2014 UMS Band Interviews #5

For everything you need to know about the UMS Click Here

Somerset Catalog 

Thu, July 24th 9:00 pm

Irish Rover

Where/ When are you playing for the UMS?

Thursday, July 24th, 9pm @ Irish Rover

In twenty-five words or less, describe what somebody who has never heard of you/your band might expect from your performance at UMS this year.

Imagine illegal fireworks exploding with poor safety precautions taken mixed with very large taxidermied animals--think stuffed Giraffes--and heat and heat and sport and catharsis. That should loudly do it. One of us may hyperventilate.

What was the first music you remember using your own money to buy?

Georgina bought the S/T LP from the Pretenders, and Bryce was tricked into buying Purple Rain by his sister when he really wanted use his allowance on candy. Kuker’s was either Enya’s Greatest Hits or Vanilla Ice’s first record--he can’t remember, he just knows he was in the VIP Posse before everyone else.

What has been your favorite album of 2014 so far?

A tie: Angel Olsen - Burn Your Fire for No One and St. Vincent - S/T

Do you have any advice for new bands?

Skip band practice and go for whiskey and ice cream together sometime. It’ll help with how serious all of this seems.

Have you planned out who you want to see at UMS this year? Who are some of your highlights?

Blonde Redhead!  Unknown Mortal Orchestra! Real Estate. Good job, UMS bookers. Also, on the local front, definitely Hollow Talk, Joshua Novak, Poet’s Row, Glass Hits final show, and so many more.

If you've been to UMS before, what three words would you use to describe it?

Hot, Local, Houseparty (yes, we cheated a little.)

What has been your most memorable experience at UMS to date?

Seeing Black Heart Procession at the Mayan Theater in 2011. Also, Everything Absent or Distorted’s last UMS performance in 2009. It was very emotional and overwhelming for us. Rabbit Is a Sphere also played their very last show that same year at the showcase, so we were all a bunch of sad sacks.  Little did we know that we’d be joining forces 5 year  later.  Fuck Yeah! We will seriously fight you.

Any tips you'd like to give the novices for making the UMS experience even better?

Plan to miss work on Monday...maybe take Tuesday off, too, for good measure.

Is there any place you're looking forward to eating during UMS?

Illegal Pete’s.  Gozo sounds good, so maybe we’ll try it. A Sputnik corndog is very likely.

What are your favorite shops on South Broadway?

Ironwood and Sweet Action

Who is your all time favorite Colorado band?

The Czars

Uphollow

Wovenhand

Denver Gentlemen

Joe Sampson

You're working the counter at Twist & Shout, and a customer is interested in expanding his music collection.  What three albums would you recommend?

Sketches of Spain (Miles Davis), Soundtrack to Garden State, and anything by Ray Stevens...we kid, we kid. That Garden State soundtrack is terrible.

Is there anything we forgot to ask you about the UMS that you think people need to know?

“When’s your new video for Landing Gear coming out?” Soon, love children, soon.

Joy Subtraction 

Sat, July 26th 7:00 pm

Eslinger Gallery

Where/When are you playing for the UMS?

Joy Subtraction plays at 7 p.m. on Saturday night at Eslinger (118 S. Broadway).

In twenty-five words or less, describe what somebody who has never heard of you / your band might expect from your performance at UMS this year.

Well, I guess I would have to say, when thinking about describing the music of Joy Subtraction and its live show, that it is really . . . [Ugh! That’s 25—I’m out of words. You’d think Twitter would have made me better at this.]

What was the first music you remember using your own money to buy?

The Xanadu motion picture soundtrack, featuring Olivia Newton John and Electric Light Orchestra (referred to as “ELO” by those of us in the know).

What has been your favorite album of 2014 so far?

I don’t think any albums have come out yet in 2014.

Do you have any advice for new bands?

Get out while you can. Seriously. Run.

Have you planned out who you want to see at UMS this year? Who are some of your highlights?

We don’t really care: we’re hitting the venues with bags of rotten tomatoes, and it doesn’t really matter who’s playing or how well they’re jamming, we’re going to express ourselves.

If you've been to UMS before, what three words would you use to describe it?

We’d say “excruciating,” “unbearable,” and “horrific,” but we really want to be invited back next year, so we’ll go with “incredible,” “edifying,” and “crucial.”

What has been your most memorable experience at UMS to date?

Is this a trick question?

Any tips you'd like to give the novices for making the UMS experience even better?

Practice your pick-pocketing chops—there’s ample opportunity to break even on expenses (and sometimes even turn a profit!).

Is there any place you're looking forward to eating during UMS?

The dumpster behind Sputnik usually yields a pretty fine bounty.

What is your favorite shop on South Broadway?

Nooch Vegan Market. The staff often mocks you, but the goods can’t be beat.

Who is your all-time favorite Colorado band?

It’s gotta be String Cheese Incident. Just the name alone is enough to make you want to jump off a cliff—excuse me, I mean get off your ass and jam.

You're working the counter at Twist & Shout, and a customer is interested in expanding his music collection.  What three albums would you recommend?

This is easy:

Welcome to Hell by Venom, because if you haven’t laid down your soul to the gods of rock ‘n’ roll yet, then you’re a fool.

Tutu by Miles Davis. It’s probably Davis’s worst album, but even Miles Davis’s worst album is better than most bands’ best album.

Bucketfulls of Sickness and Horror in an Otherwise Meaningless Life by Alice Donut, because sometimes you need a little pick-me-up.

Is there anything we forgot to ask you about the UMS that you think people need to know?

Yes—people should probably know about the Red Hour, which occurs every night of the UMS between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m., during which time all crimes are legal and about twenty percent of UMS attendees are murdered. Also, the Hornet has killer burgers.

  

Gun Street Ghost 

Sat, July 26th 7:00 pm

Skylark Lounge

Where/ When are you playing for the UMS? 

Skylark at 7:00 on Saturday. 

In twenty-five words or less, describe what somebody who has never heard of you/your band might expect from your performance at UMS this year. 

Roots-country based music, 70's rock and spacey folk mixed together. Songs about the struggles of life, hard work, and drinking to numb the pain. 

What was the first music you remember using your own money to buy?

Led Zeppelin IV

What has been your favorite album of 2014 so far? 

Doom Abuse by The Faint

Do you have any advice for new bands? 

Sex, drugs and rock and roll seems to be the recipe that works the best. 

Have you planned out who you want to see at UMS this year? Who are some of your highlights?

I'm gonna try to soak up as much as I can. 

If you've been to UMS before, what three words would you use to describe it?

Many great bands. 

What has been your most memorable experience at UMS to date? 

I Sank Molly Brown's set at Moe's BBQ a couple years back. It's hard to describe. Impressed, I was. 

Any tips you'd like to give the novices for making the UMS experience even better?

Make sure you have all of your gear and it all works upon arrival. 

Is there any place you're looking forward to eating during UMS?

The potsticker cart. 

What is your favorite shop on South Broadway? 

The Goodwill

Who is your all time favorite Colorado band?

Porlolo

You're working the counter at Twist & Shout, and a customer is interested in expanding his music collection.  What three albums would you recommend?

Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska 

The Magnetic Fields - The Charm of the Highway Strip

Baroness - Blue

 

I'd Love to Turn You On #109 - Kleenex / Liliput – Kleenex / Liliput

This 2-disc set covers the (almost) complete musical 5-year legacy of the Swiss, mostly-female art-punk group Kleenex (who in 1980 changed their name to Liliput to avoid a lawsuit from a certain facial tissue manufacturer who shall remain nameless). It goes from their early 1978 punk-ish works through various lineup changes, two full-length LPs and a number of EPs, singles, and stray tracks until their dissolution in 1983. In 46 songs born out of the music scene of a 70’s post-punk Zurich, the band explored a brand of punk-inspired music that’s unlike anything else out there, including similarly structured, arty, all-female bands of the era like The Slits and The Raincoats, both of whom aren’t – in my humble opinion – up to their standards. Not that it needs to be a competition of course – you need The Slits’ Cut and The Raincoats’ The Raincoats and maybe Odyshape too (and possibly Essential Logic’s Beat Rhythm News too), but you definitely need this more than any of them.

            The group writes with the purity of the best punk rockers – not knowing the rules of music allows you to break them in interesting and creative ways – and it’s one of the main reasons their music resembles nothing else out there. Songs are sung primarily in English, sometimes Swiss-German, and very occasionally in French, though often (in any language) with more care to the sound than the sense of words. According to guitarist Marlene Marder:

“Our English isn't that good. It's a foreign language. It was nonsense anyway! (laughs) We had one or two songs in German. ... For us, English was the language of music but we couldn't talk English so... We tried.” (From interview in Perfect Sound Forever online magazine, May 1998 (http://www.furious.com/perfect/kleenex.html)

So these women proffer shouts, sing-alongs, and eccentric vocal interjections and sounds over their crudely catchy tunes, leaving something always slightly off and creepy even in their whimsy, a dark undercurrent even to the lightest sounding material. Covering their full output requires viewing the different lineups through different lenses, so let’s break it down like this:

Disc 1:

Tracks 1 – 10; 1978-1979; 4-piece (Marlene Marder guitar / Klaudia Schiff bass & vocals / Lislot Ha. drums / Regula Sing vocals)

Their earliest recordings, punkier than they’d be later, finding them hitting their stride with the great “Krimi” and “Beri-Beri.” Voices joining on “Ain’t You” or the German-language “Nice” is about as “girl group” as this punk-inspired (mostly) female group really got.

Tracks 11 – 19; 1980; 5-piece (Lislot Ha. drums / Marlene Marder guitar / Angie Barrack sax & vocals / Klaudia Schiff bass & vocals / Chrigle Freund vocals)

A different vibe, and not just because of the saxophone. It’s clear they’re gunning for both artier and goofier waters than most punk bands – as signified in the whistle-along of “Die Matrosen” - but they don’t lose their oddball catchiness, as in that whistle-along or the cut that follows, “Hitch-Hike” (no relation to the Marvin Gaye classic).

Tracks 20 – 21; 1981; 3-piece (Chrigle Freund drums &vocals / Klaudia Schiff bass & vocals / Marlene Marder guitar &vocals)

A single immediately noticeable as different from the others for its heavy riffing on “Eisiger Wind” though true to their style it creates its own form rather than following any proscribed hard rock models, breaking into their usual vocal harmonic excursions; the flip side “When the Cat’s Away” is a whimsical waltz with an undercurrent of menace.

Tracks 22 – 24; 1981-1982; 5-piece (Klaudia Schiff bass & vocals / Marlene Marder guitar / Astrid Spirit vocals & percussion / Beat Schlatter drums / Christoph Herzog sax)

Guys in the band for the first time (though not the last). These few cuts find them possibly sounding more like a rock band than anywhere else in the catalog.

Disc 2:

(2 full albums plus one single)

Tracks 1 – 11; 1982-1983; 3-piece (Klaudia Schiff bass, drums, guitar, vocals / Marlene Marder guitar, bass, percussion, noises / Astrid Spirit violin, vocals, percussion, bass)

Artier that anything they’d yet essayed, this is their first full album (Liliput), and for me the high point of their career. Weird vocal sounds, percussive experimentation, scraped violin playing the part of a bird, primordial dinosaur vocals – it’s all over the place and yet unified by their spirit, indulging their sense of fun, their sense of musical drama. Their playing is also upped a notch from the looser earlier material without losing their raw edge. The primordial “Umamm,” the atmospheric “Tschik-mo,” the percussion-and-vocals closing cut “Tong Tong” (with its sole lyric of “tong tong” repeated over and over), the vaguely jazzy “Ichor,” and maybe their by-now-patented vocal outbursts all over “Outburst” are my personal highlights, but the whole record kills. Marlene again:

“It's a change because it's a different area, a different time. We were more serious.” (From interview in Perfect Sound Forever, May 1998 (http://www.furious.com/perfect/kleenex.html )

Tracks 12 – 22; 1982-1983; 3-piece (with guests) (Klaudia Schiff bass, drums, guitar, vocals / Marlene Marder guitar, bass, percussion, noises / Astrid Spirit violin, vocals, percussion, bass – plus guests on various album tracks)

One single plus one album (Some Songs). Single is two great, catchy sides (especially “You Did It”), the album their most polished – if that can ever be said of the group – and rocking statement to date, though even here they don’t lose the qualities that make the band so special.

And so it went. Astrid Spirit, the main driving force for keeping the band together as a potential career at this point became pregnant and decided to devote her full energies to her child rather than her group and founders Marder and Schiff were ready to move on with their lives. But they left behind five wonderful years of music that even 30-35 years later sound utterly unique.

- Patrick Brown

2014 UMS Band Interviews #4

For everything you need to know about the UMS Click Here

Ark Life 

Sat, July 26th 11:00 pm

The Hi-Dive

Where/ When are you playing for the UMS?

​We're playing Hi-Dive on Saturday with some bands we love -- A. Tom Collins​, Zebroids, Shady Elders -- and some we're excited about getting to see for the first time -- Aan, American Tomahawk, A Band in Pictures.  Lotta A names on that show, come to think of it.

In twenty-five words or less, describe what somebody who has never heard of you/your band might expect from your performance at UMS this year.

​Rock. And. Roll. Harmonies. Velvet. Grooves. Motown. Licks. Jangling. Keys. Lots. Of. Jumping. Sweat. Yelping. Laughing. What. Should. I. Do. With. The. Last. Nine. Words?​

What was the first music you remember using your own money to buy?

​That's different for all of us.  Like, very different.  You'll have to ask us all when you see us, but I'll give you this little nugget of a teaser.  For me, it was lots of lawns mowed in fifth grade adding up to not one, but two cassette purchases -- M.C. Hammer's 2 Legit 2 Quit and Queen's Classic Queen.

What has been your favorite album of 2014 so far?

​Same thing - you'll have to ask us all - lot of different tastes in the band.  Since it's summertime and I'm sitting on the porch looking at the mountains, I'll go with Mike Sempert's Mid Dream.  Which is mostly about the ocean.

Do you have any advice for new bands?

​Work hard on your business, but even harder on your music.  Be good to other bands, venues, promoters, fans, everyone you interact with -- but even better to each other.

Have you planned out who you want to see at UMS this year? Who are some of your highlights?

​Trying hard to get to some folks we haven't seen before, though you always end up getting sucked back into you're best friends' usual haunts.  But hoping for Woodsman, Wild High, DJ Cavem Moetivation, Strange Americans, Ancient Elk, Cayucas, Cop Circles, Widowers, and of course Bud Bronson & the Good Timers.  These Arms Are Snacks, too, just for having the best cover band name of all time.​

If you've been to UMS before, what three words would you use to describe it?

Fairly mellow time.​

What has been your most memorable experience at UMS to date?

​We played a great bill at the Rover last year, and you couldn't move in there the whole afternoon and night.  You got so much of other peoples' sweat on you that it became a transcendent communal experience.  Like a sweat lodge.  But a meat locker.  But sweatier.  With human sweat.​ A human meat lodge.​

Any tips you'd like to give the novices for making the UMS experience even better?

​The usual total street carnival idea - get a few things in mind that you really really wanna do and see, but then let yourself go with the flow.  It's great that everything's so close on Broadway, really allows for that kinda freewheeling improvisational spectating and participating.

Is there any place you're looking forward to eating during UMS?

​The curb.​

What is your favorite shop on South Broadway? 

​Ironwood.  Or Illegal Pete's.  Or Mutiny.  Depends what you're in the market for.  The Goodwill comes in handy, too.​

Who is your all time favorite Colorado band?

​Three-way tie between The Blue Rider, Chimney Choir, and Total Ghost.  And The Czars.  And Glenn Miller.​

You're working the counter at Twist & Shout, and a customer is interested in expanding his music collection.  What three albums would you recommend?

​Should we stick with the Colorado theme?  Gotta get the single by Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats -- unless this is the future, and they have a full-length out.  Then Princess Music's Odobenidae, obviously.  And then whatever is the best Glenn Miller box set you guys have.  Seriously, the kids should listen to more Glenn Miller.

Is there anything we forgot to ask you about the UMS that you think people need to know?

​There is nothing else any of us need to know.  It will all become apparent soon.  Like, at the end of this month. 

Oscar Ross 

Sun, July 27th 3:00 pm

Gary Lee’s Motor Club and Grub

Where/ When are you playing for the UMS?

1. Gary Lee's Motor Club on Sunday at 3pm

In twenty-five words or less, describe what somebody who has never heard of you/your band might expect from your performance at UMS this year.

2. old school country - Bakersfield style along the lines of Waylon Jennings and Merle Haggard

What was the first music you remember using your own money to buy?

3. Don Williams Harmony

What has been your favorite album of 2014 so far?

4. Jack White Lazaretto

Do you have any advice for new bands?

5. keep writing

Have you planned out who you want to see at UMS this year? Who are some of your highlights?

6. Lords of Fuzz, Altas, Casey James Prestwood, Speedwolf

If you've been to UMS before, what three words would you use to describe it?

7. succulent fantastic melodies

What has been your most memorable experience at UMS to date?

8. drinking 19 beers in 3 hours

Any tips you'd like to give the novices for making the UMS experience even better?

9. take lots of drugs

Is there any place you're looking forward to eating during UMS?

10. nope

What is your favorite shop on South Broadway? 

11. Mutiny Cafe

Who is your all time favorite Colorado band?

12. American Relay

You're working the counter at Twist & Shout, and a customer is interested in expanding his music collection.  What three albums would you recommend?

13. Jackson Browne Saturate Before Using

Fugazi Repeater

Kyuss Welcome to Sky Value

Grease Pony 

Sun, July 27th 5:00 pm

Blue Ice

Where/ When are you playing for the UMS?

We play at Blue Ice (just south of Broadway and 1st) on July 27th from 5pm-6.

In twenty-five words or less, describe what somebody who has never heard of you/your band might expect from your performance at UMS this year.

Grease Pony: A neanderthal's adventure in a space shuttle up through the outer layer of our atmosphere into the peaceful bliss of outer space.

What was the first music you remember using your own money to buy?

Smash Mouth

Do you have any advice for new bands?

Don't be an asshole.

Have you planned out who you want to see at UMS this year? Who are some of your highlights?

We're excited to hear Ancient Elk, The Other Black, GS3, Homebody, Lazerwolf, Lemon Future, Branded Bandits, and Gardens of Villa, just to name a few.

If you've been to UMS before, what three words would you use to describe it?

Thrilling, saucy, houseparty.

What has been your most memorable experience at UMS to date?

Staring through the window of an antique shop for a few hours.

Is there any place you're looking forward to eating during UMS?

Pie Hole

You're working the counter at Twist & Shout, and a customer is interested in expanding his music collection.  What three albums would you recommend?

The Bardo Story - Salvia Plath

Hurdy Gurdy Man - Donovan

Fourth Wall - The Flying Lizards

Is there anything we forgot to ask you about the UMS that you think people need to know?

Checking out the local scene is what it's all about. The only place to seriously find unknown raw music you can feel. 

2014 UMS Band Interviews #3

For everything you need to know about the UMS Click Here
Eros and the Eschaton 

Fri, July 25th 9:00 pm

The Hi-Dive

Where/ When are you playing for the UMS?

We play Friday, 7/25 @ 9:00 PM at the Hi-Dive.

In twenty-five words or less, describe what somebody who has never heard of you/your band might expect from your performance at UMS this year.

At our last show, someone told us we "sound like Carl Sagan."

What was the first music you remember using your own money to buy?

Kate - Pearl Jam and Neil Young's Mirror Ball/Merkin Ball collaboration.

Adam - En Vogue and Black Sabbath.

What has been your favorite album of 2014 so far?

Future Islands, Sylvan Esso, Tune-Yards, Lykke Li, Cold War Kids, Thee Oh Sees, The Casket Girls, Saintseneca, Cloud Nothings... this has been an incredible year for new music. It's really fucking exciting to be a musician right now!

Do you have any advice for new bands?

Having a reputation for giving a shit will not diminish from your rock and roll-ness.

Have you planned out who you want to see at UMS this year? Who are some of your highlights?

I just looked at the schedule, and I don't think we're going to sleep! Definitely going to catch UMO and Blonde Redhead on Sunday night.

Is there any place you're looking forward to eating during UMS?

We will almost undoubtedly end up bonding over very late night coffee at the Denver Diner.

What is your favorite shop on South Broadway?

Well, it's not really a shop, but definitely the Hi-Dive. It always feels like home, the scene is super engaging, and I feel like a little less of a weirdo there (maybe because it is also full of weirdos). It's like the NYC of Denver.

Who is your all time favorite Colorado band?

The Haunted Windchimes have been our dear pals for the better part of a decade. They introduced us to each other. Without them, we wouldn't be a band, traveling around and having such a good time playing music and recording together. They are a big part of why we are in Colorado.

You're working the counter at Twist & Shout, and a customer is interested in expanding her music collection. What three albums would you recommend?

Philosophy of the World by the Shaggs

Os Mutantes - S/T

Teen Dream by Beach House

I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One by Yo La Tengo

Loaded by VU

A Band In Pictures 

Sat, July 26th 8:00 pm

The Hi-Dive

Where/ When are you playing for the UMS?

We will be playing UMS at 8PM at the Hi Dive on Broadway and Ellsworth

In twenty-five words or less, describe what somebody who has never heard of you/your band might expect from your performance at UMS this year.

Diversity. The five of us are hoping to incorporate a few new sounds in our set, but still keeping a similar flow between songs to keep the set feeling complete.

What was the first music you remember using your own money to buy?

For me? It was probably Led Zeppelin 1 on vinyl I found at my local record shop. The idea of holding a physical piece of music from a long time ago always was an amazing feeling to me, especially if the record was actually from the time the music came out. I can’t say we have ever spent band money on music though…

What has been your favorite album of 2014 so far?

Favorite album of 2014 so far… That’s tough. After reading some of the releases that are set to come out via Pitchfork earlier today, I’m pretty excited for the rest of the year. Mac Demarco had a pretty good listen on my Spotify when he came out with Salad Days. The War on Drugs also spent a lot of time in my ears when they released Lost in the Dream, and Real Estate and Future Islands definitely worked their way in there as well. I speak for all of us when I say I’m still very excited to see Beck play some new material off of Morning Phase as well this August at Red Rocks.

Do you have any advice for new bands?

I guess an honest piece of advice I would tell a new band is just keep at it and don’t lose the momentum. The five of us living together was certainly tough at times, but it was by far the time where we got the most things done. If I could tell my past self any advice as a member of our band, it would mostly be keeping a positive relationship with my band-mates always. I’ll love all the guys forever, so might as well make the most of it.

Have you planned out who you want to see at UMS this year? Who are some of your highlights?

Oh man… I haven’t seen Real Estate in years, and they’re always the band for me that gets the job done when I don’t know what to listen to. I think I’m most excited to just walk around Broadway and check out as many artists as I can. That has always been my favorite aspect of UMS, and was definitely the right move when I was down in Austin for SXSW. (Also I missed Real Estate at SXSW, so I’d love to catch their new set!).

If you've been to UMS before, what three words would you use to describe it?

Collective, effervescent…. Inebriated.

What has been your most memorable experience at UMS to date?

Wow. I have an archive of great memories at UMS over the past few years. The first year was such a great experience; I always look forward to the next. I’ve met so many great people the past few years of UMS, it feels like a lot my close friends came from the few days spent on S. Broadway. Musically, Gauntlet Hair’s performance at the main stage was one of my favorite shows I’ve been to in Denver. All of the after parties are a great experience as well. Everyone is just so into the whole experience the days seem like they never end because everyone is in such a good mood.

Any tips you'd like to give the novices for making the UMS experience even better?

Don’t sit at home! Get off the couch and get your ass down to S. Broadway because it only happens once a year. It’s the closest thing to SXSW that Denver has to offer, and I promise you will have the greatest extended weekend by going out and being a part of it as much as you can. If you’re raging, buy a flask from a local liquor store! If you’re hungry, grab a bite at an awesome local restaurant! On top of all that, you get to hang around all of your favorite local musicians. Be super friendly and I promise you’ll end up meeting some pretty great people.

Is there any place you're looking forward to eating during UMS?

You’re talking to the right guy about food. The list never ends on S. Broadway. One day during UMS I ate pizza at The Walnut Room and instantly walked across the street to Go Fish for sushi. The food down there is so incredible, your belly will feel as good as your ears. I guarantee you’re gonna end up at Illegal Pete’s down south, I know all of us will be there.  

What is your favorite shop on South Broadway? 

Favorite shop on S. Broadway… Music Gear Guys will always help you out if you’re a musician during UMS, and all of the vintage clothing boutiques are always fun to go check out. During UMS the booze shops definitely come in handy.

Who is your all time favorite Colorado band?

My all time favorite Colorado band has always been Gauntlet Hair. Even though they’ve disbanded, I listen to their first album countless times throughout the week.

You're working the counter at Twist & Shout, and a customer is interested in expanding his music collection.  What three albums would you recommend?

That all depends who the customer is I suppose… I’d have to stick with my roots and throw some genres their way and let them pick their favorite albums off of that. Recently though, I’d suggest a little Foxygen. It was cool for me when I first heard those guys because it gave me a solid reminder that some people are still keeping that San Francisco-y flower power vibe going on. I love Innerspeaker by Tame Impala. Kevin Parker creating all those catchy riffs is beyond me, and I love the psychedelic feel that album has. Would also push an Animal Collective album someone’s way if they haven’t given them a good listen yet. The vocals on Sung Tongs are incredible and have definitely inspired me to create music.

Is there anything we forgot to ask you about the UMS that you think people need to know?

If you lie down in front of someone’s yard on your back, you’re a resting festival-goer. But if you lay down on your side in front of someone’s yard, you’re going full homeless. Never go full homeless…

Ancient Mith 

Sat, July 26th 1:00 am

Blue Ice

Where/ When are you playing for the UMS?

Fri night/Sat AM, July 26 1:00 am Blue Ice

In twenty-five words or less, describe what somebody who has never heard of you/your band might expect from your performance at UMS this year.

I hope it's beautiful, strange, hard to watch/hard not to, funny, loving, dangerous and a bit witty but if not I'll just scream and rant a lot.

What was the first music you remember using your own money to buy?

I'm not sure what the first one was exactly. My first collection had an oldies tape, Bon Jovi - New Jersey, Biz Markie - The Diabolical Biz Markie, Aersosmith - Toys In The Attic, Fat Boys - On and On, and few metal bands. I remember being like 8 years old and wanting to go to the record store with any money I got or earned.

What has been your favorite album of 2014 so far?

I haven’t paid much attention this year, sadly, but I really like the YG album and Freddie Gibbs as well.

Is there any place you're looking forward to eating during UMS?

Not during the UMS necessarily but on S. Broadway I like Sputnik.

Who is your all time favorite Colorado band?

I think Achille Lauro as far as what I listen to most, Shotgun Hodown is probably a close second.

You're working the counter at Twist & Shout, and a customer is interested in expanding his music collection. What three albums would you recommend?

Regina Spektor - 11:11, Any Sun Ra album, EL-P - Fantastic Damage.

Is there anything we forgot to ask you about the UMS that you think people need to know?

No, but I would like to thank Twist and Shout, Natasha, The UMS, Open Air 1340,and all the readers. Hope to see you all there. Love, Braden

I'd Love to Turn You On At the Movies #94 - Tai Chi Master (1993, dir. Yuen Woo Ping)

The wuxia film is a long-standing Chinese film tradition dating back decades – a martial arts swordplay film that often incorporates elements of fantasy or mysticism into the stylized action sequences. But many know the genre a little better by a Westernized name associated with it: “wire fu,” after its combination of kung fu with impossible stuntwork made possible by the use of wires (sometimes visible in the films). Some of the classic films from the 1960’s and 1970’s made waves in the niche market here, but it wasn’t until 2000’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon that the genre came into broader notice outside the circles of people who lived and died for great kung fu films. But Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon came at the tail end of a renaissance of wuxia films coming out of China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, a renaissance that peaked in 1993, a year when nearly 20 films in the genre were released in those countries. And coming in at the tail end of that year was the third excellent 1993 film in the genre starring Jet Li, Tai Chi Master.

Following on the heels of Fong Sai Yuk and its sequel Fong Sai Yuk II, Tai Chi Master crafts a similarly structured period piece with our hero (played by Jet Li) working through plots of political treachery and fighting for the underdog with fiercely choreographed action married to comedy that at times lands firmly in slapstick. In that bonding of action and comedy, they honor a filmic tradition going back to Buster Keaton (minus the politics, of course) and avoid the dead spots that can drag these things down – never bogging down too much in plot mechanics (even when they get complicated) or sappy romance (silly romance is more how they play it). So, there’s certainly no reason to take them too seriously – they’re meant to be fun. And even though Jet Li’s character is in all three films aligned with a political underground against a domineering and violent ruling party, it doesn’t mean that it is necessarily an allegory exploring anxieties of Hong Kong residents of what will happen to Hong Kong when it goes under China’s control in 1997 in the wake of the Tiananmen Square crackdown of 1989 – if so it’s certainly kept as subtext, never interfering with the pure kinetic energy of the films. And maybe they’re not political at all – the Fong Sai Yuk films are based on a legendary folk hero and Tai Chi Master’s good and bad guys are strictly drawn as good and evil from the get-go, there’s no nuance that suggests a deeper reading is necessary.

Tai Chi Master begins simply with a monastery training a courtyard full of men in kung fu while two children look on. One of them, Junbao, is a favorite of the school’s Master, while Tienbo is jealous of the younger Junbao’s senior status in the training, insisting (privately) on being called senior to Junbao in spite of the Master’s statement that Junbao is the senior student. While the two are friends, defeating a bully together (and getting in trouble for it) this jealousy colors all their actions and carries over to adulthood. Tienbo and Junbao are ultimately kicked out of the monastery due to fighting. When a competition rival cheats, Tienbo takes it as an opportunity to call all bets off and goes too far with his violence - the rival’s Master decides to take things out on Tienbo until Junbao intervenes and both end up fighting all the students. When their own master pulls them out and sends them off in to the world, he notes that Jun is kind while Tien is too aggressive and needs to find peace in his heart. Tienbo, who is introduced when one of his first lines is “My family was always too poor to afford meat. I have always wanted to try it,” is understandably ambitious, if too aggressive for the pacifism he is supposed to find in the martial arts. When he and Junbao are released into the world, he is happy to sell out friends and unleash his considerable skills to advance his lot in the world – upon seeing a cruel and hated governor he notes: “I wish I could be as privileged as he is.” But Junbao is on another course. After several people he knows die as a result of violence, he opts for another course, studying the more balanced art of Tai Chi to try to rectify what has happened. Of course this all ultimately steers a course toward a showdown between the two and it’s there that the film unleashes its most dramatic effects and choreographed fight sequences, playing even the tension of the fights for comedy sometimes and adding in the fantastic effects (superhuman strength and speed, flying, etc) that are common in some wuxia films. The film is directed by Yuen Woo Ping, the noted director/choreographer best known here for his work as action choreographer on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and kung fu choreographer on The Matrix, and he handles things every bit as well as the equally talented Corey Yuen (The Transporter, Lethal Weapon 4) handles similar duties on the Fong Sai Yuk films.

As always, the pleasure of the films lies in its choreographed movement, often as intricate as the most dazzling dance sequences of musicals, and its stylized approach to violence, as exciting (and often funny) as any adrenaline-pumper out there. And one final note ought to be given to the performances – Jet Li’s great turn as Junbao, Chin Siu-Ho appropriately driven and sinister as Tienbo and the great Michelle Yeoh as Junbao’s cohort in the underground group, in a typically smart, sly, witty performance.

- Patrick Brown

2014 UMS Band Interviews #2

For everything you need to know about the UMS Click Here

Ned Garthe Explosion 

Sun, July 27th 5:00 pm 

3 Kings Tavern

Where/ When are you playing for the UMS?

We have no idea, follow your heart and it will lead you to our sweet ass rocking' show.

In twenty-five words or less, describe what somebody who has never heard of you/your band might expect from your performance at UMS this year.

Well if they never heard us then I don't think they expect anything, but if I had to guess I would say viking metal yodeling with a strong dub-step overtones peppered on a base of fusion jazz.  Its like touching someone using a remote controlled RC car you know? 

What was the first music you remember using your own money to buy?

I bought a teddy ruxpin when I was 7 from the kid up the street, he removed the teddy tape and replaced with a Van Halen Tape, I started kicking ass right then and there.

What has been your favorite album of 2014 so far?

Old recordings of pirated CB radio conversations between truckers traveling along I-70.

Do you have any advice for new bands?

I do not

Have you planned out who you want to see at UMS this year? Who are some of your highlights?

Oh yeah I wanna see all of the people.

If you've been to UMS before, what three words would you use to describe it?

me so horny 

What has been your most memorable experience at UMS to date?

The music

Any tips you'd like to give the novices for making the UMS experience even better?

Yep get a wrist band, it will get you laid.  Pretty soon you will be able to buy super trendy music festival wristbands from Urban Outfitters cuz thats what the cool kids are doing.

Is there any place you're looking forward to eating during UMS?

There is a sandwich in every beer.

What is your favorite shop on South Broadway?

The egg and I, and Scudd Busters trannies rotors and pads.  

Who is your all time favorite Colorado band?

When Willie Nelson lived in Evergreen, before uncle sam decided to strip and American icon of his land... Taxes shmaxes.  

You're working the counter at Twist & Shout, and a customer is interested in expanding his music collection.  What three albums would you recommend?

I have no idea how to answer this question...

The Parlor Pickers (Josh responding) 

Sun, July 27th 10:00 pm

Gary Lee’s Motor Club and Grub

 

Where/ When are you playing for the UMS?

Sunday, Venue TBA

In twenty-five words or less, describe what somebody who has never heard of you/your band might expect from your performance at UMS this year.

We like to think of ourselves as "Roadhouse Rock and Roll". We have found ourselves inspired by a plethora of artists like Old Crow Medicine Show, Paul Simon, Elvis, and Woodie Guthrie. Basically, we just want people to dance and party with us at a Parlor Pickers show.

What was the first music you remember using your own money to buy?

I was a pastor's kid, so my family was pretty strict about the music in our home...The first tape I ever remember buying for myself was this christian rock guy named "Mylon LeFevre". It was cheesy as hell.

What has been your favorite album of 2014 so far?

The new Damien Jurado is currently blowing my mind. Also, I think it technically came out last year, but I just discovered Grandchildren - Golden Age and have been listening to it a lot. 

Do you have any advice for new bands?

Don't take it so seriously, have fun and make music you would want to listen to. 

Have you planned out who you want to see at UMS this year? Who are some of your highlights?

I have been a big Blonde Redhead fan for a long time, so I was really excited to see them on the bill. Denver is full of incredible local music and we are insanely excited to see old friends like Mosey West, The Wild After, etc. Maybe even discover some new music.

If you've been to UMS before, what three words would you use to describe it?

Sweaty, Drunk, and Ridiculously fun.

What has been your most memorable experience at UMS to date?

The first time the Parlor Pickers ever played UMS was 4 years ago, it was a Saturday night at the Irish Rover. I remember it being wall to wall people, with listeners dancing on tables and singing along. It was one of the funnest experiences we've had to date. The UMS concert goers were all there to have a blast and party, and our first experience couldn't have reflected that any more.

Any tips you'd like to give the novices for making the UMS experience even better?

Plan on just walking around and experiencing the wonderful Denver music scene. When it comes time to perform, play as hard as you can and get sweaty.

Is there any place you're looking forward to eating during UMS?

Illegal Pete's, duh...

What is your favorite shop on South Broadway?

Goodwill

Who is your all time favorite Colorado band?

That is a tough one. For me personally, it's 16HP / Wovenhand. 

You're working the counter at Twist & Shout, and a customer is interested in expanding his music collection.  What three albums would you recommend?

Beck - Morning Phase, George Harrison - All Things Must Pass, and anything from Tennessee Ernie Ford

Mako1972 

Fri, July 25th 11:00 pm

Eslinger Gallery

Where/ When are you playing for the UMS? 

11:00 p.m. on Friday, July 25^th at the Eslinger Gallery, 118 S. Broadway

In twenty-five words or less, describe what somebody who has never heard of you/your band might expect from your performance at UMS this year.

            No wacky outfits, some bald dudes, radical people.  Angular power-emo rock post-punk whatever fun.  

What was the first music you remember using your own money to buy?

            Note: I was about 6 years old, I think it was a Terence Trent D’Arby cassette tape. Good stuff.  His music clearly didn’t influence me in the long run.

What has been your favorite album of 2014 so far? 

            Floor – Oblation

Do you have any advice for new bands?

            Don’t overdo the social media thing and don’t go trying too hard with being unique (like releasing a f**king 8-track or something).

Have you planned out who you want to see at UMS this year? Who are some of your highlights?

            YES!  Abrams, El Toro de la Muerte, Bonnie and the Beard, Accordion Crimes, We are not a Glum Lot, Spells (I could go on and on…)

If you've been to UMS before, what three words would you use to describe it?

            Sweaty, loud, awesome.

What has been your most memorable experience at UMS to date?

            I don’t believe I was sober enough to retain UMS memories. 

Any tips you'd like to give the novices for making the UMS experience even better?

            Hydrate!  And don’t get impatient with lines.  You can have just as much fun people watching and chatting with the other awesome people in line with you as you will once you get inside. Enjoy every minute of UMS.

  

Is there any place you're looking forward to eating during UMS?

            Pie Hole is always a good stop on S. Broadway.  Surely there will be an array of enticing food trucks lined up as well.

What is your favorite shop on South Broadway? 

            Ironwood

Who is your all time favorite Colorado band?

            This is tough.  Only Thunder is a big contender.         

You're working the counter at Twist & Shout, and a customer is interested in expanding his music collection.  What three albums would you recommend?

            Botch – We are the Romans

            Steely Dan – Aja

            Gotta pick up a Merle Haggard & Willie Nelson collaboration album too.  It’s necessary. 

Is there anything we forgot to ask you about the UMS that you think people need to know?

            Give new/different venues and new bands a chance.  The worst that can happen is that you’ll have to move on, the best is that you’ll totally fall in love with another local Colorado band.

 

2014 UMS Band Interviews #1

For everything you need to know about the UMS Click Here

DJ Alf 

Sat, July 26th & Sun, July 27th 3:00 pm 

Side Stage at Goodwill

Where/ When are you playing for the UMS?

I'll be performing across from the main stage all day Saturday and Sunday. 

In twenty-five words or less, describe what somebody who has never heard of you/your band might expect from your performance at UMS this year.

Me playing instrumental records, periodically joined by local and national musicians adding something on top.

What was the first music you remember using your own money to buy?

I bought "Theme from Rocky (Gonna Fly Now)" by Bill Conti on 45.  I'm not entirely sure why, as I don't recall ever really liking that song. 

What has been your favorite album of 2014 so far?

Tough to say - I'm more of a singles guy than an albums guy.

Do you have any advice for new bands?

Keep your websites updated.

Have you planned out who you want to see at UMS this year? Who are some of your highlights?

I really only have Thursday and Friday to enjoy UMS, but you can bet I'll make the most of it.  I haven't made my list yet, so not sure who I'll be seeing.  Expect to see me running around a lot those two days, though.

If you've been to UMS before, what three words would you use to describe it?

Engrossing, exhausting, exhilarating.

What has been your most memorable experience at UMS to date?

Most of it dissolves into a really awesome blur.  I've discovered a bunch of new bands that I wouldn't have heard of otherwise over the years.  If I had to pick one single moment that sticks out, maybe Slow Magic playing at the Compound two years ago.

Any tips you'd like to give the novices for making the UMS experience even better?

This is how *I* do it.  I make a long list of bands I want to check out, organized chronologically with the venues they're playing at.  Then I just start going to check them out.  If I like a band a lot, I may stay for their whole set.  Or I might leave after two songs and check out something else.  I've sampled up to five bands in an hour - I like seeing a huge variety of bands.  And I go alone.  I run into a ton of people I know there, and sometimes we tag along together for awhile, but I like the freedom of moving between band to band.

Is there any place you're looking forward to eating during UMS?

I've ordered a margherita pizza from Walnut Room Pizzeria four times over the last three years.  I'll probably add to that total this year.

Is there anything we forgot to ask you about the UMS that you think people need to know?

Set your phone display to the lowest brightness possible, and it might just last until the end of the day.

Covenhoven 

Fri, July 25th 7:00 pm  

South Broadway Christian Church

Where/ When are you playing for the UMS?  

Not 100% confirmed but I believe it'll be S. Broadway Church on Friday evening

In twenty-five words or less, describe what somebody who has never heard of you/your band might expect from your performance at UMS this year.

I see live music for the heightened sense of emotion and the feeling of connecting with an artist.  I want to get goosebumps.  I hope this translates to what I do.  

What was the first music you remember using your own money to buy?

Probably something silly like Kriss Kross or Naughty by Nature.

What has been your favorite album of 2014 so far?

Beck - Morning Phase 

Do you have any advice for new bands?

Focus on the music and the rest will come.

Have you planned out who you want to see at UMS this year? Who are some of your highlights?

No, but from years past, I thought Gregory Alan Isakov's set was fantastic, Phox was great, Born in the Flood, Nathaniel Rateliff...

If you've been to UMS before, what three words would you use to describe it?

Community.  Celebration.  Fun. 

What has been your most memorable experience at UMS to date?

Hmmm... there have been many... but nothing specific.

Any tips you'd like to give the novices for making the UMS experience even better?

Do your research and pace yourself.

Is there any place you're looking forward to eating during UMS?

No, not really. 

What is your favorite shop on South Broadway? 

Music Gear Guys

Who is your all time favorite Colorado band?

I've got several.

You're working the counter at Twist & Shout, and a customer is interested in expanding his music collection.  What three albums would you recommend?

Bob Dylan - Bringing It All Back Home, Radiohead - Kid A, Jeff Buckley - Grace

Two Tone Wolf Pack

Sat, July 26, 2014 5:00 pm 

Skylark Lounge

Where/ When are you playing for the UMS?

     Haven't heard yet, but word is it'll be a hoot!

In twenty-five words or less, describe what somebody who has never heard of you/your band might expect from your performance at UMS this year.

     Dark rowdy americana based chain-gang good time sing-a-long

What was the first music you remember using your own money to buy?

      I'm pretty sure it was mxpx or five iron frenzy

What has been your favorite album of 2014 so far?

      Iska Dhaaf - even the sun will burn or Yellow Ostrich - Cosmos

Do you have any advice for new bands?

      Go get 'em 

Have you planned out who you want to see at ums this year? Who are some of your highlights?

     A Mouthful of Thunder, Joshua Dillard and the Streaks of Lightning, Inner Oceans, ... Too many to name really.

If you've been to ums before, what three words would you use to describe it?

     I've been at ums the last 5 years and it’s always a great time to see all the Denver acts you've been meaning to catch live.

What has been your most memorable experience at ums to date?

     Last year seeing Phox blew my mind.

Any tips you'd like to give the novices for making the ums experience even better?

      Plan to stay out late, there's just nothing like good music on Colorado summer nights.

Is there any place you're looking forward to eating during ums?

     Illegal Pete's patio is one of the best hangouts

What is your favorite shop on south broadway? 

      Ironwood

Who is your all time favorite colorado band?

     Wovenhand?

You're working the counter at twist & shout, and a customer is interested in expanding his music collection.  What three albums would you recommend?

     Too hard to say without knowing what they're already into, but I normally default to David Bazan, Mewithoutyou, Yellow Ostrich, or Iska Dhaaf

Is there anything we forgot to ask you about the ums that you think people need to know?

     The backyard shows during UMS in the surrounding areas are almost always as good as the actual festival.