LSD…  it’s a helluva drug.  Back in the day, I did my share (and, perhaps, the shares of a few others).  Some believe that it has the potential to help turn you into such a super genius, that you appear freakishly insane to anyone else that’s not “on your level“.  Then again, it’s always possible that the reverse is happening and they really are going so ape-shit crazy, that it only leads them to believe that that they have a growing mental superiority.  One thing’s for sure; these chemical roller-coasters have the ability to twist up and whack out a synapse, like eating a parasitic egg-salad-sandwich from the vending machine of an interstellar truck stop bathroom.  The reality is that, even with all of the epiphanies and life lessons that one may obtain during these odysseys, there is really no scientific control for the experimenter/guinea pig and, short of a clone or view into a parallel dimension, no one can ever really know if they would have arrived at those same conclusions without the “aid” of the hallucinogen.  The good part is, since there is no way to make that determination, it doesn’t really matter and there are more detrimental things in the world than examining the differences between arrogance and confidence, exploitation and opportunity, respect and glorification, inspiration and contrivance, hustling and…well, hustling.  Despite the blatant self-aggrandizement implied in his stage name, Sean “Har Mar Superstar” Tillmann seems to have an incredibly firm grasp on these concepts and plenty of others.  Of all the electric realizations that I had, however, there is one specific principle that truly epitomizes Tillmann’s career for me: “Regardless of how clearly, simply, honestly, or directly you express a pure truth, it doesn’t mean that anyone else will, necessarily, hear, believe, or even understand what you are trying to relate to them.” (more…)

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Right off the bat, I’m going to openly and officially claim the proceeding interview as a “success“.  I’m sure that you will all draw your own conclusions and, most likely, many of them will be different than mine.  Many of you will even leave your own comments contradicting my assessment.  I probably didn’t ask the “right” questions as you “would have” and I may not have even gotten the answers that you would have wanted to hear but, if this was a Myspace page, I would be posting a goofy ass little emoticon with some bullshit smiley face next to this article that read “Mood: accomplished“.  To me it is successful.  This interview almost didn’t happen or, more accurately, it ALMOST did happen more times than I could count.

When David Berman formed the group Silver Jews 20 years ago, he did so with cohorts like Stephen Malkmus and Bob Nastanovich.  The production of the early EPs and recordings were extremely low-fi, with the use of such unorthadox recording equipment as a walkmen and answering machines.  By the time the full-lenghth Starlite Walker (1994 Drag City) was released, Malkmus and Nastanovich had already made a name for them selves in the band Pavement and the Silver Jews were wrongly classified by many as a Pavement side-project.  Regardless of the facts that the two bands were very separate entities and that Berman was the primary driving force  behind the group, David lived with that tag stapled to his forehead for the better part of the following decade.  Although Malkmus was again featured on the 1998 release, American Water, “The Joos” were comprised of a revolving door of musicians over their 20 year stint.  Throughout that time, Berman overcame struggles with crack addiction and even a suicide attempt.  Eventually, he would even make a conversion to Judaism.  In many ways, these became just more incidents that overshadowed the work of the prolific songwriter and poet. (more…)

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I saw Onsen’s Subaru from the balcony of my apartment, so I ran down the steps and hopped in to the passenger seat.  We were running late to meet with the artist Thea Wolfe, creator of the WEEN coloring book.

A week earlier, I had received a Google instant message from a friend and staff member at Cornish School of the Arts here in Seattle.  He informed me that there were some really great paintings of WEEN posted up at the institution and suggested that I come down and see them.  In all honesty, I was a bit leery about the validity of the work.  I knew that it was probably either going to be amazing or fucking terrible.  For me, it’s hard to find any gray area with that sort of subject matter.  I was sent a couple of iphone photo images and quickly realized that the artist was no joke; the paintings were, in fact, much more than I could have ever expected.

I wanted to help the student get their work to the source and I quickly had delusions of grandeur, in which I became like Maurice Starr when he discovered New Edition and NKOTB.  I’ve been in semi-regular contact with WEEN’s management since the site began and I knew that, if I forwarded the images of the painter to them, the work of the artist that I was “discovering” would be undeniable.  “What’s her name and contact info?“  I asked my friend.  He went to check and typed back the name “Thea Wolfe“.  I recognized it immediately and knew that she didn’t need any help from me; I already owned a copy of the coloring book that she created for the group last year.  She wasn’t a current student at all, her paintings were posted up on the alumni wall.

After checking out her site, I headed down to see the paintings in person.  They were much more impressive than any still frame camera could represent.  Colorful and full of motion, many of the paintings had reflective iridescent shapes and pentagons within them that shifted depending on the view, lighting, and angle.  I had never seen a simulation of psychedelic experiences portrayed that way through paint, or any that more accurately conveyed them.  The artist statement explained that the series was based on what Wolfe refers to as “The Year of the Wrong“, a period of time in which she traveled thousands of miles to attend a number of performances on WEEN’s “La Cucaracha” tour with a primary focus of doing what she felt inside, regardless of how unreasonable, ridiculous, or “wrong” it may seem to the outside world.  Based on her work and various statements and views that she’s expressed through interviews, her website, and elsewhere, I knew that there was the strong probability for a good conversation to come from meeting her in person. (more…)

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I went to meet artist Brian Despain with great intentions and high hopes. I read all the content of his website, went to a gallery show and took adequate notes, and did a good study on his bio.  All my ducks in a row with my dictaphone set and ready but, as I dipped out to meet him at a landmark Starbucks in an upscale suburbs of Seattle, I quickly got lost.  As I rolled past the well kept streets, the impeccably groomed parks, and the happy families taking the ol’ afternoon stroll with their kids, I got … well… comfortable.

Living in a “largish city does keep you on your guard, and you don’t realize it until you see the “American dream” lifestyle played out before your eyes.  The wholesomeness of it all almost slaughtered my mental preparedness for the interview.  Why? Because, up until then, I was fully immersed in the art movement known as pop surrealism, lowbrow art influenced and perpetrated by illustrators, punks, and street culture in general.  The sunny, preppy burb that I was now lost in, was such a far cry, or so I thought, from the dark and sometimes dirty world of art (or was that my car) that I had just come from.  I eventually ended up finding the coffee shop, 10 minutes late, and met with fine artist Brian Despain. (more…)

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The interview below was conducted by one of our newest writers, Dr. Radical, back in November during Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, TX.  We had hopes of posting it earlier, however, Dr. Radical was struck by a vehicle which held the transcription time back a bit.  He is fully recovered and we are pleased to provide his first work for the site to you now.  We feel that he did a tremendous job.  He didn’t come away with any current photos of the group so I contacted The DM vocalist Rodney Anonymous to see if he had any available.  He didn’t seem to know where they were located and responded by saying the following in an email:

“Can’t you just use a picture of the Jonas Brothers…or porn?“

Hence, the header photo.  All other images featured are courtesy of  photographer Nina Sabatino (aka: Dean Clean’s sister).  More of her work can be viewed through her Flickr account by clicking here.

Thanks for reading, we hope you enjoy it.

-Dead C (more…)

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Since 2003, David Wang has released a body of work that pretty much runs the gamut of experimental electronic music.  As “Mochipet“, Wang made his first waves with his mash-up masterpiece, “Combat“, on the Violent Turd label (an offshoot of Kid606’s seminal Tigerbeat6 techno label), in 2003.  Breakcore-inspired exercises like “Yes vs. NoMeansNo” and “They Might Be Giants vs. Lyrical Giants” proved that the mash-up genre has more to offer than Girl Talk’s pop-friendly blend of modern hip-hop and radio hits.   From there, Mochipet went on to release “Uzumaki” (2004, Component Records), a blend of cut-up beats, ethnic percussion, and tense ambience.  2007’s “Disko Donkey” (on his own Daly City Records label) saw Wang move toward the more dance floor friendly styles of disco, techno, and electro-pop with a little help from friends, like minimal queen and BpitchControl label-head Ellen Allien and SF rockers Scissors For Lefty.

But fans of Mochipet’s breakcore spasms didn’t have to hold their breath for too long.  2007 also saw the release of “Girls (Heart) Breakcore” (Daly City Records), an all-out attack of drill-n-bass chaos slipped over several seemingly unrelated genres, including Chinese Opera, Metal, Hip-Hop, and falsetto Pop a la JT. As the title suggest, Wang is all-to aware of the testosterone-heavy tendencies of the genre (seriously, how many female breakcore artists are out there?).  The album also features several remixes by partners-in-crime Aaron Spectre (Drumcorps), Rotator, and Otto Von Schirach.   Soon after came “Feel My China II“, the second installment of albums featuring remixes of Mochi’s work by his peers.   Remixes by glitch-hop poster boy edIT, Venezuelan breakcore/dubstep innovator Cardopusher, and IDM noodler Machine Drum reinterpreted Mochipet’s everything-but-the-kitchen-sink style in their own language, often with exciting results.

Mochipet’s latest offering,”Microphonepet“, is a collection of collaborations with MCs and vocalists of the underground hip-hop variety.   Spanning several years, Mochi offers up a blend of classic hip-hop ( “Do What You Feel” with Artlinkletters, “Ride On” with Mike Boo & Raashan (Crown City Rockers), club-friendly dance tracks (“Get Your Whistle Wet” with The Hustle Heads), and glitchy bass stutters (“Boys And Boys And Toys” with Jahcoozi, “Mr. Malase” with Humanbeings, Dopestyle, and Casual of Oakland’s Hieroglyphics crew).   Albeit a little scatterbrained genre-wise (mostly due to the span of time in which the tracks were produced), Microphonepet offers a little something for everyone, from the Burning Man/Glitch Mob crowd to the Tribe Called Quest purists to the indie rap scenester.

Mochipet was kind enough to meet me after our first interview attempt was botched by technical difficulties.  Upon arriving at his house, I was offered a glass of wine by his girlfriend, Fiona.   “Or, we have beer.”  Having just drank a tall boy of PBR on the drive over, I opted for the brewski.  We chatted for a few minutes while I set up my recording equipment, and we were on our way… (more…)

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