I first became familiar with New York City's Party Lights a few years ago when they simultaneously released records on the No Front Teeth label with their sister group The Recordettes. I loved both records and instantly wanted to interview both bands but I noticed both bands shared some members so I randomly just picked to interview The Recordettes. Well, fast forward to 2015 and The Recordettes have now gone into hibernation and Party Lights are still going strong. Their songs employ so many elements I love about rock n' roll. This band manages to bottle up the bounce of 60's girl groups, the energy of 70's punk, and the melodies of late 70's and early 80's power pop and new wave. That's why I picked their debut LP I See The Light as one of my top records of 2015 and if you haven't heard it yet, you're doing your drab life a disservice.
Interview by J Castro
Who is currently in the band and what does
everyone do in it?
ANNA:The band is Joan Chew
on bass & vocals (and keys on our recordings), Dave Smilow on drums, and me
(Anna Blumenthal) on guitar and vocals. Our other guitarist Elliott Klein
absconded to LA earlier this year to become much more famous than us. He
currently sends us weekly emails reminding us that New York is a city full of
pizza-eating rats and that he wouldn’t move back to New York if Johnny Ramone
himself rose from the grave and sent him an engraved invitation.
How did you all meet and decide to play music
together?
ANNA: It was part of a
plea bargain.
What band or musician first inspired you to want
to pick up an instrument and learn to play and/or write music?
ANNA: Cheap Trick, The
Knack, The New York Dolls, Big Star and The Runaways. But The Ramones were the
band that made me realize that after learning just three chords I had all I
needed to start writing songs (our bass player Joan knows like 945 chords and
is going to punch me when she reads this).
How would you describe you band to your
grandparents?
ANNA: By yelling
really loudly.
What sorts of things do you typically enjoy
writing songs about?
ANNA: When life is
peachy keen, no songs get written. I’m not saying I like drama, but a nasty
divorce is good for about 46 albums worth of songs.
I See The Lights LP released September 29th 2015
I’ve heard people say that playing and writing
music is therapeutic to them. Have you ever found this to be true?
ANNA: 100% yes.
Writing songs about weird things in your life is so therapeutic. It’s awesome
to turn crappy situations into good songs. And then getting to crank your amp
and sing and play them with your bandmates (who in my case are incredible
musicians and equally awesome people) is the best thing ever.
Does it annoy you or distract you at all to see
some of your audience members fondling their phones while you’re up on stage
performing?
ANNA: I assume they
are all texting their friends “HOLY CHRIST I’M WATCHING THE BEST BAND ON
EARTH!!!!” so it’s all cool. That, or they’re sexting, which we also approve
of.
After one of your shows, what sort of feeling or
sentiment do you hope your audience walks away with?
ANNA: Our goal is for
everyone to be in a slightly better mood than they were before our show.
What is your favorite album to listen to from
start to finish?
ANNA: Way too many to
list. I can tell you the last one I listened to all the way through though:
Blondie’s Parallel Lines. Amazing album.
What’s the best advice anyone has ever given you
that you still follow to this day?
ANNA: I’m left handed
and I was told to learn to play guitar righty. Thank god.
What is the best way people can hear and get a
hold of your music?
ANNA: www.partylights.bandcamp.com for our album – we’ll
also have our brand new 7” (coming out in a few weeks on Hidden Volume Records)
available at shows. And it’ll be available at www.hiddenvolume.com too.
What lies ahead for the band in 2016? ANNA: More shows (next one is at The Gutter in Brooklyn), a new album
later this year and our own brand of potato chips. Currently crowdsourcing for
flavor ideas.
Follow Part Lights on all of their adventures on
social media!
Jeremy Fury and his band The Harlequins play music that's heavily inspired by early rock n' roll. They're not a corn ball nostalgia act playing the local casino circuit though. They're what you'd imagine the byproducts of James Dean if he had lived long enough to meet Bettie Page on a stop of the '59 Winter Dance Party Tour. They're also very much the anxious, restless, tech savvy city dwellers of this millennium. With so many young bands taking their cues from the psychedelic, punk and new wave era, it's refreshing to hear a new band that takes a step back even further that are also infatuated by monumental musicians like Roy Orbison, Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent.
Interview by J Castro
Let’s
begin with some introductions; who is in Jeremy and The Harlequins and
what
does everyone do in the band?
JF: Well, Craig Bonich is on guitar, Patrick Meyer
is on the other guitar, Bobby Ever's on bass, and Stevie Fury is on the
drums. I'm Jeremy. I sing the songs.
Tell
me how you all met and decided to play music together?
JF: My brother Stevie and I have been playing music
together forever, being that we're brothers and all. We met Craig on tour
in previous bands. Some time went by and we decided we were going to make
a record together. A day before we went into pre-production we met
Patrick. He joined the band that day. Bobby is the most recent
addition and he's been playing with us for almost a year now. We didn't
really decide to play together, the universe decided for us.
What
band, musician or songwriter would you say has had the most influence
in your life? Tell me a bit about the first time you heard them;
where you were, who introduced you to them etc...
JF: Particularly with our band, the obvious
influences are Elvis, Gene Vincent, Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison.
Coincidentally, it was all music we were raised on. My parents played it
in the car while taking me and my brother to school. I guess we came back
to it. Besides the obvious late 50's and early 60's influences, some
others would be T-Rex, Mott the Hoople, and other early 70's glam-ish rock 'n
roll. I'm also really into 50's and 60's crooner music, everything from
Paul Anka to Scott Walker.
Is
the current sound you guys have what you had in mind when the band
first started up?
JF: Yes sir.
Tell
me about your new LP American Dreamer you guys released earlier this
year. I know this might seem like a Sophie’s Choice scenario, but do you have a
particular favorite song on the album?
JF: Mine change from time to time. My
favorites for the time being are “Right Out of Love”, “Trip Into the Light”,
and “White Star Bright Love.”
Tell
me about the title of the record “American Dreamer”. It’s so simple yet
it can mean a lot of different things if you think about it, is there a
story behind that title?
JF: I think it resonates to the time we are living
in. You hear politicians today talking quite a bit right now that the
American Dream is dead. To me, now is the perfect time for the American
Dream to be reborn. We have the potential to do so much on our own now,
like making a record or your own music blog, but also making your own beer,
your own clothing company, etc. If we exercise the potential of the time
we are in, in a few years we will look back on the now and think this period we
are in was a pivotal time in the course of America.
You
guys have made a few videos for some of the songs on the new LP. Do you guys enjoy
the process of making them? Do you have a favorite music video
you remember than made an impression on you when you were a kid?
JF: Again, because the technology is available, we
are more capable than ever before of making videos. I do enjoy the
process of making them and feel that having a video is just one more component
of how someone may enjoy our band.
And as for the second part of the question, sadly I
was one of those kids who grew up without MTV. There used to be this
station called The Box where you called in and could pay for a music video to
be played. Marilyn Manson's Dope Hat was probably the first video that
impacted me, but I don't know how that translates to where I'm at now.
American Dreamer LP released July 2015
Your
music is obviously heavily influenced by 50’s rock ‘n roll. How did you
first get into that kind of music? Can you remember what song or
record you first heard and who introduced it to you?
JF: The first song I learned how to play on guitar
was “Bye, Bye Love” by The Everly Bros. I was 7 years old. I
suppose I came around in a circle.
I
was reading an interview with a former drummer for The Cramps and he commented
on how guarded Lux and Ivy were with their image. So much so that
he felt they were imprisoned by it. Do you think having an image or
a “look” is something a lot of rock bands these days should pay more
attention to?
JF: I think it depends on the artist as to how much
they want to pay attention to their image. It's pretty clear though every
successful artist has an image no matter if it is highly curated or not.
Nirvana's image was flannel, t-shirts, and torn up jeans. Kiss is make up
and metal armor. If you put a member of Motley Crue in Death Cab For
Cutie, I am not so sure people would buy it.
What
would you say is your favorite part about making music: writing,
recording, or performing it?
JF: I like it all really. There is some type
of gratification in the completion of the process in all three areas of being
in a band. Even finishing a song feels good knowing that it's on it's way
to the rest of the world. Shows are the most immediate; seeing an
audience immediately react to the music, but every aspect is great.
Where
are the best places people can go or log on to hear your music?
The Threads are from New York City. Not the crisp cityscape you see behind Ryan Seacrest
every New Year’s eve, but the urban grime that spawned The New
York Dolls, The Ramones, and breathed life into Stiv Bators and The Dead Boys decades ago. A place that wasn’t so sterile, a place you had to look over your shoulder walking home at night. Maybe the patron’s faces weren’t as surgically perfected then as they are now, people wore
scowls a bit more but at least the city was real. The metropolis lived and breathed on its own steam. This
is the slice of life The Threads bring to the table with their music: hardened, honest, and in your face Rock ‘N Roll. If
you don’t like it, go back to the suburbs!
Interview by J Castro
Let’s start off with some
introductions, who is currently in The Threads and what does everyone do in the band?
MICK: Lead Vocals
ANDY: Guitars & backup vocals
ROGER: Guitars & backup vocals
ANTHONY: Bass & backup vocals
CHRIS: Drums
How did you all meet and decide to play
music together?
ANDY: I met Mick years ago. I was a fan of his (and later my) band the
Lower East Side
Stitches. Roger & I met when we both worked at a guitar shop.
Mick & Rog started The Threads a decade ago and I weaseled my way in soon
after.
ANTHONY: Been a friend of Mick’s for a while and a longtime
fan of The Threads. Was fortunate enough to catch them when they needed a
bassist.
CHRIS:I've known Mick for 20 years, we met at the
Scrap Bar. The regular hang out for his old bands and my old bands. I met the
rest of the guys when I went to go see the band play before being asked to fill
in and then eventually being kept on.
ROGER:Mick came over to my apartment in 2004 for a
Super Bowl party. At that point
Stitches was on a hiatus. Both of us were not doing much musically
and decided to get together and jam later on in the week. We tooled around with
some ideas and became really inspired by what we had accomplished in one night,
so we decided to get some friends together and head into a rehearsal space and
see how it sounded full throttle. It all snowballed from there.
MICK: We met drinking beer and talking shit and decided to play some
music while we were doing that.
How would you describe The Threads music to someone
that’s never heard your band before?
ANDY: This is never as easy question. Like, how do you describe the
sky to a blind man? I guess if you do the old TV pitch line I’d say, Green Day meets The Clash with the heart of New York City.
ANTHONY:We sound like a punch in the face from a funny
friend that you like but slightly suspect that they might be sleeping with your
girlfriend.
CHRIS:Loud Rude Aggressive yet melodic
ROGER:The more we do this, the harder it becomes for
me to describe us. Every song writing session is completely different and drawn
off of different influences. Between the five of us, we’re into everything from jazz to metal. If I had to say anything,
I’d describe us as rock n’ roll with a punk edge and a New York attitude. I’m just happy that at this point in our musical adventures we
haven’t succumbed to being a wedding band.
MICK: Hate this question. I
would say play them a song so they could make their own judgement, but my
default answer is high energy Rock n Roll with a Punk influence.
What band, musician or songwriter would you
say had the most significant influence on your life and can you tell me about
the first time you heard them?
ANDY: The Clash. Joe Strummer changed my
life. The first time I heard London Calling was like the first time I had sex.
Mind blowing and life changing and just wanting more and more of it.
ANTHONY:I studied classical piano as a child and Beethoven was one
of my first hero's.
Nothing
came easy to him. As far as playing bass, Geddy Lee, Paul D’Amour, Eric A,
John
Entwistle and Cliff Burton are probably my top 5.
CHRIS:Early: The Business, Later: Screeching Weasel
ROGER:KISS, particularly Ace Frehley. That’s when I wanted a guitar.
MICK: I guess Bob Dylan or the Rolling
Stones. They both influence most of the bands I love. First time I listened to
the Stones my oldest sister’ boyfriend gave me a cassette of Hot Rocks. I was about 8 years old.
The Threads are based in New York City. On your website’s bio you say you guys
“long for the days of the Tompskins Square Riots, squatters
on every corner instead of Starbucks and no fucking bike lanes”. Can you expand a bit on that statement, do you feel
there are any positive aspects about the “cleaning up” of New York City at all?
ANDY: Don’t get us wrong, the crime rate declining is great.
We are not longing for the days of murder and violence. The problem is with the
cleansing of the city we’ve lost its soul. Its cookie cutter, Disney
Store NYC. The tradeoff has been extreme.
ANTHONY: “Cleaning up” is code for getting rid
of minorities and the poor through economic gentrification. The 1% have
benefited. The rest of us are fucked. The Ramones and punk and most of the
great art that came out of NYC back in the day came from poverty like
circumstances. NYC is now safe, less diverse and predictable. Just like the suburbs.
It is simply impossible to be a young artist in this city anymore. Unless of
course you’re Taylor Swift.
CHRIS:New York City was a very different animal back
then. Safer than it was in the 80s yet still having neighborhoods that were
very distinctive. Once you started seeing a Starbucks on every corner the next
thing you knew all the bars are started to close and next all the live music
venues. Artists and musicians that are young could not afford to live in the
city anymore and it destroyed what was a very vibrant scene.
ROGER:I think in that statement we’re describing the musical aspects of New York City at that time.
Not the necessarily the violence or crime rate. Of course the social
instability did influence all the bands coming out back then. In our music we
often reference those times.
MICK: I just hate that the
personality disappeared and that it is no longer artist friendly. If you aren’t making six figures it’s difficult to live
here, unless you have strangers living with you.
You guys released the EP …In a Good Way earlier
this year. Can you tell me a bit about it, where it was recorded, who helped
out with the recording etc.?
ANDY: We recorded ...In a Good Way
at Seaside Lounge in South Brooklyn. It was produced with our friend Phil
Palazzolo. The album title is a little inside joke we have with our buddy Jan.
ANTHONY:Yeah, Jan the Barbarian is our beer/shot guy. He
lines up about 15 shots and beers on the stage in front of each of us every
show.
ROGER:Phil was amazing to work with. He really brought
us to a new level and we’re happy to say that our new album, still being
mixed, was also done by him and even furthered the direction we were going in
on ...In a Good Way.
I detect some hints of Jim Carroll Band in
your music, especially on the songs
“Chump” off the new EP and
the older song “East Village Boys”. Are you guys fans of his at all or am I
totally off the mark here?
ANDY: I love “Catholic Boy”, so I take that as a
compliment. It wasn’t on purpose though.
ANTHONY:Mandatory love for Jim Carroll as a lifelong
NYer.
CHRIS: in my opinion Jim
Carroll band was not anything but this quick project ....if that comparison is
going to happen, I'd rather we be compared to the RAMONES for those songs.
ROGER:I hear it now that you mentioned it. Being fans,
it makes sense that his influence found its way into our rehearsal room.
I love that you guys recorded a cover of
The Ramones “Slug” (It’s one of my favorite Ramones songs) on the
new EP. What led to the decision to record that particular song?
ANDY: We all love the Ramones. Covering “Slug” was Mick’s idea, though.
ROGER:We first did it a few years back at Webster Hall
for Joey Ramone’s birthday bash and benefit. It went over well
enough to put it down on tape. It’s a fun song to play.
Also on your bio it states you guys wanted to start a
straight Rock & Roll band not punk, indie, or glam. With a lot of today’s youth and popular culture going so “politically correct” to a fault, do you think bands like The Threads,
Biters, and Wyldlife will ever connect with kids the way honest, in your face
Rock & Roll did in the past?
ANTHONY:I think “politically correct” is over simplifying it. Today’s pop music has complete tunnel vision. Everything sounds
the same whether it’s a rock, country, or a pop band. And mostly because the
music is written by a hand full of Swedish guys. Music is life. If you write a
great catchy song it will connect. That’s what we strive for.
ROGER:Absolutely it will connect. There’s still plenty of people listening to
good music, but the internet and social media makes it appear like nothing else
exists but the Biebers, Beyonce’s etc…. No disrespect to them at all. You have to dig around to
find bands like The Threads, Biters, Wyldlife, Heap, Big Con, Mad Juana and so
on. But there still are fans of music willing to find you if you’re good. It’s like thumbing through the vinyl section
in the record store years ago and stumbling upon something cool.
MICK: Probably not, but we are playing this
style of music. The music that makes us happy and if people pick up on it and
like it, that’s a
bonus.
Where are the best places people can go or log on to
hear and buy The Threads
music?
ANDY: We have 2 records available for digital download on iTunes and
Amazon. You can also stream our music on Spotify and Pandora. You can buy our
CDs and other junk at any of our shows.
ROGER:rdio.com has us streaming as well as google play
music. Also,
www.thethreadsnyc.com
ANTHONY:Soundcloud
What’s in the future for
the band, any recording or touring news?
ANDY: We are currently are mixing our 3rd record and we hope to have
it released in December or January. And hopefully we’ll be hitting the West Coast next year.
ANTHONY:Yes. The new mixes for our next effort are sounding
pretty freaking great. New songs, new sound. World domination is next.
MICK: Write more songs, drink more beer and whiskey, play some shows,
and laugh and argue with one another.
