The latest release ‘Revisitation’ comes as a double CD compilation album celebrating 20 years contribution to floor stomping. It contains many classic early tracks such as ‘Gulf Breeze’. I write that longing to dig out the old vinyl!

In 2008 Joie Hinton left the band leaving Pepler to continue the legacy as a solo project. Merv graces UPFRONT with a response to the all important Q10.

1. How did you get started?
My fire’s were lit when I used to spend school lunchtimes in the music room playing around on a Korg MS 10..loads of silly wobbling sounds not unlike the early Dr Who episodes! Eat Static started after I met Joie and we discovered we shared the same passion for silly synth noises and acid..

2. What ingredients do you need to mix together to produce the recipe of your sound?
Take a good dollop of bass, sprinkle with acidic herbs, a pinch of humour, season with lashings of foreign spices..

3. Did your first gig make you hungry for more?
In a way, though it was pretty difficult getting all those analogue synths to behave and stay in tune amongst the sweaty punters..I remember one of the Atari computers crashing once and having to play the bass drum and bass live! Mixmaster Morris was on hand to mix some weirdness over the top to ease the pain..funny, a punter said afterwards it was the best gig he had seen us do…and he had been to over 20..

4. What’s the biggest ‘cock up’ to date?
Well the last answer was a pretty bad one… prob the worst was when we flew to Australia to play at a solar eclipse in the desert… we had no working visa’s and we got ditched to immigration by a rival promoter… we got there and spent 2 hours in prison before being sent straight back home… they did give us a bowl of cornflakes mind!

5. What is it that inspires you to make your music/sound?
I still always feel like a kid in a sweet shop when I start a tune… so many possibilities to explore..I guess I am influenced by the old and new..my childhood definitely comes through as my favourite shows were the bleep soaked Sci-Fi series’ of the early 70’s..plus some punkiness of the early 80’s,the dark edge… and also modern day stuff… I listen to so many types of music… mainly world, middle eastern, African..

6. What would be the icing on the cake?
Finishing interviews? Oh, a lorry turning up at my house with all the old glorious analogue synths that were around when I was a mere child… maybe delivered by Joanna Lumley, in a red lotus soft top, holding an ice cold Mojito!

7. How will you be remembered? (what will make you vintage?)
After 20 years (yes, it’s my 20th THIS year!) I think I am already qualifying for vintage!

Probably remembered as ”That mad bastard that refused to stop playing childish silly dance music and get a proper job..” but he made a lot of people smile..”

8. Describe your music as if it were a fine wine.
Full bodied, deep red, the dark stone fruit flavours of techno given extra complexity by underlying flavours of acidicness, yet soft leading to a whole experience on the palate..drink at maximum sweaty temperature..

9. AfterMint! Does your musical style influence your underwear?
Not lately, but maybe the one’s my mother in law buys would..

10. Digestive! What do you know about Luxembourg?
Ginger nut! Oh does that place REALLY exist? I have driven round it, through it, over it, next to it…and still never noticed..

More info: www.eatstatic.co.uk

‘Shelly’, along with their kick drum, shakers and guitar resulted from a decision to jack in the ‘normal’ life and become a full-time band. Married couple Ruth & Brookln Dekker moved out, sold up and hit the road. That was back just in March 2008. They forged forward scheduling a 20 date European tour which boasted sell out concerts in Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.

Brookln, the ‘US’ component of the duo, grew up in St Louis whilst Ruth, the UK element, heralds from the Midlands county Staffordshire. They met when Ruth was state-side, later marrying and setting up home in Chicago. Their name ‘Rue Royale’ comes from a road in the Chicago suburbs.

The first fruits of their labour was in the form of their 2006 EP, ‘The Search For Where to Go’, and has since been followed up by their debut album at the start of 2008 – the self titled Rue Royale. If you are lucky you may still be able to get a handmade/hand stitched copy from their website. (BUY THE CD HERE BEFORE IT SELLS OUT)

Tour dates, which have seen them previously play in the historic Sturmglocke squat site in Hanover to an intimate house show in rural Yorkshire, Rue Royale have shows up until December. Catch them in a town near you soon!

Here Brookln tells all on the UPFRONT Q10 interview.

1.How did you get started?
In 2005/2006 I was in a rock ‘n roll band in Chicago called Trevorside and the band was coming to an end. After rehearsal one night I came home to Ruth and was venting about it all and we ended up writing a song together (Even In The Darkness). It was the first time we had ever tried writing together and we really liked the tune. We recorded a quick demo of it and sent it around to our friends and everyone seemed to be quite positive about it and encouraged us to continue writing together. We did and in about a month’s time we had 5 songs written for our first recording together ‘The Search For Where To Go’ EP.

2.What ingredients do you need to mix together to produce the recipe of your sound? 
Well, when we started writing our first batch of songs together we lived in a flat in Chicago with a grumpy (I’m being kind:)) upstairs neighbour. She was hateful to us often and so in an effort not to disturb her, when we played music, we did so very quietly. We also found that getting the mood right in the room with some candles and little light was inspiring and ushered us into a creative space. Hence the ‘candle-lit, hushed sound’ of Rue Royale. Funny thing is, we don’t live anywhere near that crazy neighbour anymore but we still have had to rehearse/write with the ‘hushed’ sound as last year we sold all of our stuff and moved in with friends and family so that we could afford to tour more and focus on the band full time. So living in other people’s home we still find ourselves whisper-rehearsing.

3.Did your first gig make you hungry for more?
Our first gig was hands down our worst performance ever. In fact, I was so discouraged that I said I wouldn’t play another show. Fortunately, I had already had a second show booked and wanted to honour that. The second show was a huge leap forward and therefore we decided to march on…

4.What’s the biggest ‘cock up’ to date?
They are countless and too many to rate best or worst. I screw up all the time. I think that’s part of the charm of our band. We don’t pretend to be anything we are not. We’re a family and a band. Therefore we are very comfortable with each other and are more free to try new things. Unfortunately most of those end up as ‘cock-ups’

5.What is it that inspires you to make your music/sound?
I’m not sure if it’s inspiration or necessity. What I mean is that when I’m not making music or being creative I tend to get a bit down and depressed. It’s just something I have to do. As far as lyrics go, we tend to draw on past experience and inner monologues. You know, like questions we all have about life and stuff. We’re not really trying to change the world, maybe just bring attention to the beauty that’s already there, even if the beauty is in unanswered questions.

6.What would be the icing on the cake?
Being in a band with best friend and lover is icing and cake:)

7.How will you be remembered? (what will make you vintage?)
That’s a funny question. I don’t think I’ve ever thought of it before in the context of our band. I’d like to think people will appreciate our honesty and hope. We are what we are whether it sells records or not.

8.Describe your music as if it were a fine wine.
Like a deep velvety robe, with suppleness, grace and charm, that stands alone.

9.AfterMint! Does your musical style influence your underwear?
Not at all. My mood and the amount of walking I’m planning to do in a given day do.

10. Digestive! What do you know about Luxembourg?
Regretfully, I don’t know much about Luxembourg. We’ve played in Luxembourg City twice and Differdange once. I do know this: Luxembourg is a gorgeous country with an interesting history (dating back to Roman times, right?) and we’re looking forward to going back to play/visit (and hopefully learn more about the country) this autumn. Anyone want to give us a tour when we’re there?

More info www.rueroyalemusic.com | www.myspace.com/rueroyale

—
NEXT GIGS

27 Aug – NBI, Berlin [DE]
28 Aug – Hasenschaukel, Hamburg [DE]
29 Aug – Motoki Wohnzimmer, Köln [DE]
30 Aug – Hafen 2, Offenbach [DE]
31 Aug – House Show w/ The Black Atlantic, Leeuwarden [NL]
01 Sep – House Show w/ The Black Atlantic, Zwolle [NL]
02 Sep – House Show w/ The Black Atlantic, Deventer [NL]
03 Sep – House Show w/ The Black Atlantic, Amersfoort [NL]
04 Sep – House Show w/ The Black Atlantic, Rotterdam [NL]
05 Sep – House Show w/ The Black Atlantic, Westland [NL]
06 Sep – Media Art Festival, Leeuwarden [NL]
07 Sep – House Show w/ The Black Atlantic, Amsterdam [NL]
08 Sep – House Show w/ The Black Atlantic, Leiden [NL]
09 Sep – House Show w/ The Black Atlantic, Enschede [NL]
10 Sep – Exhaus, Trier [DE]
11 Sep – Autre Part, Differdange [LU]
13 Sep – Kinky Star, Gent [BE]
14 Sep – Drugstore, Lille [FR]
19 Sep – Incubate, Tilburg [NL]
20 Sep -  Het Podium, Lazy Sunday Live Hoogeveen [NL]
01 Oct – Platform (@ the Old Post Office) Shrewsbury [UK]
04 Oct – Katie Fitzgerald’s Stourbridge [UK]
18 Oct – The Robin Hood Sherwood [UK]
21 Oct – Harpurs Cellar Bar, Bedford [UK]
25 Oct -  Lee Rosy’s Tea, Nottingham [UK]
16 Dec – Lee Rosy’s Tea, Nottingham [UK]

By 2008 Peter was in Wales, UK recording his first full album ‘Dust, Doors & Debts’. His music has best been described as ‘Grunge Folk’ – raw emotive vocals laid over acoustic guitar. 2009 he has so far released the EP ‘Veer’ and has a number of tour dates in Europe and the US from September. UPFRONT caught up with him on the Q10

1.How did you get started?
I started as a solo singer songwriter, in May of 2005 with my first EP release, ‘A Year Worth Forgetting’. After having been in numerous bands in Boston during my years at Berklee, I decided honestly to not have to deal with ego in other singers. I felt that if I could handle all duties, meaning lyrics, vocals, guitar, composition, and performance why not go solo. This way I can only blame myself for the outcome, and doing so became a singer by default. I was always a songwriter, first and foremost, and I fee in that capacity lies my strength as a communicator.

2.What ingredients do you need to mix together to produce the recipe of your sound?
Environment, mood, some rifts which lead to answers through songs to questions in my life. My Martin guitar, perhaps the ocean, or woods, and solitude. Thinking of the past, as I write my future.

3.Did your first gig make you hungry for more?
Ironically my first gig, was the start of my first NW Tour. I literally played my first show ever as a solo artist on May 26th of 2005, in Berkeley California, than got in my car and toured all the way to Seattle. Yes it made me hungry for non stop touring, and thankfully is still with me today, as far as a hunger and need to live it as much as possible on the road.

4.What’s the biggest ‘cock up’ to date?
I assume “Cock Up” means screw up ? hoping. To stay in the realms of political correctness of course.

Usually musically speaking I don’t really screw up honestly. As for other parts of my career, well…..I would have to say financially and planning touring and releases, and things of that nature, have led on occasion to mishaps along the way. I would never say a blatant “cock up” happened, however plans changed, people came and went, and so did record labels, managers, booking firms, and fans. All part of learning what is and is not important in the music business. Words are used so often by companies to inflate what they do, or don’t do usually that they seem to prey on a musicians sensitivity in their own careers professionally. I feel this is the crux of most mishaps I have had to endure in my 4 year time frame as a solo artist.

5.What is it that inspires you to make your music/sound?
A need to be heard, when in the past I was never allowed to speak my mind. I don’t do this through words, literally I do this through the entire song subject and what it is trying to get across to the listener. I think pain, loss, expectation, selfless-ness, and of course improvement are the factors that go into my song writing.

6.What would be the icing on the cake?
I would not have to book a single show, worry about distribution, press, or radio help, and mostly I would have touring cycles set 6 months out, where I would not have time to worry about finances since at that level everything would be handled by companies. I am getting real close to attaining all of this, I feel its all within my grasp this coming year in 2010 with this upcoming sophomore full length release that will be internationally released in conjunction by 3 separate record labels. The US, UK, and Europe will all have a taste of my music this coming year.

7.How will you be remembered? (what will make you vintage?
Personally, I don’t sit back and wait for anyone to do things on my behalf both in my personal life, and professional career. I assume I will be remembered for my DIY mentality, and for one way or another getting it done time in and time again regardless of what pitfalls I had to step over.

Musically, I hope to be remembered as something completely individual, original, and genuine. I hope that one day underground songwriters on the indie level as I am, are given a fair shot to compete on the world stage musically. Its my wish and hope that the music lives on of course, and its my hope that someday, regardless if its in 10 years from today, or 100 years from today, that I will be an influence and importance to a niche group of people who look at music in a deeper, harder light than that of the masses of this world.

8.Describe your music as if it were a fine wine.
I used to work in a Wine company in SF, lets see what I remember…..

A smooth red wine like a Merlot with hints of nut flavour to add grit to a otherwise perfect aftertaste.

9.AfterMint! Does your musical style influence your underwear?
No comment. I don’t wear any!

10.Digestive! What do you know about Luxembourg?
I know that its strong enough financially to be its own entity, I also know its got really nice people who live there, as I do have some fans in that area of Europe. I know its positioning perfectly between France, Germany, Brussels, and the Netherlands. I also know that one day it would be great to do some shows there.

Find out more: http://peterkasen.wordpress.com & www.myspace.com/petermatthewkasen

Mar and Rah Dulok, the founder of this quirky bunch, played their first gig at a birthday party a few years ago. In fact, the party that inspired the band’s outfit never really stopped; the loud power trio (by loud we also refer to their instruments …but not primarily) took their sporty grooves to many prestigious festivals and almost every hipster bar in East London.

Then it would seem the Duloks gave their sweaty-sweatbands time to dry, but only to enforce some structural changes afterwhich the band released their Mini LP ‘Children of the Sea’.

The sound of the Duloks is very stripped down (no pun…oh whatever) – there’s drums and keys and of course Rah’s strong voice which reaches Barry Whitesque lows in ‘Bad Vegetarian’.  The melodies are elaborate but catchy. ‘Love Lorn Unicorn’ and ‘Gonna Follow Your Star Trail’ are what we Luxembourgers would call an earworm.

This September, The Duloks will play again at Bestival, which is probably one of the – you guessed it – BEST festival in western Eurasia. This year’s line-up includes Kraftwerk, PJ Harvey, Massive Attack, MGMT and many more.

1.How did you get started?
Rah Dulok - That’s definitely a Mar Dulok question – it was all her fault coming over to the UK! …she’s the Chief Dulok

Mar Dulok - I had an eletronic drum kit and missed making silly music with my Ewok (old band) buddies in Vancouver… so I asked my flatmate who played keyboard if she wanted to start an Ewoks rip off band called the Duloks. We advertised for a girl singer with BALLS on myspace and Mira was the most threatening / keen one. She threatened to beat me up if I didn’t let her join. It was quite scary. Our first ‘practice’ was us gossiping about boys the whole time… to the frustration of all our keyboard players we haven’t gotten that much better. 80% gossiping / 20% music playing. Oops!

Abi Dulok - I didn’t exist in those days.

2.What ingredients do you need to mix together to produce the recipe of your sound?
Rah Dulok - we mix the majesty of rock, the fantasy of roll, the ticking of the clock, the wailing of the soul! Follow the Spinal Tap recipe (we are so devoted to the Tap we’ve run thru six keyboard players!) and you won’t fail.

Abi Dulok - (keyboard player!) Yes. I’ve only got 38 days left on my shift before number 7 comes to take over…
 
Mar Dulok - A healthy portion of inside jokes is very key.

3.Did your first gig make you hungry for more?
Rah Dulok - totally, it was a long long LONG time ago for me now, and I was covered head to toe in glitter and was just 18 – the Duloks first show was for Mar Dulok’s birthday and was so much fun. That was the first taste of Dulok Live stuff and it’s been like heroin ever since then!

Abi Dulok - ….Mira obviously hasn’t done her heroin research properly, coz ir’s really not as good as it’s made out to be…

Mar Dulok - My first gig ever was when I was 18 as well! But the Duloks first show led to EVERYTHING else… we got booked to play the next weekend at another birthday. Our following gigs were all booked based on photos from the first gig as well. Promoters were like “if you dress like that you can play my club !!!”

4.What’s the biggest ‘cock up’ to date?
Rah Dulok - I’d have to say it’s getting romantically involved with people who work with us Duloks! Mar Dulok warns me EVERY time and now I am banned. It’s a good rule. It saves EMBARRASMENT!

Mar Dulok - Hahaha yeah I agree with Mira. Letting Mira cross band stuff and pleasure is NOT a good idea.

Abi Dulok - I read that as “biggest ‘cock’ up to date”. No comment. I am a lesbian.

5.What is it that inspires you to make your music/sound?
Rah Dulok - At first it was the silliness and making people laugh..now it’s the storytelling and the funtimes…It’s pretty awesome to be able to tell fantastical stories and write our own history
   
Mar Dulok - I do it cos I love playing and meeting new people. I’m inspired to be in a band by all the fun travels and party times. I formed the band with out stringed instruments to be a bit different and now to prove you can have a punk crazy attitude without having to be a dude with a guitar in an anarchy t-shirt. That’s conforming to me. We’re still out on the edge and that’s why we don’t fit in to a lot of stuff.

6.What would be the icing on the cake?
Abi Dulok - Chocolate.

Rah Dulok - The West Coast tour on a Nightliner tourbus with a hot tub and Ashton Kutcher’s support band travelling with us.

Mar Dulok - Japan! Or any country outside of North America / Europe would excite me to tour as I’ve only been to those continents before. The truth is it’s all icing on the cake for me. I love touring ANYWHERE but especially to NEW countries like Luxembourg!

7.How will you be remembered? (what will make you vintage?)
Rah Dulok - I think we’ll be remembered for our short shorts, our fancy dress, our silly videos and our chaotic, stupid live shows.

Mar Dulok - Definitely the shorts and socks. Also we’re known for Star Trail and an obsession with the sea.

8.Describe your music as if it were a fine wine.
Rah Dulok - I’m pretty sure we’d be a cheeky rose – blushing and super alcoholic. I would rather that we were a mojito tho’, sugar sweet, sharp as lime and super refreshing

Mar Dulok - I think we’re probably more like a Lambrini or something. I’m gonna describe us a Buck’s Fizz, 2 very different drinks coming together to make a one yummy drink. Mira & I have completely different musical taste but together it works.

Abi Dulok - or a Bacardi Breezer.

9.AfterMint! Does your musical style influence your underwear?
Rah Dulok - I’m all about cute shorty style panties that make no visible lines under my short shorts! So in that aspect yes – my style defines my underwear preference!

Abi Dulok - No. My favourite foods influence my underwear. I wear pants made out of pizza, tied together with strawberry laces.

Mar Dulok - Well our stage gear is the american apparel short shorts… but the truth is I was wearing those before we started the band and I do wear AA little boys y-fronts for girls. So yeah. I dress like a Dulok at ALL times even under my jeans.

10.Digestive! What do you know about Luxembourg?
Rah Dulok - Here are my impressions of Luxembourg:
1. Lots of hills. Steep uphill walking!
2.  Beautiful views
3. Good times when the absinthe is flowing..!
4. There are lots of different languages spoken there

Mar Dulok - It’s very small.

I kissed a banker from there once but he wasn’t a very good kisser . I’ve never been but I’ve always wanted to visit because it doesn’t seem like a place thaaaat many people go to and I like those kinds of places.

Abi Dulok - The capital of Luxembourg is Luxembourg. That’s about it. I won the Geography prize in Year 10, but I hadn’t been out of the country until The Duloks took me to Germany in February!

More info: www.myspace.com/theduloks

Starting out dj’ing, playing old krautrock, italo disco, Bowie, Iggy and a few smatterings of Hip Hop they found themselves un-easing the Berliners with an inconsistent BPM. They further sought an electronic music they liked but were at a loss – so as many bands begin they decided that they could do it better and the way they liked it… et voila  – Thieves Like Us was born.

Currently resident in Paris,  Thieves Like Us  are Pontus Berghe [drums] , Bjorn Berglund [keyboards] and Andy Grier [vocals]. Their first album ‘Play Music’ was written, recorded and mixed all over the place; New York, Berlin, Vienna, London, Rio De Janeiro and Stockholm. They claim the album is mostly about love gone wrong [Drugs In My Body, Lady] and identity problems [Program of The First Part, Headlong Into Night]. Relate we can!

UPFRONT Online managed to get a response to the Q10 with threats of permanent residence in Luxembourg!

1.How did you get started?
It was only Bjorn and I in the first eight months…  We were spending too much time getting drunk day and night in Berlin; we thought all the other bands were total shit; they had too much attitude and couldn’t write tunes!

Berlin – a hundred idiots on stage wearing trash clothing and a drum machine full of presets.  We had enough – so we bought some equipment and started writing songs. We phoned Pontus, our drummer and asked him to come down from Stockholm to participate.

2.What ingredients do you need to mix together to produce the recipe of your sound?
Heartache, spite, and malice plus some classic European cinema;

3.Did your first gig make you hungry for more?
No it was frightening and not loud enough.

4.What’s the biggest ‘cock up’ to date?
I do not understand this question.

5.What is it that inspires you to make your music/sound?
The music is personal, autobiographical, it is cathartic and therapeutic, it is the only thing we can do in this world.

6.What would be the icing on the cake?
A moderate pay check to buy some new equipment.

7.How will you be remembered? (what will make you vintage?)
We are square pegs, you cannot classify us, you can not call us Swedish, you can not call us American – we are homeless, without roots!

8.Describe your music as if it were a fine wine.
I don’t drink alcohol anymore, so I couldn’t make an accurate comparison to wine.

9.AfterMint! Does your musical style influence your underwear?
We need a moderate pay check to buy some new underwear.

10. Digestive! What do you know about Luxembourg?
Nothing, I always missed it on geography exams in the States. But, hey AMERICANS DO NOT KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN Switzerland and Sweden!

More info: www.thieves-like-us.com

Zeimet started on course to electronic production back in 2003 under the name ‘Gosplan’. This humble beginning reflected the minimal influences of Autechre, Aphex Twin and LFO. The ‘Gosplan’ sound was harsh, fuzzy and acid drenched!

A few EP/LP releases later Zeimet took direction with a new course and changed his music persona to ‘Fracture’ (Which is a reference to a track/video clip of British pioneers of shoegaze/electronica – Seefeel).

Airy synths, noisy guitars, off the wall sounds, buried pop melodies and layers of effects are all common ground for ‘Fracture’. The new addition of the guitar from Laas envelope the noisy kraut and indie-rock influences and add an incandescent appeal to their live performances.

Fracture’s, just recently, latest release ‘we dare you, wonder’ is available in all good local outlets or contact the record label. You can check out a review from our good friend Pascal at Disagreement here. UPFRONT Online got Zeimet Q10 responsive!

1. How did you get started?
When I noticed that making music can be far more satisfying than just consuming it passively.

2. What ingredients do you need to mix together to produce the recipe of your sound?
The love to get lost in sonic details and fuzzy guitar sounds, the passion of experimentation through non-verbal musical communication and a big portion of rock n’roll attitude

3. Did your first gig make you hungry for more?
Not really. Playing in front of a bunch of uninterested students was like cooking a pepper t-bone steak for your vegan grandma.

4. What’s the biggest ‘cock up’ to date?
During a live-gig at the Mudam [Museum], a 50-year old visitor of a Hermès-powered video installation approached asking “could you play some Jean-Michel Jarre too?”

5. What is it that inspires you to make your music/sound?
People, social and musical interaction, haunting landscapes, good rock concerts and loops of all kind. I think repetition can transform the ugliest noise into music, even though it might sound rudimental.

6. What would be the icing on the cake?
Playing on the My Bloody Valentine-curated ATP Festival or performing on a dusty underground party in the Casemattes [Luxembourg Historical network of tunnels].

7. How will you be remembered? (what will make you vintage?)
2 guys desperately believing in rock music, with computers. It’s all about willpower and perseverance

8. Describe your music as if it were a fine wine.
I think our music might be like a Porto. Quite strong in taste, not always accessible – but in the right temperature and setting…

9. AfterMint! Does your musical style influence your underwear?
Of course, we just wear pink on stage.

10. Digestive! What keeps you in Luxembourg?
The belief that someday the gigs of local independent bands will attract not only their peers.

More info: www.myspace.com/justafracture | www.schnurstrax.net

One part mellow folk and one part indie-pop and you’re pretty much understanding the basis of this outfits outputs. They released their debut album ‘Magnolia’ [on Morr Music] earlier this year to generally harmoniously favourable reviews. Frontman Andrew Kenny provides a Q10 experience for UPFRONT Online.

1. How did you get started? 2. What ingredients do you need to mix together to produce the recipe of your sound?
When I was just getting this project started, I knew that I wanted the Wooden Birds to have some kind of ’sound’. After a 13 years with the AmAnSet, I didn’t want to drift into that dangerous singer/songwriter/solo record territory. Sure I might enjoy that kind of music, but I just didn’t want to make that kind of album.

About 5 years ago, I started pounding out beats on my guitar top instead of using a metronome or a drum machine. I made all the demos for ‘Magnolia’ that way and ended up prefering it to real drums for the recordings. I also began playing bass in a different way that helped give the new project a more percussive lean.  I tried to engineer a guitar sound that had very little carry as well. Over time, things began to sound very wooden and so the sound was born piece by piece.

As for the band, I have wanted to work with Leslie for years. She played the cello on an AmAnSet record called ‘The Golden Band’ in 1999. I’ve also recorded a few of her solo projects over the years. Chris helped me finísh the last AmAnSet full length record, ‘Set Free’, so I knew I liked working with him.  I spent a lot of time with David and his band, Ola Podrida, and so of course that was an easy call to make.

3. Did your first gig make you hungry for more?
I was a bit nervous, to be honest. I didn’t tell anyone about it, but many of my friends and former bandmates from the American Analog Set were there.

4. What’s the biggest ‘cock up’ to date?
I spent this winter putting a band together and then found out from a mutual friend that our drummer was playing with another band this spring. It was a bit like going to the dance and seeing your boyfriend with his new girlfriend that he neglected to mention. All of sudden your dress looks pretty foolish! Oh well. All’s fair in love and music I suppose. Really, it worked out for everyone. It was a lonely dance though.

5. What is it that inspires you to make your music/sound?
Heartbreak and a mild obsession with death.

6. What would be the icing on the cake?
Mmm cake. The icing on the cake is always seeing my wife’s beautiful face when I come home off tour. There is nothing sweeter.

7. How will you be remembered? (what will make you vintage?)
There is very little you can control about that. I’ll keep trying to write better songs and find my voice, whatever that means. I’ll remember myself for the love I put into every minute.

8. Describe your music as if it were a fine wine.
If we were a wine, we would be the bottle that the shop recommends when you ask for the best 12 euro bottle they have. A secret favorite. Inexpensive but easy to drink. Simple, but with layers of complexity that reveal themselves mid-glass.

9. AfterMint! Does your musical style influence your underwear?
Oddly, yes. I think my new band is awkwardly sexy. I’ve been trying to choose underwear to match.

10. Digestive! What do you know about Luxembourg?
I know Luxembourg is small. I understand that that Luxembourg is a dangerous, lawless land… much like the old west in the US. I’ve also heard that while bears are everywhere these days, all bears can trace their roots back to the area. The Adam and Eve of bears, if you will, were from Luxembourg.

More info: www.thewoodenbirds.com | www.myspace.com/thewoodenbirds

–NEXT GIGS–
All dates with Grand Archives

28 Apr – Chat Noir ,Trier [DE]
29 Apr – Vera ,Groningen [NL]
30 Apr – Bar Mondial ,Antwerpen [BE]
1 May – Bikini Test ,La Chaux-De-Fonds [CH]
2 May – d:qliq ,Luxembourg [LU]
3 May -  Albani ,Winterthur [CH]
4 May -  Cafe de la Danse ,Paris [FR]
6 May -  Wah-Wah Club ,Valencia [ES]
7 May -  Moby Dick Club ,Madrid [ES]
8 May -  Cafe Hispano ,Zaragoza [ES]
9 May -  Apolo ,Barcelona [ES]
10 May – Psilocybenea Cultural Center, Hondarribia [ES]
12 May – Orangehouse ,Munich [DE]
13 May – Wuk ,Vienna [AU]
14 May – Teatar & Td ,Zagreb [CR]
15 May – GrooveStation ,Dresden [DE]
16 May – Pop-Up Festival @ UT Connewitz Leipzig [DE]
17 May – Cafe Zapata ,Berlin [DE]

Perhaps best described with: captivating electronic sounds which are produced with a distinct human touch, Sinner DC have performed alongside well known’s such as Sigur Ros, M83 and Spectrum to name drop but a few. Made up of Julien Amey, Steve Mamie, Manuel Bravo, a bass, drums, guitar+keyboards+voice+vocoder, respectively, Sinner DC are a group managing to delve deep into retro electonica and produce something new and inviting.

UPFRONT got them on the Q10

1.How did you get started?
I guess it was our parents, a long time ago, in a discotheque, a bit drunk and on the dance floor…

2.What ingredients do you need to mix together to produce the recipe of your sound?
…everything that can be used will be used!

3. Did your first gig make you hungry for more?
well, it certainly made us thirsty for more…

4. What’s the biggest ‘cock up’ to date?
After a gig and long party night in Rotterdam we had to, very painfully, inflate plastic mattresses that the promoter gave us to sleep on, on the floor of the old Ministry of Defence, since transformed into squat …it must have been a Dutch form of torture from ancient times!

5. What is it that inspires you to make your music/sound?
well, we are not really inspired …we are humbly under orders of THE music!

6. What would be the icing on the cake?
in French we say “la cerise sur le gâteau” …so it would be the cherry on the icing!

7. How will you be remembered? (what will make you vintage?)
as the first humans to dance the Earthwalk on the moon…

8. Describe your music as if it were a fine wine.
pet(rus) sounds!

9. AfterMint! Does your musical style influence your underwear?
well, we have no ……….influences!

10. Digestive! What do you know about Luxembourg?
“Spending warm Summer days indoors / Writing frightening verse
To a buck-toothed girl in Luxembourg…”
The Smiths, ‘Ask’

More info: www.sinnerdc.com, www.myspace.com/sinnerdc 
‘Crystallized’ available now from Ai Records (UK)

—
Sinner DC play EXIT, Luxembourg 10th April

Photo by Magdalena Blaszczuk

Initially after ‘Blectum From Blechdom’ broke up, Kristin continued to use her team name Kevin Blechdom and relocated to Berlin for a 5 year period. Here she wrote and produced two albums, under Chicks on Speed label, ‘Bitches Without Britches’ [2003] and ‘Eat My Heart Out’ [2005]. Providing a mishmash of styles and production techniques Kevin brought Broadway though to general MIDI rock opera, electro-smudge and aleatoric blatherings to present her own bizarre spin on pop music.

2008, Kevin completed her M.F.A. degree in Electronic and Computer Music Composition at Mills College in California. Her final project was a forty minute opera called ‘Recantata’ portraying the tale of preschool teachers wrongfully imprisoned for satanic ritual abuse under the misguidance of child psychologists. She also spent time touring as a duo with her hi-tech country and ragtime band ‘Barnwave’ alongside Christopher Fleeger.

Kevin Blechdom’s newest solo album, ‘Gentlemania’, released on Sonig Records, is an acoustic pop record co-produced by Kevin and Mocky in Berlin. Here she answers the illustrious Q10 for UPFRONT Online.

1.How did you get started?
I’ve always loved music. I played and wrote music with my brother growing up, and we were in a band called ‘Adult Rodeo’ on Shimmy Disc in 1998.

I studied composition at Mills College. Then I played computer music with ‘Blectum From Blechdom’ – and when we went on hiatus in 2002, I went solo as Kevin Blechdom.

2.What ingredients do you need to mix together to produce the recipe of your sound?
Music, music, music and ideas that tickle me – a disregard for genre and tradition, while being firmly grounded in genre(s) and traditions – but mostly by following my interest. I like to make the music that fascinates me.

3.Did your first gig make you hungry for more?
Playing live music makes me extremely happy. I’m not sure I remember my first gig. I’ve played piano concerts since I was a child. I remember being very shy when I started singing, and that has been a more gradual development.

4.What’s the biggest ‘cock up’ to date?
I don’t quite understand this question. Uhm… I don’t have a cock, but I wouldn’t mind having one once and a while. Especially on stage, it could be fun. I did a concert with my friends, Ching Chong Song, from New york, and we did a Masturbation Olympics on stage… that was a kind of ‘Cock up’ – i lost the competition, due to a certain ‘technique’ that doesn’t really communicate on stage.

5.What is it that inspires you to make your music/sound?
Love, Sound, Ideas – and mostly people. Energy from people, talking to people, brainstorming ideas with people. I love to collaborate, and I also love writing love songs.

6.What would be the icing on the cake?
Being able to make a living from music and creative activity. This would make me a happy human. To have enough of a career to survive as an artist.

7.How will you be remembered? (what will make you vintage?)
I don’t know. I am hoping to write more musical theater pieces. This is what I love most, theatrical music – on stage and film.

8.Describe your music as if it were a fine wine.
I have been told it’s not for everyone – I think it varies a lot from track to track, year to year – yet maintains its own identity as it’s most often melodically driven. It bridges electronic / acoustic / rhythmic / melodic / low-fi / hi-fi / serious / silly – it’s kind of all over the place yet somehow sticks to itself.

9.AfterMint! Does your musical style influence your underwear?
A bit – now I wear square dance ruffled bloomers on stage.

10.Digestive! What do you know about Luxembourg?
I played in Luxembourg maybe 4 or 5 years ago – i had a wonderful time, and the day after the gig, ended up at a birthday party – and it was a really relaxing nice day.

 More info: www.kevyb.com, www.myspace.com/kevinblechdom

–NEXT GIGS April 09–
3 April – EXIT07, Luxembourg [LU]
4 April – ‘Blectum From Blechdom’, HBC, Berlin [DE]
10 April – ‘Blectum From Blechdom’, Roter Krebs, Linz [AU]
16 April – with ‘Ching Chong Song’, Tsunami Club [RECORD RELEASE PARTY], Cologne [DE]
17 April – with ‘Ching Chong Song’, White Trash [RECORD RELEASE PARTY], Berlin [DE]
18 April – with ‘Ching Chong Song’, Saturator, Warsaw [PO]
19 April – with ‘Ching Chong Song’, TBA, [PO]
25 April – Skala Leipzig, Leipzig [DE]
26 April – TBA, Wetzlar [DE]
27 April – with ‘Ching Chong Song’, TBA, Castrop-Rauxel [DE]
28 April – with ‘Slobbersville’, Lothringer 13, Munich [DE]
30 April – with ‘Slobbersville’, Donau Festival, Krems [AU]

They’ve just recently released ‘Water Off A Monkey’s Back’, with B-side track ‘Firechaser’ [Naked Ape Records], it’s their first release since ‘Ha Ha EP’ back in 2007.

The new track sees grievances aired; rock meets rap meets ska and the government getting a good kicking on route: lies, corruption, deceit, media manipulation, the establishment!  It is the first single of the forthcoming album ‘Chronicles of Banania: Superhuman Evolution?’ which is currently in production and due for release this coming summer.  You can get yourself either a download from the usual places: itunes, emusic, amazon, napster. Or visit the band MySpace page or Naked Ape for physical copy.

Here’s Monkey Sons on the Q10…

How did you get started?
Monkey Sons is a merging of two former UK hip hop groups, Sons of the Tribe and Hundredth Monkey. We had been collaborating for some time on each others’ releases in the form of guest appearances and remixes and were getting on stage at each other’s gigs, so it became a case of why bother pursuing two bands. So we combined our efforts to create Monkey Sons! Hundredth Monkey still exist as a side project (Monkey Sons presents Hundredth Monkey) but it’s much more of the hardcore hip hop (britcore) and it doesn’t involve a full band. (Remark & Bandog used to be in old school UK hip hop acts Deliverance & Killa Instinct respectively)

What ingredients did you need to mix together to ultimately produce the recipe for your sound?
We all come from different musical backgrounds but share a love of hip hop, so the influences are varied. Some of us have been hip hop artists for years; others have been in rock or jazz band, funk, electronica etc… There’s no one recipe for our sound, we try all sorts of things and pick what we feel works best. It’s gotta have a catchy element to it, and preferably a sense of fun or an uplifting message. We don’t take ourselves too seriously and too much hip hop moans about everything, and we’re not into that! We want our audiences to enjoy our music and shows and have a great time.

Did your first gig make you hungry for more?
We’ve had a great response to Monkey Sons from day one. The audience really seem to get it. We encourage crowd participation as we want our fans to feel involved. It usually works and everyone asks us to come back to play again. We’re happy to oblige if we can fit it in!

What’s the biggest ‘cock up’ to date?
Probably our next gig will be an almighty cock up so I’ll get back to you! Oh, hang on, the bass amp blew up on stage mid song once!!! Not really a cock up but it sounded like a fleet of B52 bombers overhead. Probably a few perforated eardrums from that one!

What is it that inspires you to make your music?
We love music. It’s a huge part of our lives and has been for as far as we can remember. We inspire each other. Other artists inspire us. Life inspires us.

What would be the icing on the cake?
Hip hop’s hard to be successful at unless you’re American, so we just wanna have fun whilst we can. If we can get a decent career out of it, then brilliant.

How will you be remembered?
A band who produced some brilliant music and put on a great live show.

Describe your music as if it were a fine wine.
Hmmm, I’m not a big wine man, but I’d say a vintage Rioja!

AfterMint! Does your musical style influence your underwear?
No.

Finally, what do you know about Luxembourg?
I think it’s between France and Belgium and is an independent state. Pretty certain it’s tiny too. Sort of like Monaco I guess. For some reason it makes me think of Eurovision (did they win it once?) and a world cup from the 80s, maybe they qualified or something, I need to know! I guess they speak French, but I know nothing of landmarks etc… Is it expensive or cheap there? I would imagine one or the other being that it’s independent! Not sure if you’re in the euro though!

More info: www.myspace.com/monkeysons