Before the band release their record on Trouble in Mind Records, they’ll be hitting up Austin for what we hope is a show that comes as advertised: loud, fun rock n’ roll. We chatted up with the band before they head our way, so check out what they’ve got to say.
So we here at ATH are continuing on with our coverage of SXSW with a bit of a focus on a couple of our favorite local bands. Today we’ll take a quick look at up and comers in the Austin scene She Sir. Leading man and founding member Russell Karloff was nice enough to answer a few of our prying questions via email about his band. Follow the jump for his answers.
Long have we supported the guy sin Colourmusic, and as they get ready to release their new record, My _______ is Pink, we were excited to get a minute of their time before they head down to Austin for SXSW. Here’s some solid answers from the gentlemanly Colin.
Make no mistake about it, The Great Nostalgic are easily one of our favorite up and coming local bands. What with an appearance on our album’s of the year list in 2009, labeled as Austin album of the year, and major exposure here, it’s easy to see we dig their music. In our quest to let the world know more about TGN, we recently sat down with leading man and primary songwriter Abram Shook to discuss the current state of his band. You’ll be happy to hear that they are still going strong and getting ready to release their sophomore LP on the world. Follow the jump for more.
Keeping up with some of our previews for the upcoming crazy SXSW festival, today we’ll focus on up and coming band Secret Cities. We fell in love with these guys last year when they released their debut LP Pink Graffiti and have been following them ever since. Lucky for us, band member Charlie Gokey was kind enough to answer some questions about his band and their upcoming sophomore effort. Follow the jump for his responses.
Here’s another one of our great SXSW interviews with Violens, who’ve already had a good year with the release of Amoral. Get to know the band below.
Continuing on with our coverage of established SXSW bands and their current state affairs today, we take a look at Australian outfit An Horse. We sent over some of our SXSW oriented questions to Kate Cooper who represents ½ of the band. Follow the jump for her sweet responses.
As we get closer to SXSW, we hope to have more great interviews for you all. Here is one from our favorite act of late, The Fresh & Onlys. We were lucky enough to grab a hold of bassist Shayde before the band heads our way. Read on ya’ll.
ATH: So you’re headed to Austin for SXSW, and we know you’ve been here before. So what’s the first thing you guys have to do, aside from the business side of things, once you pull into town?
Shayde: Finding a place to sleep or camp out is always a challenge during SXSW. We’ll probably going door to door looking for some Texas hospitality.
ATH: What do you guys think of SXSW? For you as a band, is it just like a great big party? Are there bands you’re excited to see, or friends from the road? Or is it all business…promoting the band?
Shayde: It always feels like a family reunion. All the bands and people that you get to know from doing music are all there so you end up partying more than usual. There’s never been a feeling of doing “business” for us there. It’s just pure fun.
ATH: There are literally thousands of bands coming to town for SXSW. What’s the one thing you want to tell our readers that will make your band stand out above the rest?
Shayde: I’ve never been a good salesman. But you know where it’s at.
ATH: You released the excellent Play It Strange last year, and you always seem to be working on releasing some sort of new material. Is there anything coming down the wire in 2011 from Fresh and Onlys?
Shayde: We have a 5 song EP coming out on Sacred Bones called “Secret Walls”. We plan to record the next record between now and June. It’s gonna be a monster.
ATH: Along those same lines, due to the high volume of output from the band, how do you guys continue to stay motivated to write new material? Is there one principal songwriter, or is it more of a collective effort?
Shayde: The songs varie in origin. Tim and I are always challenging each other and that keeps it interesting. It’s always exciting to see what Wymond and Kyle bring to the table when we show them new songs. That’s really where the magic happens. We’re far from being dried up as far as songs go. We keep getting closer and closer to what we do. That’s what inspires us most. I love it.
ATH: What are your favorite songs to play live? Are there songs you would absolutely never play live? Why or why not?
Shayde: Waterfall is always great to play live. People are familiar with it and it feels like such a thick song when we play it. I can really feel that one penetrating the crowd. I feel that way about Invisible Forces or Peacock and Wing as well. There are several songs that we’ve never been able to get a grip on. It’s okay though. There are plenty more lying around and many more to come. It’s never good to force a song live. Too many bands do that and it’s painful to watch.
ATH: If your band were an animal, what animal would you be? Don’t be a kitten, please don’t be a kitten.
Shayde: I love kittens but we are definitely not a kitten. Platypus. Definitely.
Thanks to Shayde for taking out the time to answer our questions, and to the fabulous Nick Dierl for helping make this work.
