Queen City Sounds Podcast – Page 11 – Queen City Sounds and Art

Queen City Sounds Podcast S3E41: Comateens

Comateens were a pioneering synth-punk band in NYC when it formed in 1978 when guitarist Ramona Jan and drummer Nicholas “Nic North” Dembling brought together the latter’s more straight ahead rock and pop musicianship and the former’s self-taught, experimental instincts. The group didn’t fit in so much with the other punk bands of the day because it was so different and it traveled in a bit different social circles so its sound wasn’t truly impacted by other groups. Jan was working at the Mediasound studio as an audio engineer as one of a very few women engineers in the world. The job would lead her to a lifetime career in audio engineering and production and working with the likes of Brian Eno, Talking Heads, Ramones (“Ramona” was written about her) and countless others. Jan left rhe band in 1980 and it continued through the mid-80s leaving behind three full-length albums. 2023 sees the release of a limited 12-inch (90 copies on orange vinyl and 200 on black on Left For Dead Records) of early single “Danger Zone” and the unreleased track “Elizabeth’s Lover” both of which feature the early lineup. The music in retrospect sounds like a more forward thinking example of early New Wave with synth used in a way in the songwriting that wasn’t as common until the 1980s placing Comateens ahead of its time. In this interview Jan and Dembling discuss the origins of the band and how it was a happy accident of not knowing or being told the proper way to make the band work as well as some of Jan’s time working with Eno.

Listen to our interview with Ramona Jan and Nicholas “Nic North” Dembling on Bandcamp and connect with Comateens at the links below where you can also find where to order the vinyl and/or digital download.

leftfordeadrecords.com

Left For Dead Records on Instagram

Left For Dead Records on Facebook

comat e ens.com

Comateens on Wikipedia

Queen City Sounds Podcast S3E40: Danny Stewart of Pete’s 9mm Rec hords

Danny Stewart runs Pete’s 9mm Rec hords and in 2022 and 2023 he has issued the first two volumes of Colorado Springs Underground 1983-1994. Stewart grew up Southern California and came of age around the time of the heyday of Los Angeles punk and experienced some of those shows and that culture firsthand in the early 80s. By his late teens, Stewart’s mom moved to Colorado Springs in time for his senior year of high school but there he found his people albeit in smaller numbers and became involved in the underground music world in the city and at times with voyages north into Denver and beyond. While still in Los Angeles, Stewart was involved in a garage rock/punk band in that Sonics vein called Incest Cattle. In the Springs he played in various bands including Night Gallery and Idle Hands before relocating back to California for several years and returning to Colorado in recent years. He currently plays in Glass Parade and cover band #1 Crush.

At some point Stewart realized he had access to several recordings from bands in the period covered by the compilations and the ability to master them for vinyl and set about assembling a collection of songs documenting a time in a place that would largely be otherwise forgotten. The songs on both volumes of the compilation thus far reveal that the Springs didn’t just have quality punk bands but a broad spectrum of rock and experimental music with a metal song or two included. Which is a feature of the eclectic and rich music scene in the city to this day. The compilations are available as digital downloads on Bandcamp, linked below, where you can also purchase the limited vinyl editions as well.

Listen to our interview with Danny Stewart on Bandcamp in which we talk about his youth in punk and in Colorado Springs as well as how the compilations came together.

Pete’s 9mm Rec hords on Bandcamp

Queen City Sounds Podcast S3E39: Paul Chastain of The Small Square

The Small Square, photo from farmtolabelrecord.com

The Small Square is the duo of mult-instrumentalist and vocalist Paul Chastain and drummer, percussionist and vocalist John Louis Richardson. The project released its self-titled album in 2015 and in 2023 following the reissue of that record, the new album Ours & Others dropped on October 31 via Farm to Label Records on digital download, on streaming platforms and CD. Fans of classic power pop like Big Star and the psychedelically tinged pop rock of The Paisley Underground will find much to like about what Chastain and Richardson have been crafting together. Chastain, some may know as the songwriter and co-founder of power pop band Velvet Crush that enjoyed critical and commercial success in the indie rock circles of the early-to-mid-90s before the group split for a couple of years in 1996 and reforming in 1998. Velvet Crush worked with in studio and live with Matthew Sweet, Mitch Easter, Roger McGuinn, Susanna Hoffs and Tommy Keene and in recent years has been one of the undersung acts of the alternative rock era. Its 1993 album Teenage Symphonies was reissued on vinyl in 2023 to mark its 30 year anniversary.

Chastain and Richardson recorded the new album at the latter’s Drum Farm Studio where the unique and differing musical roots and ideas have been fruitful in bringing a freshness and energy to the creative process. With contributions from Adam Ollendorf (lap steel, 12 string guitar), R. Walt Vincent (bass, keyboards, engineering) and the band Shoes, Ours & Others is a sonically rich and at times orchestral collection of vibrant songs and while most fit in that classic power pop sensibility that has rendered the aforementioned so re-listenable over the years there are songs (for example “Insta,” “Days In” and “Baby Face”) that are more experimental in their incorporation of synths and unconventional song structures. It all gives the album a depth of songwriting and emotional expression not common enough in modern pop music.

Listen to our interview with Paul Chastain on Bandcamp and follow The Small Square at the links below.

The Small Square on Instagram

The Small Square on Facebook

The Small Square on YouTube

The Small Square on Farm to Label Records

smallsquaremusic.com

Queen City Sounds Podcast S3E38: Benjamin Jayne

Benjamin Jayne, photo by Benjamin Wright

Benjamin Jayne is the musical project of Benjamin Wright based in Brattleboro, Vermont. On the 2019 debut album HI-LO the songwriting might be characterized as an introspective, gentle folk rock. For the follow-up 2021’s Theater introduced more electronic elements to craft the moody and thought provoking songs and included extensive contributions from Wright’s sister Amanda Wright in vocals, piano and bells as well as one of her own compositions. Since the start of Benjamin Jayne, Wright has enlisted the services of Drew Skinner for mixing and production including on the new album Broken (released October 13, 2023). The music for Broken is darker and heavier befitting the subjects of trying to reconciling who people are in comparison to who they remember themselves to be and the cognitive dissonance and distance we can experience as we try to come to terms with it all and how we want to live and be going forward.

Listen to our interview with Benjamin Wright on Bandcamp and follow Benjamin Jayne at the links below.

benjaminjayne.com

Benjamin Jayne on TikTok

Benjamin Jayne on Instagram

Queen City Sounds Podcast S3E37: Sadie Dupuis of Speedy Ortiz

Speedy Ortiz started as a solo project for guitarist/singer Sadie Dupuis but expanded to a full band in 2011 that has gone on to release three EPs and four full-length albums including 2023’s Rabbit Rabbit. From the beginning Dupuis, also a visual artist, has done a most of the artwork for the band including its album covers and thus one gets a unique and personal aesthetic and perspective from the band’s music that has thankfully made its music challenging to pigeonhole outside of the umbrella term of indie rock. But there is also something immediately accessible about the pop songcraft and poetically and often cleverly observed lyrics that has set the project apart from artists more content with following an established style popular at any given moment. In October 2023 Rolling Stone magazine released a list of “The 250 Greatest Guitarists of All Time” where Dupuis charted at 176. And a quick listen to any of the band’s records reveals that Dupuis while an imaginative artist in her songwriting is also technically gifted musician who channels that talent into songs that come from the heart. Rabbit Rabbit is an album that explores various themes including survival mechanisms, those behaviors many of us undertake to get us through challenging times in our lives some of which we may not be consciously aware of adopting and which can affect us for much of the rest of our lives. And becoming aware of these patterns gives us some ability to guide our lives in ways we really want so that we can live instead of settling for mere survival. Its a complex and emotionally rich album that is also not short on humor and cultural Easter eggs for the perceptive listener that enrich the full meaning of the songs.

Listen to our interview with Sadie Dupuis on Bandcamp and follow Speedy Ortiz on its website linked below including its current US tour with a stop at Glob Hall in Denver on Thursday, November 16, 2023 with Space Moth and Mr. Atomic, doors 7pm, show 8pm.

speedyortiz.com

Queen City Sounds Podcast S3E36: Mike Baggetta of mssv

Mike Baggetta is the guitarist of mssv, a trio formed in 2019 that includes bassist Mike Watt (Minutemen, The Stooges et. al. ) and drummer Jim Keltner (Harry Nilsson, The Traveling Wilburys, Randy Newman, Bob Dylan, Richard Thompson, Neil Young, Phoebe Bridgers, Elvis Costello and numerous other collaborations). The latter has mostly been a songwriting and recording contributor to the project and veteran drummer Stephen Hodges (Tom Waits, Jonathan Richman, Wanda Jackson etc.) has been the percussionist for most of the band’s tours and now a contributor to the writing and recording music now as well. With the musical pedigree of the band with master musicians the music could be something mostly niche and for academics and the like but there’s a freshness to even the more tranquil passages of music that benefits from the spontaneous aspect of the songwriting and some real punk spirit in the performances. It’s a little like listening to a band that was equally rooted in jazz, angular post-punk and ferocious psychedelic art rock. The band’s new album Human Reaction is now available on 12” vinyl and digital download.

Listen to our interview with Mike Baggetta on Bandcamp and follow mssv at the links below.

mainsteamstopvalve.com

Queen City Sounds Podcast S3E35: Lance Lopez

Lance Lopez is a blues rock guitarist, singer and songwriter who was born in Shreveport, Louisiana but cut his teeth as a working musician in the French Quarter of New Orleans where he started getting paid work at age 14. At 17 he was recruited by former Stax Records hit-maker Johnnie Taylor and toured the Chitlin Circuit for half a year. He toured with Lucky Peterson for three years and spent some time playing for the Buddy Miles Express. At points in his career he was mentored by both Johnny Winter and Billy Gibbons, the later of whom remains a friend. Lopez released his debut album First Things First in 1998 and has had an active career with his own band since with an active touring schedule minus the pandemic period during which little if any live music was going on. On July 14, 2023 Lopez released his latest album Trouble Is Good (on Cleopatra Records), a vital and musically accomplished set of songs steeped in the tradition of blues rock commenting on the travails of everyday life. It’s also an album that comes off with a fresh take on an established style of music and an example of how great songwriting and creative musicianship doesn’t go out of style.

Listen to our interview with Lance Lopez on Bandcamp and follow Lopez at the links below.

Lance Lopez Website

Lance Lopez on Facebook

Lance Lopez on Instagram

Queen City Sounds Podcast S3E34: Bark

Bark is a rock duo based in Water Valley, Mississippi comprised of Susan Bauer Lee (drums and vocals) and Tim Lee (Fender VI bass and vocals) . It’s sound is akin to the kind of imaginative yet zesty power pop and jangle rock one heard in the 80s among artists out of The Paisley Underground, C86, Flying Nun Records and the various projects in which Mitch Easter and Chris Stamey were involved. In fact, Tim Lee was a touring member of foundational indie pop band Let’s Active when it was supporting the release of Cypress (1984). Prior to that Tim was a member of The Windbreakers and later on Swimming Pool Q’s. In 2021 Tim published his memoir of his time as a touring and recording musician as I Saw a Dozen Faces…and I rocked them all: The Diary of a Never Was. It recounts the story of a musician who experienced success and played in important bands but never quite became a household name and yet there are significant stories of American cultural history in the tales Tim relates. For the past two decades Susan and Tim toured with both Bark and Tim Lee 3. The band’s latest album Loud dropped on September 5 on 12” vinyl LP, CD and digital download via Dial Back Sound/Cool Dog Sound. The record is a looking back on being a band in recent years and the joys and foibles of being touring musicians with some choice cultural Easter eggs in the various references made to enhance and deepen the meaning and impact of the songs. Also on the record is poetic and sage social commentary that reveal Bark’s collective sensitivity to the challenges all of us seem to face in the world as we know it now.

Listen to our interview with Bark on Bandcamp and follow Bark at the links below.

Queen City Sounds Podcast S3E33: Dale Hollow

Dale Hollow got his start in music in his hometown Nashville, Tennessee but is now based out of New York City. Hollow refers to himself as THE Country Music Superstar (“Trademark Pending”) and his stage persona larger than life, his mystique as a fully-formed artist when his earliest released dropped in terms of songwriting and musicianship and the quality of his output supports a case for that designation regardless of that dubious claim on purely verifiable commercial grounds by the likes of Luke Bryan, Loretta Lynn, Jessica Simpson, Darius Rucker or Kenny Chesney. There is a thrilling earnestness to Hollow’s performance on recording and on stage that is commanding even when there’s an element of humor and playfulness to many aspects of Hollow’s craft. His new record Hack of the Year beats critics to the punch with the title and yet it speaks to the spirit of the underdog and the performative humility rampant in much of country music. Hollow takes on the tropes of the genre and and both embraces their virtues and upends the pretensions. Hollow’s use of humor doesn’t mean his songwriting is a joke or satire rather it plays the same role humor does in approaching life and putting everything into the proper perspective and injecting a little joy into some of the most downbeat moments we might experience. The songs of Hack of the Year are very much unalloyed country performed with a grace, elegance and passion one might hope for out of any record or any genre.

Listen to our interview with Dale Hollow on Bandcamp and follow the adventures of the songwriter at his website linked below. Hollow is currently on tour with a stop at Globe Hall in Denver, Colorado on Tuesday, November 7, 2023 with Sarah Adams and Peter Stone, doors 7pm, show at 8pm.

dalehollowcountrymusicstar.com

Queen City Sounds Podcast S3E32: Reign LaFreniere of Bluphoria

Bluphoria is a band now based in Nashville, Tennessee that originally formed in 2019 when lead singer and lead guitarist Reign LaFreniere moved to Eugene, Oregon to study film. LaFreniere grew up in the East Bay and South Bay in California loving horror shorts and went to an arts high school that allowed students to rent/borrow video equipment and production software. Raised in a musical family, LaFreniere didn’t really start playing music until high school in his sophomore year after getting a guitar. On a trip on the John Muir trail a friend only had Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and some Simon and Garfunkel songs on a player and being in a setting where music wasn’t as readily accessible for long stretches gave him a deeper appreciation of its importance listening to that music. When he returned from that hiking trip he got into Jimi Hendrix as someone who looked like him playing music of that caliber with Hendrix’s singing style an inspiration for LaFreniere’s fledgling attempts as a vocalist. But his focus was on film until he got to Eugene, Oregon when he met like-minded students like Dakota Landrum (rhythm guitarist, backing vocals) and Rex Wolf (bass).

At one of the band’s house shows an EDGEOUT Records intern was in attendance and signed the group to EDGEOUT/UME/UMG in January 2021 around the time when drummer Dani Janae joined the group. A year later Bluphoria drove to Tennessee to record their self-titled debut full length album which released on May 5, 2023. Even a casual listen to the songs and even the band’s 2020 debut EP Alone reveals a knack for entrancing melodic hooks in a power pop style mixed with touches of psychedelic rock and what might be described as soulful garage punk. With LaFreniere’s commanding vocals providing some of the grit and emotional resonance fans of The Replacements and The Plimsouls will find a lot to like about what Bluphoria has to offer.

Listen to our interview with Reign LaFreniere on Bandcamp and follow the band at the links below. The group makes its Denver live premier at The Black Buzzard on Sunday, October 29, 2023 co-headlining with Noah Vonne and The Disasters and Sunstoney as support.