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IO ECHO - "When The Lilies Die"

A definite must see for me on Friday's Coachella lineup is Ioanna Gika and Leopold Ross, who make up the super unique duo, IO ECHO.  These guys are everything 90s grunge-rock mixed with oriental influences.  The addition of Chinese violins and Japanese koto harps to Ross on bass make for an out of mind experience.  How do they describe their music? "Future Space Forest".  I'd have to agree.  There's also something oddly relaxing about it too.   

After recently catching the attention of successful musicians like Florence Welch and Hot Chip, they've gotten a lot of publicity.  And then they were hand picked by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails to open for their last show on tour ever.  This is nothing short of impressive considering they've never even released a full length album. Yet.  Keep an eye out for the much anticipated debut on April 2nd.  But, for now, keep yourself busy with the EP -  especially the video for "Outsiders".  

Their live performance is known to be as stellar as their tunes.  I love how Gika keeps the far east influences and is always decked out in a beautiful silk kimono for all of her performances.  Check them out at SXSW this year here.  And for my New Yorkers who want their own taste, they play this Friday, March 22nd, at Terminal 5. 

Check out a favorite of mine, "When The Lilies Die" below.  

The Neighbourhood - "Let It Go"

And so it has been announced: The Frizzy Blonde will be at Coachella 2013.  As a part of my preparation for the first weekend of this epic music festival, I have been keeping myself busy with tons of research on those musicians that I haven't heard of.  Like Skinny Lister, How To Destroy Angels, and Grinderman.  These posts are soon to come, don't you worry.  But for now, I'll be focusing on the musicians I do know.  And that I am out-of-my-mind excited to be seeing in just 30 days. (eek!) 

We'll start with these guys: The Neighbourhood.  A band that I intended to write about months ago, but accidentally deleted it.  Oops.  They're a catchy combination of R&B, indie rock, and pop.  I find myself shakin' my shoulders and getting all emotional at the same time. Intense stuff.  The five piece hails from Los Angeles and started in 2011.  This video came out most recently, on their two song EP Thank You,.  However, there are some real gems that I suggest you check out on their first EP, I'm Sorry..., like "Sweater Weather" and "Female Robbery".        

Interview: Fulcrum Of The Stars

Because I'm a killer for live music, and probably spend way too much money attending such shows, I decided to start doing interviews with the musicians (most of them friends) and post them on here.  This guy's got a lot of passion for what he does, so I thought I'd share a bit about his band.  Check it out.


Name: Fulcrum Of The Stars

Members: 

• Jeremy Exelbert (vocals and guitar) was born and raised in New York City, and now lives in Harlem.
• Alex Raderman (Drums) is from Westchester, NY, but has lived in the city for the past 5 years. 
• Madhava (vocals and bass) is originally from Australia, but grew up in Upstate New York, lived in Brooklyn for a few years, and has recently moved Uptown.

FB: When did you first get your start in music?  How did you first get involved in this?

JE: I first started playing music at the age of 10 on Piano- I was pretty good, but it wasn’t the right “sound” for me. At 12, I wanted to play electric guitar, but my mom didn’t let me. Around the age of 14, after quitting Piano, I finally convinced her to get me a guitar, and at 15/16 I started really practicing and taking music seriously.  After High School, I went to Boston University, where I somehow managed to get a degree in Economics without doing much work- reason being, I played music all the time, and got really into songwriting as well.

While in Boston, in addition to playing with a lot of people, jazz bands, rock bands, and one fucking annoying pop singer (who stole my guitar riff and used it for an episode of MTV's Real World), I had a band called James Downtown.  It was with this band that I really started to write my own songs and begin to develop a sound.

After BU, I went to Berklee for a semester to study music seriously.  At this time I was really into Jazz.  I decided I’d rather play professionally than study, so I got a job playing guitar on a cruise ship. I signed a 6 month contract, but 4 months into it, I quit. I was playing top 40’s sets and other people’s songs, which I hated.  After falling in love with this girl who was a guest on one of the cruises, I decided to move back to New York to try to woo her and make it with my original music- the wooing failed.  

When I moved back to New York in summer of 2011, I started performing under my own name and recorded an EP that I finished in early 2012.  The EP that was pretty much for the girl I met on the ship- it didn’t do shit. However, almost immediately after finishing the EP that summer, my sound completely changed and I could not longer go by “Jeremy Exelbert.” The project transcended who I was, and each member had to be an integral part, so I formed a new band and named it Fulcrum of The Stars.

The name comes from a line in a poem that my father wrote.  He passed away when I was 9, so it was kind of a tribute to him. The line in the poem means accepting what the universe has laid out for you, and understanding that certain things are out if your control.  I felt like the lyric/band name really fit the music.

After recording a demo in October, I decided the project needed a stronger, more polished voice than mine. Madhava, who was a friend of mine in another band, really wanted to try singing, and now we’re giving it a shot- I really like the way he sounds and how he gets the lyrics and music. We’ll see what happens, but this band has some serious fucking potential. The drummer, Alex Raderman, is a top drummer in the city and plays in another relatively established Indie Band called “Modern Rivals.”

FB: What musicians inspire you?

JE: Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Police, St Vincent, Grouplove, and Barney Kessel (this dude is a fucking genius- and probably the greatest jazz guitarist of all time). I also really dig Delta Spirit, this band is awesome. I have a lot of other influences too, but none of them really affect my songwriting too strongly- not to sound like an arrogant dick, but what I write comes from somewhere else, and at times I don’t even feel like it’s me writing it, but rather, something greater than myself. I’d even go as far as to say that I’m discovering someone else’s songs and trying to write them before I forget how they go, and playing them is my way of sharing those songs that I heard- almost like picking apples and than sharing them with your friends….ya dig?

FB: What are you listening to right now?

JE: I’m listening to life..nah that sounds so lame, haha. I’m really into the new Delta Spirit album right now.  I love their arrangements and songwriting.

FB: What inspires you in writing lyrics?

JE: I always write lyrics after the music. For me, the music always dictates what the content will be. To me, a song exists to explain something that words cannot, so words are just the bullet points, but the music is the real fucking substance. My lyrics can cover anything: love, one night stands (this shit can be love too ya know, haha), lost childhood, depression, I have one about a fictional girl’s contemplative suicide, etc. You get the idea… lyrics are written on a need basis.

FB: Describe your music in 3 words:

JE: “Catchy, uncomfortable truth.”

FB: Anything coming up next besides the album this summer?

JE: Anything coming up besides an album? A lot of new shows, and maybe some band t-shirts. Those are pretty cool and I just got a new logo I like, so we’ll see what happens. Life is pretty unpredictable, one moment you can have a band, the next you can be up to your neck in debt. Let’s hope the band is doing well, haha.

Check these dudes out on Bandcamp, fall in love, then come to their show at Wicked Willy's tomorrow night (2/27) at 7PM! (Also, it's ladies night.............)

Robert DeLong - "Global Concepts"

So it's Saturday evening and I needed a little motivation to get going for the night, seeing as it's cold as hell and raining here in New York.  I'm really not much into this dance-y stuff, but listen to this and you'll see why it got me groovin'.  This video is an epic party of dancing that makes me wish I was actually there.  At least watch until the three minute mark- you'll thank me.

And we'll definitely being seeing more of this guy.  He's been named '2013 Artist To Watch' by MTV, Billboard and others.  Robert Delong wrote, produced, mixed and performed his debut album, Just Movement.  Intense, huh? Well, he isn't just about making people dance, he takes the creation of his lyrics very seriously as well.  We just missed his live performance in NYC, but he'll be playing in Cali on April 14th for all you Coachella lovers out there.

Lord Huron - "Time To Run"

My first experience with Lord Huron was about a year ago when I listened to "The Stranger", one of the four enchanting songs on their first EP, Mighty (2010).  I recently learned of their full length debut album, Lonesome Dreams, that came out this past September and, guilty as charged, have been listening to it on repeat.

Growing up on Lake Huron in Michigan, Benji Schneider started Lord Huron, which has turned into a collaboration of four "best amigos", as he calls them.  Now they are based out of Los Angeles.  Since the release of their debut in 2012, they've been getting quite popular.  They showed up on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in November and have been touring the world, charming the masses with their sounds, ever since.  Their show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn on February 23rd is even sold out!  Well, being signed to I Am Sound Records will give you this level of publicity.  After all, the record company signed Florence and the Machine, IO ECHO, and Kate Boy, to name a few.

Satellites - "Railway Line"

Be prepared: this Copenhagen native is about to knock your socks off.  If you don't know already, I am a huge fan of The National and am constantly on the prowl for musicians who can pluck my emotional strings like they do.  Well this one-man-band has answered my prayers.  His name is Johnny Vic and he  puts all these amazing sounds together to create some damn good songs.  Watch him live here.  His deep, soft, booming voice makes it all the more melodramatic.  Some may call it depressing, but I dig it.

The fact that he's not even on Spotify is quite surprising to me and very unfortunate.  However, you can stream his first and only album, Satellites.01, from his SoundCloud page or directly from his creatively designed website: http://www.satellites01.co.uk/.  And I highly suggest you do so.  This is his only music video out, but the rest of the tracks on the album are superb as well.

I also want to point out how rad this video is.  It was directed, shot and finished by Tim Walker of Westbound TV.  The technique he used is phenomenal.