Categories
News Podcast

Ep. #147: TEEN Live at the Halifax Pop Explosion

TEEN is an inventive pop band from Brooklyn, New York consisting of sisters Teeny, Lizzie, and Katherine Lieberson and Boshra AlSaadi. Their latest album is called The Way and Color , which is out now via Carpark Records, and it prompted them to visit the Halifax Pop Explosion this past October to play some shows. We ended up doing a live interview at the HPX and I recorded it somewhat primitively for you to listen to ahead of their show with We Are Scientists at the Brooklyn Bowl on Thursday November 20. Here, TEEN and I discuss three sisters from Halifax who live in New York, Miami and The U, partying, SMU, Syria to Pennsylvania to New York, Halifax is cool, playing Halifax for the first time ever at the Carleton last month, perceptions of Halifax, Americans don’t know much about Canada, Newfoundland time, me and my son’s Ramones haircuts, things get personal, the Halifax pop explosion and Sloan, not going to many shows, when the music scene slowed down, VICE is taking over Williamsburg in Brooklyn, following Teeny, singing Broadway tunes as kids, musical careers, food in New York, Pizza Corner, Jane’s and Edna’s, good Indian food and then a bad room service call, double entrees, going to live boring and fun talk show tapings in NYC, I went to Letterman once, taking NYC for granted, Teeny’s tenure in Here We Go Magic and why it ended, Lizzie interning at a fashion magazine, fashion people are the worst, Katherine and taking up instruments to play in your first band, Boshra is an outta hand amazing bass player, Janka Nabay and the BuBu Gang, why Katherine followed Teeny’s lead, when the Lieberson sisters lost their father and came together in a band, the strength of Jen Turner, inspiring other women to make music, a dude, pros and cons of sibling-oriented bands, Boshra walks away, the road is weird, road managers can be useful, hating the band Live and Katy Perry, Madonna made me ill, The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, loving St. Vincent, Tame Impala, Pond, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Brian Eno, Kate Bush or David Bowie, the template is no template, this is TEEN, spelling The Way and Color, what are Foo Fighters, getting robbed of their gear in San Francisco, pledgemusic.com/projects/teen, the War on Drugs bring everything inside, not dying, knowing Islands, writing this winter, the song “Sticky,” and that’s it.         

Related links: teen-nyc.tumblr.com carparkrecords.com vishkhanna.com

TEENZi_Brackbill_2

Listen, subscribe, rate/review on iTunes.

Categories
News Podcast

Ep. #146: Lee Paradise

Lee Paradise is the stage name of an endlessly creative young man from Toronto named Daniel Lee. Over the past few years he’s been a key figure in unique bands like Hooded Fang and Phèdre and he co-founded the Daps Records label. This past April, Pleasence Records and not unlike released the excellent Lee Paradise album Water Palace Kingdom and he’s been keeping busy ever since. On Friday November 14, Lee Paradise performs at Long Winter at the Great Hall in Toronto and, to mark the occasion, Daniel and I talked about two record labels, one record, why Lee Paradise was necessary, getting personal, going down to the basement to make a new Hooded Fang record, stress and on-stage meltdowns in Montreal, amoureux, pissing in a sink, love can be crude, tears and water and emo, making clean music dirty, making interesting music reggae, reacting to and reflecting Toronto, competitive juices, a normal crazy family life, not loving music school, rapping as Able D, Beastie Boys and Wu-Tang Clan, seeing shows at the Music Gallery as a kid, battles of the bands at the Opera House, high-speed electronic music, the Harris Institute is not like DeVry, why Daps Records came to be, making a living as an artist these days, selling out and making ethical decisions, sludginess, surf rock and Joe Meek, Hooded Fang’s musical journey, control versus collaboration, limitations are good, Hooded Fang tour dates including a Nov. 29 show at the Silver Dollar in Toronto, Moss Lime, Fixture Records, Milk Lines, Daps Records is still a thing, the song “Farisian,” and then it’s paradise lost.

Related links: facebook.com/leeparadisesongs torontolongwinter.com vishkhanna.com

Lee Paradise Colour Photo

Listen, subscribe, rate/review on iTunes.

Categories
News Podcast

Ep. #145: Cousins

Cousins is an excellent two-piece band from Halifax, Nova Scotia featuring Leigh Dotey and Aaron Mangle. They make an impassioned, fun kind of indie-rock and their latest album, The Halls of Wickwire, is rad and out now via Hand Drawn Dracula Records. A few weeks ago at the Halifax Pop Explosion, Aaron took me for a drive and chat while he was running errands. Here, Aaron and I discuss running stopping signs and narrowly missing a limo, Aaron’s 1985 Mercedes Benz station wagon, in the Maritimes the pedestrian is the king of the road, Athens Restaurant, fancy car vacuum, stopping by a Halifax liquor store, Aaron’s house show featuring Joyful Talk, Jon Mckiel, and Freelove Fenner, Boxing Rock Beer from Shelburne Nova Scotia, house comedy shows, Wolfville Nova Scotia, King’s College, 19+ or 30+, security, no hoods, Back to the Future, Reduce Reuse Recycle Responsible, Jay Crocker’s car, the bands Bad Vibrations and Husband and Knife, down at the Khyber, Charles Austin’s Ultramagnetic Studio, there’s Cold Specks, Sarah Mangle, Aaron is a letter carrier for Canada Post, weird mail, oh I meant weed mail, the new Khyber, asbestos, city ruses, meeting people, Aaron Levin from Weird Canada, some background about Cousins and their new album The Halls of Wickwire, Aaron’s late, beloved grandmother and her influence on Cousins, Leigh from Cousins, Ben from PS I Love You, psychic grandmother and the game of Scat, Nicole from Aux and two North of America records, the song “Body,” a murder mystery, specific writing, Cousins is taking a break, yelling at Paul from PS I Love You, the song “Death Man,” and then we were alone.

Related links: cousinscousins.bandcamp.com handdrawndracula.com vishkhanna.com

cousinspress_0311050413084

Listen, subscribe, rate/review on iTunes.