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Good bye 22 Dec 2020 10:36 AM (4 years ago)

Dryland – Dances with Waves 23 Apr 2020 4:54 PM (5 years ago)

After three years of waiting, Dryland have released their highly anticipated sophomore album – it’s the band’s first EP and follow up to their self-titled debut. Bellingham’s most ferocious metal band, has returned to the scene with ; an album twice as brutal as their last.
Whereas their previous recordings had riffs and chord progressions that sounded too similar to each other and almost mimicked iconic stoner-metal songs, their new tunes are clearly distinct from one another and foreshadow a more original approach.
The lyricism and themes deal with excepting that there is no life after death and the journey people take to look for false promises of an eternal afterlife. Similar theories can be heard in the opening track, “No Celestial Hope.” lyrics like “You are the harvest in the unplowed ground. You are the underwater bell untold. A decaying monument to an unheard sound.”
Vocalist, Bradley Lockhart, refers to the concept that human carcasses buried in the ground are fertilizer for the earth and simply decay rather than ascend into the heavens.
This song opens with a killer stoner rock riff similar to Fu-Manchu and makes for a perfect tune for speeding on the highway.
“Exalted Mystics,” starts off with a Melvins-esque bass solo from Hollie Huthman, who supplies the song with ample amounts of doom right of the bat.
Lockhart enters with vocals that add elements of new-wave-punk and alternative-metal. His brooding vocal tone is comparable to one of Henry Rollins’ spoken word poems with inspiration from C.S Lewis. The last line of the song quotes Lewis’, “There are no ordinary mortals.”
The doubled tracked vocals during the chorus are powerful yet eerie This section solidifies his screams are a force not to be reckoned with and its dark feeling enhances the themes of searching for something that doesn’t exist.
Guitarist, Ryan Clapper, creates an unholy atmosphere by bending notes over Lockhart’s vocals. This part crescendos into the riff’s same melody but with bigger and heavier chords that make for one of the darkest moments of the album.
The next song, “The Sound A Sword Adores,” begins with a totally different direction than the band’s previous work. The opening riff is reminiscent of groups like Van Halen, Scorpions or UFO, with guitarist, Ryan Greer creating a shrieking solo sound.
However, the band quickly returns to their sludgy roots and sends the listener into overdrive with what is easily the best riff on the album.
During the bridge, Clapper once again, generates a satanic energy while playing progressive guitar licks, similar to Gojira’s Christian Andreu, which leads into a nasty sounding bass drop.
The following breakdown section sounds directly inspired by the main riff in “Spirit Crusher,” from death-metal founders, Death.
The EP concludes with the seven-minute epic, “Between the Testaments,” which lands in the same class as Mastodon’s “Hearts Alive,” The Sword’s “The White Sea” and other formidable album closers.
Noah Burns, most notably of Wild Thrown fame, lent a hand on drums for the recording. His performance throughout the album is astonishing but his work explicitly stands out during the slower sections of this song, because of how well he transitions into the faster Red Fang like ending.
Dryland has certainly outdone themselves with this newest addition to their discography and are on course to reaching a wider metal audience both in and out of Washington, after getting recognition from KISW’s Metal Shop and NW Heavy.
Find it on Bandcamp, Spotify or purchase some vinyl from the band’s website.

-Chris Butcher

Beautiful Freaks: Music to the people 3 Mar 2020 11:23 AM (5 years ago)

by James Bonaci

We have all heard the horror stories of DIY tours. Gear has been stolen, band ending fights have ended, and oh god the car troubles. Sometimes it seems like it is just an inevitable rite of passage for every band who hits the road. Now the Freaks are no stranger to chaos, but we can only handle so much. Preferably we’d like to keep it onstage. But we are a band on a mission, and the next step was to bring our music to the kind people of Pacific northwest. On guitarist and fearless manager Yammy pulled in all the calvary to make this happen, and the prep work showed the entire time. We (mostly) had lodging, a full budget, a complete plan, and intensive meal prep. The team had never been in finer form; we were beyond well oiled. This wasn’t just with travel either, I mean musically as well.

A line-up like this is special. Though as the tour approached our five piece line-up, James “Yammy” Bonaci on guitar and vocals, Meg Hall on vocals and keys, Montanna Siddle on bass, Graham Wallwork on guitar, and myself on drums, became the longest lasting line-up, and the sound showed it. Our songs have been more reflective of ourselves, and our playing has tightened and began to grow with each other. Every night of the tour we could feel that connection.

We did have some challenges upfront. We were booked and incredibly excited to play at the Underground Coffee House, but snow led to staffing issues and had to cancel. Nonetheless, the next day we might up at the rehearsal space, and crammed our two small cars full of gear. Anyone who has been to a Beautiful Freaks show can attest, we make a lot of noise, and that means a lot of gear. It was a tight squeeze, but we carved our cozy homes for the long weekend. I found myself in the backseat of the rhythm section car, shoulder to shoulder with our designated beater kit, “The Horse.” Rolling with two cars was not an ideal situation, but an effort was made to stick together, for us freakers could no longer cram in yams now dead Red “Vulva” Turbo Wagon (RIP 1996-2020). Headed down to Seattle, we were pumped to play the one… the only… TACOMA DOME… Wallingford Annex. It was fantastic, we made our way to the Tacoma Dome, an amazing house show venue run by members of Plum & Black Ends. The whole crowd itself was all friendly faces from the Seattle music scene. With Medijin and Rachel’s Children on the bill the room was captivated every minute. Passing a conceptual and physical joint with Maya, Alaia, Nicole and the rest of the crowd during Rachel’s Children’s set was a massive highlight of the tour. Drew from Dirty Dirty put us up for the night. If you haven’t met Drew before, they are one of the kindness AND heaviest hitting drummers in the PNW. The next morning we settled in for the longest drive, the leg down to Portland. Now we say this understanding this was the mini-est of mini tours. We luckily landed a double header in Portland heading to the Waypost for an early all ager rager with Pulling it Off. The Waypost was a cozy venue with some of the nicest management we have worked with, a big shout out to Cactus Flower Booking! Playing this show left us feeling energized and warmly welcomed to the PDX. We headed to the Tender Leaf House next and the other end of town. This show was packed with some true PDX Punks GUNK, Slippery Eyes & B.R.U.C.E. Sharpsteen Studios shot all the sets in glorious 4k, our new song Swiss Family Manson came across heavy and dirty on camera and we highly suggest you check it out. Gunk had all the doom that you could want turned up to 11, and Slippery Eyes had that tight emo and post rock sound that we honestly miss these days in Bellingham, not made by four white dudes too which is a plus! We don’t think our set would have been so great without B.R.U.C.E setting the stage. If you haven’t seen them, they RAGE on stage, with Anna getting up in your face you can’t help but become full enmeshed in their breakdowns. They really followed through on their FB description, come for the german nü metal stay for the nazi stomping and Be Really Unnecessarily Caring and Emotionally supportive. Ryan helped us out at night with a place to stay which we appreciated to no end.

After getting a classic Denny’s experience, punks, seniors, heroin needles and some dude trying to sell us a straight razor in the parking lot we headed to Olympia. Andy of CapCity Presents really went the full distance to help this end of the tour. We spent a good day in Olympia and spent a good chunk at the classic venue Le Voyer. At this point we were fully in tour mode, it was fun and refreshing to be stopping around towns in PNW, because we truly do feel connected and at home in this area of evergreen. The show was a blast and funny enough was followed up by a K Records Release show, which was a fun small word moment! A late night drive to Bremerton ended up with a wholesome time with our former bassist Dylan Hall and the band in Meg and Dylans childhood treehouse. We spent our last day in Bremerton. For any of you Bremerton, Silverdale, Poulsbo or Kingston kids, you know…you just kinda hang. It was honestly a really relieving way to end out. Jacob of Surrender the Crown Productions helped us keep our Chuck show from falling through despite a band bailing last minute by making it free. It was a wholesome show of good drinks and honestly the coolest, most apt venue for freaks to play. We spent the night in Poulsbo and made the move home the next day with time to spare in the afternoon.

It’s hard to put into words how much this little run of shows meant to us. We put our hearts earnestly into our music and our shows. Anytime we can entertain anyone at all with what we do we are happy. Every stop on tour meet new people we could meet, new friends to share music with. This type of touring isn’t about making money. It isn’t about partying hard. It’s just about connecting with people through music. Thank you to everyone who came to any of our shows on tour, or to any show ever. Thank you to all our hosts, and every band we played with. Thank you to every bar, and every house share. Thank you What’s Up, and thank you for reading. We will be planning many more mini tours to an area near you…but also keep your ears open…. We are working on a very ambitious album and tour to go with it!

Mrs. Henry performs songs from The Band 3 Mar 2020 11:11 AM (5 years ago)

by Logan Portteus

San Diego-based rock and roll quartet Mrs. Henry is coming to Bellingham March 29 as part of their West Coast tour. The tour follows Mrs. Henry’s two recent live records, Live At The Casbah and their cover album, Mrs. Henry Presents THE LAST WALTZ, a bold and unique homage to the 1978 live record by The Band.

Mrs. Henry’s rendition of The Last Waltz maintains a masterful balance of adding their own take without losing the essence of the original record. A large piece of that essence is the live collaboration with other artists. Just as The Band featured a large lineup of artists including the likes of Bob Dylan, Muddy Waters and Neil Young, Mrs. Henry recruited an array of San Diego artists to join them on stage. The result is an incredibly full sound with all of the rawness and soul of live performance.

“Both albums are recorded in our hometown of San Diego and both showcase two radically different sides of the band,” Mrs. Henry’s singer and guitarist Daniel Cervantes said. “This band has always had more music than we can give in a single given night, let alone on a single record. We can play till the cows come home and still have more songs to spare!”

Mrs. Henry was founded by Cervantes in 2012, but solidified the current lineup in 2015 after two prior iterations of the band. Cervantes (who also plays in the legendary Howlin Rain) is accompanied by singer and keyboardist Jody Bagley, singer and bassist Blake Dean, and drummer Chad Lee, who will be joining the vocal ranks for the first time on this tour.

Cervantes had nothing but sincere praise to share about the bandmates. He described Bagley as having “a voice of an angel” and being “a jaw-dropping vocalist,” noting that he sang for the Queen of England while touring internationally at a young age. Cervantes first saw Dean play in another band during the early days of Mrs. Henry, and said that he was blown away by his bass capabilities. Lee, he continued, played in a previous project with him and said that “he hits with an attack and feel that fills the room.”

“I like to think that when the four members of Mrs. Henry hit the downbeat, we create one of fastest, biggest downbeats around. Everyone lands just where they need to land,” Cervantes said.

The natural chemistry and flow of the quartet is evident in every song they’ve produced, but particularly so with the new live albums. With their already-established bluesy jam rock sound, the tribute to The Band makes perfect sense.

“The Bellingham audience should expect a truly unique show featuring an opening set of original music from Mrs. Henry followed by an hour-thirty to two-hour performance of songs from The Band’s catalog,” Cervantes said. “We are digging deep, being a huge fan of the group we are excited to have a platform to perform songs outside of The Last Waltz concert and into The Band’s amazing catalog and history of live performances.”

In addition to the West Coast tour, Mrs. Henry is releasing another record Live At The Pourhouse in spring of this year. Cervantes said they have a new track in the works that chronicles their recent journey to Brooklyn, NY, which he said sounds like a 48-hour whirlwind experience in New York City, captured in a song. Evidently, the group is far from running out of steam.

“It’s a powerful thing to bring people of all different walks of earth together under one roof,” Cervantes said. “We aim to keep doing it again and again and rock and roll is the way we know how to do it. We grew up with the notion that rock and roll was dead. Rock and roll is not dead! It is more alive than it has ever been, you just have to search for it. Rock and roll is for those who want it. We exist for the searchers, for the kids and adults like us who dream of a band doing what we are doing. We hope to inspire, to influence and create purpose because that’s what the band does for us.”

SEE THE SHOW

The March 29 performance at The Shakedown will undoubtedly be a rare experience. For tickets, visit shakedownbellingham.com. Check out Mrs. Henry on all streaming platforms, and for more information and updates on the band, find them on Facebook or Instagram @mrshenryrocks, or visit their website mrshenry.com.

Carl Christensen: Give the people what they want 3 Mar 2020 10:23 AM (5 years ago)

by Chris Butcher

Through the power of social media, Seattle musician Carl Christensen, also known as The Sobbing Rainbow, has composed an interactive musical project called “Keep the Change.”

Christensen uses the “ask me a question” tool through his Instagram story where followers can make suggestions on what to include in a song. After the tune is in the rough draft phase, Christensen posts a recording of it on his social media so that listeners can give him constructive feedback. The voting period for each revision of the song will last one month after the song is posted.

“I wanted to write a song where the audience contributed as much to the piece as the composer did,” Christensen said.

The cycle of re-writing, re-recording and re-posting will continue until the piece is finished in December of this year.

To bring the songs to life, Christensen has connected with Bellingham band Analog Brass.

Even though music has been apart of his life since before he could remember, Christensen’s life as a practicing musician started to take off while attending school at Eastern Washington University.

“The orchestral sound came from me studying music composition at college but I was also playing in punk-rock bands on the side. Later I realized that I could turn these into one thing and play to my strengths in both worlds,” Christensen said.

Even though Christensen loves classical music there are aspects of the genre that he views as problematic.

“I think one could easily get the sense that most classical music written after the turn of the century was written with an almost arrogant tone. I often feel like music written around that time was meant as a challenge for listeners,” Christensen said.

By combining contemporary rock and folk music with the emotionally powerful components of classical music, Christensen feels he has found a perfect medium of both styles and created a genre that doesn’t alienate his audience. Christensen is no one man army though. In the last few months he has been traveling to Bellingham to work with super-groove band, Analog Brass, who are helping make these songs sound funky and orchestral.

Christensen got the idea to reach out to Analog Brass after founding member Max Lemke filled in for a Sobbing Rainbow show last summer.

“He’s [Christensen] this singer-songwriter and composer who writes mostly folk and indie music but features a small orchestra that he gets together himself. That gig we had a string quartet, four horns, and a rock band all play together on Carl’s friends’ roof to a crowd of 50 people and it was awesome,” Lemke said.

Christensen describes the musical inspirations behind this project as, “If Bruce Springsteen and the Front Bottoms had a head on collision with an orchestra and collided.”

The two bonded over their love of rocking folk music with a symphonic background.  They have spent the last few weeks recording a full orchestra in Lemke’s tiny home on north campus to make an apartment sessions style recording.

FOR MORE INFO

The Sobbing Rainbow (featuring Analog Brass) will be playing at Mallard Ice Cream on March 15.  To learn more about how you can be involved, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=1WIcuxKyits&feature=emb_logo. For more of his music you can listen on his YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-FyhpZojnS4-Y4HVCH5cqQ/videos.

Farewell, Polecat: Thank you for 10 years 3 Mar 2020 10:19 AM (5 years ago)

Thankful, proud, and ready to take the last bow. After 10 years together, the band plays two final shows March 7.

interview by Brent Cole

photo by Jason Charme; Polecat at Meltdown

All good things eventually come to an end and such is the case with one of Bellingham’s best and most popular bands, Polecat. From their start as the house band at Boundary Bay on Monday nights a decade ago, Polecat quickly gained a fan base for their electric live shows. It didn’t take long before the band was touring regularly, playing shows all around the PNW and parts beyond. Now in their mid-30s, the members of Polecat have decided to call it a day; Aaron Guest and Cayley Schmid (husband and wife) live in Bellingham, with the other members on the San Juan Islands, Seattle and Portland.

Before calling it a day, though, they’re doing one last string of dates, ending in Bellingham on March 7 at the Bellingham Circus Guild. What’s Up! wanted to talk with Aaron and Cayley one last time about the world of Polecat. We wish you all the best!

What brought about the ending of Polecat?

Over the last few years, we’ve had band members move to various areas of the Northwest, the writing/rehearsing has slowed, and the motivation to tour has slowed as well. The need to keep touring (when you are known for being a fun live show) is pretty huge, and we all eventually started to feel that pressure as a bit of a negative. It’s not all fun and games out there! We were lucky enough to enjoy a certain regional level of success, and we collectively decided to end at that level rather than fizzle away.

When you reflect on the last decade of making music as Polecat, what are some of the positives thoughts you take from it?

Polecat was a special anomaly in that we could fit in all kinds of places, but at the same time we were a bit of an outlier, which made folks remember us well. A perfect example would be to compare Summer Meltdown and Stringband Jamboree, regional festivals we were lucky enough to play many times each. At Meltdown (and festivals heavy on jam bands and electronic music), we were considered more of a stringband, but at Jamboree (and festivals more dedicated to acoustic music) we were considered more as a rock band. The way we were able to bring together all of our very different musical styles into a cohesive sound was a great strength for us.

What are some of your biggest disappointments?

I suppose when we realized what it was going to take to keep growing (touring harder and harder, more expenses, more business-related decisions), reaching inward for that strength, and realizing that it would be too much pressure on each other to continue that trajectory. When we decided to keep things more weekend-oriented and locally based, we missed the excitement and challenge of new opportunities. Rock and a hard place I guess.

Do you remember when you had an “Oh wow, this is really a thing” moment?  What was that like?

Those first Monday nights at Boundary Bay in Spring 2010 were special. We felt it right away in that crowded joyful taproom! When we got asked to play both Meltdown and Jamboree that first summer, we knew the word was out in the way that we had hoped.

What is the one thing you will most miss from your time in the band?

Playing original music together as five musicians who are proud of what they are performing when the sound is huge and the crowd is joyous. Doesn’t get much better! Also, we made each other laugh. So much. That was sweet.

What’s next for each member of Polecat?

Cayley: Booking bands for FLi Artists (international folk music agency), teaching fiddle, going to fiddle camps, and running the Folk Festival and Irish Festival.

Aaron: Spending lots of time in local studios, crafting A.guest work and helping other artists bring their music to life on a record. Playing with Petty or Not, Wednesday piano at Boundary Bay, and helping Cayley with all local musical productions.

Jeremy: Aligning with the Portland music scene on stages and in studios, a solo album in the works, and playing with Petty or Not.

Karl: Continuing to tour with Seattle’s Polyrhythmics and recording with original groove music projects within the music scene there.

Richard: Enjoying life on the San Juans to the fullest, sailing as much as possible, and getting awesome at the Irish whistle!

Do you have a craziest memory from your time on the road?

Too many to think of just one to tell. We partied hardy but kept it pretty respectable, all things considered. We are just a bunch of musical nerds, after all. There remains zero tattoos on our five bodies, and we all managed to make it to all of our nearly 1,000 gigs together in one piece. There were some epic all-night jams at festivals, there were crowds of 5,000 or more as some of the summer concert series we played, we had a two-week run supporting Yonder Mountain Stringband where we got to play the Fillmore and many other beautiful rooms in the West, and a whole lotta hotel room parties and kitchen hangs and all-night drives and crazy wild crowds and over-the-top Halloween costumed shows and and and…

How do you think your time on the road affected you as a musician and a person?

Performing 100 times a year (hopefully) gets you pretty good at your instrument! Communication skills are everything, and it’s tough when you are tired and frazzled. The road is where everyone needs to step up and be a team. I like being on a good team.

Do you have any advice for young bands in Bellingham?

Keep doing it! Be a considerate person toward the sound engineer and the staff of where you are working, it goes a long way. Make sure you get paid for your work, and try to put a bit of money aside so you can tour and record – and through it all try not to forget why you started making music in the first place: we musicians are ambassadors of joy and love!

Any last thoughts?

Big thanks and love to our sweet wonderful supportive dancey vibey hometown. Everywhere we ever toured, we’d announce ourselves as ‘We’re Polecat, from Bellingham Washington.’

Come see us March 7 at the Bellingham Circus Guild, for the most perfectly Bellingham way to go out. Us five are thankful, proud, and ready to put a bow on these 10 years.

SEE THE SHOW

Say goodbye to Polecat at the Bellingham Circus Guild on March 7 at 4pm (all ages) and 8pm (21+). Check out polecatmusic.com/schedule for more details.

Lotus Drops: Goddess womp 3 Mar 2020 10:15 AM (5 years ago)

by Logan Portteus

photo by Lasha Aten Photography

DJ Anastasia Lotus, known by her stage name Lotus Drops, describes her DJ genre as “goddess womp” and dubstep. Goddess womp, she noted, incorporates primordial female vocals with dark, strange flavors. Having found a niche sound that captivates her audiences, her performance genre hasn’t changed much. She has, however, transitioned from breakbeat-influenced world electronica to more dubstep influence, and begun incorporating elements of trap music.

After developing her career in San Francisco and beyond over the past decade, Lotus returned to Bellingham for several years.  She’s now beginning her next chapter as a mother and DJ – recently moving to Olympia –while keeping a close connection with the Bellingham music scene and moving forward with her ambitions.

“My mixes and flow have become way more refined, and I’ve learned to tell a story with my sets,” Lotus said. “Most people say that they tend to get transported to another dimension during my performances! I love the feeling of assisting people in transforming through electronic music. It’s always a cleansing and revitalizing experience for myself and the audience. “

Playing live sets that are completely dependent on technology can be a challenge, Lotus explained. She plays on CDJs, which she says is becoming an old school tool, and mixes her performances live, an homage to turntable roots.

“I have played on Ableton in the past, but the rawness and unpredictability of mixing on CDJs is way more of a thrill,” she said.

Lotus discovered her dream to become a DJ when she was 13 and began attending all-ages dance parties in Bellingham called “Barefoot Boogies.” She began volunteering, embedding herself in the community it offered.

“I was always fascinated with the energy the DJ holds at a party, and how much of an opportunity you have to share music that moves you,” Lotus said. “I hung out with all the DJs and luckily a few of them let me play around on their records and turntables.”

Lotus specifically credits two DJs at the time – Shawn “Mr. Pickles” and Brandon Brodie – for giving her the chance to explore DJing and ignite her passion for the craft.

When Lotus was 20, she moved to San Francisco and expanded her reach.  She performed her first DJ gig there at a sold-out show and began using the moniker Lotus Drops. From that moment in 2008, she started playing multiple shows a week for several years.  She joined DJ crews Ritual Dubstep and MalLabel, heavily immersing herself into the heart of the San Francisco underground electronic music scene and growing a fan base. She has also performed six separate DJ sets at Burning Man, embedding herself into that community.

Since returning to Bellingham, Lotus has been balancing raising her son, Orion, and jumping back into performing and finding her place in the community again.  She has family and friends that help take care of Orion when she performs, which she is grateful for.

“Last year was a huge turning point back into the (Bellingham) scene,” Lotus said.  “I focused really hard on rebuilding momentum up here in the Northwest. I left pursuing my DJ career 10 years earlier and I was back feeling more inspired than ever. Luckily with the steady bookings with Zack over at Wild Buffalo and my new residency with People Music, I was able to reestablish myself as a local DJ and rekindle my fan base. That’s the beauty of coming back to your hometown though, you get to reconnect and synergize with old homies and find new connections that want to make big dreams happen. Those vibes are what I thrive in as a DJ.”

In the past three years, Lotus has been learning about sound healing practices, and has thrown small events to slowly reestablish herself in Bellingham. She’s retained a core following that have supported her throughout her career which she said she is thankful for.

“The Bellingham scene has changed a little but honestly, there’s a certain magic that has always been here for me,” Lotus said. “I’m just starting to get to know the new kids around here and luckily we have awesome cats like Metanoia Collective providing incredible underground vibes and parties.”

While Lotus Drops considers Bellingham her home, she recently moved to Olympia after being offered a housing situation she couldn’t pass up, making her love affair with Bellingham a long distance one for now.

“Even though I’m tucked away in Olympia making art and raising my son, my heart is still fully active in the Bellingham community,” she stated, regularly returning to the local music scene.

SEE THE SHOW

Lotus Drops performs at the Bellingham Dance Company on March 14 as part of a fundraiser for Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Service (DVSAS). For more information, see the Facebook event. Find Lotus Drops on Soundcloud at soundcloud.com/lotusdrops, and for upcoming events and news updates, find her on Facebook @LotusDropsWomp and on Instagram @lotus_drops.  

Alanna Royale: Sounds and strength of the soul 3 Mar 2020 10:14 AM (5 years ago)

by EMILY COULTER

Alanna Royale makes beautiful, soulful music that urges you to dance, with deep lyrics and a rich voice full of emotion and power that can’t be ignored. She is the epitome of independence, strength and confidence. Her music represents who she is as a person – someone who is more than aware of the necessary changes to our system but appreciates her place in life as a musician.

Royale, who grew up in Boston and has been touring the United States since she was a kid, is headed West for the first time as she and her band join the Monophonics on their West Coast tour. The opportunity to open for the Bay Area, CA-based Monophonics is a big deal, Royale said. She added, “to have them bring us into their home and meet their fans and to be friends with an artist that you really respect… just means a lot.”

Boasting powerful vocals over slinky instrumentals, her main stage band consists of two permanent members – guitarist Jared Colby and bassist Gabriel Golden. “They’re my best friends and I love them so much,” Royale said.

A new tour requires a new set up and Royale and her band are toying with something unique and different in their sound. “In full form, we have had up to nine players on stage. On this tour, we won’t have any of that. We’ll be playing for the first time as a five-piece. It feels like my security blanket has been ripped off me.”

She has been playing music “all of my life in different iterations.” With age comes an evolving sound and her music reflects that. “The way I play music has been a metaphor for my life in general,” Royale said. “The things that I’m making and the life that I’m living have aligned in ways that I’ve never really felt before.”

As any artist or musician at any given stage in their career can tell you, the industry isn’t always the easiest to navigate. Royale was signed at one point but is now an independent artist living in Nashville, Tennessee. Her band is recording a new single and working towards releasing an album.

“This record will be an example of a moment in time where I am right now,” Royale said. “The records I make now are produced by Kelly Finnegan, the lead singer of Monophonics. We met when I did a one-off opening for him. He started off as one of my idols and now he’s my equal.”

This chance encounter with one of her favorite bands is a self-defined “lesson to show up and try and ask questions and ask people if they want to work with you.”

Royale strives to make classic soul music for the modern world, taking her views as a woman in this world mixed with the timeless sound quality from soul and R&B music.

She added, “just being good is so important and the turmoil of other people around you not being good can just break your brain and that’s what our new record is about – a soul record about depression.”

SEE THE SHOW

Catch Alanna Royale opening for Monophonics on April 3 at the Wild Buffalo. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter @alannaroyale or alannaroyale.com. 

Voluptuous Panic: Pining for the stars 3 Mar 2020 10:13 AM (5 years ago)

by KEENAN KETZNER

In the mild-mannered mood of the Pacific Northwest, it makes sense why so many bands from the area, in some way or another, embody the sense of bittersweet melancholia that is pervasive in both the scenery and its inhabitants. Voluptuous Panic lives up to its own name and current locale with tunes that are home-crafted, chilly, and pining, but also cozy and engulfing.

This duo consists of Gretchen DeVault, songwriter/guitarist of indie sweetheart The Icicles, and Brian J. Bowe, reformed rocker and part of John Sinclair’s Blues Scholars group, and a professor at Western Washington University.

The duo first started when they collaborated during the film, The Death of an Imam, a documentary that examines the way the media frames and covers the FBI shooting of Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah. There they worked on the soundtrack, and took stock of each other’s musical inventory. Fast-forward to 2013 where things are heavily underway between them and Voluptuous Panic is decided as the alias for the project: a name that provokes psychological subtext, but in a controlled, sensual manner.

How they ended up with their current sound is surprising, however, as both come from somewhat different worlds.

Brian is an old school punk from Detroit, forming his band Squarefoot, where he played bass. “When I think of that time, I think of seeing bands like Dinosaur Jr and My Bloody Valentine, and going to warehouse raves, going to music festivals in Morocco. I find myself very susceptible to ecstatic states when I’m encountering very loud, kind of repetitive music. Especially in 92, it was about this immersion in sound.”

Gretchen grew up around a piano and has fond memories of conjuring up music as a kid. “I briefly had piano lessons when I was about five or six. I always regretted not continuing with them. Many of my cousins continued with piano and I would ask them to teach me songs they had learned… In college I took a guitar class… I kept at the guitar and eventually was able to change chords reasonably. The day I was able to change chords somewhat smoothly was the day I wrote my first official song. After that, I joined my first band and haven’t stopped playing ever since.”

The band’s songwriting process differs considerably from their previous efforts. Because of the physical distance between them – Gretchen lives in LA and Brian locally – much of the songwriting is done in an additive manner over email. Gretchen will email Brian a demo recording, he will add onto that, and eventually they end up sending these overdubs to their buddy Tony Hamera who mixes them into one cohesive sound-world. This keeps the process very democratic, and lets each other explore their own voice, while being able to subtly add their own.

“During the first phase, I let the song come out on paper (and via guitar chords or on piano) without judgement or censoring. I basically give myself permission to write whatever, even if it ends up being garbage,” Gretchen noted. “I know that I can always throw it out if I don’t like it or edit it later. But I think it’s important to start with that open space first. The second phase is the editing phase. That’s where I take a real look at the song — make my edits or determine if it’s even worth further exploring the song. I use my phone for rough recordings during both phases so I don’t forget the ideas that come up.”

For what they both bring to the project, Brian said, “We’re both very sensitive people, and aesthetics are very important to us.”

Gretchen added, “I really enjoy the texture and atmosphere that synths can bring, so usually that’s where the synth comes in for me. I’m usually adding synth as texture to a song.”

Whatever gap in the song is formed by its inherent creation by one person, it seems like the other is able to fill it with an apt sound that keeps the ball rolling.

Their presence in the music world has been limited, with a handful of delightful singles released in the past decade, but both express desires to get together in the same studio and record a handful of tracks to try and shake the formula up even further. If that were to happen, it also sounds like some live performances would also be in order.

MORE INFO

To hear Voluptuous Panic, check out voluptuouspanic.bandcamp.com or visit their Facebook page at facebook.com/voluptuouspanicmusic/.

Apology Wars: The way to go 3 Mar 2020 10:07 AM (5 years ago)

by Caitlin Cohen

photo by Chris Butcher

Bellingham’s Apology Wars make their own rules when it comes to their creative process—and also break them. A group of goofy and lighthearted guys who have fun while working together, they become one hell of a powerhouse when merging ideas together.

The indie-rock band is made up of Kyle McAllister (vocals), Ryan Rodgers (guitar), Bryce Hamm (bass), and Asa Morris (drums). They have found their own way of growing the project, whether that is bringing songs that have been in their head to life on the spot or using humor as the ultimate networking secret weapon at live shows. Their debut EP, The Best I Can Do Is Ruin A Party, was the result of squeezing into a small room and playing Smash Bros until becoming delirious.

Since the release of their EP in August 2019, Apology Wars have begun the next step of moving beyond Whatcom. They’ve accepted opportunities that will expand their reach to the Seattle music scene, including being played on KEXP and recording two singles this month with Grammy-Award winning (and architect of the Seattle Sound) producer Jack Endino.

For Apology Wars, their EP displays a perfect example of what they can do – the band crafts a sound so catchy that it can make even the shyest of dancers tap their foot. Yet, this ain’t a project just for fun and kicks. The lyrics and instrumentals hit deeper in the mind and embracing all the beauty and grit that comes with the human experience.

Though Apology Wars’ sound has this way of producing a lucid and harmonious unison of vocals, strings, and drums, their music is anything but soft. There is a subtle heaviness that isn’t the forefront of its vibe but stands out in its own way.

The singles being recorded with Endino definitely lay it on heavy. These sounds are going to be louder and have a bit of a blues feel mixed in while staying true to their alternative roots. The lyrics are touching on some heftier topics related to mental health. “Better” is a defiant, mental health anthem responding to the common dialogue and stigma around depression and other forms of disorders.

Apology Wars are still very much a live band, and now more confident about performing because they’ve gained a new understanding of working together during the recording process.

“You’ll try to play a part you’ve played a million times and it feels foreign because it’s a different pace than what you’d naturally do. You’re also watching everyone else do their takes and starting to notice how they play during parts you never paid attention to before,” Hamm said. “I watched Asa’s takes on drums over and over again. At the time, I was more focused on my bass parts during practice but after watching his takes over and over again I noticed what he kept doing.”

Hamm added that he noticed where Asa would do his fills and where he’d do the bass drums. “This made me think about the bass lines and changing some stuff up. Recording just polishes everybody up and forces you to think how your band mates think because of how much you have to watch them work—it’s awesome.”

For Apology Wars, this project isn’t just about making music. The four members are the right people to productively work creatively with. The band has found their flow with utilizing their differing skill sets in a way that works for them.

For example, Rodgers will have an idea that will be stuck in his head until he brings it to McAllister, Hamm, and Morris, who then all make a song together. For McAllister, song writing for lyrics had always been a very introspective process until collaborating with Rodgers, Hamm, and Morris.

“For so many years I used to write songs just by myself. Writing a song is very personal because you’re literally bringing it out of your mind and into the world with your instrument. It can be hard to take criticism sometimes but with these people, I find it very easy to work with them. When you have a good mix of creative people, it’s a really fun process,” Rogers  said.

Making music is a lot of trial and error and finding the right combination of people to be able to experience that with is essential. Apology Wars has grown with this project, and given the members the opportunities to teach and learn from each other to thrive as artists.

SEE THE SHOW

Come see Apology Wars in action on March 6 at the Piano Room for the Make.Shift Art Walk starting at 6 p.m. See their Facebook page for updates or https://apologywars.com. 

ModSock 25 Feb 2020 10:03 AM (5 years ago)

ModSock

ModSock is a unique and wonderful sock store in downtown Bellingham, WA with a huge selection of fun novelty socks available online, including their own brand ModSocks. Shop for cool designs like Bigfoot socks, sloth socks, dog and cat socks, socks with funny sayings and colorful, classic patterned socks like argyle, stripes and more. With more than 1,600 cute and crazy styles for adults and children, ModSock has socks to fit every personality!

Le Beat: February 2020 2 Feb 2020 9:45 PM (5 years ago)

Local notes on what’s happening with musicians, events and more. Have something to share? Send your info to editor@whatsup-magazine.com.

Hey hi hi hey hi hello.

How’s everyone doing? I’m well. It’s a beautiful day as I’m writing this and any time you get a beautiful day in the winter, it’s glorious.

I’ll start with magazine stuff. First, I’d like to thank those who came out to the What’s Up! Awards Show in January at the Wild Buffalo – it was a fun time had by one and all. The music was awesome – a great mixture of what’s happening in Bellingham. Munch, LipStitch, Blood Capsules, The Rhetorician and Dryland all killed it and I loved hearing KLEFTO spin. Also, special thanks to Aireekah Laudert for MCing the whole night and thanks to Jackie Kersten for being our Vanna White. Also, thanks to the presenters, and to those who made it out to pick up their awards – it’s the part of the show that makes me giddy. Thank you, thank you, thank you! You can see pretty pictures by Chris Butcher and David Johnson in the upcoming pages as well as who won the illustrious awards!!

NEW MUSIC

Ex Nihilo have released a two-song tape teaser of their upcoming SHREDDING release on Black Spark out of the UK. You can listen to the songs on bandcamp, of course, but you know you want to buy the tape…. Tapes rule. I’m listening to the goods right now and my face has melted.

Lonely Crowded, which includes Pascal Foley, Sam Kunesh, Adam Perkowski and Mackenzie Sinclair, have released a new record. How is this possible, with Pascal having been hospitalized recently for an extended period of time? I have no idea… but it means Pascal is feeling better and that’s a damn good thing. He’s still battling to get his body to work right, but he’s doing a lot better… and music is coming from it. Find it on bandcamp and enjoy.

Ooof, have you checked out Maneken Hand’s new record, Spaceship Haircuts? They’re a great live band and this record really does them justice. They’ve done something that’s damn difficult – keeping the energy of their live show while making the record more clear and direct. Check them out.

WMD is continuing to produce great music with their new album, Saudade, out Feb. 20. It’ll be the first one released on vinyl, which is a huge step for the project. I love that I consistently say two things: WMD is making fantastic music and WMD is releasing fantastic music.

I’ve heard there are tentative plans for LipStitch to release their debut full length in April or May. I sure hope it’s sooner than later, but there you go… I want this thing OUT so we can all collectively enjoy how wonderful this band is. They played a bunch of the new material during their Awards Show set and it’s glorious – great pop/rock. GREAT pop/rock.

Melancholia have just about wrapped up their upcoming release Agony in the Garden II. When’s it coming out? Not sure… probably the spring. Why should we care? BECAUSE IT WILL BE EPIC.

As I’m writing le beat, I’m listening to Smooth Kiwi… who are recording the second weekend of February. I’ve mentioned it before, but their single “Am I Asleep?” just kills me. So remarkable, so beautiful. They kind of sound like King Black Acid with a little later era Floyd… wonderful, spacey and lots of space in their sound. “Fast Mystery,” their second single, is also amazing – both deserve to be checked out. I can’t wait for their new album, and I’m going to bug the bleep out of them to get it done and out! See them on Feb. 8 at The Firefly opening for The Dawn Bombs and, from Brazil, SESSA!

NIK:11, a local EMD artist who tours and plays around the US a lot but not as much locally, has a new track that’s reached the top 20 Billboard Dance Chart. “Kickback,” also includes Ouiwey Collins, son of the legendary Bootsy Collins. Bootsy, obviously, was in P-funk, which NIK:11 spent some time in (post Bootsy). REALLLY stoked for NIK:11, congratulations!

ON THE ROAD (AGAIN)

Jackie is hitting the road for the miniest of mini tours – they’ll be hitting Portland and Eugene the first weekend of the month, which is something I recommend every band do. I’ve said it for years – tour, tour, tour… I probably say it nearly every le beat, but I mean it. Right now, you might not be able to tour, but you can hit Portland and Eugene and make it back for work or school on Monday. GET TO IT.

You know I love Mostafa… love, love, love Mostafa – great person, great music. I also love that he works his ass offfffff. Example? If I did my math correctly, he’s playing 89 shows in 92 days – the first and last being in Bellingham. Beginning March 6, he’s going to tour the U.S. (AND I’M TALKING ALL OVER THE U.S.), ending June 5 back in town. How is he going to do this? I have absolutely no idea… but if this doesn’t make him insane, he’s going to grow as an artist beyond anything he or anyone can imagine. I’ll be honest, though, this tour does freak me out – hardest I’ve seen before is 59 shows in 60 days (by Federation X)… then again, Mostafa is a one man act (depending on who is touring with him)… so maybe it’s just a nice road trip for him, plus playing music… every single day. No matter, this is amazing and inspirational. Have fun!

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY

With No-Fi Soul Rebellion coming back to our lives (I’m still so bummed I missed their show), I’ve been enjoying their catalog again. You can check it out on the normal services, but it’s really worth the listen. One of the best, most interesting and joyful bands the town has ever produced.

The Alternative Library has found a temporary home at 1309 Billy Frank Jr.  Street. They don’t have regular hours right now, but are doing shows again, so that’s good news. Not sure how temporary it is, but today it’s going and we should all celebrate that.

So… there’s a show a little off the beaten path that I’m insanely excited about this month. The WWU Symphony Orchestra will be performing Miles Davis’s Sketches of Spain on Feb. 12 at the PAC. You can read about the conductor and some of the good stuff happening in the music department in the upcoming pages, but I wanted to say a special little something about this show. Sketches is one of my favorite Miles records. I’ve always found it, well, magical… It’s beautiful and felt like such a brilliant departure from a Miles record (which is always brilliant). Go check out this show, it’s going to be absolutely special.

THINGS THAT DON’T MAKE ME HAPPY

I knew this day would come eventually, but was sad when I finally got the official press release. Polecat have called it a day. They’re playing a going away mini tour in early March, hitting Bend, Portland, Seattle and finally, Bellingham. Be there the last time to see them live in Bellingham at the Circus Guild on March 7 at 4 p.m. (all ages) and 8 p.m. (21+). Love them or like them, they’ve been a mainstay on the music scene for over a decade and always light the dance floor on fire. Polecat is another example of how if you work hard, you can make a living in the music business – tour, grow, build and be good. Congrats to all of you, and thank you for your work in the music scene!

Was disappointed to read The Sheen have called it a day as Kellan appears to be splitting town (as the best often do). Before he splits, they’ll be playing another show at Karate Church on Feb. 7 with Careen, Wild Powwers, and Bastard Salt. The Sheen aren’t necessarily officially calling it a day, they’re just probably not going to play anymore. Hopefully the remaining members will go on to make good and equally weird music.

I’m pretty sure I had a lot more le beat stuff saved, but as my computer got veryyyyyy sick last month, I lost a lot of info. If I missed something, please resend it. If you have a new record coming out, please submit it… if you just want to say hello, send an email and I’ll say hi back. See you next month.

Hugs and kisses,

Brent

C.W. Stoneking: The sound becomes him 2 Feb 2020 9:43 PM (5 years ago)

by Lexy Aydelotte

C.W. Stoneking makes a stunning circus of genres. He mixes and matches rhythms and styles in a way that sounds classic. He stands on stage like the ringleader of a ghostly sound that you’ve never heard but is somehow familiar. Old timey, and brand new. The man’s a legend who calls himself King Hokum.

Stoneking has a deep voice, dripping in intrigue, with a bit of a slur like he’s been chewing on something important. It’s one of those old storytelling voices, the kind that sets a mood. He sings like that, too.

At times his sound is as simple as a few strings buzzing. Then he comes at you with that second line, brass and drums marching in a joyful jazz funeral procession. All of a sudden he sounds like some crooning parlor boy singing to his sweetheart at the county fair. Around and around on this ferris wheel of sound.

He hails from the timeless stone and sand deserts of the Australian outback, but his music is undeniably infused with the humid blues of the American South. How Stoneking mastered that southern blues sound is a story.

Born in Australia some 45 years ago, most of his childhood was spent in Papunya, a small indigenous community in the Northern Territory. The sand there was a vivid red and the mountains were big and twisted. Millenia of erosion and wear, and he grew up in what remained. He was young when he played in the red sand, and started messing around with his mom’s guitar and listening to his father’s record collection.

“I first started playing skip to my lou and I thought it was hard and my fingers hurt,” Stoneking recalled. “My dad had a real big record collection so he was always playing music in the house. It was a real eclectic mix of stuff.”

He added, “When I used to listen to Charlie Patton or the voice of Son House… the sort of visual cues in my head, what it conjured, was more like what I knew. When I saw the (Mississippi) delta, it wasn’t old to me. It was like a jungle, probably flooded half the time and it’s all been drained out, and there’s roads.”

Perhaps the landscape made all the old tunes sound new. Perhaps the juxtaposition of sound and scenery inspired him to keep inventing, to keep the music evolving, to keep wearing down the edges and adding new ingredients.

Stoneking said it wasn’t until his 20s when he really got into music. “I started playing with a band for awhile, we were playing old blues, and I was familiar with it cause I’d listened to it but I never really thought about only playing that.”

He performed at small venues and on street corners for at least a decade before making his first record, King Hokum.

“That was my little thing. I started calling myself the King of Hokum,” Stoneking said. “I just put it on a poster one day, a long time ago.”

Hokum is a kind of blues from the 30s – northern blues, a bit jazzy. It also means pretentious nonsense, according to the dictionary.

“The main thing is, hokum is like a double entendre,” Stoneking said. “You know. Sexy tunes dressed up as something else.”

His music does have a satirical bite. Tall tales of adventures in the Congo, zombies, and voodoo. The lyrics are equal parts fantasy, depth, and wit.

And King Hokum does have a stronger jazz sound than his later work. But somehow it’s less busy. Even when the band comes in with the brass, it maintains a certain casual charm. As if you’d just stumbled upon a mythical porch session somewhere in Louisiana.

Maybe the important question isn’t how Stoneking became so good at playing the blues. The simple answer is he put in the time. The better question is how he became so good at playing the blues and so much more all at once.

“I tend to not want to dwell too long on one thing,” Stoneking said. “Maybe if I write a song and it sort of reminds me of a specific type of blues or maybe an artist or somebody, I don’t tend to try to do that more than once… Now I don’t really even think about it when I’m writing songs. I just experiment with the rhythm, chords and different things.”

His experiments have worked. Stoneking has won numerous independent music awards in Australia, appeared on Jack White’s album Boarding House Reach, and seems to be constantly on tour. In the past two years, he has been playing more solo shows.

“I just take one instrument and a bag,” he said.

He likes the freedom of it, and enjoys re-working his songs the way he re-invests genres.

“You know the record just stops in its tracks,” Stoneking said. “You’re always changing things, the way you play or sound, from day to day, certainly from year to year. (The record) becomes pretty obsolete to the artist pretty quick.”

He continued, “I don’t feel bad about being obsolete. You know people can still listen to it. They’re not me, you know. I hear other recordings and it’s cool. I just take it as that’s what the song is. But when I’ve got the song in me, and I can play it on the guitar any time I want, then the record version doesn’t really stand up in court for me, not for very long anyway.”

His latest record, Gon’ Boogaloo, stands out from the rest. Mainly for his use of an electric slide guitar, and it truly is remarkable how convincingly old it sounds despite the instrument.

Boogaloo is a style of Latin music that originated in New York in the 1960s. A fusion of mambo with R&B that doesn’t exactly describe the record’s sound, but flavors it, and alludes to his habit of combining different styles into something new but familiar.

Stoneking himself is a mixture of cultures and sound. Both of his parents are American.

“I never felt 100 percent Aussie when I lived there as a kid but I definitely don’t feel 100 percent American when I’m here in the states. So I got a little bit of both I guess,” Stoneking said.

“The Zombie,” a track on Gon’ Boogaloo, has a haunting spooky vibe that’s all fun and doo-wop. It takes place somewhere in the jungles of Africa. Stoneking has yet to visit  Africa, but he has faced zombies.

“I was coming out of a joint one time in Bristol, in England,” Stoneking said. “I used to have a place there where I went to write songs. I guess it was an old bomb shelter or something. It was like underground, and I was working there one night. I roll out in the afternoon. And there are zombies everywhere! In the park and coming up the street. I guess it was one of those zombie walk things. But I didn’t know. There was just zombies everywhere.”

For King Hokum, that kind of foolery might seem mundane. His music conjures that kind of feeling, a mythical world where one might tango with a zombie; where the king of nonsense comes from down under to sing for us.

C.W. Stoneking is playing the YWCA on Saturday, Feb. 8. Doors open at 7 p.m. The Shadies and Hot Damn Scandal also perform, with vintage dance performance by B’ham Hop. Tickets are $25 at cwstoneking.brownpapertickets.com. The show is produced by Pace Rubadeau. 

My Circus Valentine celebrates 10 years 2 Feb 2020 9:40 PM (5 years ago)

by Logan Portteus

photo courtesy of Jorge Lausell

In the early days of the Bellingham Circus Guild, Anneka Deacon had an idea for a Valentine’s Day event.  This was an ambitious proposal to her colleagues as it was mid-January of 2010, so there was hardly any time to promote, let alone put together, an entirely new performance. Despite the time crunch, Deacon successfully orchestrated the Guild’s first Valentine show. This year, “My Circus Valentine” is celebrating its 10th anniversary with seven different showings from Feb. 13-17, making it the longest-running curated circus show from the Bellingham Circus Guild.

“It was ramshackle, raw, beautiful, and we absolutely packed the house,” Deacon said, describing that first performance. “We pulled it off by the skin of our teeth. It was a wild ride, but we liked it. And it turned out that the good people of Bellingham were looking for something different, beautiful, inspiring, warm and fuzzy to do during that soul-flattening grey time when it seems like winter will never end.”

As the Circus Guild has grown and evolved over the past decade, My Circus Valentine has changed too, Deacon explained.  “The event has grown from a ramshackle, hastily thrown-together, no-budget show into a grand production that showcases the professional, polished, high-skilled side of what our circus community can do.”

The event has developed from a single show to a full weekend of special guests and a wide range of acts, some of whom were previous mentors and allies when the members of the Guild were beginning their circus careers. Every year, the show offers something novel and fresh, growing from its previous renditions and gaining further community support and admiration. This year’s event will feature several new experimental acts, which remain a secret until their premier.

From the genesis of My Circus Valentine, Deacon knew it would take a village to pull it off.  This year, the production team has over a dozen core members, accompanied by 40-60 volunteers. They rely on local business sponsorships to make the event happen, as ticket affordability is something the Guild wants to keep consistent for the Bellingham community.

Guild member Dream Frohe began as Deacon’s aerial performance partner and has been one of her primary collaborators from the beginning, serving as an active participant in the creative process. This year’s Artistic Direction team includes Deacon, Frohe and PJ Perry. Deacon now serves as artistic director, technical director, stage manager and executive producer.

“I do my very best to curate a well-rounded show with a variety of circus arts represented, and to feature the finest local acts as well as a few world-class guest artists from afar,” Deacon said. “This year’s shows will include juggling, clowning, object manipulation, acrobatic dance and a variety of aerial acts.”

Hosting a show series of this magnitude is no easy task, especially when much of the planning and communication occurs during the holiday season of November through December.  Deacon has developed strategies for leaping this hurtle over the past 10 years, like setting act submission deadlines appropriately and meeting with the production team in the fall.

“There are also fiscal challenges,” Deacon said.  “The priority of the show has always been to pay artists a fair wage for their incredibly hard work, and in the early years we all just barely scraped by. As the event has grown, we have begun to do a better job of meeting our goal of paying artists a decent wage, and now I have a new goal: to acquire fiscal sponsorship so we can also pay our production team members a fair wage for their hard work while continuing to keep our ticket prices affordable.”

Despite the challenges, Deacon expressed how fulfilling her work is.  My Circus Valentine provides a needed service to the community for a holiday that conjures a wide range of complicated feelings.  The event offers a space for people of all relationship statuses, sexualities, feelings towards love and all types of late-winter blues to experience something eccentric and beautiful as a community.

“The very first Valentine show was profound because of the way it surprised me – how it ended up being so much more than the sum of its parts, and the glow that enveloped everyone afterwards felt like a bigger kind of love- a community-scale love,” Deacon said. “Some of our curtain calls, especially in the last four years, have felt that way for me. I always want to make our curtain calls special, because how we invite guests in at the beginning of the show and how we release everyone at the end is so important. It creates a container and a frame for the whole experience.”

As for the future of My Circus Valentine, Deacon has a few ideas.  She’s considered doing mini-tours throughout the Pacific Northwest to share the experience with new audiences, but also likes the idea of going back to smaller, more intimate performances. For now, she said, the process proceeds ‘one foot in front of the other.’

“I always want to foster these kinds of moments of grace, but they are not something that can be forced,” Deacon said. “There is some kind of magic that we simply must make space for. We bring all the right elements together, and in the alchemy of each show we just hope those moments of grace find us in the spaces we make.”

The Bellingham Circus Guild celebrates its 10th anniversary of My Circus Valentine with seven different showings Feb. 13-17. For more information, or to purchase your ticket, visit bellinghamcircusguild.com. See their Facebook and Instagram pages at bellinghamcircusguild.

Sketches of Spain: An exciting jazz and symphony collaboration with the Western Washington Symphony Orchestra 2 Feb 2020 9:37 PM (5 years ago)

by Emily Coulter

photo by Claire Ott

There is something very special about sharing a stage with other people to make music. There is something spectacular when the stage holds 60 to 70 people and one conductor. And, when the beauty of orchestral music meets jazz, something unique happens. Miles Davis and Gil Evans’ Sketches of Spain is coming to Bellingham, thanks to a collaboration between Western Washington University professors Dr. Ryan Dudenbostel and Kevin Woods and Fairhaven student Sage Romey.

I met with the university’s director of orchestral studies, Dr. Dudenbostel, and chatted over coffee during Bellingham’s annual yet irregularly scheduled snow storm. “We do a combination of classical and contemporary music, opera, musical theater and always at least one children’s program every year,” Dudenbostel said in reference to the WWU’s flagship symphony orchestra. “I’m really proud of the culture of the group and the community audience that has grown around it.”

As the conductor and director of the Western Washington University’s two orchestras for six years, Dudenbostel has helped shape the culture of orchestral music within the university, which accounts for a big chunk of Bellingham’s population. “This orchestra is a really important part of the musical constellation within Bellingham,” he said. “We have the Bellingham Festival of Music, the Bellingham Symphony Orchestra, the Marrowstone Music Festival in the summer, then the Western Symphony Orchestra.” That impact is felt throughout Bellingham, whether it be a concert series at Whatcom Museum called Off the Hill or other off-campus events.

If you thought classical, or concert music was just for older people, think again. “We have a younger audience, who aren’t students. That owes a lot to the efforts we make to make our concerts relatable, accessible and not intimidating to audiences who aren’t familiar with classical music,” Dudenbostel said. “We want the music to be for everyone. Most of our concerts are free, except for this one.”

This concert is ticketed to fund a planned concert tour of Prague and Vienna in June 2020, an experience that proves key to a young musician’s experience and education. “For musicians to be able to perform abroad, to be performing in the places where so many of the pieces we play were written, and to be able to understand that culture even for a little bit is a great education.” For these musicians, class isn’t just about playing music, it’s about the history and culture that follows every piece they play.

Here in the US, jazz music is a genre that holds a deep-rooted and important place in everyday life. Sketches of Spain is an interesting, rich of blend American jazz and Spanish flamenco, a piece unique in its sound yet still wholly American.

Sage Romey, a senior at the Fairhaven school, is another key component to this collaborative performance. “A year ago, I approached Dudenbostel asking if there was any way we could do a performance that combined the jazz department and the symphony,” Romey said.

With the assistance of Kevin Woods, director of jazz studies, and Dr. Dudenbostel, Romey decided amongst several other pieces that Davis’ Sketches of Spain was the perfect choice to combine the two mediums and provide a unique platform for her senior project. (Romey holds a Fairhaven concentration in ethnomusicology; the study of music of different cultures, especially non-Western.)

Sketches of Spain was recorded in 1959-1960 and uniquely blends classical and jazz music while also providing “a really complex and thought provoking combination of identity politics, migration and nationalism,” Romey said. “The pieces in Sketches [use] this concept called Duende, which is really hard to define succinctly but is a raw, emotional character that can only come through if there is the possibility of absolute failure and death.”

The hard part about performing huge, complex pieces? “The scores are not published,” Dudenbostel said. Romey would go on to do “the serious digging required to find them” and acquired only the scores from Gil Evans’ estate, meaning the parts had to be made based off of the score (a seriously tedious and painstaking process). Joaquin Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez and a piece from Manuel de Falla’s ballet El amor brujo will be interwoven throughout the album’s performance, which is where the orchestra comes in.

Bellingham’s tight-knit yet diverse music scene wouldn’t be what it is without Western Washington University’s music department. Many of the students are in local bands, play gigs around town or busk at the farmers market on weekends. Some of them even write for What’s Up! magazine. With the university accounting for a large chunk of Bellingham’s population, there’s only good reason to support your fellow neighbors by catching their performance of Sketches of Spain. This unique collaboration between professor and student may be one of your few opportunities to see it live and the ticket costs go towards continuing to diversify Bellingham’s unique music scene.

Join the Western Washington Symphony Orchestra for a performance of the cornerstone Miles Davis/Gil Evans album Sketches of Spain alongside the original masterworks by Rodrigo and Falla on which it is based, on Wednesday, Feb. 12 at WWU Performing Arts Center 155 – Concert Hall starting at 8 p.m. This is a ticketed event, with proceeds going to support the WWU Symphony Orchestra’s 2020 European Tour. See https://cfpa.wwu.edu/event/wwu-symphony-orchestra-presents-sketches-spain for a link to tickets. 

Her Crooked Heart: To love what we do 2 Feb 2020 9:30 PM (5 years ago)

by Logan Portteus

Over the course of a decade, Rachel Ries had made a name for herself through her music. Starting as a solo act with her 2005 debut album, For You Only, her music delved into topics of self reflection and personal experiences, using an acoustic guitar and her vocals.  As her career developed, Ries began playing with a full band and a wide range of musicians and instruments, but something felt incomplete. She needed a new name for her project aside from her own, one that better encapsulated what she was trying to convey in her music.

In 2016, right as her new EP was about to be released, Ries had an epiphany. Her recordings for Cardinal were at the manufacturing plant, going into production, when she found a new project name. Despite her fears of losing fan recognition, of all of the work involved with rebranding her entire musical career, she called and paused the vinyl pressing and made the change.

Her Crooked Heart, the new name of her project, introduced three new musicians to the lineup. Ries remains the writer, multi-instrumentalist and producer, but now has the help of Siri Undlin, Adelyn Strei and Hilary James, all of whom are in their own projects in the Minneapolis music scene. The quartet loops beautifully executed harmonies and a wide range of instruments while retaining the soft, intentional lyricism of Ries’ past work. They have released three full-length albums, including their latest record, To Love to Leave to Live.

“The past year of touring this album with them has been hands down the most gratifying, glorious, hilarious, comforting, satisfying stretch of music making I’ve ever had,” Ries said. “I love these women so much. The three of them have their own bands and projects, trajectories and visions, and I love that. There’s no passive role going on, and they all know how much it takes to put on a tour and cover all the bills and figure it all out.”

Her Crooked Heart, and specifically the new album, is incredibly hard to define within a single genre. To Love to Leave to Live fuses piano ballads, folk-rock anthems, woodwinds, strings, drum triggers and tender lyricism into something entirely unique yet relatable.

Ries grew up surrounded by music, and was formally trained at singing and playing instruments. This simultaneously made her want to rebel from the norm and gave her the technical mastery to do so.

“When I was quite little my family lived in Africa, so music and dance and expression were part of everyday life in Zaire, where we were living,” Ries said. “Music was integral to all expression from my earliest memory. When we came to the states when I was four, I got plopped in the prairie of South Dakota (very sexy). In this very small Mennonite community in the plains, it was all about the church. My community growing up was very artistic for being a small town of a bunch of farmers. Lots of theater productions, really robust arts programming at the little high school I went to. For me, it was hymnal, high harmony stuff in the church, but also classical violin lessons, piano, clarinet, viola and honors choir.”

In recent years, Her Crooked Heart has used music as a tool to uplift small town communities, which in part stems from Ries’ own upbringing and desire to give back.

“We’ve been doing these artist residencies, where we get to go to a rural community that’s underserved in terms of the arts,” Ries said. “We go to these tiny towns out in the country for a week at a time and and do creative writing exercises with really hurting, at-risk teens experiencing poverty, drug use, etc. Students who need a lot of love and need a positive outlet for what they’re experiencing.”

They have received a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board that will extend into next year to continue their work.

“It’s about sharing those moments with these bandmates, these women, having real and immediate and present musical human connections with people, and not in a stage way.  Where we aren’t ‘the other,’ but are just there with people using music as the means of connecting.”

In addition to Her Crooked Heart, Ries is the director of a 70-person rock ‘n’ roll choir in Minneapolis.

“This is a time where I value both sides of myself, and am trying to figure out how to balance the two (projects) while also writing and expressing myself, and feel like it’s worth doing. There are so many people making music, is my voice needed? I don’t know! I’m going to keep poking at that question and deciding every day, and we’ll see. I just want to love what I do.”

Her Crooked Heart is playing at The Firefly Lounge on Feb. 9 to conclude their West Coast tour. For ticket information, tour dates and band updates, find them on Facebook at rachelriesmusic, and follow them on Instagram at hercrookedheart. To check out Ries’ choir project, visit kithandkinchorus.com.

NO WIN: Living an ode to punk 2 Feb 2020 9:29 PM (5 years ago)

by Bella Cole-Preciado

Danny Nogueiras is always dabbling in music one way or another. In the past he ran a record label in southern California, worked at and owned recording studios in the Bay Area, and played drums in party band FIDLAR. Currently, Danny likes to work with bands at his Los Angeles studio, Balboa Recording Studio, and play in his own band NO WIN.

Danny likes to have his hands busy, which is why it’s no surprise that he dove into a solo project titled NO WIN in 2015 amongst all the other music madness. Releasing demos just for fun, NO WIN wasn’t a serious endeavor at first. Over the years, Danny expanded the band with bassist David Jerkovich, drummer Jeff Enzor, and lead guitarist Juan Linan, got signed to Dangerbird Records, and released their first record as a band in 2019.

NO WIN’s debut record, Downey, is an ode to identity, an appreciation for the place Danny came from and a love letter to his upbringing.

Downey, CA is a suburb of Los Angeles where Danny grew up. He liked that the businesses were not corporate, but a real piece of tangible identity for the small town. The record was meant to reflect where he’s from, who he wants to be, and the good and band of the past.

“Downey is my home, that’s where I came from and where I learned who I was,” Danny said.

Growing up in Downey introduced Danny to pop-punk bands like Blink-182, Green Day, and Bad Religion. Friends of Danny’s (often musicians) showed him numerous punk rock and indie bands like Buzzcocks, Elliott Smith, The Attics, and Bright Eyes. He recalled grabbing onto any artist he liked and devouring their entire world.

“It was a nonstop want to consume as much music as possible,” Danny said.

While talking about his debut album, Danny brought up honesty with himself and the record.

“Music has been a path of self-discovery, when making this album I felt confident and comfortable in what I was doing.”

This ease of self-expression didn’t happen for Danny overnight. As a musician who had “been around the block” he felt that this familiarity with his musical identity came from age and an abundance of studio work.

“Studio work teaches a lot and is a privilege. You get to be in a room with bands (including your own) and treat recording a project sacredly.”

Danny recalled how the process of making the record was purely exciting.

“Everyone’s mentality was ‘let’s have fun, make stuff that gets us excited, and push each other to be better.’”

With support from Dangerbird records and collaboration with esteemed producer John Goodmanson – who has worked with artists like Bikini Kill, Death Cab for Cutie, and Wu-Tang Clan – the album has achieved a sonically honorable sound.

NO WIN is currently gearing up for a tour through the West Coast where they will be making stops in Bellingham and Seattle. The band also plans to have a few local shows in Los Angeles, and if all goes as planned be back in the studio by mid-March to track their second record.

See NO WIN live at The Shakedown on Feb. 27 with Bobby Petite and Cat Valley. Check out NO WIN’S Facebook and Instagram pages and listen on Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music. 

Lonely Together: Duo makes music in sound and soul 2 Feb 2020 9:28 PM (5 years ago)

by Brent Cole

photo by Brad Johnson

Sometimes you just never know where love will take you. For Rosalie Matsumoto and Zach Cook, love brought them together and led to the creation of Lonely Together, an electronic hip-hop music band in Bellingham.

Though they were a couple for a few years prior, Lonely Together officially had their start in 2018. Zach spent time in other bands, while Rosie grew up playing music.

“(In college) I met Zach, who was writing music and working with other producers at the time. Eventually when he began teaching himself how to produce, I wanted to be a part of the process and I also learned how to produce Hip-Hop, R&B, and Electronic music. We realized with our varying musical interests and backgrounds, we have great chemistry and decided to start making music as a duo,” stated Rosie.

She added, “We realized we had something unique in our music and thought we could do more than just producing for other artists. Through self-taught trial and error, we developed our own sound and fell in love with making music together, and thus came Lonely Together.”

In 2019 the band released their debut EP, Neverlost, and have continued to release sings, usually accompanied by a video. The EP versus single song release is less of a strategy and more of a means to see what their fan base prefers along with what sounds work better than others.

“Being relatively new to the music scene, we are trying to figure out what sounds our fans like the most,” stated Rosie, adding, “(In) 2020 we are focusing on being consistent and dialing in our sound.” The goal for the band is to release a full length but in the mean time, they’ll continue to release a single every month or so.

For their live shows, the band has just added guitarist Riggs Mischke on electronic guitar to help fill out the sound, stated Zach. “Riggs just started performing with us in 2020, so re-developing our live set with him has been a fun learning process.”

Musically, Lonely Together think of themselves as pop/hip-hop, but with electronic, R & B and alternative rock influences. “Both of us have very diverse tastes in music which allows us to draw inspiration from a lot of artists and genres,” Zach stated.

While the two create music together, Zach has continued his solo project, SAFE TRVLS. “I knew that when we started LT I would still want to release my solo music. Lonely Together is music that I would personally never be able to make because Rosie pushes me in directions and ways that I can’t do on my own or would choose not to,” Zach saod. He added, “Although my sound is similar to LT’s as a whole, I think that my music has a darker sound to it, and my style tends to stay closer to Hip-Hop and Alternative R&B.”

Overall, Lonely Together couldn’t be happier with how the project has turned out, both personally and how the reception has been so far.

“I’ve personally been making and releasing music for about a decade and have never been able to get any momentum building until we started releasing music as Lonely Together. It really feels like something that people are excited to support and that’s a really cool feeling,” he said.

Rosie added, “For me, the feedback has been amazing and humbling. I never imagined where we’d be at this point, considering Zach and I just started collaborating together on music barely two years ago. We love and appreciate our fans and can feel the momentum starting to build.”

For updates, follow Lonely Together on social media. 

Spine Readers: Genre-hopping project 2 Feb 2020 9:24 PM (5 years ago)

by Halee Hastad

photo by Katie Hallaian

There’s a hot new band in Bellingham whose members are anything but fresh to the scene. The Spine Readers consists of area musicians Sean Meyer (vocals, guitar), Aaron Cramer (drums, percussion), Chris Stainback (keyboards, synths), Todd Smith (vocals, guitar), and Justin Maurer (bass, EWI).

Meyer, who has played in a number of bands in the area, was playing an Alternative Library show in July 2018 with his former band, MARV, when he first came together with Cramer and Stainback of the Illogicians. Both parties had been familiar with the other and were each secretly seeking to create a new project together, Meyer and Cramer said in an interview last month.

Together, the force of these five musicians is nearly nameless, in a good way. The combination of a wide range of inspirations births what Meyer referred to as a “frantic collage approach” to their creative process.

“There’s a lot of ammunition allowed to us when we’re working on a song and can go unrestricted into any unfamiliar place musically and feel comfortable and confident in doing so,” Meyer said. “Being open and having no rules in the compositions means one person brings an idea and the rest of us might not understand it but are willing to drive it and try to make it work.”

The result of this process is a sound equal parts anything you can think of. The point being that this collage rock has the option to resemble a disparate element of any genre and really tear it from the page it existed on and paste it on another, Meyer and Cramer agreed.

Their first album, Recorded Instruments, was released last month and is the outcome of a year of recording and production for the band. Cramer has a studio in his backyard where they put the album together, something the band agrees is an essential aspect allowing them to maintain all of the creative control for this project.

The recording process is an especially detail-oriented and timely one with each song being so sonically different within itself and within the realm of the rest of the album.

“All of the songs take a lot of time and require completely different recording techniques,” Cramer said. “I produced everything in 10-second intervals because each song requires a vigorous process with different tones for each genre within each song.”

Recorded Instruments makes smart use of this jump-cut, genre-hopping approach and includes elements of metal, psych-rock, jazz, and a number of other genres all stirred mindfully into a work that is intriguing at its core.

Under the Spine Readers’ banner are three elements central to their mission as a Bellingham outfit.

The first being their live performances. “Subheadings of this category include deliberate vivid rendering of all compositions at the highest level of detail possible as a special presentation each Halloween at Gruff Brewing. Auxiliary performers are called upon augmenting the usual band as necessary to represent any instrumentation from the album typically omitted for casual shows,” Meyer said.

The second of these elements is their studio recordings as an effort to capture a document of each group composition in the most elaborate detail they deem appropriate for future listening, Meyer said. This includes their use of Cramer’s home studio as a tool central to their desire to be fully produced and dispersed under their complete creative care.

The final aspect to their three-pronged mission involves creating spontaneous music and pairing it with visuals for online presentation, Meyer said. “We’ve titled this element Spine Readers Digest, and release episodes (we refer to as “issues”) as intervallic installments on our YouTube channel. Each episode features a unique stream of conscious improvised musical performance… alongside a video art companion piece we create as a reaction to the music using vhs tape sources and a blend of analog video equipment wired as feedback loops of undulating shape, texture and color…”

Spine Readers play Gruff Brewing with Supercrush, Dead Soft and No Guts on Thursday, Feb. 20. See their social media for updates. 

Le Beat: January 2020 4 Jan 2020 10:50 AM (5 years ago)

Local notes on what’s happening with musicians, events and more. Have something to share? Send your info to editor@whatsup-magazine.com.

Well hello there everyone, I hope you all had a good holiday. We’re in a new decade, so let’s rock this.

A little quick mag news… the Awards Show (as if you haven’t heard already) will be Jan. 18 at the Wild Buffalo! Special thanks to Dryland, The Rhetorician, LipStitch, The Blood Capsules, Munch, and a special guest for performing, and to Aireekah for being MC of the night, with the mighty KLEFTO DJing between sets! We may have other guests for the show, but we’ll see how it shakes out. Supermissive broke up (more on that later) so they’re sadly out. Shimmertraps were going to fill in but they ran into life complications, so they had to pull.

Voting is open on our website through Jan. 12. We look forward to seeing you at the show, celebrating local music, and having some fun. The show starts at 9 p.m. and costs only $5!

COMINGS & GOINGS

I’m glad I finally get to write this – NO FI SOUL REBELLION IS BACK! One of my all time favorite local bands, who went dormant several years ago, is making their triumphant return – this time as a full band! Now including members of The Wyrds (the two bands essentially merged), they’ll be making their debut on Jan. 18 at The Shakedown… Unfortunately, I won’t be there as it’s also the magazine’s big show night at the Wild Buffalo… but…. well… I’m just happy their back. They were, without a doubt, one of the most entertaining bands this town has ever seen. Enjoy!

TYL released their debut at the end of November, with guitarist Nate Kahn saying the band had broken up due to him moving to Portland. Welp, Nate still moved to Portland, but the band will be continuing on in a “semi-active” fashion. The four piece is already working on a new release and planning a tour for the spring.

Hello I’m Sorry will be continuing on as well with Nate gone. The project has always been more a recording outlet for Seth Little, with the live band including Nate. From what I’ve been told, that’s how things will continue!

Good news: Supermissive are wrapping up their second full length album, will hopefully be out really soon. Bad news: Supermissive broke up. A couple members are forming a new duo moving forward (more details to come), but as of now, no more Supermissive shows are scheduled… I tried and I tried and I begged and I might have pleaded… but, it’s done.

Word came down at press time that Dain Weisner is moving to Portland. I really enjoyed Dain’s solo record and had hoped he would gain more traction as a local songwriter, but guess it just wasn’t in the cards. Hopefully Dain enjoys p-town and he keeps playing music – good luck Dain!

In early December, Chris Lamb (aka Chris Con Carne) made it official that Avalon Records will not be reopening. Chris and his wife Jen are using the opportunity to make some changes in their lives… so after 20-something years, Avalon will definitely be no more. It’s a hell of a blow but with the record business being what it is, I’m glad we still have Everyday Music and hopefully this will better ensure their long term viability. Best of luck to you, Chris.

NEW MUSIC

Ceilla has just released new material as well. The Halcyon EP dropped a few days after Christmas and includes guest spots by Oddlin and Pacifix. I’m stoked to hear it. You can read more about Ceilla after you turn the page.

As of press time, Smooth Kiwi has released a new single “Am I Asleep?”… and it is magnificent. Like holy wow good – totally blown away by how well the song flows, the sound quality, and how majestic it feels. I’m stunned… and it’s been awhile since I’ve been stunned. Can’t wait to hear the full length. Another new single is dropping in January.

Have you listened to the new No Guts record? Well, you should… it’s fantastic, one  of the best local releases I’ve heard in years. The songwriting is fantastic, the musicianship is top notch – lots of rock, lots of big guitars. The band officially released it last month, but as of press time, there isn’t a release party scheduled…. Hopefully soon? It would be killer seeing them play live again.

The new Brackets record is pretty astounding. The band, which includes local again Aaron Ball from Clean Clocks (he was also in Enders of Ozone, Sharpie and a million other bands), ex-locals Josh Goodman (Lands Farther East) and Chris Rasmussen (Racetrack, USS Horseship), as well as singer Michael Gill who is just a fabulous person. Pretty interesting rock record made by some long time music scene veterans. Go check it out, and hopefully they’ll be playing in town again soon.

The mighty Sunsick are releasing their debut song right about the time the mag comes out! “Love/Migraine” will be hitting the scene as the new year rings in. They’re a new band I’m excited about. Check them out!

GOOD STUFF

Ex Nihlo, a black metal duo made up of Austin Patterson and Eli Ballis, have signed to Black Spark Records out of the UK, which is, you know, kinda bonkers. The label will be releasing their upcoming recording Preaeludium, in the spring… hopefully followed by Eli moving from North Carolina back to where he belongs, in lovely Bellingham. I miss that dude. Kiss the little one for us, Eli!

IN OUR THOUGHTS

Last month, we lost two people who left us way too early. Scott Hartwich, who owned Hammerhead Coffee with his wife Mary Burwell, was a fixture in Bellingham and a friend to countless musicians and artists as well as father to Andrew and Ezra (Ezra was in Girl Teeth a few years ago). Scott was kind and intelligent, a great person to talk to, and just one of those guys that should be walking on this Earth. He was passionate about politics and sports, and life. Our thoughts and love go out to his family during this very difficult time. Please consider donating to the GoFundMe account to support his memorial and family.

Just as we were about to go to press, we at the magazine learned of Elijah Nelson’s passing. Elijah was the bassist in Black Breath, who got their start in Bellingham, and before that played in Wizrds of Wor as well as Lago Volunteers (which is when we first crossed paths). Musically, he was the anchor of Black Breath, a ridiculously talented musician. He was loved by those who knew him. Our thoughts and love go out to his family and friends.

Those two people both left us way, way, way too soon. It always sounds trite, but cherish every day and hold tight those you love.

That’s about it for now. Best to you all in the new year. Thanks for supporting the mag each month, and we look forward to seeing you for some fun on Jan. 18 at the Wild Buffalo.

Hugs and kisses,

Brent

Dragon River: Chinese cuisine 4 Jan 2020 10:43 AM (5 years ago)

by REMLEY ROE

Before it was Dragon River the proprietors attempted an American Cafe in the same location called City Grill. It offered a little bit of anything and always delivered a decent, if not mix-and- matched, meal. When they told me they were closing down to reorganize and try something different I looked down at my club sandwich with sides of rice pilaf and a caesar salad and wondered why they could possibly want to do that. A few weeks later they reopened with the new name and a few decorative alterations. And a completely revamped, absolutely delicious menu of Northeastern Chinese cuisine.

On my last trip I went with some friends to enjoy a meal family style. We began with Bao Zi (spicy pork dumplings) and fried spring rolls. We then got the Honey Glazed Pork, vegetable fried rice, General Tso Chicken and the cabbage with jalapeno. This is decidedly too much food, but I also love eating too much.

The Bao Zi come swimming in a garlic chili oil and each one is a pop of spice and intricate flavor. I could eat them all day if there was a never ending bowl of them placed at my side, but I settled for my share of the order. Every time I come here I want to order a second round but thank myself when the rest of the food comes. The spring rolls are delicious if not slightly standard. They crunch, they’re vegetarian, they’re great. They are essential to every meal.

The entrees arrive slightly staggered but grouped together. The general Tso is first and is amazing. The sauce is deep and rich, spicy and sweet. The pieces of chicken are very large and quite juicy, not dried out or soft like many of us have grown accustomed to in a world of quick take out and ready made grocery store by the scoop Chinese . The cabbage and jalapeno cuts through the mountains of meat nicely and adds great heat to the meal. It comes stir fried so it has its own deep rich flavor from the oil but lightens the meal a lot. Fried rice is fried rice and in this I mean that it is an eternally delicious food. The vegetable fried rice provides a great side to the other very robust dishes. It is subdued in terms of seasoning but adds a little more vegetable content to the meal and carries the sauces from other dishes nicely.

My favorite thing on this menu, the thing I get any time I can convince others to dine with me once again, is the Honey Glazed Pork. This is a heaping plate of fried pork, with an almost tempura like batter on it. This pork is covered in a garlic honey sauce and has a sprinkle of cilantro on top. It is simple and amazing and the amount of it on the plate is astounding. And yet I can never leave with any in my to go box.

I always try to get one thing I’ve never had when I come here to dine with others and I’ve never been disappointed. I encourage everyone who tries this restaurant to step outside of their comfort zone and try something they’ve never had or never heard of. Get an old stand by if you need, but let yourself be adventurous with one choice  I highly recommend the Hot and Spicy Beef but the server is often reluctant to let newcomers try it.

This leads me to my PSA. There are a couple of things to note before you try this place.

First of all there are some familiar dishes on the menu (General Tso chicken, Mongolian beef, lo mein, fried rice, sweet and sour etc) but all land just a little different than you might be used to. Their breaded chicken is actual hunks of real chicken, not the same as the small niblets found interchangeably at nearly all Chinese restaurants where I’ve ever eaten. There are large red Tien Tsen peppers in most of the dishes, they are dried and I do not recommend eating them. If you are craving Panda Express or Haggen Chinese,  this is not it.

Also there is very little hand holding in terms of service at the restaurant. You will generally not get a walk through of the menu and some things just plain aren’t available at times with little explanation. I don’t know why things are this way but they are. It might come off as gruff or rude but I have borne witness to it many times and do not believe it is intended that way, it is simply a no nonsense approach to the job and frankly, I admire it.

Lastly I ask that you be patient here. The staff is usually limited to two and the restaurant is rather large. This is a family business and can err on the side of slow but it’s worth it. It’s all made fresh and all made well. If you are in a hurry, call ahead. If you want to sit and enjoy several courses of amazing and unique (to our area) Chinese food, please go and share a meal with people you can talk to.

Also they have a very reasonably priced lunch special that has an entree, rice, spring roll and soup available from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Mon-Sat if you want to dip your toes in. Try it all at 1319 Cornwall Ave, Bellingham.

Tales from the Road: Bird & Shooter 4 Jan 2020 10:37 AM (5 years ago)

by Nate Arthur

This last November we, Bird and Shooter, went on our first tour. Much like most band’s on their first tour we set out having high hopes and were met with a humble dose of reality. Initially there was a lot more of an ambitious approach. We were thinking we could set out for a month and go as far as Arizona, Nevada, or Montana. We found that without ample time to set up shows we couldn’t really make this happen. Next we thought of taking two weeks, even on short notice if we grinded we could make it happen right? Wrong. As time kept ticking and we struggled to fill in some big gaps in our tour schedule. Nevertheless we finally had enough shows to make a two week trip work although we would have a couple of days to kill time. Unfortunately for us several shows got cancelled last minute and had to cut it down to just a short and sweet one week mini tour. After 6 months of sending emails to countless bands, venues, and promoters along the west coast our hopes of taking a month long trip down the coast, escaping the northwestern winter and catching a new wind of motivation turned into a week long road trip of binge drinking, drugs and sleeping in the cold that left us feeling more deflated than ever.

We started the tour off in Seattle with a live in studio session at Seattle U’s KXSU. Spirits were high, we had set out to do something and were taking the first steps into achieving our goal. The show was great, lots of new faces, we played great, made some gas money. What more could you ask for to kick off a tour? Immediately after we drove to our second show in West Seattle where we played easily the grimiest house we’ve ever been to. Dishes to the ceiling, bathroom looked like a murder scene, trash everywhere; A typical house show venue. The bill was filled with hardcore bands and we closed out the night with our usual polyrythmic gentle jazz rock. As you can imagine, it wasn’t received well and almost wasn’t received at all aside from the tiny litter of enthusiastic drunkards and a few rats. We got the full spectrum that night. Although we didn’t really seem to fit in the host were nice enough to let us stay at their house.

The second night we played the Green House in Portland. Easily the classiest house show venue we’ve ever been to. The fellas in Tom Ghouli and Bathrobe alongside their Honorary roommate from Boyband welcomed us with open arms. After a great set from the opening band we played to a packed basement of Portlanders who seemed to appreciate our jams. Next our new friends from Boscow Mujo played a fantastic set and No Nuckle finished out the night.

The next day we frollicted through Portland, exploring the outside of abandoned buildings and spending far too much time in a local antique store.

We set up camp in the Umpqua Dune that night. After spending the day exploring various abandonments filled with rat turds and creepy dolls we pulled up to a very dreary fog hanging over the dunes. The nearing lighthouse piercing through the fog and rolled beams of light over the dunes providing a very ominous setting for us as we spent the night drinking and listening to Aphex Twin as Chandler and Nate delved into dark tales of serial killers and ghost stories.

By the time we got to Eugene we were already feeling a little fatigued. After spending a few hours in the city filled with crust punks and homeless people screaming profanity at teenagers, we played to a nearly empty bar (it was a Sunday). The bill was the first show of the tour that felt like our music fit. Laundry and Spiller brought some classic Eugene material. After the show we walked to the other end of town where a friendly bartender invited us in after he closed the bar down. We continued to drink there until about 4am after Nate had found some comfort and rest on the bar floor.

After getting a pretty late start we headed for the Redwoods not knowing that not only would most campsites in the redwoods be closed for winter but that it was also about 40 degrees outside in that area. Would we ever find a place to sleep? Taking detours down winding roads with collapsed mountainside jutting into our lane left us feeling like were stranded. After setting up camp in a small town outside the Redwoods we began our tradition of getting liquored up to keep warm. This time instead of sharing ghost stories with each other we opted for screaming drunken profanities and unloading built up tension from being in the van with each other for the last four days. Needless to say; By the time we got to San Francisco we were on our last leg of the tour in more ways than one.

For most of us it was our first time visiting San Francisco and it did not disappoint. Why is San Francisco the most expensive city in the U.S? Because its really fucking cool guys. That’s why.

We had the best Mexican food we ever had. We smoked a joint and got lost in golden gate park and played the best show of the tour at The Knockout. The bands were unbelievably nice and we finally played for a crowd who appreciated our music for what it was. Unfortunately we were too poor to sleep in the city so we decided to park on the other end of the Golden Gate Bridge and drink in our van until all of us passed out. The next morning we woke up and decided to grind our way back to Bellingham; one continuous 16 hour drive.

One of the hardest lessons to learn when becoming a new touring band is that things are not going to go the way you planned. As all of us boys in Bird and Shooter embarked on our first trip down the west coast we were continually reminded  this harsh truth.

Bellingham Folk Festival: An interview with Cayley Schmid 4 Jan 2020 10:33 AM (5 years ago)

interview by Brent Cole

photos by David Johnson

In its fifth year, the Bellingham Folk Festival continues to develop into a mainstay for the acoustic community in Bellingham. Coming up the weekend of Jan. 24-26, the event features workshops, dancing, concerts and even tea – a great opportunity for folk fans young and old to enjoy the sounds of the genre, and learn. Our thanks to the talented Cayley Schmid, the primary organizer of BFF, for taking some time to answer a few questions about the festival and share what’s happening. 

Can you give us a little background on the Bellingham Folk Festival? 

I’ve been attending wonderful fiddle and folk music-based events for many years, performing, taking and teaching workshops, dancing, and generally enjoying the merriment of these inspiring and heart-warming gatherings. These were fiddle camps and festivals where I was able to be part of a tiny, unique village where everyone seems to love music and good times. You can start a conversation with almost anyone and it will end up being a new friend. I wanted to create something similar in Bellingham that would bring together some of the different groups of musicians and music appreciators that tend to cluster under the ‘folk’ umbrella.

The Bellingham Folk Festival first began in December of 2014. I liked that it was a cozy, wintery, non-Christmas-y, community event, but most people had a hard time with scheduling close to the holidays. Because of that movement I tried moving it to January in 2016, but then stubbornly ordered 100 customized Bellingham Folk Festival Christmas ornaments and moved it back to December. After realizing that attendance really did benefit from a date after the holidays and selling less than 100 ornaments, I moved it back to January in 2018. Because of the bizarre scheduling, that means we had two festivals in 2016, and none in 2015 or 2017. Potential future merchandising opportunity, ‘BFF 2015, You Had to Be There’.

The festival’s focus is as much if not more on the classes. Can you tell us about some of the teachers, and what are the age groups/skill levels?

Everyone can take something from workshops and I love that there is an acknowledgement of that in the folk music scene. We are all constantly learning and absorbing new ideas (or should be) and this certainly applies to music as well. Teachers at the BFF teach a workshop and then sit in on one of their peers’ classes in the next block. You never know what you are going to get out of a workshop, but if you go in with an open mind you will usually come away with something that sticks. Maybe a new tune, an approach to learning, a history lesson, or just a good time.

Many of the instructors are also friends and wonderful performers. Almost everyone who performs during the weekend also teaches a class you so you get a chance to see musicians in two different roles. There is a pretty even distribution between local heroes and touring artists. Workshops are mostly designed for folks that have been playing an instrument for at least a year. That being said, workshops with experienced teachers can really cater to multiple levels at the same time. We have a lot of singing and dance options for people that have never played an instrument before, and tons of fiddle, guitar, mandolin, uke, etc. classes for multiple levels of skill.

Tell us about some of the bands that are playing. How were they picked to play the event?

The line-up is a combination of community interest, timing, my preference, and coincidence. Now that the festival has been established I get a good amount of applications and contacts from bands I know and folks that might have heard of the festival from their friends. As a fiddle player I have to admit I am slightly biased towards fiddle-led bands and tend to get extra excited about groups with my own personal heroes in the line-up. I also try and book a variety of genres within in the ‘folk’ descriptor. There is a tendency towards passed down traditional tunes and songs at the festival at the moment. Music with a history and an ongoing story.

Who helps organize the festival with you?

I am the organizer and haven’t really built a team at this point. I have some fantastic volunteers, family members, and moral supporters that really make it happen during the event. Honestly I can’t imagine having done this without them. And of course my partner, Aaron Guest, is the guy who I ask to count hundreds of tiny pieces of random paper at three in the morning, “THIS IS SUPER IMPORTANT.” During the year leading up to the event I am the only one doing festival related stuff, and constantly re-assigning being a terrible delegator as a strength or weakness.

When not organizing the festival, what do you do for your day job/musically?

During the weekdays I split my time between teaching fiddle lessons and working as a booking agent for FLi Artists. I also put a good amount of time into the Bellingham Irish Festival which happens in October. That event started in 2015 and has grown into a really fantastic, lively weekend downtown with collaboration between tons of downtown businesses. Check out www.bellinghamirishfestival.com. I would love to make festival organizing part of my income in the future, but for now they are labors of love.

Any more thoughts you’d like to share?

Do you love piña coladas and getting caught in the rain? Are you looking to connect with your musical community and huddle around a beacon of hope and caring in the dreary month of January? Thank goodness you now know about the Bellingham Folk Festival! Informative and mind-bending workshops, dorky jokes, inspiring concerts, meet-cute encounters, spontaneous jams, a righteous merch table, epic dance parties, and more! See you there.

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL

The BELLINGHAM FOLK FESTIVAL was founded in 2014 by Bellingham-area resident Cayley Schmid (above) and celebrates folk music and dance with workshops, performances, dances, and jams for all ages and abilities. The festival will be held this year the weekend of Jan. 24-26, with most events at the Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship at 1207 Ellsworth Street. The BFF afterparty will be Saturday, Jan. 25 at the Firefly. For the full schedule, see thebellinghamfolkfestival.com. 

This year’s performers and teachers include Nando Duarte and Choroloco (both of Brazil), George Rezendes (Port Townsend), Ben Hunter and Joe Seamons (Seattle), Andrew Finn Magill (North Carolina), and Red Tail Wing (Michigan), to name a few. There will be various workshops and Q & A sessions where participants can learn to do things such as groove with an accordion, tune a fiddle by ear, find harmony parts for voices, dance the two-step, write basic tunes, explore Brazilian choro music and more. 

SVER: Epic Nordic folk 4 Jan 2020 10:25 AM (5 years ago)

by Halee Hastad

photo by Anbjørg Myhra Bergwitz

Scandinavia shares a deep history with dance and music reaching back to strong links with medieval sagas and folklore. These links have developed and evolved through the centuries to a modern-day liveliness and fervor with year-round festivals and local late-night jam sessions carrying much of this genre’s culture on their backs. It’s from this culture that SVER came together with their “epic” Nordic folk more than a decade ago.

“The folk scene in Scandinavia is full of people jamming and dancing all night,” said Jens Linell, who plays drums for SVER. “Jamming is absolutely a key factor in us becoming a band and a great way to hang out and party.”

The name SVER means “grand” in the Røros dialect, a word that emphasizes the main intention behind their music – to make it big, banging, and energetic. This band has deep love and respect for traditional Scandinavian music, and they want to continue to embody it, but with the punch of a rock band and the attention of a chamber group, Linell said.

“We are all deeply embedded in the traditional music from Sweden and Norway and that heritage is something we are proud of and are curious about why there aren’t more people around the world into Nordic Folk,” he said. “We want to change that. We approach our traditional music with a big respect and knowledge and hope that that comes through in what comes out in the other end of it.”

SVER  includes Olav Luksengârd Mjelva (fiddle, Hardanger fiddle), Anders Hall (fiddle, viola), Leif Randøien (two row accordion), Adam Johansson (guitar), and Linell (drums).

The band’s roots started in the early 2000s when Mjelva and Ranøien met and created SVER’s first and self-titled album. They then came together with Hall and Linell, who were studying together at a Norwegian music conservatory in Voss, Norway, in 2008. The band – as a quintet – released an album in 2010, followed by the addition of Johansson the following year to round out the full band. SVER have since produced two more full-length albums, Fryd (2015), and Reverie (2018).

The band members all live in different areas, which means practices can be few and far between, and they take their time creating albums. Mjelva is the leader in their creative process and writes the melodies, with each member contributing to the songs’ completion.

“We meet up and work for three to four days in a row. Then we live, make music and food and just hang out together,” Linell said. “We jam a lot and record demos all the time then we listen to it and come back for another session with new ideas and thoughts. Rinse and repeat.”

SVER recorded Reverie at Sandkvie Studios in Visby, Sweden and produced it alongside Mikael Lyander and Erik Ronstrøm from Hedgehog Productions. The album celebrates the band’s ability to combine traditional Nordic folk with their own modern, energized influences – of course drawn from decades old folk classics, but also the like of Earth, Wind and Fire, Rage Against the Machine, and The Band, Linell said.

The band returns for the second time to the Bellingham Folk Festival this month, their last stop of a West Coast tour. SVER first attended BFF last year, and during that time wrote a song inspired by Aslan Brewing’s Batch 15 beer. They drank it during a long gig, and ended up having such a great time that the next day yielded extreme hangovers that they remembered when sitting down and working on “Batch 15” for the album Reverie.

Not to be deterred, this year they are looking forward to the great selection and tradition of breweries, especially in the Northwest, Linell said.

“We want to get back on the road and meet with new and old fans and bring them our epic Nordic folk,” he said.” “We are truly blessed and very happy to be back… Touring in the U.S. for us is always a big gamble and a long journey that impacts the environment in a bad way. We are well aware of that and want to make as much out of us coming over as possible.”

SVER performs at the Bellingham Folk Festival (BFF) afterparty at the Firefly on Saturday, Jan. 25, and will be teaching fiddle, guitar, accordion and percussion workshops at BFF on Sunday, Jan. 26 at the Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship. See the BFF schedule for times, and  follow the band on social media for updates. 

No Guts: Evolving with age 4 Jan 2020 10:22 AM (5 years ago)

by Logan Portteus

photo by Tommy Calderon

Starting as a three-piece pop punk band in 2011, the members of No Guts have seen Bellingham change with the decade. In their 2019 record, 4033, they reflect on how they, too, have changed and grown since the party-fueled era of their early 20s when they began.

The album title is named after the address of the Wisco, or ‘the Lil Wisconsin,’ which was the band’s primary venue when they first began. The former house show location is now a Costco parking lot,explained No Guts’ singer and lead guitarist Andy Beer.

“Our band hosted shows a few times a month,” Beer said. “It was remote enough that we were never interrupted by cops or bad seeds looking to crash a house party.  We had an amazing group of people coming and going from the Wisco shows. We were fully of the opinion that, aside from the terrible state of the house, the Wisco was a purely positive contribution to the scene. Years later, after the party ended, we started seeing the negative side effects caused by the habits and expectations set from the Wisco environment.”

The latest album, Beer said, is a cyclical story of the joy and exhaustion of their former party lifestyle. It has transitioned away from their pop punk roots to alternative rock.

“4033 is a reflection on the impact of our hard partying 20s,” Beer said. “It is hoped to remind us that we aren’t alone in the mistakes we make, we have support; but there are consequences and a cost to the lifestyle. 4033 is also a record dedicated to survivors, especially those we’ve met personally.”

A large piece of the band’s growth and development came from their change of band name, and the reflection of their presence in the Bellingham music community.  During its three-member iteration, the band was called Girl Guts, and changed their name to No Guts in 2016, while welcoming back Justin Taylor, bassist and former bandmate of the crew in their prior band, Here’s Johnny.  They used the new band name and lineup as an opportunity to change their sound, and began writing 4033 while retiring many of their older songs. The album was recorded in April 2018, and released last month.

“As 20-something party monsters, we hadn’t fully grasped the potential damage of that name when we chose it, harmless as it was to us,” Beer said. “A few years ago, a concerned individual sent us a message of disapproval. They weren’t in our circle and didn’t have the same knowledge of our intentions with the name. That made it apparent that we were out of our depth and however hard we tried to use the old name as a standard of support, there was potential for harm,” he said. “We listened, reflected and agreed. It was time to change it up. For all the healing we hoped to provide through our music and general acceptance of anyone who came into a Girl Guts show, we can also say we left some destruction in our wake out of honest ignorance.”

Beer explained how he is thankful for the shift in accountability in the music industry in recent years.  What it has taught the band, he said, is to “be better than your heroes.”

“That means being mindful of your message, accountable for your actions and accepting of others’ perspectives,” Beer said.

For the past three years, No Guts has focused inward, putting time into writing and recording instead of booking shows.  With the release of their latest album, the band is eager to start playing shows again, he added.

In the days of performing at the Wisco, No Guts played with many local legends of the time, including Palisades, City Hall, Bowl Cut, The Mark, Totalizer and Candysound.  They worked with the late Robby Cleary to bring former Black Flag singer, Ron Reyes, and his band, Piggy, to Bellingham.

No Guts is currently made up of Andrew Wild and Andy Beer on guitar and vocals, Justin Taylor on bass and vocals, and Ryan Baily on drums. The band initially formed when Wild, Taylor and Baily moved to Bellingham from Wisconsin in their pop punk band, Here’s Johnny, a year prior.  Beer had moved to Bellingham in 2008, and worked with Wild in a T-Mobile call center, where he was recruited to play bass for Here’s Johnny. After several weeks, following the temporary exit of Taylor, they became the first iteration of No Guts.

Now in their 30s, the band continues to grow as individuals and in their sound, and are incredibly thankful for the reintroduction of Taylor to their crew, Beer said, describing him as a “powerhouse of musical opportunity for the band.”

“Punk changed (not for the first time), we changed, the house disappeared, the fans got older, and that was that,” Beer said.  “Bellingham, as a college town, allows a very healthy four-year lifespan for any band that wants to try, and we’re now going on nine. We’ve made some amazing friends, a few enemies, and we just try to keep it honest these days.  There is a whole wave of new bands deserving of recognition (Cop Talk and Beautiful Freaks, to name a few).  We’d love to play with them,” he said.

To listen to No Guts’ newest record, 4033, visit noguts.bandcamp.com, or find them on streaming platforms. For band updates and show dates, follow them on Facebook or Instagram @nogutsband.

Kickin Names & Road Rambler Productions: Punk mission 4 Jan 2020 10:18 AM (5 years ago)

by Bella Cole-Preciado

Since 2017, Kickin Names have brought roots-based folk punk to the Sedro-Woolley and Bellingham area. Both natives to Sedro-Woolley, Chris Fish and Alton Fabie practically grew up in each other’s yard. Yet, they didn’t start performing under the title Kickin Names until the last few years.

The band is best described as a little bit country and a little bit punk. “We’re just two small-town country kids who love punk music,” Fish chuckled. “We are the punks of Sedro-Woolley.”

Forever a duo, Chris and Alton have always loved all the independence and simplicity that came from being in a small music project. They have already released an EP and completed their second tour.

“We can load up into a subcompact SUV with all of our gear, including a PA and still have extra seats,” Fish said with a laugh.

Not only do they cherish an easy load in for shows, but they also love the ability to dive into collaborative work with other artists. As close friends and “unofficial openers” of Whiskey Fever, Kickin Names often share a stage with the rock ‘n’ roll band for live performances. Their combined efforts make for a punk rock force bond – one that will tour together in March.

A major influence for the band when writing new material is Andrew Jackson Jihad. Fish first fell in love with folk punk while listening to AJJ; Alton also pulls inspiration from singer/songwriter Jason Mraz. During the band’s tour in March, they are lucky enough to check out AJJ’s home studio along with Jason Mraz’ studio and Bridge City Sessions.

Fish and Fabie feel there was not much of a local music culture while growing up, but now see a blossoming scene in the Skagit Valley and more places wanting access to both local music and traveling talent.

In seeing this, the band wants to help other artists pursue their dreams and passions, and Fish founded a production company called Road Rambler Productions with Steven Marrinier. The company consists of Fish, Marrinier, Jasan Winship, Micah Evans, Anthony Martinez “Choncho,” and Garrett Bollaert. The team dives into things such as cinematography, audio engineering, and screen printing for any and all artists that want to use their services. The developing label’s expertise is in roots-based music, but they mostly want to help get any independent artist on their musical journey, and do it at an affordable price.

“If you look at the industry’s average price for a minute of video it’s about 1,000 bucks and that’s for artists, I mean we are artists and we can’t spend that,” Marrinier said. “We want to offer a cheap and accessible way to get audio, video, and publicity.”

In their quest to becoming an accessible record label for independent artists on a budget, Road Rambler Productions have just moved into their headquarters in Sedro-Woolley. They are working to build a live room, production studio, and mixing area plus a merchandise and print shop.

Stay tuned of what’s to come in the Sedro-Woolley music scene, including a collaborative video shoot with Road Rambler and Bridge City Sessions. A Kickin Names Live EP was released at the end of November, and a tour with Kickin Names and Whiskey Fever will be coming in March, produced by Road Ramblers.

Check out Road Ramblers’ YouTube channel. Plus, take a look at Kickin Names Facebook page for show updates, and listen to them on Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music.

Sweet Honey in the Rock: Divine gospel 4 Jan 2020 10:15 AM (5 years ago)

photo by Christopher Robinson

When you think of all time best gospel groups, the Blind Boys of Alabama and The Staple Singers come to mind. Washington DC’s Sweet Honey in the Rock also tops this list, having shared their gospel and world music while fighting social injustice and singing to children, with their absolutely blessed, beautiful, divine sounds. 

The band started in 1973 when Bernice Johnson Reagen was part of the Black Repertory Company and giving vocal lessons. As she assembled the group, with Louise Robinson and Carol Maillard, they began going through gospel numbers, and as they sang “Sweet Honey in the Rock” – based on Psalm 81:16 – the group clicked. They had a group, and a name. 

Over the years, Sweet Honey in the Rock have recorded 24 albums, several made for children. They have served as “international ambassadors of a cappella vocal and lyrical excellence and musical missionaries of equality, empowerment and education, peace, love, solidarity and nondenominational spirituality,” according to their website. 

A highlight of the band’s career was their album, SWEET HONEY IN THE ROCK: A Tribute…Live! Jazz at Lincoln Center(2012) that included songs written by “vocalists and activists Abbey Lincoln, Odetta, Miriam Makemba and Nina Simone,” stated their website. It also included the Honey Men: Stacey Wade as pianist and musical director, electric bassist Parker McAllister, and drummer, percussionist Jovol Bell. The group also won two grammys for best children’s album, 2000’sStill the Same Meand 2008’s Experience 101. 

Currently, the group consists of founding members Carol Maillard and Louise Robinson, as well as Nitaji Bolade Casel and Aisha Kahlil, with Romeir Mendez on electric and upright acoustic bass. Touring members include Christie Dashiell, Barbara Hunt and Rochelle Rice. Since 1981, they’ve also included Shirley Childress as the sign language interpreter, being one of the pioneering groups in bringing on someone to sign the words of the music. 

Sweet Honey has had over 20 different members during its time, which will give a band the obvious push and pull of their sound, but have maintained true to their roots throughout. Rooted in gospel singing spirituals and hymns of the African American church, they also focus on society and challenges. Subjects include “motherhood, spirituality, freedom, civil rights, domestic violence, immigration issues, and racism,” according to an article in the Washington Examiner, as well as confronting “police shootings, the Charleston church shooting and the environment.”

Catch Sweet Honey in the Rock on Friday, Jan. 17 at the Mount Baker Theatre. Follow the group on social media for updates.

Live Reviews: December 2019 4 Jan 2020 10:11 AM (5 years ago)

Exhumed, Judiciary, Necrot, Gatekeeper

The Shakedown • Nov. 27

Exhumed performed their unique brand of highspeed, gore death metal to a sold out crowd at The Shakedown in November. The Northwest late fall gloom rained over an unusually long line of energetic spectators waiting to get into the show setting the tone for a night of blast beats, HM-1 distortion pedals and an undead, chainsaw wielding surgical mummy.

Exhumed has been an international touring band for nearly 30 years, yet this was their first time in Bellingham. Known for a campy stage show, Exhumed returns fantasy and fun to a genre that is often ridden with a toxic male gaze. They are the kids that hid out in the basement watching B horror movies while drinking beers and playing Dungeon and Dragons to avoid the schoolyard bullies.

With six packs of beers adorning analog T.V. sets displaying montages of cheap gore movies, The Shakedown stage was transformed into a textbook rock and roll basement practice space. Founding singer and guitar player Matt Harvey took a moment to gaze over the crowd, thanking everyone for coming before reminding us that for some, “the stage is your grave.” He then abruptly started tearing into the face melting death metal riffs he founded the group upon. Exhumed’s music is an example of rock and roll songwriting at its finest. Melodic and intentional, catchy song structures are not lost in the swell of grinding blast beats, supporting demon vocals and sweeping arpeggio guitar squeals.

For this tour they were joined by supporting bands Judiciary, Necrot and Gatekeeper. West Texas hardcore band Judiciary had knuckles hitting the floor as spectators celebrated the groups conventional early 2000s sound as wind milling arms and moon stomping legs performed the ritual dancing most associated with the genre.

Oakland three-piece Necrot blew the crowd away with their early British crusty Doom sound. It was impressive to see one guitarist bring so much tone and flexibility to a position that usually takes two players to feel most effective.

Arizona based Gatekeeper got the biggest pit seen at the Shakedown in who knows how long. HM-1 driven thrash metal grooves at their finest. They even gave a shout out to hometown thrash heroes Black Breath before unleashing their unruly set.

Metal is the most subdivided genre of rock and roll ever. Bands attempt to reinvent the wheel again and again, but never come to terms that they are just playing really loud blues music with crazy drums and lots of structural changes. With that comes a sense of ownership, just like the bully on the school yard, and presents a macho gaze that just has to go.

On this night however, all the bands’ infectious energy was a present to be shared with all. Death Metal is a way of celebrating the fact we are made of mortal blood and flesh, and that’s all right. Necrot’s vocalist put it to words as he raised his hands to the air and proclaimed, “Are you happy in this fucked up world, or would you rather be deeeaaaaaadddd?” As the crowed screamed back with both vigor and mirth.

-Kelly Sorbel

Howlin Rain, Jackie

The Firefly • Dec. 8

As is typical for a Sunday show, especially in December, Bellingham was pretty quiet upon arrival to The Firefly. Obviously, being a small market city means we get bands like Howlin Rain more often on a Sunday so they can play Seattle and Portland over the weekend. And, as always, I wished there were more people out to see this extraordinary band.

I showed up a couple songs into Jackie’s set. The Bellingham band have gained a solid following over the last couple of years and, musically, were a pretty perfect fit as the opener for Howlin Rain. Their set had some great musical moments, however their on-stage energy was missing something tonight. I look forward to seeing them again live.

Following the Jackie set, Howlin Rain took the stage. The band, fronted by Ethan Miller (who is also a member of Heron Oblivion and Feral Ohms, and formerly in the seminal Comets on Fire), spent the next hour showcasing (or road testing) songs off their upcoming new release, which is half recorded. The new batch of tunes were more subdued than previous ones, with guitarist Dan Cervantes handling more solos than before as well. The songs themselves were pretty fantastic – like the Grateful Dead with more fire behind it – but personally, I was longing for the bombastic solos that Ethan Miller is known for. In all the years I’ve followed music, I’ve never seen or heard anyone who plays the guitar the way Ethan does; his combination of joy and intensity, especially in his solos, is one of the most incredible things I’ve ever experienced. He plays with pure perfection – solos that flow with incredible beauty, style, grace, intensity and passion. So, without it… welp, I missed that being part of the show – almost like I missed an old friend who I thought was coming to town. The songs were still brilliant, as to be expected with Howlin Rain… and on the final song of the set, Ethan did finally really let loose – but I’d gone into the night looking forward to the solos in nearly all of the songs… so while it was still an incredible night and the band was incredible, I left a little disappointed.

It’s a weird feeling to close out a show at on one hand, be ecstatic from the brilliance you’ve seen and on the other, wishing I could’ve seen a different kind of brilliance. But… that’s how it shook out this December evening. Another great Bellingham show in the books.

–Brent Cole

–photo by Chris Butcher

Actionesse, LipStitch, Them Folkes

The Shakedown • Dec. 6

I can’t think of a better way to have celebrated my birthday than at The Shakedown, drinking and dancing with friends to the music of a few favorite local bands.

Them Folkes warmed up the crowd with the formidable task of opening for two powerful mainline acts. Even though there wasn’t much moving going on amongst the crowd, fans cheered and whistled for more of their hardcore post-rock tunes.

The song “Chugger,” was a crowd-pleaser. The metallic tonality from guitarist Heath Frazier and bassist Jeff DenAdel adds a progressive element to their sound and is reminiscent of bands such as Rise Against and Russian Circles.

Drummer David Hall uses hard hitting beats, similar to Jeff Nelson (Minor Threat), keeping the song grounded and limiting its more dissonant sounds. Hall maintains a pop sensibility by breaking the intro with a slamming fill as a transition, allowing for the main riff to come in effortlessly. The song ends with a heavy, groove-oriented section that includes fuzzy guitar riffs, a moody bass solo and a head banging drum section.

Next up was LipStitch. As always, they played an astonishing set and have become fan favorites with regular bookings at The Shakedown. This was their second show in less than a month and they are already scheduled to play with No Guts and Skates! on Jan. 4 (do not miss this).

With the highly anticipated release of their forthcoming full-length album, Who’s Left and Who’s Leaving, instead of forcing themselves to release a bunch of singles to hype up fans, the band is playing it smart by working out these songs in a live setting. This way, if people really want to hear what is to come, they’ll have to see them on stage.

Songs “Tough Year” and “Best of Us,” off of their EP, The Jett Sessions, have remained as fresh as when they were first released. Their new material “Mid-thought” and “Dang” are great predicters for the sound of their new record, as well as their first single “Holding On,” which was featured on KNDD before the new year.

Perhaps this is biased, but the highlight of their set was when they had the entire crowd sing “Happy Birthday” to me. This was truly a sweet moment as both the band and I have shared some memorable times at the Shakedown.

Finally, Actionesse made their return to Bellingham after having a spectacular year. With the release of their debut LP, The Deep, Bright Below and a stupefying performance at Capitol Hill Block Party, the band have been recognized by both Seattle Times and The Stranger as a crucial piece of Seattle’s remerging rock scene.

Despite having relocated their self-defined “post-horncore” sound to the Emerald City, Actionesse haven’t forgotten that Bellingham is where it all started. Their mighty tones and lightning speed notes created a frenzy mosh pit that left listeners in a pool of sweat and their bodies covered in bruises.

The set included some of the best live versions of both “Useless” and “Movement Dark” that I have ever heard. During “Movement Dark,” saxophonist Lulu Belle jumped into the pit where fans, including me, danced with her. She uses hypnotic dance moves and a malevolent sax sound that leaves the audience in a trance.

With what was a seemingly deliberate choice, they closed out their set with my personal favorite “Shark Hunting.” Guitarist Ian Reed made this one particularly special with a blistering, improvised solo and ending the song by jumping onto the monitors and screaming the lyrics directly into my face as I returned the gesture.

While Actionesse have played their final show of 2019, you can still get a ticket to see them perform at Timber Festival in Leavenworth on July 16, 2020. Follow them at actionesse.com for future updates.

–Chris Butcher

DeVotchKa: The magic hour 4 Jan 2020 10:09 AM (5 years ago)

by Halee Hastad

After two decades of being together as a band, DeVotchKa is still having fun making music and connecting with fans.

“I think we are still in the mentality of putting one foot in front of the other and making things that we are passionate about,” DeVotchKa drummer Shawn King said during an interview last month.

DeVotchKa came together in 2000 as Nick Urata (vocals, guitars, piano, trumpet, theremin, bouzouki), Tom Hagerman (violin, accordion, piano, melodica), Jeanie Schroder (sousaphone, upright bass, vocals, flute), and King (drums, percussion, trumpet, accordion, organ). They all met in their hometown of Denver, Colorado through different music projects, King said. Urata met Schroder at a fashion show where she was playing the tuba, Urata and Hagerman met at a benefit and Urata and King met at another show, all within a couple of years. King had seen Urata perform before meeting him and knew the project was something he was interested in being a part of.

“I wanted to be involved with a team of people who worked to be as creative as possible and go out and explore the country and world and do something special,” King said. “I just didn’t have any idea it would last this long.”

Their most recent release, This Night Falls Forever, came out a year ago and was their first album since 2011. It followed seven prior full-length albums, two album soundtracks and one recording of them playing live with the Colorado Symphony.

This Night Falls Forever is possibly the most “indie” of this band’s work thus far. They remain consistent with cabaret undertones and eastern European influences but bring forth a moving sound reminiscent of the like of The National or Arcade Fire. The title of the album, credit of Urata, was born of that feeling when night begins to fall and there’s a certain electricity in the air and you get the sense, even for just a moment, that everything is going to be okay, he said.

The time from their 2011 100 Lovers to this latest work was the longest to elapse between albums for DeVotchKa, and despite it cultivating a brilliant piece of work, it wasn’t necessarily intentional.

“It was king of a perfect storm of things getting away from us, be it family or marriage or otherwise” King said. “It’s easy to get into clichés and probably could have broken up in that time if we weren’t so dedicated to what we started. In our minds it didn’t feel as long as it did for the fans.”

Aside from DeVotchKa, each member has their own individual creative thing going on, King explained. Urata lives in Los Angeles where he focuses on scores for film and television, Hagerman spends time composing for symphonic gigs, including work for the Flaming Lips, and King has worked on solo projects with other musicians in the Denver area.

King feels he is at a time, after all these years, when he can step back and feel the power of what they have as a band regardless of the amount of time they spend working together. It’s a special bond to be able to go on stage and perform without having to worry or even think about what your band members are doing, he said. This is a group that knows they have each other’s backs, he said.

“As the waves of life have gone up and down coming back and doing something that feels so true to who we are as individuals and as a family – it’s greater than the sum of the parts,” he said.

FOR MORE: DeVotchKa plays at The Wild Buffalo on Sunday, Jan. 19 with Glass Heart String Choir. Follow their social media for updates. 

X Suns: The space to rock 4 Jan 2020 10:07 AM (5 years ago)

by Brent Cole

photo by Devin Speak

Seattle’s X Suns (10 Suns) play punishing instrumental space rock – mixing metal, post rock, space rock and everything in between, creating a sonic hybrid that has been amazing music fans for over a decade. And though they’ve been playing for years, in some ways it feels as if the band are just getting their footing.

The band started in 2009 and over the first five years went through a series of line-up changes that would start and stop the band, changing their sound and dynamic, often times stifling their momentum. “Our sound definitely changed many times in those early years, and the dynamic as well. Which is to be expected with having different guitar players, with different influences,” said Trent McIntyre, drummer. “All the changes early on were tough, because it seemed like we were always getting set back just when we were gaining momentum. We spent a lot of time teaching songs to a new guitarist, playing a bunch of shows with them, writing new stuff with them, and then have to find a replacement for them right after recording, or something.”

Since 2014, they’ve had the same line up with Slippy King and Jared Burke Eglington on guitar, Adam Tricoli on bass, and McIntyre on drums. This has allowed them to really grow as a band.

“Songwriting style has stayed pretty consistent over the years, and usually consists of either Burke or Skippy bringing a riff (or more) to practice, and then we all just jam on it until we flesh out more parts,” he said. “When it works well, the song can write itself in a few practices. It’s mainly all about those happy accidents, and working through stuff until someone does something cool that we all like.”

While the band opts for the description of instrumental space rock, their sound is much deeper than that. “I like to think that we fit within the Post-Rock and Math Rock scenes,” McIntyre said, adding, “Or at least we try, haha. Sometimes people say we are Post-Metal, and we have played with a lot of metal bands too.”

He added when X Suns got together, they were inspired by bands such as Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky (both instrumental bands) as well as Junior and Constants (both featured singers).

“There was definitely an intent to play this style of music when we first started,” McIntyre said. “I really wanted to start an instrumental band, because I was a bit tired of singers at the time.”

McIntyre added X Suns misses a lot of touring windows because they enjoy opening for other bands. “Most of the reason we play locally too much is that I always try to help touring bands as much as possible when they come through town, which means we usually end up playing too many local shows during the busy seasons. It’s hard saying no sometimes when so many killer bands come through town,” he said. “We have been better about balancing everything lately though.”

Coming up, X Suns are wrapping up writing their debut full length, which they plan on recording in the spring as well as more tours. “Our big goal is to tour in Europe,” McIntyre said, “but that might have to wait until 2021. We will see though. We definitely just want to keep pushing and doing as much as we can.”

FOR MORE: See X Suns perform Jan. 31 at The Firefly. For more information and updates, follow their social media. 

Ceilla: Sounds of reflection 4 Jan 2020 10:05 AM (5 years ago)

by Caitlin Cohen

photo by Casey Sowers

Christian Johnston, also known as Ceilla, is on a new path with his work. The electronic music producer crafted a fresh EP titled Halcyon that is full of melodic, ambient synths blended with hip-hop beats. The combination is stunning and hypnotic – allowing space for an audio experience where listeners choose their own adventure.

This new release holds a very special place in Johnston’s heart as Halcyon best represents him as an artist and who he is. An artist that prefers quality over quantity, he has been extremely active in the music scene for the past three years with frequent live sets, collaborations, and mixing.

The whole EP follows a concept of reflection. Specifically, reflecting on different emotions felt in the past. Each song acts as a relic of different snippets in life and the feelings that were a part of each experience. However, the producer stresses that the project isn’t super specific to him – it’s open to interpretation. He wants listeners to have their own set of reactions, emotions, and reflections when hearing Halcyon.

“I honestly hope the EP gives people a visualization when they hear it. I’m very inspired by film scores. I don’t necessarily write music with that intention but I love the idea of audio and visual coming together,” Johnston said. “Otherwise, I just want people to experience something different with this new sound. Even bring out a feeling that they haven’t felt in a long time.”

With the songs acting as past reflections, Johnston’s captured that concept with repurposing old sounds that have been in the vault and combined them with a fun and newer style he’s unlocked in the past year. The EP starts off with the track “Within Without” which merges the past and the present styles together in such an exhilarating manner. The song is the perfect introduction by having this build up of lingering riffs that can hook anyone in, dive inward, and then just erupt into this joyous drop that will cover an entire body with goose bumps.

For his new style, he experimented and pushed himself as a producer to go out of his comfort zone. The tracks “First Light” and “6” were made during a period when Johnston challenged himself to make 100 beats in 100 days.

“When you’re making a new beat a day, you’re trying to create new ways to have fun with writing music. I experimented with my synth and played around with new sounds on my computer. Both of those songs were a result of discovering new sounds then writing music with that new material,” he said.

The track, “When You’re Here,” was actually created two years ago. Johnston woke up one morning and had an urge to make something new to include in his live set for that night. The song was first exposed on a snowy night at Studio B when Johnston was DJing for a local night showcase with Pacifix and Winslo.

“I woke up that morning and thought ‘okay, I’m going to make a song today that I’m going to play in my set tonight’ and that was the only goal,” Johnston said. “I made the song in about an hour. It was basically a challenge to myself originally intended for that specific night and now it’s being brought back for this EP.”

“Endless,” the last track, was a collaboration written with Garrett Barber (Pacifix). Johnston messed around on his synth and Barber wrote the progression. They then layered everything together.

Johnston is equally confident and eager to have this piece released for anyone to hear. It’s possible to get the pre-release jitters when there are many amazing artists in the scene that will listen to your work. Sure, there may be a lot more pressure and intimidation that any producer or musician faces when expectations are placed on their work. However, after that scary period of the unknown comes the relief.

“This sound is something that I’m happy about. I finally made something that is ambient and melodic driven that I want to continue to make,” Johnston  said. “The release of this EP feels very new and different compared to everything else I’ve put out. It feels really good to say that I feel proud of what I’m making.”

FOR MORE: Listen to Halcyon now on Ceilla’s Soundcloud at soundcloud.com/ceilla. 

Magnolia Baseball: Knocking it out of the park 4 Jan 2020 9:28 AM (5 years ago)

by Chris Butcher

In 2016, guitarist Nathan Roe and bassist Johnny Rowley met at a party through a mutual friend. It was at that party when they got into a deep conversation about their musical desires and decided to form Magnolia Baseball.

However, this wasn’t the first time their paths had crossed. They soon realized they had known of each other while growing up in Magnolia, Seattle.

“After hanging around each other twice, I was like ‘do I know you from somewhere?’ and Nate said ‘I don’t think so, but I had the same exact thought.’ It turned out our moms were really good friends when we were kids, so we probably had a play date or two,” Rowley said.

Generally, I don’t believe in coincidence, but in the case of these indie-rockers, their formation has been a happy chance for Bellingham’s music scene.

When in need of a drummer, they posted a flyer in the music building at The Pack. They heard from fellow student Aron Wilson.

“Aron responded to it, we just started jamming and it continued on from there. We were just playing with pretty much no direction for just two years… we would just hang out and play music for four hours and then go home,” Roe said.

Since 2018, they’ve gone from playing their first show at the Alternative Library to melting faces at house shows and putting out an EP. Now almost three years later, the trio have produced and released their debut LP Zooom, an absolute homerun of an album. Although, despite their recent success, prior to forming this band they began with little experience.

With Wilson as the only member to have played in another group, both Roe and Rowley needed to learn how to be in a band.

“I had never taken music very seriously until Magnolia Baseball. We’ve just practiced so much that we felt like it was worth giving it a shot,” Roe said.

As for Wilson joining the band, he was ready for a new project and felt that now was the time to get involved.

“Every now and then I like to have people I can play live with and just like my previous band, I found these guys randomly. I had auditioned for bands before and it can be awkward to play with people you don’t know, just covering bands like The Strokes. But Johnny and Nate are really nice guys and we have fun,” Wilson said.

Looking to expand upon their sound, they reached out to local singer and friend Sophie Cunningham, who contributed additional vocals throughout their latest release.

“She [Cunningham] did one take for all of them and it was super easy. We hope to collaborate with her again. She’s a gem,” Roe said.

Part of what makes Bellingham’s music scene interesting is how bands maintain such a distinct sound through a love of eclectic music. The band follows this tradition through their appreciation of rock, pop and classical artists.

“We have very different music tastes and part of the reason I’ve liked what we’ve made is because we have to try really hard to make music that all of us are going to be into, which has made us be more creative then if we all listened to the same stuff,” Roe said.

They explain how their artistic process comes out using several influences and allowing themselves to share in the writing. While Magnolia Baseball enjoy using a diverse range of influences, they also work hard to avoid any of the formulaic traps that bands sometimes fall into.

“What I really can’t stand is things sounding cliché or overproduced, so we try not to do that,” Wilson said.

Even though none of them have a defined role, they admit that each member has their strong suits when it comes to writing songs. Wilson, an English major, writes many of the lyrics. Roe describes his approach as “Show don’t tell,” so the listener can use their imagination.

They did however acknowledge where the idea for the name of their newest album came from and how spaceships inspired it.

“With the lyrics on “Rocket Bloom” we sing the word zoom a lot. That is more or less about Cesar in Planet of The Apes, looking out the window of the rocket. But again, it can be interpreted differently because later I reapplied it to be about the first ape that was forcefully sent into space,” Wilson said.

Roe and Rowley explained how people can relate to the song on a deeper level because the themes touch on the feeling of societal pressures and the struggle to maintain individuality.

FOR MORE: As of now, Magnolia Baseball are looking forward to what 2020 holds for them. They recently applied for this year’s BAMF, are opening up their home as a house show venue and playing the premier on Jan. 18 and have another gig scheduled for the Piano Room on Jan. 25.  Find their music on their website magnoliabaseball.bandcamp.com. You can also follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

Eat It: Mi Rancho Meat Market 5 Dec 2019 9:02 AM (5 years ago)

by Remley Roe

photo courtesy of Mi Rancho Meat Market Facebook page

Take yourself on a journey down Northwest Avenue and when you’ve come across Yeagers, turn and enter the taco plaza. There are three (technically four if you count the Village Inn’s taco night) places to satisfy your cravings for them, but one stands out above the others.

Enter: Mi Rancho Meat Market.

It began as  a butcher shop that also sold tacos and then grew in to a small grocery store with tacos. Now it is a restaurant. Still with tacos. If you haven’t been there yet you’ve been denying yourself a real pleasure. Street tacos served on a single 3-inch home made tortilla for a buck. It’s a great deal and a great taco.

One of the few inhibitors of the operation was always the space. The dining area was tucked in the back, behind the butcher case or the couple of random tables in the grocery section could feel intimidating if this was your first time there. The service was quick and snappy but didn’t always take time to stop and explain how the set up worked. The drinks were all serve yourself in the cold cases throughout the store. There was no menu to speak of, except occasional hand written signs on the butcher counter that were easily neglected.

Fortunately this is no longer the case.

This last month Mi Rancho took over the vacant Brotha Dudes space and added a proper dining room to their ever growing enterprise. They expanded the wait staff, have proper menus and a variety of Mexican beers on draft (and a couple of local IPAs because this is still Washington after all).

On my most recent visit I did a quick tour of the new space which was not even comparable to their old seating set up because it is so vastly better. As you walk in their is a large deli case with deserts that I gave a once over. They all looked delicious but they were not the mission of the day. I wanted some tacos.

It was a nice day so I grabbed a seat on the patio. I was quickly greeted and brought a basket of chips with their holy trio: two hot salsas and a small bowl of whole beans. The red and green are both wonderful but don’t hold back in terms of heat for being their house salsas. The beans are such a great compliment and add huge sustenance to the pre-meal snack. I wish that beans came standard at every restaurant but for now, they are setting Mi Rancho a cut above the rest. I have gone to this place just for these beans. But to be fair, I love beans.

I ordered a horchata and my standard medium level hunger order: six tacos. On this visit I got two veggie tacos, two asada tacos and two pork with pineapple. I hesitate to call this Al Pastor because I have never seen them label it as such but if that’s what this is, great. It’s awesome. The order came up quickly and everything was amazing. The horchata was sweet and refreshing. The tacos were, as always, perfect. Small, perfect tortilla and meat balance and a little garnish of onion and cilantro. A few pieces of radish surround the tacos to apply as needed. A bit of lime squeezed over the plate. It’s perfection.

My goal for the next few months is to try the rest of the menu. There are burritos, tortas, taco salads, quesadillas and weekend only soups. They have massively expanded their pastry selection and every time I walk by the cart I want to try them all. This place produces amazing food all around and we all deserve to enjoy it.

And to that point, this place also provides something that this neighborhood can always use. This is a fun, family run business that puts out great affordable food. They have a great butcher case that sells delicious marinated meats at great prices. It’s always busy, it’s always friendly and it’s always good. Even if you aren’t in the mood to sit down to have a beverage and eat some tacos then keep it in mind next time you are barbecuing or even just need to pick up a six-pack of beer. This is the kind of place that deserves to flourish, so give them your business.

You can visit Mi Rancho Meat Market at 3092 Northwest Ave. 

Live Show Reviews: November 2019 5 Dec 2019 8:58 AM (5 years ago)

Dude York, Lipstitch, Beautiful Freaks

Nov. 16 • The Shakedown

Seattle sweethearts, Dude York, played a spectacular set at the Shakedown alongside local pop-punk bands  LipStitch and Beautiful Freaks.

Beautiful Freaks opened the show with a few of their fan favorites such as “Like Our Parents,” “Pop Music” and “Cameo Artist” (you can hear their debut music video for “Cameo Artist” on the band’s YouTube).

Not only did they play hits from their debut album but they also showcased one of their newest songs, “Slugs.” The song maintains their musical style of horror mixed with sexuality – a staple of the band’s sound. Compared to previous tracks this song is one of their heaviest riffs with a rhythm that forces listeners to bounce to its beat.

The Freaks recently lost their tuba player, Maxwell Lemke, who left to focus on his main project Analog Brass. This was a mutual decision among the band and with no one being forced out. However, it should be said that Lemke’s brutal brass playing is certainly missed during live shows.

Next up was LipStitch, who represented the Bellingham sound with soaring solos, mesmerizing melodies and songs that somehow already sound iconic.

What originally started as a Joan Jett cover project is now a band whose talent has landed them an opening slot for Death Cab for Cutie and ODESZA’s Double Major show earlier this year and a recent feature of their single “Holding On” on Seattle’s famous alternative music radio station 107.7 The End.

Songs from their debut EP Best of Us and Tough Year still sound just as fresh live as when they first started playing. At this set they decided to debut two new songs “Mid-Thought” and “Dang” (featured on their upcoming release, recorded by local producer Eric Takuichi Wallace).

You can hear LipStitch at their next show here in Bellingham at the Shakedown playing with Actionesse and Them Folkes on Dec. 6.

Closing out the night was headliners Dude York who are currently touring in support of their newest album Falling, which they released earlier this year.

They opened with their supercharged hit “Unexpected,” which set a high bar for the rest of their show but unsurprisingly each song surpassed fans’ expectations.

Despite some awkward conversation between the crowd and band, everyone near the stage was either dancing or swinging their hair to their chugging riffs and psychotic solos.

Songs like “Love Is” and “Falling” are smashing hits filled with romantic lyrical themes. The title track, “Falling” off their newest album takes a more psychedelic and atmospheric approach without losing their punk-rock sound.

I especially love the line “That song means everything to me, do you wanna take a ride next time we meet? You said “I got a 90’s Volvo and their whole discography.” It creates a scene in my head of a young, understood misfit, from the late 80s, blasting music from their Walkman in the backseat of their parent’s car on a boring summer road trip.

You can follow all of the acts on their social media for any upcoming shows and hear new music on Spotify and Bandcamp.

–Chris Butcher 

The Rhetorician, Klefto, Hunter Gillam, Slap Serif

Nov. 8 • The Firefly Lounge

Jordan Moss (aka The Rhetorician), celebrated the release of his debut album The Native Tongue Meets the New Wave, with a rhapsodic performance at The Firefly Lounge. The self-described “Power Ranger of rap” teamed up with a few of his key producers to play several newly released songs over the cheers of friends and fans.

As folks started to migrate away from the bar and to their spot for the show, The Rhetorician’s lead producer, Slap Serif, opened with a collection of raw and laid-back hip-hop beats.

His musical soundscapes jump from songs featuring scratch samples of Flavor Flav’s chaotic, “Yeah, boyeee” to several with an electronic sound nostalgic of music featured in a tropical island themed 90s video game. His eclectic style of beats and love for indie culture makes him the perfect creative partner for Moss.

He was soon joined on stage by another one of his collaborators, Hunter Gillam. Aside from the fine-tuned production he supplies for Moss, Gillam’s most important contribution to The Rhetorician’s sound is his R&B saxophone and vocal features. This is most recognizable on the single “The Session.”

The following act was Klefto, whose beats can be heard in four different songs on The Rhetorician’s new album: “Power Ranger Days,” “B.B.T,” “What Show Mix” and “WhatEva Man.” His hard-hitting grooves and free jazz approach to DJ’ing makes him the Gregory C. Coleman of Bellingham’s hip-hop scene. He is still in the process of booking and playing sets to promote his newest album Mellow Dramatic, released in June of this year.

Before Moss took the stage, he went to the green room to mediate with breathing exercises – a process that has become a ritual in his preparation to perform as his alter ego.

Moss hyped up fans with his head banging and booty shaking beats on tracks “Ladi Dah,” “Old School” and “Coast.”

With appearances during his set from each DJ on the bill, it was a roundabout of top tier musicianship.

You can follow all of these artists on Instagram, Spotify and Bandcamp for upcoming musical releases and shows.

-Chris Butcher

Yellfire, Dryland, Tacos!, F#cked and Bound 

Nov. 1 • The Shakedown

Pro show tip, my fellow music enthusiasts and haters alike. When covering a show and you miss the opening band, buy they’re tape! This way you can support upcoming, hometown bands and be pleasantly surprised at your excitement when you crack that little buddy open, pop it in the deck and are blown away by the sonic assault concealed within said cassette’s plastic housing.

Yellfire’s ethereal, droning riffs are juxtaposed over heavily distorted melodic chord structures. Groove laden beats guide the songs’ sweeping dynamics and tempo changes that follow no master genera. This group’s unique blend of hardcore, doom and post something or rather, fill the soul with energy and emotion.

This was my first time seeing Dryland since the group recently added Bellingham’s own Chad Smith and founding member of Fed X, Beau Boyd to the lineup, replacing original drummer Luke Greer. While the change could be slightly felt in the rhythm section’s usual razor-sharp precision, this did not stop the group from laying audio waste to a building crowd of patched jacket laden, beer guzzling music enthusiasts. Dryland creates unpredictable riff driven, battle call laden, sludgy rock and roll that leaves the listener trapped between parallel realities.

Tacos! celebrated the evening with the Bellingham release of the group’s new album, Uso Rudo. As the duo began to sound check, a psychedelic energy engulfed the room. The   guitar soundcheck separated the faint of heart from the ultra-sonic audio punishment enthusiast’s occupying the front of the stage.

Harsh tones of feedback and over amplified distortion built tension as the duo prepared to engage and commune with the holy ghosts of rock and roll. Churning drum beats swell with intensity as they accompany the precise, chunky guitar riffs. Tacos!’ brand of unique heavy psychedelic rock and roll destroyed as they soared through a tight set to an enthusiastic crowed.

F#cked and Bound took the stage with road seasoned stride as they tore into a high energy set of blazing fast, soul squeezing hardcore punk rock drenched in a feminist gaze. Fast and impulsive, the group tears through hi energy riffs driven by unique blends of amplifiers. As the band slays, vocalist Lisa Mungo circles the room making a connection with each person occupying the dance floor, and beyond. Mungo strips the macho aggressive “front man” moniker during her performance and turns it on its face. Her hands-on approach is more engaging then aggressive. As if trying to elevate the audience to their more primal state, letting go of their worldly concerns and screaming it out together as a community, rather than an individual.

It was refreshing and inspiring to see a broad range of gender representation within the bands of the evening, as well as in the crowd. For too long heavy music has been dominated by the male gaze. Times are a changing and it couldn’t come fast enough in the world of rock and roll.

-Kelly Sorbel

Gross Fest

Nov. 2 • Karate Church

On Nov. 2, condensers of the underground music scene packed the Alternative Library and Karate Church for an evening of sweaty bodies, gory moshing, and impassioned melodies.

Gross Out Records brought a new and creative way to absorb music to the Bellingham music scene. Having produced events around town at local record shops, throwing PSYCH OUT, and creating their own block at BAMF! this past summer, this record label dabbles in it all.

Gross Fest was a rapid-fire of performances. With two stages shared between 10 varied bands, the Fest provided an atmosphere to get lost in. This compiled variety of sounds filled the Alternative Library and Karate Church with roaring tones for the entirety of the night. For just $10 anyone could watch bands like rockers’ Spoon Benders, hardcore Bellingham bands TYL and Jerry Core and much, much more.

Starting at 7 p.m. with Careen, the fest was in a non-stop trance of electrifying music that didn’t let up until the very end.

The overflow of traffic deafened the halls between performances, a good representation of how the crowds of people were eager to absorb every drop of the performances and didn’t want to miss out on anything.

The performance that stood out the most to me was Wild Powwers. Their use of heavy distortion capsuled the room in a mind-bending frenzy. Saturated in garage rock reverb, the crowd danced along with their emotion-tingling music.

All the proceeds from the night went towards Mt. Baker Planned Parenthood clinic, which was a longtime plan of the folks at Gross Out Records to be able to do. With a total of $1,200 raised, Bellingham should be proud to house such an amazing record label looking to support the community. Congrats y’all, Gross Fest was a success.

-Bella Cole-Preciado

Le Beat: December 2019 5 Dec 2019 8:48 AM (5 years ago)

Local notes on what’s happening with musicians, events and more. Have something to share? Send your info to editor@whatsup-magazine.com.

Happy holidays my friends. How’s everyone doing? I hope all is well. It’s been a hell of a month on this end of things, but all is leveling out.

Before I get to the music scene gossip, our version of page six, here’s a little magazine news. The big big big news, of course, is that the mag’s awards show is happeningggggg. The big day is Saturday, Jan. 18, with the amazing Dryland, The Blood Capsules, The Rhetorician, Supermissive, LipStitch and Munch all hitting the stage at the Wild Buffalo in celebration of our wonderful little music scene. We’ll also be announcing the award winners that night… which means voting is JUST AROUND THE CORNER! We’ll be posting the ballots on Dec. 10 (unless there’s a hiccup) and voting will run for a month. Categories include (but are not exclusively) Best Album, Best Live Band, Best Video, Best DJ, etc. etc. etc. You get the idea… so the whole night (for those who aren’t familiar) is awards, music and a celebration of the Bellingham scene – get down to the Wild Buffalo and enjoy who we are and what we’re about. Let the good times rollllll.

That’s about it for now in regards to the mag, or at least all we’re discussing publicly.

Oooooh yeah, another thing – as it’s tradition in Le Beat… I’m excited for Star Wars! Mandalorian has been great, but Rise of Skywalker has my heart. You know where to find me the weekend before Christmas!

NEW MUSIC

Jess Bonin and Kelly Sorbel have teamed up for Moving Murals, which released a song and video this summer – can’t believe I hadn’t mentioned this before. I’ve known them both for more years than I can count, and the song is definitely worth checking out. Like right now. Go. Put down the paper and watch their video.

In non-local music news, but slightly related… have you checked out Luke Hogfoss’s new album? Luke (who now lives in Seattle) was in The Palisades and The Co Founder, and is one of the most gifted songwriters I’ve ever seen. Check out his new record, it’s really special and probably my favorite album of the year. You can find it on bandcamp, itunes, etc. etc. etc.

Just before we went to press, No Guts posted about something new coming out on Dec. 12… what’s this mean? I’m assuming, hoping, wondering if it’s their longgggg awaited album! I’ve hard bits and pieces of the rec and it’s fantastic. No Guts are a criminally underrated band, hopefully them having new music out will regenerate the town’s love for them and all will be right in the world.

LipStitch released a new single, “Holding On,” which debuted on KNDD’s ‘Local’s Only’ show. There’s some other cool stuff in the works with the band, but I’ve been sworn to secrecy. For now, enjoy the single… listen to it over and over and over again because it’s fantastic.

Metal gods, Overwrought, have released a two-song recording which, if metal is you’re thing, should be checked out. They’re one of the bands in a newly resurgent local metal scene which is making me happy. For a long time Bellingham bled metal, but the last few years or so things have been a bit tumbleweed in that scene.

Uriah Garay has released a sweet and soulful little Christmas single with “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” “Joy to the World,” and “O Holy Night” on it. I dig it. He didn’t try and bend or break the songs, but stuck really true to the sound. The mighty Hunter Gilliam lent a hand on the single as well as Nicholas Lear, so check it out and get festive.

Klefto has released Loosies to the band camp world and, as per everything Klefto does, it’s worth checking out. He’s also posting about releasing new music, so watch for that as well.

Stepping in the wayyyyyyy back machine, Colville Meldoy have put up their Live at the 3B, which was recorded in June of 2001, up on Spotify. Not sure the source of the inspiration which got the band to put it up there, but I’m glad they did. A band not many folks know about anymore, but really a great dark Americana sound. Stereo Donkey’s Mike Bajuk (the only member still living here) played drums.

Nick Taylor (Snug Harbor) and Aaron Guest (Polecat) are both releasing solo albums this winter, so they’ve teamed up for a joint album release on Jan. 18 at the Firefly. Go there, check out some music, then come down to the awards show – you’ll feel full of local music love by the end of the night.

COMINGS & GOINGS

In some “damn, that sucks” news, Nate Kahn is moving to Portland (news that I’ve found out just at press). Not sure where that leaves Hello, I’m Sorry, but know that TYL is breaking up… The good news? The band will be releasing an album (or have depending on when you are reading this), which should be pretty tasty.

Speaking of the wayyyyy back machine, the mighty DJ Velveteen has moved back to Bellingham? If you’re old school and have no idea what I’m talking about, he would do some crazy juggling circus amazingness when he left in town, but he took his talents to the Bay Area. He’s back in town and it looks like he’s here for the long haul. It’s funny talking to him about the music scene because his perspective is so different – he’s been gone for over a decade and is coming back to a Bellingham scene that’s grown and has a lot more happening than when he left. Think if you’re in the mix for different time periods, you don’t get a chance to see the change and growth that’s happened and is happening – Velveteen will tell you the scene.

Drown the Mountain appear to be calling it a day – not sure the back story but they posted that they were in indefinite hiatus… which usually means, “we’re done.” Sucks, that band was pretty good with the promise to get better.

RECORDINGS

Gallows Hymn have already begun working on a new album. No idea when it’ll come out or anything, but the band has a hell of a creative push so watch these very pages.

Cat Positive have been in the studio recording their first record at Champion St. SWEEEEET.

GET WELL MY FRIEND

Local musician, Pascal Foley, has had his life pulled out from under him. One minute he was a normal, healthy guy in his early 20s, the next minute he is afflicted with a debilitating disorder called Guillian Barre (gee-YAH-buh-RAY) syndrome. It’s a rare disorder in which your body’s immune system attacks your nerves. Weakness and tingling in your extremities are usually the first symptoms. These sensations can quickly spread, eventually paralyzing your whole body. As of his last post, he’s able to walk 50 feet with a walker, but won’t be back to work for a long, long time and has an incredibly difficult road ahead of him. If you have the means to donate, please consider donating to Pascal’s Gofundme. This is a horrible disorder affecting an awesome guy. See www.gofundme.com/f/pascal-foleys-recovery.

Think that’s about it for now. Please stay safe this holiday season.

Hugs and kisses,

Brent

The Woods Sisters’ DIY Euro Tour 5 Dec 2019 8:45 AM (5 years ago)

by Savanna Woods

I asked myself a question one day… If I could do anything with my life at this moment what would it be? I quickly decided that it would be to travel the world and play music. Those were two biggest things in my life, but I had always seemed to keep them relatively separate. I decided in that moment that I could begin merging my two loves by just…doing it. Why not? Why do I have to wait for record label to send me to a foreign country to play music? You can do anything in life, it just takes some dedication, patience, and faith. Oh, and research…lots and lots of research. Because if there is something you want to do, chances are there are loads of people who have already done it and are out there to help show others the way. 

So as I started to plan my upcoming travel, I began my research on how I could go about gigging abroad. I came across an article written for CD Baby’s DIY Musician that was packed with great information and tips on how to create your own handmade tour. I was so inspired by the DIY attitude that I decided I was going to create my own handmade, patchwork Euro tour!

The article had many practice tips including stripping down your band for your first EU tour (which we did- rebranding acoustically as The Woods Sisters, because our full band Waking Maya would be too much to tour with initially), hitting up everyone that you know in the areas you want to play, and taking advantage of the rising house show phenomenon. These “house shows” or “sofa concerts” are becoming a big thing in Europe, especially countries like Germany. The biggest website to explore the many hosts and artists around Europe is SofaConcerts.com. People sign up, turn their homes and yards into venues, book bands to play (usually touring musicians), and then invite all of their friends over! The website also contains different kinds of venues including restaurants, cafes, parks, etc. After making a profile and applying to various different venues, I was able to book a few shows in Spain and Germany.

For one of these shows, we ended up traveling to an old town named Quart in Spain, near Barcelona to meet our Sofa Concerts host Miguel, a lovely man with a beautiful family. The top floor/attic room of their home was turned into an intimate venue space, equip with a sound system, merchandise table, area for food, chairs, benches, and cushions on the floor.

When it came time to play, the place was packed with their Spanish friends, who quickly became our friends too. The place was buzzing with life, everyone drinking wine, eating homemade tapas, and enjoying the music. The audience at this house show was one of the best we’d ever had- They were respectful, attentive, engaged, humorous… eager for awesome music! I have heard from many musicians that their favorite shows while touring are the house shows, and I can definitely see why. It is a much more intimate musical experience, all barriers down.

Miguelle, our host, also connected us last minute with his friend who owns a tapas bar in Barcelona and was looking for musicians for his place. We played a show in the cave-like restaurant with bare stone walls and a cozy ambiance, AND ate amazing food. You always have to be prepared for spontaneous opportunities! The place was packed with people eating, drinking and having a good time… in extremely close quarters. It felt like it was over 100 degrees in there and I had not yet acclimated to the Spanish temperatures. I was sweating so much I had to run outside every few songs and get fresh air so I didn’t melt into a puddle! 

Another ingredient in this handmade tour was the meeting of a bold and beautiful woman by the name of Prita Grealy. I was listening to the Female Entrepreneur Musician podcasts one day and came across a great interview of Prita. The more she talked, the more I connected with her on a personal level, so I decided to send her an email to let her know how much she inspired me. I immediately got a response and we began chatting, becoming friends over our love for travel and music. She took me under her wing, giving me so many starts and contacts to jump off of and ideas for different locations. By reaching out to someone who inspired me, I was able to make a new friend while also learning from someone who was further along doing something that I wanted to do.

One of the gigs that I was able to book with Prita’s connections was in Hawick, Scotland, an enchanting countryside town amongst the rolling hills. We were put up in this adorable bed and breakfast called the Fox and Hounds Inn, that was decorated in the most charming old English way, while keeping with the theme of foxes and hounds.

After we left Hawick, we headed back to the city of Edinburgh. We spent a couple days there playing at open jams, and a spontaneous busking show in Grassmarket Square. The street shows are some of the most fun, catching the attention of all of the surrounding bars and people passing by. Children stopping to dance, while their parents sing along. At one of the open jams that we sang at (a bar called The Dog House) we met a man named Chris Lyons, who was playing guitar for the backing band. While we were chatting afterwards, we find out he plays many different instruments including the accordion! So we made a plan to meet up the following morning and record a video in the center of town together for my weekly Wandering Wednesdays. For a year and a half I have been recording a new video every Wednesday in a new location, often time collaborating with people I’ve just met along my travels. My sister Paige, Chris and I played “Jolene” by Dolly Parton together, and it was pure magic – really capturing the European vibe.

Another cool gig that we played was in Venice, Italy. I booked this show by taking the tip of contacting everyone I could think of that I had met along my previous European travels. One of these friends included Nic, a trumpet player and music booker in Venice who scored us a spot at an acoustic showcase. The show was at a big warehouse-like venue in an industrial area of Venice for an underground, swanky event called Voci Sparse (Spread Voices) that showcased 4 different groups throughout the night. By this time we had met up with our other sister Ireland, and her boyfriend Joe. We were ready to play some music! We got to know other musicians, received a delicious fresh-cooked Italian meal, all while performing with extremely professional sound, lighting, and event management.

The only downside of this night was the random loss of….my voice?! Somehow, in the 2 hours between sound check and our performance, my voice managed to disappear almost completely. Ten minutes to showtimes and the place was filled with vibrant and friendly Italian people, meanwhile my voice is nowhere to be found. The show must go on… While we performed I just did a bit of adapting and changing of my parts to keep it in my lower range, where I was still minimally audible. Luckily I was singing with my sisters, so they were able to sense my subtle changes and adjusted their harmonies accordingly. That’s the blessing of performing with people for 20 years!

The last key ingredient to a handmade tour is being open and intentional in the moment; Open to opportunity, and intentional in what you are manifesting. We had many opportunities come to us while we were traveling, just by being prepared to play. We traveled with two mini amps, collapsible mic stands, and cables so that we were able to pop up a show anywhere, anytime, not being limited to the venue having a sound system.

For example, when my sister and I started our trip in London, we played a pop-up show in Deptford with this equipment in the market square, outside of some bars and the train station. We were joined by a nice guy we had just met that day at a coffee shop. While chatting, we found out he played the drums, so naturally we invited him to come jam! It was a magical evening of playing our hearts out, surrounded by dancing children and drunk folk. I remember thinking… “This is why I play music.” That golden feeling you get when you connect with your audience, and merge energy; Sharing in the moment as the music heals and brings people together from all walks of life.

I could go on and on about the amazing experiences we had, and the deep bonds and friendships that we made, but then this article would never end. Traveling is so rewarding if you allow yourself to move outside your comfort zone into a realm of new, raw experiences. In the end, this patchwork tour was a spiderweb of opportunity, that spread from intention and drive – just a couple of ingredients that can help you to create a life of doing whatever it is you love most.

Ethan Miller: For art’s sake 5 Dec 2019 8:42 AM (5 years ago)

Interview by Brent Cole

Photo by Michael Lessner

Every music fan has their favorite – the one artist whose music touches their soul a certain way. For me, that’s guitarist Ethan Miller. From his time in Comets on Fire to his current bands (Howlin Rain, Heron Oblivion and Feral Ohms), the way he plays music and his approach to creativity are a massive inspiration. So much so that my desire to keep the magazine in business began when I last saw Howlin Rain earlier this year.

Howlin’ Rain is back for a show this month at the Firefly, which means I get a chance to talk to Ethan – something I’ll never pass up.

Ladies and gentlemen, Ethan Miller, in his own words.

Who are you and where did you come from (please tell the readers about yourself)?

EM: Ethan Miller, born and raised in Humboldt county, Ca in Eureka. I’ve lived in England twice, in Oakland twice (this last time for the last 16 or so years and still) and in Santa Cruz for about 4 years in the late 90s and early 2000s. I guess I like living near the ocean~ ha ha!

You play in three bands – Howlin Rain, Heron Oblivion and Feral Ohms – and run a record label and publish poetry. Obviously, your life is full of and inspired by creativity. Tell us the importance of creativity in your life and how it molds and shapes your day to day?

EM: Trying to get my life to be more and more about creative work is something I’ve been shaping since I was a child. In some ways having your actual work revolve around your creative output is highly rewarding, in other ways it can be a bit of a challenge and a burden in that you’re no longer just trying to accomplish the work or task that’s been set out for you at your ‘job’ by a boss or a structure outside of yourself, but you’re also trying to constantly invent and reinvent the work and tasks themselves in a fashion that you think will both be true to your creative ideals, and also in a way that will engage a buying public. If things are going wrong in your job for a boss, it’s easy to say you’re doing your best and blame it on your boss or the system you work within as being dysfunctional. Well, when you ARE the boss/ artist/ product producer and in some cases the product itself, it’s a whole other self-judgment system you have to keep control. In a more structured and traditional work environment, small daily failures get absorbed into strengths and a cycle of learning and betterment much more naturally and quickly and they transform from negative to positives in your confidence/ psyche and work-life much more quickly and naturally (as they should). In a self-run creative professional life I think small failures are a lot harder on the psyche, they linger and often resonate a lot longer than they should, you take them personally and the lessons to be learned from them aren’t often as clear when dealing in art. I guess it all comes down to ‘you do the work’ and move on, and try to do both quickly and fill your life with it and remember that neither critical reception nor product earnings are the be-all end-all of the success of a creative work.

Do you remember the first “a ha” moment when you realized you wanted to devote your life to creative endeavors? 

EM: I was telling stories in medium as far back as I can remember. Before I could write, I’d tell them to my mother and she’d write them down and I’d illustrate them and she’d help me bind them and sell them to family and family friends.

When was the last time you almost stopped a life of creativity? Do you have a moment when you thought “this just doesn’t make sense, I’m done?”

EM: No, for me, even if I have to walk away from a ‘career’ in the creative arts I might even get to focus more time on my creativity; in writing, photography, music, gardening, cooking etc. I thrive on creative activity. It’s just how I make sense of the world, an endless opening of little doors to stimulate your mind and spirit throughout life. They take me from one day to the next, from one year to the next, wondering and in wonder. I don’t want to live without that stimulated wondering and wonder.

If I have to leave behind a professional life in the arts and my products aren’t viable enough to keep me hanging on with music as my professional focus, then I comfort myself with the idea that at least I’ll get to create art that is untethered from social media again. I won’t have to turn each artistic endeavor and accomplishment instantly into a digital ghost to roam the vapid purgatory of the internet and social media, where no creativity exists, ever. Discovery? Yes. Creativity? Never.

Growing up, when did you first pick up a guitar? Was it love at first strum? 

EM: I think I first played a guitar (acoustic) sitting in the grass with a Christian hippie dude at CSSSA (California state summer school for the arts; a month long live-in program for the arts) at Mills in Oakland, just out of 8th grade. Most of the students were 16, 17, 18 even 19 having just graduated high school and on their way to college after that summer. So they all knew shit. The 18-year-olds from the city and ‘out there in the world’ had a lot to teach a 14-year-old kid just out of eighth grade from a remote small town. Somebody took me into their dorm room and played me the Velvet Underground’s “Heroin” for the first time, lights off, candles lit. Like a lightning bolt went through me for those 7 + minutes. And never uncharged from it. I remember the smell, the air, the moments passing by and each one extending into small infinities as if it was just last night… That lightning bolt is still crackling in my marrow.

You gotta understand, as I’m sure many lifer Bellinghamians can, in the pre-internet age, growing up in a small town, I’d heard what was on MTV, what my parents listened to or what my other 14-year-old friends had heard in a small town that was 6 hours from the city in one direction and 8 hours in the other direction. We weren’t mixing with a lot of older kids and almost none of my friends had older brothers or sisters that were super music heads and high school was still a summer away when we’d start to mix with older kids that new shit. So when I hit CSSSA that summer and was mixing with older artists, outcasts, punks, hippies, radicals, creative contrarians, etc, I was getting hit with lightning bolts by the second, every day and night for a month. Like acid, I was shown that the doors were right there in front of my face, I just wasn’t looking at things inter-dimensionally up till then and once I was shown, I could see the doors of the secret world everywhere. So it was in this environment that I first played guitar. With a Christian hippie that showed me a few chords; E, A, C, G, D for starters. Nothing as lightning bolt or secret world as a lot of other awakenings.  But showing me that so little could make so much of a song happen~ that was huge for me.

Howlin Rain has gone through several different line up changes through the years but you’ve really clicked with Dan, Jeff and Justin. Why is this line up as special as it is? 

EM: I’m not sure why sometimes you get a group together that has great chemistry and you feel like the right people have come together but life or personalities pull them apart pretty quickly. And in other instances you manage to stay bound. Perhaps we’ve had the patience to work at staying bound and a mutual interest in what each of us brings to the table. I honestly don’t know, its all more alchemy rather than chemistry as far as I can tell. Or maybe vice versa. I’m just thankful that we’ve had the time and energy for this line up to grow and begin to fill out it’s wardrobe together, it’s been a joy to hear the band begin to speak with it’s own natural voice. I think the next album that we’re working on now will really be a grand expression of this group’s voice.

When writing music, do you write something and think “that’d be perfect for Feral” or “I should bring this to Howlin” or is it more a creative process with the members of each band in the moment? 

EM: Honestly, I’m kept so busy with writing for 3+ different bands that I am often focused on writing with a band in mind. But sometimes things get put aside for one band and later pop up working well, in a new skin, for another band. It happens. I guess that proves that a good song is a good song and the genre or ‘feel’ dressings that get put on them to make them work in context of a certain group are often temporary and fleeting compared to the actual worth and spirit of the song itself.

You’ve played the same Fender Jazzmaster for close to 20 years (if I remember that correctly). What is it about THAT guitar that keeps it in your hands and in your soul?

EM: It’s a Fender Jaguar actually. But close. The two are very close. I’ve had it since 2001 (or maybe late 2000.) And it’s a 1964. I found it in a place called Steve’s music world in Santa Cruz in 2000. I went into a back room for about an hour and played it and it was just playing like it was party of my body, the tremolo system was amazing and stayed in tune (and still does) and that was a huge thing for me because I play the tremolo arm so much, and also the way the guitar sounded with fuzz tone was incredible. The craftsmanship on pre-1965 Fender instruments is incredible. The instruments just beg you to play them.

As an odd aside, a couple guys who were in Howlin Rain – Isaiah Mitchel, Joel Robinow and Raj Ojha, have recently signed up to play in The Black Crowes. Do you ever have an interest in joining up with a bigger band in the hired gun role? Is it pretty cool to see friends play in that capacity? 

EM: I’m really stoked those guys got a good, big music biz gig like that. I’ve been surrounded with a very high level of musicians in Howlin Rain and they are often musicians that aren’t famous characters out there yet, I’ve often hoped that even larger opportunities might arise for them.

Finally, as I am an avid Comets on Fire fan, is there any change in the band status? I know at one point you were working on a record, but that was a few years ago…

EM: Nope. It’s in the wind and under the bridge…

Catch Howlin Rain at The Firefly with Jackie on Dec. 8. See howlinrain.com.

Editor’s Note: This interview was edited for length. 

Julia Nunes: Finding the light 5 Dec 2019 8:40 AM (5 years ago)

by EMILY COULTER

Technology has, no doubt, played a huge role in the lives of independent artists everywhere. We’re currently in an era of music that allows more and more artists to put their music out into the world for anyone to listen. Julia Nunes started out as a YouTube sensation, but she didn’t necessarily mean to be. “Do you remember Photobucket?” she asks me. I sheepishly tell her I’ve never even heard of it. “That’s hilarious. Photobucket was… the beginning of photo sharing on the internet. And that’s what I thought YouTube was, a place to house videos so I could send them to my friends and family. Turns out, it’s a social media site and strangers found my videos.”

Nunes has a calm and fluid voice; she’s easy to talk to and our conversation flows as she tells me about finding her crowd back in 2007, just two years after YouTube was created. The videos she made were mostly covers of songs, layered with her harmonizing vocals and shifting takes of her playing guitar, percussion (sometimes using pens or other household items to create rhythm) and pianos.

“I’m technically classically trained in piano,” she said. “But I’m kind of a jack-of-all-trades… I can fake almost anything with a fret but my main skill is writing songs and singing.”

Her videos, many of which are over 10 years old, show a musician who began making videos for fun with a webcam, headphones and some instruments. The production has since evolved, along with Nunes’ musicianship, into full production music videos like “Used to Want,” released last month with the help of some friends. Her newer cover videos are undoubtedly impressive, and the quality much clearer. Not only has the technology advanced, but so has Nunes’ music.

I asked where she takes inspiration from within her genre, which she describes as “indie-pop, but I like to clarify it as ‘hi-fi lo-fi’. Artists like Clairo and King Princess, that new wave of the mixture of really polished but DIY [music].”

Nunes noted she prefers playing ‘living room’ shows, house shows with less than 50 people. “I didn’t have a booking agent and I really like playing unplugged,” she said. “But then I got a booking agent!”

She finished a tour of the East Coast throughout November and is back in her hometown of Rochester, New York. She’ll be bopping over to the West Coast for a quick 9-day tour in December, stopping at The Shakedown in Bellingham. “I love being on tour,” she said. “My bandmate, Chase Burnett (guitar and vocals), is my best friend and musical soulmate so we always have a blast but everything is a lot easier now with someone else handling the logistics.”

Nunes is the epitome of self-made, independent artistry, something that is becoming harder and harder to accomplish now despite the technological advances. “That’s been the only struggle these past couple years, being totally responsible for myself. To be all the way real,” she said. “I went through a break up and it was really hard.”

To cope? She made an album. Nunes’ newest album UGHWOW was written “acapella, just singing in my head but I knew I wanted to make new sounds,” she explained. “I’m good at making cute, simple ukulele tracks but I wanted to make something that hit a little harder.”

Nunes met Shruti Kumar, a producer, and the two hit it off. “The kind of music that she made, I always wished I could sound like that,” she added. The album is soft in its undertones, with Nunes’ signature sultry voice layered over interesting percussion sounds and harmonizing vocals.

Nunes is an independent pop artist, an anomaly in the sea of huge production value and an often repeated style that makes up the pop genre we know today. Her style, original videos and unique sound is what makes her stand out. It’s no secret why her fan base is steady, large and always supportive of her crisp and evolving sound.

Julia Nunes is playing at the Shakedown on Dec. 14. Check her out on Instagram, support her Patreon and stream her newest album, UGHWOW. 

Artist: Ciara Sana Clark 5 Dec 2019 8:39 AM (5 years ago)

by Brent Cole

For Ciara Sana Clark, art is a passion and a source for good in the world. Born and primarily raised in Guam before moving to the states at the age of 13, Ciara’s work features bold and beautiful colors as well as a subtle positivity that permeates throughout. Now a full-time artist, she’s taking her art and positivity to the masses, hoping to change the world for the better as she goes.

Ciara’s been drawing for as long as she can remember. “My dad said I could draw before I could write my name (my dad is also an artist so I guess it runs in the family). I just remember art always being a part of my life – I used to draw on the walls and pretend I was a teacher teaching art class, and this was before I attended school.”

During high school in Walla Walla, Ciara first experienced showing her work in public when she took a required art class as a senior. The piece ended up winning an award and being submitted in a state competition; it was also the first time Ciara used art to process emotions as she was dealing with the death of her grandfather. “I did a piece that represented the cycle of life, with a sun and a tree. I remember being scared, vulnerable, but also very proud of myself for being brave.”

It was over six years later that she first had a public showing of her work. “I remember having the same feelings, but mostly fear. I was afraid that I was a ‘fraud’ because I had no idea what I was doing. I was afraid of being self taught, like I wasn’t a ‘real artist,’ that I didn’t deserve to show my art. I’m glad I did it. My fears are liars.”

It was the desire to show her art and be part of an artistic community that brought Ciara to Bellingham. “Here I found a community that embraced me and continues to help me grow. I am so thankful for this community. I am constantly surrounded by other artists and creatives that inspire and lift up one another,” she said enthusiastically.

The two defining characteristics of Ciara’s art are her use of colors and the positivity that flows throughout her artwork. “I draw the same way I eat. There’s always a lot to digest in one sitting,” Ciara said. “I used to shy away from color in my art. I would only illustrate in black ink on white paper. Color was very sacred to me, and I didn’t want to ruin it by putting it on my art. Now, I sometimes change my color palette 3-5 times before I settle on one, and then I change it again. As a Pacific Islander, bold and bright color is just a part of our culture.”

For Ciara, her art needs to be accessible, which shapes the business side of her work. Having grown up poor in Guam, once she decided to sell art, she decided people needed to afford her art. “I wanted to represent more people of color, and I wanted to make sure that if I was representing people like me, then it better be accessible to people like me,” Ciara stated.

Recently, Ciara has taken on her artistic pursuits full-time. She is currently working markets over the holidays under the moniker Art by Ciara. Into the new year, she’ll be working on a project with her husband called ‘Starry Eyed Society.’ “It’s still in its infant stage, but will ultimately be a place where people go to be inspired and delighted,” she said. “We think a smile changes everything, so we want to create a community that cultivates that kind of goodness through art.”

No matter what the form, though, art is a powerful force for Ciara. “I think art can change the world. I think it’s a tool for good. I’ve seen people from different backgrounds, cultures, opinions and beliefs come together to admire the same piece of art. It’s a place people can come together, take a moment and say ‘wow, that’s lovely’ despite their differences. That is what art is to me, and I want to be a part of that in whatever way I can.”

For more about Art by Ciara, follow her Facebook page or see her website at www.shopartbyciara.com.

Sidecar Tommy: The rhythm of life 5 Dec 2019 8:38 AM (5 years ago)

by Caitlin Cohen

Tommy Cappel doesn’t just produce music. The drummer of Beats Antique and electronic beat maker eats, drinks, breathes, and lives music. This passion began early in his life. Growing up with music teachers for parents and having instruments around, the opportunity to make music just surrounded him.

The rest was history after he got a drum set and starting playing in bands. From there, this calling followed him wherever he went. After visiting California, going to Burning Man for the first time, and meeting welcoming and supportive people, Cappel decided to move to the West Coast and take up the opportunities that were presented to him. From there, he reinvented himself and eventually found himself being part of the biggest projects out there—Beats Antique.

The global fusion, dance, and experimental band featuring belly dancer Zoe Jakes, and David Satori on strings, took off and kept growing.  The trio produces not just a sound that is fun, tribal, funky, electric, percussion heavy, and makes you move. The group creates a visceral experience that can take someone out of themselves and on a journey from the start of a set to finish. They could walk into the diviest of dive bars and morph the place into the most beautiful and euphoric Utopia.

After 13 years of making music with Beats Antique, Cappel is still going strong and loves every minute of his life as an artist. His mind is full of new ideas. That inspiration and drive to create is just as exciting to him as a child getting a brand new toy.

“It really comes down to being grateful for the opportunity. There’s so many creative people out there and a massive amount of creativity happening at any moment. It’s great to be a part of it and be challenged to keep up with it because it is tough,” he said. “We still have something to say and that’s what’s so fascinating about it. We just keep going.”

Cappel has another project for his electronically produced music under the name, Sidecar Tommy. This project has a similar sound and experimental approach to Beats Antique yet gives Cappel the opportunity to create with more freedom. He is able to break the rules a bit and bring in different sounds and rhythms he is limited to on drums.

Sidecar Tommy, gives him the opportunity to work with an open palette. He describes it like painting—making electronic allows him to use any of the colors he wants in order to express himself in whatever he’s feeling.

“Rhythm is rhythm. If rhythms make you move when you hear them and sounds inspire your brain to thing of certain things, then you can kind of create custom moments when producing music,” Cappel said.

He takes that freedom and applies it into live performances. When it’s him up there playing music derived from a different part of his brain, it gives him the chance to test the waters a bit. Cappel likes to play songs fans of Beats Antique aren’t expecting such as unreleased material, remixes, or take in completely in a new direction just to see what sort of response it gets.

Cappel is very thrilled about some of the new releases that will be coming throughout the year. He is going to be releasing a lot of new songs under Sidecar Tommy. He also announced that Beats Antique will also release seven new songs. Cappel is especially stoked on the collaborations that are taking some of what they’ve produced outside of the box. He’s revealed that his personal favorite is collaboration with Balkan Bump that is a lot of fun and reminiscent of the old Beats Antique days.

No matter what he’s doing, Cappel wants his art to be honest and resonate with anyone who’s listening to it. A major value of what’s important to him is being able for people to feel connected and supported by what he makes.

Often, it’s when people approach Cappel after a show or have the chance to meet and talk to him shows him what kind of positive impact his art can have on people.

“The moments that people have shared with me are priceless. I’ve heard a lot different things. The biggest thing is that somehow our music helped them, that help was need, it was necessary, and that our music might have been a part of a big pivotal moment in their life,” Cappel said. “It’s an incredible thing to stand where and listen to someone you’ve never met share some deep, deep personal things with you. I don’t need anything else.”

Sidecar Tommy will be playing at the Wild Buffalo on Friday, Dec. 13. You can find his music at soundcloud.com/sidecartommy.