Monday, April 20, 2009

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Remix Monday: Friendly Fires “Skeleton Boy”

Posted: 20 Apr 2009 01:58 PM PDT

“Skeleton Boy” is a track that has been playing heavily on my playlist for the last few months. The song is by English outfit Friendly Fires from their self-titled debut album. It’s the third single off of their record but the one that’s been getting the most attention and all of the remix treatment.friendlyfirez

“Skeleton Boy” is a bleepy pop number with yearning vocals.”I close my eyes on the dancefloor, forget about you. I lose myself in flashing colors, I’ve got to see it through”. It’s a fun filled, light and airy track, packed with electro, pop, and house crazed drum beats. The chorus can loose itself a little, particularly in innovative originality, and what really drives the song is the melody across the verses, mainly since they are delivered with hushed, shoe-gazey vocals. “Skeleton Boy” is a terrific, shaky dance party.

.Friendly Fires - “Skeleton Boy”

. Remix
does a wondrous take on this tune. He twists the song from a pop infused house melody to a bass heavy remix. The bass line, a la Daft Punk, is so thick and powerful it drives the mix and gives it a neo-noir tinge that eerily sends shivers up your spine. gives “Skeleton Boy” a proper remix treatment with building new music around the vocals. In addition to the fortress like bass, the song is met with drips of star gazing twinkles.

.Air France Remix
Air France’s mix delivers a completely different vibe than the original. It’s soft and summery with no traces of pop, house or anything that you’d be menacingly moving your body to at 2am. The mix has an island feel to it, laid back Caribbean influences and bumpy piano notes. It’s so bright I feel the sunshine. The vocals are left as an ethereal afterthought and are only snippets of the original lyrics.

.Vanguard Remix
Vanguard’s remix starts off with a very similar feel to the Air France one then kicks in with distorted house beats that feel thin and flimsy but no means without impact. The vocals are light and the beats are flaky amongst plenty of bleeps, varying rhythms and noise. This track is the one that sounds least like the original but still delivers with its own charm of creativity. It’s house-y and electro all rolled into one.

Friendly Fires: website | myspace

Friendly Fires
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Photograph by Martina Woerz

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Lady Gaga covers Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida”

Posted: 20 Apr 2009 12:56 PM PDT

SXSW Interview With: Roxy Epoxy & The Rebound

Posted: 20 Apr 2009 09:44 AM PDT

At a quaint little coffee shop tucked away from the chaos of SXSW’s 6th St, PopWreckers Bethany and Joshua encountered what was to be their wildest (sex! cursing! Mozart!) interview yet: Roxy Epoxy & The Rebound. And yes, this is the same Roxy Epoxy of The Epoxies.

Bethany, PopWreckoning: Sorry, but this was a last minute interview for me, so I don't have any questions planned or research done.
Roxy Epoxy, Roxy Epoxy & The Rebound: I think that generally goes more interestingly than planned interviews.
PW: OK, I have the nice little mini microphone that we'll pass around as we're talking. I guess to get started, while we're waiting for Josh, if you can just say your name and what you do in the band.
RE: I'm Roxy Epoxy. I am the singer of the band and lead awesomeness.
PW: Lead awesomeness? So you're second awesomeness?
Drat, Roxy Epoxy & The Rebound: Maybe. My name is Drat and co-writer of the album and live guitarist. Oh and what do I do? I do something with crush velvet suits.
RE: Oh yeah. Crush velvet suits. roxy
D: I just look good and wear crush velvet suits.
RE: We spontaneously have another member walking up right now, that would be him. He's throwing the horns and oh there's another. Don't they look cool? Introduce yourselves guys.
PW: Haha, I wish this was a video interview now. (I really do wish I had a video camera. The two members walking up treated the walk to the table like a catwalk, especially the keyboard player wearing aviators, a black wifebeater and a cowboy hat.)

Ryan Moore, Roxy Epoxy & The Rebound: Hello there, I'm Ryan Moore. Nice to meet you.
PW: Oh, I think I stole your chairs.
RM: That's OK, we'll steal some more.
RE: And what do you play?
RM: Everything. I play drums for this band.
RE: Ryan, do you have a cigarette?
RM: Fuck yeah I do. I have everything. Can I cuss on your tape recorder?
PW: Yeah, whatever you want to do.
RM: I only have three so, we'll have to smoke those.
RE: I'm addicted again. Dammit.
Jairus Dathan, Roxy Epoxy & The Rebound: What is this?
D: Oh, you have to introduce yourself Jairus.
JD: Oh, I'm Jairus.
PW: And what do you do in the band?
JD: I play keyboards.

PW: OK, well let's start here: how did you guys form?
RE: Well, Drat and I wrote the album. We've been a couple for six, seven years now. I was in a band called the Epoxies that fell apart and I wanted to do something new for awhile, so I finished writing the album and then we found all these fools.

PW: Where did you find these guys at?
RE: Random malls, bathroom stalls, you know peering through the glory hole.
RM: Yeah, there was a lot of tapping–foot tapping that was going on that I remember in the early days.
PW: Now that's a way to start a band. Um…
RM: Uh, oh sorry, you ask your question first.
PW: No, you go for it.
RM: Well, I think how a lot of how we found each other was through mutual friends and contacts. Like I had been friends with Lola [Gold] for a long time and I ran into her randomly and found out she needed a drummer.
D: She's our bass player who is not here.
RM: Yeah.
RE: She's a tall glass of water.
RM: This guy here, I should let him tell the story-that's to you with the rebound.
JD: Oh, um, they were practicing at my house with the former drummer and I would listen to them play and it just happened that the other keyboard decided that other things were a priority and space became available and I decided that I'd try it out. They seemed like cool cats and they are. It's great being on the road with them.

PW: So you said that you two had been together for six years relationship wise-What are some of the challenges? Do you ever find it hard to be in a band with someone that you're also significantly tied to?
RE: It has been really easy.
D: We're best friends.
RE: We've got a good relationship. It's difficult to have sex on the road, though.
RM: It is difficult to watch.
D: Haha.
RM: They make us watch. It is difficult to watch.
D: Haha, mommy and daddy are fighting again.
RM: My favorite is the doggy style. That's good shit right there. Because we have a really low bunk, so the whole schematics of how it works are quite interesting.
D: Mommy and daddy are sitting there adult wrestling.

PW: Ok then. Haha. Well, how would you guys describe your sound?
RE: God.
D: Glam new wave metal.
RE: Glam new wave rock with a touch of metal.
D: No. It would be new wave first, then glam then rock.

PW: So who are some of your influences and inspirations?
RE: I'm highly influenced by Avril Lavigne and…haha.
D: I like David Bow-E (intentionally spelled the way he pronounced it).
RE: Yeah, I like David Bow-E, too.
D: Haha.
RE: Seriously though, I think the main people that I had in mind while writing were Nina Hagen and . Lene Lovich and Hazel O’Connor. Those are the four I have been citing a bunch.

Enter PopWrecker Joshua. Finally!

Joshua, PopWreckoning: Hi, I'm Josh nice to meet you.
RE: I've been doing a radio show now for a couple of years and I've been pulling out and trying to discover tons of new music-new old music.
PW: What's the show?
RE: Roxy's Ego Hour on KPSU in Portland at the University. I've kind of gotten exposed to a lot of German new wave stuff and just really, really angular stuff. A lot of old kind of garage rock, so some of that crept in there, too.
D: For me it was Steve Stevens-Steve Stevens and Daniel Ash for the guitar sounds and the playing. My influences are more vast than that. I just thought that would work really well for this.
RM: Jairus, do you care to talk about this one?
JD: Sorry, I've been spacing out. I need to eat soon.
RE: Jairus. Haha. Isn't he cute?
JD: What's the question?
RM: Who are your influences?
JD: Oh my influences. I would say the Cure, , New Order, some Joy Division, Not necessarily , but that has always been in the ranks around me. I'm getting more influenced by that. A lot of synth pop stuff that I can find. Mainstream radio is the place I can find a lot of the stuff I can dance to. I just like synthesizers right now. -some stuff that's done on that. Nirvana? Did I say that? Nirvana.
RM: I'm a rock and roll guy. My earliest influences for playing were just like the super rock bands of the 70s-Zeppelin, the Who, -all that type of that shit. I've just been playing big, loud rock drums and…
D: (squeals) "Oh yeah."
RM: Yeah. But also, I'm really a big fan of music. I listen to anything I can get my hands on. I've had to over the years and being the drummer in a band, you're not a primary songwriter most of the time, so you are the sideman. And I've had a lot of gigs over the years where I've had to go in and emulate a style or a band that's like a ton of cover work and stuff like that, so my role is basically to enhance the songs. That's my focus, being a really smart musician, but I also bring the hammer down. That's the shit that I get off on.
When I first got these tunes brought to me, the album was finished when I got it. There's a really good blueprint of really smart drumming that was already done, but I did hear some spots where I did hear that I could spice it up a little bit and these guys have been very generous in allowing me to do that. I think the songs are becoming even smarter and more dynamic and epic than they are on record-not to take anything away from the album because the album is fantastic, but I think the live show just buries it.
D: This was recorded, the band hadn't played together until our first show.
RE: Two weeks ago.
D: Yeah, two or three weeks ago. So we've kind of, we play the album, but it is slightly different. We've been adding stuff and just having a lot of fun with it.
RE: As far as I'm concerned, live is a separate beast. Whatever worked for the album, worked for the album and whatever works live, works live. Music just morphs. I'm just for whatever happens, happens.

PW: Is the album in stores already?
RE: The album came out last week.
D: Yeah, it came out last week. So.
RE: The tenth.

PW: This is your first time here at SXSW as Roxy Epoxy, but have you been here before?
RE: I've never been here before. I decided I wanted to try it, so we routed down here and here we are.
D: They, we've all three played Austin before.
RM: This is my second South By and I've played some other random gigs. Like my 5th or 6th time in Austin. I can't remember, but the last few times were just as crazy, but we're going to take it up a notch. It is difficult to remember some of the points of being down here, but I love this city. Are you guys from Austin?
PW: No, Nebraska and Kansas.
JH: Kansas City.
RE: That's his [Jairus] area.
JD: Yeah, St. Joseph, Missouri.
PW: Oh really?
JH: Yeah, Liberty-There you go.
PW: I went to high school in Liberty, so I'm a little bit closer to there.
JH: That's crazy. Small world.
JD: Yeah, I played basketball in Liberty when I was going to an all Christian school.
PW: What school?
JD: I went to St. Joe Christian. I forget who we played up there. It was fun. It was fun playing basketball with high school varsity in 7th grade.
RM: Dribble for Jesus.
JD: I was really tiny.

JH: This might be the greatest South By interview.
PW: You missed some good stuff.
JH: Really?
PW: Yeah, you should not have gone off to the restroom.
JH: Yeah, I shouldn't have pissed.
PW: We already talked about sex and toe tapping.
JH: I always miss the toe tapping conversations.

PW: I guess, for a wrap up question since it is South by, what are you most excited to see/hear or have you already seen? Any crazy experiences?
JH: Obviously us.
RE: It is definitely you guys.
D: Yes. This interview really has been the highlight of the tour.
JH: I mean, I get that and Andrew Bird and shit is here, but…
RM: 's here?
RE: Yeah, 's supposed to be playing at Stubb's tomorrow?
JH: Last night? It's tomorrow? I thought it was last night?
RE: I don't know. I heard the rumor.
D: I heard the were going to be here.
JH: Just three of them.
PW: Back from the dead?
D: That's amazing.
JH: They're having trouble reviving John, but George is coming.
D: I heard Mozart was playing at the piano bar downtown.
PW: No, he already played yesterday.
D: Oh, was it yesterday?
JH: Yeah, it was yesterday.
D: Bummer.

RM: I think coming down here and finagling my way into clubs, it is always fun. I've never had a wristband. I've never had privileges at South By and I think you can have a better time if you don't because I think you don't have to actually figure out what the fuck you're going to do. But I went and saw, I went and saw this killer band, I just love them, I always talk about them every chance I get, but , I saw down here. They're just the hairiest, sweatiest rock band and those guys are just super awesome and way cool dudes. I got to see them rock at Emo’s the other night and that was awesome.
PW: Very cool.
JH: Well, we have to walk to Oklahoma to get the car.
RM: That's a walk.
PW: Thank you. Bye.

Roxy Epoxy & The Rebound: website | myspace

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SXSW Interview With: Dredg

Posted: 20 Apr 2009 07:55 AM PDT

With their fourth studio album on the horizon–The Pariah, the Parrot, the Delusion is released June 9–Bethany caught up with front man Gavin Hayes at SXSW to ask a few questions about the album and their live show:

Bethany, PopWreckoning: You guys recently just had your new single "Saviour" put up on AbsolutePunk.net, and recently being yesterday, how has the response been so far?
Gavin Hayes, : So far, I haven't really read into too many responses, but our bass player did and he said that people are liking it and the production. I think people are somewhat familiar with the track because we have been playing it at a lot of live shows. So it isn't really a surprise, at least for our hardcore fans. But there are some surprises on the record. That's why we've been kind of playing the same songs over and over live so that there are some surprises that people have never heard.

PW: Is that what you mean by surprises? Songs people have never heard?
GH: Yeah. dredg
PW: Or do you mean a different style?
GH: Both. I mean there are a lot of songs that people probably haven't heard, but "Saviour" is one that we've been playing live for months now and people have YouTubed it, so it is familiar.

PW: You guys have incorporated a large portion of visual aspects into your live show and I know that you guys do a lot of those things yourself. What was the process in choosing the art to go with you on stage?
GH: Lately, we haven't really put a lot of paintings up. That was something we'd do when we were playing a lot of smaller clubs and we wanted to make a local contribution and we'd bring in artwork and like you said, artwork is a big part of our band. The bass player and I are both painters. Every one is involved with how we present ourselves visually.
We work pretty close with the guy who ran our segments, who is in a band called Division Day. He's an old friend of ours from high school. He's done websites for us, artwork, t-shirts, so on. So he knows us so well and knows exactly what we want, so we can kind of give him an outline and go from there.

PW: Do you have training in art or is that something that you just started doing?
GH: Yeah. Both the bassist and I have training in art.

PW: Since you guys are praised so highly for you energetic live show and everything you've incorporated into it, what do you hope people come away with from experiencing your shows?
GH: I hope they feel like it was an honest representation of music, you know? I feel like that's a big thing–whenever I watch a band that it feels like they mean it and it is an honest approach, you know? There's some sub-conscious thing where you can tell when a band is going through the motions or aren't really sure of what they're doing. You know what I mean? I just hope people feel like it was an experience and an honest one.

PW: You have said that you would never compromise your integrity in order to achieve short term fame. That is pretty unique to me as a band. Why have you done that rather than just sell your songs to make money? The economy is rough, is that difficult to pursue?
GH: I mean, it has almost become now that the way we write is just what we do and we tend not to write pop songs, you know? The poppier side of our band, some die hard fans might be like, oh we're trying so hard to be poppy, but it is actually a natural thing. I believe that even musically, if something feels poppy like the lyrical content it’s never really pop-oriented lyrics. So I think there is a good balance.

PW: Currently you guys have your own label, right?
GH: Yeah.
PW: Before that did you ever feel pressured by labels to make or produce that commercial short term sound?
GH: A little bit, but not like anything too-it isn't like the movies where they're screaming out you and telling you what to write, but obviously they're a business and they want you to be a successful one. At Interscope, we had a lot of freedom. We had a lot more freedom than I ever expected from a major label and we were with them for eight years, so they helped build our career. I think where we are as a band right now, where we are doing things on our own and having our own label, I actually think that with the partnership that we have at ILG, that we're taking on the promotional and distribution side of things. I think it is a perfect relationship.

PW: Today is the last day of South By. Is there a must see band for you today?
GH: I'm really looking forward to . Unfortunately we're playing right around the same time, but we're both playing at Emos, so I might be able to catch the tail end of his set or something.

PW: He played the other day. Did you make it to that?
GH: No. I didn't. I haven't actually seen any music, to be honest. I mean, we got here Thursday and I had the day off, so I just met up with a bunch of friends. I didn't really watch many bands. Then we played last night and I just chilled all day. I didn't even come down here until we played. So, there were a lot of bands I'd like to see. I'd like to see DJ Shadow, Cursive, but just a lot of conflicting scheduling and so on.
PW: Yeah. I haven't caught DJ Shadow, but Cursive has an awesome live show, but then again, I'm from Nebraska, so I'm all about Cursive.
GH: Yeah. I I love them. Ugly Organ is like one of my favorite records.
PW: Have you heard the new album yet?
GH: I haven't.
PW: You should definitely check it out.
GH: Yeah.
PW: I like it a lot.
GH: Cool.

PW: Well, last question: what should we expect in the future of ?
GH: A lot of touring. Right now we're just starting our touring cycle. Most likely we'll be, the next year and a half or so, we'll be on the road and back and forth between here and over seas. So hopefully, we'll see you in person at our live show.
PW: Sounds good. Thank you.
GH: Thank you.

: website | myspace

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