Transviolet with machineheart and Chelsea Lankes at The Satellite

Transviolet

Transviolet brought their alternative rock style to The Satellite for the month of April. April's Mondays at the Satellite got a thrill as this band put on a great show. Their lead singer Sarah put on some moves, which included jumping off the drum set a couple times. She also damaged one of their synths by accidentally knocking it over. Hopefully, it didn't break.

Opening up for Transviolet were machineheart and Chelsea Lankes. Machineheart features former American Idol contestant, Stevie Scott. I say bring on the great 80s sound of Belinda Carlisle. Chelsea Lankes came on next in some sexy short shorts. I have to say this is the first time I've seen Chelsea Lankes where she wasn't the opening act. I have to say that alone made this a unique experience.

What did I notice specifically:

Stevie Scott is a tall front woman. When Chelsea Lankes and Sarah of Transviolet came on next, I couldn't help thinking, "Yes, Stevie Scott is really tall compared to them."

What was specifically noted by Transviolet:

All the bands were fronted by female lead singers.


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BROKE LA Music and Arts Festival 2016 Review

Street Fever

BROKE LA Fest. It was a perfect day for a Los Angeles music festival. The sixth annual BROKE LA Music and Arts Festival was blessed with great weather as well as a carefully curated lineup of bands. The festival also moved to a new location on 695 South Santa Fe Avenue, which was just a hop, skip and a jump from the prior site. The new site is more spread out with side corridors here and there, which gave the festival an exploratory feel.

I just can't wait until next year's edition. Oh wait, let's not get ahead of ourselves . . .

Favorite band:

DWNTWN. Okay, I'm a touch bias here as I've followed this band for a number of years. Their tunes are so catchy and their lyrics provide that lift through the emotional hard times that hit us all. One also has to love the sleeve shawl that Jamie (lead singer) used to full effect. She creating swirling motions as she twirled her left arm in motion with the music. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that many of the festival attendees were thrilled to see DWNTWN as the Cartel Outdoor Stage was packed for their set. "Let's get weird and dance," nicely summed things up.

Favorite discovered band:

Street Fever. The BROKE LA website says this, "Think dark wave disco meets cyber punk with a touch of seduction."  I'm not going to disagree with that. Dark wave disco: the techno beats just kept pulsating along with the timed floor lights. Cyber punk: think The Borg. Touch of seduction: a young woman came on stage, seducing us with her performance dance and at times French vocals. At one point, the young woman came on stage and knocked over a floor light. She pointed to it and a guy immediately rushed on stage to adjust it. Then she picked up a conductor's baton and made sure the crowd followed her lead.

Sometimes you need to make tough choices:

String Theory and The Fontaines. My first major scheduling conflict happened early. Both String Theory (Cartel Indoor Stage) and The Fontaines (Cartel Outdoor Stage) were scheduled for 3:45 p.m. Doing my pre-festival research, String Theory fascinated me with first, their awesome photo on the BROKE LA website and; second, their Soundcloud music. As for The Fontaines, I caught them a couple times during their residency at Silverlake Lounge and I wanted to see how they'd progressed musically as they were a relatively new group at that time. I did a split decision. I caught the first half of String Theory and the second half of The Fontaines. String Theory used a string harp installation that went from the stage to rafters in the middle of the building. It reminded me of a similar installation I saw a few years back when hanging out at an artist/music loft in Marina Del Rey. Did I actually hear them sing, "statistical byway?" As for The Fontaines, I say that lead singer Charlotte has taken on a Gothic look that makes a fun play with her Judy Garland classic vocals.

Second Helpings:

Saturday was the second time I saw Valley Queen and Yassou. Interestingly enough, I saw both of them for the first time at the Bootleg Theater though not on the same night. Valley Queen goes with a Southern rock sound. Did I hear lyrics that went, "Like a super nova?" Lead singer Natalie proclaimed towards the end of their set, "I used pedals on that one. I just started using pedals . . that was so fuzzy." Always learning. Yassou hails from San Francisco.  Lead singer Lillie leads a band that I argue can go from haunting vocals to Enya-like vocals backed by a rock band to chaotic sounds and motions. And then sometimes there is a sound of a mythological wisp.

I interviewed them:

During the BROKE LA media day, I got to interview Salt Petal. I also got to see their full set. This band fits the definition of multicultural. Their band is multicultural. And as lead singer Autumn stated before a couple songs, sometimes a song "requires some hip shaking" and sometimes a song demands that "we need to see you with your disco finger."

Quick hit thoughts:

I saw Alina Bea when she was in Body Parts during their Satellite residency. Her sound got my day going off on the right track. Dr. Doctor had a lyric line that went like, "Now I'm just listening. Just a memory now." The drummer had the most intense stare while the bassist was just calm, cool and collective. Jessica of Disco Shrine was extremely helpful during the BROKE LA media day. And on stage with Disco Shrine she was one high energy entertainer. Tennis System sped through their awesome set like the flashing of their light show. I definitely want to catch this band again. Vinyl Williams provided a sonic end of the night for the Cartel Outdoor Stage. Tolliver serenaded the Cartel Indoor Stage with the help of some guest performers. Did he ask me, "Did you just take a photo of my penis? I saw your camera shift down." Us photographers always seem to get in trouble when we are checking our camera settings (example, the photographer who was thought to be taking a photo of Priyanka Chopra's butt) or apparently just making sure we get a perfectly framed shot. Who wants to see a photo of a penis anyways? LOL. Brownies and Lemonade Stage was a fun way to end the night. I'm not even sure if that stage was following the schedule during the last 30 - 45 minutes. To me, it looked like a huge dance off party. The crowd was loving it. The DJs were loving it. I was loving it.

PS:

I ran into the former bass player of Missing Teen (was initially known as Future Ghost), Kim. I still remember when I first saw that band, an early time slot at Silver Lake Jubilee. After that set, I made sure I saw them again and again. The band stopped playing a few years back. This was the first time I'd seen her in years and she was as friendly as always. It was nice to know she also recognized me. (As I was writing up this blog post, I stopped by their Facebook page and played their music.)

I also ran into a friend who I hadn't seen in years. An awesome random encounter that was due to the BROKE LA Music and Art Festival.

Plug:

If you're interested in reading 3 interviews I did during the BROKE LA media day, feel free to click on the band names:

DWNTWN
Salt Petal
Annuals

And if you're interested in seeing additional photos, head on over to Intraffik.


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A BROKE LA Band Interview: Salt Petal

Photo Credit: Sebastien Vilensky

What was once Brokechella is now BROKE LA. The 2016 BROKE LA Music and Arts Festival kicks off on April 23rd. If you’ve gone to Brokechella over the last couple years, it should be noted that they’re moving locations to 695 S. Santa Fe Avenue. So still on the same street, but just a bit south of the previous location. I got the opportunity to attend the Broke LA Artist and Media Mixer recently at Delicious Pizza and got to interview Salt Petal. ( I also interviewed Annuals and DWNTWN -- both interviews were previously posted). I also got to scarf down a few slices of awesome pizza.

Salt Petal

If you love to travel, like I do, you’ll loving talking with this band. I got to talk with Autumn (vocals, accordion) and Rodrigo (guitar).

Question:

So tell me about Annuals.

Answer:

Autumn: We were born on the moon . . . Most of the band is not from Los Angeles. There are 5 core members. I grew up in San Francisco, Marin County. I lived in Brazil for a while. When I was there, I got into Tropicalia music, which is a mix of Brazilian and 60s rock. I also spent time in Cuba via a school group. I loved it. The people were super nice. There was rationing, but folks invited us to eat at their homes. I got to see a band playing in someone’s living room, a concert out in the open.

Our first album came out in 2009, but we didn’t start playing as a band until sometime after that point. The core has largely been together for 3 years.

Rodrigo: I come from Buenos Aires.

Question:

What are some venues you’ve played at?

Answer:

Band: we played at Make Music Pasadena in 2013. We did the LA Times Festival of Books in 2015. We’ve also done First Fridays at the Natural History Museum. The Echoplex. We’ve also played at Moe’s Alley in Santa Cruz . . . to name a few.

Question:

What are some of your favorite local bands?

Answer:

Band: Avid Dancer. Lonely Wild. Chicano Batman. Sego. Aparato – they sound like The Cure mixed with Latin sounds.

Question:

Rodrigo, if someone was to go on a vacation in Buenos Aires, what would you recommend that they do?

Answer:

Rodrigo: Try to go to someone’s house on a Sunday for a BBQ and make sure you have some alfajores [a type of cookie].

Random conversation:

Me: So when I was in Buenos Aires, I took a train ride out of the city. When I went to buy a return ticket, the ticket person totally didn’t understand what I was asking. I spoke no Spanish. She spoke no English. There was this temporary fear that I was not going to be able to return to Buenos Aires.

Band: we had a similar experience in Barcelona. We got lost and no one would help us. We can speak Spanish, but folks there refused to speak to us in Spanish. They would only speak Catalan. We did learn how to ask for a bathroom in Catalan.

Question:

What’s coming up for Salt Petal?

Answer:

Band: We’re working on an upcoming 3^rd album. We’re deciding on how to put it out: CD, cassette, digital. We’ll be releasing a single from the album in May.

A BROKE LA Band Interview: Annuals

Photo Credit: Sebastien Vilensky

What was once Brokechella is now BROKE LA. The 2016 BROKE LA Music and Arts Festival kicks off on April 23rd. If you’ve gone to Brokechella over the last couple years, it should be noted that they’re moving locations to 695 S. Santa Fe Avenue. So still on the same street, but just a bit south of the previous location. I got the opportunity to attend the Broke LA Artist and Media Mixer recently at Delicious Pizza and got to interview Annuals. (I also got to interview Salt Petal and DWNTWN. The Salt Petal interview will be posted later while the DWNTWN interview was already posted.) I also got to scarf down a few slices of awesome pizza.

Annuals

I got to talk briefly with Annuals before they had to do a BROKE LA interview. I got to talk with Adam (founder, songwriter, vocals) and Jordan (guitar, backup vocals). Though it was a brief interview, I uncovered a cool connection with the band – Adam is from North Carolina and I went to school in North Carolina.

Question:

So tell me about Annuals.

Answer:

Adam/Jordan: Annuals started in 2005. We’ve had ever changing lineups. The band started in North Carolina. It relocated to Los Angeles 3 years ago. Adam is from North Carolina. Jordan is from Texas. Another member of our band, Eric, is also from North Carolina.

Question:

Adam, the question that must always be asked from someone who lives/lived in North Carolina: are you a Carolina fan or a Duke fan?

Answer:

Adam: I actually went to NC State.

Question:

Adam, did you happen to know Delta Rae – a band that came out of Duke?

Answer:

Adam: Yes. I got to know Delta Rae. When they went on tour, I was asked by the drummer if I would take over his music students for a while. I made a lot of money.

Question:

How would you describe your music?

Answer:

Adam: Grandiose Jumbo Pop

A BROKE LA Band Interview: DWNTWN

DWNTWN

What was once Brokechella is now BROKE LA. The 2016 BROKE LA Music and Arts Festival kicks off on April 23rd. If you’ve gone to Brokechella over the last couple years, it should be noted that they’re moving locations to 695 S. Santa Fe Avenue. So still on the same downtown Los Angeles street, but just a bit south of the previous location. I got the opportunity to attend the Broke LA Artist and Media Mixer recently at Delicious Pizza and got to interview a band favorite DWNTWN along with Annuals and Salt Petal. I also got to scarf down a few slices of awesome pizza.

This post is my interview with DWNTWN. My interviews with Annuals and Salt Petal will be posted soon.

DWNTWN

We had a fun conversation before the official interview and during the interview. Food popped up a lot. The interview was held in a mini-bus (I don’t know what else to call it) with the full band, which includes Jamie (vocals), Robert (guitar/vocals), Chris (keyboards, bass) and Dan (drums). I highly recommend making time to catch this band at BROKE LA.  

Question:

My favorite DWNTWN song is ‘Stood Me Up.’ At the end of the music video, Jamie’s and Robert’s characters are eating breakfast at a diner. She then just takes off on him, leaving him with the bill. Has anyone ever done this or had it done to them before?

Answer:

Band: Robert does take off to go to the restroom whenever the bill is about to arrive. He leaves his wallet there. But no, no one has actually done the dine and dash.

Jamie: When the song was written, it wasn’t mean to be taken literally as someone getting stood up. It was about someone hurting me and me learning how to be stronger.

Chris: I don’t recall that part of the video. [Group response: have you watched the video?]

Question:

What are some of your interesting concert/show stories?

Answer:

Dan: A toothless woman tried making out with me – not that I have anything against those with poor dental hygiene.

Jamie: A guy wanted a photo and kept asking if he could kiss me on the cheek. When I turned my head, he kissed me on the lips.

Robert: We had a stalker in San Francisco. A blond guy. He was interested in my sister and I finally had to ask him to leave us alone.

Band.  We were on tour with El Ten Eleven. At the end of the tour, the band asked us if we wanted to snort fog juice with them. We were like, “Yeah, let’s join in.” [I was looking a touch confused so they explained.] Fog juice is the liquid you put in the fog machine, it’s a water/chemical mixture.

Question:

What are some of your favorite local Los Angeles bands?

Answer:

Robert: Midnight Faces. The lead vocal’s voice is insane. I’d really like to collaborate with them soon.

Dan: MUNA.

Robert: Little Wolves. Kid Cadaver.

Band. Dan also plays in band called raener.

Question:

Let’s talk about food.

Answer:

Jamie: Trader Joe’s is like church for me. A former executive is also opening up a grocery store called Daily Table that will sell low priced foods that are at the sell-by date or items like fruits and vegetables that don’t have that perfect look. There is just so much food that it tossed out.

Robert: I recently made Japanese curry with katsu chicken.

Jamie. I made some pesto pasta and a salad with vegetables from Robert’s mom’s garden.

Question:

So I have to ask, Jamie, how did you get to flipping your hair on stage?

Answer:

Jamie: My hair gets in my eyes so I have to flip it away. It is one of the only times I feel girlie.

Band: In all other aspects, she’s a dude.

Question:

Here’s a serious question, what are your goals for 2016?

Answer:

Jamie: I like to take one step at a time.

Band: We have new music for release. We have an EP ready. We want to share our music.

Dan: We want to see growth between our EP releases. See if we get positive reactions and build on that.

Iska Dhaaf with Ephriam Nagler and Shaprece at the Bootleg Theater

I

Iska Dhaaf

ska Dhaaf is doing the Bootleg Theater April residency, coming in from New York via Seattle. Per their Facebook page, their band name is Somali and means Let It Go. They also say their music is inspired by Sufi poetry. Well, that's an eclectic background. Their music is also nicely eclectic. This two piece band has a strangely addictive mix of garage rock, two piece rhythms and Sufi sounds.

Opening up for them was Ephriam Nagler and Shaprece. Based on research, Ephriam Nagler is a music producer and photographer. He also was backup for Iska Dhaaf for a handful of their songs. Shaprece is the songstress. She had the crowd cheering every song. I think her bassist stole the show. He had this cool stand up electric bass that he'd swing around with his bow. He's also do some quick dance moves on stage. He knows how to make a set fun to watch.

Note: all three bands had the most awesome projected images during their set. It made for some wonderful background for my photos.


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A Movie Review: Zootopia

Zootopia. This is one fun movie -- though I do have one minor complaint that I will address below. As a child, Judy Hopps wants to become the first rabbit officer. No one believes she can do it. The town bully mocks her. Her parents suggest making another career choice. She ignores them all and when she is old enough she attends the police academy. After a rough start, she quickly finds her way to the top of the class. After graduating, she gets a dream assignment in the city of Zootopia; however, the chief of the police department, Chief Bogo, puts her on parking enforcement. She decides to make the most of it and starts giving out parking tickets left and right.

She soon runs into a couple low level, semi crooked individuals. One is a fox named Nick Wilde. She volunteers to track down a missing otter, which causes some political issues. Chief Bogo is unhappy with her for going above his head; however, Assistant Mayor Bellwether is pleased. She is given the case, but Chief Bogo demands that she wrap up the case in 48 hours and if she isn't able to do so she must hand in her resignation. Clues to the case are limited, but the one clue leads to Nick Wilde. She gets him on board and off they go searching for the missing otter.

I found this to be a really great story about perseverance in pursuing a dream -- even if it seems impossible. There is also the story of redemption, that even someone who no longer has a dream can find a dream later in life.

Beyond the themes of the movie, the story itself is just wonderfully done. It is a semi-complex movie; however, it is easy to follow. And though the villein of the movie becomes obvious about midway through, it doesn't distract from anything.

My one minor complaint: why do they have Judy Hopps being so overly-aggressive with handing out parking tickets? People like that are hated in Los Angeles. Maybe this is just a perspective of an adult versus that of a child.

Korey Dane with Buckaroo and Maxim Ludwig at The Echo

Korey Dane

The Echo had some greats acts this past Monday night. Opening was a band called Buckaroo. They seem to have an interesting situation. I took a look at their Facebook and Twitter pages. It looks like they started up in 2012 and played through 2013. Then they shut down in 2014 before re-booting in mid 2015. Interesting. They have a songbird sound with surprising vocal highs sprinkled around randomly. The set was opened with the lead singer saying, "It's like we're just playing in front of all my friends tonight." The band must have mumbled something, because she corrected herself, "It's like we're playing in front of all our friends."

The middle band of the night is a band I've followed off and on for a number of years, Maxim Ludwig. I couldn't help, but notice how well dressed the keyboardist was. Then there is lead singer Maxim Ludwig who, I believe, had a love affair with his mic stand throughout his set. Comment of the set, "This is a song. I mean they're all songs, but this IS a song. It is about when I got thrown out from across the street."

Korey Dane is the April residency band at The Echo. His music sweeps you across desert landscapes. I say that because a couple of the music videos that I watched are filmed in the desert. One video has him looking like he has a personality that is willing to piss someone off and maybe even get into a shoving mess. On stage, he definitely did not give off that attitude. Instead, there was a thoughtful desert soul on stage.


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Mating Ritual with Hudson Thames and Pompeya at The Satellite

Mating Ritual

Mating Ritual closed out my March residency cycle. Actually, my residency cycle had some shortfalls. I missed the Fell Runner residency at the Bootleg Theater, because one of the band members came down with food poisoning on the night I went.  I also missed the residency band at Silverlake Lounge. Mating Ritual is fronted by Ryan Lawhon, who sings with a falsetto vocal. His vocals glide as he swings his mic stand from side to side.

Opening up was Hudson Thames who had a nice crowd of fans. His pop sounds got his fans going. He is also an actor who puts those skills to good use as he put on a fine stage show. Pompeya comes from Moscow, Russia though I believe they live in Los Angeles now. They encouraged the crowd to come closer to the stage and the crowd obliged. They entertained the crowd with dance hooks.

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Hinds and The Garden at The Glass House (with Wu-Wu and Cotillon)

Hinds

I occasionally do some photography for Culture Collide. I noticed that they were meeting up with Hinds. I got intrigued and got a photography pass for their set at The Glass House. They have a lo-fi sound that thrilled the crowd. When they walked on stage, the band's joy was evident and infectious. As for the band, it appears they all have their unique personalities. One seemed introverted. One appeared to be the leader. Another had a very cheerful personality. Then there's the drummer who I couldn't help notice during The Garden's set was off to the side watching their whole set -- got to love a musician who supports another band that way.

The Garden closed out the night at The Glass House. I came to see Hinds, but I'm happy I got to catch The Garden. This is a two person band, twins. They were dressed as jesters, "You're the kings and queens of the night and we're the jesters here to entertain you." They got the crowd forming a mosh pit within seconds. And then I was stupid and left the photo pit one song too early. The drummer jumped from his drum set and then ran to the crowd for a stage dive. He didn't do this just once. He did this twice. What an awesome photo that would have been -- of course, my camera would have had to focus in time as he ran like he was on fire, which maybe he was.

Opening for Hinds and The Garden were Cotillon and Wu-Wu.

The Glass House: The last time I was at The Glass House was probably sometime around 2006/2007. I loved the venue. Also, the area around The Glass House looks like a nice little space to explore.


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