Giant Robot Store and GR2 News – Tagged "Music"– Page 19 – GiantRobotStore

fyf · house of vans · les savy fav · Music · MW · News · syd butler · Aug 19, 2013

Syd Butler of Les Savy Fav on FYF

So many rad bands are playing this weekend at FYF. Since the set times were announced last Friday, I’ve been fine-tuning a schedule that includes FLAG, Metz, The Melvins, The Locust, Jonathan Richman, Nosaj Thing… The genres and bands are so all-encompassing that a dozen music lovers can attend the same festival, have the best show ever, and never cross paths. And that’s cool and I respect people’s differing tastes but no one should skip Les Savy Fav. This is a rare appearance by a Brooklyn band that dangerously and successfully balances art and punk, delivering concept, energy, and anarchy in spades, and hasn’t played for more two years. If you’re unfamiliar, check out the Les Savy Fav intro that Stereogum posted earlier this year. Fugazi, Enon, Gang of Four–those are the types of bands lazy journalists compare Les Savy Fav to, and this is a rare appearance not to be missed. To celebrate the group’s reactivation for FYF (and a House of Vans show in NYC) I sent over some questions. Les Savy Fav bassist, Frenchkiss Records honcho, and David Cross comedy collaborator Syd Butler responded. MW: What’s better, setting up an awesome festival like ATP or being invited to play one like FYF? SB: Curating ATP was a dream come true but it’s always exciting to play festivals like FYF, see our fans, and have a great time together. MW: Are you ready? How fast do the songs come back after a hiatus from music? How much of it is muscle memory? Vestigial memory? SB: We haven’t played or really practiced in almost two years. We recently began practicing and the first day was pretty rough. I was surprised by how much work it takes to get to show level. Certain songs came back as if it were yesterday, but some songs we play have so many parts–especially for Seth, who sometimes plays three or four different parts at a time. So to remember all the changes was a challenge for all of us. Some was straight-up work but some moments were easy. At one point, Harrison (drummer Harrison Haynes) looked at me with a smile and said, “I can’t believe how much muscle memory we have on these songs.” The hits were automatic. MW: Any secrets to going forth for nearly 20 years now?  SB: I think at the end of the day we like each other and what we all offer as friends and as artists. We are constantly learning from each other, through thick and thin. Honest communication has been key for us. MW: You’ve been way ahead of the curve in a lot of ways (like music) but comedy is one you don’t get enough credit for… Got any stories about making the DVD that came with Inches? SB: I’m glad you brought this up. We feel very connected to the comedians that were in NYC at the time (David Cross, Fred Armisen, Todd Barry, Eugene Mirman). We had toured so often with bands...

fyf · house of vans · les savy fav · Music · MW · News · syd butler · Aug 19, 2013

Syd Butler of Les Savy Fav on FYF

So many rad bands are playing this weekend at FYF. Since the set times were announced last Friday, I’ve been fine-tuning a schedule that includes FLAG, Metz, The Melvins, The Locust, Jonathan Richman, Nosaj Thing… The genres and bands are so all-encompassing that a dozen music lovers can attend the same festival, have the best show ever, and never cross paths. And that’s cool and I respect people’s differing tastes but no one should skip Les Savy Fav. This is a rare appearance by a Brooklyn band that dangerously and successfully balances art and punk, delivering concept, energy, and anarchy in spades, and hasn’t played for more two years. If you’re unfamiliar, check out the Les Savy Fav intro that Stereogum posted earlier this year. Fugazi, Enon, Gang of Four–those are the types of bands lazy journalists compare Les Savy Fav to, and this is a rare appearance not to be missed. To celebrate the group’s reactivation for FYF (and a House of Vans show in NYC) I sent over some questions. Les Savy Fav bassist, Frenchkiss Records honcho, and David Cross comedy collaborator Syd Butler responded. MW: What’s better, setting up an awesome festival like ATP or being invited to play one like FYF? SB: Curating ATP was a dream come true but it’s always exciting to play festivals like FYF, see our fans, and have a great time together. MW: Are you ready? How fast do the songs come back after a hiatus from music? How much of it is muscle memory? Vestigial memory? SB: We haven’t played or really practiced in almost two years. We recently began practicing and the first day was pretty rough. I was surprised by how much work it takes to get to show level. Certain songs came back as if it were yesterday, but some songs we play have so many parts–especially for Seth, who sometimes plays three or four different parts at a time. So to remember all the changes was a challenge for all of us. Some was straight-up work but some moments were easy. At one point, Harrison (drummer Harrison Haynes) looked at me with a smile and said, “I can’t believe how much muscle memory we have on these songs.” The hits were automatic. MW: Any secrets to going forth for nearly 20 years now?  SB: I think at the end of the day we like each other and what we all offer as friends and as artists. We are constantly learning from each other, through thick and thin. Honest communication has been key for us. MW: You’ve been way ahead of the curve in a lot of ways (like music) but comedy is one you don’t get enough credit for… Got any stories about making the DVD that came with Inches? SB: I’m glad you brought this up. We feel very connected to the comedians that were in NYC at the time (David Cross, Fred Armisen, Todd Barry, Eugene Mirman). We had toured so often with bands...

envy · hardcore · japan · Music · MW · News · temporary residence label · tetsu · Aug 09, 2013

Twenty years of Envy (Japanese hardcore/post rock)

Remember Envy, one of the bands that I interviewed for the final issue of Giant Robot? The group from Japan is celebrating its twentieth anniversary with Invariable Will, Recurring Ebbs and Flows, a killer box set with fourteen LPs, two DVDs and a 100-Page book that contain absolutely everything, starting with its vicious hardcore roots and culminating with its cosmic post rock present. For this mother lode of amazing vinyl, I hit up singer Tetsu Fukagawa with some questions and pulled out Doug Kim’s photos from their 2010 stop at Santo’s Party House.

MW: You recently toured Japan to celebrate your 20th anniversary. What was that like? How did you model your set for the occasion?
TF: It was great. We only did three shows but lots of people showed up and the reactions have all been good. We played a lot of old songs so rehearsal was a bit hard, but we had a great time.

MW: What inspired the making of the new box set? Has it ended up as you expected or is it something different altogether?
FT: We didn’t really plan on doing anything initially but Jeremy from TRL came up with the idea of remastering all our songs, pressing vinyl, and putting it all together in a box set. We’re all really happy with how it turned out.

MW: It must have been a trip to look back to the beginnings of the band. Do you remember those days vividly or was revisiting the old songs like a time warp?
FT: There were some things we forgot about, and it was a really good experience for us to look back on all those years. Our old songs were fast and a lot of them were in English, so we haven’t played them at all recently. We’d forgotten about some really good songs we had! I think we’ll start playing them at shows from now on.

envy · hardcore · japan · Music · MW · News · temporary residence label · tetsu · Aug 09, 2013

Twenty years of Envy (Japanese hardcore/post rock)

Remember Envy, one of the bands that I interviewed for the final issue of Giant Robot? The group from Japan is celebrating its twentieth anniversary with Invariable Will, Recurring Ebbs and Flows, a killer box set with fourteen LPs, two DVDs and a 100-Page book that contain absolutely everything, starting with its vicious hardcore roots and culminating with its cosmic post rock present. For this mother lode of amazing vinyl, I hit up singer Tetsu Fukagawa with some questions and pulled out Doug Kim’s photos from their 2010 stop at Santo’s Party House.

MW: You recently toured Japan to celebrate your 20th anniversary. What was that like? How did you model your set for the occasion?
TF: It was great. We only did three shows but lots of people showed up and the reactions have all been good. We played a lot of old songs so rehearsal was a bit hard, but we had a great time.

MW: What inspired the making of the new box set? Has it ended up as you expected or is it something different altogether?
FT: We didn’t really plan on doing anything initially but Jeremy from TRL came up with the idea of remastering all our songs, pressing vinyl, and putting it all together in a box set. We’re all really happy with how it turned out.

MW: It must have been a trip to look back to the beginnings of the band. Do you remember those days vividly or was revisiting the old songs like a time warp?
FT: There were some things we forgot about, and it was a really good experience for us to look back on all those years. Our old songs were fast and a lot of them were in English, so we haven’t played them at all recently. We’d forgotten about some really good songs we had! I think we’ll start playing them at shows from now on.

aaiff · animal style revisited · asian cinevision · eric murphy · jesse neuhaus · jo koy · judy lei · mario rubalcaba · martin wong · Music · MW · ny remix · ray barbee · rb umali · Reviews Cinema · stevie dread · the brotherhood: chicago · the perfect time · the working man · traveling sounds · willy santos · Aug 03, 2013

Animal Style Revisited at Asian Cinevision’s AAIFF (NYC) + Ramones Pilgrimage

Last night my program of indie skate videos by friends showed at the Anthology Film Archives in the East Village. I knew it was a rad spot as soon as I saw the Let Me Die a Woman and Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! posters outside. And then when I finally met R.B. Umali in person, he said that he showed the first installment of N.Y. Revisited at the same venue ages ago as part of the Underground Film Festival. Another good omen. And when I saw my friends Wing Ko and Jesse Neuhaus gather to represent The Brotherhood: Chicago, I was reminded of the Chicago and Honolulu screenings, I knew this film festival tour was a pretty rad thing to keep going. (There was also San Diego.) I’m a crummy skateboarder. I’ve never made a movie other than filming my daughter do cute stuff. But I’m really proud that I’ve been able to help promote the rad skate videos that my friends have made. From Tadashi Suzuki and Thy Mai’s artful and fun “The Working Man” and “Perfect Time” (which I got to be in, here’s a shorter version) to Wing Ko’s amazing doc about Chicago’s first generation of pro skaters Jesse Neuhaus, Stevie Dread, and Eric Murphy, The Brotherhood: Chicago. Ben Clark and Langdon Taguiped’s music shorts on Ray Barbee and Mario Rubalcaba. Willy Santos versus Pinoy comedian Jo Koy. And I wouldn’t have taken these to New York City unless I secured the local support of R.B. Umali, who made a special remix of his upcoming N.Y. Revisited Vol. 3 just for the fest. The screening looked and sounded incredible and the Q&A afterward kicked ass until the lights dimmed. Thanks to Asian CineVision’s AAIFF Managing Director Judy Lei for inviting us to show skate videos on the big screen alongside indie, experimental, and imported works. I think it’s awesome that she would take that chance and put the genre in such context. Yes, I’ve been doing other stuff in NYC, too. Namely, taking my 5-year-old daughter Eloise on pilgrimages to various destinations related to The Ramones. Left to right: Joey Ramone Place, 53rd and 3rd, the address where CBGB once stood. I know the way to Rockaway Beach but don’t think we’ll make it this trip. Perhaps next time… Gabba gabba hey!