Sisters Of Your Sunshine Vapor: album review and interview

Sisters of Your Sunshine Vapor: this Detroit band's self-titled album is seriously deserving of more than just a listen or two. It is one of those albums where, the more you listen, the more you hear, and the more you are absorbed, and the more you are amazed. The first influences I hear are the grittiness of The Black Angels, and the song structure similar in complexity to B.R.M.C.-era Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. But these songs the Sisters have created.....each one slams right into the next one, the momentum pushing right through you like a tornado....
Lord Is My Gun is a gritty homage to the tough streets. Victims of Momentum warns you with the title, get the hell outta the way. Slow Suicide, haunting, engaging on so many different levels: the vocals, the superb drumming, the guitar work....this song grips you tightly. All You Lovers, one of my personal favorites, how can I not love this song: sexy swagger, shameless, dirty guitar.....what's the name of this blog again? Yeah, DIRTY SEXY KARMA. Yeah. Spaceman Blues, that song is a trip I do NOT wanna get off. Another huge highlight of this album, Spaceman Blues is just one immense swirl of a song, a total trip to the outer limits that folds back in on itself to swallow you whole. My third favorite song, Two Thousand Nine, more blow-your-mind sexy psychedelic swagger: meet you in the back room? Um, YES. But this song ends too soon. At The Gates utilizes some phenomenal drumming behind a guitar part that is pure psychedelia.
Sean sings and plays guitar, Eric plays bass and does backing vocals, and Rick plays drums for Sisters of Your Sunshine Vapor. Time to get to know them a bit better by hearing it from the band themselves:

How did you three hook up and form a band? You had a former name and sound, correct?
Rick: Nobody in the band knew each other before we started playing music together. Eric and Sean met through email and social networking. They hooked up with their original drummer Scotty through the same method. However, things didn't work out with Scotty and they were without a drummer for a few months until they met me at a dance party in Ann Arbor called The Bang!. They asked me if I played drums and if I wanted to try out for the band and the rest is history.
We were originally called SikSik Nation the music was fuzzed out garage rock with some psych elements. We released one full length and an EP under that name after switching to a much more psychedelic sound we decided a name change was appropriate.

Are you doing this all yourselves, the producing and recording of your music?
Rick: We built and maintain our own studio. We did the recording and production ourselves; we even screen print our own record sleeves and t-shirts.

How is the scene in Detroit? I am not too familiar with it, so maybe you can tell me a bit about what it's like being serious musicians there?
Sean: Well Detroit seems to be heavily submerged in the pop scene as of now- we've poked through the water a bit as a psych band and turned a few heads, but as a whole the poppy-er outfits seems to get the most attention.

Where do you get your ideas from to make your music? I hear some seriousness in a lot of your songs, but I also hear some raunchiness here and there, which adds to the sheer enjoyment of your sound.
Sean: Society? or lack there of- music is one of the few things I actually take seriously in life- the raunchiness just come from humanity.

What artists do you feel influence you?
Rick: We have a lot of influences that vary from member to member. Some of the bands we share in common are Joy Division, Spaceman 3, The Doors, and The Velvet Underground. We also like plenty of modern acts like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Black Angels (ha ha).

What gear do you use? Ever blow out an amp??
Rick: Ah, some secrets are meant to be kept- but orange amps, lots of delay, theremins, bows, teisco spectrum guitars, Vox guitars, burns guitars, Ludwig vistalite drums- and a mass amount of other unconventional things. No way: amps are way too expensive to blow out!

Do you have a second album in you, as Sisters? More ideas for great songs?
Rick: We are a very prolific act; we will continue to make albums until it is no longer enjoyable. As of right now we have a handful of songs in production and hope to have another release this year.

Since I missed you in NY recently, I have been watching videos, as you guys are posting fantastic video diaries and films of your performances. Do you like the touring aspect of being in a band?
Rick: As a band we are making the transition from being a “local” act and moving around the country a little more. You feel like you get more accomplished when you play out of state and the experience is much more enriching. We hope to play at least 50 shows across the country this year. We have been experimenting with keeping video journals of our exploits, and so far it has been a pretty entertaining exercise.

When asked what he would like from music fans, Rick says:(We would like people to) download our record and tell us what you think. Some people think that bands only offer their albums for free because they are not confident in their product. That is complete bullshit. This record sounds way fucking better than anything we have ever paid for and we are giving it for free because we don’t care about money. We want people to hear what we have created and hopefully enjoy the outcome. Nothing in this band has been outsourced; everything from the recording to the merchandise has been done by the band. You will not be disappointed in our DIY efforts. If you are, then you have spent $0, so who cares?

The attention to detail in the songs that Sisters of Your Sunshine Vapor play is apparent upon first listen, but to REALLY hear these songs, keep listening. They become an alternate reality. Their vibe sinks into you completely. This band has got the talent and the confidence to shake things up. They've got ME shaken up, that's for certain. These guys are doing it for all the right reasons. We love that mind-set around here.

Thanks to the band, for taking time to do this interview for me. I love them dearly for it.

Sky Picnic

Could Sky Picnic possibly be the most deliciously psychedelic band in New York City today? The answer to that question is a HUGE YES. Indeed, Sky Picnic are creating the most gorgeous, heavenly, tripped-out psychedelic songs I have heard in quite some time. I have read the term 'mind expanding music' used to describe Sky Picnic's music. I totally agree. As I write this, I am immersed in the swirls of atmospherics and the dueting, chill-inducing vocals of singers Chris Sherman and Leah Cinnamon. White Plane is playing through my headphones and I'm lost......completely tripped out for a while, letting the mellow vibe and the poetic lyrics wash over me. This is psychedelia at its BEST. Farther In This Fairy Tale, if you can tell from its title, is not only poetic and beautifully atmospheric, it's an album to listen to from beginning to end, to escape from what corners you in this world, and to make you think beyond the bounds of the typical. It is a lovely experience, a necessary one for people of our mind-set. I asked Chris Sherman about the album:
Farther In This Fairy Tale was intended to be more conceptual than an ordinary album, listened to from start to finish in order, without the outside world interruptions? Exactly. It's art. We're not just making music...anyone can make music. We're trying to give you an experience and to take you deeper into an alternate world and give you something to think about. The concept of the LP is the end of innocence and a journey to find yourself, although I hope people can draw their own meanings from there.

Universal Mind Decoder, I will say is one of the best songs I have ever heard: twelve minutes, at times big and lush, at other times hushed and calm.....a trip for the mind and the soul. Chris and Leah actually began their musical project using that song title as their name:
How did you all come together in NY & start making music?
Leah and I started as Universal Mind Decoder in mid 2005. We had a slightly poppy-er mid-60's rock type sound. That dissolved at the end of 2006. From there, we started Sky Picnic in 2007, brought in a drummer and started developing our sound closer to where it is today. It wasn't until Pete joined in Oct 2008 that we really got it together and became a cohesive unit.

When I listen to music such as Sky Picnic's, I always think of what influences these musicians, what drives them to create this art that makes me feel so good to have surrounding me. Dreamy sleep, flickering lights, mellotrons, sitars, and rainbow colors of a symphony (as a true synesthete would say, "I see the colors of the sounds.") are just a few of the things that influence Sky Picnic's music. What Chris says about their creative process:
I love the influences you list on MySpace. Can you tell me a little more about how you create your compositions?The songs usually start with an idea coming out of nowhere. I'll usually get a nice blueprint for it and THINK I know how it should go. I'll make a quick demo, send it off to the band, and we'll develop it in practice. Once it's in their hands, the song always surpasses the original vision. It's a pretty efficient process, although I really want us to get into more group writing.
I know there are alot of definitions of psychedelic music, but it seems that label gets thrown around rather loosely these days. A band who happens to use phased vocals over an acoustic guitar is automatically "the next Syd Barrett" and "very trippy" according to all the hipster blogs and mainstream media out there. And that's fine if that what they want to call it. (That just makes us more left of center.) But we are trying to give the audience a psychedelic experience. Improvisation is abound on stage, and, to an extent, on the record. Themes of astronomy, mythology, dystopian societies and life and death are the basis of our catalog. Clearly, we're not trying to become rock stars, and have no ambition to do so. We're making music we love about subjects we love, in the matter in which we want to. Hopefully that spirit alone draws people to our band.

Sky Picnic has also released a beauty of an EP, titled Synesthesia, five songs equally as gorgeous as any song off Farther In This Fairy Tale. Using sitar swirls and lyrics that make me think of Alice In Wonderland's world, this EP breathtaking. Sequence IV is a musical journey of epic proportions. The band's full discography, all available to you, is:
Synesthesia EP- 2008
Hide & Seek (single)- 2009
Farther In This Fairy Tale- 2010
The CD of EP and LP are available at all shows and via IndepenDisc. MP3's are via Amazon.

A heartfelt thank you to Chris. Photo credits are from the band's MySpace. My best to the band, hope to see you in February!

Stellarium

From Singapore, Stellarium has released their debut album, Self Titled. This album is a wicked thrill ride through fuzzed-out tunnels of distorted sounds, with mind-bending effects around every turn. Stellarium's songs keep the vocals on the down-low, hushed and haunted, and let the guitar effects take center stage. Taking their cues from the lusciously warped dimension that keeps artists such as A Place To Bury Strangers, The December Sound, and Screen Vinyl Image in its realm, Stellarium bring us songs meant to be played so loudly that you feel the rumbling through your body and the ripping of your eardrums. Harbinger is a song that incorporates driving guitars and drums with deep, hollow vocals, yet also has the twang of surf guitar to highlight the dark, in just the perfect spots. Signature song Fader, screams and howls with layer upon layer of lush and distorted soundscapes, yet the twang of the surf-style guitar and the drum-and-bass-style beat seem nowhere out of place within the song; in fact, this composition is so wickedly thrilling that it requires repeated plays, trust me. You WILL repeat Fader. If you break out of the Fader trance, Dead Nebula will trance you again, with its drums that vary from almost tribal, to a huge industrial expanse of beats. Summer Bloodbath, a minute and a half of quiet, a kick-ass drum-and-bass beat, echoed vocals over fuzz: I have never heard anything like this song before. What a way to end an album. Watch the video for Fader:

Order the album here.

Antenna

Based in San Fransisco, California, Antenna is a band with some strong roots in the music that has shaped and is still shaping their home city. This is music that we love. Music that is made independently, with the passion and attention to detail we addicts crave. Antenna is comprised of musicians who bring to this new project of theirs, talent and experience, from a multitude of fantastic bands we already know and love. Brothers from Finland, based in San Fransisco, California, are hard at work fusing a strong garage rock base with elements of jazz, blues, and soul. Ville and Jaakko Vilpponen are quite experienced and accomplished at what they do (guitar and bass, and drums, respectively): they have been playing since their early teens. Practically lifetime-musicians, these guys now work with the amazing Mr. Leigh Gregory, after working with the very well-known and well-loved band Dora Flood. Antenna is their own project, a completely different sound than what they have been doing. The brothers are looking for a third permanent member, but do have their demos on their MySpace page, so we can check them out now.

A nice little interview with Ville, who so kindly gave me some insight into what he and Jaakko are up to with Antenna:

How long have you been involved in San Fran's music scene? How long have you and your brother been musicians?
I started playing in bands around San Francisco in 2003. Joined Dora Flood very late 2004 I believe. I’ve been playing electric bass since I was 10, guitar from the age of 14. Early bands in Finland were in various genres of heavy metal. Jaakko has played drums since an early age as well… He was in Dora Flood from 2007 until the end. And as you know, we both are in Memory’s Mystic Band these days

How many albums did you make with Dora Flood?
Two: 2007’s We Live Now and 2008’s Dream out Your Window.

From the 3 projects I know of that you have worked with (Dora Flood, Memory's Mystic Band, Antenna), all have completely different styles of music. I love this, as diversity is key in keeping your edge, and showing your talent. What direction do you want to take with Antenna?
Nothing too polished. We want to mix driving beats and/or psychedelic atmosphere with the grittiness of 60s garage rock and UK rhythm and blues. Noisy or quiet but with a certain sense of threat if pulled out right!

While listening through headphones to Antenna's demos, it's clear to me that you know how to compose a catchy garage rock groove that needs no mood to enjoy. These 'demos' sound like finished songs!
Thanks Terri! They are recorded in our studio in Berkeley , CA . I went to a recording school in Los Angeles and even though it never became a career I’ve been very interested in all aspects of recording music since.

What is important to you, and where do you find your inspiration to make music?
More than anything I think it’s important to keep going. Sometimes it feels that I just started writing songs yesterday and since I just want to get better, it doesn’t make sense to stop. You can never really master an instrument or songwriting- there’s always more to learn and enjoy. Subject-wise, one can find inspiration in most banal things like the decline of mainstream culture into one big reality TV-show and the pursuit of empty celebrity, which I find fascinating. A lot of Antenna’s songs draw from that. Still, even though they may seem cynical, there’s a good deal of humor in the lyrics. I’d like to think that it comes through.

What kind of music do you yourself enjoy listening to these days? What artists do you find inspirational to you?
Obviously it depends as there are Saturday night-records and Sunday morning-records. It’s a cliché but there’s really too much good music to mention. I love both PiL’s Second Edition and The Byrds’ Sweetheart of the Rodeo but not necessarily back to back. When it comes to this particular project I’d like to think that we’ll find our sound somewhere between post-Syd Barrett, pre-Dark Side of the Moon Pink Floyd and The Stooges with Ron Asheton on guitar. Spice it up with some Can-esque krautrock grooves and a dash of Velvet Underground maybe? Would be great!

Spoken like true independent, serious musicians. Ville also says they have so many great ideas for songs, they'll just keep on making them as Antenna and getting them out there for us to enjoy in the years to come. Check them out, and stay tuned.

Cotton Club

Cotton Club is a five-member band based in Lille, France. I am only beginning to get myself familiar with these guys, but it's never too early for me to recommend such a brilliant find. Go to Cotton Club's Band Camp page and listen to their EP Between Drones and Daisies. Six songs, which you just have to hear to believe: My Technicolor Dream begins the experience......all washed in reverb and tinny, scratchy vocals. The Right Moment soars to huge, dreamy heights. Two In Hell slows it down a bit, still within the dreamy, hazy realm. Trapped Inside, the huge winner among these amazingly psychedelic songs, is just a masterpiece: this song kicks you hard, and you will love it. The guitar interplay on Trapped Inside, and all six songs on Between Drones and Daisies, is intricate and hypnotic. The Breath of Drones is more sweet-sounding hazy reverb, and Standing Man With a Gun ends the EP with the before-mentioned and all-important guitar interplay that makes this music sound so big and full. Cotton Club have created music that is somewhere out there.......between drones and daisies. Enjoy it, friends. And look for more to come from Cotton Club, as they are working on a full length album. My best to them, they deserve it.

Cotton Club live at Reservoir from Videoliv on Vimeo.

Interview with Leigh Gregory part II

Though it's safe to say Leigh Gregory is not a new or less-known artist,as this blog usually profiles, it's also safe to say there can never be enough great press about him and his lifetime musical endeavors, as they are one of the great joys in my life, and so many other music fans' lives out there. Over the years, Leigh has made music of all different styles. Today, he concentrates on a lot of acoustic, or semi-acoustic music, by himself or with his project Memory's Mystic Band, in his home city of San Fransisco, California. If you have had the pleasure to read part I of my interview with him, last year, then you are familiar with his current work, and good for you! Let me now have the pleasure of bringing you the second part of my interview with the amazing Leigh Gregory.

Your EP you released as Memory's Mystic Band is a stunning piece of modern folk rock. Are you still working with MMB? Doing live performances? Anything else to be recorded soon?
Oh, yeah, Memory’s Mystic Band is my main project now. That project started several years ago after I had major surgery done on my spine. Mellow Drunk had kinda imploded at the time and I didn’t want to do another electric project (wasn’t very steady on my feet either!!!) so I started playing acoustic – just sitting in a chair -- at the Plough and the Stars Pub here in SF. Soon friends started joining in so suddenly there was a fluctuating band. The recordings that have surfaced are actually a couple of years old as we’ve settled into a four-piece now that is much more electric-oriented with me on guitar and vocals, Stephen Cavoretto on keys and vocals, Ville Vilpponen on bass and his brother Jaakko drums.

I was listening to Mellow Drunk the other day (every few days, a different MD album gets popped into my stereo) and wondering, would you ever do any more recordings/shows with MD as the artist name? Do you keep in touch with everyone involved with that past project?
Cool that you’re still into Mellow Drunk!!! Yeah, I’m in contact with everyone from the band. Ricky (Mellow Drunk guitar) has really gotten out there since the band broke up and I’m always amazed by how much he gets done and how many major projects he’s a part of. I can’t even list everything he’s done since the Mellow Drunk days but he joined the Triffids for their re-union shows/tours, did a record with Steve Kilbey, and plays with Liverpool’s Wild Swans (and I know I’m just scratching the surface), in addition to holding down one of the guitar spots with The Brian Jonestown Massacre. Daniel played bass on my “1973” recording, and both Patrick (drums on “One Thousand Lights”) and Sean (drums on “Never Sleep at Night”) played drums. Of course, Stephen (Mellow Drunk keys) and I are in MMB together. Sean and Daniel have also played in Memory’s Mystic Band.
As far as shows with Mellow Drunk go we’ve done a couple of short acoustic sets with me and Steven and Ricky (when he’s in town) at the Plough and the Stars but no plans for any future electric shows. (Sorry!!!!)

What direction do you want to take your music in, in 2010? I wonder about the upcoming decade and what kind of music my favorite artists will bring to me. What kind of ideas are you toying with?
Well, we’re just finishing up a new batch of songs with Memory’s Mystic Band that I’m quite happy with and I’m just striving to make music that will stand the test of time and stay relevant no matter how many years go by. With MMB I’m always trying to draw on influences from folk, blues and beyond, then trying them out to see what works in our format of guitar, keys, bass and drums.

What is your favorite song to play electric? And your favorite acoustic song to play? Have you gotten anymore guitars for your collection? New gear?
I enjoy playing other people’s stuff if I’m sitting around with my acoustic (unless it’s a new song I’ve just written that I’m still trying to work it out) and I think it’s kind of a lost art to hear a song that really affects you, then have a go at it, work it out and play it by yourself (it’s also a great way to learn how other songwriters work).
So… if I’ve got the acoustic out I might play a couple of songs by Jackson C. Frank or Townes Van Zandt. I was meaning to play Ralph McTell’s “Streets of London” or “Zimmerman Blues” for a recent Christmas show but never got to play either of them (didn’t want to muck them up ya know??). I love to play “ Clifton in the Rain,” which is an old, old Al Stewart tune and I’ll sometimes play an old Jimmy Campbell song called “Lovely Eliza Cope is Dead.” I’ll play traditional stuff such as “Angie” or “Lord Franklin.” I’ll play Grant McLennan‘s “Black Mule” a lot and do that one live. Of course, MMB’s first single on the label Edition 59 features a nice cover version of Nikki Sudden’s “Ambulance Station” (we do that one live as well), and we’re just mixing a cover of the Edgar Broughton Band’s great song “Hotel Room.”
As far as electric goes I’ve been playing to lots of Television and Hank Marvin/Shadows tunes over the past year. Over Christmas I was playing along with John Perry’s solos (the Only Ones). He’s a great, way under-rated player!!!! I think after 30 years I might have about 80% of his solo down on “Planet”!!!!!!
Sorry no new gear to report. Actually had to sell a couple of things last year to get by but that’s OK. Unfortunately my long-time guitar tech passed away last year so no mods to any guitars either.

Have you discovered any new bands lately that thrill you? Are you awaiting anyone's upcoming releases this new year?
I listen to a pretty good cross-section of musical genres. Have lots of recordings by contemporary bands (I’m lucky friends turn me on to so much stuff), but I also love to go back and listen to old folk, blues and jazz records. The one thing with being a songwriter and a guitar player is that a lot of time I’m either writing a new song or working something out on the guitar and cuts into the listening time. That said I’ve over the holidays and into the New Year I’ve been listening to an eclectic blend of recordings by the likes of Tame Impala, Charlie Parker, Wizz Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Calexico, Grant Green, Howlin’ Wolf, The Arctic Monkeys and The Walkmen.

Do you have any resolutions for 2010?
Love to get out and tour in 2010. Also want to release a really solid Memory’s Mystic Band CD out. We’ve been going though songs like crazy, recording lots and then kicking songs out trying to get a really solid set of songs together. I think at this point I’d like to lay down about five so six more songs (which would bring the recorded total up to about 20 songs) and then start picking the best tunes for an album.

Why is music so important to us? Getting a little philosophical, but we can get that way at this time of year!
You know, that is a really good question and a hard one to answer. In my case music really appealed to me when I was very young and it’s continued to be very important to me, whether I want it to be or not, throughout the rest of my life. Certain songs tend to mark certain periods of one’s life. When I hear certain songs they bring back certain memories and feelings: the places you’ve lived, the people you knew.
I think once you move from being a listener to being a songwriter it’s a difficult proposition because once you get into the flow of song writing it’s pretty much impossible to stop. I keep a $30.00 cassette player with a tape in it at all times as I know if I don’t capture an idea when it happens (and inevitably song ideas happen at the oddest times) it will probably slip away forever.
Have you read the John Lennon quote about songwriting? I think it’d be a good note to end on so here it ‘tis:

Songwriting… is like being possessed. You try to go to
sleep, but the song won't let you. So you have
to get up and make it into something… It's always in the
middle of the night, or you're half-awake or
tired, when your critical faculties are switched
off… Every time you try to put your finger on it, it
slips away.

Mr. Leigh Gregory, thank you so much, for giving me the pleasure of another interview. I am really happy to be able to present this to my like-minded music fans who appreciate music the way you and I do. We wish you the best, always.

Sisters Of Your Sunshine Vapor

What an amazing name for a band. And yes, they make the music to fit the name, quite perfectly. What is said about this 3-piece band from Detroit, Michigan:
"(Sisters Of Your Sunshine Vapor are a) neo-psychedelic, glam-rock band, which has recently self-recorded, produced, and mixed an 8-song LP for free download. This 8-song LP "Sisters of Your Sunshine Vapor" incorporates spacey fuzz rock, cavernous reverb, haunting vocals, and a strong drum and bass backbone to lock it all together. The band draws on such influences as Spacemen 3, BRMC, T-Rex, and Joy Division."
Thank you Eric, for sending that to me and giving me the heads up on your band and its huge psychedelic sound, which is now drawing me into its world, happily. I do agree with that description, and I also add in that the vocals are reminiscent of The Black Angels, the guitars are huge, swarming, enveloping, and the songs are composed brilliantly. I will profile the band soon, but for now, get their free download HERE and if you are in New York City this coming weekend, GO SEE THEM AT LIT LOUNGE ON SATURDAY THE 16th OF JANUARY!

Sisters Of Your Sunshine Vapor on MySpace