Hailing from the land of all things beautiful and idyllic (Canada of course!), Gentleman Reg, if you haven't already been introduced, is so much more than cool indie pop from Toronto with a lot of very cool indie music friends. Sure, Gentleman Reg has played with Broken Social Scene, Stars, and The Hidden Cameras and he's friends with Timothy Kingsbury from Arcade Fire from way back when they were wee, but really that's just the bio for beginners. His music stands alone.
Jet Black, released onArts & Crafts, is actually Reg Vermue's third full-length studio album, but the first released in the US. "That's why you don't know who we are yet, but you will," quipped Vermue with a stealthy chuckle and huff at the show on Tuesday night at Bowery Ballroom in New York. Jet Black is filled with punchy, danceable, dulcet melodies that at times render themselves crispy and crunchy with a decidedly charcoal edge. Personally, this has been my go-to album for the past month. I can't stop listening. From sass and twang to arresting, sincere balladry, to breathy electro-groove, Jet Black hits all the marks, consistently. America, meet a true gentleman.
The live set brought what I had been savoring for the past month to life. In person, Vermue is breathtaking. His white blond fuzz, sat heavenly atop his head, and his steel-toed bootie dug ever so deep into the Bowery's worn wooden floor, making a well-deserved mark on the revered NYC stage. Like an angel with conviction, Gentleman Reg sang a collection of songs from Jet Black for a sea of American newbies and I stood by knowing, watching them take in all of the gorgeous, inky fervor that Gentleman Reg brought.
Dear Gentleman: From the look of those that were duly dazzled around me, New York definitely knows you now.
Gentleman Reg is currently on tour supporting A Camp and Jet Black is out now on Arts & Crafts.
Last night, White Rabbits stopped through Philadelphia a week into their tour promoting their new record It’s Frightening. Editrix Jessica was there with Philly photog Ed Roper not only to see a great band, but to celebrate the meeting of the two [and Ed's subsequent joining the Popwreckoning family] when the two met at a White Rabbits’ concert last year at the same venue.
Check out their performance of single “Percussion Gun”, an adrenaline rush, a fan favorite, and a great track to dance around like a maniac to.
Check back for Ed’s shots of the show, including some of openers The Subjects, who White Rabbits have brought along for the duration of the tour. And don’t miss the video interview with 3 of the White Rabbits, up shortly.
In preparation for this year’s Rothbury Festival, my first and their second, I wanted to find out what they are all about as the greenest music festival around. Sarah Haynes from the Spitfire Agency and the Green Chief for Rothbury was kind enough to answer some of my questions about the festival. As the Green Chief, Ms. Haynes has a team of almost 800 helping her to meet Rothbury’s goal of zero-waste recycling. Read on to learn about Rothbury’s greening efforts and become inspired to become greener yourself.
Jessica McGinley, Popwreckoning: This year, Rothbury is supporting the Sustainable Schools Program, whereas last year you supported the Solar Schools Program – is there a difference? How did you get involved with these organizations as well as the Music in Schools Program and Food Drive? Sarah Haynes, Rothbury Festival: Originally we created the Solar Schools Progam, but then we decided to broaden it by providing different forms of sustainable energy / programs over the years. In year one (2008), we installed a $70,0000 solar system on a local school. This year, we are installing 2 wind turbines on a different local school. It remains to be seen what we do in year 3…but the options are endless:: we could change all the light bulbs to CFL's, etc… Hence the broader name in year 2.
JM: Vendors will only be using compostable serving materials at Rothbury – what exactly does compostable serving materials entail and what does that mean for obtaining portable water throughout the fest? SH: Great question! All food service products are compostable, meaning they are made from sugar cane, corn, wheat and other plant based products. They will be pulped and composted at Spurt Industries in Grand Rapids. As for water, Rothbury encourages people to bring a reusable bottle and fill up at one of our many free water refill stations. If they don't have their own bottle, we also have a very nice Rothbury branded Staley stainless steel bottle for sale at our merch locatons. However – for safety purposes, we do still need to provide bottled water (what's known as 'disposable' water in plastic bottles) for all on site. The good news is that we recycle all those bottles, in fact last year our diversion rate inside the venues was was 97% (recycling/compost) to 3% (trash)! JM: That’s amazing. I’ve been to so many festivals that are using foam plates and plastic cups and bottles that just end up on the ground by careless festival goers. It’s so nice to see a festival that cares enough to avoid the use of environmentally destructive materials such as foam in favor of natural products.
JM: The Good Life package seems to negate the green aspect of the festival – paying more to offset waste, but that seems backwards: air-conditioned facilities, catered brunch and late night feasts each day of the Festival would seemingly increase the carbon footprint. Please explain the reasoning behind and the benefits of the "Good Life" packages, as it doesn't necessarily seem like the most ecologically & socially beneficial choice. SH: I love anyone who digs in this far – thank you for caring! Regarding the A/C - all our generators run on a blend of biodiesel which we get from a local company. The stage generators use anywhere from 20%-50% biodiesel, and most of the other generators run on 100% biodiesel. Biodiesel emits very little emissions, you can Google that online and read up on all the details. As for the catered brunches and feasts – this food is made on site, so we aren’t having any delivery companies bring it in — so in terms of power-use, it's the same as all the other food at the fest. In fact, I suppose that's a whole lot of Good Life people skipping some grocery trips pre-event, so we just might be reducing carbon! [smiles] JM: It makes a lot more sense to me now, having a deeper knowledge of how it’s actually run. Definitely sounds like a good life package while still being good to the environment.
JM: How did you come to the decision to donate for the development of wind farms as opposed to investing in solar or hydropower? Specifically how did you come to work with Tanaka? SH: We chose Tanaka's wind farm because it was the closest wind farm to Michigan that was available to us. Solar isn’t often used for offsetting programs, due to the cost of installation vs the number of credits it can generate. That's why we installed solar on the local school last year – because we wanted to support both forms of power – yet solar "offsetting" wasn't an option. The solar we installed on the school last year didn't "count" as part of our offsetting, it was just something we did in addition to the official windfarm offsetting.
JM: How has the community of Rothbury reacted to the festival with hundreds of people showing up for a week and essentially taking over? SH: Generally speaking, they seem to be quite happy with us. There was some initial concern before the first festival happened, but now that they have experienced the first one, and have seen how much attention we put into their concerns/solving problems before they occur, things have been quite smooth. In fact, many of them are now involved. We have a tremendous farmers market on site with local farmers selling their produce, we have a giant food drive that benefits local organizations, we have the sustainable schools program as you know, the music in schools programs – etc. JM: It’s fantastic to have so much local support for Rothbury. Last year at the Virgin Mobile Festival, the local people only seemed to be involved by charging anywhere between $20 and $50 to park on their lawn. And I can’t even believe how many Craigslist ads I’ve see in Austin for people renting their homes out to Austin City Limits and South By Southwest festival goers so they can get out of town for the madness that ensues. SH: These festivals can also be really good for the local economy. We try to buy from local independent businesses as much as possible; for example, I just bought a tremendous amount of paint from O'Leary's rather than the box-stores. We also hire locally, we have hired more than 100 locals just for our 2009 Green & Clean efforts alone. Online you will see that we point people to local markets, encourage them to fuel locally, etc. These are just the aspects I am aware of/involved in –there's a lot more…. JM: It sounds like Rothbury is doing a lot of good not just for the environment, but for its hometown, as well. Everything sounds great and I can’t wait to get out to Michigan and see it all for myself next month. SH: Hope all this helps – feel free to call me with any questions. JM: Thank you so much for your time, Sarah. I really appreciate you answering my questions.
