EIC's 10Q's w/ Myyths

"..elements of dark & brooding Post Industrial clamor with Classical-Gothic overtones.."

Myyths

Eerie Biotics

Myyths Bio:

MYYTHS is Syd S. and Tiffany S. The pair met in Brighton, UK, during Winter 2012. brought together by a love for similar artists and each others music. A desire to work together quickly grew and after several months of songwriting collaboration, they released an EP and started gigging as a four piece under the name Fvnerals.   In the fall of 2013, the duo started working on a side project experimenting with electronic production. MYYTHS was born. "Tystnad" was written as a whole, a journey through existence where each song forms an intricate portrait, experimenting with electronic textures, traditional instruments and percussions to create haunting sounds while lyrics revolve around unrequited love, nothingness and devotion. Their debut album was released online on January 13th, 2014. MYYTHS is now looking for a label to help them release their album physically and will start performing live in March/April.

Hello, how are you?
Tiffany: Very well thanks for having us

What are you currently listening to?
Tiffany: The Blood Brothers album 'Crimes' and 'Visions' from Grimes. I've also been listening a lot to Mirel Wagner recently.
Syd: Lately I've been listening to a Turkish cello player named Gülşah Erol, her album 'Psychosis' is amazing. Also 'Pipe Dreams' from Whirr and Barn Owl's 'Lost In The Glare'.

What's the story behind the band name?
Syd: I wouldn't say there's a real story behind it, we thought it fitted our musical world well. I also like the visual aspect of it, I find it eye-catching.

Was there a specific sound you were going for when you began this project?
Tiffany: We spend a lot of time together and our musical personalities combine very well so it was more of a desire to form a duo than going for a specific sound.
Syd: I tend to write music that I would want to listen to depending on my moods and being a two piece was a good way of feeling more free and spontaneous while writing.

Care to shed some info on your debut release; theme, favorite track(s), etc?
Tiffany: My lyrics revolve around unrequited love, nothingness and devotion. I tried to complement the music rather than overpowering it.
Syd: I wanted to write an album that feels like one long piece with different but coherent parts to keep a general dark atmosphere throughout the songs. My favorite song is "Tystnad", I'm really happy of how it sounds and I love Tiffany's vocals on it.
Tiffany: My personal favorite is "Rise". I like the atmospheric feel to it.

Will you be touring extensively for said release?
Tiffany: We are hoping to. We started contacting promoters and are now trying to get shows.
Syd: We'd like to travel with this project too so we're looking for places to play outside of the UK.

Got any other projects we should know about?
Tiffany: We have a band named Fvnerals where I sing/play synth and Syd plays guitar.
Syd: We run a small label named Eerie Echoes. We use it for our releases and share bands we like with our online distro.

What movie would work best on mute while listening to you music?
Tiffany: The only movie I watched recently was Con Air and it doesn't fit at all.
Syd: I guess Gus Van Sant's 'Last Days' or Inarritu's '21 Grams' would work, or something like 'The Road' or 'Apocalyspe Now'.

You can only keep/listen to ONE album for the rest of your life ..which album would it be?
Tiffany: 'If You Can Believe Your Eyes And Dreams' by The Mammas and the Papas. It's an album I've been listening to for years and I still haven't got bored of it. Listening to it always makes me want to sing and dance around.
Syd: Beach House's 'Devotion', it's not my favorite album ever, but it's one I never got tired of.

Are you living your dream?
Tiffany: Yes and no. I would not say I’m not living my dream to the fullest yet. There’s a lot I’d like to do, and it’s more of a matter giving each dream time to grow, doing a bit of everything in the meantime.
Syd: I readjusted my dream so much that I'm not sure what it was before or if it even existed. So I guess not but I'm working towards a part of it.

Thanx Syd & Tiffany!

Myyths recently released [what is sure to be] one of the best releases of 2014, check it...

EIC's 10Q's w/ Bad Passion

"..oozing sleek, sexual, relaxing, and moody.."

 

Bad Passion

Apathetic Lust

Bad Pasion Bio:

 What if Low collaborated with Beach House to make an album of sultry super-slow R&B jams? Bad Passion's debut EP 'Doin' It Slow' answers that question, combining soulful vocal harmonies with hazy organ lines over synth bass and electronic drums. Equally indebted to Chillwave artists like Gayngs, Jj, and Nite Jewel, Bad Passion's music walks the line between tongue-in-cheek and dead seriousness. Their songs cover such subjects as stealing cars, lust in racquet sports, and how good they are at "getting results." There's also a saxophone, a Beach House cover, and an exploding sun in there. Bad Passion is Alt and Lesley, friends who recorded 'Doin' It Slow' in a bedroom in their house while they were living together in Toronto. Despite having only just begun in October 2011, Bad Passion has already made influential fans in the blogosphere, landing a coveted spot on tastemaking blog 20jazzfunkgreats' best of 2011 list. Alt also makes dark electronic pop as Digits in London, England.

 

Hello, how are you?
Hello. I am full of food and ready for bed.

What are you currently listening to?
Both Alt and I are really into the new Farragoes EP. Our friend Tom who plays in Gay is finally putting out his solo stuff and it is really great.

Is there a story behind the band name?
This song.

When and where did you guys meet/begin this project?
I think we met on Toronto Island when The Ghost Is Dancing were recording 'The Darkest Spark'. I joined that band and we spent a lot of time hanging out while on tour. When The Ghost is Dancing broke up, Alt moved into the house I was living in and we started talking about making some really slow jams. We spent a weekend in his bedroom and 'Doin' It Slow' resulted.

Who were/are your biggest influences when it came to sculpting your sound?
We had a lot. Alt got me into Low a few years ago and we starting sharing songs back and forth that we thought would be good songs to cover in a slowed down manner (like the Beach House cover we did). We liked the idea of mixing our voices but slowing things down and keeping them super sultry. I'd say we're equally influenced by folks like Gayngs, Jj, Nite Jewel and most things Chillwave.

Do you have a favorite song on your debut?
I think my favourite is "Your Ride". Alt sounds super sexy in it. I think Alt would say that his favourite is "Get Results". Next month you should expect to see a music video for Get Results featuring a pretty bad-ass bike gang.

If you could collaborate with any artist of your choosing, whom would it be with and why?
(the duo decided to skip this one, we'll go ahead and assume it's with someone pretty awesome;)

Any side projects/collabs we should know about?
Bad Passion is technically a side-project. Alt makes dark electronic pop music full time as Digits in London, England and I am a member of the noisy Electropop group Powers out of Toronto.

You can only keep/listen to ONE album for the rest of your life ..which album would it be?
I only need one song: Warren G's "Regulate" featuring Nate Dogg on repeat.

Are you living your dream?
Not yet, but I'm making it happen this year. Alt and I are going to continue making music together long distance with the plans of reuniting to record/play more live shows later on this year. It is going to be a really great time.


Thanx Lesley!


Bad Passion are currently working on a follow up to last years (somewhat under the radar/EIC's #26 album of 2011) 'Doin' It Slow'. On top of that the duo are also working hard on their other projects, busy-busy!...

EIC'S10Q'S w/Wintercoats

"..strings, reversed guitar tones, mysterious vocal samples/backing harmonies, bells, and (super) pleasing to the ear tranquil vocals..the perfect score for warming your ears, heart, and mind on an austere evening.."


Wintercoats
Singular Chimerical Composition

Wintercoats Bio:
Wintercoats is a solo Dream Pop project of Melbourne multi-instrumentalist James Wallace. Beginning at the dawn of 2009, Wintercoats began composing various pieces for strings and piano, before expanding the instrumentation and shifting his direction from Folk inspired music to Dream Pop. Opting to play solo, Wallace performs through the live sampling of piano, strings, percussion, and vocals, often drenched with reverb creating the sound of a ethereal, pop inspired orchestra. In May 2010, Wintercoats released his Debut EP “Cathedral” as a free download and will be releasing his follow up EP in June as a 12”/Download.


Hello, how are you?
Hey, I’m very well thank you.

What are you currently listening to?
Right at this moment I’m listening to Collarbones cover of ‘Cater 2 U’. It’s pretty fantastic. I’ve been listening to Sea Oleena, The Townhouses, The Orbweavers, and Rio En Medio quite religiously lately too.

Is there a story behind the band name?
There is, but I don’t think it’s incredibly interesting. I went through a plethora of names and pseudonyms but nothing really stuck. I ended up looking a coat I had on the floor and it really just came from that. It’s a pretty dull story, but I think it suits the project.

You do all of the music on your own right? What's your musical background?
Yeah, I’m the only musician on the recordings and when performing live. Lately I get asked a lot if I would ever consider having additional musicians, but I don’t see it happening. There’s something very liberating about having ‘complete’ creative control of something in terms of writing and recording music. It’s the same for the live performances; it feels much more natural and intimate performing solo rather than with a string section. When I was around 5 I wanted to learn the piano, but ended up playing the electone instead. It wasn’t exactly what I wanted, but it’s kind of amusing now. Pretty much they put a disk into the keyboard and you’d learn how to play the themes from major 80’s films. I eventually translated what I learned over to the piano, and then started branching out into a lot of different instruments. The violin was actually one of the later additions, and in terms of technique, it shows a bit, more so in terms of my vibrato and bowing technique.

Is there a tentative title/theme/release date for your debut LP?
The LP won’t be out for a little while. Originally, I was going to put an EP out last November and the album around the start of this year, but I ended up scrapping a lot of tracks and starting again. I’m still writing the album, but as of a few days ago the second EP is completely finished. So that should be out in either May or June as a 12”/Download. I’m still working on a title, but possibly “Softly” or “Please Be Quiet”. I’m not too sure, I’ll have to coin one fairly soon. It’s pretty much a continuation on from 'Cathedral', so it’s quite introspective. I also have a split EP coming out soon with The Townhouses. We’ve put it off for a quite a while, so it should hopefully be out sooner rather than later.

Will you be touring for said release?
I’ll definitely do an Australian tour, but I’m hoping to play a few overseas, but nothings really locked in at this stage. The plan is to try get over to the US, Japan, and New Zealand, but it’s not a definite at the moment. Fingers crossed I guess.

If you could collaborate with any artist of your choosing whom would it be with?
Beach House. They’re an act I’ve adored for quite a while now, and was fortunate enough to open for them in Melbourne about a month ago. I completely adored there set, the atmosphere that was set was wonderful. So my collaboration dream would probably revolve around Beach House with strings, ha.

You can only keep/listen to ONE album for the rest of your life ..which album would it be?
I don’t think I could ever decide on this. You need an album that’s incredibly versatile, something that will suit any scenario, mood, whatever. So I would probably make a mix tape instead. Is that aloud? If not, I’ll just take The Drones "Wait Long By The River….". Though I might slip a mix tape in to its case with it.

Are you living your dream?
If watching Seinfeld whilst eating ice-cream counts, then I most certainly am.

Thanx James!

Wintercoats are currently working on a follow up to last year's astonishing (#6/100 2010) debut release..look for that/those soon..!

EIC'S10Q'S w/Glass Vaults

"..beautiful harmonies swimming in a frigid pool of sustained/reverberated guitar bliss amidst a calm ocean of engulfing white noise.."


Glass Vaults
Bioclimatic Glacial Sound

Glass Vaults Bio:
Glass Vaults is a Wellington, NZ Based two piece who use a mixture of washed textures, ambient and atmospheric soundscapes and an amalgamation of programmed and live drums. Both born in the rural Manawatu, Richard Larsen and Rowan Pierce met at university in Wellington where they began experimenting with music under the name Vaults. Having recently graduated and undergone a name change to Glass Vaults, the pair are using their time to work on writing and shaping their sound under this guise.

The ‘Glass EP’ is the pairs’ first release and was recorded on Rowan’s grandmothers farm in March 2010. They then teamed up with friend Bevan Smith (Signer, Over the Atlantic, The Ruby Suns) to produce the recordings into the final release that is available for free download at glassvaults.bandcamp.com and at www.sonorouscircle.com. Glass EP is an initial marrying of the pairs’ ambient, looped soundscapes fused with minimal lyrical content and structured songwriting.

Live the pair are unmissable, with live looping and effects merging guitar, vocal hooks, synthesizers and drums into an overwhelming space of washed textures, pop sensibilities and cutting drum rhythms. After the release of Glass EP the pair are excited about get to work on more recordings to appear later this year.


Hello, how are you?
Rowan: Good thanks
Richard: Yeah good

What are you currently listening to?
Rowan: Right now ? Haha Happy Mondays on you tube actually. Other than that I have been really enjoying The Verve's early EPs recently
Richard: Sufjan Stevens new record and Beach house...

What’s the story with the band name?
Richard: Originally we were just called Vaults, we wanted a name that spoke of something spacious. Whilst working on the record which was to be called Glass we decided to change to Glass Vaults. The very nature of glass being this solid form which is also transparent and brittle.
Rowan: Yea, we really liked how the two words worked together a transparent but tangible space.

LOVE your debut EP, is there a tentative title/theme/release date for your debut LP?
Rowan: We've been working slowly but steadily on a new release since we put out Glass. We're still not sure of it's length and I think we'll discover that as we discover the breadth of it. I think playing more shows over our summer will help as we tend to develop the songs through how we play them live. I think it really helps us to develop the way it all sits together and decide on the arch it all.

What kind of sound were you going for when you began writing for this project?
Richard: I think a sound with space and layers, a space to get lost in.
Rowan: "Spatiality" was definitely something we wanted to push but also something that can be both expansive and intimate at the same time.

Can you tell us a little bit about the label you and Bon Accord are on?
Rowan: Jukboxr is a new label running out of Florida and we were lucky enough to be their first physical release. It's been great working with Dale who has helped us produce the final art work for the E.P in the form of 12inch Vinyl! :) The label is really personable and hes got a great focus on quality not necessarily quantity.

If you could score any movie, which would it be?
Richard: Something from David Attenboroughs Planet Earth... caves or ocean deep.
Rowan: I recently saw a film called Silent Light by Carlos Reygadas. The film opens with a 5 minute Sunrise and closes with an identical sunset. It really sets the pace for the whole film. Working on a project like that with a lot of time and space in the images would be great.

What’s the most relaxing album you own?
Rowan: Jonsi and Alex's Riceboy Sleeps has been on repeat for me all year.
Richard: Same! I really enjoy coming in and out of sleep to that record, so good! Grouper's "Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill" is good for that also.

You can only keep/listen to ONE album for the rest of your life ..which album would it be?
Richard: "Sgt. Pepper`s Lonely Hearts Club Band"
Rowan: I'm sure whatever the answer it'll be ruined for me by day 3 so maybe Kanye's new album.

Are you living your dream?
Richard: Not really :p

Thanx Row & Rich!

Glass Vaults are currently working on a follow up to last year's HIGHLY OVERLOOKED "Glass EP" (#8 of 2010), look for that sometime soon (..please?)...

Good (free) music laying around the interwebs..(expanded edition) Pt. 1

Ornine - Draco
&
Nites - It Is An Excuse To Get Hurt And To Hurt
&
Nightsatan - Ninja Apocalypse
&
Monster Rally - Coral LP
&
Linda Perhacs - Chimacum Rain
&
Julianna Barwick - The Magic Place
&
Harmonizer - 5th World (Excerpt)
&
The Drums - Me And The Moon (Matthew Dear Remix)
&
Deptford Goth - Real Love Fantasy
&
Beach House - I Do Not Care For The Winter Sun
&
Banjo Or Freakout - XA 2010

~njoy.

EIC'S10Q'S w/Pan American

"..dreamy/gentle/misty guitars swimming and drowning in an ocean of static, white noises, slightly audible jazz style drumming, minimal synths, and "Slow-core/down tempo" vocals.."


Pan American
Lackadaisical Milieu

Pan American Bio:
A more beat-oriented solo project for guitarist/vocalist Mark Nelson of Labradford, Pan American debuted with a self-titled album on Chicago's Kranky Records in 1998. Nelson then recorded a track for the British experimentalist-electronic label Fat Cat's Split series, and also played live with pedal-steel genius B.J. Cole. His second Pan American LP, 360 Business/360 Bypass, appeared in early 2000 with collaborations from Chicago trumpeter Rob Mazurek and the members of Low. A series of split CDs followed, including 2001's Personal Settings: Preset 1, and Nelson returned to his full-length efforts with the stripped down 2002 effort The River Made No Sound. Released two years later, Quiet City brought back the textured layers of Pan American's earlier material, while White Bird Release appeared in 2008.


Hello, how are you?
Very well, thank you.

What are you currently listening to?
Some recent listens: Bill Frissell "Inline", Ran Blake "Driftwoods", Supersilent 5, Beach House "Teen Dream", Theo Parrish "First Floor"

Anything new coming up for Pan Am?
No, just laying low for now. Trying to figure out what I like and don't like mostly. So a period of re-evaluation and doing other things. This is probably the first time I haven't had a record in process (or a burning desire to have one going) in ten or fifteen years.

When you create you music is it all “mood based”? By that I mean “White Bird Release” was pretty melancholy and somewhat dark, whereas “360 Business/360 Bypass” was a little more mechanical and dub-y. What, if any, was your mood for these albums when you made them?
The music is not really reflective of my mood at the time of making it, it's reflective of maybe larger picture
things going on in my life, though. So good moods, "dark'" moods they come and go and ultimately settle into a musty puddle of low-level, unfocused discontent in other words, I'm like just about everyone else! but the records hopefully reflect the better angels of time and space, and aren't day to day reflections of how I'm feeling.

Out of all your release which one are you most proud of?
Second Labradford record, first Pan American. Both for personal reasons, not necessarily musical ones.

What are the chances of Labradford ever seeing the light of day again? Care to explain what happened?
Nothing happened except our lives moved in different directions. We're all still friends and talk often (although carter lives in Madrid and I haven't had much contact with him lately) but I probably talk or email with Bobby once or twice a week. the fun part of the band was being together in the same city and the music being a daily part of life. we tried the long distance thing and found it very unsatisfying. I'm pretty dubious about the idea of sending things back and forth and working more or less independently. Labradford was always a live band, I think when that stopped happening the band stopped making sense to us. But who knows, the future is unwritten, as they say.

You can only keep/listen to ONE album for the rest of your life ..which album would it be?
I don't know if I can answer this. You might have to flesh out the scenario in which this circumstance has come to pass a bit more. If it's some sort of post-apocalypse living in a underground shelter thing- music would probably make the situation worse. If I were in solitary confinement on a prison island off the coast of Newfoundland, I'd probably be too busy wallowing in self pity to concentrate on a record.

Are you living your dream?
I'm pretty sure I'm awake.

Thanx Brian & Mark!

Pan American is currently (hopefully) working on a follow up to 2009's "White Bird Release" look for that in the near future...

Check into Japan Sue..

Japan Sue - Bright Lights

Somewhere between Nite Jewel, CocoRosie, Bacehlorette, and/or Beach House...
(I debated myself on filing this under "ear crack")

EIC'S10Q'S w/Asobi Seksu

"..Shoegaze for the sweet tooth at heart..fuzzy guitars, cute vocals - sometimes English sometimes Japanese, lush/thick synths, and bouncy bass lines. I'm sure you've heard of them by now, if not you will eventually.."

Asobi Seksu
Lavish Saccharine Gaze

Asobi Seksu Bio:
Bearing a hyper-stylized and glitzy graphic design sense, a pretty and petite Japanese female singer who sings alternately in Japanese and English, and a band name with a hint of nod-and-a-wink naughtiness (it's claimed to be a Tokyo-based slang term that means "playful sex"), Asobi Seksu comes across like the latest Japanese import, the newest in a long line of ironic shibuya kei indie pop artists following Puffy AmiYumi, Cibo Matto, or Pizzicato Five. In fact, the quartet is based out of New York City, and besides the heavy Japanese pop influences, Asobi Seksu bears comparison both to the British shoegazer bands of the early '90s (My Bloody Valentine in particular) and to New York guitar noise acts ranging from Sonic Youth to Yo La Tengo.

Singer and keyboardist Yuki Chikudate, guitarist James Hanna, bassist Glenn Waldman, and drummer Keith Hopkin formed Asobi Seksu in late 2001, self-releasing their self-titled debut album the following year. Garnering a strong local buzz at a time when the New York club scene was hot again following the success of the Strokes and Interpol, Asobi Seksu came to the attention of the indie Friendly Fire Records, which reissued Asobi Seksu with new cover art in 2004. The album's single, "I'm Happy But You Don't Like Me," raised the band's college radio and online profile; that song and two others from the album, "Sooner" and "Walk on the Moon," were placed in the indie film In Between Days, which won a special jury prize at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.

Before recording their second album, Asobi Seksu underwent a major personnel shift, with the core duo of Chikudate and Hanna replacing Waldman and Hopkins with new bassist Haji and drummer Mitch Spivak. Produced by hot New York indie producer/engineer Chris Zane (Human Television, Ambulance LTD, etc.), the more polished, multilayered Citrus was released to solid reviews in May 2006. At some point near the end of the nearly two years spent touring behind the album, Hanna had a revelation that led him to re-think the sound of the band, namely that he was sick and tired of the guitar sound the band had utilized up to then. For the next album, the band (then down to the core duo of Chikudate and Hanna) stripped back the layers of guitar noise and aimed for a more atmospheric and lush sound. Hush was released by new label Polyvinyl in February of 2009.


Hello, how are you?
Great, thanks! We're leaving for the west coast leg of our acoustic tour tomorrow. We're excited to play these shows and to the 70 degree weather! It's been such a cold winter so far in NYC.

What are you currently listening to?
Hmmm. today I listened to Aaliyah, Nobukazu Takemura, Hope Sandoval, and France Gall. Recently Beach House's Devotion came up on my shuffle and it was so beautiful.

Has anyone ever called you Mr. or Mrs. Seksu thinking that was your name rather than a title meaning “Playful Sex”?
Jokingly maybe! :)

Your recent acoustic album is titled “Rewolf” any specific reason for that?
Re-wolfing something sounded funny and mysterious. Serious and yet light. The concept of "Re-wolfing" mean to us getting reacquainted with something in a new way. Wolves are elusive, mysterious, even mythical animals, so I guess the song writing/music-making/being in a band process can sometimes feel that way too. It's also flower backwards!

You’ve been playing a few more acoustic sets recently, which do you prefer more a stripped down sound or loud vibrant layers like the ones found on your albums?
No, we're not looking to change our sound as a band, but it has been a really fun challenge putting this show together. It's nice to say we've learned a lot and have gotten to know each other more as a band during the process.

I like your idea to get money together for your upcoming European tour with White Lies, are you optimistic in reaching your goal of $7,500.00?
We reached it! Thank you everybody!

What’s next after the European tour?
After the acoustic tour we will go right into preparing for our next album. Planning on being in the studio this Spring.

What’s a song you wish you wrote?
What a cruel question- only because there are soooo many! Right now, I wish we wrote Celeste by Donovan. We covered it for an Amnesty International compilation. What a beautiful song. We love Donovan.

You can only keep/listen to ONE album for the rest of your life ..which album would it be?
Bach's St. Matthew's Passion. I love this piece.

Are you living your dream?
Fuck yeah!

Thanx Yuki!

Asobi Seksu will be going back into the studio this Spring look for a new album on the horizon...

Beach House 2010 US Tour..

Beach House '10 US Tour

03-26 Washington, DC - Black Cat #
03-27 Middletown, CT - Wesleyan University
03-28 Boston, MA - Paradise #
04-01 Pontiac, MI - Pike Room #
04-02 Chicago, IL - Metro #
04-03 Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theater #
04-04 Minneapolis, MN - Cedar Cultural Center #
04-05 Omaha, NE - Waiting Room #
04-06 Lawrence, KS - Jackpot Saloon #
04-07 Denver, CO - Bluebird Theater #
04-09 Boise, ID - Neurolux #
04-10 Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge #
04-12 Seattle, WA - Neumos #
04-14 San Francisco, CA - Bimbos #
04-15 San Luis Obispo, CA - Downtown Brewing Co. #
04-19 Phoenix, AZ - Rhythm Room *
04-21 Dallas, TX - Granada Theater %
04-22 Austin, TX - Emo's %
04-23 Houston, TX - Walter's %
04-24 Baton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon %
04-25 Tallahassee, FL - Engine Room %
04-27 Birmingham, AL - Bottletree %
04-28 Nashville, TN - Mercy Lounge %
04-29 Atlanta, GA - The Earl %
04-30 Asheville, NC - Grey Eagle Tavern %
05-01 Chapel Hill, NC - Cat's Cradle %
05-06 New York, NY - Webster Hall
05-07 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
05-08 Baltimore, MD - 2640 Space

* with Grizzly Bear
# with Bachelorette
% with Washed Out

Oh man, I get to see Beach House WITH Bachelorette?? Woot.