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BACK TO THE CITY: MPLS MUSIC CONVERSATION: LUCID VANGUARD premiere “PSEUDO SPIRITS” (video interview + in-studio session)

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By Simon Calder

Next Thursday, March 29th, “Back to the City” will host its first showcase event at Mortimers Bar, with performances by Lucid Vanguard, wetter, Straya, and Tony the Scribe, and music videos from the first 2 seasons of “Back to the City Sessions” projected on the big screen between the bands.

Ahead of the release of Lucid VanGuard’s “pseudo spirits” EP at the Hook & Ladder this Friday, March 23rd, “Back to the City: MPLS Music Conversation” and RIFT are pleased to premiere that EP, which serves as both soundtrack and subject matter to this long-form conversation between frontman Karl Remus and “Back to the City” host and curator Simon Calder.

Also premiered at the start of this episode is “Holly, My Harmony,” one of 3 songs performed live at the Minnehaha Recording Company as part of Lucid VanGuard’s recent “Back to the City Session.” As with “Twin Peaks” and “Don’t Move to L.A.,” in-studio performances of which are also featured and discussed in this episode, “Holly, My Harmony” is slated for release as part of a larger project in fall 2018.

Catch Lucid VanGuard live at the Hook & Ladder this Friday, then also at Mortimers Bar next Thursday, March 29th. Also performing on that Mortimers bill are Tony the Scribe, whose interview series with Back to the City is viewable here:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOt8qg80_A419X_Oh9D3AUX28QTKgmWsq​

BACK TO THE CITY: MPLS MUSIC CONVERSATION: STRAYA on Symbiosis in “SOBEREYED” – Video Interview

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By Simon Calder

Next Thursday, March 29th, “Back to the City” will host its first showcase event at Mortimers Bar. With performances by Straya, Lucid Vanguard, wetter, and Tony the Scribe, and music videos from the first two seasons of the weekly “Back to the City Sessions” projected on the big screen between the bands.

Following last week’s interview with showcase opener Tony the Scribe, RIFT Magazine today premieres a 45-minute episode of “Back to the City.” Devoted to showcasing headliners Straya, featuring live footage recorded, mixed, and mastered at the Minnehaha Recording Company during Straya’s recent Back to the City Session, and a long-form conversation about “Sobereyed” featuring all four members of Straya and Back to the City host and curator Simon Calder.

“Sobereyed,” which was released last month, is Straya’s second full-length record and the first to be released by Los Angeles based record label Chain Letter Collective. It is, as the progressive/post-metal quartet’s website describes a “57-minute work thatrepresents two years of writing and growth.” Throughout this interview, Straya considers some new ways in which “Sobereyed” explores the idea of growth, with a new emphasis on symbiosis and circularity, as opposed to the more linear ascent narrative implied by the title and cover of Straya’s first record, “Healthy Steps.”

At the heart of the episode is an in-depth discussion of “Acoustic Song (for rock quartet and fixed media),” the opening lyrics to which are “fall down the stairwell,” suggesting descent. Throughout the song, the synth parts and percussion of Mark Engelmann, Cody Nelson, and Toby Ramaswamy then both accentuate and challenge the structure first set by Sanjeev Mishra’s acoustic chord pattern; with each chord change, the rhythmic feel radically alters.

“In the cyclical, I’ve found structural stability,” asserts Mishra, with Engelmann observing that the album’s sequencing elicits a sort of return to the point of origin, and Ramaswamy noting that “every re-occurrence is slightly different” due to the combination of two prominent attributes of the record: co-existing layers and cycling.

Ultimately, though, the record is – as Mishra concludes “an invitation: come into our home, and see where we’ve been hanging out.”

Straya can be seen live and hung out with at Mortimers Bar next Thursday, March 29th. Also on that bill is Tony the Scribe, whose series of interviews with Back to the City is available here: http://riftmagazine.com/2018/03/08/back-to-the-city-mpls-music-conversation-presents-mixed-messages/ Lucid Vanguard and wetter, whose long-form Back to the City interviews will be released by RIFT on Wednesday, March 21st, and Friday, March 23rd, respectively.

event link: https://www.facebook.com/events/338521836645300/

Back to the City Showcase 1 YouTube Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOt8qg80_A419X_Oh9D3AUX28QTKgmWsq

Back To The City: MPLS MUSIC CONVERSATION presents “Mixed Messages”

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By Simon Calder

“Your pupils dilate to allow you more light-sensitivity,” Tony the Scribe explains, discussing the title-track to his new EP “Mixed Messages” in this new series of interviews with “Back to the City: MPLS Music Conversation”: “that either means to adjust to see in the dark or to get more of an image of someone you’re attracted to or aroused by. The way that we gather information is by our eyes literally changing shape.”

“Back to the City” – which began in 2015 as a Minneapolis music conversation show on the now-much-missed independent radio station sianetradio.com – has always been about gathering information regarding and delving into the art of twin cities musical talent, with hundreds of past guests including Dessa, Har Mar Superstar, and – in its first episode alone – Mark Mallman, Fathom Lane’s Michael Ferrier and 2017 Picked to Click winner-to-be Thomas Abban.

As it prepares to host its first Back to the City showcase event at Mortimers bar on Thursday March 29th, and to release the twentieth weekly Back to the City Session – featuring video footage of three songs from Al Church’s forthcoming LP “Night Games,” performed, mixed and mastered at the Minnehaha Recording Company – “Back to the City” is also pleased to today return to its roots, working in collaboration with RIFT magazine to launch a series of long-form video interviews, incorporating material from recent Back to the City sessions and discussion with the artists of the new material performed in those sessions.

Today Back to the City and RIFT are pleased to share this video playlist of recent in-studio performances by local acts straya, wetter, and Lucid Vanguard, all of whom will perform at this month’s inaugural Back to the City showcase at Mortimers Bar on Thursday March 29th. Launching the playlist are a series of video interviews with Tony the Scribe, who will be the first act to perform at that inaugural Back to the City showcase. Watch out for the addition to this playlist of four further conversations with Tony the Scribe, as well as long-form interviews with straya, wetter and Lucid Vanguard ahead of their sets at the inaugural Mortimers showcase on the final Thursday of this month.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOt8qg80_A419X_Oh9D3AUX28QTKgmWsq

Interview – J Eastman and the Drunk Uncles

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Within the realm of the local music scene and mixed in with the hip-hop, electronic, electronic, punk and everything else, there is the bar band. The no apology, get a little ripped on stage and play some rock and roll music.

Undeniably Minnesota influenced, J Eastman and the Drunk Uncles throw a mix of alt-country and rock right into your ears. The song they featured on Rift’s 100 days of local music, “Josephine” is a catchy and cool song. It almost reminds me of The Lemonheads slower tracks.

J Eastman answered some questions for us, and it didn’t disappoint. A band who wrote a song called “John Tesh” has to have to have a good sense of humor, right?

Rift: How did J. Eastman and the Drunk Uncles get started?

J Eastman: A lost bet? A dare gone wrong? Court ordered community service? A bad decision made while inebriated? All of the above? The truth is, I started playing music years ago as a pretty bad solo acoustic guy – and after answering a craigslist ad, Chad and I have been playing music together in one form or another for about ten years. The Uncles as constituted has been around for about two years now.

Rift: How does the songwriting process work?

J Eastman: I’m not sure if “work” is the right way to describe the process. I’m pretty slow with writing new material, but I’m usually working on 2 or 3 songs at any given time. I will come up with the music and start hurling words until something sticks. And while my name is right there in front, we work pretty democratically – anyone can bring in a song or lyric idea, chord progression, whatever and the rest of us will try to shape it into something that essentially sounds like the Drunk Uncles. Or not.

Rift: What are the band’s influences, and what new music inspires?

J Eastman: Thankfully, we all have very similar influences in terms of music – we’re all really in tune with the local music scene, going back to the 80’s. The Replacements and Soul Asylum are reflected in our music. You’ll hear a bit of Uncle Tupelo in what we do. When we play our ode to John Tesh, you definitely hear a bit of the classic 90’s grunge sound. In one of our newer songs, we channel Pavement. Speaking of new music, I’ve been listening to the new Charly Bliss album quite a bit. Jason Isbell. Car Seat Headrest.

Rift: What does the band think of the internet music business model?

J Eastman: Creating and independently getting music out to a potential audience has never been easier than it is right now. Marketing is the biggest problem. Generating interest and building a base is the biggest hurdle, and that falls on the band. And as it turns out, I’m the worst when it comes to waving my own flag. So, a lot of what we do relies on networking and word of mouth and the occasional spin on a radio station(Thanks, Sean McPherson!).

The idea that you have to get signed to a record label is an antiquated way of doing things – it works great for the big established acts, but the beauty of the internet model is getting music to the audience directly.

Rift: Does the band have local places they like to play and bands they like to play with?

J Eastman: I think we’re pretty lucky to have had the opportunities that we’ve had – for a bunch of guys writing and recording original music; we’re a bit older than the rest of the demographic. There’s so many great places to play here in town, it’s hard to narrow that down – some of the most memorable include Lee’s Liquor Lounge, and Larry at the Driftwood has always been great to us. When it comes to bands we’ve really enjoyed playing with…we’ve played a couple of great shows with Tim Casey. Every time we play with Pasadena ‘68/Dakota Shakedown I can’t believe how good they are, every show with them is like some cool secret. Ghost Wagon is alt-country done right. Check them out too. Truthfully, there is a great little music scene here, and everyone supports each other.

Rift: What’s next up for J. Eastman and The Drunk Uncles?

J Eastman: What’s next? I think we just take things as they come. We’ll keep writing, recording and playing as long as we can. I don’t know if we’ll put out another CD in the traditional sense like we did last year, but we’ll still put music online and keep booking shows. I’m pretty happy with what we’ve accomplished. There’s still a couple more bucket list venues we’d like to play, and I’ve been pushing to get at least one of our songs on vinyl – anyone wanna do a split with us??

Rift: There is drunk in the name, and the band lists alcohol as the band and personal interests. How often is the band drunk, and is there a drunk story you need to tell?

J Eastman: There’s probably a bunch of stories that probably shouldn’t be told! I don’t know…I mean, it’s hard to escape the stigma that comes with such a name, and there’s probably an abnormal number of songs that we play that reference consumption in some form, but the fact is that we’re all uncles, and yes, we might enjoy a beverage or two…but I don’t think we live up to that part of the name as much as we could. I suppose we could work a little harder at that.

Rift: The band bio mentions existential anxiety, Why do J. Eastman and The Drunk Uncles exist, and what do they have to bring to the meaning of life?

J Eastman: Oh boy – nothing deep here…the fact is, we live in some pretty tense times. We’re not trying to say anything specific or represent some specific cause – to paraphrase one of our own songs, we have no political agenda. I’m hoping when people see us on stage, we’re putting a smile on faces and maybe helping them forget about reality for just a little bit – because we’re just four guys on stage doing the same exact thing…taking a break from reality. Ultimately, we’d like everyone just to get along.

Rift: If the band had a piece of advice about anything at all, what would it be?

Chad: As it turns out, I’m full of bad advice.