Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad

We’re headed back to the vaults for an interview with Matthew O’Brian, the former lead vocals and guitars for the roots reggae and dub outfit called Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad. Although Matthew and the band have parted ways, this interview gives a great insight into the mind of one who has created a thriving and perpetually touring band

A big welcome to all you rastas and reggae heads.  We’re headed back to the vaults for an interview with Matthew O’Brian, the former lead vocals and guitars for the roots reggae and dub outfit called Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad.

Although Matthew and the band have parted ways, this interview gives a great insight into the mind of one who has created a thriving and perpetually touring band.  Have a listen as we discuss the vibe of their band, brushes with the great Toots of Toots and the Maytals, and their green stance.  We wish both Matthew and Giant Panda the best in the future, so be sure to check them both out when they hit your area!  So from the vaults, the Tracks bring to you… Matthew O’Brian, former vocals and guitars for Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad (giantpandadub.com).

Interview with Matthew O’Brian (Formerly of Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad)

Brian Kracyla and Monty Wiradilaga (Moe Train’s Tracks)

Moe (MTT):  We’re sitting back here with Matt from Giant Panda.  What’s going on, man?!  How are ya?

Matt:  Very well.  Nice to see ya, Monty!

MTT:  Awesome, great set today.

M:  Thanks.

MTT:  How is the Rothbury experience compared to your other festival experiences?

M:  We’ve gotten to experience it since Thursday night, we had a whole day and a half of anticipation for our own set.  Everything has been super-exceptional, super-clean, and the vibe is real strong.  The experience with the set was great.  We played first so we got an excellent soundcheck full.  We were ready to go, all dialed in before we hit the stage.  That’s better than most festivals where you’re rushed to get on.

MTT:  Your music draws from the roots, dub, but you guys also mix in improvisation.  How important is it for the band to take the listeners on a musical journey?

M:  It fulfills our own musical desires and our own creative desires to be able to take those risks in the live setting and really feel like we are pushing our selves and challenging ourselves.  For very many people, it’s apparently one of their favorite things they get to experience at the Giant Panda shows as well, the improvisation.  It’s been openly confirmed recently that we really want to bring that to every show.  We really want to have that experience of not knowing what’s going to happen next, no plan.

MTT:  So, you feel that your live show is really the bread and butter of your music?  Or do you feel it’s your recordings?

M:  We tour and do 180 shows a year.  Our live shows are our bread and butter.  The history of reggae is a studio history.  A lot of the sweet reggae we have heard over the years is all produced in the studio and rarer live.  We’ve sought to bring true roots-sound and that real vibration to the live scene as much as we can, that’s our contribution.

MTT:  Speaking of which, you’ve shared the stage with some legends.  How have they really influenced your sound?  Do you have any stories with the classics?

M:  Their sound influenced us for our whole upbringing.  Lee Scratch Perry was influencing our sound before we knew what recordings he had influenced so much.  You listen to the old Bob Marley and that was all black art, that was the finest Lee Perry productions.  Toots sets a wonderful example because Toots’ music is some of the most uplifting and positive of that roots era.  His voice is so rich, but he also is so positive and so giving of his own energy to his audiences.  He’s very, very musically disciplined and his band is one of the sharpest.  He really lives up to his reputation.

MTT:  Do you have any stories with him?

M:  We lived down on State Street in Rochester, NY and he was staying at the Crowne Plaza, directly across the street from our apartment.  We played with Toots at one of the biggest shows we’d ever done at the time, in Rochester, at a big outdoors jazz-fest thing.  Toots headlined and at the end of the festival blew it out in the street, and we got to open for him and then we were heading to Bonnaroo that night, the minute we were done with the set.  We were running late, running around, and we found ourselves back at our house getting our last things together as Toots was pulling into his hotel.  Dylan, our guitar player who’s met Toots before, ran over and said “Hey man, nice to play with you.  It was a great honor.”  And he turned to us with both of his hands in the air and just like (pumping both hand in the air), all the way as we were driving away he was pounding two hands in the air!  He gave us the best energy we could get to hit the road with.  We were just proud to be there with him, let alone the fact that he acknowledged us like that.

MTT:  Speaking about legends, we’re doing a show on Michael Jackson.  How has Michael Jackson influenced you personally or musically?

M:  Michael, to me, means quality, top quality from the time the public was aware of him.  He was five years old and making untouchable high quality music and it never wasn’t untouchable, high quality.  I have nothing but the utmost respect for Michael’s music.  I think that with somebody like Michael Jackson, the influence is so thick, so ingrained in everything, it gets taken for granted as a part of reality.  It’s a culture of his own.

MTT:  It was definitely a shock.  It felt like a part of our childhood was taken away, well not just childhood but our whole life.

M:  It is, its part of everybody.  He’d been there 45 years of his 50 years!

MTT:  The band (GPGDS) takes a very green stance.  Are you guys are participating in the (Rothbury) think-tank?

M:  We are participating in the think-tank.  They asked us to do that, I guess they picked up on the green stance.  We’re not too preachy about it or anything but we, in our own lives and travels, have made choices and changes.  The Sprinter runs on diesel and we’ve converted it to run on waste veggie oil.  It’s been a process getting to know the whole scene but we put a lot of thought and a lot of money into getting it real right.  This is the first summer, so we’re just getting it under way.

B:  How do you get the oil for it?  Do you go to restaurants and try to get what they let go of?

M:  More and more you can buy filtered waste veggie oil.  You can get waste veggie oil from places that preferably don’t use any fat.  Some places just fry tortilla chips or just fry potato chips.  You want as much of the clean stuff as you can get in the first place because then you have to filter it, let it settle out through all these filters, and then you put it in your van.  It goes through a little bit of a filter putting it in, but you put it in and then you burn it like diesel fuel.

MTT:  HOW MANY MILES TO THE GALLON DO YOU GET?

M:  I can’t say a specific number but to give you an example, Rochester, NY to Burlington, VT, one forty gallon tank of waste veggie oil.  That’s like a 8 hour drive sometimes.

MTT:  Where do you see the evolution of your band, where do you see your future?

M:  We see ourselves asserting our right to, you say we take a “green stance”, we take an “everything stance”.  We feel a responsibility to bring the highest that we can bring.  We feel the responsibility to give the audience, and give people that take the time to enjoy and experience music, the best of what we can give them.  We treat our lives that way and we try to keep ourselves in good shape, we make good choices with our bodies and with our lives, in our actions and with the way that we speak to people.  I hope that our band can keep reflecting that and keep getting more gigs like at Rothbury to reflect that and stay true to our roots.  We always want to be able to be who we are and maintain creative integrity and to talk to more people like you.

MTT:  Thanks very much for being with us.  We appreciate it.

M:  Yeah, thanks Monty!

———————

Matthew and Rachel (also a former member of Giant Panda) have started a new band called Thunder Body.  Check them out on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/THUNDER-BODY/111078485595149?ref=ts

Viva DeConcini to Release Second Album, “Rock & Roll Lover”

On July 13, Viva DeConcini will release her second album ‘Rock & Roll Lover,’ featuring a 7-piece-band and a full horn section written and arranged by Peter Apfelbaum of the NY Hieroglyphics.

GUITAR GODDESS & DOWNTOWN NYC IMPRESSARIA VIVA DECONCINI TRANSFORMS “ANGER INTO BEAUTY” ON FIERCE, JOYFUL NEW ALBUM ‘ROCK & ROLL LOVER’ OUT 7/13

New Yorkers: Catch Viva at The Slipper Room and The Jazz Gallery in May

New York-based frontwoman Viva DeConcini, who’s been playing guitar since she was in first grade, has performed everywhere from Bonnaroo to The Kennedy Center, to virtually every sweaty, cramped venue on the Lower East Side. On July 13, Viva will release her second album ‘Rock & Roll Lover,’ featuring a 7-piece-band and a full horn section written and arranged by Peter Apfelbaum of the NY Hieroglyphics.

The disc’s nine tracks, in Viva’s words, celebrate rock & roll’s power to transform “anger into beauty” -making life’s trials and tribulations worthwhile- with joyful exuberance. The album also features a wild, spacey cover of David Bowie‘s “Moonage Daydream” and a wailing instrumental rendition of the Carole King classic “Natural Woman.”

Stream new Viva DeConcini songs on MySpace here: http://www.myspace.com/vivadeconcini

Viva is one of the few women to ever be featured in a 3-page spread in Guitar Player Magazine. She honed her chops during a six-year stint playing guitar and percussion in Brazilian Cyro Baptista’s critically acclaimed band Beat The Donkey. She has also jammed with luminaries like Medeski, Martin and Wood and Trey Anastasio. Viva is also a producer of New York City‘s ‘Rock & Roll Burlesque’ at The Slipper Room, the multi-performer Dolly Parton tribute “Dolly Would” at Joe’s Pub, and regularly conducts a 20-unit drum corps in NYC’s Halloween, Pride, and Mermaid Parades.

Catch Viva at the ‘Rock & Roll Burlesque’ at The Slipper Room on May 27, and stay tuned for details about her NYC album release party in June.

UPCOMING DATES:
May 27 – New York, NY @ The Slipper Room ‘Rock & Roll Burlesque’
May 28 – New York, NY @ The Jazz Gallery
May 29 – New York, NY @ The Jazz Gallery w/ Peter Apfelbaum and The NY Hieroglyphics

‘Rock & Roll Lover’
U.S. Street Date: July 13

1. Rock & Roll Lover
2. Universal Radio
3. What’s Your Sign Baby
4. Moonage Daydream
5. $15 Buzz
6. Go-Go Boots
7. Somebody Else
8. Natural Woman
9. Emily

Rogue Wave – Permalight (6/10)

The thing is, Permalight isn’t terrible; in fact, there’s potential, yet, ultimately, it’s still completely forgettable.

Rogue Wave – Permalight (6 out of 10)

Apparently this album is a refreshing change of pace for the usually melancholy Oakland-based band, but I wouldn’t know because I’ve never listened to them before.  So here’s my first impression: it sounds like music ripped straight off of the O.C. or One Tree Hill soundtracks.  And while they border on electro-pop goodness, they never fully commit.  The thing is, Permalight isn’t terrible; in fact, there’s potential, yet, ultimately, it’s still completely forgettable.

- B

Related articles:

• Interviews at Stubb’s: Rogue Wave (spin.com)

Weezy’s Keepin’ Contact While In Prison (Contact Info)

Lil’ Wayne’s doin a stint in prison after the cops found a loaded gun on his tourbus.  Many have said that this conveys a message to musicians/rappers/etc, that they’re not above the law.  Hell, Weezy could have been caught for some even more serious felony charge the tons of other contraband that he probably had on his bus.

Anyway, Lil’ Wayne’s energy and great contributions to the hip-hop scene will definitely be missed.  However, Weezy’s keeping in contact with all of his fans through weezythanxyou.com.  Personally, I think it’s a great gesture from a guy who’s been very open about everything in his career.

Go check it out, and send the guy some love!  I know I’m very curious to hear what his prison experience will add to his amazing repertoire of musical talent.

Write To Lil Wayne

Eric M. Taylor Center (EMTC)
Dwayne Carter NYSID# 02616544L
10-10 Hazen Street
East Elmhurst, NY 11370

Jeremy Stein (Rothbury Creator)

MTT has a chat with Jeremy Stein, creator of the Rothbury Festival about putting together a festival, dream acts, and the festival’s future.

Moe:  We sitting back stage her with Jeremy Stein, promoter and creator of Rothbury Festival.  Thanks for being with us.

Jeremy:  Fantastic being here guys, thanks.

M:  How did you go about putting together your vision of the Rothbury Festival?

J:  That’s good question.  I think it came together really over a course of years.  It’s funny, I was reading Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell and there’s a big thing in there about taking 10,000 hours of work to really get a vision for something and think that’s what happened over the course of a decade.  We were putting on a lot of different events; 5,000 people, 15,000, 20,000, all over the world and also had a lot of different artists under our management firm who were traveling the world at festivals.

So I had this kind of rare experience to be able to go to festivals across Europe/Australia/Japan, and really make notes on all of them, and see what was working, and combining that with a general attempt to have a cultural event at Rothbury, and an art event.

Obviously music is a magnet, no question, but it’s so much more than that for everyone.  Some people even have trouble putting their finger on what that more is, but it’s so much more.  You combine all those factors and it almost surfaced organically.

M:  Last year, we called Rothbury ‘Festival of the Year’; for the lineup, for the atmosphere, for the people, the total experience.  How important was it for you to create an all-encompassing experience for your guests?

J:  The general idea is that it’s an immersive environment that people come to live at.  A lot of festivals, not for good or for bad but just the way they are, are generally daytime into the evening events and they shut down, and they’re not camping festivals so everyone goes home at night and they might come back the next day.  This kind of event is different.  Not only is it a big holiday weekend (4^th of July), and people are really looking forward to getting off work and they’re out of school and all those types of things, but they are living here for four days.  And when you’re living somewhere for four days, you get to know the people next to you, and you make some new friends out there.

Not only are you obviously here for the big shows and the big dance events and all that kind of stuff, but most of the time you’re not at a big show, you’re relaxing.  You can’t just be on level 11 for 24 hours a day. (Moe giggles)  So, that’s a big part of what the forest turned into, it’s a daytime lounge.  And when people can get that downtime in a shaded, cool environment with their friends, they have way more energy for the rest of the day and they’re not just totally burnt out at the end of the show.  That’s a pretty exciting scene.

M:  Did you take the forest idea from Fuji Rock?

J:  I’ve been to Fuji Rock a lot and there’s no question that we are kindred spirits.  Especially on their recycling.  They were doing that recycling before just about anyone else that I’ve seen out there.  They weren’t doing composting but the teams that we working at the cans and everything and having a strong green scene.  That was just more a part of the culture there than anything else but they were a little ahead of the curve.  I’m friends with those guys and it’s probably the closest relationship of a forested environment for a festival that I know of.

M:  In the future, what do you see for Rothbury and what is your perfect headlining act?

J:  Wow, that’s a tough question.  I think year to year, there’s no question that the headlining acts give a little bit of their own identity to what that year of the festival is, and some of them are available some years and just not another.  There’s no question either that there’s a top 25 names out there and we all know who they are, there’s no big secrets.  So, one year it’ll work for Rothbury and one year it won’t.  We just gotta go where the wind takes us.  I care just as much about the music, I’m not afraid about the music though, we’ll get the right music every year.

I think that now we’ve hit a critical mass where the industry knows what it is.  It’s just as exciting to the artist as it is to everyone else and they want to be here.  So, we’re gonna get there on the musical side.  I care as much about the community building, the interactive environment, and getting more people involved in the show.  The more everyone’s involved in the show, the more the entire grounds become the stage.  It’s not just you come to watch something, you come to be a part of something.  That’s what I’m after.

M:  Thank you very much for being with us.  We appreciate it.  The festival’s been killer.

J:  Great guys, good luck.  Have fun out there.

Related articles:

• Rothbury 2010 Canceled; Midwest May Gain Bamboozle Fest (rollingstone.com)

POS – Never Better (9/10)

An ex-punk rocker turned rapper turns out a top-five rap album of 2009.  What’s up with all that good hip-hop coming out of Miota?!?

POS – Never Better (9/10)

An ex-punk rocker turned rapper turns out a top-five rap album of 2009.  What’s up with all that good hip-hop coming out of Minnesota?!?

- B

Related articles:

• No More Hip-Hop For Fiddy (perezhilton.com)
• What Makes A Piece of Music Hip Hop? Vol. 2 (current.com)
• Jack White hails ‘incredible’ Jay-Z (news.bbc.co.uk)

Hot Chip – One Life Stand (3.5/6)

Personally, the appeal of Hot Chip has always been their seamless ability to follow catchy and insistent

Hot Chip – One Life Stand (3.5 out of 6)

Personally, the appeal of Hot Chip has always been their seamless ability to follow catchy and insistent electro-pop dance tracks with equally enjoyable, atmospheric slow-jams.  Unfortunately, the London five-some has forgone the former for almost exclusively the latter.  As a result, One Life Stand turns out to be, for lack of a better word, boring.

A disappointment for me, sorry guys, but you need that contrast.

- B

Related articles:

• New Hot Chip Video: Crazy Sexy Creepy (trueslant.com)
• Hot Chip – “I Feel Better” Video (stereogum.com)

Twittelator [8.7/10]

Twittelator – [8.7/10]

For those who feel that being connected to the world at all times (or most of the time) is a must, Twittelator is a very functional Twitter client that will fulfill your needs.  If you think that a function is necessary, then Twittelator probably has it covered.  Lists, video/photo posting, geotagging, and my most useful function (due to the fact that we run a music show/website), song tagging.  The main gripe that I have with this app is the tweets don’t always “refresh” when they should.  Besides that, Twittelator is a pretty seamless application.

One could purchase quite a few separate apps for many of the options packed into the Twittelator package, so if you need an all-encompassing Twitter app… Twittelator will be a very competent choice.

Festival Fever

Every year about this time, I get “Festival Fever.”  You know the feeling…  The weather’s shitty, you’ve been cooped up indoors for way too long, and all of the festival lineups are coming out.  You long for fun in the sun, and the amazing music which becomes the soundtrack of your life.

Well, that time is here, and The Train’s got the fever!  (No, it’s not a Swine Flu symptom.  I’ve gotten the shot, thank you.)  We’ve got about four months until The Tracks kicks it into super media mode, and does some more amazing interviews! (Check out the new interviews posted on the site)  King B and I love being out in the crowd and also back behind the scenes so we can bring you as many great and uncensored musician interviews as possible!

What do you do when you get the fever?  Do you start researching all of the bands that you’re going to see?  Listen to new music?  Check your tent to see if it still works?  Hit the gym, so you can physically make it through the grueling festival weekends?

Well, no matter what you do… You’d better get ready, because there’s not much time before FESTIVAL TIME!

- Moe

Related articles:

• Dan Deacon feeling better, played Purchase (pics), playing MtyMx & Bonnaroo, shares a name with a Philly cop (brooklynvegan.com)
• The Flu And Getting Lucky (plastic.com)

Train’s Thoughts on Unorthodox Festival Booking

What’s up everyone?  I’ve got summer festivals on my mind (and why shouldn’t I?  All the lineups are coming out!)  Anyway, I was on Twitter (@MoeTrainsTracks), discussing what people would think if festivals like Bonnaroo would do a booking that was totally out of character for the festival.  For example, I was watching the Olympics tonight and heard Andrea Bocelli‘s music used for ice dancing.  I thought, Andrea Bocelli would be an off the wall, yet amazing addition to Bonnaroo’s lineup this year.

Metallica seemed to be one of the biggest stretches for the perennial hippie/jamband and indie friendly festival, and their booking was met with very mixed reviews.  Personally, I was pumped to have Metallica on the farm, as I’m a big fan of their music.  Yeah, I definitely think that Lars was an absolute prick for what he did to Napster, but Metallica’s live performances are top notch.  Many of the Bonnaroo purists were upset that the balance of their universe would be thrown off it’s axis by such a notable metal act.  On the other hand, their presence brought a different “type” of festival goer which wouldn’t usually have made the trek to Manchester, TN.  When all was said and done, Metallica had blown the roof off of the farm, and made fans out of non-believers.

The same booking mentality would certainly apply to a talent like Andrea Bocelli.  Imagine Sunday night, when everyone is exhausted from four straight days of music and mania, and enter Andrea Bocelli on the main stage.  Surround him a laser show of Tool proportions, and give him the best backing band that Bonnaroo artists have to offer.  The result would be one of the biggest sensory overloads that the festival world has seen.

Everyone’s always wondering who the Superjam lineup will consist of, and it’s usually a nicely diversified group of musicians, but sometimes, the best things come from the most motley of crews (or Crue).  In the overloaded market of festivals (RIP Rothbury…for now), promoters need to continue pushing the envelope so they can continue to attract huge audiences.

What do you guys think?  Are music festivals doing enough to keep you coming back year after year?  What would be the most off the wall booking that you’d like to see at the festivals in the coming years?

- Moe

Related articles:

• Bonnaroo 2010 Lineup (stereogum.com)
• Jay-Z To Headline Bonnaroo (current.com)
• Metal at Non-metal Festivals (metalsucks.net)

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