Interview: William Beckett of The Academy Is…

AbsolutePunk Nov 25, 2015

I recently spoke with William Beckett. The Academy Is… have recently just gotten back together for RIOT Fest and are now ready to kick off their Ten Year Anniversary tour of Almost Here.

Was coming together for RIOT Fest the only reason the band started to talk again, or was it something that was in the back of your mind?

Well; RIOT Fest was always a bucket list goal being from the Chicago area. It’s potentially our favorite festival and I’m not sure if our band was cool enough to get it in the past. But the offer came up and we all got on the phone; Adam, Mike, and I, and we discussed it. The consensus was we really want to do this for the right reasons. Our tour with Jack’s Mannequin, we cancelled and that was not the ideal circumstance. When the RIOT Fest email came in we talked it over and always wanted to, it was like a festival in Chicago, where were celebrating Almost Here ten year anniversary and it just felt right.

Craig Manning Nov 20, 2015

Here’s a monster of an unenviable task: following up an album that sold more than 30 million copies worldwide, spawned multiple ubiquitous singles, won a truckload of Grammys, spent 24 nonconsecutive weeks at number one, and was labeled by Billboard as “the Greatest Album of All Time”—whatever that means. Adele’s 21 was the kind of phenomenon that doesn’t happen in the music world anymore. Albums are obsolete for the average listener, right? Digital track sales are plummeting? Monoculture is dead? Adele defied every expectation and turned her sophomore album into a cultural sensation that was probably as close as our generation will ever get to having a Thriller. No wonder the British songstress took the better part of five years to drop the follow-up.

Unsurprisingly, 25 has arrived to endless comparisons to its predecessor—many of them unflattering. The reviews are mixed, and while the album will undoubtedly be a juggernaut that breaks sales records and single-handedly keeps the record business on life support for another few years, it’s already pretty clear that 25 is not going to have the legacy of adoration that its world-beating predecessor did.

Jason Tate Nov 19, 2015

This week’s episode of Encore is almost as delicious as macaroni and cheese stuffed chicken wings. This week we look at if an early leak will hurt Adele, the idea of an “infinite” movie franchise, going to shows by yourself, what can impact the price of vinyl, if an artist contributing music to a political campaign bugs us, and the big topic: How would we “fix” Apple Music, the death of Rdio, and the retirement of the Zune. You’ll find show notes, ways to subscribe, and links to stream and/or downloaded this episode in the replies.

The Matches – “Life of a Match” (Director’s Cut)

Jason Tate Nov 19, 2015

The Matches have (sorta) returned and graced us with new music, and it only seems right that we get a music video to go along with it. While the band released a version of the video a few weeks ago, we’ve got the group’s directors cut. They’ve dropped the lyrics from the video and added a little tweak for good measure. Hit read more to watch the video for “Life of a Match.”

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There Will Be a Quiz (Episode 104)

Jason Tate Nov 12, 2015

This week’s episode of Encore tackles world building in movies and where it works (Star Wars, Marvel, etc.) and where it fails (Spectre). We talk quite a bit about Star Wars in this one — spurred by a certain someone live tweeting their first viewing of the series mere minutes before we started recording. We also look at the death of Cobra Starship, Brand New recording, and answer a variety of listener topics: how often we go to shows, do we play instruments, should Blink-182 re-record old music with Matt Skiba, is pop-punk trying too hard, did pop-punk rule the world this year, what is up with cassette tapes, what do we think of @FutureAltPress, do our significant others shape our musical tastes, more Star Wars, and what happened to the very, very old versions of this website. We hope you like this one, thanks for spending an evening with us. You’ll find show notes, ways to subscribe, and links to stream and/or downloaded this episode in the replies.

Interview: Julien Baker

Aaron Mook Nov 10, 2015

I had the opportunity to speak with the extremely humble and extremely talented Julien Baker about her recent album, Sprained Ankle. We covered everything from the album’s recording to spirituality and, naturally, we nerded out over David Bazan. Baker is a young songwriter with a lot to say, and luckily for all of us, it seems her career is only just beginning.

Another Loser Anthem (Episode 103)

Jason Tate Nov 5, 2015

Ever wonder about the first time I heard Good Charlotte? Probably not, but you can get the story in this week’s episode of Encore. This week we look at why pop-punk no longer seems capable of writing a hook and can be painfully un-catchy at times, if we like “deluxe” albums, what albums we play most on vinyl, following up the Victory vs Spotify kerfuffle, Good Charlotte is back, we may get new The Starting Line music next year, ESPN shut down Grantland, and Conde Nast buying Pitchfork. Also a huge thank you to everyone that bought Encore t-shirts! Please send us some photos once you get yours. You’ll find show notes, ways to subscribe, and links to stream and/or downloaded this episode in the replies.

Interview: William Beckett of The Academy Is…

Review: Adele – 25

Stuffed With Delicious (Episode 105)

The Matches – “Life of a Match” (Director’s Cut)

There Will Be a Quiz (Episode 104)

Interview: Julien Baker

Another Loser Anthem (Episode 103)