StereoactiveNYC

Q+A: Magnetic Island /// w/ mp3 + show info

We’d been fans of Renminbi for a number of years. And in the last year or two, we worked with them on a a few shows. So we were quite interested when the two primary members of the band recently announced they were getting rid of their name and reorganizing as Magnetic Island, seemingly both a new project and a continuation of the duo’s musical evolution. The new group will be playing their first show this Saturday, March 13th, at Fort Useless (presented by StereoactiveNYC);  following are a few questions we asked, answered by Lisa Liu and SMV.

The transition from your previous project, Renminbi, to the new one, Magnetic Island, came out of work you did on a cover version of a Lou Reed/John Cale song. How would you say the music of those artists and, perhaps, the Velvet Underground directly influenced your work in Renminbi? And how has it influenced any work you’ve accomplished in the brief time Magnetic Island has been in existence?

The Velvet Underground had a very strong influence on Renminbi. We are huge fans of all their albums, and appreciate how they were able to transition from primarily experimental noise rockers to more melodic songwriters over the course of their time together without losing their edge or identity. In some ways, our own trajectory has been similar.

The VU existed for only a brief span of time, so, despite their sound and lineup changing over those few years, they continued to make music under their original name. For us, we felt that after seven years as a band, the changes in our direction and sound were significant enough to justify a change in the way we presented ourselves to the public, and really a band’s name is its strongest identifier to those outside the band itself.

As for the cover of “A Dream” from “Songs for Drella” – to be honest, we had only minimal familiarity with it before we were asked to perform the song at a tribute for the album. But, being big VU fans and fans of both Reed and Cale as solo artists, we knew it would be an experience we would enjoy and take a lot from. And I think the process of working on “A Dream” sort of reflected for us where we were heading as a band, in the sense that we were taking this very minimalist piece of music and fleshing it out into something that involved more instrumentation, more parts, more players. In many ways, that is indicative of our overall transition right now.

You’ve stated that Magnetic Island is meant to be something like a collective, featuring collaborations with other musicians. Are there any specific musicians you already wish to or have plans to work with? Also, how do you see this affecting the way the project functions as a “live band?” Will the potentially shifting line-up make it hard to play shows regularly?

Starting with the last part of your question first, there is no doubt that functioning more as a collective is going to complicate our existence as a live band. In an ideal world, we’d rotate people on and off stage to join us on the songs they’ve done with us in the studio. But of course, in the real world, that would not be easy to pull off, especially on a regular basis. Instead, it’s likely that we’ll settle on a small group of players who we’ve worked with (and who are fairly local and available) to learn and play all the songs we’ve written and released, whether as Renminbi or Magnetic Island. That way there will be consistency to the live show, but it won’t limit how we work in the studio or what kind of music we make.

Now, as for who we’d like to work with: honestly, the sky is the limit. As is common among musicians in New York City, a lot of our friends are in bands themselves, and so it’s as if there is all this spectacular talent hanging out right in our own backyard, and we don’t feel things need to be limited to, “Well, this is my band and that is your band.” At the same time, opening up this project to collaboration also means we no longer need to be restricted to working only with folks who are local. We’d like to take advantage of the fact that file-swapping in our broadband-saturated world is easy to do, and therefore working with musicians long-distance is no longer the obstacle it once was.

We do have a few particular folks in mind for upcoming sessions, but we’ll probably just hammer things out as we go along. At the moment, we’re working with TJ Richards and Nikki McLeod, who did “A Dream” with us, on a new original track, and we’re also working on a few new tracks with Renminbi’s original drummer, Jenny Johnson (who also appeared on our last EP, “Surface”), even though she is now based in Boston. It’s all about YouSendIt and Dropbox!

This is one of those questions that bands often don’t like to answer and, honestly, we don’t usually like to ask. But playing under a new name in this case seems to be symbolically important, so we have to ask: What’s the meaning behind “Magnetic Island?”

Well, first things first, it’s not related to “Lost.” A few people have asked us about that, and the truth is neither of us has ever seen “Lost.”

Magnetic Island is actually a real place, off the coast of Australia, in the Great Barrier Reef region. It is so named because of its apparent “magnetic effect”: when explorer John Cook sailed by the island in 1770, his compass went completely out of whack, prompting him to conclude that the island must generate its own magnetic force, have its own magnetic pull.
We’ve never been to Magnetic Island, but it is spectacularly beautiful and yet mysterious. We were fascinated by that mix of qualities, and by the idea that the island, if John Cook was right, might have the ability to attract and confound at the same time. To make music that achieves that effect – drawing you in, yet leaving you unsettled, unsure of your bearings – is definitely something we aspire to.

Here’s an mp3 and info for the show on Saturday:

mp3: “A Dream” (Lou Reed & John Cale) by Magnetic Island

Saturday, March 13, 2010
at Fort Useless

8pm – DOORS
8:30pm – Calves
9:30pm – Dust From A Thousand Years
10:30pm – Magnetic Island

36 Ditmars Street, Studio 1
Brooklyn, NY

RSVP on Facebook

Tags: fort useless, magnetic island, renminbi

At Ear Farm: Spanish Prisoners and the Jaguar Club Interview Each Other

Ear Farm has an entertaining back and forth interview between Leo Maymind of Spanish Prisoners and Will Popadic of The Jaguar Club.

Tags: ear farm, spanish prisoners, the jaguar club

The Roadshow Launches Tonight

Not to brag or anything, but we’re feeling pretty good about this mini-tour we have set up for Gold Streets and Man In Gray. The internet talks a lot and it has plenty to say about the bands for this trip:

Time Out New York:

Man in Gray is a gritty, dancey local rock quintet driven by vocalist Tina DaCosta’s impressively forceful and melodic delivery. The quintet has honed quite the rollicking live show over the past few years, and it’s managed to capture that energy on its album, I Can’t Sleep Unless I Hear You Breathing. The ambitious local indie-rock trio Gold Streets offers driving rhythms, dreamy guitars and diverse coed vocals. Brooklyn’s She Keeps Bees plays simple, plainly alluring folk songs that sound even better when they add a glaze of haunted reverb.

Village Voice:

Brooklyn’s Man in Gray kick up indie-punk dust clouds like it’s 1994, back when the musical zeitgeist was wiry, fuzzy guitar attacks. The press-fawned band, featuring spunky frontgal Tina DaCosta, is celebrating the recently released I Can’t Sleep Unless I Hear You Breathing, which vibes early Sleater-Kinney and Sonic Youth’s poppier, more restrained moments. With Gold Streets and She Keeps Bees.

The L Magazine:

We’re vibing pretty tough on Brooklyn’s Man In Gray. They’ve got all the right post-punk influences, and a suitably energetic female singer.

Going.com EDITORS’ PICK:

Editors’ Take: Help indie/schizophrenic rock outfits Gold Streets and Man in Gray kick off their national tour in style. Your presence at Union Hall could mean the difference between a plush touring mobile and a yellow school bus.

The Music Slut:

One of The Music Slut’s favorite local acts, Man In Gray, will embark on a brief East coast/Midwest trek starting tonight at Brooklyn’s Union Hall. Check out all Man In Gray’s tour dates below – learn more about the band here at their official site.

Pop Tarts Suck Toasted:

Man in Gray pretty much wowed me with their latest release a couple of weeks ago and I’ve been on a full out kick of the band since then listening to the album pretty much non-stop. I don’t know why more people aren’t latching onto this band right now, you should latch onto them. Go to the show tonight, latch on, buy the album, it’ll be good for you!!!

Bumpershine:

Man In Gray is kicking off a mini tour tonight with a hot show before the hometown crowd at Union Hall. Brooklyn’s own Gold Streets and She Keeps Bees are also on the bill. Doors are at 7:30, be there or you will turn into a robot.

My Buzzed Recollection:

One of my favorite local bands, Man in Gray, are finally back to playing shows after the triumphant return of their lead singer from the west coast. They’ll be kicking off a short east coast jaunt Wednesday at Union Hall with Gold Streets and She Keeps Bees. From there its south for the boys and girl. Wednesday night’s details are below, along with a mp3 courtesy of Man in Gray from their New LP “I Can’t Sleep Unless I Hear You Breathing”.

The Culture Of Me:

It’s in our hood. We’ll be there shooting stills and saying what up to you all. Come and find the culture of me there! Give some love to StereoactiveNYC as well, obvs.

Hampton Roads (Virginia):

We want to say what if Brit Pop was more punky and not so melodramatic, but then are we just talking about New Wave? If Karen O. of Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Elizabeth T. of Cocteau Twins worked in a cubicle who would be the first to kick over the water cooler? Okay that is too easy because Elizabeth T. would never kick anything except maybe her moped if it didnt start. Also locals Churn keep that 90s fun loving free for all going with fast driven guitars over a melodic backdrop is enough to make anyone want to eat cupcakes and drink beer. Think over-excited Dinosaur Jr. Please call your limo driver and tell them to cancel your appointment with your dog therapist. You can buy a cd at the show and play it for your pup and it will be a lot cheaper.

The Independent Weekly INDYPICK

Charlotte Observer article, including an interview with Gold Streets’ T. Almy.

Tags: gold streets, she keeps bees

Review: The Big Sleep – Son Of The Tiger

“The Big Sleep” is the title of Raymond Chandler’s 1939 detective novel — the first to feature the iconic Philip Marlowe character that came to be so closely associated with Humphrey Bogart, who portrayed him in the 1946 film-noir adaptation by director Howard Hawks of the same name. The plot of the book and film is intricately layered to keep you guessing at the eventual outcome and, yes, a good deal of murder is involved — after all, “The Big Sleep” is a euphemism for “death.” As used in those works of so many decades past, the phrase takes on a slightly tongue-in-cheek air, playfully hinting at the dangers that await so many characters trapped within the narrative. To be sure, there is also a playfulness about New York’s The Big Sleep — a trio of amazingly skilled musicians who specialize in intricately layered compositions that seem to somehow be just as spontaneous as they are precise — but just as the works which share the band’s name are, in the end, about that most serious of subjects, so too is this band to be ultimately taken seriously.

They may have begun as two friends playing around in a tiny apartment with a keyboard and a guitar, but they’ve somehow ended up with one of the most impressive sounds in the city. Just ask anyone who has seen them live, and you’ll hear about their dynamic sound, ranging from the sparse and calm to the vast and explosive. And now that same sound has been captured on their long-awaited full-length, Son Of The Tiger.

This is not an album arriving out of nowhere. Fans of the band have been anticipating it for quite some time. But, by no means, has the band been idle. We asked guitarist Danny Barria about the lengthy process:

“We worked really closely with our producer, Kevin McMahon, to get the sounds we wanted on tape. We recorded in a few different studios in upstate New York and in the city. It took us a while to get to a point where we felt comfortable with the vocals. Once we had most of the tracks down, Eli Janney mixed most of the record, though Kevin also had a hand in it. We spent a lot of time getting the mixes to sound the way we wanted. We finished the last mix around New Year’s 2005/2006, and spent another little while getting the mastering just right. Every time we went into another phase I’d ask people if we were being big pains in the ass because of our pickiness in regards to the sound.”

Whether they were being pains in the ass or not, the hard work and attention to detail has paid off. The resulting album is what bands strive to accomplish — a great representation of the group’s sound that clearly expresses their many influences while never drifting toward derivation, but instead accomplishing a new sound stemming from those influences into an entirely new territory. Some influences are, perhaps, more obvious than others: a Zeppelinesque riff here, a droney touch of The Cure there, with a dash of Funkadelic rhythm and T-Rex glam spread throughout.

And, of course, any musician who has played in previous bands is likely to bring something of that experience along with them. Sonya, bassist and keyboardist for The Big Sleep, was previously a member of The Hong Kong and Barria has been a member of Mahogany. We asked how their experiences in those bands has perhaps affected their playing in The Big Sleep. “I’ve talked about music a lot with everyone in these bands, but it’s not the overt things we did that influenced us,” says Barria. “Both of those bands have really talented musicians, and you just see things you like or that you think are cool, approaches that are different from yours that you can consider when you’re in the practice space.”

But not all influences on a band need be musical. Barria has said before that he thinks his interest in history — especially World War II — has somehow influenced the music. “It’s hard to put it concisely,” he says. “But there’s something about the scale of the war, and, on the other hand, all the personal stories and all the emotions involved that I find really compelling and awe-inspiring. It’s hard to say how this would affect the music, but whatever it is that draws me to [history], it definitely influences what I do in the band with regards to the feelings that we try to evoke with the music.”

Actually, that does seem pretty concise. In fact, Barria has hit on a rather apt description of his band: there’s something about the scale of The Big Sleep’s music — live, on record, their sound in general. And, on the other hand, all the individual parts are passionately played in ways entirely compelling and awe-inspiring. It’s an album to be experienced, not simply heard. And in first experiencing it, the clarity of thought that’s gone into each and every moment will, likely, be little evident. After all, it’s not often that precision sounds so raw and electric. But no note on Son Of The Tiger is extraneous. Every single beat is perfectly timed. And, in the end, they add up to an enormous whole that washes over you, enveloping you within.

From the swirling, swelling sounds of the opening tracks “Brown Beauty” and “Murder” — sounding a bit like the soundtrack to an aerial dogfight (perhaps another effect of the WWII influence?) — to the funky stop-start of “You Can’t Touch The Untouchable,” the laid-back grooves and crescendos of “SKB” and “Menemy.” the continued dogfighting of “Locomotion” and “Are You Ready (For Love)?,” and all the way through the hypnotic hold of the final three tracks — “Shima,” “Son Of The Tiger,” “New Strings” — this is a delicately constructed tour de force that, with every listen, sounds as if it’s being played for the first time.

Fortunately, all the work has paid off not only in a great album, but also in the type of success that many bands have a hard time achieving. “As soon as we had finished mixing all the songs,” says Barria, “we started sending out those mixes to labels we were interested in and giving them to our friends and other bands. French Kiss was one of the labels we were into, and they came to check us out a few times. One thing led to another and we woke up in bed together the next morning.”

In an industry that often seems to offer success to those that may not be the most deserving, it is refreshing to see a hardworking, innovative, and — most importantly — talented band like The Big Sleep get the chance to reap the benefits such a deal may bear. But, true to form, they’ll still take nothing for granted.

According to Barria, “Once mastering was done and we had lined everything up with French Kiss, we had a lot of help from people like Johnny Beach [talent buyer for New York's Bowery Ballroom and Mercury Lounge] in getting on really good bills and playing higher profile shows, just generally getting noticed a bit more. We’ve been practicing a lot in anticipation of the record release show and for the touring we’re planning to do behind the record. We really want people to come away from the shows feeling like they’ve experienced something special.”

If Son Of The Tiger and The Big Sleep’s past shows are anything to go by (they are), then the release show and the tour will offer experiences that go beyond special. They’ll be extraordinarily momentous. Pretty soon, New York is going to have to learn to share The Big Sleep with the rest of the world because, once the rest of the world gets a listen, they’re not going to want to give the band back. So, with some reluctance, we’ll share and, with much pride, we’ll watch as their star surely rises.

Son Of The Tiger is out today and the band will be celebrating its release on Thursday, September 21st at Mercury Lounge on a bill with Other Passengers, 120 Days, and The Comas.

Check out these songs from the album:
mp3: “Murder”
mp3: “You Can’t Touch The Untouchable”

The album can also be streamed in full this week at AOL.

And The Big Sleep were Spin.com’s band of the day yesterday:

The Big Sleep’s seducing-yet-disorienting bedroom-metal boasts berserker guitar lines that bug-eye and rubberband through sumo-dense walls of winter-coat feedback and anxiety drums. On standouts “Murder” and “Shima,” the hypnotic leads are flanked by doorbell keyboards and Balchandani’s ghostly, answering-machine vocals. This is religious music.

Get it while it’s hot!

Tags: the big sleep

At KEXP: Slowlands In-Studio

Slowlands was recently featured on KEXP. The in-studio performance and brief interview is now available online. Here’s how they sum it up on the site:

Slowlands is a six-piece band from Brooklyn, New York. This live set captures their emotional pop songs with unique layers of instrumentation and a knack for building intensity.

Tags: slowlands

At L Magazine: Takka Takka

The L Magazine recently interviewed Gabe Levine of Takka Takka. Here’s how he sums up the band’s sound:

They play a distinctly New York brand of rock ‘n’ roll, but only if the New York you know and love has more to do with Lou Reed and Bob Dylan than Carlos D or any of the other hipster celebrities we don’t care about. Their songs are bouncy and upbeat, but maintain a seedy feel that’s provided by the character-driven lyrical content.

Ansd here’s what Stereoagum recently said:

The four-to-the-floor kick, organ, and tamborine may make you Say Yeah, but Gabe’s conversational baritone is more Lou Reed than it is Ounsworth, and later instances of bar room basslines and indie country give ‘em a home of their own.

Tags: takka takka

At PaperMag: Takka Takka

PaperMag’s Timothy Gunitalaka recently hung out with the guys of Takka Takka and wrote about it. Here are some quotes from the band:

“I loved the late ’60s, early ’70s New York sound,” adds Levine. “When you listen to New York bands now, that’s not what New York sounds like. I don’t know what New York sounds like now.”

“I don’t feel like we’re part of a scene of music that’s happening now,” says Jurrens. “I feel we’re continuing a conversation of New York bands from a bygone era.”

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Tags: takka takka

StereoactiveNYC Presents Beg Yr Pardon #7

As you might have noticed, we here at StereoactiveNYC have really been enjoying the new Beg Yr Pardon party that began earlier this summer. So we’re especially glad to have booked and be cosponsoring one of the upcoming events. We’ve got three of our favorite local bands scheduled to perform, along with a great band from Alabama that we’ve really come to love. Together, we’re sure these four bands, along with the usual wonderful and free baked goods and beer, cheap BBQ, and DJed rock’n'roll dance sets before, after, and between the bands, will keep the good BYP times rolling and make for an extremely fun night.

And, in case you’ve missed them, we’ve been posting interviews and features on the bands over the last week or so, along with mp3s, so please check it all out:

Tuesday, August 29th
@ The Delancey

8pm – Gold Streets
Official Website | MySpace
SANYC Interview
mp3: “Right Now”

9pm – Western Civ
Official Website | MySpace
SANYC Interview
mp3: “Got The Number”

10pm – The Secret Life Of Sofia
Official Website | MySpace
SANYC Interview
mp3: “We May Find A Pearl”

11pm – A Place To Bury Strangers
Official Website | MySpace
SANYC Feature
mp3: “My Weakness”

DJ Sets By
Danny of The Big Sleep
StereoactiveNYC

Address + Map
168 Delancey Street, New York, NY [map]

Goodies

• Free baked goods all night (or until they’re gone)
• Free beer from 11:30pm-12:30am
• $5 BBQ on the roof deck

Any questions? Feel free to ask…

Tags: a place to bury strangers, gold streets, the big sleep, the secret life of sofia