I'm working on so much, that you think that I am doing nothing, but have my fingers in everything

ugh, technical difficulties

I'm working on some new bits, they will post after technical difficulties are resolved. xo

more 10 email interviews to come...

I remember walking in a Borders bookstore one day years ago and looking at an end cap just to see what was there, something I do a lot in music stores...

they had a new Third Eye Blind CD with a hype sticker that read, "The Album Inspired by singer Stephan Jenkins' break up with Charlize Theron."

so lame.

Ill never forget, maybe 5 years ago or so, I was having brunch in Toronto or maybe it was Ottawa, with a bunch of abrasive/psychedelic noise artists I REALLY respected at the time and they were trading stories about seeing Nirvana live in the 90s, and the whole time I thought to myself, man...I got into this whole scene to get away from that shit, so disillusioned so fast

kitty play records big cartel site in the works

people always email me about how i should make ordering items direct easier.

so i have teamed up with big cartel to offer a new and improved kitty play records direct store. i will be slowly adding new items and descriptions as the week progresses.

xo

TEN EMAILS with BARON SHIVERS aka NORMAN CABRERA

I contacted Mr. Cabrera to get in touch with the drummer of one of my favorite surf revival bands the Ghastly Ones and ended up with a geeked out interview with the key sculptor of Hellboy 2. ENJOY!

Email 1

Why is it that surf rock and horror imagery go so well together? Is it just that the Universal Monster craze was happening while surf music was starting to catch major waves?

I think mainly the heavy reverb on the guitar gives it a naturally spooky feel . But Surf music did have its heyday in the early sixties when Universal monster movies of the 30's made a big comeback on TV with late night "Creature Features" shows and Famous Monsters Magazine was at the newsstand. I also think "The Monster Mash" by Bobby "Boris" Pickett and The Munsters theme played a big part as well in fusing a surf music vibe with monster stuff.

Email 2

So where did your love of surf music start? Old Ventures albums? Loving the Monster Mash that much? Thinking Man Or Astroman already had the spaceman thing cornered so why not team up with the coroner?

I guess the initial appeal for me was partially the spookiness of it. When I was a kid the local Creature Features program used "Out of Limits" by The Marketts as the theme song for the show. I also remember hearing "Wipe Out" and "Walk Don't Run" on the radio and being naturally draw to it. Later listening to The Cramps sent me on a search for obscure stuff like "Boss" by The Rumblers and so on. When we started The Ghastly Ones in '96 the point was definitely to combine Surf Music and Horror. Other bands had done a spooky sounding surf song here and there starting with The Ventures and The Marketts, and Frankie Stein and The Ghouls was a fake "studio" group in the mid-sixties. But no one had ever done a bonified all spooky surf band at that point. Man or Astroman had the sci-fi thing covered so we stepped in with the spooky surf.

Email 3

From an East Coast stand point, you guys have been quietly doing your own thing and doing it well. If I'm not mistaken you just released a new "Gears n Ghoul Finks" 7 inch single in October of last year and it has already completely sold out.

Whats next? Repress?

Yeah, we stay on the west coast for the most part, but we did a mini tour a while back of NY, NJ, Boston and Pittsburgh and it went over really well. We would love to tour more but it's quite expensive and Garrett our guitar player and I have really demanding day jobs... we do creature FX for the movies.

As far as our 7inch, it sold out pretty fast. We'll probably do a second pressing in different color vinyl but my hope is to have a full album ready before the end of the fall.

Email 4

FX FOR MONSTER MOVIES! TELL ME MORE :) I work in television as well, but in a less creative capacity. I think if you hit up maxwells in nj, where the mummies always play and choice east coast spots you would have a lot of fun. I some how snoozed on the 7" and I totally loozed.

I can hook you up with a 7 inch, no problem. Just email me your address.

I started out doing creature FX when I was 20. I got my start with Oscar winner Rick Baker
who has done everything from American Werewolf in London to Men in Black. In fact, I'm working on Men in Black 3 at Rick's right now. I've worked on lots of stuff. One of the things you might have seen recently is The Angel of Death in Hellboy 2. I was responsible for creating that at Spectral Motion Inc. I also did the reanimated corpse in the first Hellboy. I hate to go on about my credits but check my IMDB for more.

Email 5

C'mon man, I had to IMDB you for the sake of this interview alone.

And telling me who Rick Baker is, is like telling the mailman postage is 44 cents.

I'm a huge fan of Harryhausen, and non-CGI effects. I actually emailed Harryhausen to take part of this series, and got a response, but he had to decline, but wished me well :)

Hell, when I looked you up on IMDB I texted my friend that you were the key sculptor on Hellboy 2.

I never saw the Wolfman, but I read that Rick Baker took a stance against making the Wolfman's transformation CGI, and for that I have to applaud him.

I'm also a fan of vintage Joe Johnston and his storyboards for Star Wars, his design of Boba Fett and Yoda, if only George Lucas brought him back for the prequel trilogy....

Very cool. You never know. Sometimes I say Rick Baker to someone and they say,"huh?" When to me Rick Baker is God. I'm very fortunate to have had him as my mentor in my early yeras and then to have graduated to being a designer for him.

Email 6

Its funny how many people in bands also work in the film / tv industry, hell if you worked for Stan Winston, you might be in Tool right now

Yeah, Adam worked for Stan and KNB.

Email 7

how tight is the california surf community? are you still tight with the dudes from the bomboras or the lords of altamont?

Dave, our keyboard player was the drummer in The Bomboras and he's been one of my closest friends since '96. I also keep in touch with Jake from the Lords who was also in The Bomboras. He has a vintage music gear store in Burbank called Primitive Music and tours like crazy with The Lords. The scene overall is small and tightly knit. Everyone knows each other and often the same members tend to play in each others bands.

Email 8

Wasn't Dave the drummer in the Bomboras though?

I have been asking a lot of peope I talk to about peer to peer file sharing.
Do you think it affects your band? Do you feel that you fans are so close to the band that they wanna shell out when you release something to support your efforts?

Yeah, that's what I said. He was the drummer in The Bomboras but he plays keyboards for us.

File sharing is a cancer. Everyone does it and there's not a darn thing that can be done about it. What people don't realize is lack of sales kills a band. If you like a band and want them to survive, don't make copies of their CD's for your friends. But we all know it's never going to stop.

Email 9

Any solutions to stopping the piracy problem? Should the music industry come after people who download, or the websites that provide material?
Do internet providers need to block this sorta traffic?
What can be done?

That's the million dollar question... I don't have the answer to that. If I did, I'd be a millionaire!

Email 10

Well, as they say in the biz, thats a wrap thanks so much for responding, and good luck with the Ghastly Ones and MIB 3, I hope that is the one where Will Smith and Nicolas Cage finally team up. If you could toss me a promo photo of yourself or the band I'll run it with the interview. THANKS AGAIN!

Cool. Thanks for the interview!

--------

BTW, be sure to mention www.ghastlyones.com and www.myspace.com/ghastlyones

As far as a photo, feel free to grab any shots from those two sites to feature in the article.

Thanks again!!

TEN EMAILS with KATHERINE KATZ!!

Katherine Katz is one of the best singers in heavy music today. Whether it 's with Salome or collaborating with Scott Hull in Agoraphobic Nosebleed or on Pig Destroyer's "Lost Cause", Katz is a focused vocalist who screams from the mind.

Email 1

Katherine, its a real pleasure to have you as part of this interview series. You have an incredibly distinct singing / screaming style, but honestly, how did you figure out you could do it? I mean do you ever feel like you are just shredding your vocal chords?

Thanks! You can call me Kat. I appreciate you asking me to be a part of it.

I started doing screaming/gutteral vocals when I was fifteen. I was friends with some kids who were in a local death metal band and they invited me on the mic. What was for fun turned into a deep interest that I wanted to pursue and have ever since. For a brief period of time, I didn't have a band to work with. I developed my vocals on my own, screaming to my favorite bands in my room, until I found people to jam with. I'm sure I drove my mom crazy. For the first few years, my throat got sore occasionally. I found that if you sing from your belly there isn't much impact on your throat. Now, it's rare that I feel like I'm doing any damage at all. The only time it happens is when I'm either a little sick or towards the end of a tour.

Email 2

In the early days when you were trying to perfect things and just screaming in your room, did your mom ever try to tell you this was not very ladylike? That boys will not like a woman who is screaming their head off? Or was she cool with it in theory, and just didn't wanna hear you yellin' all day?

My mom would have never told me I couldn't do something because it wasn't feminine. I was always encouraged to do whatever I was passionate about, regardless of how society considered it. She knows how much I love singing metal, so she's supportive of me doing it. Just today, I was talking with her about Salome because I'm busy working on lyric arrangements for our new album. She said, " I can understand why you like doing it. It must feel wonderful to sing the way you do. So expressive!". The only reason me screaming in the house drove her crazy was because...well, I was screaming in the house. Haha.

Email 3

I found out about you and Salome through a love of Pig Destroyer. The first song I heard you on was "Lost Cause" from Terrifyer. How was been working with Scott Hull in Pig Destroyer and Agoraphobic Nosebleed been? Are fans of Nosebleed crossing over to Salome and vice versa?

I feel very appreciative to be working with Scott. He's an awesome guy and an incredible musician. I've had some of my best recording experiences working with him at his studio. It's a relaxed and positive atmosphere. I'm able to take my time and experiment with different vocal styles. Scott is very encouraging and always has great suggestions/feedback. ANb is more well-known than Salome, so there are more ANb fans checking out Salome, then vice versa. It's definitely been helpful to have the additional press, but I think Salome has put in a lot of hard work for the opportunities we've achieved and has been focused on building on our own successes

Email 4

How did you actually meet or get in touch with him? Had he done recordings for Salome as well? How much freedom do you have recording for ANb? Do you come up with your own lyrics or is collaborative?

Scott was given a demo of mine by JR, who I met when he was still in Hissing Choir. Scott liked my vocals and asked if I’d do guest vocals on Lost Cause. After recording, Scott asked me if I’d be interested in working with ANb, which I thought would be awesome. It took a few years to culminate, but when he was finally set to record for the split with CROM, Scott had me come in. He hasn't recorded Salome. I think it would be great to have him record something in the future. Scott and Jay encourage me to write lyrics. Traditionally, Jay writes the majority of the lyric composition. Rich and I wrote for a few songs on the ANb full length, Agorapocalypse.

Email 5

That must have been a great feeling, to have caught the eye of such an awesome and intense vocalist. You both have such brutal tone of voice.

Does it help to be angry and enraged when you perform? Do you think of yourself as an angry person and this a great non-violent outlet? Or is screaming like crazy just a lot of fun?

It depends on which band I'm singing for. When I'm singing for ANb, I do evoke anger, disgust, guilt, etc. That's what's appropriate for the music. When I play with Salome, it's a different experience. I perform best when I'm feeling centered. The music has a meditative qualitiy to it and it displays a range of emotions. No, I'm not an angry person at all. I'm easy going the majority of the time. When I'm not playing music, I practice yoga and massage therapy. There is no doubt that singing heavy metal is a great outlet, but I don't think it always has to be about expressing anger, but about expressing a scope of emotions and experiences.

Email 6

Being in the metal scene and having people know you are into massage therapy how many terrible happy ending jokes have you gotten?

Also whats up with Virginia? Is there a sick metal scene there? I mean you have Salome, Pig Destroyer, Robotic Empire Records, is it a cool climate for extreme music?

Haha. Nah dude, you're the first.

Currently, there are some great metal bands in the DC area like Pig Destroyer (as you listed), Magrudergrind, Drugs of Faith, Three Faces of Eve, and many others. We've also been lucky to have born Pentagram, and pretty much every band Wino has ever been a part of such as The Obsessed, Saint Vitus, The Hidden Hand...

Email 7

Do you feel that you are treated any differently then male band members in Salome? Is the metal scene at all sexist?

Yeah, definitely. Unfortunately, there aren't many women involved in metal, so we are seen as a novelty. Over the last few years, I've seen more and more women become involved which is really awesome. What I find strange are people who seem generally open minded, but discriminate against women in the metal scene. It's definitely hard to gain any kind of footing in this genre. Sometimes, it seems like people want you to fail the moment you get on stage. If you are a good vocalist, you're only good for a woman. For however long you're involved in metal, you will be acknowledged as a female vocalist, instead of a vocalist. If you're really good, you will be known as one of the best female vocalists in metal. In which, maybe there are twenty or so well known women who do these kinds of vocals, so it's not that great of a compliment. If you dress too feminine, if you look too sexy, if you have anything besides dark hair, you will most likely be seen as a gimmick. If you behave more on the masculine side, you will be seen as a fake, trying too hard. Almost every interview you do, almost every review you receive, every show you play, you will be discriminated against in some form. God forbid you're not attractive, or highly attractive. Your appearance will be mentioned repeatedly. The media is partially, if not largely responsible for perpetuating this discrimination. Even questions like this that inquire about gender instead of the band create division.

Email 8

Yeah, promoting Salome or Agoraphobic Nosebleed as having a female singer is this weird two way street where like you wanna let people know thats whats up and its amazing, but you don't want them to get hung up on the issue of gender either. i have definitely mentioned to people, oh ANb has this awesome new singer, they will be cool i'll check that, then i'll say, yeah she is in another band Salome, and then they will be like oh, i can't really get into female vocals, not really into kittie. so stupid. I wonder what will take to get more women involved in the scene, but thats a whole other conversation.

I also can see how the gender issue leads to people focusing on a band member and not the cohesive unit.

So you are currnetly recording with Salome? Whats coming this summer and fall? Any awesome tours?

Salome is in the writing process. We have one more song to write before we start recording for our full length. Profound Lore Records (Cobolt, Coffinworm, Yob) will be releasing it on CD this fall. Vendetta Records (Crowskin, Omega Massif, Black Shape Of Nexus) will be releasing it on vinyl. We have a tour coming up, July 13-17 with Landmine Marathon. We'll be hitting NY, NJ, PA, and MD. We'll be playing an additional show in DC on July19th. We post news, shows, etc. on www.myspace.com/salomedoom. Agoraphobic Nosebleed will also soon be in the studio to record vocals for a split with Despise You. Relapse Records will probably be releasing it this fall.

Email 9

You mention having only 1 more song to write, when you are working towards a new album, how do you know when to stop or that only one song is left? Is it just a matter of saying all that's on the bands mind at the moment, or do you have a general idea of what sort of direction you will work towards for a given album or release?

For this upcoming album everything is well thought out. We came up with everything from the song ideas to the packaging a long time ago. We outlined how many songs should be on it, what kind of packaging we were interested in, etc. We put a lot of time and effort into every aspect of the creative process. It's really been a lot of fun and I'm excited for the final result.

Email 10

Awesome! Well thanks again for taking the time for this interview, it was a real pleasure to speak with one of the best voices in music today. If you could toss me a photo to run with the interview that would be fantastic. Best of luck in all of your future endeavors!

Xo

Thanks! Good luck with all. Take care!

out of print OBITS records still available...in France

Hey I dunno if you are like me and missed the first 2 Obits singles...

bummed that I did, I was looking around for them second hand and on eBay, turns out Bang Records in France repressed both. I received in my records within A WEEK! of payment and I frequently don't get stuff from US sellers that quickly...

Sure the artwork is limited, I was hoping for some sick Froberg designs, but in the end all I really wanted was to hear these tracks on nice warm vinyl instead of my cold dead ipod.

http://frenchbangrecords.bigcartel.com/artist/obits

TEN EMAILS with KEVIN J. ANDERSON!!

Kevin J. Anderson is a multiple New York Times best selling author who has worked in the Star Wars, Dune, X-Files, Predator, DC Universes as well as creating new worlds of his own.

Along with his wife, author Rebecca Moesta he also owns and operates the site wordfire.com

I'm just glad he never commented about my awful grammar!

Email 1

Kevin, there are a lot of dorks out there who wish they had your job. You obviously had to work hard to get in the position to work with some many different well known sci-fi / fantasy properties.

But everyone has to start somewhere, how did you deal with rejection in your early days? Do you still feel the pressure rejection or creative differences now?

Hi Mark,

I just kept sending stories around. I got them rejected, then I sent them to someplace else while I wrote a new story...and I got better. It’s all about persistence. Even now I still get some things turned down, but then I try something else. The alternative is to be a dork who does nothing but gripe about somebody else’s success.

Best
KJA

Email 2

Yeah I really hate when people talk and talk and just do not follow through.

You're books have been translated into several other languages, do you ever worry that the translators will get something wrong or some of the nuance will be lost in translation?

Not my call,and there’s no way I can police it. (I don’t speak Serbian...) No matter what, it exposes my work to a wider audience around the world.

Email 3

You have had the chance to write and further the story in some pretty amazing sci-fi universes, but in doing so you do have to trade off a little bit of your creative freedom, example being when writing a Star Wars title you can't kill off anyone you want. But exactly how much free reign are you given?

Sorry, got caught up in deadlines --

That¹s a specious argument, I think. ALL stories have constraints that

³limit creativity² -- If I write a story set in medieval Japan, I can¹t have jet aircraft; if I set my story in Las Vegas, the characters can¹t walk along the ocean. Any writer with an imagination will set a story within the boundaries he has. So, I can¹t kill off a main character in the Star Wars universe...but there are plenty of other stories to tell in that universe that don¹t require one of the main characters to die. Working on the Dune novels, there are even more constraints, even more freedoms. The most important part is to tell a good story.

Email 4

How did you get involved with working on the new Dune books?

The whole story is several pages long, and you don’t want the full version. (It’s in the afterword to DUNE: HOUSE ATREIDES). When Frank Herbert passed away, he left his Dune series on a cliffhanger; he had sold the next book in the series, had just begun work on it, but he left the story incomplete. About ten years after his death, as an impatient Dune fan who wanted to know how the story ended, I got in touch with Brian Herbert — who was an author himself, and had collaborated with Frank Herbert on his last novel. We brainstormed, liked working together, came up with plenty of ideas to continue and reenergize the Dune series, and eventually found Frank Herbert’s outline for “Dune 7.” We have done eleven books in the Dune series so far, all of which have been international bestsellers (many of which have won awards), and inspired a whole new generation of fans. Now, we’re just finishing our first original book, HELLHOLE, which will be out next spring.

Email 5

Just to play devil's advocate

What would you say to a critic who thinks writing all these books for an established universe is totally cheating and makes storytelling so much easier. All of the ground rules have already been laid out. The real challenge is creating your own universe, which you are now doing with Brian, but only after 11 successful novels.

Hmm, so you think it’s easier to write in somebody else’s universe, to keep all the details of a story from contradicting anything in 6 massive and complex Dune novels by Frank Herbert (not to mention 11 books of our own)? When I was writing Star Wars books, I not only had the movies to memories, but more than 30 reference volumes, plus a bunch of prior novels. Star Wars writers coming into it now have more than a hundred novels to keep in mind and shelves full of reference material.

Just to make sure your readers have the whole background, I have written books in established universes — Star Wars, Dune, X-Files, Star Trek — but I have also written dozens of original novels. The biggest series is The Saga of Seven Suns, a 7-volume space epic, and I’m currently doing the Terra Incognita fantasy trilogy with two crossover rock CDs, and eight high-tech thrillers with Doug Beason, this new SF trilogy with Brian Herbert, and a dozen or so standalone original novels. I’ve done both, and there is a thrill and a challenge in doing justice to a series that I already love as a fan...or creating my own from scratch.

Email 6

How do you research and prepare for a novel based on an existing universe vs when prep for a novel in a universe of your own creation? Do you just try to read as much as you can on a given topic and make notes? Do you start with an initial idea in your head and then research to see if it contradicts or has already been told by another author?

For either there’s a certain amount of research and knowledge you have to bring to the table, depending on what the subject is. For instance, writing my X-Files novels as well as my original high-tech thrillers with Doug Beason (VIRTUAL DESTRUCTION, FALLOUT, and LETHAL EXPOSURE), I had to do a lot of research into the workings of the FBI and how criminal investigations are carried out. After that, however, I had to completely immerse myself into the X-Files show to know how the characters talked, thought, and acted, as well as their histories and the backstories. If I’m doing an original character or series, I have to do just as much “imaginary research” by creating all that background and biographical material and keeping it all in my head so I can remain consistent as I write the story.

Email 7

Musicians and record labels constantly talk about how the ipod ruined album sales. Is their any fear in the literary world of e-books, the kindle, or ipad leading to illegal manuscript downloads?

For books, a certain section of readers have always gone to the library to get free access to books, so as an author I know that a segment of those who read my novels either get them from a used book store or a library.

The bigger point is, will the majority of the customer base be honest and ethical or will they just choose to steal things? A key part of the question is pricing; if the customer perceives that the publisher/artist is overcharging them, then they’ll “get even” and just rip it off. When iTunes started charging less than a buck a song, a lot of people decided to buy legally rather than stealing. Right now, e-books are problematic because a Kindle downloaded file often costs more than a physical paperback book — to most consumers, and myself included, that sounds absurdly high. I’ll be putting a bunch of my own hard-to-find books and stories up as e-books on my own site, www.wordfire.com, to see if the audience is interested.

Email 8

Do you have any words of encouragement for young writers? Is their one piece of advice or step they can take to rise above the rest?

Having a career as a fiction writer, earning your living at it, is about the equivalent of becoming a professional athlete. It’s not easy, most people who dream about it never make it, and you have to practice constantly to stay at the top of your game. Many people ask me for a “short cut” -- there isn’t one. You just have to write, and keep writing, and keep submitting, and be persistent.

Email 9

I think its always important for children of all ages to read. I don't care if they are reading a Spider-Man comics, the New York Times, or one of your novels. What do you say to parents who try too hard to focus their children's reading away from fantasy based themes to books from the school reading list?

In a word, “aaargh!” For a kid, discovering the joys of reading should be like eating ice cream, not taking cod liver oil. Let them enjoy the process, see how much fun it is to be swept up in a story that INTERESTS them, whether it’s a science fiction, or western, or mystery, or romance. Once they like reading, then they’ll spread out into other genres. Forcing them to read books that are “good” for them is not a way to turn them into readers.

Email 10

Well thanks so much for your time and best of luck to you in the future, if you would like to toss me a photo to run with the interview, I'll gladly include it!

Cool. Chronologically speaking, that might well have been the longest interview I’ve ever done! I’ve attached two photos (and I’d appreciate a link back to www.wordfire.com, if you could).

Thanks

KJA

TEN EMAILS with SARAH LIPSTATE

Sarah Lipstate is a Brooklyn based sound and video artist who works under the name Noveller. She has also been a member of Parts & Labor and Cold Cave. Lipstate is currently traveling across the US and Canada on a solo tour and has started her own label Saffron Records. Saffron's first release will be a solo Noveller album, available June 22nd.

Email 1

Sarah you began working as a solo artist while living in Texas, but have since moved to Brooklyn.
What was better about Texas music scene?

I started recording and releasing music as Noveller while I was living in Austin, but didn't start playing live as a solo performer until I moved to New York in 2007. My duo, One Umbrella, was pretty active in the Austin experimental music scene though. I really enjoyed the enthusiasm and creativity of the few people who put on avant-garde shows in town. There was this great space called The Church of the Friendly Ghost in East Austin where this guy Aaron Mace would host great experimental shows. It used to be a functioning church and sometimes people from the neighborhood would show up during events and ask if they could join in and pray. There was also a great space called Ballet Austin that was a dance studio in a beautiful old building and they let kids rent out the space to put on shows. I played at a noise fest there once that was a lot of fun. Actually, my friend Lori Varga is probably the best thing about the Texas music scene. She's the resident 16mm film/multimedia genius who does live projections for bands around town. She lives for celluloid and is a true diamond in the rough.

Email 2

Moving to Brooklyn also seemingly led to you being a member in Parts & Labor as well as Cold Cave. How were your experiences with those bands? Do you prefer solo performance over being a part of an ensemble?

I joined Parts & Labor a little over a year after I moved to Brooklyn. I was 23 at the time, and had never played in an actual rock band before. A mutual friend from Austin introduced us online, and we emailed back and forth for a while before I met up with Dan Friel at their practice space to play together. After a couple of sessions, I met the rest of the band and rehearsed with them maybe twice before they asked me if I would go on tour with them down to SXSW in a few weeks. Everything happened over a very short period of time and I still can't really believe that I agreed to jump into a van with three strangers and hit the road. Playing with those guys was a really important experience for me and I learned a lot about touring, playing, recording, and just being in a band. They had been around for about 6 years previously as a trio and were already pretty well established, so it was interesting for me to come in and add shake things up a little bit.

My time playing in Cold Cave was very brief, but there were some interesting moments. I had known Caralee McElroy (who's also no longer in the band) for a little while and it was nice playing and touring with a friend.

Ultimately, I feel like I'm much happier playing my own music and performing solo. I have much more confidence in what I'm doing as Noveller and really thrive on the intimacy of being alone on stage with the audience.

Email 3

How smooth was your transition from recording artist to live performer? Do you always strive to play songs the way you composed // recorded them or to just jam // feel it out?

For the very first Noveller performance (at the Sonic Circuits Festival in D.C.), I spent a lot of time learning the structure of two recordings, "Salt on Sand" and "Tablet II", and built upon those foundations with improvisation for about 19 minutes. Since then, the transition from recording to performing has become much easier for me. I used to not bother to write down the tunings I used for recording with my double-neck, so sometimes the tuning pegs would bump around when I'd travel with my guitar and I would be completely screwed when I got to the show and have to wing it. I've learned to document the tunings and effects settings that I use now when I record new tracks. Most of my older compositions were recorded live with no overdubs, so those were pretty easy to translate to a live setting. The new recordings that I've been working on are richer and have more layers, which makes it almost impossible to recreate live, but that doesn't really concern me. I usually try to translate the key components of the piece into a live arrangement and let the song evolve from there.

Email 4

what made you pick up the double neck guitar to begin with? too many van halen and zeppelin videos as a kid?

Haha, not exactly. There was this amazing pawn shop in Austin called Doc Holidays that I used to frequent looking for used gear. One time when I went in, I saw this used Epiphone double-neck guitar and immediately picked it up and plugged it in. The idea of me playing this beast of a guitar was so absurd that I knew that I had to own it. Having 18 strings at my disposal on one guitar completely blew my mind. I had no idea how I would put the guitar to use, but that didn't stop me from putting it on layaway immediately.

Email 5

Has living so close to NYC and the friendships you've made led to an amazing wealth of new cheap awesome equipment?

A while back, Carlos Giffoni gave me a Moog MurF pedal that he wasn't using anymore. I've been using it a lot in my new recordings and it's a pretty great pedal. I also just scored a cheap Ampeg Superjet guitar amp thanks to one of my friends in Brooklyn. Overall, I've been trying to focus on making the most out of what I already have instead of constantly swapping out gear and buying new things. I'm all for improving my sound and making my setup more efficient though, and there are a lot of great resources for doing that here in New York.

Email 6

Carlos is a rad dude, I toured with him, probably 5 years ago, and he was yelling BUSHWICK out of the car window in Montreal.

How did you meet him and get your spot at No Fun Fest and a release on No Fun Productions?

Nice! I'll keep that in mind when we are all up there in June. Bushwick is my neighborhood now. Carlos has moved on up in the world. I first met Carlos at a show I played at this crappy bar in Greenpoint called Tommy's Tavern. He watched my set and then introduced himself and we talked at the bar for a while afterward. He later contacted me online to talk about doing a release for No Fun. It wasn't too long after that that he asked me to play the fest. Actually, I don't think he really asked me.. he kind of told me not to be on tour in May (I was still in Parts & Labor at the time) because I was going to be playing at No Fun Fest.

Email 7

How was your experience playing at No Fun Fest, did the exposure to that many fans of the noise scene open any doors for you?

I had an incredible time playing at No Fun Fest. I felt good about my set and really enjoyed just being there and seeing everyone else play. I did catch the infamous "No Fun flu" though, and was really sick for a week after the fest. In terms of exposure, I think that it definitely caught the attention of a lot of noise fans who were unaware of my music beforehand. I just played this great college show at Tufts University in Boston with Growing and White Rainbow, and I found out afterward that the kids who booked me had seen my set at No Fun. I also got to play at the No Fun Fest Sweden last year in Stockholm, and that was really fun. Regardless of the location, No Fun Fest really pulls an international audience of noise fans and it's really an invaluable experience getting to play for such a diverse and dedicated group of people.

Email 8

Sweden must have ruled, I was there once for work, and had a complete blast!
Are you disappointed that there will be no New York area No Fun Fest this year?

Stockholm was fun. I also got to open the Jesus Lizard show there while I was in town. I didn't get to see much of the city, unfortunately, so I'd love to go back sometime.

I think it's good that Carlos is taking a break from the fest this year. It seems like a lot of new festivals are popping up to try and fill the void. There was a Denver Noise Fest in May, and in August there's going to be the Neon Marshmallow Festival in Chicago that I'll be playing These festivals aren't nearly on the scale of NFF, but that's okay. It's interesting to mix it up a little bit and see what other festival curators come up with.

Email 9

Does No Fun Fest or the noise scene ever seem like a sweaty smelly boys club? Or is that just rock n roll. The few times I was at NFF, I always noticed the No Fun Funk smell

Yeah, that's just music in general. You become desensitized to the smell after a few years.

Email 10

I have not been going to shows, because I just rock out in my room and bottle the odor, I'm totally hitting next fashion week.

Look like a rock star, act like a rock star, party like a rock star.
SMELL LIKE A ROCK STAR.
A new fragrance from kitty play.

Well thanks for your time, and following through with all this nonsense.
If you could please toss me a photo to run with the article that would rule.
xo

My pleasure.

S

TEN EMAILS with JUSTIN SMITH of GHOSTLIMB, GRAF ORLOCK & DANGERS!

Justin Smith, a man of many talents, a man of many bands! Justin is the guitarists of Ghostlimb, Graf Orlock, Dangers, and co-owner of Vitriol Records. 3 of my favorite bands and the only current label that I buy ALL of their output. Justin will be touring Australia June 17th through July 4th as a member of both Dangers and Graf Orlock. He is constantly releasing new material on Vitriol, and currently recording the new EP by Graf Orlock, Doombox. What can't he do?!

Email 1

Justin, I gotta say, I really love your Vitriol label. Great bands, great aesthetic, I probably have a dozen shirts from you guys.

Graf Orlock uses tons of pop culture imagery on albums, shirts, the quotes in the songs. Has anyone tried to come after you for printing shirts with Batman, having pop-up aliens on album covers, and sampling all those movies? Are you covered under some sorta weird parody law, or have the studios and copy-write lawyers just not caught on yet?

Firstly, thanks the imagery and stuff with gorlock, and consequently the label, is kind of a result of the drummer Adam and I doing bands together for so long. He is also in ghostlimb as well and has done the artwork for all the records and most of the Vitriol releases. About the copywrite thing, I am not sure how much of the imagery is an issue because most of the shirts are a twist on the plot and therefore, I think it falls under something more along the lines of satire. As far as the samples go, that is just under the radar, hopefully. It seems like what little coverage Gorlock gets, those people working in such positions of media Power have no idea what we sound like anyways, nor are they interested. It's been a couple of years now, I don't want to rest on my laurels, but I think we are pretty safe.

Email 2

You are the guitarist for at least 3 bands last time I tried to count or figure it out, how do you keep each band sounding original? Do you use a different guitar or rig for each group you perform with?

Well, there are three bands and one I suppose categorized as a project as of now. For Graf orlock and ghostlimb I use different guitars but the same set up. For dangers I also use a different guitar but the rig is geared more for

Some clean stuff and more dynamics. The "project" is called buyer's remorse and that is a completely different setup for more clean older 77 style sounds. So it does get complicated, haha.

Email 3

other musicians working on so many projects will play different instruments in different projects, have you ever considered playing anything besides the guitar?
also do you have a favorite band or project you are a part of? Or are they all your children and you cant really favor one over the other?

Hmm, I sing in different variants in these bands and the music is different enough to keep my attention. Each of the bands have a certain thing about them for me, gorlock which is whatever we want to do all the time and is a mixture of some ideas about the medium being the message In a band technically devoid of lyrics. Ghostlimb on the other had is a lot more subject matter based to me and is written about things I am interested in myself like history, theory, cartography, books, etc. I have only been in dangers for about a year and a half and that one is different for me because I came into a new situation and different genre stylistically than I would have just made by myself.

Email 4

What lead you to starting your own label? What has the biggest headache been for you so far?

I started it so that we could do whatever we wanted whenever we wanted without having to deal with someone else's hesitations. The biggest headache thus far has been getting people other than myself and those around me to get anything done. Lagging frustrates the hell out of me.

Email 5

Whats your take on music leaking all over the internet and people swapping files peer to peer? Is it a necessary evil that gets your music to new listeners or do you want the recording industry to clamp down harder on piracy?

I think that it is just a current form of cassette dubbing from the 80s. It is essential to music growing out to new people hearing it. Although I appreciate when people buy the record s and support bands, you hear new things this way. Also I want mass media corporations to crash and burn. Clamp down harder on those asshole companies.

Email 6

i dunno about on the west coast but it seems here like Ticketmaster, Clear Channel and Live Nation are swallowing everything. Bands like the Locust refuse to play Clear Channel venues because of their business practices. How do you feel about playing venues owned and operated by large corporations?

For the most part the opportunity doesn't arise that much, but if it is a glaring issue, then probably not. Playing some bigger venues here in la (which by default we don't do so Much) I'm sure it would be difficult to get around. We mostly play in smaller d.I.y. Places so it's not Much of a problem.

Email 7

You have also crisis crossed the globe quite a bit, how have audiences in far off places like South Africa and Malaysia responded? Are they excited to see something crazy and new? Or does those areas have their own noisey-grindy-core-metal-whatever you call it scenes?

We haven't been to south Africa, but have done pretty extensive in the us, Canada, southeast Asia, Europe, and australia. If anything it proves to me that there are groups of people everywhere doing similar, ostensibly worthwhile things with d I y in the international world. It is fun and for some reason ot works out. It seems we get a good Reception and mostly keep in contact with the people we meet and have worked with from other places. It is one thing that is truly awesome about punk.

Email 8

Does it bother you that a band like Green Day also claim to be "punk" but have just opened a broadway musical based on one of their albums?

Well, I suppose their origins were in the punk scene, but I don't care too much if they attempt to still represent themselves as such. Although at times the punk "scene" gets vapid and derivitive, there is always something cooperative at work in a lot of places which totally circumvents any level of corporatization, and that is always refreshing. I mean in the end these tags mean nothing and what you make is what counts.

Email 9

So what is next for you, for the label, for all your bands? World domination? One step at a time, just taking things as they come? Write what you wanna read, play what you wanna hear?

Correct, well not necessarily the world domination part. We have some tours coming up in australia and Canada, June and august respectively. I suppose now I am trying to get out my friends stuff and things I think are worth hearing. That quote is actualy from a ghostlimb song, and is geared at this wholetl thing. None of us like things how they are, so naturally, it makes sense to take steps to make your time and those around you more meaningful, intrinsically. So yeah I am going to run myself into the ground and take this thing as far as we can while still living relatively normal lives. More awesome records coming up, always new things on deck.

Email 10

Well thanks for taking the time, and putting up with me. If you wanna toss me a promo pic of yourself or something for the site to run with the interview feel free to link me or attach it. Also, if you wanna throw some band names or cool shit people need to check out, do it up.

thanks again
xo