Revolt of the Apes

Forget everything I ever said about Richmond. I’m moving to Japan. No hard feelings!

RINGO DEATHSTARR + Japanese TV = 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LeKNntEgFU&sns=em

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 transcript of a 2002  interview I did with the always hilarious David Cross.

November 9, 2002

DC: Hello?

Hello, David?

DC: Yeah.

Yeah, this is Ryan from Richmond, Virginia. Chris from Sub Pop told me this would be a good time to call to do an interview.

DC: Sure.

Is this a good time?

DC: Yeah, I mean, I just woke up, so I’m going to make some tea.

Do you need some time?

DC: No, no.

Ok. You’re in a rare position as a comedian, being able to sort of tour on your own terms.

DC: Oh, sure. Yeah.

Could you see yourself doing it any other way? I mean, I don’t know how much you worked on the road just in clubs, but …

DC: Oh, I did that a bunch of times, yeah. I never enjoyed it that much. I mean, initially I liked the work and I liked amassing the experience and everything, but club work isn’t really that much fun. But I never just solely did stand-up. I mean, I did, I guess, like when I was younger, in my early twenties, but I was just fucking around. I mean, I did stand-up because it was fun and you could make a little money, and Boston was a place where you could pretty much just work in New England and not really have to go out much on the road. But I was never like a real road comic, like a road warrior type. And I can’t imagine ever doing that. Because at some point I would just think, “You know what? I’ve got enough money for noodles and rent and heat. I don’t need to go to fucking Tulsa and Amarillo for two weeks. Fuck it, I’m not going.”

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Gull is from Richmond. At the risk of slight hyperbole, this makes Richmond the greatest city on the face of the earth, improved only by the prospect of artists, mystics and weirdos flocking to our fair city like nothing so much as the human equivalent of las golondrinas returning to Capistrano, filling the streets with wisdom, light and gently-used Deep Purple albums.

So … slight hyperbole.

Gull rules, ok?

But Gull is from Richmond, and the picture you see above is one that I saw first on the great RVA institution known as www.onewayrichmond.com – your one stop shop for the best show picks in the city, with side orders of both civic pride and teeth-gnashing lunacy. Whether you’re lucky enough to live in the undeniable Eden that is Richmond, or simply find yourself in need of entertainment options as you’re rolling fast down I-95 (supersonic, overdrive), you could do worse than making onewayrichmond.blogspot.com a regular stop.

Dispensing with the hyperbole for a moment, let’s move on to damning with faint praise: with the possible exception of Dr. Demento, I have simply never bonded so instantly with a radio show as I have with “Sunrise Ocean Bender,” another wonder of awesomeness that contributes to the Richmond-ness of Richmond.

I could tell you that your host – the enigma wrapped up in a riddle, then deep fried, that is Mr. Atavist – takes listeners up, up and away, perhaps in a beautiful balloon, perhaps sitting in a tin can, far above sets world, setting sail “every Friday morning, 3 – 6 a.m. on Richmond’s WRIR, to find something for your ears, and something for your head … from psych to prog to pop and whatever tributary we can find on the way.”

Or I could just tell you that any radio show that in unafraid to drop some classic Gene Wilder dialogue before blasting into a modern classic by The Asteroid #4 will have my undivided attention. Even better, you needn’t be in the River City to experience Mr. Atavist pull up the El Camino and play some music for the holy ghost. You’ll find both playlists and podcasts right here. Do yourself a favor and jump right in to this ocean.

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 transcript of a 2002 (pre-“Chappelle Show”) interview I did with the always hilarious Dave Chappelle.

DC: Hello?

May I speak with Dave please?

DC: Speaking.

Dave, this is Ryan from Punchline mag in Richmond, Virginia. I had an interview scheduled for about this time.

DC: Oh . . . OK.

Do you need some time?

DC: Uhhh . . . yeah. Maybe like ten minutes.

Alright, I’ll call you back in like ten minutes.

DC: Perfect.

Alright.

(Ten minutes later …)

DC: Hello?

Dave, it’s Ryan from Punchline again.

DC: Alright.

You OK to do the interview?

DC: Yeah, cool. I’m coming down that way soon.

Right, yeah, that’s what the interview is for.

DC: Alright.

How old were you when you started doing stand-up?

DC: I started when I was fourteen.

Did it come about because you had a love for stand-up comedy, or just because people told you that you were funny?

DC: Ummm . . . I think both of the above.

It had to be weird performing stand-up at fourteen.

DC: Yeah, it was.

What were some of the advantages and disadvantages of starting so early?

DC: Well, my mom used to have to come to the clubs with me, so you can put that under both columns.

What’s the advantage to having your mom there?

DC: Well, basically just that I could get in. Help me navigate the adults.

What was your act like when you were fourteen?

DC: Surprisingly similar.

Really?

DC: Yeah. I mean, I was younger, so it wasn’t as in-depth as it might be now. But you know, I would talk about “ALF,” I would talk about Jesse Jackson running for President . . .

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How much do you really want to read about a show that already happened? Is there really a point to live show reviews? In the best case scenario, doesn’t it come down to, “”I was there, it was rad, end of story.”?

Certainly there are some that manage to do it better than others. But I’d count myself among the others.

But this much is worth noting: Mondo Drag came to town (Richmond, VA) this past Monday evening and proceeded to lay waste to eardrums, expectations and sanity.

Mondo Drag - Space Rituals

Mighty, mighty Mondo Drag

Both longtime readers of this blog will recall how enamored I am of their debut album, “New Rituals” – and I think those songs sound even better live. Most impressive about seeing them recently, however, were the new songs they played. I always wondered what would happen in Phil Lynott had joined Tangerine Dream – now I have something that approximates an answer. Undoubtedly, the next album from Mondo Drag will be mondo rad.

Main Street Gospel preach the word ...

It wouldn’t be fair to not make mention of the opening set by Ohio’s Main Street Gospel. Instantly engaging hooks, fuzzed out guitars and and a nervous,  rowdy-powder-and-resin-charged posture. Definitely a band to put on your radar.

Closing out the Monday evening festivities were The Diamond Center, a Richmond-based-but-Georgia-born band of indeterminate number (on this night, I think there were five of them … maybe six), dishing out a delicious helping of freaky, fuzzy, folky-psych. Check ’em out!

The Diamond Center journey to the center of your mind ...

The Black Angels encourage you to rethink your preconceived notions, question authority and create other methods for survival.

Encouragement accepted.

Early this past summer I had the good fortune to stumble upon a copy of a stunning masterpiece of a book by the author Hampton Sides, entitled “Blood and Thunder: The Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West.” While it’s difficult to overstate the massive scope and masterful nuance of this incredible book, buy me a drink sometime and I’ll make a good-faith effort to do just that.

Hallelujah.

One passage in particular from the book has returned to my thoughts many times in the intervening months. In it, the Mescalero chief Cadete expresses the following to Capt. John Cremony:

“Let me tell you what we think. You begin when you are little to work hard. After you get to be men, you build big houses, big towns, and everything else in proportion. Then, after you have got them all, you die and leave them behind. Now, we call that slavery. You are slaves from the time you begin to talk until you die; but we are free as air … Our wants are few and easily supplied. The river, the wood and plain yield all that we require. We will not be slaves, nor will we send our children to your schools, where they only learn to become like yourselves.”

Where lies the connection between this and the new album by The Black Angels, “Phosphene Dream”? I don’t know.

Both are inspiring to me, exciting to me, heavy to me. One sounds better than the other coming through the speakers of my car stereo when exploring the winding, strange and beautiful country roads that thankfully are still easy to find in my area of Virginia.

This is the feeling of connecting to art – when you can feel the effort, the spirit and the effort of spirit put forth by others connecting in some way with the Self.

This feeling continues – another piece of the puzzle.

Less puzzling is the connection between myself and the Canadian wizards of Black Mountain – or at least the music they make (I have no indication that the members of Black Mountain are either aware of, or in any way support, my existence).

It dates back to January 2005, shortly after my beautiful bride and I moved our son and our stuff from our city airport to our first house in the country (comparatively speaking, at least). Somehow, I stopped at a Barnes & Noble that I never stop at, browsed through a music selection where I never browse, and picked up an album called “Black Mountain,” by a band I had never heard. For the next six hours, desperate to retain a security deposit, I cleaned our old apartment from top to bottom, thinking about life, love and loss, all soundtracked by this incredible album and this incredible band. Those songs made inroads to my brain, and expressway to my skull, to my heart, helped along by sweat in my eyes and the scent of Mop’N’Glo in my lungs.

So, like The Black Angels, Black Mountain fall in to that even-widening category of bands for whom I will likely always to sworn to checking out their new stuff (unless Stephen McBean and company suddenly start sounding and dressing like Judas Priest on the “Turbo” tour. Actually, should that happen … expect me to redouble my support).

The new album “Wilderness Heart” sees no end in sight for this “must hear” status and if anything, has me wanting to declare it their best work yet, and surely one of the top albums I’ve heard all year. Since buying it, not a day has gone by that I haven’t listened to at least some of this stunner – and I don’t see it falling out of the rotation for some time to come.

Words fail me, so thank God for moving pictures. This brilliant and memorable video for “The Hair Song” says much more about the tone and feel of “Wilderness Heart” as anything I could ever hope to cobble together. Let spirits ride!

Check out this great interview with the co-director of the video, Zoe Bower, from LA Weekly.

Next up.

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 transcript of a 2005 interview I did with the always hilarious and often high Doug Benson.

I appreciate you doing this, Doug.

(Note: Buzz, the six-foot-four, gray-haired, 50+ retired cop that runs the sound, lights, and is a general jack-of-all-trades at the Richmond Funny Bone, has begun doing his speech about audience behavior – “Please keep all table conversation to a minumium, but we want that laughter to the maximum!” etc. His voice is low and booming, like a classic radio announcer, and he talks for quite some time.)

DB: Buzz is doing his crowd speech.

That’s why I started the recorder.

Oh my God, he just goes on and on and on.

But he’s got a great voice.

But he really drops the hammer on them. The last thing they’re going to do is yell out during the show, not after this speech. He’s still going! I could tell you this whole story while he’s still going: I was walking through the hotel lobby tonight, going to the car to come to the show, and the guy behind the counter goes, “Is this your last night in town?” And I say, “Yeah, I’m leaving tomorrow.” And he says, “Well, I just wanted to tell you something …” And he’s sitting there eating, like, pudding out of a bowl. And I’m on my way to the car, so I’m like having to stop to hear his story. And he says, “Well, I just had to tell you this. Last night I went home and I did not feel good. So I laid down in bed, and I turned on the TV, and I watched ‘The Queens of Comedy.’” And I was like, “Whaaaat?” And he says, “And I just have to tell you that Monique is so funny.” Now, doesn’t that whole thing sound like he was ramping up to tell me that he saw me on TV? (A waitress comes in and brings Doug his dinner.) They treat you good here at the Richmond Funny Bone.

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Summer’s almost gone, as Mr. Mojo Risin’ once intoned, and I’ve been thinking about salvation. Surely just like you, I’ve spent the summer thinking about a lot of things, salvation not the least of them. Bills, pills, shills – even Lofgren, Nils. They all mean different things to different people … and again, salvation not the least of them.

So it was a rough summer – not necessarily dramatic, but difficult; not necessarily stoned, but beautiful. And when it’s like that – and it’s always like that – I turn to the blessed sacrament of rock and roll.

http://www.mediafire.com/?y2hw968ajsngdbe

Above you’ll find a rough approximation of the sounds of salvation as I hear them (and if you’re wondering, I tried to make the preceding statement as pompous as possible, but that’s the best I could do). Enjoy? Tracklist below.

SUMMER HIGHLIGHTS:

• The renovation of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts was completed and it’s killer. Next time you’re rolling fast down I-95 – supersonic, overdrive – you should stop by.

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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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