Interview with Propagandhi

I'm bad with English, so I'll save words. Interview with Todd Kowalski, bassist and one of the singers of the band.
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1- Your songs deal with very important issues that affect the world directly. From the more “political” subjects to the more personal ones, how does the band go from the initial and abstract idea of the song to its final version? How do you feel when you are at the studio?

The hard part is taking something from that abstract idea to a finished song, basically it's all about the effort of playing music for hours and writing a ton of words and doing whatever is necessary to make it happen. As most creative people know, there can often be a huge chasm of work between an abstract idea and something that exists in reality. The ideas usually come from something we've seen or experienced and our most successful lyrics come from a place where our personal experiences are mixed with the political ideas. We want to write songs that come from us and not just make songs that are pieced together from news clippings or whatever.

2-  What reasons make you write about some subject?

We write about whatever moves us, it could be larger political issues or something close to us. Generally, injustice and suffering in the world eats away at our psyche and we feel compelled to write about that. See other suffering is a very powerful force and it's impossible for us not to recognize that and we feel a compulsive need to say something about it.

3- What sort of delays do you believe that political figures like Michelle Bauchmann can bring to the minority movements?

I think those people show the truth about how many people think and what they're desires are for the future of their country and the world in general. The delay they bring to humanity or civilization is that they are a constant antithesis to progressive, rational and scientific thought. They focus people on a world based on fantasy and require no evidence, reason or compassion. Beyond that their main problem is that they are hateful, abusive, power hungry and want to create a world where everyone is a slight variation of themselves which is scary and sad. It's truly too bad these people have such a large voice in the political system.

 4- In addition to the band, which other activities do you dedicate yourselves to? 

We're all pretty busy playing music lately but besides that Jord is part of the Haiti action network, Chris now has a couple of kids that take up a lot of his time but he's always doing something creative or interesting, I paint sand draw every chance I get. We're in a little moment in time right now where we're focused on playing music and headed towards recording a new record.

5- The first time I heard TETA I got speechless. I mean, that was the thing. Very fast and very intelligent. Just like PCL, the parts that most caught me were the intricate and progressive ones. Supporting Caste is a very serious album that blows my mind every time I hear it and it was radically important to me in 2009. Failed States only confirmed Propagandhi as a band that takes very seriously the message you want to pass. What can we expect from the next album?

The next record seems like it's going to be an exciting one, we have so many different types of riffs and atmospheres going on, there's a lot of twists and turns. We try to have each record a little different from the last one. There's a lot of really rocking stuff on the next one, people who like us will be into it! We've got an additional option of having Sulynn contributing some riffs so who knows where it all goes from here, we don't really plan it out we just keep playing and waiting for exciting notes and sounds to catch our ears.
 

6- I saw on your website that the inscriptions to be the new guitarist are going insane. Knowing that the band has very strong political roots, how does it feel to see that so many people care about your music while they are forced to handle with this crazy world we live in? (this question was made at July, last year)

As you know by now, we have Sulynn Hago on guitar now and she's been totally ripping it up live, people love her because she's awesome and truly has that rocking spirit! We completely understand what it's like to use music to soothe us in hard times and to be able to relate to other human beings through listening and creating so we totally appreciate with anybody who listens to our band. We're grateful for any connection we've made that has helped anyone out or at least made them feel less alone in the crazy and often disappointing world.

7- Music festivals have really grown in Brazil and it looks like that if you want to see your favorite band you have to feel good with some giant logo of a drink brand (which probably has sexist advertisements) right in front of your face. What is your feeling about the presence of marketing in music events and in all things we like for entertainment?

We've done our best to avoid those type of shows and festivals. Those sponsors are the reason we don't end up playing so many of the punk festivals. When we play festivals we end in sort of more obscure places with different bands.When there's no giant sponsors we're happy to play but I think we prefer smaller shows anyway.
 

8- It's a shame to see that most shows in Brazil are not a safe space (especially for women, who are massacred by men with “tons of testosterone wanting to show off their physical strength”). What can be Propagandhi 's contribution to make these spaces more attractive to women in opposition to what happens nowadays?

Yeah, that's too bad. We often try to say something when it seems like the crowd is being too aggressive or a particular person at a show is being to out of hand. We want people to have fun and don't want to make a bunch of rules but we also want everybody to have a good time. It's a fine line, our drummer Jord's 40+ year old wife can be seen stage diving and having fun so it's hard to know what people want to do or what they think is fun. We love the excitement of the shows but at the same time we can't stand macho nonsense. We make it known that we expect people to be reasonable. I'd prefer if everyone went totally crazy but didn't crash into each other so much but no one seems to listen to that suggestion. People generally dance the way that has been historically established in any genre of music which is too bad.

9- I read an interview of Chris talking about his mixed feelings around How ToClean Everything. I don’t know if it helps the ego but for me TETA wasessential to develop my position pro-feminism, against xenophobia and to make me understand many other things that formed the person who I am today and that helped me to follow paths I think are worthier. It ended up not being so much a question, but what have you changed since then? How do you feel about your music once it impacts people from many parts of the worlds?

I think any creative person or human being looks back on what they've done 20 years earlier with mixed feelings, if you don't you either haven't progressed or you're delusional of your own achievements, haha. I think it's healthy to want to do better and I think anyone really trying will do better. We are definitely thankful and happy for anyone who got anything positive from any Propagandhi albums. I still like How To Clean as well but the important thing really is that at the time they achieved what they were trying to do, for the most part. There's some great and endearing songs on those earlier records, we still play some of them and the lyrics, even though they were written so long ago are still relevant for the most part. It seems extra nice when the music ha touched people in far away places that none of us would have ever dreamed they'd make it to, like Brazil for instance. I think when those songs were made there was absolutely no thought that anyone in Brazil would ever hear them. 

10 - What are the "cars" that have killed the punks? How not to apologize to the “cowards of this world”? Sometimes it seems impossible not to succumb.

The "Car That killed the punk" came to me from two things: There's a NOMEANSNO song called "The hawk killed the punk" which, I interpret as a metaphor for the streamlining of fashion in punk killing the individuality of  the scene. The second idea came to me when I saw some California Punks I know driving around in Cadillacs and stuff like that, I thought that was the complete antithesis of punk and completely lame. Basically the idea is that we should, in whatever ways we can, be self reliant and do stuff on our own while trying to keep our money from gas and oil industries. We should activate and do what we can to inspire ourselves and have fun, in the case of that song "Hadron Collision" t hat we're referencing it's about riding a bike in the winter and enjoying it while saving the environment a little bit of carbon and pollution. To not apologize to the cowards of this world is to keep living positive and doing what you feel is right despite the fact that they're afraid to leave their shells and try to bring you down whenever you flying too high for their comfort levels, or when your dreams are bigger than their imagination can handle. When I feel like I'm succumbing to the lameness of society I try to remind myself that if I succumb I have became exactly what I always feared. there's an old poem that was used on a MANLIFTINGBANNER record that said "For He/She That His/Her Youth Denies Is Surely Dead Before He/She Dies.

11- A generation grew up listening to How To Clean Everything and another one grew up listening to TETA. Now a new generation is growing up hearing Failed States. How do you think this record can affect these young people?

We just hope that we grow and see the world in new ways, they're still interested in what we have to say and can relate. when they can't they'll be gone and that's OK. If something else catches their eye and inspires them that's cool but we'll always be here doing our thing and burning our giant fucking inferno of a flame! ha.

12 -  Thank you very much, hope to see you over here once again. If you wish, please send a message to your Brazilian fans. There are many of them around here.

Thanks so much for the interview, Henrique. It's greatly appreciated. We hope to see you down in Brazil sometime soon. We had a great, great time there last time we played! Take care.
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http://propagandhi.com/

Ps: thanks Michelle so much for translanting the questions. You are the really best.

Interview With Brightside

Brightside is a set of very talented guys, sincerely interested in making good music. A well directed and varied artistic development considering the band's releases, the quality of surprises for the short duration of the band. I suggest checking them, the result is fantastic :http://brightsidepgh.bandcamp.com/

As I like much their work, I was glad Matt Vituccio ( Guitar/Vocals) agreed to answer some questions:
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Can you please describe how Pittsburgh’s indie scene is?

-The Indie scene in Pittsburgh is for the most part nonexistent, and the most popular is involved in a punk crossover that doesn't have that much to do with our band. Bands that can be classify as "indie", as far as rock and pop, don't really interact much.

How does Pittsburgh influence your music, the way you write, create?

-I think the one thing that is evident in all Pittsburgh music is a slight edge that stems from growing up in a, for the most part, run down and working class city. That coupled with wealthier neighborhoods, and touring bands making their way through that may not be as used to that type of environment grows a solitary, separatist, and unamused attitude among a large number of people involved in Pittsburgh music.

How much have you changed as artists and people from Good Enough to Now and Loud?

-I think the maturity of us as people and as musicians is evident on Now and Loud. Our musical palettes have expanded, as well as our views on society and the scene we're involved in. We've tried not to fall to deep into any Emo, Punk, or otherwise confining genre. At the moment we view ourselves as simply a rock band, and thats how we approach the writing process. Good Enough was rooted much more in specific sub-genres, from song to song. Now and Loud is an experimentation in a more broad but focused approach.

The cover of Seconds Matter is very beautiful. How did you select the image?

-It was pretty last minute, and we needed something that would work well as a cassette layout. Our friend and old bassist, Matt Gondelman, is a great artist and photographer and we found a few rolls he developed online. That particular shot stuck and seemed to match what Seconds Matter was about.

How were the " Now and Loud " recording sessions? Hard times, funny times, challenging times?

-The actual recording of the album was great. Jake Ewald was easy to work with and recognized what we were going for.

Before that, we had demoed all of the songs in our basement/practice space and talked constantly about how this album should be present. The ideas behind the music, lyrics, and art were all discussed in detail from the moment we started writing. Sometimes it's hard to agree on everything, or figure out the best was to present ideas, so things got rough toward the middle of writing. But when we got into the studio everything came together and seemed a lot less stressful than we expected.

How are your live presentations?

-It's still a work in progress. Despite having been a band for four years and playing at least once a month for the majority, live performances have always been slightly less important than the music or writing itself. This is something that we're currently trying to hone in on as we bring Now and Loud to the stage. But it will always be a fact that some shows will be better than others.

What bands are your medicines?

-If you're asking what our favorite bands are, it tends to vary from person to person. We can agree upon some classic favorites like Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd, and The Beatles. Some currently active bands would be Tokyo Police Club, The Sidekicks, and Vampire Weekend. All of these bands can be constantly revisited for inspiration when we don't know what else to turn to.

Do you still listen the bands you were hearing when you got into music?

-Sometimes. Most of our "classic rock" favorites are still the majority of what we listen to, and are usually better than any new music that is being made. Its good to go back to your origins. For me personally, I will always be able to listen to Nirvana or the Beatles and discover something new and refreshing.

What are the mainly changes from “Seconds Matter” to your new record?

- Seconds Matter was written over a period of about a year and a half, which is a long time for only 5 songs. Some of them came from home demos and acoustic songs, some written full band. The sound is kind of trapped in these two summers where we weren't quite sure what to do with our music. Its very reminiscent of 90s indie and math rock. They very much embody the anxieties of being a young adult, and we have moved on from that as a theme for our music. I like the songs for the most part, they're still fun to play. But they are easily forgotten for us.

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightsidepgh?hc_location=timeline

Interview With Max Johnson

Max Johnson is a bassist who lives in New York. Active in jazz and bluegrass scene with a strong focus on improvisation, he has performed in Europe and the United States. If you search his name on Google you will find many favorable reviews.

As I like much of his work, I was glad he agreed to answer some questions:
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How did you first come to be involved in the New York City music scene?

I was born in New York City and I grew up in Hoboken, NJ, so I was always around the scene, but it wasn't until I started going to college at the New School that I started to take myself more seriously, and go to every show and schmooze with every musician.

What do you most appreciate about you as a musician?

An interesting question! I don't know if I appreciate anything about my playing, I'm just trying to always get better. I always try to listen as much as possible, and in an improvised setting, I try to find themes in what everyone else is playing, and create variation based on that. I don't really know if I'm doing anything right, I'm just trying to practice and listen as much as possible.

You are very productive, so many releases in the last years. Do you sometimes have creative blocks?

I don't, I feel that as a composer and improviser, it's hard to have a block. I also haven't had a very long “career” to have blocks in. But anytime I can't compose anything I like, I just play more improvised concerts and then eventually I start writing some music I like again. I just love so many kinds of music, and so many particular musicians that I always want to be doing everything all the time, and I think that helps me keep busy.

Can you please describe how New York music scene is?

I've never lived more than an hour from New York City, and I haven't spent any extended amount of time anywhere else to really weigh in on any other scene, but from what I understand, New York is unique. It has more totally individual amazing musicians per square mile than anywhere else in the world, and for the most part, every one is involved in a lot of projects, and support one another. Any night of the week you can go out and hear some of the highest level music, and it's one of the most inspiring things you could possibly have.

How does New York influence your music, the way you write, create?

New York probably has a strong effect on the scattered nature of my music. The fact that there are so many amazing musicians that I want to play with is probably the reason I write so much and for so many different bands. There's just too many people that I want to make music with in this city, so I have to do a lot of writing, a lot of playing, and a lot of organizing. The rewards are worth it though, and in New York, you can literally play any kind of music with someone who's a master in that particular style, and it's humbling to say the least.

How was Big Eyed Rabbit recording session? Hard times, funny times, challenging times?

It was very easy, and very fun! Ross Martin and Jeff Davis are two of the nicest and most talented musicians I know, and being in a band with those guys is a blast. The recording was pretty easy, we just went into the studio and played about two takes of every tune, and what you hear is what we did.

How are your live presentations?

I try to weave the improvised and written sections as seamlessly as possible, and always try to make the music as tight as possible, while feeling as loose as possible. I don't know any other way to describe it, although every band is different, and every performance is different, so I just try to embrace what's happening in that particular day at that particular time.

What musicians are your medicines?

That changes from time to time. I don't tend to listen to music to get me out of a bad mood, or cheer me up, but there are certainly artists I can listen to anytime and enjoy myself. Black Sabbath, early 70's King Crimson, Jimmy Giuffre, Ornette Coleman, Tim O'Brien, Schoenberg, Merle Haggard, Captain Beefheart, Dexter Gordon, and Black Flag come to mind. Although recently I've been mostly listening to Erik Satie, Messiaen, Debussy, Louie Armstrong, and Webern.

Do you still listen the musicians you were hearing when you got into music?

For the most part, yes, although not all the time. I really was into classic rock when I started playing (I started on electric bass), and I still listen to Cream, Black Sabbath, Frank Zappa, King Crimson, and other stuff. I still love that music.

What are the mainly changes from “The Prisoner” to “Big Eyed Rabbit”?

Both groups actually started around the same time in the Spring of 2012, although they're radically different groups. I formed The Prisoner to play my suite of music based on the 1968 TV show of the same name, which features Ingrid Laubrock, Mat Maneri & Tomas Fujiwara. This group has been described by a few folks as very “european” sounding, which is the exact opposite of Big Eyed Rabbit. Big Eyed Rabbit is a collective formed by Ross Martin, Jeff Davis and myself, originally to perform traditional American folk, bluegrass and old time songs in a free improv environment. Since the group has involved to including orignal music by the three of us, and I really couldn't be happier with both groups.

As an artist, do you think criticism is still relevant? Do you read it?

I read everything that's written about me, because even if I agree or disagree, art is 100% subjective. It's nice to see what anyone thinks about what I'm doing because it's nice to see things from all perspectives. That being said, I am going to continue to make the music I want, and if people don't like one album, they may like another one, or they may not like any. You gotta like what you like!

How do other forms of arts influence your music?

I draw a fair amount of inspiration from other arts, I think it's interesting to try to translate art between mediums. I've written music inspired by and based off books, movies and television, and trying to translate the actions of characters, events, settings and dialogue to an instrumental medium is something I really enjoy trying to do. I find that it also helps create interesting non-conventional structures in music.

What projects are you involved right now?

Well, my main band for the last 3 years has been my trio with Kirk Knuffke and Ziv Ravitz, and we've put out two records, Elevated Vegetation (FMR, 2012) and the Invisible Trio (Fresh Sounds, 2014). We have some more concerts coming up this year, and hopefully we'll do another recording in the winter. I've also written some music for that band plus two additional horns (Michael Attias and Ingrid Laubrock), that I'm very happy with. Also, I've been playing with the indie rock band Arc Iris, and we're recording our 2^nd album as well. I also have an improv record with Perry Robinson & Diane Moser coming out this winter. Other than that, I have a bunch of gigs, and a few tours, and I'm just trying to stay busy.

Please, if you want, leave our readers a message.

If you want to see what I'm up to, gigs, records or news, you can check out www.maxjohnsonmusic.com Also, go see more live music! Not necessarily my music, but just any music, people rely on the internet too much for musical enjoyment, and it's really not nearly as good. Go see an orchestra! It's way better than listening on headphones. Also, Schoenberg is the best.

Interview with Coti (Costantino Kiriakos)

The last work of Costantino Kiriakos, as Coti, is practically indispensable-worth checking every second. He is involved with electronic experimentalism since the 80s and has other projects that are also well worth conferred. I was very happy when he agreed to answer some questions:

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How did you first come to be involved in the Athens scene?

I was born in Milan, Italy, but I moved with my family to Athens when I was 5.
I began being interested in music quite late for a kid, around 15, and I started right away doing my own music. From there on it was a simple matter of playing and playing and meeting other musicians in the process.

What do you most appreciate about you as a musician?

I think what I most value is my openness to what music is.

You are very productive, so many releases in the last years. Do you sometimes have creative blocks?

Yes I have creative blocks, my way of avoiding them is to drop the project I was working on and move on to some other that might be more inspiring at the moment.

Can you please describe how Athens music scene is?

Athens at the moment is a very interesting place to be because of all the crisis happening here. There is a very large number of bands and other musical projects going on. These are very rough but interesting times at the same time.

How does Athens influence your music, the way you write, create?

I have to say that my music place is not Athens, probably to noisy for me to concentrate I mostly write in Tinos island where I have a little house.

How was Solesulsuolo recording session? Hard times, funny times, challenging times?

Solesulsuolo was written and recorded in Stockholm. I stayed in Sweden for a few months, checking whether I would like to live there (I didn't).
A good friend gave me access to his rehearsal place and so I went there to play with my new instrument I had just built, the Oniscus Harmonicus.
Times were quite hard on a personal level, but hiding in the studio playing and recording was great, also right next door there was the best pastry shop in Stockholm.

How are your live presentations?

I do not perform solo often, I play live mostly with Mohammad (a trio we have with Nikos Veliotis and ILIOS). Lately I started playing with my songs project, The Man from Managra.

What musicians are your medicines?

I think mostly songwriters like Lee Hazlewood , L.Cohen and Eno.

Do you still listen the musicians you were hearing when you got into music?

Sometimes I do, I was listening to the Go Betweens last week..

What are the mainly changes from “Onda” to “Solesulsuolo”?

Onda is recorded only with a double bass, and Solesulsuolo with the Oniscus.
Onda was written on a mediterranean Island in the summer, whereas Solesulsuolo was written in northern Europe, wishing I was on the island. So Solesulsuolo is much darker to me.

As an artist, do you think criticism is still relevant? Do you read it?

Yes I do read it, all musicians care about what other people think of their music, some just won't admit it. Of course a bad criticism can ruin your day, but its a risk you have to take.

How do other forms of arts influence your music?

I always think of music in a visual way. The moment I hear music I imagine lines, dots etc..

What projects are you involved right now?

We just released Zo Rél Do , Mohammad's fourth release (see www.mohammad.gr)
and we are arranging a small european tour for October.
Also with The Man From Managra (www.themanfrommmanagra.com) we are playing quite a few house concerts here in Athens, and I am also trying to see if I can somehow promote it outside of Greece.

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Official Website: http://www.cotik.com/index.htm