, but I think it was because it's full of such bright and vivid imagery. I work best with visuals and the 1980's are an endless source of them.

J: What was the process of making The Construct like? How long did it take? Where did you record it?

Z: "The Construct" took around three years for me to finish, and it was recorded mostly in my home(s), one in Chicago while I was studying in school and one at home in LA. The idea for the album itself came pretty late in the game. I had about seven songs completed needing a home and since I had never released a full length album, it made sense to put one together.

J: The song "Love Will Make You Stay" is a little bit different than the other songs on "The Construct" - it has vocals. How did that song come about?

Z: That song was about an inch away from being released as an instrumental and I'm so glad that didn't happen. My pal Charlie (USA Gold) had shown me a track he was working on by himself. We ended up finishing the track together and I knew it needed some vocals but I was impatient and wanted to release the song anyways. Luckily, I had met Sharaya at a bar in Silverlake where I frequent karaoke and when I listened to her music I knew she was the one to take it to a whole other level. The original track was called "Neural Highway" but after she added her lyrics, it changed to what it is now. It was an awesome collaboration and I could not be happier with the end product.

J: Do you get to play live much? Do you have any plans to play live?

Z: I play usually once a month, maybe once every two months. I love playing live and I wish I did it more often but I don't have too much time. I'm playing my first show in San Francisco at DNA lounge next month which I can't wait for. If I can get time off from work at some point, I'd love to tour!

J: What all is in the future for yourself and D/A/D?

Z: For now, I'm just focusing on my career in film music. I'd like to release another D/A/D album soon, but I said that back in 2010 and it took me up until last summer to deliver on that. I do have some secret, rather ambitious plans that I'm not ready to talk about yet though, haha!