#diskjunkie

Ryan Adams - Ashes & Fire

Ryan Adams’ remarkable new album, Ashes and Fire is steeped in a perfect amount of emotions and bluesy piano riffs. The sounds of the soft, county/rock guitar paired with Adams’ flawless voice brings the whole album together perfectly. A swell of emotions can be felt while listening to this record. Every song on Ashes and Fire tells a tale, and the lyrics seem to build a framework for what feel like musical excursions. With help from Norah Jones and the keyboardist from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Adams has created a brilliant album that I would certainly recommend to anyone who enjoys the blues or is simply looking for an easy listen. 

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YUKON BLONDE

It’s been a crazy year for Canadian band, Yukon Blonde. Along with releasing a new EP, they are just wrapping up a huge North American tour, they have recently released a new music video and they even had their name dropped on prime time television. Just before their show at the Biltmore this past November, I got the chance to sit down with the band’s very talented and very charming singer and guitarist, Jeff Innes. While the other band members were sound checking, I talked to Jeff about life on the road, their new EP “Fire//Water”, and what fans can expect from the highly anticipated full-length album.

AC: You guys are in the middle of an extensive North American tour to promote Fire//Water, How do you keep up the energy for all 60 tour dates?

JI: I don’t know, [laughs] I have no idea. I actually wonder that all the time. Sometimes we don’t. I mean, I guess we tour a lot so we’re kind of used to it. I guess it’s kind of like anything, like doing sports or whatever, the more you do it the more you’re used to it. Also, we’ve learned to take care of ourselves on the road, which is a big thing, you know? It sounds silly but, eating right, exercising, we don’t just get hammered every night; we have to be on our game.

AC: Why is it that you guys tour so much and when the band first came together did you know that you would be on the road this much?

JI: Yeah, well we wanted to, that was the idea that we would be on tour all the time. Now it’s just perfect, we don’t pay rent and we tour all year long, it’s great!

AC: So, what’s the significance behind the title of your new EP: “Fire /Water”?

JI: Well there are two songs on the EP, one is called Fire, and one is called Water. I guess it’s just named after the two songs on it. But we did that, it’s kind of funny, the songs weren’t written at the same time or anything, it was just a total idiotic fluke that one was called Fire and one was called Water.

AC: I read that this EP marks kind of a transition for the band. How did this new direction come about and as a result did this latest project push you out of your comfort zone a little?

JI: No, it didn’t really. But, okay how did it come about, let’s start with that. We’re recording a new record right now, we just a had a ton of songs recorded, 15 songs, and the songs that didn’t really fit with the majority of the rest went on to the Fire//Water EP. They kind of had a theme, and this project, as every project that we do, we hope to push ourselves to be doing what we want to do, and not be uncomfortable with the music that we’re playing. So, it didn’t really push us out of our comfort zone, but it did push us.

AC: How do the four songs on the new EP reflect or differ from what fans can expect to hear on the full-length album?

JI: The full-length record is a little faster, a little bit more in depth; we kind of experimented with different textures and different sounds, and some songs have like a late seventies post-punk sound, it’s all very cohesive. The Fire//Water EP sounds a little bit like that, but more like our old record.

AC: Half of the songs on the new record were written while on the road and the other half was written in a cottage in Comox. How did you find the inspiration differed from when you were on the road and when you were in the cottage? 

JI: Well it was kind of an interesting process, we toured for about nine and a half months in 2010, and during the time that I had off, I would demo and write as much as I could. When it came time for us to do songs together, we started in Comox in this nice, amazing area. It was so cool, we had groceries and just made food everyday, we started at ten in the morning and would finish at eleven at night; it was like a job, but so much fun. There was even like a fireplace, and a dog, [laughs] it was so cool. So there was like this total isolated kind of vibe going on there.  We didn’t have everything totally finished by the time we left, we knew that by the time the tour was done, we were going to have to record it, so we started arranging all the songs, and doing them in sound checks, which was totally crazy. So half the record is sort of made live, and half of it’s kind of made in this like completely different atmosphere.

AC: So when you’re not performing or driving to the next city, what do you like to do to unwind?

JI: Watch a lot of shows, [laughs] I’m a big HBO show fan. I play a lot of scrabble online; um that’s pretty much it.

AC: Well how did react to being mentioned on “How I Met Your Mother”?

JI: It was great, I was actually really excited, and it’s like everywhere you know, and that’s pretty crazy. A lot of people are saying, ‘they’ve set you guys up to be like a Canadian iconic band, and it’s a big deal.’ And I feel the same. It’s really crazy, we’ve just finished shooting a music video, and recording an EP, but we’ve heard more about this ‘How I Met Your Mother’ mention than anything we’ve done. So, its kind of like, ‘Hey, well we also did this video…’ [laughs]

AC: Ah, I see. So who’s music do you like to listen to while you’re traveling?

JI: We’ve had a lot of stuff on the player lately. We’ve been listening to the new ‘Fiest’ record a bit, and we also listen to a lot of the bands we tour with. You see a band every night you would think that you’d get sick of it, but we just get it. Yeah, the ‘Fiest’ record is really good, also ‘The War On Drugs’ we listened to a little bit too much of that though.

AC: Have you had any embarrassing moments on stage?

JI: Um… yeah.

AC: [Laughing] like what?

JI: Last night we played Kamloops, [sighs] and we were just playing, it was just so typical, people were… actually I don’t want to get into it. [Laughing heartily] We’re not going to talk about that. Let’s uh, let’s talk about a different embarrassing moment… Okay, so, the other night actually we were playing Edmonton, and Graham actually fell off the stage! No joke. He was trying to get off the stage, legitimately, but I don’t know, he just slipped and fell. He’s actually done that like three times, he’s very clumsy. [Laughs] um, but what do I do? I’m just always embarrassing on stage; I always just do stupid stuff.

AC: [Laughing] Alright. So, do you feel like social media sites like facebook and twitter have assisted your guys’ success?

JI: Oh yeah. Absolutely. We’re like totally into it too. A lot of our friend’s bands are like, ‘whatever, twitter, that’s lame’, and I’m like, ‘alright, go ahead, don’t do it, but you’re just missing out.’ I love man, I love we have like a direct connection with people.

AC: Yeah, like your fans.

JI: Yeah! Yeah, totally, it’s great. It’s like the best thing that ever happened for a band, well maybe not the best thing, maybe like ‘The Gibson Les Paul’  [laughs] I’m just kidding.

AC: [Laughing] So 2011 is coming to an end, how would you sum up this past year for the band?

JI: It’s been a strange year because it feels like we haven’t really been there. We’ve worked really hard this year, but it’s been like really low-key working. I feel like 2012 we’re going to be working the whole time; it’s going to be a little out of control. I mean this year has been a pretty productive year, we did two American tours, two Canadian tours, cool. [Laughing] That’s good right? And we’ll be in Australia before the end of the year.

AC: Really? That’s awesome.

JI: Yeah! Like right after we finish the American tour, we have like three days off for Christmas with our families. Literally three days, and then we fly to Australia for two weeks.

AC: So what has been the fans’ reaction to the new music?

Lana Del Rey - Born To Die

Lana Del Rey’s “Born To Die” is a heavyhearted combination of somber vocals and strings-meet-hard-beats melodies. Del Rey’s vocal performances are beautiful, haunting and at times perfectly erratic. Her style is unexampled and her lyrics are a strange mix of tragedy, materialism and sorrow. Del Rey’s doleful voice holds the album together brilliantly and brings an overwhelming feeling of heartache. I don’t know exactly how I would categorize this album’s genre; it is so much more than pop. “Born To Die” blurs the lines between real and the fake, and Del Rey’s voice is unmistakable.

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