Floated Alternative Culture Maga : simplebooklet.com

Love SPREAD Words by Steve DaSilvia Photos by Adam Antalek We re always about destroying our instruments getting sweaty going apeshit Nestled between the coffee shops and DIY venues of Brooklyn two Japanese expats are developing a completely new genre of music Describing themselves as post JPop Ryota Machida and Narumi Iyama have built a sound unlike any other Rather than choosing between hardcore and chiptune they blended their influences into a new musical language Bringing together wailing guitars screaming vocals and video game controllers Ryota and Narumi have moved past English and Japanese and created the dialect of Love Spread When she approved of his demos Ryota thought one step further Love Spread s latest release Host in the Hell is an in yourface assault on the ears It s uncompromising it s aggressive and it pulls no punches Picture Coheed and Cambria covering Pokemon battle music and you ll have a vague idea of what to expect At first it was really hard One of the main focuses of this band is to do something completely different Love Spread evolved over the course of their first live shows growing from a more traditional electronic vibe to their current live setup Host in the Hell may be only six tracks but at nearly four minutes each there s time to explore the nuances of their genre Each track shifts between moods from somber melodies to banshee wailing It may not be for everyone but Love Spread is easily the best at what they do Boy Meets Girl the death of j pop the brooklyn via japan duo gives us four mind fucking hardcore meets chiptune tracks on their new EP Host In the Hell Ryota and Narumi met like romcom characters A Beck tribute show in LA brought them together with some help from a mutual friend Ryota was living in San Diego bored out of his mind after dropping out of college and Narumi needed a ride to the show In Ryota s words When we went to that concert together that was the beginning of the band Getting The Band Back Together Two years later Ryota s earlier band broke up and his thoughts turned to New York I randomly remembered that girl that I went to the Beck concert with she lives in Brooklyn With a New York connection made Ryota sent Narumi some of the music he d been working on to see what she thought I didn t want to do it alone I always thought being a solo artist and having a MacBook and a fucking MIDI controller I ve never enjoyed that Going to a show watching that it s always boring When Narumi agreed I went back to Cali packed my shit up and moved here Growing Pains At first we decided to go electronic and have fancy MIDI controllers we were setting everything up kind of like Kraftwerk Turns out a straight laced German group isn t the best model for a group so heavily influenced by hardcore Ryota and Narumi felt disconnected and pretentious not part of the D I Y community or even their own shows So they changed their setup We decided Fuck this shit we re gonna do whatever the fuck we want Love Spread s stage design shifted All equipment was shoved aside to make room for the group s energy Narumi and Ryota went from Kraftwerk to a basement show bringing stage dives and crowdsurfing into the mix Brooklyn Boston and Beyond That high intensity action brought Love Spread further into the D I Y community Eventually we were playing 100 shows in like half a year Other artists may not have understood Love Spread s sound but their love for their music is undeniable Ryota and Narumi were looking for an outlet a way to go crazy and Love Spread gave them that opportunity It also gave them the opportunity to meet new people in the scene 7

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Love Spread started expanding beyond the Brooklyn scene meeting up with artists from Boston New Jersey pretty much everywhere up and down the East Coast Everyone s connected through the Internet so we were able to find those kinds of people Those connections as it turns out would go a little further than New Jersey people for what Love Spread is like live I was throwing my mic and everything After that they were really pissed off Though one intense live show may not be the only thing that traditional Japanese audiences take issue with Love Spreads Abroad For Ryota and Narumi J Pop isn t a genre it s a shiny box hiding a dark secret If Japan has a Coachella it s the Fuji Rock Festival When toying with the idea of touring over in Japan Ryota and Narumi figured their sound was too crazy With little knowledge of Japanese underground culture they thought Love Spread would be too much of a departure from mainstream Japanese music As a goal to strive towards they decided not to make the trip unless they could play Fuji Rock But this one random day Fuji Rock actually called us Narumi and Ryota slightly stunned at the chance to play Fuji agreed to the show Not wanting to make the trip just to play one set though they ended up scheduling a three week tour of Japan I didn t even know what to expect I grew up watching videos of Fuji Rock Love Spread was booked to a small stage but Fuji Rock has a loose definition of small We went up on stage and there were like five thousand people in the audience With a crowd like that Ryota and Narumi decided to go big before going home We evolved in the Brooklyn D I Y community We re always about destroying our instruments getting sweaty going apeshit Nothing could ve prepared those five thousand The Death of J Pop We would always see fellow Japanese artists trying to market themselves as J Pop or kawaii Love Spread always ready to go against the grain wants to subvert this trend By applying that label to themselves they re defining their brand of brash intensity as authentically Japanese While it may sound like Ryota and Narumi just don t like the label there s more to it than that There s actually a really dark side to Japan After losing friends to Japan s high suicide rates Ryota and Narumi want to show the darkness of Japanese culture Labeling Love Spread as The Death of J Pop doesn t mean they re killing the genre Instead they want to represent the death to show off the shadow behind all the pop culture From their piercing sound to their intense live show Love Spread isn t here to make people happy Ryota and Narumi are about telling their stories getting emotions out into sound They re unshakably authentic working to make every aspect of the band into something that drips with feeling In this age of assembly line Top 40 hits we could all use a little more Love Spread

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Yet there are more musicians who recognize and embrace the benefits of free to low cost music streaming sites than those who shun it all away Because to these musicians it s more about making the music heard than gaining profit In the future Generation Z will look at CDs MP3 players and iPods as relics of the past But because of streaming sites like Spotify and SoundCloud bands can put themselves on the map and connect with eager ears from all corners of the globe That s what American Standards have embraced since their formation in 2011 Rewind Eight Years Once upon a time musicians connected with one another by hanging up flyers on telephone poles During the dawn of the Internet Craigslist graced the world and changed the nature of classifieds forever Corey Skowronski soon joined the lineup and in true punk fashion the bass guitarist designed the band s album artwork Amidst Skowronski s artistic contributions and the band s free for all no strings attached approach to playing American Standards made serious headway on the Arizona hardcore scene They gained a huge underground following and the attention of local Phoenix radio shows and magazines They also garnered the attention of their mentors Every Time I Die from Buffalo New York Making It Hardcore It s like when you say you don t want to be in a relationship and then all of a sudden it seems like everybody likes you Brandon Kellum It wasn t long before they started touring on the mainstream hardcore scene headlining for bands like Emery Norma Jean and Stray from the Path Its like when you say you dont want to be in a relationship and then all of a sudden it seems like everybody likes you On New Year s Eve 2010 guitarist Cody Conrad reached out to vocalist Brandon Kellum and asked if he wanted to jam out Kellum had recently left a band after playing hardcore music for nearly 12 years He wasn t particularly interested in joining a new one But when he tried out for Conrad s band he found that their music was exactly what he had always aspired to play No one ever wanted to do this raw more chaotic and less technical style There was more passion behind it So it just clicked right away Brandon Kellum vocalist of American Standards It started off as a fun time Like Kellum the original members of American Standards had also played in other bands They also weren t interested in touring making it big or rolling in the dough They wanted to play the music they wanted to play wherever and whenever they wanted But in the end it turned out to be more than they had bargained for It also wasn t long until Victory Records signed them on to their distributed label We Are Triumphant The band s first studio album Still Life came out in 2012 under the We Are Triumphant label However the band soon grew disillusioned by their relationship with Victory Records According to Kellum the band had to foot the bill for most of their recording time album releases and music videos They even had to schedule their own tour dates Signing on with a record company was already more than what the band had originally anticipated They all started off in their mid to late 20s and had already played for years as hardcore metalcore musicians The time and energy they devoted to maintaining their relationship with the record company was not reciprocated Understandably they parted ways with Victory Records Since then American Standards have played somewhere between 300 and 400 live shows independently and under other labels They ve had lineup changes over the years and have seen their share of young musicians come and go As Kellum puts it it s the natural ebb and flow of being in a band Younger members in their early 20s want to keep pushing their limits Members in their late 20s and early 30s like Kellum Skowronski drummer Mitch Hosier and bass guitarist Steven Mandell just want to play music to crowds who want to hear it Founding bass guitarist Cody Conrad committed suicide in 2015 and the effect of his suicide echoes throughout Anti Melody In the digital realm of likes upvotes and retweets American Standards have managed to promote and network themselves all while producing their own music and videos Navigating Their Way Through the Music Industry easily the most happening social media platform right now has received a lot of flack recently for its algorithm Many businesses bands included have found that their fresh content gets lost in the sea of old repetitive feeds When this happens to bands fans might not always get proper notice about their favorite musicians coming to town Instagram s algorithm change should pull up more recent posts into people s feeds Hopefully this will make it easier for bands like American Standards to reach out to their fanbases Kellum and the rest of the crew are still like many other musicians learning how to navigate the technicalities of social media Despite the fuckery of social media and the Internet American Standards have proven that they re more than willing to go the DIY route The band recognizes that the days of buying band CDs are long over and they rely on merchandise to generate funds For hardcore metalcore musicians this is all the more reason to get creative go independent and stick it to the man Meanwhile Kellum tells us more about his experiences on the road In light of the digital age the band has seen older musicians coming out of the woodwork struggling to live off album sales from years past After going through a string of labels American Standards have honored the founding fathers of punk by becoming self sustainable in the music biz Of course in true hardcore fashion they ve strayed away from music labels While it means more opportunity to headline reunion shows it s also very telling of the times and how much the music industry has transformed Because it s 2018 American Standards have also learned to cultivate social media culture to get their music out to devoted listeners In the digital realm of likes upvotes and retweets American Standards have managed to promote and network themselves all while producing their own music and videos Like the men and women who defined hardcore punk back in the 1970s and 1980s American Standards stay true to their genre Still social media is both a blessing and a curse While social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook make it easy to share new music the trouble arises when outreaching to devoted fans through all of Google s algorithm changes and the shameless noise of self promotion The band s following has grown vastly outside Phoenix and beyond Yet Kellum who completes all the band s logistical work has found it difficult to translate his social media followers into attending concert goers The reason There are probably a few Most notably Instagram which is The Takeaway For hardcore metalcore musicians this is all the more reason to get creative go independent and stick it to the man They spent nearly two years getting Anti Melody to where it is today all on their own Now when they listen to the finished album again American Standards can hear the music that they want to play in the future After tearing up the Pacific Northwest American Standards will make their way over to the East Coast In the meantime stay tuned to Floated to hear when American Standards will grace us in New York

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X Ambassadors are an alternative rock band with an indie twist The band consists of Sam Harris lead vocalist guitarist saxophonist bassist drummer percussionist Casey Harris pianist keyboardist backing vocalist Adam Levin drummer percussionist The band has been on a mission to unite New York State through music We had the opportunity to sit down and talk to Adam about their first successful Cayuga Music Festival the pressure to overcome hurdles and their coffee addiction Let s talk about staying fresh X Ambassadors I try to diet and exercise and to do that on the road as well I think it s good to have a liking for music I like to play golf I like to eat going out and eating I love food You know keeping a balance of normalcy when you can because when you re out it s just crazy How much energy do you put into the live performances X Ambassadors I burn through a lot man It s hard to do every night Sam especially he s really doing a lot more than everyone else He has a strict diet and works out every day really works hard to keep in shape and keep his voice healthy He really is dedicated What has changed so far in the band s career The harshest thing to overcome X Ambassadors I mean it s still kind of hard Now there s pressure to follow up whereas before it was can we make it The early pressure was like how do we book a show Then that turned into booking a little tour We d be on tour for like two weeks every three months and we wanted to be on the road all the time So slowly we overcome these hurdles and figured out how to steer ourselves in the right direction There is so much political stuff with making music and releasing music Travel is hard on your body and voice but you know we love it Without it it is less fun You just gotta work hard We have always welcomed collaboration It helps us get out of our comfort zone so we can try something new Where did the idea of Cayuga Fest come from X Ambassadors I think like two or three years ago our manager approached us with the idea but it wasn t the right time for us We were on an endless tour cycle and when we got off the road we got to reassess we played a ton of shows and we sat down with our manager I think the first step was reaching out to The Roots who were friends once we got them onboard we figured everything else out Could you elaborate on your experience with collaboration X Ambassadors We do a lot of collaborations On our records we re collaborating with different producers and songwriters We have always welcomed collaboration It helps us get out of our comfort zone so we can try something new We heard rumors that you guys are coffee nerds and that the band carries around a crazy setup Is there a reason why Sam went with the live vocals in the video series X Ambassadors There is it s a pour over setup Perfectly carved out with the gooseneck kettle the grinder filters the whole thing It s really cool It s hard it takes a long time to make 12 pour overs So if you wake up and there s a line of people it might be while the only downside We need to get one of those espresso machines that s all thanks to one of our techs Connor When we are on the road we see some that are way crazier X Ambassadors Yeah we were inspired by a Bruce Springsteen music video He had live vocals and we realized nobody had really done that We always wanted to be doing something a little different For the last album we released some narrative music video everyone kind of does that and it s cool but we ve done that before and we wanted to do something different this time around What is the expereince like in the studio X Ambassadors When we are in the studio I m working 90 of the time on a beat machine I m producing drum tracks using technology to incorporate and play into sound and track layering Our thing is to create additional drum layers in the studio later bringing it live with the guitars piano setup along with live drums Similar to seeing Electric Guest live they have a lot of beat machines to recreate drum tracks then playing over that element with actual live instruments My favorite band which has put that to use is Radiohead That s where we got that idea from What brought you guys to film the music video seriers in Upstate NY X Ambassadors The first video ahead of myself out of the trio we did some in Rochester I m the only one out from Ithaca while Sam and Casey have family from Rochester I ve been there and liked the atmosphere the scenery and wanted that kind of vibe for the video We had a good time up there Sam did all the vocals live That s kind of been the vibe of this record It s really cool because nobody does that Is there a plan to tie all the videos into Upstate X Ambassadors Yeah there is supposed to be a connection between the two There was a period that we thought that might get messed up because maybe we were gonna release songs in a different order after the fact but it all worked out in the end That s kind of been the vibe of this record It s really cool because nobody does that We re really proud of all this It s a performance Sam working with his live vocals which is different from the new record In the new record we are going with a different direction adding a backup singer and even switching up the clothes we were wearing

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for me I was honored because I had been following a lot of the music that he did He was in a band called Filthy Funk it had local players like Danielle Ponder and Nick Murray All this stuff came full circle which was really inspiring to me because I was borrowing ideas musically from John in terms of style and playing approach Certain bands that inspired us like Tame Impala and Unknown Mortal Orchestra and we kind of wanted to do something along those lines Have fun with it do a little satire make fun of ourselves We like to make good music but also have fun with it We ve made good videos We ve learned not take it too seriously and get caught up in all that stuff just have fun How do you see visuals being incomporated into music Photos by Frankie Bonn When Master and Padawan join forces some crazy shit is destined to happen John Viviani and Elijah Flynn merged their sonic ingenuity and have become a force to be reckoned with now wearing Floated s crown as Rochester s grooviest duo Why able bodies Elijah Able Bodies was an idea its a play on Ableton which is a music production software that John uses when he produces all this beautiful music John I m not good at coming up with names I was like Come up with a name Elijah I wanted to call the band Downward Groove He did not like that idea so we came up with Able Bodies and it wasn t taken We have an interesting history Elijah was actually a guitar student of mine back in the day he was in high school right Elijah I think it was before that I was like 14 15 John Elijah was one of my star guitar students for a couple years and when he got into college and started playing out and around town I was still playing in various projects around Rochester different bands that I was in Filthy Funk and Blue Falcon We played a show together right Elijah Yeah we played a show at the Skylark and Lovin Cup John I was working on some new music a little more contemporary a little more synthpop kind of sound and I thought his voice would sound great on it Don t let that go to your head Elijah How was the experience of creating music with your mentor Elijah It was really cool it was a Luke Skywalker moment John People wanna see visual stuff now everything visual We re all on smartphones we re all competing for everyone s attention Everyone s attention is much shorter nowadays Technology has made it easier to make a video possible easier than it was when I was a punk I really wanted to have a visual aspect to it Elijah s had a lot of the great ideas for the videos We ve just had fun coming up with what the video for the song should look like As soon as we put one out it was pretty clear it was getting more attention that if we had just put a single out right Elijah Eli Yeah I think so too You have to have some sort of audiovisual advantage these days Everything is free so putting stuff out that will make people remember it or just play it on their iPod and kind of zone out You can understand what the song is really about too A song can take on a whole other element it can be ironic or it can be something that you hear that s totally surprising which is kind of the goal John I ve been in a lot of Rochester bands and I m really enjoying this project The way we re putting out videos without performing our music people seem to be enjoying it It is like building anticipation for if and when we do play rather than the opposite which is usually trying really hard to get your friends and your family to come to a show then sustain that It s a huge part of your time to develop a local following Not that there s anything wrong with that but it is nice to kind of focus more on the music and the art of making these videos How do you see yourself converting your music into live performances John No shirts Eli Number one no clothing I feel like that will be half the battle We were talking about instrumentation We would have maybe a drummer and then have us switching between guitar and bass and using an Ableton push like a launchpad 21

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Whats the benefit of learning more than one instrument as an artist Eli It has forced me to become a better player Yesterday we were working on this track I had this bass I really wanted to try out It sounded really really nice for the track and it s the perfect example of being able to try stuff If it works it works if it doesn t it doesn t But being able to have that knowledge to try something can make an accident turn into a really great song or idea John I agree with all of that and as a songwriter I was a guitar player for a long time and I got into making beats when I was in my 20 s I didn t really become a full songwriter until my last band Blue Falcon Using different instruments is essential to being a good songwriter Being able to sit down at the keys or the guitar or using drum machines it is a way to open up your palate to not doing the same stuff all the time I almost feel like it is essential to be well rounded and not falling into a trap of playing the same emo 9 chords over and over again where we kind of just trigger everything I don t think we want to sample everything You want to have that live element where that song is going to sound the same but it s going to have more of a live feel John I m sure you ve heard of LCD Soundsystem When he makes the records it s just him When he plays live it s like a group of musicians performing the greatest LCD Soundsystem cover band on Earth Whatever we do we want to be able to create the best show that we can play or playing exactly the record and getting the vibe across I think the biggest challenge is going to be what to wear Eli Which video are we gonna do costumes from John I m leaning towards my turtleneck outfit I ve been very surprised by how comfy and utilitarian they are I ve rocked my turtleneck in the days since the shoot unironically I got a couple strange looks Eli It keeps me fresh having to constantly collaborate with multiple music groups Keeps on top of what I want to bring and what my role is in the band Keeping my own sound while keeping the group dynamic John What I ve learned is being patient with creativeness and not giving up on ideas Just getting better all around at writing and arranging I like variety Do you ever find yourself getting into genre loops playing in multiple bands John Sometimes but I ve been kind of jumping around genres a lot because I get bored easily I genuinely enjoy so many styles of music I believe that if you listen to and are inspired by as many different styles as possible it makes you a better musician It makes you if you really love and can play different music you can wear those different hats I also feel too this is a difficult longer topic I feel like nowadays when people listen to music they have a little more room when listening to a band that doesn t only have one specific genre all the time There s room for an artist to have a rock tune synthpop and or folky sound When I hear that with artists as long as there s some continuity to it I dig that We re kind of in a mixtape culture now People will listen to EDM and then pop People s brains are hard wired to listen to music that way not that you can t sit through an album but people jump around I know I do it that way Maybe that s reflective in the music I grew up listening to heavy metal and rap things people 20 years ago would think were disparate styles like How could you like that and like that But now I feel like that s almost normal Eli There s just so much music these days and everything is so accessible The listeners are almost forced to jump genres I listen to the radio and you can hear Kendrick Lamar and then immediately after hear Maroon 5 I feel like the top 40s have blended into this thing What s the most mindopening piece of music gear you worked with Eli Recently John just let me borrow this Yamaha It s a little like almost toy sort of 80 or 90s John Using an omnichord Eli They have that at Nazareth I use those in music therapy sessions It s basically an electronic ribbon sensor so you don t even need to know how to play an instrument It s like an electric autoharp So it has on board sounds and rhythm samples even John being in the local scene for so long how have you seen the scene change John I have seen the scene change I have been around long enough to see things change like lots of new venues opening It seems to be the last few years there are a lot more venues which I think is pretty cool I also see a lot of creative people who are out there and supporting the scene like Floated I m a fan of it you guys are documenting the local scene There are other people who are doing similar things and seem to realize that there is a lot of talent in Rochester There s been several bands in the last few years that have gotten signed When I came up that wasn t as common I think that the music scene in Rochester in the time that I have been around has improved I hope it keeps getting better and better We re kind of in a mix tape culture now People will listen to EDM and then pop People s brains are hard wired to listen to music that way not that you can t sit through an album but people jump around I know I do it that way John 80 s I think it s one of their lower priced I forgot the line but those things can be bought for 100 bucks or less Eli It has helped me in terms of the sound specifically the sound we re going for grasp that gear and that concept it s helped me understand that era That s an interesting way to see it On the keyboard the piano is something I m getting more comfortable with and accustomed to It s a really good songwriting tool just because everything is laid out in front of you it s very linear It s fun to step back from the guitar and see the music differently visually and compositionally John Similar to that again being a guitar player I m a gearhead I have a lot of gear I got a Nord my favorite thing recently I don t know if you ve ever heard of that It s a keyboard that has incredible sample sounds Every time I sit down I find something new out I m not a keyboardist and I can do things on there I can t do on a guitar It s fun to compose on an instrument like that go back to my guitar and flesh this part out I wrote this song on something that I m not technically that good at Eli Big time Just from what I ve seen documentation is everything like with Floated and our friends at Golden Road It is just as important as the music It s a new age new version of MTV You can listen to the music but if you can t really see it it never really happens It s super important and I think people are getting wise to that When can we expect to see The Able Bodies perform live Eli Yeah Early fall We got a lot of new music A few months ago it felt like we needed a few more months before we can really play a show Now we got a lot of songs we re working on and it s just a matter of finding time in both our schedules to get the show We want the show to be as high quality as the recordings have been It s not something I want to rush but I don t want to miss out on people who have been anticipating it

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The hardcore scene in Rochester has been saturated for the past few years Metal and heavy groove rock is nothing new to the 585 area and a lot of band have discovered the algorithm of perfecting the breakdown REPS is not one of those bands They continue to set precedence for heavy sounds with dynamic production and precision in their live performances Floated s own Frankie Bonn sat down with the band to talk about their place in the hardcore arena and their progress as a group thus far It s been about two years since their last production was released but REPS isn t worried about any form of hiatus in delivering content to the public They are fortunate enough to possess two members that are well versed in audio engineering and production In regards to the new album in progress Any new concepts Jordan the overall theme is a little bit faster a little more consistent a little more dynamic We also focused on being more tonally heavy The tones of the guitar the bass the drums It s just very heavy and raw Steve I would say without an ounce of hesitation that this new record hits harder than anything we ve written to date It s like less heavy like a different kind of heavy super fuckin techy crazy poly rhythms We wanted to get back to groovy more of a dynamic quality There are so many heavy bands out there They re all trying to out breakdown each other Such as How many ghost notes can your drummer hit We kind of try to approach heavy as more of a dynamic like an overall soundscape Mike and Jordan have really taken what they learned at FLCC and turned it into something that has saved us thousands and a has been a great resource to us to be able to track a record at our own leisure For this one record in progress we spent more time crafting five songs than the eleven songs we did for Poisoned Youth I think that definitely shows Jordan It s definitely more thought out I would say Definitely focused Steve While still being chaotic People have a vision of punk rock and hardcore people that are involved in those scenes who play that kind of music of being Neanderthals with throat tats Mike and Jordan the two members that are savvy in the studio had high praise for the mentors they found at FLCC and attribute their style and success in the booth to their lessons Their mantra is to tap into the band s raw ability and sounds in order to capture an ultra authentic feel that acts as a crisp clean version of what the band sounds like live Have you thought about how you can apply what you learned at school into what you do now Steve The teachers at the community college are the most overqualified staff So overqualified for a community college in the middle of bumblefuck nowhere NY Jordan People that stand out to me are Jeff Smith and John Bellick They were old analog guys Mike Bob Potter Colton I would definitely say they influenced our recording style and how we went about attacking this record There wasn t a lot of crazy production Jordan It s definitely angry But we re super passive we let it out in our music We re just being creative I feel like being a UFC fighter would be a great way to let it all out What s your favorite pedal Part of the creativity that is being referenced here is aided by the production process as mentioned earlier REPS also takes pride in their knowledge of other music technology when cultivating their sound While they don t consider themselves to be tightly coupled to the gear they use they have a great appreciation for certain tools in that domain Colton That s one thing that a lot of people talk about with all of our music is the fuckin guitar sounds that you come up with Like how the fuck does that happen It s one dude he s a wizard Like I don t know Jordan I m always a student in the craft of music and gear I m always learning about stuff The people that make this stuff like the ones that build pedals and amps always blow my mind Thought process with pedals Anything you want to talk about that Mike Pedals are cool Shout out to my boys at Stryman make some damn good pedals And Boss gotta give it to them obviously Line Six too and TC Electronics Dark Glass shout out to them Also shout out to our Rochester homies at Adventure Audio Jordan Desert Island pedal the PS6 the Harmonist REPS full length album Poisoned Youth can be found online at their band camp page and in Spotify s library Those who find themselves resonating with this powerful shredding should follow REPS on all online channels

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Live tattooing on stage giant buckets of confetti crowd surfing inflatable pool animals and a farewell march through the crowd while still performing just skims the surface of the live Rubblebucket experience Peacockin is how the indie band chose to describe themselves during our photoshoot and interview We had the chance to speak to Kalmia Kal Traver lead vocalist and saxophonist and Alex Toth band leader and trumpet player and proof my own last name wasn t an Ellis Island fuck up Floated picked their brains about anything and everything our tiny brains could think of from fashion and touring to the modern political moments affecting our lives Rubblebucket an indie dance pop group is based in Brooklyn N Y The group has its roots in Burlington Vt where Kal and Alex met at the University of Vermont and began playing music together Eventually the pair moved to Boston in 2006 did odd jobs and made their own style of music at every opportunity Rubblebucket came into existence after Traver and Toth started playing with other musicians in 2007 releasing their first album in 2008 as the Rubblebucket Orchestra What a dope name right Wo Currently the group s nine members tour an rds d b the world but most of their time is Ph Ch y N oto ris ic spent in a 15 seat van affectionately s b Pa hol a known as Puppy pa s y Ad To am lia th An tal ek For you poor souls who have never experienced the sound lights and colors of Rubblebucket buy a tent camp out in Williamsburg and head to the Brooklyn Steel or The Bowery for the band s next life changing show They are loud upbeat and ready to kick ass Whether Came Out of a Lady leaves you comatose on the couch or a live performance of If U C My Enemies leaves you stunned Rubblebucket is always guaranteed to rock the house On this sunny bitterly cold day in the Brooklyn Navy Yard we began our photo shoot by discussing fashion When asked what inspired his onstage apparel choices Toth told us he liked the authentic street styles of Bill Cunningham and described his anti shopping method You go to like Salvation Army and thrift stores You pick out an item and you don t look at the price tag You only buy it if it s below a certain price Traver went on to tell us about her fascination with fashion shows and her appreciation for Marc Jacobs In the past few years I ve started watching runway shows because they re ridiculous and so entertaining I like Marc Jacobs the most His are the most weird These creative sentiments do not stop with the clothes on Toth s and Traver s backs their individuality comes across in the group s music as well Rubblebucket s sound is definitely unique indie pop that leans heavily on synth alongside a kick ass horn section It s not the normal mix for a band sure but where s the fun in normal Toth commented that sometimes he wonders if the band s music is too strange Maybe I should make it less weird because I want to be successful he said But it never really feels good when you compromise like that Even if it does do well it doesn t feel honest And if it doesn t you re like Fuck why didn t I just do the thing I wanted to do Toth continued What I ve learned 100 percent is to notice the self doubt and go with your own thing What I ve learned 100 percent is to notice the self doubt and go with your own thing Kal Traver This sentiment was echoed by Toth s description of his creative process For me creativity and the way music comes to me is I wish I could really paint it or describe it It s often so multi sensory though It s pretty vivid I don t know if that s the synesthesia but there s something with my music that s so visual This attitude might not make Rubblebucket billionaires but that s okay with them I don t have to make all 7 billion hearts on earth weaken said Traver We can kind of build the world that we want on a smaller scale like a more manageable human scale And this doctrine of kicking ass 31

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metoo and timesup movements a topic that both Traver and Toth had plenty to talk about I feel like it s a gateway to a lot of healing remarked Traver Alex and I talk about stances and how the best way to deal with opposition is to be more fluid and never really have a stance and be more open minded I sat with this 70 year old nun and she was a feminist and she went and ordained against the Buddhist patriarchy in Thailand The nun lineage had ran out and she went and ordained a bunch of these women Alex Toth Traver was hopeful that the movements would remain positive She said I m hoping that this conversation won t be like an us against them or men against women Gender is such an illusion ultimately Traver elaborated on this idea of gender as an illusion stating that the movement should not only cover those who identify as women but also anyone who doesn t have a masculine identity However going back to the idea that it should never become a us and them issue Traver stated That s delicate cause I could have a masculine identity too Like I love to express the male part of myself But that s a whole other shade of nuance Building on this Toth added It s really powerful It reminds me of my mindfulness practice and my meditation with Buddhism and stuff like that I sat with this 70 year old nun and she was a feminist and she went and ordained against the Buddhist patriarchy in Thailand The nun lineage had ran out and she went and ordained a bunch of these women And before the metoo movement it brings it back to being mindful about our speech and how we call people out and how we hold ourselves in all areas of life The movement has been part of a greater cultural trend towards equality in the music and entertainment industries which have so constantly and cruelly excluded the voices of women and non binary individuals It s a seriously dick move considering that it excludes more than half the population As Toth put it keeping the gender dynamic balanced creates a better touring vibe Better conversations We tour with nine people It s good to have all these different perspectives Toth continued I want to play in more bands with more women This feat is not always easily accomplished thanks in part to societal ideas on who should be a musician As a band leader through the ages like you go to college and it s privileged white kids for the most part Toth said You have to go the extra step to find that it s white males for the most part It takes extra effort to you know diversify the presence on stage Bands consisting solely of white dudes are so ubiquitous that it s easy to overlook the problem Traver admits that all of the blame cannot be placed on the powers that be Getting to a solution takes some soul searching and personal reflection One thing I really found coming up against my own ingrained prejudice is when I m in that space am I actually listening or am I just expecting them to be a certain way and that can be true of any person Traver continued It s really helping me open up my mind and be passively surprised at what someone may say or what notes they play and not prescribe them like Oh I m gonna put you in a box right when I meet you Toth echoed this sentiment telling us I ve watched in the musician community and among my friends Everyone is checking themselves out everyone is like How have I been holding myself This constant need for change and creativity has defined Rubblebucket since the band s inception Whether it s the clothes they wear the tunes they write or the company they keep Toth and Traver are always pushing the envelope as artists The rules laid forth by the musical authorities don t matter Fuck those rules those rules are for posers The rules for art must be made by the artists of the artists and for the artists lest the powerful medium we call music perish from this earth

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YOKE LORE SINGING US CLOSER TOWARDS SELF ACTUALIZATION Words by Christopher Snyder Photos by Adam Antalek Music breathes life into our lives in more ways than one If you let them the beat and rhythm of a good song can grab your body and soul while the words can grab your mind Solo indie musician Yoke Lore serves up something unique but familiar at the same time His poppy folk music drips with subtle electronic beats and provide an ideal backdrop for a relaxing afternoon Yoke Lore s lyrics add a modern twist on ideas that can trace their roots to the world s oldest religions Adrian Galvin the man behind Yoke Lore steeps his music in the lessons of his personal intellectual exploration Adrian has been working solo under the mantle of Yoke Lore since leaving Walk the Moon in 2013 He grew up in a household that observed both Catholic and Jewish traditions He continued his studies of spirituality at Kenyon College by creating his own major in Liberation Theology a politically charged approach to religion that leverages old wisdom into more concrete real life values Galvin s upbringing united his creative impulse with his ongoing spiritual education By studying multiple religions in parallel he has found that music and art are a commonality within traditions According to Galvin the common thread between all religions is to become god and the goal of artistic expression is to create something that is living He also believes that the mind just is the body and the body is the mind Art exercise and meditation are how Galvin develops himself Luckily for us he channels that growth into his music I really and truly believe that there is no mind body connection the mind just is the body and the body is the mind The Yoke Lore project is driven by his desire to bring challenging concepts back into pop music while remaining faithful to familiar pop vocabulary and sonic textures His most prevalent theme is that of the little death which is the idea that parts of the self must die to remain relevant There are ideas and conceptions we hold onto that after a while don t make sense anymore Galvin said For self betterment the individual must kill these off 37

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I WANT TO BELIEVE I N F I LT R AT I N G R O C H E S T E R N Y S PREMIER GHOST ALIEN COMMUNIT Y Aline cukt Rochester Ghost Society First Contact As a hobby I ve located infiltrated and befriended fringe communities I have spoken at tea party rallies visited a cult that worships Korean Jesus and smoked with Indian gamblers Most recently I visited a group of people who hunt and actively banish ghosts and other supernatural entities I decided to research ghost hunters after hearing a spot on an independent Rochester radio program The program was interviewbased A host asked a ghost hunter about his ghost removal service and the ghost hunter replied with the utmost sincerity that he would get rid of them for the right price If ghosts were an actual problem I like to imagine that ghost insurance would also be a thing I m sorry sir I can t remove your ghost Your insurance will not cover the removal of a ghost from a home with a preexisting ghost Surprisingly Rochester is home to many ghost hunting communities In fact ghost hunting has a cult following here in Rochester I found over eight active and countless more inactive ghost hunting groups while looking for the perfect one to infiltrate Ultimately we decided to visit what we determined to be the most serious and eccentric group in all of Rochester We decided on the ghost group that demanded a list of requirements a list so outrageous that we knew we had a winner The group advised me to buy a specific stone ring to keep the dark energy away as well as to spread sage around my living area Words by Wes Musgrove Illustrations by Shaemus Spencer We specifically ask you for a full face photo of just yourself No couples photos even if you re both joining This helps organizers and members put a face with your name No sunglasses photoshopping ghosts babies cars bikes pets animals cartoons children landscapes Please use your real First Name last if you want No initials and no popular character name Please answer the five profile questions in detail not just one word Be specific in your answers Naturally we said fuck the rules and we just showed up turned on the charm and invented personal ghost stories Inventing our own stories was a very clever move because these people are skeptical and gaining their trust is hard My ghost story involved a specter that has followed me since I was 14 My friend said that his family lived in a haunted house that makes funny noises and occasionally produces a ghost They loved our stories probably a bit too much The group advised me to buy a specific stone ring to keep the dark energy away as well as to spread sage around my living area They desperately wanted to visit my friend s imaginary home and conduct a ghost survey They came to the point of harassment by pressuring him to reveal its location and owner He kept saying he did not want to give away personal information like that to strangers While conjuring my story I started to feel like I was 10 years old again playing make believe But instead of pretending to hunt magical creatures I was huntingt supernatural ghosts and aliens with middle aged suburbanites The Garrulous Garrison of Ghost Hunters From a distance they looked like a bunch of basement dwelling middle aged virgins playing Dungeons Dragons D D They sat around a table and took turns explaining their alien and ghost encounters with immense enthusiasm each one attempting to one up the others in their supernatural experience The Dungeon Master of the group was an older woman who enveloped herself in a shawl like garment that gave her the impression of a shaman She commanded an aura of superiority over the other members who with a motion of this women s mystically plump hand would fall silent and listen like mesmerized school children I must admit she did the mystic role justice In a different life she could have been a preacher or a monk Second in command and primary alien authority 41

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was an overweight English man He gave the group a sense of authenticity He spoke with the confidence and fluidity of a college intellectual but sadly no university needs a ghost and alien expert He was also the only member who entertained the existence of the Illuminati There was another new member besides us A middle aged housewife who talked like she had taken a handful of Ambien who had a story about finding ghosts near her summer home Her story dragged on for what seemed like an eternity When someone asked her a question her face would make an expression was something in between annoyance and exhilaration probably an Ambien thing Another member was a very old man who was likely alive during the ancient part of Ancient Aliens He carried an oxygen tank It was like listening to a fantasy monster manual on audiobook with conflicting information and incomplete descriptions and was the chief technology expert He was married to a woman with purple hair who was considered best at contacting the ghosts since she could speak in tongues She demonstrated this ability and we honestly thought she d forgotten how to use words altogether for about 45 seconds The wild world of ghost hunting was certainly fascinating but it was made even more interesting because of its connection to the more exotic sphere of interstellar space monsters That s right not only are ghosts and aliens real but I would never have guessed how they complement each other so here s your essential guide to the ghost alien human overlap The Types of Aliens I am briefly researching the aliens myself Most of this information is what I heard during the meeting and not necessarily an accurate view of any yet to be discovered creature As it turns out the ghost hunters are the exact same people who attend the alien meetings The only difference is that the alien meetings are more popular due to the presence of Dr Dolan which explains why the ghost hunters talked mostly about how aliens affect ghosts rather than the ghosts themselves The gathering began with the leader in her mystic voice explaining the five main types of aliens in detail The entire congregation of believers listened as eagerly as a 12 year old might after swallowing his first Adderall tablet The Grays The first species she described are called the Grays or as I will call them The Graybacks they look most like the Hollywood aliens we know and love the very same aliens that are said to be hidden in Roswell N M The Graybacks are the most diverse alien species as there are two subspecies The group s tech could have been scavenged from any 12 year old s bedroom It comprised some recording devices a few inexpensive cameras and some dowsing rods For those of you not well versed in ghost hunting tech dowsing rods are bits of metal you can use to ask ghosts yes or no questions Basically a way less cool version of a Ouija board In fact the more high tech the equipment is the more likely it is to disturb the ghosts Cell phones are banned on all ghost hunts and upgrading is considered risky because the new technology might scare the ghosts We learned that if you want to catch a ghost you won t need anything more than what the kids from Stranger Things had A bicycle and a Walkman recording device are all we need to combat the unknown Most remarkably we were told that this group also holds alien hunting meetings which are attended regularly by Richard M Dolan The first type of Grayback is smaller only about 3 to 4 feet tall The short gray aliens are the primary Roswell type and are most responsible for abductions and the anal probing of humans They are a mischievous alien species unlike their tall counterparts they can t be reasoned with They have eyes like visors which give them the appearance of wearing the ugliest pair of Oakley sunglasses as if Oakley sunglasses couldn t get any uglier Don t know who Dr Dolan is Neither did I but he is a big fucking deal in alien hunting circles He has his own Wikipedia page and is listed on Famous Rochester Residents He even went on to become a Rhodes Scholarship finalist and most importantly was a regular on the History channel show Ancient Aliens The tall Graybacks are very tall about 7 feet and have gangly limbs Contrary to their smaller counterparts they are quite docile and friendly Well not completely friendly Apparently they also used to take part in the abduction and probing of people but stopped after government officials made contact They did not intend to harm people they just aren t able to understand feelings and didn t realize they were causing harm Now they only observe us and infiltrate our culture Dr Dolan was a religious figure to these ghost and alien groups They would say things like Oh but recall what Dr Dolan said and Ya Dr Dolan would know all about that Or they gave their most common response which was also my favorite I ll have to inquire with Dr Dolan on that I never met the man but I heard so much about him during the meeting that I feel like I kind of know the guy I presume most of the information I heard regarding aliens came from the authority of this Dr Dolan I had heard of this kind of alien before About four years ago while waiting in line to ride a roller coaster a man started telling me all about the Graybacks He contended that they mated with humans and created a superhuman race called the blue bloods Blue bloods he claimed have ruled over human civilization since its conception The alien fanatics told me that the blue blood thing was a ridiculous notion that Dr Dolan had disproved Interestingly enough they also reject the idea of a flat earth They entertained the idea for a period but eventually decided that a flat earth was absurd and went back to UFO hunting In fact they recently had to dismiss a member who refused to stop believing in a flat earth Perspective is everything The Reptile Aliens Next we learned about the reptile aliens who are nothing but evil Reptile aliens are the most malicious and uncaring of the alien species who act as manipulators They can shapeshift and cause all kinds of trouble for people and ghosts alike For this reason a lot of alien theorists think that the reptile aliens are possibly the Illuminati The group was conflicted on this issue with only the fat British man believing such a thing The reptiles use a kind of telepathic communication to affect psychology They use this ability to induce trauma which they feed off of They are like secret agent vampires who feed on stress instead of blood For this reason it was suggested that they can use this negative energy field to fuck with ghosts and antagonize them This would cause a haunting or a spiritual anomaly so haunted homes could actually just be reptile aliens making trouble Additionally the reptilian aliens are rumored to enter people s dreams Freddy Krueger style and induce the idea of a haunting or supernatural activity The British guy said that 80 of the false reports they get on possible ghosts are probably because of the reptile aliens and their dream tricks The Nordic Aliens The Nordic aliens are by far the most interesting While all the other aliens are described as monster like creatures the Nordic aliens are described as being well Nordic Nordic aliens look most like Scandinavian people and have a sort of holy presence They arrived on earth sometime during the 1950s and have been doing research here ever since mostly on ghosts and spirits The group of ghost hunters described them as explorers who are constantly seeking new knowledge They are very friendly but keep a distance from the affairs of people They are primarily interested in the supernatural and spiritual parts of humanity Unfortunately they can really rattle the ghosts too During the meeting the woman who had taken too much Ambien mentioned a group of tall red robed people conducting a ceremony around a haunted cave The leader women said without hesitation that they must be Nordic aliens and that they were investigating a strange spiritual energy around the cave However the Nordic aliens don t always understand the nature of human spirits and typically will disturb ghosts accidentally with their investigation That being said I was told you should never interfere with the Nordic aliens because they are so rare and so pure So next time you see a group of robed people conducting a strange ceremony in the woods do not call the police They are not trained to handle Nordic aliens Insectoid Aliens Finally the insect race of aliens I know the least about this race because I was told the least about them According to this group they are the oldest and most peaceful of all the alien races in fact they are the wisest and most knowledgeable They look like giant praying mantises and can travel through time and space using a telepathic bubble The group told me the insectoid race was the most concerned with peace and tranquility in the universe but unlike all the other information they fed me this description contradicted basic online research Maybe Dr Dolan knows more about insect aliens then the amateur alien theorists online After all he has a master s degree More than anything these insectoid aliens proved to me how silly it is to describe aliens It was like listening to a fantasy monster manual on audiobook with conflicting information and incomplete descriptions Actually a roleplaying game based on being alien ghost hunters would be really cool Take Away After observing the group being cleansed of negative energy summoning a ghost and watching a woman with purple hair talk to the ghost using two bits of metal I was finally starting to figure out what this was all about Just like a tabletop roleplaying group the ghost hunters sit in a circle take turns describing their supernatural experience and compete for supernatural social dominance They even take on roles like chief technology expert and principle energy finder They basically do live action role playing but instead of fighting with sticks they enter abandoned buildings and walk around with a dated audio recorder They are the goth kids from your high school all grown up but with less style In their own weird way the members of this alien ghost hunting group are very genuine and brave about their beliefs Let s be honest talking to ghosts is not all that crazy when compared to most New Age religions and it is almost normal in comparison to the current political climate People believe crazy things In Rochester that crazy finds a home The eccentricity takes a different form depending on whom you talk to But it s important to realize that everyone is a bit strange Maybe you don t hunt ghosts or believe in aliens but everyone has something that makes them odd and even a bit crazy Stay curious be remarkable and hope the little gray aliens leave you un probed

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I can say I m a feminist without people acting like I m about to chop everyone s dick off Honestly when I started playing in bands the attitude towards feminism was so hostile Nobody wanted to be associated with it Ren Aldridge Not to put girls down but I feel like our conversations are just so much more shallow My guy friends all talk about stocks and business and their homework shit that s actually productive No joke this is what came of an exchange I had with my roommate in 2018 about the difference between male and female conversations My response Find better bitches Here s the thing you can find just as many guys who only talk about their best clit tips and how many wings they can shove down their throats as you can find girls who only talk about what they re wearing tomorrow More importantly you can find just as many women discussing the social satire of A Clockwork Orange or future applications of cryptocurrency as you can find men That s exactly what we love about Petrol Girls a group of four badass musicians and self proclaimed intersectional feminists and anti fascists After sitting down with the band I can sure as hell say that badass is a hefty understatement For starters the band name was imagined by way of a mythological story about women in late 19th century Paris who set fire to private property with molotov cocktails made from milk bottles Didn t I say that badass was an understatement But anyway band members Liepa Kurait bass Zock drums Joe York guitar and Ren Aldridge vocals took this impassioned indignation inflated it tenfold and channeled it straight into their music This isn t the kind of shit you fall asleep with or roll your next joint to well maybe it is whatever strikes your fancy mate These are the kinds of tunes you throw on when you learn about the realities of sex trafficking or think about how we re burning up our own atmosphere Instantly you get the sense that each piece is grounded in the idea of change tangible productive change they re not just shouting into the void This grit is especially palpable in the album s first song False Peace which kicks off with audio from a demonstration led by the Sisters Uncut an activist group that protests the UK government s decision to cut service funds for domestic violence victims The persistent and repetitive riffs of False Peace showcase Ren s tenacity she really fuckin does disturb the peace The punk music scene seems like a pretty damn conducive grounds for change to us Ren says that it has always been an ongoing and developing movement based loosely on anarchist principles Much like the hippies and skinheads from the latter half of the 20th century Petrol Girls recognize the value and importance of confrontational tactics in rectifying social ignorance Counterculture is a vital form of resistance and we need to think harder about how to maintain punk as a counterculture These days far too many musicians and artists approach this idea peripherally they see counterculture as a way to stand out a way to have their own voice heard above the masses instead of using it for the greater good Thankfully Petrol Girls give us the opposite impression They want to come together More than anything else they re pushing for collective reform which is refreshing as hell Yet they re also not afraid to reveal the flaws and facades of the genre or to question the scope of its claims Punk often runs the risk of just hiding behind slogans Ren said Like we say Refugees Welcome but what are we actively doing about that And while Petrol Girls may not be making headway on that crisis in particular there are a whole shit ton of problems that they do actively seek to ameliorate one of which is the grey area that somehow still clouds the concept of rape I just find it worrying that a woman aggressively defending her right to her own body and speaking openly about consent as what differentiates sex from assault and rape is seen as scary or intimidating Ren said I have noticed a massive difference in the way I ve been treated now that I front Petrol Girls to how I was before when I played acoustic or sang backing vocals or just attended shows and was less visible and it 47

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really concerns me Although she can celebrate for shutting up the ignorant pricks who used to shout at her to get on with it or to get her knickers off she s really concerned about what this decrease in backlash means for the larger conversation It s a commendable direction to take what the fuck do those pricks really matter anyway The recent metoo movement a campaign that gives voice to previously silenced sexual assault victims has started an interesting discussion which Aldridge is eager to chime in on Some difficult conversations need to happen about power consent gender violence and accountability It also really shouldn t just be up to the people who ve survived abuse to figure this stuff out what has happened to survivors is not their fault so it s certainly not their responsibility to clean up the mess And while she recognizes the complexity of the issue politically she has other ideas personally I don t see why it s so hard to just make sure that everything is cool and that you have the consent of the person you re having a sexual moment with whatever that looks like To sum it up with a lyric from one of their most powerful songs Touch me Again My hips my neck my tongue my mind Touch me again and I will fucking kill you Speaking of lyrics the song Deflate has some killer opening lines I want to stick a pin between your eyes refers to politicians with inflated egos and yes this lyric comes straight out of the mouth of a woman whose destressors are cups of tea and dogs bottoms up for multifaceted women You can sense that this stems from a deep place despite the aggression of the intro the lyrics are neither rash nor senselessly angry Petrol Girls don t want to stick you in the face just to stick you in the goddamn face but to deflate the arrogance that blinds many of our most prominent leaders Ren said that she has seen so many things get fucked up because of individuals often men making things all about them and not thinking about how their behavior affects other people As she described her shift toward a more politically militant mindset she noted that the more you get involved the more phenomenally fucked you realize the world is right now The song Deflate has a rather introspective provocation running throughout it that really characterizes the band s involvement Alongside allusions to the patriarchy and fake news Petrol Girls pose questions that are pertinent to our current political climate Who is more visible Who is getting space They are asking you to actually confront how power plays such a principal role in issues like gender disparity and migrant solidarity But as Petrol Girls have clearly argued recognizing the corrupted state of our society is only half the battle My politics did get a lot more militant the more I became involved in antifascism anti austerity politics intersectional feminism and migrant solidarity stuff because the more you get involved the more phenomenally fucked you realise the world is right now Regarding the gender gap in the music industry Ren said There s a lot of great activism happening that challenges the gender balance of festival line ups and also loads of great initiatives encouraging other genders to get into music like Girls Rock Camp First Timers School of Frock etc And her righteous advice to these young women trying to play in bands and make music would be to suck openly and proudly Guys get to suck or in my opinion worse be blindly mediocre and it has nothing to do with their gender so why should it be any different for us This sentiment kicks into overdrive in the song Harpy In alliance with Liepa s resonant strokes of frustration over the stereotypical treatment of women 49

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with power Ren warns men that witches come out at night so sleep tight sleep tight Despite this confrontational tone toward raging misogynists Ren recognizes how much the scene has actually progressed over the course of her time in music Honestly when I started playing in bands the attitude towards feminism was so hostile Nobody wanted to be associated with it Now I can say I m Petrol Girls set shit on fire and talk of smashing the ceiling Again they re trying to get you to look past this initial indignation I don t think that s violence it s militancy and I certainly think there are moments when it is necessary Ren said Yes they re smashing the ceiling but this is a figurative action more than anything Petrol Girls want you to realize that the wider systems of oppression they are protesting against are actually violent Misogynistic The first artwork I made for the band is linked to the origins of our band name les p troleuses who were mythical women from the paris commune that set fire to private property with molotov cocktails made from milk bottles I don t think thats violence its militancy and I certainly think there are moments when it is necessary a feminist without people acting like I m about to chop everyone s dick off Funny how women in power can so easily threaten a man s security in himself isn t it Anyway Ren said that the change has been intense setting an optimistic tone that makes us fuckin stoked for all the women realizing the renegades in their own reflections However she does note that feminism is now popularized to the point that sometimes it s treated like a badge rather than a political movement It s important to be aware of the inefficiency of this approach be a proud supporter of the sisterhood but don t let the label distract from the purpose of the movement Don t make it an empty promise for gender equality make it the armor you fight with against inequality In terms of combating these issues we asked the band at what point violence becomes necessary to fix political and social concerns if at all Their record Talk of Violence is all about the idea of violence and the way the word is used Ren said that she does not think you can be violent towards property or other non sentient objects yet protesters are constantly described as violent for smashing windows etc Some people might even get this impression from the lyrics and video to the song Restless wherein and sexist platforms are the real villain here not the people who are trying to break through their strongholds Petrol Girls clearly have this whole social consciousness thing down pat Their music is laden with passion tension and a cold hard rejection of senseless ignorance They constantly strive to push themselves musically and hold true what they consider the important values of punk But the story doesn t end at their own growth Petrol Girls want to encourage people to make genuine changes in any way they can Getting to know your neighbors and people in your community is important society is becoming increasingly alienated and there are a lot of lonely people out there If you work are you unionized What can you change from within your workplace or university To open this interview we asked Who the fuck are Petrol Girls We were told THE FUCKING FUTURE No I m joking Well WE RE NOT so cheers to the fucking future

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But this is all not to paint a bleak picture The future of body modification particularly tattoos is bright In some places of the United States tattoo art is even celebrated Ropik experienced the disillusionment that only comes from growing up Throw in the stock market crash of 2008 and you ve got yourself a jaded and jobless generation drowning in student debt Take the tattoo cultures of Rochester Syracuse and Buffalo They re similar to those of the other Rust Belt cities all having a strong presence of the neo traditional style But at the same time they all have their own styles going for them Out of Syracuse in particular we re seeing a newer tattoo style emerge and Ven Ropik is at the forefront of it In the neighborhood of Eastwood Floated met with Ropik at Vessel Tattoo Shop an establishment where tattoo designs intersect and form into their own styles Here s what went down When the numbing agent wore off after a couple of days Ven Ropik describes the pain of having his tongue forked as Hell on Earth He didn t expect any type of anesthetic when he went to modify his body He s had his fair share of tattoos but still wasn t sure if it was enough to prepare him for this kind of body modification Excruciating pain and a temporary lisp soon followed But overall Ropik doesn t think the experience was all that bad Classical music is dead and unless you play in a philharmonic there s nothing to gain monetarily By some metaphor his experiences with body modification serve as a reflection of his diverse career It may come as a surprise to learn that tattoos haven t always been Ropik s passion Nor did he ever anticipate ever becoming a tattoo artist In fact his first passion was and has always been music Growing up Ropik performed as a classical concert pianist believing he would eventually become a professional By age 11 he was touring around the country He performed at the U N Moscow and Carnegie Hall by age 15 The prestigious role often required him to dress and act in accordance with the conventions of the classical music scene That often entailed wearing a tuxedo for meet and greets with concert goers scouts and big figures in the scene But as a self described oddball Ropik would look forward to the moment he could shed the tuxedo in exchange for his skater street clothes The switch between personalities and the snide reactions it would stir up amused him to no end Many of us grow up playing sports or instruments and some of us even go on to play at the college level Very few of us ever go on to the professional level or sign a record deal or get accepted to play in a philharmonic But Ven Ropik is still far from ordinary In Ropik s case the classical competition circuit began to die out in his teens He saw lots of friends come out of college unable to find work At age 17 he began working in hospitals and private pharmacies as a technician a job done in isolation that is ultimately forgiving of tattoos His first tattoo was of a kanji symbol on his forearm He s had 70 tattoos done in the last 2 years alone That now makes 85 He recently touched up his ankles stomach palms underarms and throat The stomach tattoo hurt the most as he had his belly button blackened His knuckles hurt as well Last year he quit the pharmacy technician job knowing that working in the medical industry wasn t his dream So he decided to do what he s always loved art 55

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Californian natives IronTom an eclectic and contagiously high energy band whose creations are best conveyed through their live performances The group is made up of four talented homies Harry Hayes Lead Vocals Zach Irons Guitar Dylan Williams Drums and Daniel Saslow Keys We had a chat with Harry about how far the band has come the band s goals and their connection with recent tour mates Awolnation When we started the band I realized that I just wanted to react to the music I really wanted to let what the guys were playing hit me and have myself react to that in a way that could go with the performance It s fun man How do you guys share Zach Irons guitarist playing in both Awolnation and IronTom Harry Yeah man it s exciting We re like a little family with Awol Aaron produced parts of our album and after that his own album We ve just all been together Zach obviously played on Here Come the Runts and it sounds great It s cool to me that our sounds are kind of intermingling Being out on the road too we re traveling with them It s just like a rock n roll circuit every night It s fun to be rollin in with guys you love so much and are inspired by Where do you get the inspiration for your extreme energy on stage Harry It just kind of came out of me man When we started the band I realized that I just wanted to react to the music I really wanted to let what the guys were playing hit me and have myself react to that in a way that could go with the performance It s fun man They re great players Dan Dylan and Zach Every night they inspire me I just feel so much joy and excitement The performances are just a moment for me to express myself whatever I am feeling I feel things so intensely and they feel good I just want to share them with everybody It s just me saying here s how happy I am and you should just take it little bit better on the next one and a little bit better on the next one It s just something we are hungry to do Dan s always working on songs on the road we all are We have all this time before the shows and shows inspire us to create more and more It s a great thing man I m just trying to listen to things all day It all feeds it On the latest album Be Bold like Elijah has to be one of my favorites The album as a whole is really great Brain Go is also one of my favorites and Partners What is your day to day life like on tour Harry Hell yeah man Before we hit the road we started working and recording some new songs with Aaron and they sounded really great We re workin on them as we are traveling technology makes so many things possible We re all just close to each other so we re able to just talk about it all day and figure it out So there is more coming I m hoping in the next couple of months The sooner the better in my mind Being creative it rolls with us We make a song and it will fulfill us for a second and it is cool but we want to get a Harry Normally we are in our own little bus We have our roadies taking care of the gear On this tour we re touring with Awol we are on their buses It s a little easier with that aspect with the gear rather than dealing with a lot of the logistical stuff ourselves Basically day to day we will finish the show in one city leave around two am drive all night we ll sleep wake up the next day in the next city and probably work on some new music a little bit together have some lunch and soundcheck After soundcheck it s about an hour or two before we play then we just listen to music and get excited for the show again Do you guys have any pre show rituals Harry I have a playlist I like to put on that s a lot of Pearl Jam Queens of the Stone Age Rolling Stones Some songs that can t help but excite me It works too man gets me goin and the guys get goin too How do you guys entertain yourselves while driving around and staying on the tour bus Harry We find ways We can make music on our laptops and we can also watch some Netflix We can eat we can drink coffee We can also wrestle with each other Who do you think is your wrestling champ for the tour Harry Dylan is a beast man he ll just turn into the Hulk on us Zach is really fast he s faster than you d think he d be He can get the best of ya Zach Attack What are you currently watching on Netflix Harry Black Mirror is pretty intense It s a show that is so creative and so well done Anytime I put it on I can only watch one episode cause it s so intense You never know where they re going too It s pretty cool to not anticipate a plot turn like a lot of things you watch you can kind of sense where it is going It s pretty scary some of it could totally become reality Harry Yeah that s the really heavy part about it Cause it s like shit this is where we are headed a little bit When you guys were just forming the band where did you think you would be in this timeframe Do you think you guys were able to achieve the goals you set for yourselves Harry Yeah I think we are on a pretty cool timeframe I think we are maybe two years behind where I thought we would be Where we are now I thought we would have been two years ago But that s kind of a silly way to think because I ve enjoyed every step of it It felt like everything we ve come to every new tour and every new place we ve been we ve never been ready for that until this moment you know Doing something like the Chili Peppers thing when it came it was to me an opportunity that came early I thought it would probably come a few years down the line but when the opportunity came we re ready to go do our thing on a stage like that and prove ourselves in that way So it s all working out great Where would you like to see yourself five years from now Harry Making recordings and touring regularly and have people know our songs Having it just be little families in every city in the United States and hopefully abroad too We haven t played abroad yet like in Europe Canada it s great everywhere we ve played in Canada it s been awesome But I m really hoping to grow abroad and start growing our thing in Europe and in England and stuff like that would be so killer Australia Japan anywhere man Africa South America we ll go anywhere

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It s free for anyone who RSVPs to their app ahead of time and its packed man Next time you re in LA check it out of Blues in Orlando in support of Kaleo That was the coolest one by far Troubadour was another favorite their bodies and wear whatever they want I know women all have different things they re trying to fight for Hollywood is just weird tons of people with all these different mindsets LA is kind of weirdly the odd one out Our next stop Baltimore we played right near a college and we had a ton of college kids come out and some high school kids come out too which was kind of interesting It was cool because it was us and Verite and it was a pretty packed room and everyone was into the music a pretty similar scene to Rochester I feel Charlotte was also really similar to Rochester The indie pop alternative genre I think attracts the same type of music lovers That was just our experience Kaleo They re so good They re so cool because we did our first show with them in Toronto and they were just breaking out Then we did our Oregon show with them and we did House of Blues with them they sold the place out They re in Rolling Stone They re killin it Do you have any pre show rituals For me I ve always been an advocate and I am continuously working towards becoming an advocate for women just being themselves Which venues have been your favorite Matt Charlotte was really cool It was a big theatre and it had this stage with really cool architecture Cool lights and everything There were 3 tiers of levels the audience could go into kind of like amphitheater seating but standing One level was right in front of the stage and then 100 yards back was another level with no railing Then at the top you were looking down on the stage and that s where the bar was That was a weird one I think the weirdest one and our favorite one from this last year was The House How do you stay connected to the other musicians you have played with Matt Verite we got to hang out quite a bit We actually share the same producer so that s cool We got to hang with K Flay we baked her cookies The House of Blues is part of Disney World that s how we connected We went out to the bowling alley with the guys from Kaleo We have a picture of their guitar player wearing my hat and he looks better in it than I do What do you have to say to all the haters out there Alyssa For me I ve always been an advocate and I am continuously working towards becoming an advocate for women just being themselves Not listening to anyone in the industry who says You gotta lose this weight or look this way to be the part I m really really fucking sick of it It gets really old It s so sad younger girls who look up to these women are seeing these perfect bodies perfect everything and it s not realistic I know this is nothing new and nothing that hasn t been said before but I m really starting to see that I ve had a manager once she was a girl and she was telling me You should really try and lose some weight It just hit me a bit hard Even if you are really skinny girls still get body shamed it s so sad I m trying to be more of an advocate for women to do their thing show Alyssa I honestly I used to have a drink and I realized I was a blabbermouth on stage and it really wasn t cute last few shows the Verite shows our music fit really well together It wasn t that hard we didn t really have to force anything We just did a cover or two so people can relate even though we re an original band People wanna know the song That s one thing we ll do But it s really about getting everybody excited for the main act It s so sad younger girls who look up to these women are seeing these perfect bodies perfect everything and it s not realistic I know this is nothing new and nothing that hasn t been said before but I m really starting to see that Now I have to kind of have to have a moment to myself before the show collect my thoughts I usually have to go to the bathroom like 13 times No joke I really just have to sit there and take deep breaths and pace I don t eat before shows I do pig out after I will find any and everything to eat after but before shows I won t eat Just because nerves But that s really it What pressures do you face as an up and coming band on tour Matt I think the biggest pressure is being an opener and people don t know who you are You have two jobs 1 You have to win them over because you re going on tour with these bands And the 2nd part is the headliner picked you as their opener so you have to pump up their audience so that when they come out everyone s already having fun We ve been realizing that when you go and play a show in whatever city the whole point is to make sure everyone who bought a ticket has an awesome night and give them something to talk about the next day Those are the people who matter not the industry people Industry people think if artists don t sell or stream then no one s listening to their music The Has the new technology streaming helped influence the growth of musicians Matt From the people we ve talked to and the stuff we ve observed the majority of a bands income is from touring Streaming is very important and that is what labels are looking at streaming is more important than CD sales and album sales because no one buys those anymore Streaming is important in that sense but as a band I think the live show makes up a majority of your income We make the most fans touring We are very lucky with the bands we ve opened for their fans have dug our music we ll get off stage and we ll have a ton of Instagram notifications all these people followed you and wanna tag you in their story It is cool and we appreciate every one People send us pictures we post them we hang out by the merch booth every night we got to meet everyone in every city and we love that We get way more reaction and response after people have seen our live show than after they heard us on Spotify that s just us

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Dee s voice gets compared to Danzig s by some people Is this why you guys don t talk about ghouls zombies and dead babies more in your songs Dee s voice does get compared to Danzig a lot That s something we actually didn t plan for or anything We didn t really listen to Misfits we did listen to Danzig s solo stuff Dad brought that into our lives at one point But it was always kinda cool we didn t really start listening to the Misfits until people said Dee sounded like him Bad Brains as well we had never heard of them So that s cool Basement show or dive bar I would say dive bar we love dive bars We grew up in dive bars rockin those out Who has the worst tour van farts Man that s tough We would each probably pick different people Farts are special If budget was no object what would be some stuff you guys would like to do in a music video It was kind of We would like to do a video that looks exactly like an anime opening Whichever one You gotta be walking and have your history going in the back The greatest hits of things you ve been through You re falling nowhere revenge and just If you had to fight a superhero supervillain collectively as a band who would you stand the best shot against What would each of your superpowers be We would have the best shot against The Penguin He would be pretty easy celebration pure excitement A universal utility tool of amazing revenge happiness Whose playlists are the best out of the three of you And what are some tunes we d be surprised you re listening to We collaborate on this big playlist It s called green machine You just smoke weed and listen to it on repeat Or even go to the metal section or all acoustic songs It s a twoday long playlist and we ve all collaborated on it Pretty much everything including Puttin on the Ritz The Taco Song Taco Cover Taco Covering Fred Whatshisface Most important punk rock stage moves Stage moves are important no matter what anyone says I think playing back to back is super fun Like goin to the knees Its so good chuckles Who s the most likely to be hungover the morning after a show Between Sal and I I guess I m Isaiah usually the one who s the most hungover Just because it s one of those things you just lose control after a while when you re you re rocking out You don t keep up with the water don t drink enough water So yeah I am the weakest with that If we sneak up on him it d probably be easy Or distract him So The Penguin it is Sal likes super speed and so do I we d probably be Super Speed Brothers but I ll take lightning powers just straight lightning and Sal can run fast Can t go back in time or anything So at what point in your rock career did you figure Yeah Mastercard will call us for an ad campaign Mastercard hit us up kind of randomly and the reason they hit us up was because of our history They were looking for bands doing stuff out of the ordinary if you wanna call black people playing rock out of the ordinary and finding those people out and saying Don t judge a book by its cover It was really nice really cool to hear they were looking up bands from wherever and getting them to do something big It s super nice super lucky Was there anyone that you sent a picture of that billboard to in order to rub it in their face Exes Teachers that said you wouldn t go anywhere I feel just posting it on everyone s actual page was like celebration revenge proven stuff It was kind of celebration revenge and just pure excitement A universal utility tool of amazing revenge happiness

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Floated Alternative Culture Maga

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