THE JIST WITH NOELAN RAMIREZ

This is my second in-person interview, and it comes from Noelan Ramirez.  The interview took less than two minutes, because I ran out of questions to ask, and the launchpad was closing .  Noelan is currently the drummer for bands The Lowlights, The Fire Season and Bellemah.  The Lowlights are about to put of a full length album avalible september 28th on Darla records 




What bands are you in now?

Bellemah, Lowlights. and the Fire Season.

The new lowlights album is about to come out.  are you excited?

I am very excited.  I think it been a year and a half of recording, another year and a half of mixing, re-mixing, doing over dubs, chewing my nails and waiting for it to come out. It's finally coming out September 28th

Damien (Lowlights front man) moved to Los Angeles, do you guys still work on music?

I just visited Damien a month ago and we hung out. We took a little road trip to San Fransisco where we worked on music, Banjos, saw, all kinds of different instruments, hopefully I'll be going back soon.  We talk about once every other day or at least once a week.

Lowlights working on new material?

We haven't really discussed it yet. He has invited me to go out there anytime I want to start working on new material,  hopefully playing some shows here too.  

You have three bands and run a business, When do you have time for yourself?

I own one business (Owl Greens Music) where I usually go from 11 to 5 everyday, then I either go to The Black Bird Buvette or to The Launchpad. So i don't know, somewhere in there I'm able to squeeze in some personal time, but really I don't have much time.  I Golf, on Mondays I usally go to the driving range from eight to ten.

THE JIST WITH MARK E MOON

I sent Mark a Myspace message last night with questions about him and his music. Mark can be found in local bands The Hollow Lines, The Booty Green, Mark E Moon and  front man for Mei Long (before they broke up),

Here you are folks, short and sweet, mark e moon gives us the jist

what are you currently listening to?

Listening to Harmonia and Tangerins Dream's "Phaedra" at the same time. Links up perfectly!

If you could add one instrument to your band what would it be?

Little Phatty moog which is $1000 and way outta my range...


Your in multiple bands.  Is it hard to schedule practice?

Nope. I edit film and become dad at will...

how did you come up with the name hollow lines? mei long? and booty green? Mark E moon?

The Hollow Lines is a conversation/drug reference. Mei Long is the first dinosaur bone. The Booty Green is Sly Stones lime green cadillac.  Mark E Moon is a Television LP.

Name a couple of disbanded Albuquerque bands you would like to see reunite. 

Jealous Gods, Smoke Rings, Mei Long

Is stage fright a problem?

Yes. I like bourbon.


Name a dead musician you would like to see live.

John Lennon and Sky Saxon


what kind of movie do you see your music being the soundtrack to?

Vanishing Point

When's the record coming out?

Hopefully soon! SEAN WHERE ARE YOU?

Downtown usually gives the bands free drink tickets,  what do you order?

Makers Mark.

any weird show rituals?

We kiss a cross before every show...God sail with us and all who sail with us!!!! sailors rule.

MOOD SWINGS WITH DAVID JORDAN

laugh, cry, lazy, try, happy, sad, angry, glad.   


These are the topics of todays post, which come to us from David Jordan of Yeti Hands.  This new segment focuses on a list of songs that we associate with these certain emotions. Here is Dave's list of songs that have that affect on him.   


Laugh:


cap'n jazz - "take on me" - tim kinsella tries so hard to hit those high notes, tries so very very hard. it rules.

Cry: 


penfold - "i will take you everywhere" - this song always hits hard at the low times in my life. it gives me that dropped feeling in my stomach even when i'm feeling good.

Lazy: 


anything by pavement. 

Try: 


glassjaw - "tip your bartender"/"mu empire" - these two songs are a killer psych up combo, great opening tracks. it makes me ride my bike really fast.

Happy: 


the weakerthans - "aside" - this is one of my favorite songs of all time. it's a song about being flawed, run over, and slightly broken. but being proud of your battle scars. 

Sad:


I can't decide, so i'll name two. the beatles - "eleanor rigby"/mono - "yearning" - eleanor rigby is one of the saddest songs of all time. paul mccartney gets a bad rap, well, for basically not being john lennon. but lennon never wrote a song as affective as this. and mono, UGH, i think being japanese gives this band some post rock superpowers. i defy anyone to see this band play this song live and not be blown away. 

Angry:


 i can't think of anything in particular. but you know when a band is totally awesome, and you love them to death? and then they put out an album that just sucks and you can't get into? yeah, that makes me angry. 

Glad:


my chemical romance - the black parade lp. yes, that's right. my chemical romance. why does this album make me glad? well, because of it's association with eyeliner, i avoided it for many many years, but lo and behold, it's actually a really good album. so i'm glad i finally decided to check it out.

You can catch Yeti hands live at The Launchpad on October 16th with the Oktober people, Bellini, and Grave of nobody's darling 

THE JIST WITH NATE SANTAMARIA

This post is my first in-person interview, and was super stoked it was with Nate Santamaria of Excalico.  Nate performed live yesterday at the launchpad with Yourself and the air, Mark E Moon and Bellemah to which Nate played a awesome set.   After the show, and with plenty of Miller High Life in my tummy I approched Nate while he was loading his gear.  We had both had a little too much of the creature, and with my trusty I phone slured a few questions in his direction. 


So Nate,  I understand that you changed your band name to excalico. why is that?

 Some asshole, whoever copyrights shit, took every spelling of calico possible.  I was at a show and this guy Bud Melvin who's in a bunch of great bands said "you should change your name to Excalico", and I said "that's a fucking great idea",  Because you know there are so many bands out there that are "ex this, we use to be this". So I decided I used to be Calico. Now I'm Excalico.  So fuck it.

Your the front man for The Oktober People,  why did you start Calico?

I started Calico because I've been prevalent in the fact that I love pop music, and for some reason pop music has a bad name.
 The Oktober people doesn't want to play straight up pop music, but that's not a bad thing that they don't want to play pop music, that's fine, but I do.  I also gained an affinity for loop sampling and building my own song live, which is the funnest thing in the whole world,  and sometimes I fuck up, you know? and shit happens.  So next question.

What kind of drinks do you prefer when your playing a show?

I prefer whiskey on the rocks, Jameson I guess, and Tecate is always cool. but who cares about drinks?   I care about drinks when I'm nervous, I have this bowel thing going on,  sometimes I get to a bar an I'm like "Man I have to take a big ol crap",  And it sucks because my bowels act up when I get to a show and think "OH man I have to crap in this bar?  God This Sucks".

How often do you practice in Excalico as opposed to The Oktober People?

About the same amount,  but if I'm practicing for Excalico It's usually for six or seven hours.  It's pretty tedious, I get there around noon or something and leave at seven, but if I smoke or drink I'll be there longer.

Do you prefer House shows, bars, all ages shows, or theaters?

I guess I prefer house parties the most because it's kids, it's devious, and everyone is breaking the law

What kind of crowd are you looking for?

Where everyone is breaking the law.

How did you come up with the name Calico?

I heard a song by a band that I really liked  and I thought they sang a certain lyric,  and I was like "Calico yeah, Come on Calico".  They weren't singing  that lyric.

ON THE ROAD WITH YOUSELF AND THE AIR

In case you didn't know I'm in a band called Bellemah .  Since The interviews are running a bit short I decided to interview a (Non New Mexico) touring band  from Chicago IL  that will be playing with us on September 8th at the launchpad.  I got in contact with Erick of Yourself and the air and asked him a few question about his band and touring, here's what he had to say.  

are you touring with any one?

 no, were touring with ourselves this time.

Will this be your fist time to Albuquerque?

We've been to albuquerque before, about a year and a half ago, we played at the space and the atomic cantina...? do you know of those?

In your about section on your myspace it says you are five friends but there only four in the photo.  who is not pictured?

Well...we used to have a guitarist, still do..he's just not in the band at the moment, or not active at the moment. his place is still here and will always be..so he'll always be in this with us in one way or another.

It's obvious your big bulls fans, ever meet Micheal or Scottie?  Or Luc Longley? (i'm asking because he played for new mexico in college)

 Ha...no i don't think any of us met them...my mom once served Scottie back in the day... I met Steve Kerr once, he was the small white dude whom made a couple of winning three pointers at the buzzer..

do you prefer: Bars shows, house parties, all ages shows, festivals or theaters?

I'm not sure which kind of show we prefer...we've played em all, and they can either go two ways...good, and not good.  I guess we just like playing shows where there is an overall good feeling in the air, and a great connection is made.

will you be calling home daily?

well...some of us call our GF's..thats it really, so i guess ya..?

what is your diet like on tour? 

Our diet is better on the road than at home.  We get to eat at some great kitchens and sample the local recipes..which is always sooo great.  and when we sleep at peeps house, they usually do a great job on cooking their specialties..so we suprisingly eat very well..and we steal from gas stations a whole lot as well..sorry.

will you be having a merch person. if so can you tell me about him or her?

 We do have a merch person..but he's kind of an all around guy.  Hes one of our best friends that happened to tour with us last time, and took off to come with us again. He's doing his best at representing us and becoming our acting manager..its really funny how it all happened, and were loving it.


what reading material l will you be taking with you?

Umm...can't really say what i'll be bringing to read this time...usually just kinda comes up last minute style...all of us do have books though...My gf has a book about living the buddhist life, I may snag that one.  um..one of us was reading Jack Kerouac last time, and there was a book about controlling your mind in a non-concious state rolling around last time too...so i duno


what artists/albums will be on the rotation on the road?

Too many albums, too many artists, pretty much everything you can ever think of, too often

THE JIST - WITH JEREMY BARNES

This post come to us from Jeremy Barnes of a Hawk and a Hacksaw.  About to start a North American tour, I asked him some short questions and he gave me some short answers.  

Who is your favorite Albuquerque band?
   

a hawk and a hacksaw

What is your diet like on tour?

   

in europe, it's good, in the usa it's not 

Are you touring with anyone?

   

in the fall, damon and naomi will be opening for us. 

What inspires you to write a song?

   

many different things- boredom, hummingbirds, travelling, people, etc

How did you come up with your name?
   

don quixote

You incorparate a lot of musicans in your band. How did you meet all of
them?
  

randomly searching for inspiring musicians

What brings you back to Albuquerque
  

family

You tour internationally, do you pick up some of the languages?

  

a bit of french, hungarian, romanian.  i can order a drink in quite a few languages now.  

What city is your Favorite to play?

  

possibly poznan, poland, but it is hard to say.