These Go to 11: interviewing Phosphene

Last interview before holidays! And what a great one! Because our guests answering the questionnaire this time are Phosphene, one of our favourite music discoveries on this 2016 so far and, besides an exciting band, are a trio of wonderful people. These Go to 11!

Rachel, Matt and Kevin, seeking for the light among the haze

Phosphene

Haling from Oakland, CA, they started to play in 2008 when Rachel Frankel (vocals / guitar) and Matt Hemmerich (drums) met in class. Two years later the couple decided to start a music project together, launching a first EP that by now must be a rising collectors' item. But Phosphene needed a major factor to become what they are now (an ace band, that is): meeting Kevin Kaw (bassist/ guitarist) in a songwriting event featuring Aaron Dessner's from The National (a shared passion with this Blogger) in 2013. With Phosphene becoming a trio, they recorded s/t first LP in July 2014 followed by the terrific EP 'Breaker' this April (among the best of 2016 so far). A stunning blend of dreampop, indie-rock and shoegaze fated for great things to come. Here we go!

The millennial heartbreakers 

1.First record that you bought (be honest)
Matt:​­ 'Dookie' by Green Day.
Kevin: '​­Fountains Of Wayne' (s/­t album).
Rachel: ­'Millennium' by Backstreet Boys.

2. First and last concert you have attended (be honest too!)
Matt​­: AFI in 2003, most recent: Low with Andy Shauf.
Rachel: Hanson in 1999 with my mom (SUPER COOL), most recent: Low with Andy Shauf.
Kevin​­: my sister took me to see Duran Duran in 1993, most recent: Treasure Island Music Festival.

3. Guilty pleasure (song/band you shouldn’t like but you do, yes, it’s the embarrassing question)

Rachel:­ 'Transantlanticism' by Death Cab for Cutie (not all that embarrassing, but it’s a super sappy album and they’re a very mushy indie rock band).

Matt​­: 'If You're Reading This It's Too Late' by Drake.
Kevin:​­ 'Me&The Rhythm' by Selena Gomez.

4. Most precious music item you own (collector mode on)
Matt:​­ 20” Paiste Dimensions ride cymbal.
Kevin:​­ my Torino Red 2000 American Standard Stratocaster.
Rachel​­: my great­grandmother’s violin.

The "fucked up" song. The National during the durational performance of
'A Lot of Sorrow' by Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson. Photo: Charles Roussel

5. Favorite lyrics (not yours)

Matt​­: "You are my center when I spin away" ­ Radiohead, “Videotape”; "I'm a moth who just wants to share your light" Radiohead, “All I Need”; "I live in a city sorrow built. It's in my honey, it's in my milk" ­ The National, “Sorrow”; "I still owe money to the money to the money I owe" ­The National, “Bloodbuzz Ohio”.
Rachel: ​“I’m a modern girl, but I fold in half so easily” ­ Rilo Kiley, “Pictures of Success”; “Bored in a role, but he can't stop standing up to sit back down, and lose the one thing found. Spinning the world like a toy top 'till there's a ghost in every town.” ­ Elliott Smith, “Can’t Make A Sound”; “There’s always a siren singing you to shipwreck” ­ Radiohead, “There There”.

Kevin​­: “No longer cradled in gravity’s memory...” ­ Pale Saints, “A Thousand Stars Burst Open”, “Over the moon and under the influence” ­ The Trash Can Sinatras, “Easy Read”.

Neko Case, a true original

6. Musician/s you would like to meet (should be alive, for obvious reasons, but you can choose a dead one too)
Matt:​­ Neko Case, Thom Yorke, Carrie Brownstein, Killer Mike, El­P.
Rachel: ­ ​Neko Case, Elliott Smith, Alan Sparhawk, PJ Harvey, Rachel Goswell.
Kevin​­: Kurt Feldman, Jen Goma, Koji Nakamura, Robert Smith, Johan Duncanson, Jeremy Wrenn.

7. Favorite artwork album (not yours)

Matt​­: 'Unknown Pleasures' by Joy Division.
Rachel: ­​​'July Flame' by Laura Veirs, 'The Eraser' by Thom Yorke.
Kevin​­: 'Kid Games' by Airiel, 'I Love You, Honeybear' by Father John Misty.

'We got you, babe'... repeat ad eternum...

8. Books or movies? Depending on your answer recommend us one (trick: you can choose both) 

Matt​­: Movies because I’m illiterate. 'Carol' is one of the most evocative films I’ve seen in some time.

Rachel: ­books- 'Kafka On The Shore' by Haruki Murakami, 'All My Puny Sorrows' by Miriam Toews

Kevin​­: books- 'The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay' by Michael Chabon, 'Man V. Nature' by Diane Cook; movies- 'Groundhog Day'.

9. Song (of yours) you are most proud of

Matt​­: It’s a tie between 'Rogue' and 'Wire'. Both are dear for selfish reasons. 'Rogue' was the first song I ever wrote and sung a vocal melody on. 'Wire' is the first song I wrote in full on guitar.
Rachel:​­ I’ll pick one from our first album and one from our second. I was really happy with the way the melody turned out on 'Thief' and 'Be Mine' is probably my favorite child from Breaker.
Kevin​­: I’m quite fond of 'Wild Decay'.

10. What does it mean indie for you? (yes, the “serious question”)
Matt:​­ Indie is more of an ethos to me than a genre. There’s a huge community of musicians, bands that encompass it, so you can really stick “indie” in front of any sound. Being indie, however, doesn’t inform the music itself.

Rachel: ­I still don’t really know the answer here. At its core the term just represents “independent” music, but like Matt said it’s evolved into an entire scene. It’s actually pretty meaningless for me at this point.

Kevin​­: I think it involves making something for the sake of making it, and then sharing it with others, all on your own terms.

11. Where do you see yourself in 10 years? 
Matt:​­ residing in Portland, Oregon with Rachel. A black cat and corgi are mandatory in this house. Ideally, we’ll still be creating music with Kevin as Phosphene labels.
Rachel: ­ ​I’d love to keep playing music and gain a stronger following over time. I also hope to be living in the Pacific Northwest and continuing my work as a designer and illustrator, probably with lots of animal babies and a HUGE kitchen.
Kevin​­: I don’t know, but wherever I end up, I’m sure it’ll involve donuts.

 Zillion thanks Matt, Kevin and Rachel!

The Indie Anthology 55: essential songs

It’s the comeback of the year without a doubt. Well, let me correct. It’s one of the comebacks of the decade, right there with Pulp and Slowdive. So, the first tune of our Anthology in 2015 was a no-brainer. It had to be one from Sleater-Kinney. Ready?

Song: Modern Girl
Artist: Sleater-Kinney
Year: 2005

Riot grrrl bands are, in terms of music style, always associated with rage, anger, bitterness, loud guitars and screamy vocals. But luckily, Sleater-Kinney’s music have never been that easy to categorise. Their fantastic arsenal of tunes doesn’t exactly fit into a single category, yet you can always recognise a common, genuine essence. A collection of beasts awaiting to be unleashed, but the attack can arrive in very different forms: a voice howling from the wilderness, a guitar erupting fireballs of magma, a drum beat thundering the night. Or in a completely unexpected way. That’s ‘Modern Girl’.

Sweet, simple, tuneful, a pop little tune with hints of folk (that guitar, the harmonica throughout the track) that it’s cheerful and overtly happy…. Wait, happy? Keep listening please. What makes this modern girl joyful? At first, her joy seems base on the acceptance of her lover “My baby loves me / I’m so happy / happiness makes me a modern girl”. Then it’s a TV which makes her closer to the world (reality is what we see on screen). Then it’s a doughnut with a hole as big as the Planet. A fake, depending identity based on image, things you can buy (you are always hungry) and man’s romantic love. That’s what define a woman? Of course not. Not with Sleater-Kinney.

Drums enter, Brownstein’s vocals get transformed. Music and lyrics announce the change. Rebellion is here. Against all the cliches and despicable social limitations upon woman. The almost lullabesque coda has now changed “My baby loves me / I’m so angry / Anger makes me a modern girl”. A REAL modern girl has to be angry, has to be committed against the role society has designed for her. “My whole life was like a picture of a sunny day”, Brownstein summarizes. An empty postcard (that you see everyday on videoclips, ads, Tv, movies, etc.) of a life that’s not your own. But luckily, there’s a riot going on, leaded by riot modern grrrls. Never a song so sweet on the surface has said so much about how fucked this world is. Still meaningful (in my opinion, more than ever), Sleater-Kinney are not just another great band that has returned. They are a great and NEEDED band.   

Discoverer 28: new indie findings

New year, and new band proposals!

Real Estate. There's always some great music you miss. It's impossible to reach everything. Luckily, you can always solve that problem. That's my case with the truly mesmerizing music of Real Estate. Formed in New Jersey in 2008, after some singles, an acclaimed self-titled debut on 2009, tours with Girls, Kurt Vile and Deerhunter, they signed with Domino in 2011 to release their sophomore record, "Days", a wonderful blend of jangling guitars and driving soft indie rock with a nostalgic, comforting vibe full of crystalline melodies. Sorry I missed you last year, guys. Won't happen again.


The Middle Ones. Let me introduce the lovely duo of Anna Knowles and Grace Denton. Anna went to Norwich to study in 2006, and there she met Grace, founding The Middle Ones. After their self-titled EP, they released "It Is the Rehearsal that will Make This" past April, a first album full that's full of harmonies, soaring vocals and melodies to keep your smile always on your face. This collection of little lo-fi and indie-pop gems is sometimes subtle, sometimes funny, sometimes delicate, but always gorgeous and contagious.


Wild Flag. If I say Carrie Brownstein, Mary Timony, Rebecca Cole and Janet Weiss you'll probably be unimpressed (specially the youngest ones). But if I write Helium, The Minders and, in particular, Sleater-Kinney, you should realise we are in front of a special band. This all-female American four-piece supergroup came to public knowledge in September of 2010, and a year after, following a couple of singles, they released their eponymous album. And what an album! Is a record you NEED. Upbeat, dynamic, vital, alive. A love letter to music, and a blood injection to you. Another missed album now rediscovered.
Wild Flag - Future Crimes
Wild Flag - Romance
Wild Flag - Glass Tambourine