Devon Kodger The Triangle
Eric Hutchinson plays keyboard at the TLA on tour for his third studio album, “Pure Fiction.” The “intelligent pop” artist also sang songs like “Oh!” and “OK, It’s All Right With Me,” from his debut album, “Sounds Like This.”

Since his debut album in 2008, “Sounds Like This,” Eric Hutchinson has been playing his signature “intelligent pop” across the globe garnering an impressive host of tour credits, such as Jason Mraz and One Republic, and has built up an equally impressive fan base. With the recent release of his third studio album, “Pure Fiction,” Hutchinson launched his U.S. “Tell the World” tour with special guests Saints of Valory. They stopped by Philadelphia’s own Theatre of Living Arts May 21 to put on an incredibly energetic performance.

The floor at the Theatre of Living Arts was filled to capacity Wednesday; everyone waiting anxiously for the opening band to take stage. As the lights began to fall, the din of the room fell to a quiet murmur. The alternative rock band Saints of Valory took the stage and the crowd readied itself for what would be a frenetic 40-minute set. With a style reminiscent of the recent megahit group Imagine Dragons, the Texas-based band rocked the house with tracks off their two EPs “Possibilities” and “V,” and a special cover of Lorde’s smash hit “Royals.”

For the entirety of their performance, lead vocalist and bassist Gavin Jasper gave his all behind the microphone and bass guitar. Guitarist Godfrey Thomson strutted across the stage while Gerard Labou banged out the beat behind the drum kit, and Stephen Buckle danced next to his keyboards. It was energetic and fun. Closing on a very percussive version of “Kids,” the band got one last chance to amaze the audience before stepping offstage.

After a short wait, the lights dropped down low again but this time the crowd didn’t hush. It exploded; people were jumping up and down, screaming out their favorite songs; pure madness through and through.

Coming onstage wielding nothing more than a smile, Eric Hutchinson settled in behind the keyboard while his band readied themselves, plugging in amps and adjusting the drum kit. Acknowledging the crowd, Hutchinson talked the audience down from their pure insanity before launching into “Love Like You” off of his recent release “Pure Fiction,” the song being a perfect example of how effortlessly Hutchinson bridges the gap between pop and blues.

Playing through his set, Hutchinson melds his music together old and new alike, creating a seamless experience. Playing a mix of his early hits, “Oh!” “OK, It’s Alright With Me” and “Outside Villanova,” and new songs like the witty “Forget About Joni,” the crowd was electric as they yelled all the lyrics as loud as possible.

Halfway through his set and halfway through “The Basement,” Hutchinson changed gears and put on a cover of his own, playing Pharrell’s recent hit “Happy.” Caught off-guard, the crowd was up and moving about, quickly chiming in with the “Despicable Me 2” song.

Bringing the concert to a close with “You Don’t Have To Believe Me,” Hutchinson’s backup band was jamming out, dancing, moving, singing along and grooving. Thanking everyone for coming, he played one more off “Pure Fiction,” the anthemic “Forever.” With microphone in hand Hutchinson jumped around the stage to the beat before stepping backstage, still singing. That’s when the first person in the crowd screamed and everyone began converging on the center of the floor where Hutchinson was singing and dancing with all of his fans. Without missing a beat, Hutchinson made his way back onstage and closed out the concert with a wave, or so we all thought.

In response to the still screaming crowd he granted a short encore of the night coming back onstage and singing the “na-na-na’s” of his signature song “Rock & Roll.” Rolling right into his next track, “Tell The World,” Hutchinson brought the crowd back down as the concert came to a satisfying close.

From the energetic openers, Saints of Valory, to Eric Hutchinson’s last song the concert was energetic, alive even, and it was felt through the floor. Eric Hutchinson is both a musician and a performer, flawlessly hitting every note with vocal precision while maintaining the light-hearted atmosphere that first catapulted him up into the charts. It was not a concert to be missed, and I’m eagerly waiting for him to make his way back to the City of Brotherly Love.

The post Eric Hutchinson showcases vocal prowess at TLA appeared first on The Triangle.

Photo Courtesy Jonathan Weiner
Chuck Ragan of Hot Water Music is pictured above with his band. Ragan is co-headlining a tour with The White Buffalo. The two groups played at the Theatre of the Living Arts April 23. Ragan’s latest release is titled “Till Midnight.”

Punk-turned-Americana rocker Chuck Ragan of Hot Water Music spoke with The Triangle April 18 about his co-headlined tour with The White Buffalo, as well as his recent release “Till Midnight.” Down-to-earth and easygoing, he underscored the sense of camaraderie felt both in the studio and on tour. Chuck Ragan played at Theatre of the Living Arts April 23.

The Triangle: How’s the tour going so far?

Chuck Ragan: It’s going great; we’re teamed up with some great guys, some of them we’ve toured with for years, some of them we’ve just met on this road. It ended up being such a wonderful group of people, everyone is on the same level and page, everyone is just having a blast.

TT: So you’re headlining the tour with The White Buffalo, have you guys played together before?

CR: We haven’t, it’s kind of a co-headlining tour. We’ve both been running in our own directions and this was the first time that we’ve actually had the chance to cross paths and play shows together. I’ve been a big fan of [Jake Smith of The White Buffalo] since 2009. I was always trying to get him on the Revival Tour since ’09 but it never really worked out schedule and time-wise. He is great though, super inspiring. He’s been playing as a three-piece this tour and man, he’s just been burning it down every night. It’s awesome.

TT: You tour and record with The Camaraderie; who exactly is The Camaraderie?

CR: We have Jon Gaunt who plays fiddle, Joe Ginsberg who plays upright and electric bass, Todd Beene from Lucero and Glossary who plays pedal steel and electric guitar sometimes, David Hidalgo Jr. from Social Distortion as our drummer. So we’re playing as a five-piece mostly, and man, it’s something else, these guys really bring a lot to the table. For folks who have seen me play, they can expect it to be a different atmosphere. It’s a bigger sound but at the same time we’re able to just add a lot more dynamics to the show. We’re able to really put the pedal down and go full board, but then just strip it down to almost nothing, just a voice and a guitar. It just makes it a lot of fun for us to really be able to play while having all these options and play with the dynamics in a live show.

TT: So going back quite a ways, what kind of music did you grow up listening to? Is there anybody that influenced your sound as a solo artist and with Hot Water Music?

CR: Sure, a ton of stuff. I grew up in a fairly conservative southern Baptist household. On my mother’s side of the family we had a lot of Cajun music in our blood with my Mama and Papa. My Papa — that’s my grandfather on my mother’s side — was an accordion player and they used to sing a lot of French and Cajun songs for us. Those were kind of some of the early inspirations. One of my dad’s friends used to teach me guitar, and we’d sit around and learn a lot of Dylan and that kind of stuff and that was always a big influence early on too.

But, you know, as a young teenager I found skateboarding and that sent me in a whole different direction, different lifestyle, alternative music; I found rock ‘n’ roll, punk rock, metal and hip-hop. You know, whatever teenagers listen to, it’s a really eclectic mix of music. But somehow it all just became kind of seamless in stuff that I listened too and stuff that I love to play, a pretty wide range of stuff.

TT: With “Till Midnight” did the bulk of the songwriting fall on your shoulders or was it more of a collaborative effort?

CR: Yeah, I did the bulk of the songwriting, definitely. I’ve more or less pulled together a large group of tracks I wanted to focus on and I’m constantly writing. The way I normally do it is I just stack stuff up, and I cut through it and narrow it down and usually just keep cutting the list in half. I like to go into the studio [with] at least twice the number of songs that I’m gonna record. So I started with that and from there, [I] got Christopher Thorn up to my place, we kind of narrowed it down a little bit more and finally got comfortable enough to send the tracks to the guys. It was all just in basic formats and then when I gave it to them we all kind of had a great deal to do with the arranging and pulling stuff together. I really wanted them to feel connected and invested in what we are doing. To me, it made for a better session all around.

A lot of the tunes on the record are love stories in a lot of ways. It’s always been a massive part of my inspiration and living and working at on the road and at home through music. My wife is a massive inspiration for me [as well as] my friends, my family, so it’s always had a great deal to do with it. It is definitely a very kind of loving, positive album, a positive energy record, and it seems a lot more optimistic than previous releases that I’ve done.

The post Americana rocker Chuck Ragan talks new band, tour appeared first on The Triangle.

Ajon Brodie The Triangle
Matt Nathanson (pictured) played at XPN’s Musicians on Call benefit on Feb. 20. Playing his hit songs such as “Come On Get Higher,” Nathanson headlined the event.

On Feb. 20, 88.5 WXPN hosted its 10th annual Musicians on Call benefit at World Cafe Live. Local Philadelphian Chris Kasper opened the event for the headliner, Matt Nathanson. Most easily identified by his three biggest hits — “Come On Get Higher,” “Run” (with Sugarland) and “Faster” — Nathanson put on an amazingly memorable performance.

After waiting in a line snaking its way up the three flights of stairs all the way to the upstairs lobby, I was forced to wait another 30 minutes before a screen dropped down in front of the stage to play a short film outlining the idea behind Musicians on Call. The screen rose and the host of the night greeted the visibly impatient audience. One short speech later, Chris Kasper took the stage with his partner-in-music Kiley Ryan and local session bassist Phil D’Agostino. most of the crowd was apprehensive when they saw his setup: an acoustic guitar (Kasper), a fiddle (Ryan) and an upright bass (D’Agostino). As soon as the music started playing, however, all the apprehension was sucked out of the room as Kasper’s beautifully raspy folk lyrics, backed by the sweet fiddle and deep bass, hit the audience in his soft “Ancient-Lo.” Finishing out his first piece, he quickly greeted the cheering audience before jumping into “Raven and the Rose.” The mysterious song was spellbinding with Kasper’s voice booming out as Ryan’s soft backup vocals generated a wholly unique sound. Finishing up the six-song set by himself, Kasper sang the soft-toned “Blessed Little Secrets.”

The crowd was forced to wait once again until the host walked onstage to introduce the headliner of the event. The crowd surged forward and erupted when Matt Nathanson stepped onstage with his guitarist Aaron Tap. Wielding their acoustic guitars, the duo launched into “Annie’s Always Waiting” (off his recent album, “Last of the Great Pretenders”). The crowd was clapping and yelling out their favorite songs so loudly that it drowned out the duo, forcing Matt to stop halfway through the song. Finishing out the song laughing, he grabbed the microphone yelling “Maybe we should ask you crazy barbarians what to play next … but first this song, it’s called ‘Modern Love!’” All the screams and clapping died off as soon as the first notes rang out; everyone began to sway and sing along. Playing through “Modern Love” and “Still,” the crowd was wild. Matt summed this up simply as “debauchery at its finest!” The idea echoed in the back of my head as the crowd screamed wildly; it was nonstop madness for more than an hour as Matt played through his 11-song set. Before launching into another new song, “Heart Starts,” Matt gave a short explanation, “It goes something like this: ‘I’m tired, I’m leaving, you’re terrible.’” The yelling turned into laughter as he finished the thought: “‘Wait … I wrote you a song!’” This was how the rest of the night went: Matt telling some stories, jokes and playing some amazing music. Nathanson talked with fans about the first time he played in Philadelphia and about his current situation, and then bantered with his fans. The show might as well have been called “Meet Matt Nathanson.”

Nathanson finished his set out with one of his most popular songs, “Come On Get Higher,” and the audience sang the lyrics at the top of their lungs and clapped wildly as the duo left the stage with a “thank you, all” and a wave. Now the riotous crowd screamed for an encore, and they erupted into applause when Matt walked back across the stage by himself to thank WXPN for all they’ve done for him — they were the first radio station to air him back in 1998 — before grabbing his acoustic guitar and launching into one of his classic songs, “Little Victories.” Strumming and singing out to the audience, Nathanson gave a beautiful and heartfelt send-off.

Nothing is quite the same as live music performed well, and nothing can top the feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when listening to a performer bear their heart and soul out onstage. Once the music started, all the waiting proved to be worth it. The 10th Musicians on Call benefit was a success not only for Musicians on Call, but for Chris Kasper and Matt Nathanson as well.

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Joel Schneider, singer and guitarist of Seattle blues/rock band My Goodness, spoke with The Triangle Feb. 15 about their current tour with We Are Augustines, their beginnings, and the future of the band. My Goodness is playing the Boot & Saddle in Philly Feb. 28.
The Triangle: How’s the tour going so far?
Joel Schneider: It’s going well, really well actually. This is our sixth show coming up and we’ve had great responses so far. We’ve done the West Coast a couple of times before, but never done Phoenix. It’ll be our first time down there; everything after this is kind of new to us.
TT: You guys are currently touring with We Are Augustines, correct? How are they to tour with; fun? Any wild tour stories you could tell us?
JS: Nothing yet! We just got started. We did tour with them a couple of years ago and just did a short tour with them in the U.K. with about five or six dates. That wasn’t when I was with Andy [Lum], but with a different drummer. We kind of became friends with them, shared the bus, so yeah, we already kind of had a relationship with them before. We are all good friends.
TT: What kind of music did you grow up listening to?
JS: When I was growing up I actually wasn’t allowed to listen to music — grew up in a really conservative household. [My parents] kind of kept it from me, but I discovered stuff like punk in middle school, listened to that a lot. That turned into the hardcore scene that had started to erupt: bands like The Blood Brothers, Harkonen, and Botch, just stuff like that. A little later on I started getting into the blues and soul music. I have pretty eclectic taste in music: I listen to a lot of stuff.
TT: So, the active Seattle music scene has influenced you?
JS: Yeah. I think that especially when I was in high school there was a pretty strong all-ages scene that had kind of taken off at the time. It’s actually pretty funny because Cody [Votolato], the guitar player from The Blood Brothers, is now playing with us on this tour. It’s kind of ironic because we were huge, huge fans of that band and bands like it.
TT: So, where did My Goodness come from?
JS: So, basically I worked at a place called Neumos in Seattle quite a few years ago and had a couple of songs I had written on acoustic guitar at home — never really played them on electric and didn’t know what they’d sound like. I was in another band, quite a bit heavier, called Absolute Monarchs and kept borrowing the guitarist’s gear before practice. After work, a buddy of mine, the old drummer for the band, was also working with me sometimes. So we were just practicing and messing around one night. I borrowed the guy’s guitar and started playing the songs and [we] were like “Whoa, this could actually really work.” They were loud songs, the ones I’d written on acoustic, with the bluesy vibe I had become about, and we just kind of ran with them at the time. There was an employee band night coming up, so we decided to play it, and we decided to call ourselves My Goodness at the time because we weren’t planning on being a band — we were just planning on one show. We played the show and the response we got was better than we’ve gotten from any of the other bands we were in and decided to keep going. We kept the name.
TT: I had a chance to listen to some of the tracks off of the upcoming album. I think they are awesome. I especially liked “Cold Feet Killer.” What went into making that song?
JS: To be honest, that was actually one of the first songs I had written on the acoustic guitar, one of the first three, I believe. I was still discovering how to write and I was writing in a different tuning. I was writing in open G. The first three songs are about really similar things — about a relationship I was in at the time. That song kind of carried on and stuck with us. We decided to rerecord it and rearrange it. It’s been a slowly evolving song over the last couple of years; it doesn’t sound anything like it did before.
TT: So is the songwriting process the same for all the songs, or is it more collaborative?
JS: It’s basically been the same. Usually I come up with the majority of the songs at home — just different parts. I won’t necessarily put them together in a super structured way. So I’ll have a chorus, a verse and an idea which I’ll bring into practice, and Andy and I will put the structure of the song together by what feels the best — what order the chorus and verse should be in. Then, if we want to add something else, we do that. If we just feel something in practice we go, “Oh, that’s really cool, we should do that there.” We just did a song recently that was a little more of a collaborative thing. We all just went into the practices together and just kind of brainstorm[ed]. It’s the new song on the record called “Sweet Tooth.” We just took our sweet time and put it together. Usually, though, I think of something at home and then bring it in.
TT: I’ve heard the two of you, Andy and you, compared to bands like The Black Keys and Led Zeppelin. Does this surprise you?
JS: I think it is really flattering; those are two bands I’m really flattered to be compared to. It’s pretty awesome. I think with the addition of Cody, we’ve kind of moved more away from the Black Keys sound a little.
TT: Where do you see My Goodness going in five years? Do you still see being around, playing?
JS: Hope so. We are bringing out the new record in June, so we’ll see what happens. No matter what, I’ll continue to write songs like this, but in five years we’ll still be playing. Hopefully [we’ll] put out a few more records. I’m already starting to write the next one.

The post Joel Schneider of My Goodness talks new tour appeared first on The Triangle.

Swear and Shake is a fun, energetic indie folk band that has been making the rounds, touring heavily this past year. They will return to Philadelphia Feb. 5 to perform at World Cafe Live after stormy weather caused the cancellation of their Jan. 21 show. Their foot-stomping sound can be found on their EP and two albums, including their most recent, “Ain’t That Lovin’.”  The Triangle had an opportunity to speak with Kari Spieler, one of the band’s founders and songwriters, about her experiences starting the band and continuing to play the music that they love.

Swear and Shake includes, from right to left, Kari Spieler, vocals and guitar; Shaun Savage, electric bass; Ben Goldstein, drums; and Adam McHeffey, vocals, guitar and banjo. They are performing Feb. 5 at World Cafe Live.
Photo courtesy Swear and Shake.

The Triangle: So, how did Swear and Shake get its start in 2010?

Kari Spieler: Well, Adam [McHeffey] and I both were attending [Purchase College, State University of New York] and were singer/songwriters on campus, and that’s kind of how we met; but we didn’t start working together until the end of our last year at school. He asked me to sing on “Johnnie” and we spent the day together working it out, arranging it and recording it. Then from there on we realized that we worked pretty well together, and it might be fun to start something other than being a solo singer/songwriter.

TT: From there you guys recorded the 2010 EP “Extended Play.” Were there any challenges recording the first EP?

KS: Challenges recording the first EP. … It was actually a really great experience. We got to go to one of our professor’s studios, Acne in Westchester, [N.Y.], and record the basic track, like the bass, and then finished almost everything else up in Adam’s Greenwich, [Conn]. It was nice, really relaxed and it was exciting because it was the first thing we’d recorded together.

TT: After that you started the Kickstarter campaign to fund “Maple Ridge,” which was more than successful from what I saw.

KS: We did, yeah. We went over our goal, which is great, and definitely put that money to use by hiring Ben Goldstein [drummer] to help us record the album. It was an incredible experience. We liked it so much we went up to that same barn and recorded our next full-length record, which will be coming out in the next few months.

TT: “Maple Ridge” has some really cool songs like “Moving Parts,” and they are all a little different; each one showcases a different songwriter or instrumental part. No one song is alike.

KS: Thank you! That’s one of the exciting things about working with another writer and having a team of people just hanging around. We like to try a lot of different styles and we like to just try to go with whatever feels right at the time. “Moving Parts” is so significantly different from “These White Walls,” but they fit on the same record, and you’ll find a lot of that on our next record, which is called “Ain’t That Lovin’.”

TT: You guys released two singles in 2013, “Brother” and “Fire.” The respective music videos are completely different, “Fire” being the animated piece and “Brother” the energetic live-shoot with fireworks, which had to be fun.

KS: Yeah, that was a lot of fun. You’ll notice a lot of shots of me actually just being scared out of my mind, afraid I was going to light my hair on fire; but everyone else really enjoyed it. It was a great experience. [Each video] was completely different to film and we used different directors, as well. “Fire” was really interesting — we just showed up to a sound stage and took photos in front of a green screen and you know, six or seven months later we had this animated video. With “Brother,” we did three days of intense shooting and it was awesome. Same thing with the “Fire” video: we got together and spent a few hours being put in different positions, trying on different outfits and then Michael [Oshins] brought it to life along with Nicholas Bell, who illustrated it.

TT: So what is the release date on “Ain’t That Lovin’”? Is it still unclear?

KS: Yeah, still unclear. We’re finally finished, we got the track listing together. It still needs to be mastered, and we’re going to do some shopping to see if we can get some help from a label, but if not we’re going to release independently again.

TT: How hard is it to release independently? Are there any difficulties for you guys, being independent?

KS: Our difficulties are mostly financial, but we don’t have to answer to anybody. We just decide when and how we want to do it and that’s pretty exciting in and of itself; but I’ve also got nothing to compare it to, so I couldn’t tell you what it’s like releasing with a label. I imagine there are other challenges that go along with it.

TT: You said you were going back to the barn used for “Maple Ridge” to record “Ain’t That Lovin’.” Is anything different this time, any new influences?

KS: Well, I think you’ll find that this record is significantly different from “Maple Ridge,” just from the fact that we have Benny [Goldstein] as our drummer. He also produced the album. We are a different band now, though. We have evolved in a different way. We are trying new songwriting styles, and we have been listening to a lot of The Band, so there are some more “jam” sections in our songs. You always have to try new things; staying the same never helped anybody.

Don’t let the trailers fool you: “Inside Llewyn Davis” isn’t about music or the ‘60s; it is about a man whose life is in flux as he spirals downward while trying to find himself. Loosely based off the accounts of folk singer Dave Van Ronk, the film takes a look at the folk music scene of Greenwich Village in 1961 through the eyes of struggling musician Llewyn Davis. The movie follows the titular character through a week in his life.

The film opens up with Davis sitting under a spotlight in a dark bar clutching his guitar as he harrowingly belts out the classic “Hang Me, Oh Hang Me.” Davis might as well have been singing about himself; the song plays out like a soliloquy in some Shakespearean tragedy. Before we even get a chance to know him, we are told his entire story, and watching him onstage is awe-inspiring. He is a true musical talent. We recall this confident and commanding Davis onstage as we watch him struggle in the real world.

Lead actor Oscar Isaac transforms into Davis — an angry, hostile and spiteful man who stubbornly refuses help from those closest to him. We watch as he alienates just about everyone in his life as well as the crowd watching him perform. We, the viewers, can do nothing as we watch Davis make one mistake after another on the screen. Davis is by no means a character you can love, nor can you truly hate him; you just have to take him at face value. He is a character you can understand and with whom you can associate. This makes the film feel more like fact than fiction and creates a tether to the audience that a forgiving and honest character could never do. We see him for the unreliable narrator he is and enjoy going along for the ride.

Davis’ week starts as he wakes with a start in the bed of a friend, Mitch Gorfein (played by Ethan Phillips), while a housecat pounces playfully across his chest. Davis quickly gathers his things, only stopping long enough to find a record with his former partner, and he plays it as he leaves.

We watch on as Davis drifts through his days, slowly crossing off friends he can trust, until it is just him, alone. His oft self-defeating attitude toward his music becomes the centerpiece of the story. Davis sits atop his artistic pedestal, judging those who don’t commit 100 percent, even remarking at his sister, “What! Quit? Just exist?” He builds himself into an impenetrable character who is so guarded that no one ever sees into who he really is except when onstage. The scenes in which we see Davis perform are the only scenes in which everyone can see truly see inside Davis.

The Coen Brothers recorded each musical scene live, lending each scene a great sense of emotion and cohesion. One of the most amazing scenes involves Davis performing for Chicago manager Bud Grossman (based off Bob Dylan’s real-life manager, Albert Grossman), played by F. Murray Abraham. He starts off on another ballad, “The Death of Queen Jane.” As he sings, two cameras — one on the face of Davis and the other on Bud Grossman — slowly zoom forward. It might not sound too impressive until you consider the fact that it was completed in a single take, as the music was performed and recorded live. The music throughout the film, which was produced by T-Bone Burnett, becomes a character in its own right, lyrically driving the film forward and developing its own storyline parallel to Davis’.

The Coen Brothers’ musically driven movie is harrowing, sad, bleak, dark and tragic. It is a true masterpiece that captures the essence of the burgeoning folk music scene of the 1960s. By the time Davis’ solo version of “Fare Thee Well” plays out in the dark bar, we understand him, and we forgive him for all his harsh words and cruel acts because we see ourselves in him, lost and hungry for answers.

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The Architects are a re-envisioned version of the ill-fated The Gadjits composed of Phillips brothers Brandon, Adam and Zach along with Keenan Nichols. Based out of Kansas City, Mo., The Architects have been building from the rubble of The Gadjits, touring and releasing numerous records before embarking on an ambitious project titled “Border Wars.” I had a chance to speak with the band’s frontrunner, Brandon Phillips, about the band’s history and future with “Border Wars.”

The Triangle: So you got a start in the music scene at a young age with your two brothers, Zach and Adam. I was hoping you could tell me a bit about how you got started performing and what — or rather, who — influenced you guys at the beginning?

Brandon Phillips: Wow. OK, … it was kind of because we all learned to play guitar at summer camp. Our mom used to run a fine-arts camp, and we all learned to play guitar there, and it was a very performance-based camp. … We all learned to really enjoy performing, and [some way] or another we ended up going guitar, bass, drums so that we could play together.

[I]n junior high and in high school, I was playing in crappy bands with my friends, and I think Zach and Adam were pissed at me because they weren’t part of my crappy band. They got a friend of theirs and they started their own crappy band, and then I liked their crappy band, so I wrote a couple of songs for them and then ended up joining. [T]he friend of theirs, who they had started the band with, his mom let him play in bars, and we were kind of hell-bent on going and playing real shows where real rockers were. So he left the band, and it was just the three of us. I think my youngest brother, Adam, was just 9 years old the first time we played a real show in a bar with rock bands. We were f—ing horrendous, but I think people liked us because they thought it was adorable, precocious or whatever. We were just playing wretched L7 covers and AC/DC covers and stuff like that. … It was like the laziest of the lazy garage rock because at that point the entire mission was just to get onstage and play rock ‘n’ roll.

Then our tastes kind of changed and evolved, … and eventually that turned into The Gadjits. Then The Gadjits broke up, and within 90 seconds we had started The Architects. [O]ur first tour [was] playing shows in transvestite bars in Texas and the places where punk shows used to have to happen because there was no place to do shows like that, you know? So yeah, that was kind of the very beginning for us, all that.

TT: Yeah, that’s actually what my next question was going to be about, The Gadjits. I was going to ask about the release of your first LP, “Da Gravy on Yo’ Grits,” on your own JoCo Ska label back in 1997, and what went into actually forming a band and releasing an independent album.

BP: [B]ecause it was all sort of an ad-hoc universe to us at that time, … you were never going to see the inside of a recording studio. … So we were making a record in my mom’s basement. We set up this crappy [public address] mixer and cassette recording stuff in the furnace room and turned a cedar closet into a vocal booth. I have no idea why we made those choices, but that’s what we did, and so we recorded.

We would make our recordings down there, and my high school debate partner’s band, we made their recordings down there. We made a bunch of other bands’ recordings, and we sort of started a little label.

TT: Yeah, so after you guys released the fourth and final Gadjits album, “Today is My Day,” the band broke up. So what led to The Gadjits breaking up, and why did you basically re-create yourselves as The Architects?

BP: Well, we actually nixed The Gadjits. After “Today is My Day,” The Gadjits signed to RCA, … [but] the week we started recording [was] the same week that RCA and Jive merged, and Clive Davis took over RCA. [They] fired everybody, including our artists and repertoire guy and the president, who were the two dudes who signed us, and so once the people that sign you are fired, you’re pretty much dead.

So we managed to get dropped and were able to just walk away from it relatively unscarred, but we were tired of dragging around the baggage that comes with still being called The Gadjits after many years. So we just killed The Gadjits and became a new thing; that’s it.

TT: So did this change [from The Gadjits to The Architects] really change much for you guys? Did you tour more or play new songs that you’d created?

BP: We basically had to start at zero. … All the touring we’d done as The Gadjits suddenly just didn’t matter at all, and all the records we sold didn’t matter; nothing we’d ever done before mattered. We were basically just a group of dudes with guitars, so we had to start completely fresh and rebuild everything. It was not a short process at all; it took a long, long time to get to a place where it even felt like there was some kind of parity between what The Gadjits had done and what The Architects were doing.

TT: With The Architects you’ve released five albums and a live recording on a couple different labels leading up to your new project, “Border Wars.” I was hoping you could explain the format of the project and why you left the classic LP release format.

BP: [I]t’s a concept album and comic book in five episodes. It means we get to release our album in five parts, and each part is packaged inside a full-size comic. The way we arrived at that was, [we felt] like we should up the ante a bit. We’re not really beholden to anyone, we [didn’t] owe anyone an album, … so why don’t we just make up the rules as we go along and find something bigger, cooler to do? I sat down and started writing the screenplay that turned into the script for the comic.

TT: Going forward with “Border Wars,” your goal was to shake things up, release the comic book and album in the five stages. Was that what you were trying to get out of it — just a new way of doing things?

BP: Yeah, I mean, it would shake things up for us creatively, so we’d have to step things up and meet the challenge. It has created an opportunity for people who do actually care for our band. It’s a much more fun, deep and engaging experience than just a CD that has a couple of songs worthwhile and a couple of songs they don’t care for; I think it enhances that relationship [between us and our fans and friends].

A little bit of it is definitely bragging rights, like … let me demonstrate why we deserve to be on a stage, what we did to earn it.

TT: Episode 1 of 5 in the “Border Wars” series dropped in June. When are you hoping for episodes 2 and 3 to come out? Will there be a long wait like there was with episode 1?

BP: Yeah, I think episode 2 will be in the new year and episode 3 out before the end of summer. We wanted to keep the schedule sort of flexible, but it’s taking way too long to get episode 2 ready. When it finally does come [together], it [will] be fine, well worth it, and hopefully we’ll accelerate the schedule so we can get 2 or 3 out next year. It’s just a monstrous amount of work for people.

TT: You guys are on tour right now, and you’re coming to Philadelphia Nov. 20. I saw that you’re touring with Death Spells. Could you tell me how you guys know them?

BP: We know Death Spells [because of] Frank [Iero] from My Chemical Romance [who started the band]. We toured with them, and [before that, Iero] put out our last full-length record on his label, Skeleton Crew. James [Dewees] from Death Spells also toured with My Chemical Romance playing keyboards, but we know him because he’s from Kansas City, and he was in a ton of bands around here.

TT: Your tour sounds like it’s going to be a blast. Do you think it will interrupt the process behind making the second or third episodes of “Border Wars”?

BP: No, I think it’ll be fine. At this point we’ve kind of learned to multitask as best as we can, and now it’s just about keeping our illustrator fed and watered, warm and safe; that’s really our No. 1 priority. Other than that, the music stuff is done for the most part.

Catch The Architects Nov. 20 at MilkBoy Philadelphia.

The post Architects’ singer explains transition appeared first on The Triangle.

“12 Years a Slave” is a hard movie to watch, much less put into words. It is violent, gritty, brutal, truthful and appalling. It is an honest, unflinching look at slavery and those who fought for and against it. Much to the credit of the writer and director — John Ridley and Steve McQueen, respectively — we don’t want to look away when witnessing the brutal abuse of slaves at the hands of their masters. No matter how upsetting or graphic it can be, you are stuck in your seat, eyes glued to the screen.

Photo Courtesy Fox Searchlight Pictures. “12 Years a Slave” is the movie adaptation of Solomon Northup’s memoir of the same title. The movie, scheduled for nationwide release Nov. 1, portrays the brutality of slavery in America.

“12 Years” is based on Solomon Northup’s 1853 memoir “Twelve Years a Slave” about his kidnapping and subsequent sale into slavery. The fact that the movie is based on a true story makes it even more difficult to watch. By the end, though, you have been learned — to use the language of the 19th century — that this truly happened; that this was the truth no more than a century and a half ago; that this was somebody’s life; and that Northup had to suffer through these atrocities, gritting his teeth and just aiming to survive.

Northup is perfectly portrayed by Chiwetel Ejiofor. From the quiet, nonverbal shots to his loud and outspoken dialogues, Northup never backs down. Ejiofor captures the pure emotion of every single scene, the heaviness of every word, the longing and disdainful looks, the small ticks that play on his face — everything about his character i utterly believable. An impressive supporting cast was gathered to complement Ejiofor and portray the cruelties of slavery. Quvenzhane Wallis (child star of “Beasts of the Southern Wild”) plays Margaret Northup, Solomon’s daughter. Her co-star from “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” Dwight Henry, plays Uncle Abrams. Michael K. Williams (Chalky White of “Boardwalk Empire”) and Chris Chalk (“Homeland,” “The Newsroom”) also appear in “12 Years.” Ejiofor’s acting, along with all of the additional talent, brings the story to life.

Throughout “12 Years,” you notice some major talents like Paul Giamatti, Scoot McNairy and Brad Pitt come and go in a heartbeat, while others like Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Fassbender and Paul Dano stick around for great stretches of the film. Out of all the big names, however, only one really sticks with you: “Master” Epps (played by Fassbender), a deranged, crooked slave driver that uses Holy Scripture as justification to break “disobedient slaves.” It is in Epps that we meet evil in its most carnal form. Even when he is not on screen, his demanding presence is felt in the shots of his slaves picking cotton or moving cautiously about. He becomes the bete noire of the entire film.

The movie as a whole may make some viewers cringe or look away, but that is the point — to make you feel for those who were wronged all those years ago and to shed some light on their pain and suffering. One of the most heart-wrenching moments occurs after a failed lynching by Tibeats (played by Dano). Northup is seen hanging with a noose around his neck, barely able to breathe, balancing on the tips of his toes, slipping on the mud to stay alive. In the background, his fellow enslaved men and women come out from hiding and just go about their business, not daring to help Solomon down to the ground or even to look at him. Solomon hangs there for hours, barely staying his execution until “Master” Ford (played by Cumberbatch) comes to his rescue.

The cinematography and score (beautifully composed by Hans Zimmer and reminiscent of his earlier work on “Inception”) play out as the characters delve deeper into the emotion of the film. The long introspective shots of the flowing Louisiana swamplands paint the film in an inhospitably futile light that, coupled with the chillingly discordant string instruments, will give you chills. Cinematographer Sean Bobbitt uses purposefully simple and creative camerawork to form a living, breathing tapestry of a life characterized by pain.

Nearly every single thing about “12 Years a Slave” was so perfectly crafted that all of its cruelty and mistreatment, heartbreak and hopelessness, and brutality and condemnation come off as cold fact. The film reaches above the standard human-interest stories and comes together to form something that is pure art: a true story masterfully directed, acted, composed and shot.

The post Ejiofor shines in ‘12 Years a Slave’ appeared first on The Triangle.

­­­­I first saw the eclectic Red Wanting Blue at the Bunbury Festival in ­­­­Cincinn­­ati over the summer of 2013 and instantly fell in love with their lyric-driven rock ‘n’ roll style that is reminiscent of Collective Soul and Better than Ezra. Then, when I heard they were coming to Philadelphia to promote their upcoming album, I knew I had to see them. The band spent 14 years traveling the country and building a grassroots following until signing with Fanatic Records in 2010. The band was known for its traveling set, a stage that is littered with small curios and knickknacks from Salvation Army stores and thrift stores around the country. It gives RWB shows a very homey and inviting feel.

Photo Courtesy Devon Kodger. Scott Terry (pictured) is the ukulele-wielding lead vocalist of indie band Red Wanting Blue. He was joined by fellow bandmates Mark McCullough, Greg Rahm, Dean Anshutz and Eric Hall to perform at World Cafe Live Oct. 19.

This tour (aptly named “The Dime-Store Circus Tour”) was a going-out of sorts for the band. In the interview published in The Triangle’s Oct. 18 issue, Scott Terry said, “This is the last ringing of the bells for the setup before we move into a new phase and do something else.” Upon entering the downstairs stage room of World Cafe Live, I immediately sensed the personality of the set. The venue was not only a last cry for the band’s signature style, but it was also a coming-home for Scott, who is a New Jersey native. The stage featured a variety of fun and hilarious souvenirs from the band’s travels, complete with a vintage Lite-Brite spelling out “RWB.”

Adam McHeffey, the lead guitarist of the opening band, Swear and Shake, came out wielding a homemade sign bearing the group’s name complete with antique Christmas lights. It definitely set the mood for the rest of the night. As the other members of Swear and Shake took the stage with McHeffey, the excitement in the air was palpable on both sides of the microphone. McHeffey and Kari Spieler (vocals and guitar) both thanked Terry and RWB for the gift and jumped right into their upbeat songs. Swear and Shake’s signature folk-rock style had everyone up and moving. They played an energetic hourlong set comprised of tracks from their first album, “Maple Ridge,” and their cleverly named EP, “Extended Play.” After they finished their set, they proceeded to pack up their own gear because they were both musicians and their own roadies.

Terry made his entrance with a huge smile on his face. The rest of the band — Mark McCullough on bass and chapman stick, Greg Rahm on guitar and keyboard, Dean Anshutz on drums, and Eric Hall on the lead guitar and lap steel — followed, and the yelling from the crowd picked up. Terry picked up his signature ukulele and tuned it as the crowd began to cram in close. When it came time to play “Audition” (arguably RWB’s most prolific song), the crowd was loosened up and passionately sang along with Terry.

RWB seems to attract a very music-oriented following; the crowd was more inclined to have a good time listening to the music than acting like crazed maniacs, which was a rather appreciated change from other rock concerts.

As the set came to a close, Terry thanked the crowd and walked calmly off the stage. The rest of the band went out with more of a bang, clearly having fun with it, in a very rock ‘n’ roll fashion. There was an extended outro, and then they exited the stage with nothing more than a wave. However, the crowd decided that they hadn’t heard enough. Terry and Hall eventually returned for an encore after ear-splitting pleas from the crowd. They played a special acoustic song, “My Name is Death,” then finished the show with two more songs.

Afterward, RWB and Swear and Shake gathered around their merchandise tables to talk with fans, shake hands and sign autographs. I had a chance to talk with all of them and touch base with Terry. This concert was a truly intimate affair. It was close and personal, not only because of the small venue but also due to the fact that it was a homecoming for Terry and the audience was full of his close friends and family.

The post Red Wanting Blue plays World Cafe appeared first on The Triangle.

Scott Terry of the Ohio startup band Red Wanting Blue spoke with me last week about his past experiences on starting the band in 1996, being independent for 14 years, signing with the Fanatic Records label, and his new tour which started Oct. 3.

Photo Courtesy Jason Tanaka Blaney. Scott Terry, lead vocalist of Red Wanting Blue, describes the band’s decision to sign with Fanatic Records in 2010 after 14 years of independence.

The Triangle: So you guys have the Dime Store Circus Tour kicking off tomorrow, and I’m sure you are excited to be out on the road again. Could you tell me something about the tour?

Scott Terry: We’ve been touring for the last year and a half off of our record “From the Vanishing Point,” and this is going to be our last national tour before our new record coming out next year. We have gotten a reputation for having a kitschy knick-knack style stage setup; we guard our stage with thrift store souvenirs. I mean, you saw at Bunbury a very, very small bit of that, like the Lite-Brite and bubble lights and chandeliers and fun stuff like that. So when we have our new record out, we will probably do a little bit of a change. One of the things that has given us a reputation has been our setup, and I know that this is the last ringing of the bells for the setup before we move into a new phase and do something else.

That’s kind of why the name is appropriate for the tour — the Dime Store Circus Tour. I mean, we’ve been touring since God knows when, collecting knick-knacks from Salvation Army and thrift stores, and they’ve been our little keepsakes and mementos, and we like putting them onstage with us. Probably [a] more appropriate [tour name] could have been Thrift Store Circus Tour — but we like the idea of the five-and-dime, and our stage always comes along with us like a big gumball machine. We try to make it as fun of a show as we can.

TT: I also see that [on the Dime Store Circus Tour] you are doing some shows with Will Hoge and Swear and Shake.

ST: Yeah! Yeah, those guys are becoming good friends of ours. Will we’ve known for years, and he is an outstanding singer/songwriter and performer, and if you’ve never heard him before he’s wonderful; to give you an idea, one of the songs he wrote was for the first episode of the TV show “Nashville” and [the one] that [the] Eli Young Band is known for on the country charts. He is a great writer, so we’re really excited for that. He’s also a bit of a troublemaker on tour. He likes to pull pranks and whatnot, so it’s always exciting. You kind of feel like you’re at summer camp with him, tricks like getting your car covered in confetti and balloons and stuff when you’re not paying attention.

Then Swear and Shake is a band that we met through touring on The Rock Boat, which is a floating music festival hosted by Sister Hazel and Sixthman (who do most of the big concert and music festival cruises), so we got to meet them last year, very cool, very cool people, so we’re excited to be playing with them this fall too. We’re going to be playing some new music this tour that we’re premiering this weekend, some of the songs off the new record; we’re sort of chomping at the bit.

TT: Speaking of the record label, in 2010 you signed with Fanatic Records, and before that you were independent for basically the entire existence of Red Wanting Blue, so you said it changed the production of the new album. What else did it change for you guys?

ST: Yeah, [we were] completely independent before, and, well, it’s changed the landscape of what we do pretty dramatically on some levels, but on some levels nothing has changed. We’ve always been a do-it-yourself organization, and Fanatic is a very mom-and-pop record label. Although it’s under the umbrella of Capitol and EMI, they like the way we do things, so they are very involved in our careers; they make a huge difference.

We heard a lot more horror stories than success stories of bands getting signed, you know, so my experience with it was more of trepidation, like, “Uck, I don’t know if I want to do that.” … I think because we did it the real grassroots way for [so] long, we found ourselves sort of hiding in plain sight. … Other record labels and people knew who we were, but we did well enough on our own, … and we had plenty of small offers early on, but we just kind of continued to do our own thing. Then Fanatic came around and said they really wanted to help us continue what we’re doing, so we took a chance [with] them because it was a new label with new ideas.

It didn’t seem like we were signing on to be band “No. 8,672,000” in a chain of all these [other] bands. … We hear a lot of stories like that, so the fact that Fanatic really believed in our band and … wanted to share in our vision was why we went with them. [I]t was a really good decision because from that we wound up rolling into a top management company that represents us now, a top booking agency that represents us now. We got to be on national television … so things have been rolling in our favor as a result. I hate to sound like a guy who was too scared to gamble for 10 years, then I finally gambled and I won. So we’re really happy about it.

TT: Before, when you were an independent band trying to get a grassroots following, was it difficult to tour and produce the albums without the label to back you?

ST: Oh absolutely … when you’re coming up with all of the funding yourself and doing it yourself, you really are doing it yourself. … Basically record labels are banks — they help you, they pay forward for what you’re going to do; but when you are on your own you have to prepare for that. We’ve always been a band that’s tried to, pardon the expression … “piss with the big boys.” We’ve always wanted to do touring the way that big bands tour and the way big bands release records, so it’s taken a lot of careful consideration on our part on more than one aspect of our careers. … It’s such a circumstantial situation; some people have great stories and some people don’t. I would say for us … our relationship with Fanatic has been kind of “good things come to those who wait.”

TT: I saw you at the Bunbury Festival, which was right before you went back to Columbus to start working on the new album, yes?

ST: Yeah, that was almost a year after David Letterman, and then that fall we played VH1, so this last year and a half  has been pretty awesome for us. … I think having a proper team behind you helps open doors that otherwise might have been difficult to open on our own. It’s something for me that has been awesome; it’s been a real joy to have such great additions to the Red Wanting Blue family because they’ve been able to help get us — in the last couple of years — a lot closer to where we wanted to be.

TT: So, Red Wanting Blue was founded way back in 1996 at [The] Ohio [State] University. I was wondering if you could tell me a bit about how it got formed and why you guys started the band?

ST: I grew up not far from Drexel. I grew up a South Jersey kid, and I sang for my whole life in choirs and in high school had my own bands and went off to college. … It was probably more important to me to form a band than it was to graduate or do well in my major. … I’ve always loved music and it was the first time where you’re independent and you’re on your own, you’re away from your family. I think those moments are precious to a young adult because that’s where you’re beginning to viscerally define who you are. … I think that’s why colleges are such hotbeds for bands

TT: You’re playing here in Philadelphia Oct. 19 at World Cafe Live, and I’m excited because I’ll see you guys perform there.

ST: It’s [going to] be great. … I grew up 20 minutes from you [at Drexel], so for me it’s a homecoming whenever I get a chance to come to Philadelphia. … I get really nostalgic … thinking, “Will there be time to run down to South Street and get a cheesesteak from Ishkabibble’s side window?”

Check out Red Wanting Blue Oct. 19 at World Cafe Live.

The post Scott Terry tells tales of indie band appeared first on The Triangle.