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 60: essential songs

What about a slice of heavenly dreampop (ok, slightly noisy) for our next chapter of our anthology? Can't help it, I'm into guitars lately. Let's go to Leeds!

Song: Sight of You
Artist: Pale Saints
Year: 1990

Sure, it sounds like a sister of Jesus and Mary Chain's 'Just Like Honey', the immortal, legendary 'Just Like Honey', but there's nothing you can do about. And I know the lyrics of the tune are not the happiest ones. But 'Sight of You' is one of the finest examples of a song that is pure bliss, euphoria, an undeniable recharge of energy, an adrenaline shot. It's the opening 25 songs, the day awakening, the sun arising. It's the power of guitars: a bursting bass beating throughout the song while Graeme Naysmith draws the unforgettable relentless lines, both melting into the fuzzy sound of the stratosphere. It's Ian Masters' fragile, weak vocals, surprisingly able to make his way trough the sonic landscape, It's the pause and, just afterwards, the stomping attack around the 3.20 minutes mark. It's the flawed noise, the galloping horse running over the hills. Almost 6 minutes of adventure. Oh, what a trip music can be!

'Beautiful Noise', shoegaze me

Beautiful Noise
Beefeater In-Edit 2014, Chapter III

The third documentary seen at this year’s Beefeater In-Edit was another easy choice. To my knowledge 'Beautiful Noise' is the first-ever documentary made on shoegaze/noise-rock of the late 80s-90s. Must-watch, again.

The merits of the film are many. Eric Green has created a relevant film from ground zero, working alongside producer Sarah Ogletree during almost a decade through their company HypFilms. Considering the DIY origins of the documentary (funded by a Kickstarter campaign), it's a great achievement they managed to arrange so many interviews with very big music names. But even more important than that, they have been capable of offering us a very solid and coherent work. It's clearly a work of passion for music.

The rise-disappearance-revival of shoegaze is well documented on the rockumentary, thanks to a straightforward chronological line but, foremost, by the huge bulk of interviews. From Cocteau Twins to Chapterhouse, it's hard for me to remember who's missing in the picture (although my dearest one, the great Rachel Goswell, is not interviewed). There are in-depth cuts with Cocteau Twins' Robin Guthrie, The Jesus and Mary Chain's Jim Reid & Bobby Gillespie, Slowdive's Neil Halstead, Ride's Mark Gardener and Andy Bell, or My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields, among many others. But there's also space for music giants like Robert Smith, Trent Reznor and Billy Corgan. Extremely impressive. The greatest moments are reserved to Reid and his controversial relation with fame/frustration for the band's lack of sales, and the unresolved war between Alan McGee, boss of Creation Records, and Kevin Shields. They were both right.     

So, the story of late century 'wall of sound' and musicians looking to their sneakers is the tale of a bunch of musicians who tried to subvert rock traditions without leaving guitars, looking for new sounds, atmospheres and introduce melody within the noise trying. Experiment and feel. They were ahead of their time, but they didn't find the success they were hoping for (Ride were the closest ones to achieve commercial support), so the pretty spontaneous movement faded away... until the digital era rescued them. 

Unfortunately, 'Beautiful Noise', except some situations like the ones referred before, lacks poignancy, debate, insight. Bands are utterly praised then simply glorified (can't put all bands in the same bag), and so is the revival (same applies). Besides, the film has too many minutes of empty visual fillers. We get it, it sort of connects with the ethereal, elusive music, but it's kind of lame. The overall feeling is that we are watching a formal, very correct but a bit monotonous documentary. The movie does makes a beautiful noise, but it's subdued.

SCORE: 6,25/10

Spanish Indie 20: suggesting the best national acts

Our section devoted to national discoveries gets fuelled by guitars with this trio of bands. Not to miss!

Univers. I knew I was going to write about this band again. Coming from Barcelona, the quartet formed in 2011 and in January 2012 they came out with their first digital single, 'Paral·lel', but the first turning point arrived with EP ‘La Pedregada’, released that December on Famèlic. The 7" single ‘Cavall Daurat’, followed in October 2013 and finally, since past March we can enjoy their debut full length, 'L'Estat Natural'. Dreamy shoegaze and dark pop, on a band where noise sounds embraceable and lyrics hidden, infectious music without evidences. This universe awaits you with their unique & irresistible dance...

Linda Guilala. Born from the ashes of Juniper Moon in 2005, Iván y Eva began their new adventure with electricity and their freaky love for Japanese sci-fi movies from the 60-70s (Guilala is a giant odd bird arriving to the Earth from Mars in the film 'The X from Outer Space') as mandatory references. In 2006, band comes out with first self-produced demos and the buzz on Spanish radios begins. In 2009 arrived their debut album 'Bucles Infinitos' on Elefant Records, followed in 2011 with EP 'Paranormal', again with movies as motivation. Transformed into a trio, the group is now back with another EP, 'Xeristar', out since March. 6 tunes where the noisy, no-boundaries, shoegazing formula, is perfected to a mind-blowing extreme. Los Planetas, My Bloody Valentine, Pale Saints, the Reid Brothers... you can add your favourite names to the list... Linda Guilala soon will be among them.  
Boutade. Friends even before music's devil poisoned their bloods, Charlie, Aitor and Uri, have a shared path of glory roads & dusty, lonely avenues. The three musicians from Barcelona have been involved in local bands like Stormyclouds, The Rabo, Sexy Remake, Deus le Volt, Perennial Coventry... since 2003, but in the meantime, Charlie slowly shaped his own collection of songs, creating an album awaiting to be recorded. Finally, all the experiences along the way crystallised in 2011, with the trio reuniting again. Boutade was born, and the pieces Charlie penned finally saw the light of day through 2013. Still unsigned, we now have 'The Best Hunter', conceptual debut LP full of bursting alternative rock where passion roars in deep, introspective vocals, while demons are summoned into swirling guitars. Get ready. The haunt is about to begin.

Dum Dum Girls in Barcelona: sound matters

Dum Dum Girls (+ Arponera). La [2] de Apolo, Barcelona, April 5th
 

Dum Dum's style. Photo: Bloodbuzzed

I was really looking forward to see the Dum Dum Girls for the first time live. Their music is highly addictive and the chance of seeing them very close, as La [2] de Apolo is a small place, was also appealing. Pretty soon the venue revealed their pros and cons.

Before Dum Dum Girls took the stage, the support act Arponera tried to warm up the (pretty cold) night. But they couldn't. I'm pretty sorry to say it, but what was that? Someone should change that tendency of Spanish indie of lyrics that for the sake of being supposedly funny or odd makes the group relevant. There's only one Manos de Topo, and besides unusual lyrics and an eccentric lead singer, they have some (quite a lot, as a matter of fact) talent and tunes. Arponera doesn't have any of these two qualities yet, so their set was quite annoying.

Dee Dee in action
Photo: Bloodbuzzed

Time for the Dum Dum Girls, finally. Yes, the first impression can't be better. Four attractive women playing guitars (and drums), all dressed for the occasion, with drinks and bottles strategically located. Pure rock'n'roll style, despite the bassist looking a bit lost (something that would continue during the whole gig). Guitars kicked in... but not the voice. Again, the "curse" of La [2] de Apolo, swallowing Dee Dee's voice. Once more on the first row. Once more incapable of hearing the lead singer. The first part of the gig, with "He Gets Me High", "Catholicked", "I Will Be", "Wasting Away" ruined by the sound. I don't know if this fact is the decision of the bands that play here or just a matter of a bad performance from sound engineers, but I have been at this venue dozens of times, have enjoyed fantastic concerts, but suffered as well some disappointing ones. 

More Dee Dee in BCN
Photo: Bloodbuzzed

With that femme fatale attitude there was little interaction with the audience, so the fear of being a wasted occasion was present. Luckily, things started to improve, after "Rest of Our Lives" and the lovely "Bedroom Eyes". Dee Dee, who turned to be a relentless frontwoman, battling against the (excessive) noise, was able to show, slowly, her vocal range. Hits "Bhang Bhang, I'm a Burnout" and "Jail La La" preceded the super-catchy "Always Looking". And the best was yet to come.

Gig's setlist.
Photo: Bloodbuzzed

Because finally, sound "became" decent. It was Dee who asked the engineers to low down her guitar before starting a couple of songs, but the final tunes of the setlist sounded superb, showing the amazing mixture of these sharp guitars and noise backgrounds with their trademark effervescent pop melodies. "Heartbeat", "Hold Your Hand", before newbies "I Got Nothing" and "Lavender Haze", both excellent (next release sounds really promising with tunes like that), raised the level of the gig. "Sight of You", their Pale Saints' cover followed in a stunning performance. Afterwards, they left the stage for a very short while, returning with "Coming Down", Mazzy Star's close sister, and one of their best songs to date.

With that fantastic end, I left the venue with mixed emotions, half-frustrated, half-satisfied. This band rocks, we were able to hear it for a while, so this concert could (should) have been spectacular.