This September americana collective JD & The Straight Shot – comprised of vocalist/guitarist Jim Dolan, guitarist Marc Copely, bassist Byron House, violinist/fiddler Erin Slaver, and drummer/percussionist Shawn Pelton – released their sixth studio album, a ten track full-length titled Good Luck And Good Night. From easy listening guided by intense lyrics, to beautiful choral pieces, to simplistic compositions, this album covers its bases, blessing us with some incredible music to play during the holiday season especially.
We got a few minutes with lead guitarist Marc Copely to get a little background regarding his involvement with the band, and takes us inside the recording circle.
What is the first song or album you ever remember hearing, and who introduced it to you?
My babysitter put on Led Zeppelin IV and that was it for me! I was stunned and have never looked back.
Was there a moment that it struck you and you realized you were going to pursue music, or did it kind of slowly evolve?
It was fast. I started late, around 13 years old, but picked it up quickly. I did my first gig a year later and haven’t stopped.
You are the lead guitarist and musical director of JD & The Straight Shot and you also produced the band’s new album Good Luck And Good Night. How did you become a member of the band?
My friend Charley Drayton called me to be in the band. He was the band’s musical director then, so he initially hired me. I started MD’ing the band about five years ago and we’ve grown and changed quite a bit since then – from an electric blues based band to the form we’re in now, which is mostly acoustic, and roots-based.
Good Luck And Good Night is such a fun, driven album. Are there any overarching inspirations that contributed to the work itself?
Thank you! We’re always listening and always talking about what to do next. I think the fact that the band you hear on the record is the band you hear on tour is important. We each brought our own musical personalities to the recording, so it’s imperative that those are the musicians that you hear on stage.
Do you have any fun anecdotes from the recording process?
Well, we tend to sit in a circle and play through the song we’ll be recording and sometimes before you know it, we’ve been jamming for an hour and forget that we’re in there making a record! We get carried away with the fun, but I guess thats the point, right?
The band recently released a music video for your track “Run For Me”, a warm, live performance for your fans to enjoy, woven with old race horse footage. What inspired the video’s concept, and what was it like to shoot?
The shoot was easy. It features us playing a gig and was shot all in one take. No acting chops needed! Our frontman Jim had the horse racing idea since he wrote the song lyrics and had the concept for the song. I love all the old racing footage in the video. Amazingly cool.
Here’s the video to check out:
What is the band most excited about with your new album?
We love the fact that it sounds like us. It’s purely what we all sound like with no trickery at all. That record is us in a room playing music, so we’re really proud of the honesty of the album.
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Good Luck And Good Night is available now. Keep up with JD & The Straight Shot here.
Relatively new to the scene, rock trio Invisible Candy – comprised of Jen Smith (cello), Carter Zumtobel (drums), and Colin Campbell (guitar/lead vocals) – often refer to themselves as “Brooklyn’s chamber rock sweethearts,” but might just be on their way to having the world believe them. The fact that a rock trio features a cello prominently is already alluring enough. Take three distinctive performers who proudly proclaim their newfound love for “flowers, German expressionism, fake blood, and obviously candy,” add the frenetic, romanticized sound that steadily flows from the speakers, and you’ve got genre-bending rock that encapsulates chamberpunk ditties like “Mental Hatchets” alongside sweeping indie rock tunes like “Simone”.
In honor of their latest single we got a few minutes to learn more about the band behind that intense, enigmatic sound.
What is the Invisible Candy conception story?
Jen Smith: We’re not a concept band, but I could see us going in that direction. We have divergent influences from the past that we could weave into a modern sound and build a narrative around that process … that’s the dream, right? But as of now, the origin story is three people met through mutual friends and started making music together. The name literally came out of a dream and since inception we’ve been challenging ourselves to write more freely … more psych, more garage rock, more experimental.
Colin Campbell: We’ve all been in bands that had several more cats to herd at once. So a trio, at least as the constant core to then ornament, was immediately appealing.
Carter Zumtobel:
With your collection of bold personalities, what is the writing process like? Does it vary from song to song? Take us inside your process!
JS: Well, this EP we’re working on is somewhat “soaked” subject matter – heavy, drunk, woeful. Even though our original batch of songs is from Colin’s notebook, Carter brings a new element with the drums and we have to work as a collective to find what the cello will add. Nothing is set in stone. We revisit a lot of songs on a structural level just to see what happens. And it’s usually a fun jaunt, not at all a confrontational or frustrating process. We will have some new material soon too, and that might come from Carter’s writing and my arrangement or Colin on lead guitar and me on keys or any number of combinations. We’re all about the possibilities right now.
CC: I generally use simple pop structures with lyrical references from an otherwise useless liberal arts background. Part of me always wants to coax audiences into something sweet and entertaining, almost saccharine, then twist it with something a tad more sonically or lyrically demanding.
Your latest track “Mental Hatchets” is so, so good. Do you mind discussing the inspiration?
CC: It’s of course an unironic bullet-pointed list of why we’re living in a globalized urban utopia!
With so much good music being released right now – especially since a certain event last year – we’re falling over ourselves trying to keep up with it all! It makes me wonder, is there pressure with an up-and-coming band to have a message or stance with everything?
JS: For me, it’s important to have a stance and to have integrity, on stage and off. I’ve seen lots of bands lend their talents to benefit shows, and we are participating in that movement too. We’re donating a set to Thursdays for a Cause at Our Wicked Lady in Brooklyn on 12/14, for example. That’s something we’d like to do regularly, as well as put our resources behind artists from marginalized communities.
As artists, we’ve looked to the past for inspiration, like the antifascist movement Rock Against Racism, to see how musicians felt and dealt with such troubled times historically. And I think off stage, we’ve all taken steps to educate ourselves on structural oppression and we talk to each other pretty freely. The openness and acceptance in this band definitely helps me effect changes in my non-performer life.
If you could be a superhero, who would you be, and why?
JS: Superman, because I am a masochist and I want to know what it’s like to control your otherworldly strength in every human gesture, thereby taking notice of every delicate and unbearable human gesture.
CC: Professor Xavier because he does his ass-kicking under a cozy blanket on a levitating barcalounger.
CZ: Rod Kimble, stuntman extraordinaire.
BIGGER question… if “Mental Hatchets” were part of a Thanksgiving meal, what part would it be and why?
JS: I think cranberry sauce cause it’s a small portion with a lot of zing!
CC: The stuffing, just cause it’s all I can think about right now.
CZ: Keep on rocking in the free world.
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Catch Invisible Candy at Gold Sounds Bar in Brooklyn on November 29th. Keep up with the band here.
Los Angeles-based dream pop trio Ròsa released new track “Stranger” today, a glittering pop anthem perfect for a fiery autumn romance. As the electric guitar wanes in the background, the lightweight vocals take over and create an ambiance of beauty that takes over your eardrums – and your surroundings – from the first few chords of the track.
In honor of the new single, we got a few minutes with the guys to talk about a little bit of inspiration, texture, and trust. Check it out below!
What is the first album/song you remember hearing, and who introduced it to you?
I (Will) grew up with The Beatles playing all the time. So hearing them is literally my earliest memory. As far as consciously listening to an album, the first was either Led Zeppelin IV or Madman Across the Water by Elton John. My father did right by me in this department.
What is the origin story of RÒSA? (Be honest… was it a meet cute?)
The way we met was super cute of course. We met at a religious conference and became best friends or something. We realized we all wanted to do the same thing and went for it. So, Jesus Christ brought us together.
Your single “Stranger” is about feeling discomfort with modern romance. If you could have it your way, how would things be different?
I’m not too sure I know enough or have enough of a perspective on modern romance to suggest how things ought to change. The song is more of an existential concern than a cultural critique. That being said, I think it’s all too much of a self-interested game. I think honesty and vulnerability ought to be the norm from the very beginning. The rules for this game we have created establishes the potential for increased dishonesty and self-centeredness. We all treat each other as means to an end, rather than as ends in themselves. I am speaking to a part of myself as well. I don’t see myself separated from this pathology.
What was the production process like for the track?
“Stranger” began on an acoustic guitar, which is actually very rare for me now. This particular song came to the guys (Tay and Mike) a bit more completed and mapped out as well. There wasn’t much fighting between us with Stranger. It all came very naturally. We never really fight when writing but have discovered that Taylor is harder to please and sometimes will think a part is bullshit that we are okay with. We really trust each other though and any differences are talked through super rationally. Good vibes only in the studio, ya know?
How do you imagine people listening to “Stranger”?
I prefer people listen to Stranger doing nothing but focusing on every sound and texture that we worked so hard to create, because I’m a narcissist. However, if it had to be a soundtrack to our lives I’d want it to be the background music at some swanky/cultured get together in that neighborhood that has been recently gentrified where no one feels emotionally safe. The kind of gathering people go to in order to feel a sense of social worth. The kind of gathering where everyone is looking for someone to fuck. That’s a thing right? Idk. The chorus of Stranger is a question for those people, ya know? I don’t imagine our music is incredibly challenging on the surface but I’d like it to challenge people as much as it could.
Let’s keep it in the realm of romance. Celebrity crush… go!
I don’t trust celebrities. I think the whole concept is fucked up. That being said, Ellen. I know there exists some complications with my choice but the heart wants what it wants.
Touché. Anything else you’d like to add?
Thanks for talking with me. We’re here for a good time not a long time, ya know? Idk, I feel like that shit’s important.
Seattle-based psych-pop trio Spirit Award is in the throes of introducing their debut album to the world. The ten track full-length – Neverending – is quite clever in the way it was constructed, as a majority of the titles would fit comfortably into a phrase with the term “neverending” itself (i.e. “Summer”, “Women”, etc.). And the album was constructed during a time of loss for the band (the end of a relationship, the loss of a family member, a robbery, and struggle with anxiety), which has lent itself to the lyrics in a very real and extraordinary way. Check out the album below, then read what the band had to say about each song as they lead you through a track-by-track feature exclusively for Imperfect Fifth!
“Summer”
This was a song that came out of the chords from a old song we had scrapped called “Summer Comedown”. Chris (Bass, Keys) and I sat down and I put a lot of reverse delay and reverb on my guitar, and Chris started playing the beginning bass line.
The idea for the feeling behind Summer was to have this kinda floating slow motion feeling. Like if you smoked a bunch of indica weed, or haven’t slept and are feeling kind of in a daze. It was right after the “presidential” election happened, and it was hard for us not to be feeling like we were floating and concerned for our futures. That’s really what stemmed on the lyrics as well. It was a plea to keep pushing, to keep doing good, to keep making art, that this really does ‘all comes down to all of us’ to not give up, and push back.
“Fields”
It was a sort of spontaneous thing. We had a couple weeks before we were going back into the studio, and kind of stumbled upon writing this song. We like to switch instruments sometimes when we write, so I hopped on bass and started playing the riff and Chris hopped on the Juno. We got the basics of the song down and recorded drums and bass. We later wrote a lot of the synth parts in the studio. This was really fun to craft something so minimal and simple, and try to make it interesting along the way.
Like most songs we write, the lyrics came last. We we’re dealing with a lot of shitty life issues, and things that were a little confusing. The idea was kind of a mantra for me to let go of trying to have a “normal” or “perfect” life and enjoy being poor and all the randomness that life has to offer and do what makes you and others happy.
“Diving”
We wrote Diving in kind of the dead of winter I believe. Like I said, it was a super bleak and shitty time for all of us. I think that really comes through in this song, and the yearning for something good to happen, some glimmer of hope to go towards.
“Heavy Fog”
This was one of the earliest songs we wrote that we still play. We recorded it for an EP, but we went a little too crazy with it, adding strings and a ton of shimmery stuff. With this version we wanted to strip it down and streamline it a bit.
The basis for this song was written I (Daniel) while going through some depression and confusion that felt like a ‘Heavy Fog’ over me constantly. I was in a relationship that I felt like I couldn’t fully be myself in without judgement. I remember one day when I was waiting for a ferry to go to the San Juan Island and was feeling at peace and had this moment of knowing that if I kept confronting my fears and feelings and was honest with myself, I was going to be in a good place again, and that’s when the lyrics came to me.
“Las Vegas”
Kind of a turning point in our writing, and maybe the second song we wrote for the record. We were wanting to start writing with a more open and linear approach than we had been. This was one of the first songs we recorded for the record, and put out as a single. I remember after playing this song at a show a friend said “I could feel that man. That felt real. I like when you get aggressive”. We liked it too. I was focused too much on making something perfect before and writing melody and not just feeling it out and being authentic.
I was going through a lot of self doubt and an existential crisis while writing this song. This song is essentially about saying “fuck you” to anyone who try’s to paint you out to be something you’re not. You can’t control when people tell lies about you. All you can do is examine yourself and ask if you are being honest with yourself or if your ego is getting in the way. So the story for this became a mix of those feelings and a story I heard from a friend who was on a blackjack card counting team.
“All Desire”
We were selected by Converse’s Rubber Tracks contest, which meant that we got a free day at Avast Studio in Seattle with legendary Engineer/Producer Jack Endino (Nirvana). Usually it can take a half a day or more just to get the drum sounds you want, but we got to the studio in the morning and Jack had them all dialed in and sounding great in less than an hour. It was a really great feeling to be working with someone who’s been doing it as long as Jack and to hear all his stories about Nirvana, Hot Hot Heat, and other records he’s worked on.
One of the best feelings was when we got out a Fender Rhodes that we ran through some delay pedals to do some overdubs (which Jack was hesitant about, probably thinking we were just gonna dink around with it). When we started tracking Jack gave a big thumbs up and an approving nod.
We had reached the end of our session, so I said “Well, I guess our time is up” to which Jack replied “Fuck em, they’re not gonna kick me out, let’s keep tracking!”. So we did.
“Women”
This was a song that was really built around the idea of the lyrics I had in mind. I was tired of seeing men feeling like they own women. Like they can touch them, slap their asses, grope, and talk over them without any consent and without consequences. It made me incredibly sad to have friends and partners experience this. All I could do was feel this deep sadness for their experience and wish I could do something.
All I could do was write this song saying “we hear you, men are the worst, and I hope we can change that”. I want to encourage people to not tolerate this behavior from anyone. If someone doesn’t understand that what they are doing is sexist or hurtful, they never will unless you tell them. Sometimes it’s awkward but we need to change this norm that is hurtful and toxic. Everyone deserves love and respect.
“Running”
When we wrote this song it really felt like some sort of metaphorical baptism for me (Daniel) (hence the album cover). We had been through a lot over the last couple years and this was kind of an anthem to any negativity or backwards thinking to watch out Because I’m fucking pumped and I will destroy you (hopefully with peace, love and kindness?).
The idea for this song was to write another linear song like we did with Las Vegas. Not worrying about structure and just feeling out what’s next.
“Lost and Stoned”
When we wrote this song we we’re looking to write something big, loud and a little disorienting at times. For over a year the working title was just “Psych Jam”, which always felt appropriate.The idea for lyrics came about when I (Daniel) was angry and not a in a good place for a week and was getting stoned to escape the shit storm I had created.
I still enjoy getting stoned, but I think for me it’s important to make sure it’s not escapism.
“Yesterday”
This was the last song we wrote for ‘Neverending’. Most of the songs for the record we had parts to and were mostly organized. Yesterday was put together super last minute. I have this old Wurlitzer Omni 6000 organ/synth in my house. I wrote the song on it, Chris came over and wrote a bass part, and we just started tracking it. Chris borrowed a Neve Sidecar to run mic’s through that we set up in a big room in our rehearsal space. We basically gave Terence some direction but told him to do whatever felt natural. I had to leave so I didn’t hear the full song until later that week,. When I heard it I remember laying on the floor of my house with headphones and feeling like we got exactly what we wanted, a big drum sound with some nice warm tones.
The song was ultimately about all the change that had been happening in my (Daniel) life, and ours as a band. It was the last song in this series of writing and we felt like it gave us, and the record, some closure and a optimistic look into the future.
**Material submitted by the band
Neverending is out now via Union Zero. Keep up with Spirit Award here.
On December 1st, the debut full-length from Sunset Neon – the nostalgia pop music project from multi-genre musician and producer Bret Autrey – will be released. His intention with this project was to hone in on 80’s inspired pop sound, a far cry from his work as Blue Stahli. In honor of the release of his new lyric video for “You Are The Sun” – which makes us wish it were about to be summer instead of winter – we spent a few minutes with the artist to get the low down on his process and the eighties.
What is the first song or album you ever remember hearing, and who introduced it to you?
There’s two that stick out. Once was the small window of time that my mom had a record player and would put the soundtrack to Top Gun on. I’d get so amped up on stuff like Dangerzone, I’d just bounce around the entire living room. The other was visiting family on a farm in Oregon and I was running around in a Max Headroom mask. My cousin had just started driving, so she would drive me into town and play Front 242 extremely loud. I’ve been in love with drum machines, synths and samplers ever since.
Was there a moment that it struck you and you realized you were going to pursue music, or did it kind of slowly evolve?
This is really the only thing I know how to do. I’m just lucky enough that I can make a living doing it. The first recording I ever made was when I got ahold of a tape player and blank tape and recorded myself humming the theme to the A-Team. We had a piano in the house that was saved from being taken to the dump by some church. I would plink around and work out melodies on that beat up old thing. Later on I discovered programming music and sequencing chopped up one-shot samples in DOS in the glorious mono 8bit of Scream Tracker. After getting better sound quality in Impulse Tracker I started sampling that old piano, and loading in synth loops I sequenced on a Roland keyboard to warp and twist in weird ways. I absolutely lived for the times I could be messing with programming music in hexadecimal in a DOS tracker or chopping out atmospheres and sound FX recorded in from VHS movies. It’s what I lived for then, and what I have to do now.
Historically, you’ve been a rock musician. When you chose to go into this 80s music project, did you already have an idea for what you were doing or did it kind of develop organically?
With my main project, Blue Stahli, I genre-hop all the way from upbeat funky breakbeat stuff to purely electronic sound design to riff-heavy electronic rock. While doing all this genre-flailing, I would kick out a few nu disco-esque tracks or start leaning towards a more indie pop type of sound. Once the itch for this started lining up even more, it became clear that a lot of these tracks that didn’t really have a home before could all exist under a dedicated project for exploring all the more colorful lo-fi 80s influenced stuff. So I’d say it all reached a point where SunsetNeon *had* to exist.
You were quoted saying “I’m freakishly excited to create some weirdo VHS music.” Could you elaborate on what “weirdo VHS music” is, at least in your opinion?
Some of my favorite things are lost movies or straight to video fare on VHS. The memories of a room lit only by the small screen (in this case, I was watching everything on one of those small portable TV’s hooked up to a clunker of a VCR), and the feeling of the synth scores and lesser known songs that would accompany some of these movies just washed over me. I see the “weirdo VHS music” as SunsetNeonbeing part of the soundtrack to a strange forgotten VHS from 1986 who’s music you love so much you record it to cassette and listen to it until the tape snaps. You’ll hear bits of these songs warp and glitch, sometimes like you’re hearing the process of them being sampled from VHS to an old sampler while the power is flickering.
How was the writing/production process different this time around, creating this “weirdo VHS music?”
This was really all about going back to my roots with tracker music. So just destroying the audio and one shot synth sounds (some of which were made by stacking single cycle waveforms on top of each other and getting all wonky with the layers and filters) and exploring warping stuff with the effects you have to enter in hexadecimal and revel in the fact that all those little bits of information are coming together to form a beat that makes you want to move and evokes emotions. It’s a more stripped down approach, while somehow also being a bit more complicated in other ways.
Everything we’ve heard from your debut album feels like it could be used in a kitchy 80s “throwback” movie (a la Hot Rod) or a fun musical. If you could create anything with this music, what would it be and who would you collaborate with?
Oh hell yes, that is absolutely the intent. It *should* feel like a pure fun jolt of video haze from a guilty pleasure movie you’ve seen 87 times. I would love for this to show up in a movie or tv show (even something animated!) built on the same love for that glow. Stranger Things, Ready Player One, anything that is fully in love with this atmosphere. I have a feeling there are some astounding people who will be creating in this realm that we still have yet to see, and I can’t wait for all of it.
If you could be any character in an 80s movie, who would you choose and why?
A cross between Wolff from Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone for the way he always seemed to know what to do, and Fletch or Axel Foley for always having the perfect string of jokes to accompany getting out of situations in the most hilariously badass way possible.
What are you most looking forward to about this release?
I’m really just excited for this to be out there and connect with people. I do this because I adore it and try to create songs that have an atmosphere you can get lost in, so I hope that these songs serve their emotional purpose for someone out there whether they’re connecting with the more dance-oriented fun material, or the dreamy lo-fi love songs.
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Starlight is available for preorder now. Keep up with Sunset Neon here.
New York’s alternative rock duo Black Satellite – from the talents of Larissa Vale and Kyle Hawken – have been creating music together for six years, their new ten track album Endless being the latest in their musical adventure. Packed to the brim with dark, alluring vocals and tortuous, cacophonous instrumentals, the album is something out of a profound, badass dream. Replete with crash cymbals to emphasize the intensity of the lyrics, Endless is a particularly moody masterpiece.
In honor of their new release, the band created a playlist titled “Forged In Fire” exclusively for Imperfect Fifth. Says the band, “We made sure to showcase our inspirations as well as include songs we are currently listening to. We also aimed to highlight slightly lesser-known tracks by our favorite artists that we’re sure listeners will enjoy.”
We also had the divine opportunity to throw the duo a few questions, and they happily obliged.
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What is the first song or album you ever remember hearing, and who introduced it to you?
Larissa: When I was in elementary school, my brother’s bedroom shared a wall with mine and I could hear him blasting his music every night. The funny part is he is 9 years older than me and I ended up really getting into Eminem in 3rd grade!
Kyle: When I was very young I sang “Kryptonite” by Three Doors Down acapella at a school talent show. I hilariously found the song because it was featured on the track list of this strange 90s compilation album called “Now That’s What I Call Music.”
Was there a moment that it struck you and you realized you were going to pursue music, or did it kind of slowly evolve?
Larissa: I was always very into music. I don’t have a specific memory of when I started, I just always did it. Whether is was piano lessons, guitar lessons, choir, cello lessons etc.
Kyle: When I was 15, my Dad bought me a guitar to make my Mom jealous on Christmas. That kind of started it all.
Your track “Valkyrie” got a lot of love, and understandably so. What made you choose it as your lead single?
Wefelt it was a strong introductory track that was really representative of our sound as a whole. We are super happy with the decision!
Endless is such a striking release. Was this a concept album, or something that just kind of fell together?
Some of the songs on Endless were written 5 years ago, although we also came up with many new songs for the album. It’s a conglomeration of our greatest work at the time and truly showcases our range.
What was studio life like?
We tracked our record 16 hrs a day for about 10 days. This meant a lot of long nights working until 4am! We relied mainly on delivery food and hardly left the building. We were so prepared with our preproduction that we knew exactly what we needed to accomplish for the day and actually knocked it out much faster than expected. It really came down to us taking turns with our engineer making cappuccinos for each other all day!
How do you imagine people listening to this album?
Our hope is that this album becomes a part of the listener’s everyday life.Whether it’s to pump them up or get them through a rough time. That’s the ultimate goal.
As a still relatively new act, what are your thoughts on the modern music industry?
There are a lot of new ways to do things in the modern age, which means you need to reorient yourself on how to navigate the constantly changing industry. It’s important to always be on top of things and be prepared for a good opportunity when one is presented.
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Endless is available now. Keep up with this vivacious duo here.
