Queen City Sounds Podcast – Queen City Sounds and Art

Queen City Sounds Podcast S4E19: Young Rising Sons

Young Rising Sons are an alternative pop band that formed in Brooklyn in 2010. Bassist Julian Dimagiba and drummer Steve Patrick grew up in Red Bank, New Jersey playing music and caught singer Andy Tongren performing an acoustic set at a New York Cit bar and struck by his skills talked with him later about joining their fledgling band. The new group spent a few years with different names while writing songs and settling on the name Young Rising Sons. In 2013 the group signed with Dirty Canvas Music and their 2014 debut single “High” became a bit of a global viral hit leading to the band signing with Interscope that same year. For the following two years the quartet toured opening for the likes of Halsey, Weezer, The 1975 and The Neighbourhood. Although Young Rising Sons delivered three EPs with Interscope as with many other worthy artists that didn’t translate to the commercial performance expected by a major label. In 2017 the band parted ways with Interscope and a year later announced a hiatus that lasted a couple of years. Since reconvening the outfit has been regularly releasing singles and in 2022 it dropped its debut full length Still Point In a Turning World. Tongren’s soulful and passionate vocals and the tight pop songcraft of the band has remained intact. Its body of work including its new single “(Un)Happy Hour” reveals a sensitivity to the complexity and fragility of human life and the importance of accepting the high points and the low to experience to make it through an oftentimes challenging existence with dignity and a sense of fulfillment.

Listen to our interview with Andy Tongren of Young Rising Sons on Bandcamp and follow the band at the links below. Young Rising Sons performs at The Bluebird Theater on Sunday, May 5, 2024 with Diva Bleach (doors 6:30pm).

youngrisingsons.net

Young Rising Sons on Instagram

Queen City Sounds Podcast S4E18: Je est un Autre

Je est un Autre, photo courtesy Dylan Desmond

Je est un Autre is a solo project from Dylan Desmond who is perhaps most well known as half of cosmic doom band Bell Witch. Borrowing the name, which means “I is another,” from poet Arthur Rimbaud’s declaration on the nature of being, Desmond has crafted a set of six songs for the project’s debut album Flatworm Mysticism (released March 1, 2024 ) that embody an evocative style of soundscaping and composition reminiscent of the soundtracks to the existential science fiction and adventure noir films of the 70s and 80s like Aguirre, the Wrath of God, Stalker, Sorcerer and Blade Runner and more contemporary manifestations of similar creative impulses like the films of Robert Eggers, Alex Garland and Rose Glass. Desmond had some opportunity to exercise these creative skills when Bell Witch launched its Patreon in 2021 and he beagan writing original pieces to be paired with sections from influential films. But he set aside the bass he usually plays in Bell Witch and took on synths as the vehicle of expression. The album has titles that suggests ideas from obscure science and esoteric knowledge with sounds that perfectly embody those resonances.

Listen to our interview with Dylan Desmond on Bandcamp and follow Je est un Autre and Desmond’s other projects at the links below.

bellwitchdoom.net

Bell Witch on Bandcamp

Queen City Sounds Podcast S4E17: Orange Peel Moses

Orange Peel Moses has been a figure in the Colorado music scene going back over a decade. He first came to prominence in the 2000s for his collaborations with production duo Friends in Stereo garnering critical and popular acclaim for a string of singles that bridged a gap between pop, indie rock and electronic dance music. Around that same time the Orange Peel Moses also entered into a long career as a singing telegram artist whose performances have appeared on television. He is also a stilt performer who has been onstage with LMFAO and Will.i.am at Ultra Music Festival in Miami as well as the Electric Daisy Carnival. He has also done impersonations of various characters like Hunter S. Thompson, The Grinch, Jack Skellington and The White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. You might not be able to track down a conventional physical release of any Orange Peel Moses music because he’s mainly been focused on occasional singles as original releases including his new song “Under the Eclipse.” The song was written by OPM who also performs lead vocals but the rest of the music was brought to life by collaborators like engineer, producer and musician El Javi, Erik Deutsch on piano (Leftover Salmon, The Black Crowes, Dixie Chicks etc.), percussionist Zay Alejandro Rios and backing vocals by Lex Alvis. All mixed and mastered by Andy McEwen at Crucible Recording in Eldorado Springs, Colorado. The song is about a man who is looking for a partner with whom to make a “magical eclipse baby with him during a total solar eclipse.” In the lushly colorful music video we see live musical performances tof OPM test-driving the song in front of audiences mixed with frolicking in clubs and scenes of the narrator of the story living out his dream. Musically it’s a charming and humorous blend of piano driven, folk-inflected indie rock and gentle psychedelia reminiscent of early 70s Cat Stevens. In the wake of the release of the single Orange Peel Moses will perform during the Texas Eclipse event at Reveille Park Range Friday April 5, 2024 through Tuesday, April, 9, 2024 in the path of totality. Following that on April 19 at Archipelago Clubs for “Singaversary: 20 Years of Singing Grams” to mark a major anniversary of his career.

Listen to our interview with Orange Peel Moses on Bandcamp, watch the music video for “Under the Eclipse” below and follow the artist at the links provided.

orangepeelmoses.com

Orange Peel Moses on Facebook

Orange Peel Moses on Instagram

Orange Peel Moses on Twitter

@orangepeelmoses

Queen City Sounds Podcast S4E16: Dust City Opera

Dust City Opera, photo courtesy the artists

Dust City Opera is a rock band from Albuquerque, New Mexico whose sound interweaves orchestral Americana, dark psychedelia and art pop into cinematic and literary songs filled with evocative tales of “sadness, madness and mayhem.” But within the group’s rich body of work there is a surreal sense of humor and humanity that reveals an empathy for the human condition and the characters and situations depicted in which listeners can identify aspects of their own experiences navigating our often physically and emotionally perilous world. Since it’s 2018 foundation, pick any of Dust City Opera’s albums from its 2019 debut album Heaven to 2022’s horror and science fiction themed Alien Summer record to the 2024 EP Cold Hands (released March 8 via Rexius Records) and you’ll hear imaginatively eclectic arrangements and vivid narratives from a band that seems fully realized even as it’s still relatively early in its career. There is a theatrical sensibility to the music that translates to the band’s live performances that fans of the likes of DeVotchKa and Beirut will appreciate.

Listen to our interview with Dust City Opera on Bandcamp and follow Dust City Opera at the links below. Dust City Opera is now on tour starting April 4, 2024 throughout Colorado and the midwest including a stop in Denver at Swallow Hill on Saturday, April 6 with Avourneen, doors 7pm, show 8pm. THIS SHOW HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED FOR SEPTEMBER 7, 2024.

dustcityopera.com

Dust City Opera on Instagram

Dust City Opera on Facebook

Dust City Opera on YouTube

Dust City Opera on TikTok

Queen City Sounds Podcast S4E14: Chew

Chew is a band from Atlanta, Georgia whose music defies simple categorization. Until late 2023 Chew had been a trio is now a duo comprised of Brett Reagan who plays sampler, synth bass and guitar while running strobe lights and Sarah Wilson who plays drums and bass lines with a drum sample pad. The project has toured the US and Canada extensively with three European tours under its belt. Because the outfit’s music is so unorthodox it’s music spans and often in the same song the realms of psychedelic and noise rock, ambient, noise, industrial and electronic dance music. Fans of the likes of fellow travelers of eclectic weirdness like Guerilla Toss, Black Moth Super Rainbow and The Spirit of the Beehive will find an immediate connection with the music Chew has been crafting since its inception. Its 2022 album Horses resonates with recent releases by Jockstrap and Sextile without the inspiration of either to feed into its stream of inspiration and influences. In addition to the music Chew’s surreal album covers and inspired song titles suggest more than a passing familiarity with esoteric knowledge and other obscure and niche realms of knowledge as well as a knack for clever wordplay. It all adds up to an uncommon depth of creative development that rewards anyone taking in the music and its presentation beyond the surface level.

Listen to our interview with Brett Reagan of Chew on Bandcamp and follow Chew at the links provided Chew performs at The Skylark Lounge on Monday, March 25, 2024 with local noise rock phenoms Moon Pussy and legendary industrial dance trio Church Fire. Doors 7:30 p.m..

Queen City Sounds Podcast S4E13: Cellista on Élégie

Cellista, photo by Yellow Bubbles Photography

Cellista is a Los Angeles-based performance artist with roots in the Bay Area and Colorado and over the past several years she has created what she calls stage poems which are narrative multimedia works after those of artist, filmmaker and writer Jean Coctea drawing together seemingly disparate thematic elements and modes of expression. In 2021 she performed at Lincoln Center and she has worked with Tanya Donelly, John Vanderslice, Troyboy, Don McLean, Casey Crescenzo of The Dear Hunter, Van Dyke Parks, Toni! Toni! Toné and Pam the Funkstress. Her work has been heard and scene on film and television and she has appeared as an extra on the TV shows Better Things and Will & Grace playing cello. In fall 2021 her stage poem Pariah explored themes of othering and exile within communities and it featured a companion book by philosopher Frank Seeburger. In 2024 Cellista is unveiling her latest stage poem Élégie. Directed and performed by the artist, Élégie is a one-woman show for cello, static trapeze and cinema. Choreographed by Cellista, Kennedy Kabasares and Joel Baker with film editing by Jennifer Gigantino and cinematography by Bryan Gibel, the one hour piece stars Cellista as the titular figure, a blackbird who shape shifts into human form and back. According to the press release for the stage poem, “Élégie awakens one day in her magical tree outside the walled off city of Cloture to find its entire population has disappeared. In their departure, the citizens have left behind a city of altars, decorated with unlit candles; each containing the memories and mementos of the banished citizens. Élégie shape shifts into human form to find out what happened to Cloture’s disappeared. In her journey she finds serenity.” As with Cellista’s previous stage poem the performance will be a uniquely evocative experience that brings those in attendance deeply into the story with visuals, music, spoken word, the choreography and the event’s baked in literary dimensions that blur the lines between all mediums involved.

Listen to our interview with Cellista on Bandcamp and witness the event yourself at one of the upcoming performances listed below. Links to all things Cellista also included further down.

March 23rd, 2024 – Boulder’s Dairy Center for the Arts
Cellista debuts Élégie
Prologue by: The Drood
Dustin Schultz (Skinny Puppy) and Hilary Whitmore
7:30pm Tickets: $10-15

April 13th, 2024 – San Jose’s Anno Domini Gallery
Élégie
Cellista live loop set followed by Élégie
7:30pm open to public

April 27th, 2024 – Santa Monica’s Highways Performance Space
Élégie
Prologue performance tbd
7:30pm Tickets $15-20

June 7th, 2024 – Jacksons Lane in London
Élégie
Prologue by Hilary Whitmore

Cellista on Instagram

Queen City Sounds Podcast S4E12: THOR

THOR is the legendary, early heavy metal band from Vancouver, British Columbia. Founded and fronted by Jon Mikl Thor, a body building champion who among other titles won the designations of being Mr. USA and Mr. World Canada. When forming the band in 1973 Thor brought together his status as a body builder with music with his physical appearance and presence lending itself well to incorporating an early Viking warrior and gladiator image. In the mid-70s the band toured throughout the Eastern USA and Canada before gaining the attention of Merv Griffin who had the group perform on the Merv Griffin Show when it was broadcasting from Caesars Palace. That appearance garnered the group a record deal with RCA. With a new band lineup in 1977 and regular touring along with some releases under its belt, THOR made it over to England following a distribution deal where it signed with Motörhead manager Douglas Smith and relocated to London in 1984. Two records and three years later, the band called it quits in 1987 with Jon Mikl trying his hand at further his acting career. But that wasn’t the end of the road for THOR and a cult following lead to enough renewed interest that the group re-formed in 1997. The band has since become more active and musically prolific than it ever was in its first run and THOR continues to tour and evolve its performance concept, these days with THOR as a cowboy more in that heroic Roy Rogers and maybe even The Lone Ranger vein. In 2024 THOR will release its latest album Ride of the Iron Horse on March 15, 2024 and is actively touring around the release of the record.

Listen to our interview with Jon Mikl Thor on Bandcamp and follow THOR at the links below. THOR performs in Denver on Saturday, March, 2, 2024 at the Hi-Dive with Josephus and the Georgetown Massacre, Chamber Mage and DJ Eagle Wing.

thorcentral.net

THOR on Facebook

THOR on Bandcamp

Queen City Sounds Podcast S4E11: Lynn Drury

Lynn Drury is a singer-songwriter based out of New Orleans whose own style of music she has dubbed “NOLA-Americana” reflects the rich melange of musical styles and traditions of the city. Drury hails from Yazoo City, Mississippi and earlier in her life she was a pole bending champ winning a 4-H competition at the age of five. Music didn’t become her life the way it is now until she picked up the guitar at 26 and immersed herself in the scenery and culture of New Orleans and cultivating her own voice and style that weaves together strands of country, folk, jazz, R&B and pop. Her new record High Tide finds the songwriter exploring themes of time, cycles of life, our patterns of living and reflecting on where we’ve been and where we’re going and appreciating the present. Musically Drury stretches out her sound palette even more without sacrificing the vividly homespun quality of the songwriting and the immediacy of her performances. Though the official release date for the album is as yet to be announced the album release party is scheduled for April 13, 2024 at Maple Leaf, NOLA.

Listen to our interview with Lynn Drury on Bandcamp and follow Drury at the links below.

lynndrury.com

Lynn Drury on Instagram

Lynn Drury on Bandcamp

Queen City Sounds Podcast S4E10: Bex Marshall

Bex Marshall is a blues musician from the UK who started making a name for herself internationally with the release of her 2008 debut album Kitchen Table. But by then Bex was already a veteran having worked as a croupier at 18 and traveling around the world working gaming tables on cruise lines and illegal poker games in Amsterdam. She spent a good deal of time in Australia and often hitch hiking on cattle trains and otherwise added to her life experiences for her songwriting. Marshall started playing guitar at 11 and since then has honed her craft and her prowess as a blues musician is obvious from her records and her fiery live performances with a commanding voice that got her invited to serve as the “Janis” by Sam Andrews, the original guitarist of Big Brother and the Holding Company, on their 2014 European Tour. Marshall’s musicianship and songwriting while rooted in the blues transcends the category with the creativity of her craft and one of her main inspirations is the late, great, rock and R&B singer Tina Turner. Until now, Marshall’s most recent album was 2012’s The House of Mercy. A rigorous touring schedule, the 2017 loss of her husband and executive producer Barry Marshall-Everitt and of course the 2020 pandemic and its fallout stretched the timelines for many artists. But on March 1, 2024, Marshall will release her new record Fortuna via Dixie Frog. The new album is a showcase for Marshall’s passionate performances and masterful musicianship as well as her keen ear for imaginative arrangements in a musical style that can sometimes seem fairly narrowly traditional.

Listen to our interview with Bex Marshall on Bandcamp and follow her at the links below including the pre-save link for the new album.

Fortuna Pre-Save Links Via Dixie Frog

bexmarshall.com

Queen City Sounds Podcast S4E08: The Children…

The Children… is a musical project from New York City comprising core trio Michael Wiener, Jim Coleman and Phil Puleo. In the most recent live shows, John Nowlin and Rock Savage have handled bass and drums respectively, and Kirsten McCord has provided somber phrasing on cello. The group has operated almost like an art rock jazz ensemble, with various other collaborators live and in recording sessions, including legendary avant-garde vocalist and performance artist Shelley Hirsch, former Swans guitarist Norman Westberg and clarinetist Johnny Gasper. Vocalist Michael Wiener is an actor, writer, curator and educator whose career in music, theater, film and beyond is richly diverse, and worth a deep exploration. Jim Coleman many may know from his time in influential industrial noise rock group Cop Shoot Cop, as well as the like-minded supergroup Human Impact. Phil Puleo is a composer and visual artist who also had an extended tenure in Cop Shoot Cop, and a long-running, still continuing stint in Swans. Quite the pedigree, which wouldn’t necessarily guarantee genuinely compelling and interesting music. But despite a name that resists discovery through a search engine online, once you’ve found the group’s music, you will be rewarded with some of the most densely orchestrated, ambitious and cinematic art rock being made in recent years.

The group’s forthcoming album, A Sudden Craving (due out on or around March 8, 2024 via Erototox Decodings), is like an industrial jazz, nightmarish exploration of generational trauma, and the ambient flow of those energies underlying the fractured and convulsed psyche of modern American culture. The imaginative arrangements and sonic intensity of the music are reminiscent of early 70s English art folk like Robert Wyatt and Soft Machine or John Martyn, but in a sort of jazz fusion manifestation more akin to the likes of Can and Japanese psychedelic rock of that same decade. It’s just difficult to know where it’s coming from, and yet there is an emotional immediacy that draws you into the music. It has a cinematic aspect in its storytelling that seems to tap into collective mythology, the way the more daring filmmakers of the 1970s mixed not just styles and themes with art concepts, but with music, in a fusion of aesthetics. One hears echoes of Eno’s 70s post-Roxy Music rock albums, and how alien yet accessible they were, or 80s Tom Waits, and his mutant blues and jazz pop storytelling that aims at more than then current popular styles of music. More contemporaneously, it should appeal to fans of the current spate of harrowing but transcendent Swans records, or those of Los Angeles-based post-punk art phenoms Sprain. It is a music that is out of time and timeless. The band calls its music “gothic blues ambient,” which is a succinct summary of what you’re in for when you listen to the album, and, one would hope, if you are fortunate enough to catch a manifestation of the songs live.

Listen to our interview with Michael Wiener and Jim Coleman on Bandcamp and follow the members of the band at the links below. Also linked is the Erototox Decodings label and the Bandcamp link to the album.

Erototox Decodings website

Thermae on Instagram

Phil Puleo on Instagram

THAT’S FAR ENOUGH (Phil Puleo project) on Bandcamp

Phil Puleo on Bandcamp

Human Impact website