Hometown Heroes Hotspur

So if you have been keeping up with what’s going on here at The Pulse, you’ll notice we love to bring you up to date with the latest and greatest shows around the area. This past Friday, I was fortunate enough to catch Rockville, Maryland’s own powerpop heroes Hotspur at the 9:30 club. The opening bands included Boys Will Be Boys, Margot Macdonald (“New Artist Of The Year” Wammie Winner), and No Second Troy. As a Winner of “The Freshman” on MTV U – MTV calls Hotspur “Buzzworthy”! Born and raised in Rockville, MD Hotspur was recently chosen for Taco Bell's “Feed the Beat” program and are currently nominated for numerous Washington Area Music Awards.

I remember when I first popped the band’s debut CD You Should Know Better By Now I was only slightly enthused about the band’s music, and even after hearing the record a dozen or so times I still wasn’t feeling it. However after watching the band tear up the stage a week ago I couldn’t believe my eyes and ears: BOY WAS I WRONG. After a brief introduction from Hot 99.5 DJ Kane, the boys ran on stage and tore it up like any rockstar would. Lead singer Joe Mach and lead guitarist Evan Anderson continuously dove into the as the girls went wild and in the process almost took me out by dropping a mic-stand on my head.

Though I remained very much alive, I realized that by the end of the night my body was dead from keeping up with the bands endless enthusiasm. Their energy and talent on stage ranks alongside bands such as Jimmy Eat World, Paramore, and other big name acts. On my way to work the following day I popped the CD back into my car and found my self whizzing around the beltway and belting out the lyrics to “Chandelier” and “Too Young”. Even if you don’t like powerpop tunes or have never heard of the band, you MUST pick up a record and give it a listen or two. To sum up the night in one statement, if you want to the energy of Michael Jackson and Bono, but that intimate hometown feeling you better not miss out on the next Hotspur show. For more information on the band and to her some tunes check he band's Myspace out at www.myspace.com/hotspur and for photos from the show take a peek below and click on the link below for even more shots from their 9:30 show!

Peace Out DC,
Alena Moran

http://www.flickr.com/photos/alenamoran/

Javier Dunn: The Man In The Hat

Photo credit Emily Williams.

If you're into singer/songwriter music, you may know the name Javier Dunn. He hangs out in the same Hotel Cafe songwriters circle as artists like Jay Nash, Caitlin Crosby, and Laura Jansen. He's also pretty good friends with Sara Bareilles.

You know the guy with the cool hat in the "Bottle It Up" video? That's Javier.

He has been playing guitar with Ms. Bareilles since their days at UCLA. When he's not on stage with her or uploading videos of their lives on tour to YouTube, Javier writes, records, and performs his own music. The last time he came to town with Sara, I sat down with Javier underneath the marquis of the Fillmore Detroit. Below are some excerpts from this interview. Check out the full audio interview and the internet premiere of his new song "If You Go" on CK Radio (starting at 44:42).

When did you decide to become a musician?

I started playing guitar when I was ten, but I think I knew for sure that I wanted to be a musician when I was like fifteen or sixteen. It just became realistic enough that I could do that for a living. So that’s when I started really focusing on songwriting and doing it for a career.

Were your parents supportive of your decision initially?

They were. They’ve always been super supportive. I think that sometimes they wanted me to do something more practical, like computers or engineering or something. But they’ve always been really supportive. They never told me not to. And now they’re so proud.

Where do you find inspiration when you’re writing?

I don’t know … it ends up just coming from stuff that you’re going through in your life. I feel like a lot of songwriters write songs because they’re not so good at processing life through talking to other friends and it’s just how you breathe out. You know what I’m saying? You take in whatever’s happening. Mostly it’s emotional stuff and relationship stuff. That seems to be the stuff that you want to write about and people can relate to. But really, it’s anything. I guess for the most part, it’s girls.

Tell me about playing on NBC’s Lipstick Jungle. Was it weird playing on a taped show that isn’t music driven?

Yes. It was weird for all of us. We just thought that it was the most ridiculous afternoon. But, you know, this is all so new and so lucky that we’re all just going for the ride. Sure, we’ll try anything once. That ended up being a really fun, easy day that was totally silly, and probably something that we’ll never do again. It was cool to see though.

If you had to pick one high point of this whole experience, what would it be and why?

I’ll do two, and they’re both pretty succinct. One is getting to record at Abbey Road Studios. To get to play and record there was one of the coolest moments of my life. And I think the other one was Madison Square Garden. So, on a performance level and on a cool musical level, those are the two. Just because it’s The Garden and it’s the most nuts thing you could ever do.

Check out Javier on Myspace, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Tumblr. You can buy his CD at CD Baby. Look for new music from him soon.

Peace.

Emily

Javier Dunn and Sara Bareilles covering "Oh Darling" at Abbey Road Studios.

Sleeping Lessons Update

Hey everyone! Way back in July, Alena did an article on a band called Sleeping Lessons.

Well, I'm here to tell you that they're finally in the studio making their debut album. We would love to leak some of it for you, but these boys are perfectionists and don't want you to hear anything but the final product.

However, bassist Andrew Seltzer told me, "one sounds like something off of Room For Squares." He is also excited about the recordings of "Baby I've Got Soul" and a new song, "Slow Motion." The former was played on CBS's Better Connecticut in October.

Sleeping Lessons is also up for a slot at Bamboozle 2010. You can help them get there by going to their show on March 6 at the Trackside Teen Center in Wilton, CT. Tickets are $12. You can get more details on their myspace.

Update 03/08/2010: They did it! Sleeping Lessons is moving to the finals of The Break Contest. You can help them win by going to see them play again at the Trackside Teen Center in Wilton, CT on April 10.

A Long Night in Motor City

Artist: John Mayer

City: Auburn Hills, MI

Date: 2/12/10

Grade: A

At the end of his set at the Palace of Auburn Hills, John Mayer crooned "It's been a long night in Motor City" - exchanging Detroit's nickname for NYC in the lyrics to "Who Says." A long night it had been indeed. Two and half hours long, to be exact.

In between playing hits from all four of his studio albums, Mayer exchanged pleasantries with the crowd. As he took the stage, opening with current single "Heartbreak Warfare," Mayer enthusiastically asked, “How are you doing, Detroit?”

Cue screaming women. 12,000 screaming women.

Although the male/female ratio was not as imbalanced as a Jonas Brothers concert, the crowd was dominantly female. After a deafening response to a request to hear the ladies in crowd, Mayer asked the men to make some noise. “You are fewer in number, but LOWER IN TIMBRE,” he quipped.

Mayer spent the evening making fun of everything from the current state of the music industry to the Sylvester Stallone movie Over The Top. He even made fun of himself a bit before playing early single “No Such Thing.” Alone on the stage with just an acoustic guitar, he joked “This is how I used to play shows at coffee houses … there were less people.”

The banter took a softer turn, when Mayer thanked his fans for coming to the show. He commented about how great it felt to know someone in this room might have had a bad day, looked at their concert ticket, and said, “Well, at least I’ve got Friday night.” Although it was unspoken by Mayer himself, many in the crowd remarked that Mayer had probably said the same thing earlier in the week.

You see, John Mayer has been in the news a lot lately. He said something about comparing sex with Jessica Simpson to a drug and letting a racial slur slip. Yeah, you heard that as well?

I’m not here to tell you my opinion on the issue. It’s not my job to tell you how to feel. But I am going to encourage each and every one of you to read the entire interview.

Twitter. It’s a beautiful thing. I tweet. Alena tweets. John Mayer tweets. Twitter has opened the door for communication between fans and musicians. Whether an artist is holding a spontaneous boredom induced Q&A session or asking for an opinion about what kind of sandwich he should have for lunch, musicians and fans are now interacting on an hourly basis.

Mayer owes a lot to Twitter. His 3,061,771 followers aren’t all dedicated fans of his music. In fact, I would be willing to bet that the majority don’t know many songs beyond “Your Body is a Wonderland” and “Waiting on the World to Change.” Through his poop jokes and occasional profound 4 AM thoughts, Mayer has gained new fans, increased his celebrity, and been placed at the forefront of a communication revolution. Mayer even comments on his Twitter use in his now infamous Playboy interview: “With Twitter, I can show my real voice. Here’s me thinking about stuff: ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if you could download food?’ It has been important for me to keep communicating.”

Interesting how no one is talking about that sentence.

In the last week, Twitter has killed Mayer. His controversial statements spread like wildfire on the microblogging site. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Twitter, it is made up of short statements of 140 characters or less posted by users. Mayer’s Playboy interview in its entirety has a length of 33,401 characters.

I am asking you to please read the entire interview. Not because I’m sick of your “John Mayer is a douche” status (but honestly – it’s been a week), but instead because I’m a bit worried about our generation. The world is a scary place when the average person is willing to look at only .004% of a final product and take it as fact. What if we only take .004% of laws into consideration? What if we only answer .004% of 911 calls? What if senators only read .004% of the Healthcare Bill?

“Now you kids get off my lawn!”

I realize I sound like a crotchety old man. This is a music blog, and you come here to read about music, not to listen to my rants about the fate of our society. So, let’s talk about John Mayer’s music.

The dude can play guitar.

Peace.

Emily

Setlist:

Heartbreak Warfare

Crossroads

Vultures

Bigger Than My Body

Slow Dancing in a Burning Room

Perfectly Lonely

Assassin

War Of My Life

No Such Thing

Waiting on the World to Change

Half of My Heart

Message in a Bottle

Why Georgia

Say

***ENCORE***

Who Says

Gravity

Photos by Emily Williams.

Set Your Goals performs Lady Gaga's 'Just Dance' on Kazoos

As if the Bay are band of boys couldn't get any cooler, they take it to the next level. While touring with Motion City Soundtrack, This Providence, and The Swellers, the sextet stopped by the MTV office to perform Lady Gaga's debut single Just Dance on kazoos. Check the video out HERE and see it for yourself. The band consists of vocalists Matt Wilson and Jordan Brown, lead guitarist Audelio Flores Jr, rhythm guitarist Daniel Coddaire, bassist Joe Saucedo and drummer Michael Ambrose. Remember to check out their latest album "This Will Be The Death Of Us" and catch them on tour this spring (dates/venues to be announced Feb 16).

Video Link: http://buzzworthy.mtv.com/2010/02/12/set-your-goals-lady-gaga-just-dance-kazoo/

ALSO! Check out some photos from their recent performance at The Recher Theatre in Towson, MD on February 1, 2010. Click on the photos for even more photos from the entire show.

 

Fueled By Ramen's 2009 Jewel: The Swellers

           On a cold Monday evening, I walked up to the Recher Theatre in Towson, MD to see hundreds of college kids lined up ready to rock out on the My Dinasaur Life tour with bands headliners Motion City Soundtrack, and Set Your Goals, This Providence, and our latest favorite, The Swellers. As I climbed through a sold out crowd of kids, I hopped over the barricade and entered the pit to join a few photographers from Sony that were filming for openers This Providence. By 7:00 the crowd grew anxious as The Swellers came on to make their Towson and Recher Theater debut. Though This Providence's gear cluttered most of the pit beyond the barricade, I still got to enjoy their set and grabbed a few good shots (look below for a few photos of their set at The Recher and at the end of the blog).
 

The Michigan based pop-punk band consists of Nick Diener, (guitar/lead vocals), Jonathan Diener (drums/backing vocals) Ryan Collins (guitar), and Anto Boros (bass/backing vocals). Yes the Diener boys are in fact brothers and they are quite the duo indeed. As the ONLY band to be signed by Fueled By Ramen (FBR) Records (Paramore, The Academy Is..., Cobra Starship) this past year, The Swellers started a new wave of music with their latest album release "Ups and Downsizing). Though new to the label, the band is certainly not new to the whole touring scenario. The Swellers recently finished their album release tour as an opening act for Paramore's album release our as well. When chatting with Drummer Jonathan Diener, he described the experience as "almost too perfect...Not many bands get to experience what we experienced daily on that tour and we wouldn't trade it for anything". The Swellers have been perfecting their live act for the past two and a half years playing hundreds of shows with well known rockers like The Suicide Machines, Mustard Plug, Bowling For Soup, Much The Same, A Wilhelm Scream and made their Vans Warped Tour debut last year where they rocked three dates of the tour on the Ernie Ball stage. However this year, you'll be able to catch the band on Warped Tour all summer as they will be playing the full tour.


            The band agreed that their song writing abilities and performance capabilities have matured and grown over the years, but they say that their key asset was their friend, recording engineer, and producer Mark Michalik. Michalik runs a small studio out of Chicago and has worked on The Swellers last three albums. He has been with the band since the beginning and according to guitarist Ryan Collins, he has been the bands biggest influence throughout the creative process.  After hearing their latest album the first time about 3 months ago, the song "Feet First" marked a milestone for the band as their deepest song yet. The song was inspired by a suicide documentary, The Bridge, which chronicles several suicide attempts from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. The song’s title comes from the story of one jumper changed his mind on the way down and hit the water feet first, the safest way to hit the water. That jumper is alive and is now an advocate for anti-suicide. “It’s one of the most powerful songs on the record,” says Nick.

           So if you haven't been lured into buying their complete discography yet (consisting of 4 albums, a demo, and a 7'' vinyl release) then I recommend purchasing or downloading (legally please!) their latest two albums "Ups and Downsizing" and "My Everest" so you two can get in the hype of FBR's best pop-punk band on the label. You can check the band out on Myspace at http://www.myspace.com/theswellers or on their own website http://theswellers.com/.

That's all for now on this snowy Saturday morning. Keep it cool, keep it rockin
The Pulse
All photo credits go to Alena Moran


Jonathan Diemer (top), Nick Diemer (bottom)                                                     

                                                

                                                                                         

Interview with Andy Poliakoff of Virginia Coalition

Way back in 2008 I interviewed Andy Poliakoff from Virginia Coalition. If you don't know VACO, I recommend you check out their latest CD, Home This Year. Many more interview transcripts are to come, since it's what I do in my free time.

What’s the story behind your band? How did you guys all meet?

We all grew up in the same town, Alexandria, Virginia. We originally just wanted to get together in somebody’s basement, make a racket, and a few of us decided that we really wanted to keep playing. A friend of ours booked us a gig at a small club in Georgetown. We played the show and we got hooked. Playing live is just incredible … we actually went to the high school that "Remember the Titans" was filmed at.

How did you pick your name?

We were all away at college and would come back on breaks to play shows. We didn’t have a name and since we’d all go away to college away from Virginia and think “I can’t wait to get back to Virginia and play music”, we just felt like we were this coalition of like minded musicians who wanted to play music together. We had a really strong connection with our hometown, our home state, and it just seemed like everything that happened to us happened in Virginia. So, it seemed to fit.

Who are your major influences?

We grew up listening to everything from Paul Simon to Metallica to Mozart. We love all music.

How would you describe your sound?

I think people say we sound a lot like the Barenaked Ladies or O.A.R. or Dave Matthews. We hear those names a lot. We don’t know if that’s true. We don’t really know what we actually sound like. It’s hard to know what you sound like. You have to sort of depend on other people for that one.

You guys are famous for the energy at your shows. How do you get to that level of excitement every night?

I don’t know if you or a lot of the people reading this have been on stage, but there’s a lot of nervous energy on stage and you’ve got to find a place to put that and sometimes stuff just sort of boils up inside you and you start getting electrified and you act crazy. You can’t explain it offstage. We just have such a good time. We all look at music as a way to make something melodic and uplifting, and I think our live shows are a lot like that. We just want to have positive energy flowing and see people happy and having a great time. Sometimes an audience just needs to see you projecting excitement and then it becomes contagious.

What is the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened on stage?

Lots of crazy things that I probably shouldn’t tell you. Ummm …. Our drummer’s had to run off stage to use the restroom. Let’s just say it wasn’t the pretty stuff. One time we toured with Sister Hazel and they had all of their crew in bizarre costumes and they just came on and started taking our stuff off stage during our set and messing up the tuning on our instruments. It was crazy.

Was that an end of tour prank?

Yeah. It was. Oh man. End of tour pranks …

How would you say your sound has developed over the years?

We’ve gotten a lot more excited about making music for the purpose of really communicating messages of hopefulness or "positivity" that we feel. We’ve always been about the live show, but as we’ve gotten older we’ve been like “Who are we?” I think no matter what age you are, as you mature, you ask, “Who am I? What am I?” and we said we want to be people who change something. People who commentate on all the things in life, sadness and happiness and jealousy and love, things that really touch people. The essence of that is just to write songs that are lyrically meaningful.

Do you prefer touring or working in the studio?

I prefer touring. Definitely. It’s way harder but it’s just so much more rewarding. I’m definitely a musician and I love music and that’s why I do what I do, but I really love performing for people. I can’t speak for the whole band obviously, so the other guys might like the studio better. I just love to be in front of people and make a fool out of myself and connect with people. I just really adore it.

What is your songwriting process:

On songwriting: “The essence … is just to write songs that are lyrically meaningful.
The process is just to get together. In the past, we did more writing on our own. We would write stuff separately and then come together when a song was done and work on it. For our new record “Home This Year” we all got together and wrote all of the songs together and that was the first time we’d done that. We also worked with a couple professional songwriters and that was an interesting process. But as a band, we pretty much go in a room, we lock ourselves in it and say “Okay.” As far as chord progression stuff, we come up with that on our own and then we go in as a group and work until the song is finished. If it doesn’t sound good on an acoustic guitar with vocal harmonies, we just drop it. There’s all these crazy … sounds that they can do in the studio that make stuff sound cool, but we want it to sound good on an acoustic guitar. We don’t dress stuff up ... We’re kind of old school in that way.

Do you guys have any good studio stories?

I’m not the guy to ask. Um … we’ve definitely played in some pretty wild studios, especially for “OK to Go” But in the studio we’re just under water, and sort of there. You’re just in there for so long and you have no idea what time it is. I’m always like “Let’s go out. It’s too dark in here.” The studio for us is generally like me complaining that I’m in the Bat Cave. I want a studio in the Caribbean … I hate the studio, like the atmosphere. I hate basements. I hate caves. I hate low lighting. I hate candles. I need to see the sun as much as humanly possible.

What is your favorite part of being on tour?

That’s a good question. There’s a lot of it I like. I think one of my favorite things to do on the road is wake up before the rest of my band just to wake up to read the paper and relax and reflect on the day before. The part counter to that is … I don’t know. Sometimes you see people that you went to school with that moved to a new city. The not knowing. I mean I’m sitting here and I have no idea what will happen tonight. There is just so much routine in life, and not knowing what’s not going to happen is nice. You can just make music and be positive and make this little piece of the future that you can control when you’re on tour. It’s nice.

What is one question that you’ve never been asked that you’ve always wanted to be asked?

I don’t know. How about “How do you really not want to die?” “I don’t want to be eaten by sharks.” Let’s see … I would love to be asked, “So how was the flight on your private jet? How was the Japanese tour?” That would be awesome.

Website

Myspace

Tour:

12/31 - Alexandria, VA

1/30 - New York, NY

2/5 - Philadelphia, PA

2/6 - Baltimore, MD

Photos by Emily Williams.

Sara Bareilles Give Fans a "Free Ride" for the Holidays

Merry Chrismakwanzika!

I bet you don't know what I'm doing. Yes, I'm writing a blog. But what am I doing while writing this blog?

Did you guess?

No. I am not working on college apps. Who are you? My mother?

I'll give you a hint.

Last night around 6:45, Sara Bareilles posted an update to her Twitter announcing that she would release a new live EP on her website today.

Can you guess what I'm doing now?

That's right. I'm listening to the new live EP by the one and only Sara Bareilles. You should be too. Go download it.

What's that? Your iPod is already exploding from too much music? Well delete some stuff. You've got to make some space for this.

This one-track, 31 minute delight is from the Chicago stop of last winter's Gravity Tour. Featuring new arrangements of tracks from her major label debut, Little Voice, this is Sara Bareilles as you've never heard her before.

Remember "Love Song" - the one with the insanely catchy piano riff and a Grammy nomination to its name? It's here. Bareilles barely touches the piano on this live recording. It also features "Come Round Soon," a track shamelessly left out of last fall's live DVD, Between the Lines: Live at the Fillmore.

She also debuts a new song on her internet EP, "Free Ride."

It's not a new record, but it will definitely tide eager fans over until its release.

Have I still not convinced you?

It's free.

Download it here.

Peace.

Emily

Track Listing

1. Intro

2. Bottle It Up

3. Come Round Soon

4. Vegas

5. Free Ride

6. Love Song

7. I'm On Fire (featuring Tony Lucca) [Bruce Springsteen Cover]

8. Gravity

The Pulse hangs with Set Your Goals at the AP Fall Ball Tour

Hey, Alena here just popping in with another awesome interview! I got an awesome chance to hang with Mike (Drummer), Matt (Vocals), and Dan (Guitar) from the Bay Area pop-punk band Set Your Goals. Their performance at the Fall Ball Tour was INSANE and the guys from the band were really cool to hang with. Check out some of their latest tour stories and the story behind their latest album "This Will Be The Death Of Us" (Epitaph Records).

TP: So how is everyone doing?

All: Good

Mike: Pumped for the show
Matt: Word, I got my coffee in hand

TP: Did you guys dress up for Halloween?

Matt: Yes we were the Juggalos
Mike: of the Insane Clown Posse

TP: HAHA NICE! Did you guys do anything special? Any parties?

Matt: Haha we tried getting into clubs but had no luck getting in
Dan: But we ate loads of candy

TP: So how’s it been playing with all the other bands on the Fall Ball Tour?

Matt: It’s been good. We love all the guys on tour

Dan: There are a lot of different bands and it brings in a huge crowd. It’s like one big family
Mike: There is just so much energy and the crowds are insane

TP: Who’s the messiest of the 5 on tour

Mike: Joe

Matt: Joe

Dan: Yeah Joe

Matt: Yeah he’s definitely the messiest but we make him clean.

TP: Who has been the best band to tour with so far?

Dan: Fireworks. They are a lot of fun. They have been our friends for a long time.

Mikey: True, New Found Glory and Four Year Strong were awesome as well.
Matt: Yeah we love Fireworks. When we're with them we go insane.

TP: What has bee the best location to visit while on tour?

Matt: Boston definitely

Mike: Chicago

Dan: I think on this tour though, I think we all can agree that the Nashville show was pretty crazy. Sold out and the set was nuts

TP: Any specific bands do you dream of touring with?

Matt: Metallica, The Cure, you know the usual

Mike: Ditto, New Found Glory, and we’ve already gotten to do that!

Dan: Black Sabbath, The Police, there are just so many amazing bands out there we’d love to tour with.

TP: So SYG just released a new album? Any specific inspiration for the title? 

Matt: You know we all had been going through some hard times just at home and stuff. The title just came up and really reflected everything we were going through. If things kept going the way they were, than it would have been “The Death of Us”.  But things turned around and picked up when we switched labels to Epitaph (Dan: Whoot).

Mike: We spent so much time on the record and we are just really proud with the way it came out. Mike Green is the man.

Dan and Matt: WORD!

TP: What can fans expect when they see you play live

Matt: Nothing but a crazy show. Don’t come if you don’t want to go crazy. It’s just full of energy and enthusiasm.

Mike: And don’t forget to sing along

Dan: Definitely

TP: Alright bros thanks for hanging with us and good luck on tonight’s show.  

All: Peace man

Photos from their performance on the AP Tour at the 9:30 Club Washington, DC:

The Pulse's Christmas Wish List

These soon-to-be released and newly released albums are expected to make the BEST stocking stuffers (or Hanukkah gifts, or winter solstice gifts depending on your religion of choice) for you (of course) and your friends. Don't forget to hit up your local record store and pick one of these babies up:

For your parents:
Buffet Hotel - Jimmy Buffet

For the young adults:
Battle Studies - John Mayer
This Is War - 30 Seconds to Mars
Fall be Kind EP - Animal Collective
Butter - Hudson Mohawke

For the teeny-bopper:
Glee - The Music Vol 2 - Glee Cast
The Fame Monster - Lady Gaga
For Your Entertainment - Adam Lambert

Seasons Greetings and get ready for your black friday shopping!
Alena (THE Pulse)