Fall Albums: Part Deux (Encore Episode 155)

Jason Tate Oct 20, 2017

On this week’s episode of Encore I am joined by special guest Ryan Gardner to talk about one of my favorite times of year and the music that comes along with it. We talk about why we like fall music, what makes something, specifically, a “fall album,” and then we dive into some of our favorite albums and songs that we think fit into this category. I’ve also put a playlist together (Apple Music and Spotify) that includes some of our favorite fall songs from the albums we talk about in the episode.

I’d love to hear other albums people associate with this time of the year, so hit me up on Twitter or in the forum and let me know what kind of music you break out when the leaves begin to change.

Joel Faurote shot some photographs for us of Brand New and Nada Surf during their show at the Fox Theatre in Detroit, MI a few nights ago. You’ll find the galleries below.

Jason Tate Oct 17, 2017

How Tom Petty Taught the World to Fly

Craig Manning Oct 3, 2017

Tom Petty is the sound of summertime. “American Girl.” “Learning to Fly.” “Wildflowers.” “Free Fallin’.” Losing him is like losing summer, forever.

That was one of the first thoughts I tweeted out yesterday afternoon, following the deluge of bad news about Petty. It was already a hard day. Between waking up to news of the Las Vegas tragedy and spending the entire day thinking about my grandfather, who passed away on October 2, 2014, it was a lot to handle. Losing Petty out of nowhere, less than two weeks after he wrapped another summer-conquering tour, felt like the devil playing a trick. When news broke that Petty was not in fact dead and was “clinging to life,” I dared to hope that he might pull through—even as the sounds of Southern Accents and Into the Great Wide Open filled my living room.

Alas, those hopes were for naught. Last night, at 8:40 PST, Tom Petty passed on, surrounded by his family, friends, and bandmates.

You’d think that after 2016, we’d be used to losing legendary rock stars. After a year that took Bowie, Prince, Leonard Cohen, and a slew of others, we’d be a little more prepared to say goodbye to our heroes. That’s not the case. Losing Petty hurts especially for me, not just because I adored his art, but also because without him, so much of the music I love wouldn’t exist.

Interview: Riot Fest (Video Interviews)

Jackie Cular Sep 27, 2017

I had the chance to do some video interviews with a bunch of bands at this year’s Riot Fest. Here they are for your viewing pleasure:

Interview: Wu-Tang Clan (Video Interview)

Jackie Cular Sep 26, 2017

The Wu-Tang Clan have been together since 1992 and are about to release their new album, Wu-Tang: The Saga Continues, on October 13th. At Riot Fest, Wu-Tang Clan performed to a massive crowd and I had the chance to sit down with DJ Mathematics, RZA, and Cappadonna to talk about the new album, the first track “People Say,” and much more.

Accidental Music Podcast (Encore Episode 154)

Jason Tate Sep 22, 2017

On this week’s episode of Encore I am joined by special guest Deanna Chapman. Deanna returns to the show to discuss music and technology. We talk about Brand New’s High & Low set (which Deanna saw in person), new albums from Mutemath, Foo Fighters, The National, PVRIS, and more, and then go deep on the latest Apple event. We talk about the new products, Apple Music, iOS 11, and what we think we want to upgrade and not upgrade.

Interview: Noah Gundersen’s Restless Heart

Craig Manning Sep 14, 2017

In 2014, Noah Gundersen released his first full-length album. The record in question, Ledges, was a masterclass in contemporary folk music, loaded with confessional lyrics, acoustic guitars, and fiddles. By all accounts, Gundersen seemed like a traditionalist.

In 2015, Gundersen quickly followed Ledges up with his sophomore LP, the spiritually fraught Carry the Ghost. It was still a folk album, but Noah was fleshing things out, adding fractious electric guitar and other elements of full band instrumentation into the mix. It was clearly the work of a young songwriter who was yearning to grow.

Between the fall of 2015 and the early winter of 2016, Gundersen did two tours in support of Carry the Ghost. The first was a full-band endeavor, presenting the songs on Ghost as they were meant to be heard. The second was a solo tour, where Gundersen played songs from both Ledges and Carry the Ghost on acoustic guitar, solo electric guitar, and piano. It was a stark, intimate presentation, and it showed off what made Gundersen so special: his vulnerable, fragile voice; his songs that could work well no matter how much he built them up or stripped them down; and his honest, forthright lyrics.

But something was wrong. Gundersen was having a crisis of faith—not the same crisis of religious faith he wrote about on Carry the Ghost, but a crisis of faith in his own art. When I saw Gundersen on the solo tour for Ghost, he was pointedly reserved. He bantered with the audience occasionally, but during the songs, his eyes were cast toward the floor or closed entirely. And at the end of the show, when a condescending moderator led a Q&A session and suggested that Gundersen was “so young” and “couldn’t have possibly experienced what he sang about in his songs,” Noah seemed at a loss for how to answer—at least politely. When the Q&A ended, Gundersen headed quickly for the stage door.

Interview: Brian Sella of The Front Bottoms

Aaron Mook Sep 11, 2017

Brian Sella is a notoriously sweet guy. So sweet, in fact, that he doesn’t even correct me when I refer to his band’s new single as “Raindrops” rather than its correct title, “Raining.” When I ask him if he still gets nervous playing shows, he replies, “Oh, totally!” When I inform him that I’ve been doing interviews for three years now, but that I was still nervous to speak with him, he laughs.

“Oh, don’t worry about it! You’re a professional. That’s what you’ve gotta tell yourself.”

In the context of The Front Bottoms’ discography, Going Grey reflects Sella’s current “vibe,” a word he uses frequently in our conversation. As he’ll tell me, the band learned that an “anything goes” attitude in the studio can result in plenty of band and fan favorites. In this way, Going Grey is an expansion of the polished-yet-experimental sound of their 2015 powerhouse, Back on Top. It continues to analyze topics such as mortality, relationships and getting older – oftentimes within the same three-minute pop song.

Interview: Anthony Raneri of Bayside (Video Interview)

Jackie Cular Sep 8, 2017

Bayside have been going strong since 2004, but it was the band’s 2007 release, The Walking Wounded, that solidified their place in the alt-rock scene. The New York-based band decided to celebrate the ten year anniversary of the album with a small club tour. I sat down for a video interview with lead singer, Anthony Raneri, prior to the first night’s show at the Ottobar in Baltimore, Maryland.

Science Fiction – Part Two (Encore Episode 153)

Jason Tate Sep 8, 2017

On this week’s episode of Encore I am once again joined by special guest Thomas Nassiff. Thomas returns to the show to discuss the album we spent most of our time recording this show waiting on … Brand New’s Science Fiction. This episode of the show differs from the previous episode in that we we spend most of the time talking about the album roll-out and the industry ramifications of this new album. We talk about the band going #1 on the charts, how this specific roll-out was the only way they could live up to expectations, and the chance of there ever being a band like this again.

Sometimes I have to pinch myself that this actually happened.

I shot some photos of Circa Survive and AFI in concert at the Showbox in Seattle last month. You can find the gallery below.

Cole Whitworth Sep 5, 2017

VVomen – “Crutch and Stoma” (Video Premiere)

Zac Djamoos Aug 29, 2017

Sacramento based post-hardcore band VVomen recently released their debut EP Moving On. We’re excited to premiere the video for the band’s latest single, “Crutch and Stoma.” If you’re a fan of their La Dispute indebted sound, you can pick up a copy on their BandCamp.

Science Fiction (Encore Episode 152)

Jason Tate Aug 24, 2017

You may have had to wait a few extra weeks for a new episode of Encore, but that doesn’t come close to the eight year wait for a new album from Brand New. But, it’s here, and we’re gonna talk all about it. I am joined this week, once again, by special guest Drew Beringer to break down Science Fiction. We talk about our history with the band, our thoughts on their catalog, and do a track-by-track through the new album. We discuss the band’s place in the music scene, why they resonate so much with fans, and argue how the new album stacks up in their discography.

There’s never been a band quite like Brand New, and we may never see anything quite like them, or their rabid fanbase, again. I hope you enjoy our deep dive as much as we did recording it.

In March of this year I was lucky enough to photograph the Japandroids and Craig Finn in Seattle on Saturday, March 18th at the Neptune Theater. It was a sold out show with no barricade for the photographers to be in front of, so things definitely got rowdy when the Japandroids started. You’ll find the gallery below.

Cole Whitworth Aug 14, 2017

Interview: Keep on Dreaming Even If It Breaks Your Heart: The Renaissance of Will Hoge

Craig Manning Aug 9, 2017

Will Hoge almost got the dream.

In 2015, the independent Nashville-based recording artist seemed poised to win the country music lottery. He and his band had been picked by a major radio conglomerate as a spotlight artist, to be introduced on a mass scale to radio listeners nationwide. Looking back now, Hoge says the slot was virtually a guarantee of a top 10 record in the country music sphere. “This is exactly what the program is for,” the radio group told him and his band: spotlighting new artists or independent acts and helping them find a home in the infamously commercialized world of country radio.

For Hoge, being picked as a next big thing was the realization of a long-held dream. He’d released his first record—as part of the band Spoonful—in 1997, before going solo with 2001’s Carousel. What followed was a series of well-liked and respected records that melded country, southern rock, and heartland rock into something that sounded like a twangier Springsteen. For 2003’s Blackbird on a Lonely Wire, Hoge got scooped up by Atlantic Records, but the album failed to take off and it was back to the independent musician game after that.

Still, Hoge kept trucking and was eventually rewarded for his persistence. In 2012, Eli Young Band recorded a version of “Even If It Breaks Your Heart,” a song from Hoge’s 2009 record The Wreckage. The song was the opening track and second single from Eli Young Band’s Life at Best album, and it ultimately reached number one on the Billboard country chart. Suddenly armed with a number one song to his name, Hoge landed his 2013 track “Strong” in a widely syndicated ad campaign for Chevrolet Silverado. The song charted modestly on country radio, but it was enough to convince Hoge that if he really tried to play the game, he might just be able to make some magic happen.