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Hollencomium Music Reviews
By: Richmond Hollen - Music Reviews
Thursday, March 02, 2006
“Are you with the band?” “What? Oh, no.” I yell, my voice barely audible over the Indian punk rock in the neo-gothic San Francisco club, the DNA Lounge. “Oh, I was just watching you and it looked like you knew them.” “Yeah, yeah I know them.”
The band is directly below me and at any point you can get within reaching distance of the people on stage, when just a few minutes before I had said goodbye to the band after conducting my interview. I kept thinking to myself what the show would be like if I didn’t “know them”.
To listen to the podcast you will need a separate program. I recommend iTunes to do this. Using iTunes go into Advanced -> Subscribe to Podcast and copy the following link into the window: http://www.thepacificanonline.com/images/media/hollencomium.xml. The podcast should download automatically. For more information on how to subscribe to the podcast click here . Also, if you click and drag on the podcast image below into iTunes or other podcast subscribing programs, the podcast should download automatically. The playlist for the podcast can be found weekly at the bottom of this page.
I scribble quotes frantically as the Los Angeles band recites their opinion about pretty much everything. From their views on the city of angels to the war in Iraq to their ’91 Dodge conversion van “The Timeless Time Traveler”. Ween Callus, the lead singer, leans over my shoulder, reading my scribbles. “Oh, well, oh, you know what you’re doing.” She reassures me, although I’m pretty sure she knew I didn’t have a clue.
“Hi, is this Ween?” I ask, still surprised that I am calling her on her personal cell phone. “Yeah, hey Richmond.” She says, her voice surprisingly squeakier than her earthy toned singing voice. “Oh, hey, I’m here, where should we meet?” I reply sheepishly, hoping that the band will have some kind of arrangements set up. They don’t.
“Are you proud to be an Olympian?” “What? No, I’m not an Olympian.” I replied back as I was walking down Market St. trying to kill time before the show. “But it got you to smile. You know you’re alive when you smile.” The young homeless man then serenades me with a sappy song about love and angels and feeling he put in more effort than is normal I give him two dollars. “Is there any kind of coffee shop or anything open?” I ask, feeling I deserve something tangible for my two dollars and patience. “No man, you on tha wrong neighborhood for coffee tonight.”
“’Does It Matter’ is a pretty politically fueled song, could you tell me what you would like your listeners to get out of the lyrics?” “The song is about – our country is hurting people,” Ween stumbles through the sentence. “I can’t rest knowing some other human being is being hurt” she goes on, picking up steam now. She then explains that sometimes she wakes up at night wondering how many people are getting injured or killed for no apparent reason and that this is partly the fault of everyone in this country. “Seems like a pretty sad song for being so upbeat.” I say, feeling that the interview has taken some direction. “Yeah, a lot of our songs are based on positive things… We don’t want to just complain about it, that would get nothing done.”
“That’s funny, we are both writing,” as she was text messaging next to me. “Yep, that is funny.” I said while trying to put together the pieces of an information overload that had just occurred next door as I sit in the corner of the gothic dance club. Five notebook pages later and I feel like I summarized the interview process well enough to remember it later and she felt ignored enough to get up and leave.
Evan Haros, The electronics and sitar player, went on to explain the start of the band. “We didn’t know we were starting a band at the time, we were just jamming and recording our finished product in our house and after a while we had enough music for a full album.” The band explained that their Silverlake, CA house is one of their main influences on their music and the “recording studio” for their self-titled album. The house, situated on an isolated hill, sounds like an oasis in the busy city.
“I don’t want to offend anyone, but LA, concrete jungle or cultured society?” “Both” they recant in unison. The band goes on to describe the difference between a big city smashed into a small space and Los Angeles, a city that is spread out enough to have a “big, but small” feel. “You could never record an album in your house in New York or Boston, because you wouldn’t have a house.” Ravi explains, “Our band would have been a fleeting thought.”
“What have been some of your influences and what are some modern bands that you guys listen to?” I say, trying to be a professional. “Well, I personally like electronic music. A modern band I like is Boards of Canada, and I can’t help it but I also like William Orbit.” Skoda, the bass and guitar player, says while working on his second beer. At this point Ween breaks in, “I like Boards of Canada as well, but he doesn’t speak for the rest of the band with the rest of his choices.” The only person that the whole band could agree was a serious influence was George Harrison, who they say was the inspiration to their sound. The question seemed to speak volumes on the amount of musical diversity and apparent lack of direction displayed by both parties of the interview.
“Great Show!” “Thanks!” Ravi Dhar, who was the most energetic during the show screamed back. At that point I think we both realized that there was no direction or professionalism here that is usually displayed with interviews. There was no music critic present, just a fan.
The Hollencomium Review Podcast Playlist
Track
Artist
Song
Album
1
Viva K
Does It Matter?
Viva K
2
Viva K
We Are Safe
Viva K
3
The Dandy Warhols
All I Have To Do Is Dream
Stubbs The Zombie
4
Madvillian
Rhinestone Cowboy
Madvilliany
5
Portugal. The Man
Gold Fronts
Waiter: "You Vultures!"
6
Portugal. The Man
How The Leopard Got Its Spots
Waiter: "You Vultures!"
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Comments:
pebbleinabrook Written by Guest on 2006-03-01 14:08:30sounds like a fun interview! great article. chau!
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“Are you with the band?”
