Revolt of the Apes

VON HAZE

“My Independence Seems to Vanish in Von Haze”

By Ryan Muldoon

I would never be able to say who the “best” band was at the Austin Psych Fest (whether this year or any other). First of all, like all art, music is personal and subjective – who can quantify such enjoyment? Second, the answer is Telepathik Friend.

But for me, I don’t know if there was another band that came out of nowhere and caught me right between the eyes with the perfect blend of volume and vengeance as did the coarse yet beautiful performance of Von Haze – two eagerly awesome people, in love with sound and in love with each other, making music and making your ears ring.

Isn’t that all we really want?

Despite it being a standard place to start, I’m more than a little interested in why you decided to go with the name Von Haze. What’s the story there? The name, for me, evokes something Teutonic, which seems appropriate, as you both look like you could have been on a Baader-Meinhof “Wanted” poster from the 70’s (and, truly, this is meant only as a compliment).

Von Haze destroy the U.K. (photo by Drew Cox)

Katherine: Baader-Meinhof? It’s like you’re staring straight into our souls! Something about it seemed evocative to us when we heard first heard the name. It was in passing and the name stuck for some reason. It was as if the name explained a way to perceive a certain situation. The Teutonic evocation revealed itself to us as well. Turns out the name was that of a baseball player. We didn’t know that at first but like most band name inception stories this one gets boring pretty quick.

Continuing down the “standard” questions, what can you tell us about how the two of you met? Was a   musical bond there from the start of your relationship, or did it only form given the passing of time? How has music – in general – affected your relationship? Is there anything negative about playing music together as husband and wife?

Travis: We met while the both of us were still at university in Richmond, Virginia, and never stopped hanging out. A little while passed and we moved to Brooklyn where we have been living since.  When we started writing the songs that are on the EP it became apparent that we were able to tap into emotions as a pair. There was less of a “band dynamic” to hang your hat on. For me, it feels like it’s about two people and that interests me. There is plenty of room to explore such an intense and personal relationship through the music and we are very inspired by that at the moment. Katherine and I have been together for years and that’s ours to keep. I’d like to think we don’t play together as “husband and wife” because the thought of that seems unappealing and contrary to how we see it, which is more Von Haze than family values.

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VOICEsVOICEs

“A Thousand Voices, Talking Perfectly Loud”

by Ryan Muldoon

VOICEsVOICEs – If there’s a more perfect example of the inherent elasticity in using the word “psychedelic” to define a type of music, I don’t know what it is. In the strictest sense, the music made by the Los Angeles duo (comprised of Nico Turner & Jenean Farris) certainly fits the psychedelic definition (“Of, characterized by, or generating … altered states of awareness”).

Still, there’s almost nothing that can be strictly defined about the music of VOICEsVOICEs – not riff-based, but catchy; electronic, but not pre-ordained; based on familiar emotions, but clearly not down to earth. VOICEsVOICEs simply is VOICEsVOICEs.

Nico and Jenean were kind enough to walk is through the rest of the story.

I suspect there was a conscious decision made when it came to choosing the name VOICEsVOICEs for this project. What does that name represent to you? How has your perception of the name changed from the original concept to where you stand today?

VOICEsVOICEs ... double live gonzo

Originally, the name was in regard to the great artistic conversation every artist is having with each other, the “voices” of time communicating a distinctive change. Over time, it became apparent and appropriate in that … we’re women, and even still, in our day to day experience our voices as women are deemed not as important as our male counterparts. It’s disturbing that it’s that way still, and in some countries, a woman dare not speak ever. It holds a lot of significance with us. The name definitely wasn’t just something that sounded cool at the time. Ever.

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GULL

“This Bird Has Flown”

by Ryan Muldoon

“Civic pride” would be perhaps the most unlikely emotion I expected to feel at Austin Psych Fest, but leave it to Richmond, VA’s own Gull to take you on a trek towards the unlikely. One man plus one guitar plus one drumstick plus one homemade mask wired with a microphone equals one captivated crowd in Austin. What a joy to see a crowd transfixed by the immediate and otherworldly sounds of Gull – and to be able to crow, “Yeah, he’s from my hometown! Richmond in a weird place, I’m tellin’ ya’!” to anyone unfortunate enough to be within earshot.

Listen: I’ve seen Cannibal Corpse live and I’ve seen Peaches live, but I’ve never been so unnerved as the first time I saw Gull live, playing on the street in Richmond, all tribal space rhythms and voodoo chants and trilling, thrilling guitar manipulation. I was scared. My younger son danced. A moment later, Gull had my son wearing the mask, and they squawked and rocked in unison.

We should all be so lucky.

The combined history of the one-man-band for even the most discerning listeners may begin with Dick Van Dyke in “Mary Poppins” and end with Captured By Robots. How did the evolution to the single-heart sound play out for Gull?

I was born one, I will leave one … to become no one.

Gull in the day time ...

What is your own personal musical history? What albums or events had the most impact on you growing up? What can you tell us about other projects, past or present, you’ve played in aside from Gull?

My brother was a huge influence … he fed me Bad Brains and Faith No More. I have a strong memory of being 9 years old and skating in a parking lot with my brother while “Woodpecker from Mars” blasted out of his car. Mike Oldfield probably caught my ear before anything though – the “Piltdown Man” in “Tubular Bells” scared the hell out of me as a kid … but I always wanted more (thanks, Dad!). Also, Yogi Yorgesson’s “I Yust Go Nuts at Christmas,” a Swedish-American staple (thanks, Mom!).

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If there’s one thing I love as much as music, it’s comedy. And my family. And cookies, too. So that’s three things …

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.

Over the years, I’ve been fortunate enough to interview some of my favorite comedians, and since I started a blog … I figure I can stick the ancient transcripts on here for the sake of posterity.

Here’s an edited version of a 2000 phone chat I had with the sadly departed Mitch Hedberg.

Is Mitch there?

This is Mitch.

Mitch, this is Ryan from “Punchline” in Richmond, VA. Are you set to do an interview?

Could you maybe call me back in like ten minutes, so I can make some coffee?

Right on.

… ten minutes later …

The title of your CD is “Strategic Grill Locations.” What the dilly-yo?

It’s a line from one of my jokes. I was a short order cook before I did comedy, and I would put a hot dog on a grill, and the manager would come over and say, “Put the hot dog in the right hand corner of the grill, so if you get a lot of orders, you’ll have all this space available.” That’s how I knew he wasn’t a dreamer, because the day you give up your dreams is the day you have strategic grill locations.

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If there’s one thing I love as much as music, it’s comedy. And my family. And cookies, too. So that’s three things …

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.

Over the years, I’ve been fortunate enough to interview some of my favorite comedians, and since I started a blog … I figure I can stick the ancient transcripts on here for the sake of posterity.

Here’s a 2001 chat I had with Janeane Garofalo.

What were the major hurdles you had to clear when starting to do comedy?

Well, I started in 1985, which was actually a great time to start. There was a big comedy boom starting at the time in the mid-eighties and lasted until the mid-nineties. The hurdles I had to clear were the same hurdles that any comic has to face, which is for the first couple of years, you’re just kind of sucky. You know, it takes a number of years before you really find your voice on stage, and your comfort level, and hecklers and terrible conditions. It’s like any person starting any new job, and that complete novice, neophyte status you have to get past. I also looked incredibly young. I was nineteen or twenty at the time, but I looked a lot younger. I was just like a real chubby college girl with a big sweater. And that was a huge problem for people who paid full ticket price and a two drink minimum, and were like, “What? I paid to see a guy with his blazer sleeves pushed up to the elbow, and not this kid.”

You didn’t have a Chess King sports coat?

No. I did not have a Just For Men sports coat on.

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Further investigation is definitely needed with Iowa’s Mondo Drag, who wowed the Psych Fest crowd by looking like they just rolled up in Spicoli’s van, before casually striding on to the stage and attempting to draw down the moon (in the late afternoon sun, no less) via the overwhelming power of metaphysical riffing. As exemplified on the title of their debut album, “New Rituals,” aren’t afraid to take some cues from the past, while slipping (slipping, slipping) into the future.

Singer/drummer Johnnie Cluney was kind enough to partake in the interview ritual with us.

The history of killer, heavy psych rock coming out of Iowa is … well, you tell us. Is there a too-ignored sect of bands from Iowa that inspired Mondo Drag at the earliest stages? Or was it the aim of Mondo Drag to do its part to put Iowa on the map?

It's the sign of the wolf! The Mondo Drag wolf!!!

Yeah, not a real strong history for Iowa psych rock. There are a hand full of bands from our area that we like, but I can’t say that we were influenced by any of them. We have always just done our own thing. I think when we found out about Radio Moscow we were stoked. We played what I think was our third show with them – it was right after they recorded their first LP, so prob about four years ago now. Radio Moscow lives in California now so Iowa is all ours!

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