Bonus Q&A with Delta Spirit

Here is more from my interview with bassist Jonathan Jameson of Delta Spirit... 

Q: The band did a short tour with My Morning Jacket in 2011. How did that go?

Great. Some of them have been friends of ours for a long time. They’re the nicest people in the world and such a good rock band that really knows how to capture an audience. That’s something we aspire to do. It’s really cool to play with and hang out with a band you really respect.  

Q: Matt has said your fans tend to listen to the albums all the way through instead of cherry picking individual tracks. Do you think they’re a more devoted lot than bands?

It’s different. The way a band builds their audience has a lot to do with it. Not that there’s one right or wrong way. We’ve never been opposed to radio play or anything like that or trying to do things in a subversive, indier-than-thou way. Just the way it ended up working out for us is that in the early days we just toured like crazy. We got on awesome tours like Cold War Kids, The Shins and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. We made fans that way. They started coming to our shows and buying the albums straight from us. When you don’t have the instant radio success, it’s a bummer because it takes longer to build things. At the same time, the fan base we’ve built has been really dedicated. People come back for their eighth time and bring groups of friends. You can’t really ask for more than that.

Q: Did you use all modern technology this time?

On the first album, we did it ourselves and brought a ProTools rig up to a cabin. We’ve never been super old school about anything. At the same time, we’re very serious about how we come off as a live band and are always trying to figure out how to capture that energy. I think that’s one thing people have always been wishing they got from the first two albums. I feel like we did something different on this album...I feel like chasing a live sounding record never comes across to the fans as what it is actually sounds like to see us live. This time around, we were of the perspective of ‘let’s make something that represents the song the way we want it to come across.’ Hopefully, that’s something people can connect to. Not that it’s something completely different live, but we looked at it as a studio album where we loved all these songs. There were songs we put together in a real live setting because we knew they would come across live. I’m sure next time we’ll do it different. It’s a process we’re still figuring out.

Q: Were any songs more difficult to record than others?

We spent a lot of time on drums, [especially] the ones where Kelly and Brandon played together. Kelly is the multi-instrumentalist of the band. Brandon is very straightforward. He’s like a metronome and is an amazing rock drummer. Kelly is very poly-rhythmic and in the pocket and has a completely different perspective on drums which together comes out sounding really different. Sometimes they don’t always see eye to eye with how the drums work. Either “Time Bomb” or “Into the Darkness.” Getting two different drummers to be on the same page [takes awhile].

Q: Touching on a little history: which of you were born and raised in the San Diego area?

Will, Brandon and I were. Matt and Kelly are from Orange County. Matt and Brandon met in San Diego. I’m sure you know the story about them meeting downtown by the railroad tracks. I met Matt a different way. We were all in different bands. They all started falling apart. Brandon and I called Matt up.

Q: What places did you tend to see live music?

As a kid, I would go to the Che Café. It was one of the few all ages venues in San Diego that would have cool bands. Epicenter, Soma, The Scene. Once we started the band, we started playing places like Silverlake Lounge and Spaceland in LA. There are a lot of good venues in San Diego. When I was a kid, all the bands I wanted to see were at the Casbah. 

Q: This summer, the band plays Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza and open for Dave Matthews Band. Which do you anticipate most?

We’ve only played Bonnaroo once before, so I’m really excited to go back. The last time, we got stuck in Dallas and missed our original set time. They got on a plane, except for me. Our manager said we were playing after the headliner. I had to scramble all over the airport to try and find a flight. Got into Knoxville, drove straight there. They loaded me into a van, took me up onstage, I used somebody else’s bass because our equipment was in Nashville. We played at midnight to a packed tent. That was an amazing experience. I’m ready to do it again with a little more preparation this time.

       

Kasabian concert DVD out next month

Kasabian's Live! – Live At The O2, will be released on standard/special edition DVD and Blu-ray formats June 26 through Eagle Rock Entertainment. 

 

This title is the first stand-alone Kasabian DVD release and also the band’s first ever Blu-ray release. The Special Edition version [on both formats] includes a bonus CD of highlights from the live show and is packaged in a digipack and slipcase. Live! – Live At The O2 features tracks from the recent Velociraptor! album and classic hits.

 

Filmed in high definition at London’s O2 on Dec. 15, 2011, the concert was part of a sold out arena tour that covered the UK and Ireland at the end of last year. Bonus features – on all versions - include the “I Hear Voices” documentary that was shot on this very tour.

 

TRACK LISTING:

 

1) Days Are Forgotten 

2) Shoot The Runner  

3) Velociraptor!  

4) Underdog  

5) Where Did All The Love Go?*  

6) I.D.*  

7) I Hear Voices*  

8) Thick As Thieves*  

9) Take Aim  

10) Clubfoot  

11) Re-Wired  

12) Empire*  

13) La Fée Verte  

14) Fast Fuse / Pulp Fiction*  

15) Goodbye Kiss  

16) L.S.F.  

17) Switchblade Smiles  

18) Vlad The Impaler  

19) Fire

* = not on CD

Black Box Revelation U.S. debut album date set

I caught the band live last December with Beady Eye and was very impressed. I look forward to hearing the new material. Read more below...

 

Belgian duo Black Box Revelation - Jan Paternoster and Dries Van Dijck - already have two gritty guitar-rock albums to their credit in Europe, but on June 12, they'll release U.S. album debut, My Perception.

 

Kicking off their U.S. tour in mid-May with East Coast dates, Black Box Revelation will make their Bonnaroo debut on June 10 and appear on Late Night with David Letterman the next day.

My Perception was produced by Alain Johannes (Queens of the Stone Age, Chris Cornell, Them Crooked Vultures) in L.A. The resulting batch of songs are brash, streetwise and full of attitude, but show a new maturity and confidence. They reference R&B-inflected garage rock and gut-bucket, electric delta blues evocative of Led Zeppelin by way of The White Stripes, The Black Keys and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

"The vibe is there, and you can hear that they're not created in a clean studio with no real atmosphere," says Jan about recording with Johannes. "It's all about playing songs and that good, pure groove."

"We're showing a progression," agrees Dries, who cites drumming influences like Keith Moon, John Bonham and Dave Grohl. "Our influences are still in there, but it sounds like something new."

While building up a fan base in Europe by touring with Eagles of Death Metal as well as their own headlining shows, the band has played shows in the States with Jane's Addiction. 

 

Jan says their tastes started with Nirvana, which led them to early Stones and Kinks, then back again to those band's inspirations, Howlin' Wolf and Elmore James. With his drawled vocals, Jan sounds eerily like a young Mick Jagger circa mid-'60s, just beginning to express himself like his own influences.

"That's the period of the Stones we like," he says. "It sounds like they're having fun while playing, and that's what it's about for us. Especially with all these electronic bands using computers. We want to keep it pure. It doesn't matter if we make mistakes as long as the vibe and atmosphere is great."

 

Tour Dates:

May 17, 2012 Teaneck, NJ - Mexicali Café
May 18, 2012 New Haven, CT - Toad's Place
May 20, 2012 New York, NY - Mercury Lounge
May 22, 2012 Nashville, TN - Marathon Music Works
May 23, 2012 New Orleans, LA - House Of Blues
May 26, 2012 Atlanta, GA - Vinyle
May 27, 2012 Columbus, OH - The Basement
May 28, 2012 Indianapolis, IN - Melody Inn
May 30, 2012 Chicago, IL - Double Door
May 31, 2012 Detroit, MI - Shelter
Jun 1, 2012 Grand Rapids, MI - Intersection Front Room
Jun 3, 2012 Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry
Jun 10, 2012 Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo That Stage
Jun 11, 2012 New York, NY - Double Seven Club
Jun 12, 2012 Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Bowl
Jul 4, 2012 Milwaukee, WI - Summerfest
Jul 28, 2012 Minneapolis, MN - Soundtown Festival  

Delta Spirit interview

courtesy Rounder Records

A version of my interview originally appeared at nctimes.com/entertainment

Last October, after a performance at LA’s Gibson Amphitheatre, Delta Spirit got a quick glimpse of what stardom entails. Upon heading to a nearby In-N-Out, the San Diego-bred band ran into Jaden Smith and Justin Bieber.

“When people are screaming ‘Justin Bieber’ through the drive-thru window, you know there’s something wild going on,” bassist Jonathan Jameson said from a tour stop in Salt Lake City.

While Delta Spirit’s folk-leaning, alt-rock music has yet to inspire feverish reactions by young girls, some expanded sonic terrain on the new self-titled album should intrigue longtime fans.

The quintet - which also features lead vocalist/guitarist Matt Vasquez, guitarist Will McLaren, keyboardist Kelly Winrich and drummer Brandon Young – “tightened up the drum sound and brought them up front. There’s definitely more layers.”

“This time, we explored the percussive elements of synths and used more keyboards, pads and multiple (types of) percussion,” Jameson continued. Those sounds were usually suggested by producer Chris Coady (…Trail of Dead, Beach House), who brought a homemade synthesizer into the studio. “It was all relatively new to us.”

Over the course of three albums – including 2010’s acclaimed “History From Below” - the musicians have placed an emphasis on rhythm.

“Even the way I play bass and how vocal melodies are written has a lot to do with percussion. That especially comes across live,” when everyone bangs on drums and trash can lids at a certain point in the show.

Those who attend the band’s Belly Up concerts can expect to hear plenty of new material. Jameson said he looks forward to spending more time with family while in town.  

Keeping with the usual modus operandi, Delta Spirit used a Woodstock, N.Y studio housed inside a converted 116-year-old church.

   

“We’ve always done the rural, escape from everyday lives” recording method. Yet Coady’s 5 p.m. ‘til dawn schedule took some getting used to.

“Only in a setting where you’re completely isolated from the world can you get way with that. It was a beautiful thing to finish when the sun is coming through the stained glass windows in an old church in the middle of nowhere. It was really special and I think it has a big impact on the feeling of the album.”

Released this past March, the strong “Delta Spirit” debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart. Along with steady airplay at college radio, the dense guitar driven single “California” is top 20 at Triple A stations – a first for the band after mostly non-commercial NPR-type support in the past.

“Just the fact that it is getting played and people are really starting to learn about us is really exciting.”

Standout tracks - the reverent “Yamaha,” inviting “Time Bomb” and frantic “Money Saves” - have an atmospheric quality. 

“We’re huge Brian Eno fans,” admitted Jameson. “The music lifts a song to a different place. If you do the stripped-down stuff all the time, it can get boring or repetitive.”

Then there’s the psychotic rocker “Tellin’ the Mind,” where Vasquez sings like a man possessed.

“First it was just a straight ahead rock song. Then we wanted to make it progressively weirder. It’s really out there and one of my favorites. We’re still sorting out how to play it live because there’s a lot of dynamics” involved.

Delta Spirit formed in ‘05. Jameson, McLaren and Young are all local natives. “When I was a kid, all the bands I wanted to see were at the Casbah,” recalled the bassist.

Early gigs were held at friends’ houses in San Diego; the group cultivated a large fan base through tours with Cold War Kids, The Shins, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and My Morning Jacket. A few years after 2008’s “Ode to Sunshine,” the quintet moved to Long Beach and lived in the same Craftsman style house (four of the guys have since relocated to Brooklyn).

McLaren (ex-Cults, Willowz) is a more recent recruit and joined after “History” was recorded.

“We never really had a serious guitar player,” Jameson said. “He brought the melodic perspective to a whole different place. That’s part of the reason why the album is self-titled: we finally feel like we have a whole band and the whole picture now.

Upcoming tour dates
May 11...Fonda Theatre, Hollywood, CA

May 12-13...Belly Up Tavern, Solana Beach, CA

June 3...Observatory, Santa Ana, CA

June 7-10...Bonnaroo, Manchester, TN

For more shows and info, go to deltaspirit.net

Jellyfish Live in Long Beach '91

Omnivore Recordings will release power pop band Jellyfish’s first official live album, Live at Bogart’s, on July 3. Recorded in 1991 in Long Beach, CA, with the band on tour behind their debut album Bellybutton, Live at Bogart’s features 13 tracks.

Five of these tracks are previously unissued performances, while the others, initially appearing on b-sides and compilations, have been out of the marketplace for decades.

Live at Bogart’s will be available on CD, first as a limited-edition (1,500 copies) double LP on translucent blue vinyl, followed by an open-edition on black vinyl thereafter. The double LP release will include three sides of music, with a fourth side sporting laser-etched artwork.
 

Even though the group lasted for only two albums over four years, their influence has been as profound as that of any of the bands that influenced Jellyfish in the first place—all part of a power pop tradition.

In January of this year, Omnivore Recordings released Jellyfish’s debut album Bellybutton and its follow-up Spilt Milk in 180-gram, colored vinyl limited-editions of 1,500 per title, making the only two full-length studio albums in the band’s short, storied history commercially available for the first time in the U.S. on vinyl. The limited editions sold out immediately, but are currently available in an open-edition on 180-gram black vinyl.

Formed in San Francisco by singer/songwriter Andy Sturmer and singer/songwriter Roger Manning, Jellyfish rounded out the initial lineup with guitarist Jason Falkner (The Three O’Clock, The Grays) and Roger’s brother Chris Manning on bass.

After Bellybutton’s support tour, Falkner and Chris Manning left the band due to creative differences and exhaustion from life on the road. Jellyfish’s next album Spilt Milk was created by Andy and Roger with help from then-session men Jon Brion (Fiona Apple, Spoon, Kanye West), Lyle Workman (Beck, Todd Rundgren) and T-Bone Wolk (Hall & Oates). After one tour in support of the record, the group disbanded in 1994.

Jellyfish: Live at Bogart’s CD and 2LP track listing:

1.Hold Your Head Up (Argent cover)/Hello
2.Calling Sarah
3.The King Is Half Undressed *
4.I Wanna Stay Home *
5.Bye Bye Bye *
6.She Still Loves Him
7.Will You Marry Me
8.Now She Knows She’s Wrong
9.Baby Come Back (Player cover)/Baby’s Coming Back
10.No Matter What (Badfinger cover)*
11.All I Want Is Everything *
12.The Man I Used To Be
13.Let ‘Em In (Paul McCartney & Wings cover)/That Is Why

* previously unissued

Redd Kross reunion album due this summer

Redd Kross returns with Researching the Blues, its first new album in 15 years, on Aug. 7, through Merge Records. The songs were written by Jeff McDonald and produced/mixed by his brother Steven. 

“It has the most singular artistic vision of any record we’ve done," Steven says. "It’s just 10 really fucking awesome songs that have the ability to move you in many different ways.”

 

Founded 34 years ago in Los Angeles during the first wave of LA punk rock by the brothers  (then 15 and 11 years old), Redd Kross cut their teeth opening for Black Flag at a middle school graduation party.

Their debut recordings caught the attention of Rodney Bingenheimer, who quickly became a fan as he spun their Ramones-inspired songs like “Annette's Got The Hits” and "I Hate My School" on the world-famous KROQ/106.7 FM.

 

In 2006, Jeff and Steven announced their reunion with the classic Neurotica line-up, joined once again by guitarist Robert Hecker and drummer Roy McDonald (The Muffs).

Redd Kross have been playing to enthusiastic audiences at select sold-out shows and festivals such as the Azkena, Coachella; The Hoodoo Gurus’ Invitational, All Tomorrow's Parties and Pop Montréal.

More Redd Kross tour dates to come this year.

 

Track List:

1. Researching the Blues

2. Stay Away From Downtown

3. Uglier

4. Dracula’s Daughters

5. Meet Frankenstein

6. One of the Good Ones

7. The Nu Temptations

8. Choose to Play

9. Winter Blues

10. Hazel Eyes

 

Redd Kross is:

Jeff McDonald – Vocals, Guitars

Steven McDonald – Bass, Vocals

Roy McDonald – Drums

Robert Hecker – Guitars

Chris Isaak's upcoming PBS special

"Beyond the Sun - Live!" is a new PBS special that showcases Chris Isaak in a personal tribute to the glory days of the legendary producer Sam Phillips, his Sun Studio in Memphis and the music created by his heroes (Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison and others).

Isaak recaptures the spirit of the original songs with his own brilliant band of stellar musicians, while revealing the heart and soul of his own deeply rooted musical identity. This special program premieres on PBS stations beginning June 2 (check local listings).

Taped on Feb. 13 before a live audience on the soundstage of Austin City Limits, the three act program begins with some of Isaak’s most popular hits, moves on to his tribute to Sun Records and then wraps up with a combination of both.

Joining Isaak for this special evening is Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer and “Queen of Rockabilly,” Wanda Jackson. Isaak's "Beyond the Sun - Live!" tour will continue through the end of 2012. To learn more, visit chrisisaak.com.

Chris Isaak's "Beyond the Sun - Live!" features behind the scenes footage and these performances:

· “I Want Your Love”
· “Somebody’s Crying”
· “Wicked Game”
· “Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing”
· “I’ll Never Let You Go (Little Darlin’)”
· “Ring of Fire”
· “Trying to Get to You” (with Wanda Jackson)
· “It’s Now or Never”
· “Crazy Arms”
· “Your True Love”
· “Miss Pearl”
· “Great Balls of Fire”
· “Blue Hotel”
· “Fujiyama Mama” (with Wanda Jackson)
· “Oh, Pretty Woman”
· “Can’t Help Falling in Love”
· “Big Wide Wonderful World” · “You Don’t Cry Like I Do”
· “Best I Ever Had”
· “Live It Up”