Matt Costa's Favorite Stage is Still the Sidewalk

Matt Costa's Favorite Stage is Still the Sidewalk

Matt Costa unleashing his inner Dylan. Photo by Nolan Hall. 

OC Weekly

Tue., Feb. 12 2013 at 10:49 AM

By Arrissia Owen

Huntington Beach-bred troubadour Matt Costa headed to the misty moors of Scotland to record his latest self-titled release, out Feb. 12 (yeah, that's today!). He intended to record a rootsy, melancholy album entrenched in Americana, but once the jet landed, things got a bit cuckoo.

Instead, producer extraordinaire Tony Doogan (Belle and Sebastian, Mogwai) helped transform Costa's folky sound into sing-along handclappers full of lush orchestration, gorgeous melodies and good times.

The song "Good Times," although not really about carefree frolicking, will fool you into fun. "Early November" is reminiscent of '60s French pop, and "Ophelia" is unabashedly Dylanesque, with plaintive, sublime harp blowing. "Shotgun" sounds like pure mirth.

Costa is keeping with his tradition of performing at indie record store Fingerprints on record-release day, bringing old favorites, as well as stripped-down versions of the new songs. He likes the face-to-face time with fans and looks forward to showing off what he calls his "more mystical" sound. The Weekly caught up with Costa for a bit of a blether. 

Do you seek out the interaction with fans at intimate venues such as Fingerprints?

I try for that at any show. I like to get to know people who listen to the music. Sometimes it's interesting hearing their stories and putting a face to the people listening, and vice versa. We get to interact with one another outside of where the song takes the listener or myself.

Not so pitiful. Photo by Nolan Hall.

I saw you at a Sea Shepherd fund-raiser in Riverside back in 2010. You played a set inside the museum, and then afterward, I saw you sitting on the corner, strumming for a few fans. Do you do that a lot?

I do that sometimes because people will come out after, and they're like, "Oh, I was hoping you would play this song." And so I'm like, "I've got my guitar; I'll play it."

I know how much songs mean to me when I hear them, and musicians I respect have done that for me. There is really nothing better than that. So yeah, I'll sit there and play some songs on the sidewalk. That's why I'm out there: to play songs. So I might as well do it until the lights go off.

Who has done that for you?

Well, Donovan Leitch [1960s Scottish singer famous for "Mellow Yellow"]. I did a show with him a couple of years ago at the El Rey. . . . It was a bit of a different scenario. We rehearsed the day before the show, and I sang "Sunshine Superman" with him. There were tons of people in the room.

Then, the day of the show, I went and hung out with him one-on-one. He played me a couple of songs, just me and him. It's one thing to hear something through a microphone and a PA. But to just hear it coming out of one of your heroes--it's pretty magical.

So for the new album, you traveled to Donovan's territory, Scotland, to work with Doogan. Did the songs' direction start to change before you went on that trip, or did you travel there looking for those big production arrangements with strings to go with what you were already dreaming up?

It's a bit of both. After the previous record, I wrote a number of songs, and some of them were intended to have full bands and more production. But then I spent a good year or so leading up to the recording of this record and getting more into finger-style guitar, learning more Mozart on guitar, learning how the phrasing works with the strings.

Also, [listening to singers] such as British troubadour-style musicians, including Davy Graham, Bert Jansch and John Martin--their stuff is really folky and mostly stripped-down. So I was imagining having some string production to those kinds of songs--rainy, sort of moody records.

I started talking to Tony, and he had a vision of doing them in a sort of Ennio Morricone production. He did a lot of the 1960s spaghetti westerns. It had a really cinematic, lush, big production with strings. He likes using a lot of landscapes and horizons in the mountain ranges as inspiration for the sounds.

Once, he suggested having the Belle and Sebastian people and other Glasgow musicians contribute, and especially once I got over there, I realized it would be a shame to not focus on songs that a year ago I loved and instead use songs I had written in the months leading up. So I decided to incorporate it all.

Matt Costa performs at Fingerprint Records, 420 E. Fourth St., Long Beach, (562) 433-4996; www.fingerprintsmusic.com. Tues., Feb. 12, 7 p.m. For more information about Matt Costa, visit www.mattcosta.com.

Absolutely Divine

Absolutely Divine

So we went to the Divine Fits show, and this is what we saw.

Divine Fits throwing down a Tom Petty cover.

And this:

Oh yeah, and this:

It was a buddy road trip on stage all night long. They were having as good of a time as us at Pappy & Harriet's Nov. 3.

A Thing That Just Fits

A Thing That Just Fits

Britt Daniel, Dan Boeckner and Sam Brown form one super trio

By Arrissia Owen

IE WEEKLY

Nov. 1, 2012

There’s not much of a chance you’re going to hear Sam Brown take the mic on a Divine Fits song anytime soon. The drummer, for what’s been touted as a bit of a super group, already has two pretty strong front men in Britt Daniel and Dan Boeckner, the former of celebrated indie band Spoon and the latter of much-hyped Wolf Parade and Handsome Furs.

“Those slots have all been taken,” Brown says with a wry laugh about his newest project, which recently released A Thing Called the Divine Fits on Merge Records. “There’s no hope for me being in the spotlight.”

But that’s not to say he doesn’t have a pretty sweet gig. Brown, who also does time pounding the kit for punk band New Bomb Turks, landed in the power trio that plays Pappy & Harriet’s Nov. 3 after a call from producer Mike McCarthy.

Brown, a power drummer known to back up Pappy & Harriet’s regular Tim Easton, was also serendipitously in Chris Burney’s pop-rock band The Sun, an act that shared a producer with Spoon.

As fate would have it, after Wolf Parade and Handsome Furs broke up, buddies Boeckner and Daniel decided to combine their woozy vocals and boozy baselines. When Daniel mentioned to McCarthy he needed a drummer, the producer knew just the guy.

“He threw my name Britt’s way,” Brown says nonchalantly. The drummer known for his consistency and professionalism flew to Austin to spend a weekend playing songs with Daniel. Next thing he knew he was on his way to Los Angeles to work with Boeckner, as well. “Right away it was really fun,” Brown says, especially since he had been a fan of both Daniel and Boeckner’s bands for years.

One of the first songs the band worked on was a cover of “Shivers,” originally by Nick Cave’s early band Boys Next Door. The morose, lovesick ditty caught Daniel’s attention during a trip to Australia because of its powerful lyrics and room for interpretation.

“The cover they did was very slow and gothy,” Brown says. “It didn’t have such a strong personality that you can’t cover it. This one is kind of a loose, blank slate of a song. You can definitely do something with it and not have people up in arms because you’ve defiled a classic.”

There is a bit of a Nick Cave trail with this new project. Boeckner has been quoted as saying the band chose their producer, Nick Launey, in part because of his work with Grinderman, Cave’s most recent band. “Shivers” has been a crowd favorite, so far, but that’s not to say the band’s played many shows.

Because all three band members are either in or just ended their relationships with other bands (Read: Spoon is only on hiatus, so calm down), Divine Fits was kept a bit under wraps. They did not play many shows until after A Thing Called Divine Fits was released, which makes for an unusual coming out party with expectations nearly as big as the crowds.

“An interesting thing happened after we started playing shows,” Brown says. “We became a different band.” And that made them a new band that already had a record out. As they play the songs and explore their parts more, sometimes they go in a different direction, Brown says.

“People’s personalities are sticking out more,” he says. “Everybody’s personality is on the record, but something about getting out on the road—you become more of a band.”

Admittedly, it’s strange hitting the road with a new band that already has a built in fan base. “I don’t think it’s been unwarranted,” Brown says. “It’s newsworthy that Britt has a new band. That initial push is settling down though. Now it’s just a matter of whether we connect with people.” They’re hoping for a perfect fit.

The Divine Fits with Cold Cave at Pappy & Harriet’s, 53688 Pioneertown Rd., Pioneertown, (760) 365-5956; www.pappyandharriets.com. Sat, Nov. 3. 9pm. $25. All ages.

Who’s the Man?

IE Weekly

By ARRISSIA OWEN

John Gourley may not be convinced but his role in Portugal. The Man earns him best vocalist

John Gourley is a guy, the very one behind the voice of Portland-based band Portugal. The Man. The gender may seem obvious the moment you hear the name John, but it wasn’t always so straightforward.

The first time Gourley attracted label attention for his music he was ecstatic. However the scenario didn’t quite mesh with his getting-discovered daydreams.

“Hey man, who’s the girl singing?” the record label guy asked. Gourley, whose celebrated, high-pitched vocals have graced stages at Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza, was crushed.

“I stopped singing after that,” Gourley says. “I was like, ‘Everybody thinks I’m a chick. I guess this isn’t what I am supposed to be doing.’” He wasn’t exactly aching to front a band anyway, so he accepted defeat. Plus, coming from an Eskimo village, rock star ambitions seemed unlikely.

Gourley, who grew up with dog musher parents in an isolated area on the northern coast of Alaska, relied on AM radio for much of his musical upbringing. As he got older, Gourley saw how newer bands were recreating the past.

“Rage Against the Machine made me want to play bass,” Gourley says. “Oasis and Nirvana proved you could write really good songs still. I didn’t realize people could still do The Beatles like that. It was amazing to hear.” He started playing music with friends up until his early retirement.

Thankfully, Gourley’s childhood friend Zach Carothers coaxed the self-conscious singer away from building houses with his father to lay down some tracks. Carothers, who ditched Alaska to attend college in Portland had formed the band Anatomy of a Ghost.

Despite his reluctance, Gourley was looking for an escape after a particularly harsh breakup. The collaboration took hold, which led to the band with the odd name and even more puzzling punctuation.

Portugal. The Man recorded its first demo in summer 2004. The group hasn’t slowed down since. The band—its current lineup also includes guitarist Noah Gersh, keyboardist Kyle O’Quin and a touring drummer—works at a frenetic pace. It released six studio recordings in six years.

That urgency finally faltered after the band’s first major label release, 2011’s In the Mountain in the Cloud, on Atlantic Records. It’s been two years since the band entered the studio to record the critically acclaimed album released last July. Gourley says he still owes the album its due touring.

The workload has been intense, and not without its casualties. Portugal. The Man lost members to burn out, family issues and side projects—one touring drummer even quit mid-show at New Orleans’ House of Blues in early April.

After a whirlwind European tour with The Black Keys and a string of additional stateside dates recently—they stop at Pomona’s Fox Theater May 4—the band isn’t itching to hunker down in the studio anytime soon. Gourley, an admitted perfectionist, is ready to slow down to make sure they get it right, he says, and without making everyone insane.

It’s that old Alaskan stubbornness, the charismatic frontman explains. Gourley approaches music the same way he tackles building houses back home. So one might imagine that when someone piles on the accolades that he’d start taking victory laps and high-fiving.

Well . . . When the call came informing Gourley he was voted AP Magazine’s Best Vocalist of the Year back in 2008, he was more than humble.

“I think I said, ‘Didn’t Paul McCartney put out a record this year? Grizzly Bear?”’ Gourley recalls with a laugh. He kept naming off singers who he felt deserved the honor instead.

“They were like, ‘Just accept it.’  I said, ‘OK, I’ll take it, but I know these people are better singers than me.’ I wish I had the confidence to just say to them ‘Yeah, of course I won. Yeah, that’s me, best vocalist. I figured,’ and then just hang up.”

At least others know—he’s the man.

Portugal. The Man with The Lonely Forest at the Fox Theater, 301 S. Garey Ave., Pomona, (877) 283-6976; www.foxpomona.com. Fri, May 4. 8pm. $22.50.

 

Enjoy Every Sandwich

These guys are soft packin'

IE Weekly

By Arrissia Owen

The Soft Pack lives by the words of the late Warren Zevon

“This one’s for Warren Zevon,” singer Matt Lamkin shouted to millions of TV viewers just before his band The Soft Pack launched into a rousing rendition of its single “Answer to Yourself.” That was February 2010, and Lamkin and company were in New York promoting the self-titled LP on Late Show with David Letterman.
The LA-based band has been on tour ever since, promoting the tracks while writing and recording songs for its upcoming fall release. The unexpected shout out sent a jolt through Letterman’s staff, guitarist Matty McLoughlin fondly recalls.
Zevon was a frequent guest and friend of Letterman who choked up the host on air in 2003 during his last Late Show appearance months before he succumbed to lung cancer. The Matts, who are huge Zevon fans along with drummer Brian Hill and bassist David Lantzman, spent time chatting with staff afterward, getting earfuls of anecdotes about the sardonic songwriter.
That performance was one of many highlights for the band during the last two years. Letterman is up there with 2010 slots at Coachella and South by Southwest, “Answer to Yourself” fueling beer commercial bravado and opening for bands like the Breeders and Franz Ferdinand.
These days The Soft Pack heads through the IE on Wednesday, April 11, opening for Arctic Monkeys at The Glass House in Pomona, followed by the Moon Block Party Thursday, April 12, with Dengue Fever at Dillion’s Roadhouse in Palm Springs.
While the band shared stages with heavy hitters, The Soft Pack boasts its own dedicated followers. Its fans freak for the deadpan deliverance of jangly pop reminiscent of post-punk forefathers the Modern Lovers and Manchester band The Fall.
The Soft Pack formed in San Diego in 2007 after McLoughlin returned from Virginia after college. McLoughlin and Lamkin, who was still in high school, hung out and wrote songs while geeking out over their shared love for the aforementioned bands, as well as Hot Snakes, The Velvet Underground, Iggy Pop, The Kinks, R.E.M. and, for variety, Steely Dan.
“We wanted to do repetition and simplicity,” McLoughlin says, with a nod to Mark E. Smith’s musical philosophy, The Fall’s cultish frontman. “Everything else was just up in the air.” The result is Lamkin’s lyrics that dryly dismiss any sort of hype, adoration or ambition over grinding guitars, a stomping backbeat and funky bass lines that maintain that sought-after straightforwardness.
By 2008, The Soft Pack, then known by its much-maligned name The Muslims, relocated to Los Angeles. The moniker attracted negative press, even some racist rants. The music itself was getting rave reviews though, so the group ditched the diversion.
To give fans and the press something else to talk about, the band members set aside their apathy for ambition and tore through 10 shows in 13 hours throughout the Los Angeles area.
“It was cool, but really exhausting,” McLoughlin says about the marathon musical tour that the L.A. Times hopped on the bus for. “I think we will be doing something less exhausting this time.” The band has spring and summer to figure out its next move.
The upcoming release is more diverse, McLoughlin says, with more instrumentation added. Fans can also anticipate some robust beats thanks to Lamkin’s affinity for Funkadelic, Sun Ra and Sly and the Family Stone. “Sonically, there is more soul. It’s bare bones, but it’s still rock music, pop songs. It sounds bigger.”
The recordings are under wraps, but fans can catch sneak peeks as the band continues to tour, something they’ve taken little time off from. But don’t expect any road warrior ramblings to creep into their repertoire.
“When people start writing about the road, that starts sounding very Bon Jovi, and that’s boring,” McLoughlin says with a laugh, preferring Zevon’s take on the whole Wanted-Dead-or-Alive thing. “That’s dumb. Who wants to write about sitting in a van?” The boys are more excitable than that.
The Soft Pack w/Arctic Monkeys at The Glass House, 200 W. 2^nd St., Pomona, (909) 865-3802; www.glasshouse.us. Wed, April 11. 7pm. $35.

For the original post, visit here:  http://ieweekly.com/2012/04/music-2/music/enjoy-every-sandwich/

Beauty is in the Eye of the Skateboarder

Beauty is in the Eye of the Skateboarder

Decks in Effect

 

IE Weekly

By Arrissia Owen

A San Bernardino museum delves into the realm of skate art

“Full Deck: A Short History of Skate Art” brings new meaning to canvassing the neighborhood. The celebration of the subculture that emerged from a once-maligned pastime is at Cal State San Bernardino’s Robert and Frances Fullerton Museum of Art’s through April 21.
Skateboarding, with deep roots in 1960s surf culture, emerged into a full-blown billion dollar industry toting superstars like Tony Hawk and Rob Dyrdek who surpass skate fame. With the intense growth spurt pushing the sport into the mainstream an industry continues to emerge that holds steadfast to its values, touting creativity and freedom of expression as its call to arms.
The wooden skate decks they rolled through town became the army of athletes’ calling cards, a way for skaters to express their individuality. “Full Deck” is an anthology of skate art, with artifacts and photography thrown in for cool context. Close to 300 decks exhibited are borrowed from artists, skaters, collectors and companies from across the U.S.

Performers vs. Athletes

“Skateboarding and art are for the most part individual pursuits without really any rules or confines,” says skateboard company Enjoi’s graphic designer Winston Tseng, whose board designs are featured prominently in “Full Deck.” “They foster creativity, and are both ultimately forms of self-expression. When you look at it that way, skateboarding at its core is a lot closer to performance art than it is to any traditional competitive sports. So it makes sense that a person who’s drawn to or excels in one would gravitate towards the other as well.”
Exhibit curator Carrie Lederer calls the skate deck images one of the purest forms of self-expression, highly personal and mostly created without artistic boundaries, just like skateboarding. Lederer is the curator of exhibitions and programs at the Bedford Gallery, Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek.
“Art and Skateboarding are both acts of creation that involve an ethic of freedom of movement and personal exploration,” says artist and skateboarder Mike Kershnar, known for his neo-folk art influenced by 1980s skate deck designs and low brow artists like Robert Williams. His work has been featured in art and urban lifestyle magazines Juxtapoz and Mass Appeal, as well as skate mag Thrasher.
“Style is the essence of both pursuits, and there is a passionate subculture around the two and the interconnection of the two,” Kershnar says. “It was also skateboard graphics and the art direction of early skate mags that really pronounced to the world what skateboarding was about and where our artistic, aesthetic, spiritual heritage was from.”

A Coat of Arms
The exhibit features historic decks from private collections, unique hand-painted decks, commercial boards, photography, painting, prints, sculpture and videos. Professional skater Corey Duffel, who hails from Walnut Creek, loaned decks from his private collection, which travels from the Bedford to museums, galleries and universities throughout the U.S.
The exhibit includes one-of-a-kind hand-stained decks by Zepher Skate Shop’s Skip Englbom, who was profiled in the movie Lords of Dogtown. There is also a collection of 1960s boards on loan from pro skater Sam Cunningham, a broad range of now rare commercial decks from Element, Enjoi, Krooked, plus more from the collection of Mark Whiteley, editor of skateboarding magazine SLAP.
Other collections featured are from Jason Strubing, owner of Skateworks in Santa Cruz, Metro Skate of Pleasant Hill, StreetCorner Skate of San Francisco and Thrasher magazine. Photography by Bryce Kanights, Tobin Yelland and more are on view.
“When we skate down the street, we are often met with dirty looks, barking dogs, honking cars, etcetera,” Kershnar says. “I look at the graphics on my skateboard as a coat of arms, or a medicine shield against negativity, and a self affirming statement of who I am, and even why I skate. I love to add stickers to my board that show a variety of personal influences, friendships and inspiration.”

A Bit Offensive and Borderline Inappropriate

The show’s skate decks run the gamut, from vintage Santa Cruz and Powell Peralta to artists like Todd Francis, Mofo, Pushead and Kershnar to Tseng’s The Lebowski Five, a five-part series with each character of the beloved movie featured. Tseng’s whimsical style has made for some memorable decks over the years.
“I like my work to always have an idea or some meaning behind it, and I suppose humor is my preferred way of getting that message across,” Tseng says. “I think humor in general appeals to all of society no matter what the context, but my personal sense of humor probably resonates with skaters because it’s admittedly a bit offensive and borderline inappropriate, just like a lot of skaters.”
Tseng’s work is decidedly humorous, sometimes even bizarre. The deck he holds dearest is a perfect example: Enjoi’s 2006 Jerry Hsu signature model called Kitten Dreams.
“It’s a silly graphic with a bunch of kittens and rainbows on it, and at the time everyone told me I was crazy and should not to do it,” Tseng says. The feedback was universally negative. “It ended up being one of the most popular and best selling graphics for us, and taught me the really important lesson to trust my instincts and not put too much into what other people think.”

From the Streets to the Galleries

Such subject matter can make the skate industry’s impact on street art and culture seem like a fluke, but there is no question there is talent in droves. Progressive companies like RVCA, Element, Obey and more help fuel the connection between skateboarding and the arts by supporting athletes as well as artists.
“I think ‘Full Deck,’ along with ‘Art In the Streets,’ and the prestige of artists like Ed Templeton, and Marc Gonzalez shows that this genre speaks directly to youth and youth culture,” Kershnar says. “This is not an art movement from the ivory tower, rather a bunch of unique creatives being brought from the streets to the galleries and museums. I think there is a realness and honesty in the work that paired with the aesthetics of it all make a powerful testament in the gallery.”
The crossover helps push the skate art to the forefront of the culture, which benefits skaters and artists alike, Kershnar says. “Skateboarding is at a point where the pros are so far beyond the average skater that the kids cannot imagine themselves doing the tricks in the mags,” he says.
But anyone can pick up markers or paint. “I like that that is a big part of skating and sort of levels the playing field on the subculture,” Kershnar says. “If you are a kid stuck in a class you don’t enjoy, I think the closest thing you can do to skateboarding in class is to draw. It’s a quiet rebellion.”
“Full Deck: A Short History of Skate Art” at Ribert and Frances Fullerton Museum of Art, 5500 University Pkwy., San Bernardino, (909) 537-7373; raffma.csusb.edu. Gallery hours: Mon-Weds,10am-5pm; Thurs, 11am-7pm. Parking $5. Thru April 21.

For the original post, visit here:  http://ieweekly.com/2012/04/feature-stories/decks-in-effect/

Music Aficionados

There's No "Me" In "Team" 

 IE Weekly

Aficionado takes its game up a notch at SXSW and makes a stop in the IE

By: Arrissia Owen

 

Aficionado is a team effort. When the Albany, New York, band’s lead singer Nick Warchol’s former hardcore band broke up, he set out to wipe the slate clean. He didn’t even know what sort of melodious mash up he was shooting for. 

Warchol enlisted friends of friends who were musicians playing around the area who he’d heard of through the grapevine—Laura Carrozza (vocals/flute), James Kehoe (guitar), Chris Tenerowicz (guitar/trumpet), Chris Kehoe (bass), Craig Dutra (keys) and Mark O’Brien (drums). He soon had no shortage of input with seven collaborators rounding out the roster. 

The band started out real loose, patiently searching for its sound while the members got to know one another, an admittedly tedious task in the beginning, Warchol says. The result is what Warchol recently read about his own band that he thinks sums it up perfectly. 

“They said, ‘It’s like nothing I’ve ever heard but like everything I’ve ever heard,’” Warchol says proudly. Aficionado draws from a lot of different influences to create its kaleidoscope catch-all that appeals to punk and hardcore fans while throwing in its own unique take on the genres. 

Eight years later, the band draws comparisons to Cursive, The Hold Steady and Piebald while having carved out its own niche. They’ve toured with Cursive’s Tim Kasher and Piebald’s Travis Shettel, with the latter adding some collaborative chops. Considering the music website Paste Punk once called the band’s genre “hella Piebald,” that is a huge score. 

“They have turned out to be pretty awesome,” Warchol says. “It’s cool to get to know where they are coming from.” It’s like Kasher and Shettel are the veteran quarterbacks to Aficionado’s rookie year, he says. 

“You can definitely take away a lot from them because you respect their opinion,” Warchol says. “But it’s not like we get in these super deep conversations and we’re learning all the time, but sometimes you look back and think, yeah that thing he said was pretty cool.” 

Aficionado is in the big leagues now, heading to its third year at industry tastemaker music festival South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. The band is touring relentlessly to promote the recently released first full-length CD, the self-titled Aficionado on No Sleep Records. The time on the road has created a well-oiled, cohesive music machine, Warchol says.

“Everyone knows what their role is in the songwriting and has figured out what they do best in order to contribute in the most positive way,” Warchol says. 

Songs like the uptempo “Stir Like Hell” show the band’s range with peaks and valleys pulling the audience in for seductive sing-a-longs with various instruments featuring prominently. The song slows down for Carrozza’s quieter vocals before leading into a thumping crescendo handing the reigns back to Warchol. The dueling vocals make for an interesting dynamic. 

With everything from keys to the trumpet, you almost expect someone to bust out a kitchen sink and start jamming. “We like pushing and seeing what we can incorporate and you know experiment with, because there are not really any rules,” Warchol says. Especially since there was never any playbook to begin with. 

Aficionado with Vimana, Man Maker at The Wire, 247 N. 2nd Ave., Upland, (909)-985-9466; thewire427.com. Thurs., March 22, 7PM. $8-$10.

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