G E N T L E / W A V E

HAMMOCK - OBLIVION HYMNS (FULL ALBUM)

I got the chance to sit down with the wonderful, German post rock band Frames today to see what the new year is bringing with their music. 

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview, to start off could you give me your name(s) and what you play in the band?

Jonas: Sure, I'm Jonas and I play the guitar. Kiryll does drums, Hajo bass and Manuel the keys.

How long have you guys been together? How did Frames start off?

Kiryll: In late 2007, still in school, I convinced Jonas to turn some of his instrumental drafts into a new project after our former band split up.. My main intention was to quickly continue making music, and since I was a fan of Jonas' just-for-fun-stuff, Jonas: I wrote the stuff at home. It would usually start out as a piano or guitar jam which I recorded and played around with. The material we wanted to recreate needed a full rock band with keys, so we convinced the bass player from our former band to join in and started to rehearse. Thanks to the internet, we quickly found Manuel.. He was the first to „audition“ and it was perfect. Kiryll: Songwriting went crazy fast because we had a pool of material ready to be messed around with. Using Guitar Pro, we would write down tracks, exchange and refine them. Everyone would edit his part and think about the track, so we were usually well prepared during rehearsals, where the track was allowed to breathe and get it's finish. Jonas: We still work in pretty much the same way, just that nowadays we use Logic or Ableton Live and maintain higher pre-production standarts. Kiryll: After a year we had put together an EP (still available on the interwebz) and applied for our very first gig - a local band contest. We won first place.. This experience was kinda the ultimate proof-of-concept for us to continue in this direction. The prize was a two week studio production which we used up for Mosaik.. Which, after some time and combined with all the nice press we gathered along the way, landed us the deal with Steamhammer/SPV.

What was your most memorable performance?

Jonas: For me, I guess it was Paris, at the „La Machine du Moulin Rouge“! We were touring with Anneke van Giersbergen and Kill Ferelli, our first time in a doubledecker nightliner and european tour - So you bet it was a pretty special time for us all. The venue in Paris was as awesome as it gets in this range, and it was packed! The crowd was extraordinary! Kiryll: Yeah, that was a really special show. Some of the thoughts, stories and feedback we received after the gig left us speechless.. Those kind of stuff that really touches you at the bottom of your heart. Damn, the whole tour was heavenlike – I'm really thankful for having met such amazing, caring and bright people, leave alone how thankful I am for them having made a childhood dream come true.

What are some musical influences of yours?

Jonas: Lots of, and difficult to say in general :) I think you can hear bands like Sigur Ros, Oceansize, Mogwai, EF in our stuff, but sometimes you might hear Esbjörn Svensson Trio as well as Meshuggah here and there. Kiryll: All of us four have different musical roots.. There's pretty much everything in this pool, and everyone contributes his own influential mix - but overall, the aforementioned bands kind of describe what we're up to with Frames.

What is one random fact that not many people know about you guys?

Jonas: We're really lazy most of the time, and we are boring. Kiryll: On the geartalk side, we use a JamHub since 2009 as a super cheap in-ear monitoring solution.. We use it for rehearsals as well as for metronome/monitoring on stage.. It even survived the tour.

Can we expect new music in 2014?

Jonas: We hope so! We're still in the first phase of songwriting for the next album. We're going to release a remix album of In Via in the meantime.. There will be more infos on that on our website soon! Kiryll: We're really excited about what will happen on the third album.. We want it to be the most intense record we're able to bring out.

Any plans of going on tour this year?

Jonas: We'll do a few gigs, but this year is mainly going to be about the next album.

Do you guys listen to your own records very often?

Jonas: Not really.. But sometimes, when we feel down or frustrated, it can be really good to stream some tracks on YouTube and read the comments. It's great to learn about people's thoughts and emotions listening to our stuff. Kiryll: It's humbling, you kinda get connected to the fact that whatever it is you do grew bigger than you thought. Like it's not only about you anymore. Me personally, I gain motivation and strength from this. I would have quit the band over some random frustrating shit if there wouldn't be this feedback loop.

Thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to do this interview, before you go is there any advice you can give to aspiring musicians out there?

Kiryll: Sure - Thank you for asking us out! We're still learning ourselves, but it's safe to say that you should never give up, as cheesy as it sounds. There are going to be tough times.. Like, a lot! It's always going to be complicated. If you mean it – stick with it. Try to grow or adapt. Sometimes this means compromise. Never cease to learn! Read blogs, magazines, books, watch YouTube videos. Don't sit around and wait for a label, do stuff like promotion yourself! Google stuff like „indie band marketing“, „music marketing strategies“, „social media marketing guide“ (there's a lot to google, be creative!) - and put everything you learn to use. The internet is a gift, embrace it! :)

 Frames album "In Via"

http://framesmusic.com/

Sigur Rós - Straumnes

Explosions In The Sky - Your Hand in Mine

frames - Coda

Off the album "In Via"

TYCHO'S SECOND SINGLE FROM HIS NEW LP "AWAKE" 

Out 3/18/2014

Keep You Opinions To Yourself - 07

Track 5 off Undiscovered Country of Old Death and Strange Years in the Frightful Past

We got together with Albuquerque, NM's own Andy Othling from Lowercase Noises. Lowercase Noises is a solo ambient project that puts your mind at ease, and will certainly paint big and elaborate paintings in your head.

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Hey Andy, Thanks for taking the time to do this interview. Could you start off by telling us how Lowercase Noises came about?

Of course, thanks for giving me the opportunity!

Lowercase Noises is one of those things that kind of just started itself really. I've played guitar since I was in middle school, but when I was in college I started playing around with recording software and I was hooked. Once I got over the excitement of being able to record my guitar and put something else on top of it, it just naturally turned into a desire to record a song that was actually somewhat enjoyable to listen to. As I kept playing around and experimenting I thought that I actually had the skills to attempt to write and record an actual cohesive album… I did it, and that album turned out pretty terrible, but I learned a lot. But the next album, Seafront, is actually something that I’m still proud of. I’m still as excited as I was about recording and I’m just trying to get better and better at songwriting and engineering each time.

I know you have a pretty big following from your YouTube channel, do you feel like that's where the majority of your fans are coming from?

Yeah, definitely. YouTube has been so great for me… I didn’t start out expecting or even attempting to build any kind of following. I really did it because I was struggling creatively around the time I was writing those first two albums. I used the videos as a way to kind of consolidate ideas. I started the Ambient Songs series which was really just an experiment to see what kind of song I could build using just my guitar and pedals within YouTube’s 10 minute limit (at the time). I’ve done 22 of those videos since then, and I feel like those really caught on with people, which is awesome.

Out of all the albums you've written, is it possible for you to pick a favorite?

Honestly… probably not. When I finish an album I listen to it a lot all the way up until the release date, and then I basically never listen to it again. Every album means something to me and every album is a statement about where I was at the time of writing it. I guess I just don’t think of my own music the way I think of all the other music I listen to.

Actually though, this album I’m working on now is probably my favorite for a lot of reasons. It’s all written and I’m just finalizing stuff now. I’ve done some new things that I’m really excited about.

Outside of the Lowercase Noises, do you make other music? any side projects in the works?

Right now I’m also playing in an awesome band called Archabald, and it’s been fun writing music with them. I’ve also gotten some contract deals where I wrote music specifically for a client, and that was fun. But as for an official side project, no, nothing yet. I really want to do something like that in the future though. I love ambient music, but there’s a lot of other stuff I want to experiment with as well. Music is my career now, and because of that I feel like it’s important to keep it fun, which for me means experimenting and doing things that might not necessarily be because of a financial incentive. I’ve got a few random songs here and there that will hopefully eventually turn into something.

I read on your Facebook page that you were wanting to setup a tour for 2014, would this involve you getting a live band together to make it possible?  

Yeah, it’s one of my big goals this year to do a tour. But I’m starting simple… I haven’t figured it all out yet but I want to attempt to do it by myself. I’d likely write a whole new set of songs just so I could perform them live. And I’m toying around with the idea of doing house shows instead of venues for simplicity’s sake, but also because I like the idea of a really intimate environment where I could really connect and talk with people. Since my whole career has been largely based on internet interaction up until this point, I’d love to have the opportunity start interacting with people face to face.

What's a random fun fact about you that not many people know about?

Remember that show Mystery Science Theater 3000? I’m like, SUPER into that show. I’ve got all the episodes on a hard drive and they helped me get through college. I still think they’re the funniest thing, and I’m sure that’s cultivated my overall love for horribly stupid and campy B movies.

You recently started up a website called ReverbNerds, could you tell us a little bit about it? what was your main goal with putting this together?

Ever since starting my YouTube channel and all the different series of videos, I’ve gotten a ton of questions about different things. It was always really important to me to respond to as many comments and messages as possible, but in the past few years it’s gotten really hard to keep up with everything and that kind of bummed me out. So I had to make a choice to just give up and ignore peoples questions or try to do something that would answer them on a larger scale, and Reverb Nerds is one of my attempts to do the latter. A lot of people were asking questions about ambient guitar techniques and gear and all that, so a lot of what I’m doing on the site is videos to show people my techniques, how I use my gear and that kind of stuff.

Where is the coolest place you've visited?

Honestly I love the northern California coast. Highway 1 is one of my favorite places… I love the rocky beaches and the cliffs. Even though I live in the desert of New Mexico, I get a craving for the ocean and try to visit as often as I can.

Have you had any of your music played in any short films or movies?

Yeah! Luckily the kind of music I create lends itself well to being used in film. I haven’t had any big placements or anything, but I always love seeing what independent filmmakers do with my songs. Actually, Derek Price of Say Ten Productions has used my stuff on a few occasions, and he always does something amazing. My absolute favorite thing he’s done (and actually my favorite use of my music in a film at all) is a short called Pieces of You. Gives me chills every time I watch it.

What's your favorite guitar you own?

My favorite guitar is actually the cheapest one I currently own. It’s a Telecaster that someone threw together out of spare parts. It’s pretty beat up and had kind of an odd pickup configuration (it has a Strat pickup that can be blended in along with the standard Tele pickups), but it’s been my favorite by far for over a year now. I’ve always been a Tele guy but I’m in love with this one. It sat in a local used gear shop for a long time before I grabbed it for pretty much a steal.

Thank you so much for doing this interview with us, before you go is there any advice you could give to people wanting to pursue a career in music?

Making a career in music is about a lot of time spent and a lot of hard work, just like anything else. That’s why it’s important to actually do it the way you want to do it. You’ve got to pursue the things you really love within it, or you’re just going to burn out. Don’t pursue something because it’s a cool fad right now or because it seems like it’s going to be lucrative. Do it because you love it. It’ll make the necessary hard work easier, and even fun.

Thanks so much for having me!

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Facebook: www.facebook.com/lowercasenoises

Website: http://lowercasenoises.com/

ReverbNerds: http://reverbnerds.com/

CHECK OUT HIS SONG "MIGRATORY PATTERNS"

Hammock - (Let's Kiss) While All The Stars Are Falling Down

From the album "Departure Songs" 2012. 

Helios - Halving the Compass

Caspian announced their first ever headlining tour in Australia.

Tour dates are as follows:

March 19th - SYDNEY (BALD FACED STAG)

March 20th - BRISBANE (TEMPO HOTEL)

March 21st - MELBOURNE (EVELYN HOTEL)

March 22nd - PERTH (MOJO'S BAR)

March 23rd - ADELAIDE (CROWN & ANCHOR)

  for more information visit

In celebration of Lights and Motion's one year anniversary of "Reanimation", Deep Elm Records is making the album a "Name Your Price" cost on bandcamp.com. 

To download this album, follow the link below

Matthew Cooper of Eluvium and Mark Smith of Explosions in the Sky Announce a new band called Inventions. They will be releasing a self-titled album April 1st.

Tracklist:

This Will Destroy You - Freedom Blade 

"Off the Field Studies album with Lymbyc Systym" 2008.

This Will Destroy You is a Post-Rock band from San Marcos, TX.