Tag: Band Interviews

HOST BODIES // ‘DIAMONDFRUIT’ EP – A REVIEW

Host Bodies is a live Electronic duo based in San Francisco comprised of MC/producer James Collector (aka Swoop) and multi-instrumentalist Nick Hess. They have just released a new EP ‘Diamondfruit’ of beautifully chill songs that you’ll be sure to add to at least one or two of your Downtempo or Mood playlists. The seven track EP opens with the track ‘Stories’ the notes are soft and lush. It later picks up in speed bringing in other instruments to the track most notably twangy guitar. We transition to ‘Wildcat Beach’ where nature one of Host Bodies biggest influences starts to become even more evident. Sounds of water and the beach forming the better part of this song. Tracks like ‘Accept’ and ‘Orange Marble’ are two of the more groovier tracks on the EP. Even with ‘Accept’ clocking in 8:36 it’s the standout track with twisting and turning through all of it’s 8:36. On ‘Diamondfruit’ nature and the organic sounds found within it is the basis for the music. That combined with live guitar work, and electronic music elements, Host Bodies create a unique and beautiful soundscape blending two different palettes and it works quite well. It’s a great EP to put on and just mellow out. Therefore allowing yourself to fully feel the melodies created and just escape.

HOST BODIES

Listen to ‘Diamondfruit‘ below!

Stream ‘Diamondfruit‘ elsewhere 
http://hyperurl.co/diamondfruit

FOLLOW:

Website I Facebook I Instagram I Twitter

Until then,
Brittney x
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INTERVIEW WITH … HOST BODIES

I got the chance to chat with electronic band Host Bodies about music, their upcoming release ‘Diamondfruit’ (due out February 8th) and much more. The band blends beautiful soundscapes, live instruments and electronic beats to create a sound that is uniquely their own. Their latest song ‘Accept’ is out now and you can check out my interview with them below!

THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: I always start out with an easy ice breaker question. CD or Vinyl?

HOST BODIES: Vinyl.

THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: I tend to never ask a follow up to this but how big is your Vinyl collection?

NICK HOST BODIES: Ah, it’s growing. We’ve been collecting for years. We’ve got our first record on vinyl and thinking about pressing this new EP on vinyl. Not for the release day, but soon after.

JAMES HOST BODIES: Here’s the reason why vinyl is better. It’s apocalypse proof. Everything goes down and the CD players don’t work anymore. You can turn a crank on some kind of apparatus for your vinyl records.

THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: See, I never thought of that …. That was a new concept to me. But yeah, I started collecting vinyl recently too. And it’s great.

TRB: So for my readers who don’t know about Host Bodies how did you guys come to be? How did you guys get the band together? Was this something that had just organically come together?

NICK HOST BODIES: James and I had been friends since middle school and then high school. We would play rock and roll and garage band type of stuff. He was the drummer and I was the guitarist. Then we lived together in college and that was the first time we collaborated on more electronic music. James was making a lot of beats and he was inviting me to collaborate on some of the writing and some of the recording and yeah, that’s essentially how Host Bodies got started. It was a name that James had for himself and luckily I was able to become a collaborator on it. And ever since then we’ve been creating songs together and releasing music. We’ve had other collaborators over the years but it’s mainly been this core duo of James and me.

TRB: Were there any bands from the early electronic music days that you guys both bonded over?

HOST BODIES: Chemical Brothers, Daft Punk, Sound Tribe Sector 9 (STS9). Early Tycho and Bonobo.

“You know we live in such a crazy time development and modernization that you’re always sort of seeking an asylum or refuge in nature”

– Host Bodies

TRB: How do you transfer your sound from studio to stage when touring? How is that entire process like?

NICK HOST BODIES: Real instruments are a big part of our recording process so we try to incorporate them on stage as much as possible. Of course, we still use computers, pretty much everybody does these days. But electronic music is almost more of a technique for us than a genre, even though we still identify with the electronic genre. So on stage we have electric guitars, bass, analog synthesizers, stuff that we can touch and play with. James has live rap vocals on the hip-hop style tunes. Then the backing tracks fill in whatever we as two people can’t do live.

TRB: Since you guys specifically mentioned that a lot of the EP is inspired by the sounds of California and Colorado. How so? How are the soundscapes used for each state differ from each other?

JAMES HOST BODIES: We try to spend a lot of time outdoors getting out of the city. Getting to the beaches and the mountains. And there’s something about being in nature that is inspiring, that out of that silence, out of just those kind of natural sounds, bird songs, wind, the hushed silence walking on fresh snow or pine needles or rushing water in a river, that really kind of flows into you like a well. And when you get back into the studio and get on an instrument, it passes through you into the sound. So there were definitely specific places in mind in Colorado and California that inspired the music.

TRB: If you could collaborate with any musician? Who would you choose and why?

NICK HOST BODIES: Little Dragon, that’s easy we’re huge, huge fans of them. And Yukimi Nagano especially is one of our favorite female vocalists. She’s magic. She worked with Gorillaz too. And they’re another band that’s all live but in the electronic genre.

TRB: Yeah, I could see that being something that would work. It doesn’t seem like a stretch or where did this collaboration come from?!

TRB: Are there any artists that have been “On Repeat” for you guys lately? What music have you guys been digging?

HOST BODIES: Christopher Willits, Tycho, Snuise, some of our local electronic music makers. At the gym lots of Run The Jewels and Disclosure. And in 2018 Chrome Sparks, DJ Koze, Maribou State and Ólafur Arnalds put out amazing albums.

TRB: Throwing in a fun one here… What’s your favorite ’90s jam?

JAMES HOST BODIES: The Romeo and Juliet Soundtrack, Annie Lennox and the Eurythmics.

NICK HOST BODIES: Fatboy Slim, Chemical Bros, and really early Daft Punk.

TRB: And what’s next for Host Bodies?

JAMES HOST BODIES: Our album release show at a really special venue in San Francisco that I won’t name yet! Also a remix or two.

NICK HOST BODIES: I’m a graphic designer myself so I am really interested in more video stuff for the band.

TRB: Anything else you guys would like to add? Thank you for your time!

NICK HOST BODIES: We’ve been in SF a while and have been looking for this kind of community and family of electronic musicians. We feel lucky that we found some talented peers to play local shows with and they continue to inspire us at the same time.

JAMES HOST BODIES: Also I think we need to mention the EP ‘Diamondfruit’ drops February 8th. It’s really coming from an intention to provide our community and listeners with music that’s a refuge and a healing resource. Whenever they just want to chill out, whenever they want to dive deep into what they have been going through, or reconnect with joy—that’s what the EP is for.

TRB: Congratulations on the upcoming release. I love the album you guys and it was nice talking to you about it.

Listen to Host Bodies below! You can also pre-order ‘Diamondfruit’ as well

Stream Accept on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/hostbodies/accept

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/4Kpx2Pi2FtDLv6q5TBcGFV?si=M2dfLg0OS1-x019TsFkmnA

Preorder: https://geo.itunes.apple.com/us/album/diamondfruit/1448369221?mt=1&app=music

FOLLOW HOST BODIES:
Website I Facebook I Instagram I Twitter

Until then,

Brittney W. 🙂

INTERVIEW WITH … WILDERADO

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In the basement bar of Music Hall of Williamsburg a couple days ago, I got the chance to sit down and chat with the indie band Wilderado. We chatted about all things ranging from the start of the band to their first ever album. The band later performed an unbelievable show as an opener for the psychedelic, eccentric band Sure, Sure. Read below to hear more about what Wilderado band told us about their past, present and future.

Thank you for taking the time to speak with us. Can you guys start off by telling me how Wilderado came together as a band?
Yeah! Three of us went to college together [total of 4 members]. Two of us are from Texas and two of us are from Oklahoma. We all started out in LA. We all ended up out there and started playing music [together] and next thing you know we were recording songs up at a house in Malibu. Now three of us are married, two of us are back in LA while two of us are back in Tulsa and we’re just writing and touring pretty constantly.

Where did you guys go to college in Texas?
Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Three of us attended that school.

You guys have been touring with Sure Sure for a little bit now, is there a connection between the two of you guys that made you two want to tour together?
Our agencies just linked us up. It’s pretty unromantic. But there’s a lot of connection going on between us now. We really love those dudes. Very, very beautiful people. Quite honestly, it has been one of the more fun trips just because of them. I think we’ve had a lot of fun just getting to know them. They’re sweet guys and easy to work with. So yeah, we’ve really enjoyed it.

Do you see a collaboration?
Oh man, I would. If they ever wanted to collaborate on something I would say yes pretty fast.

And you’re just touring the US on this leg of tour?
Just the states but we are going all over the place. We started in San Diego and going as far as Boston and then end in LA. We will be hitting 23/24 towns. It’s cool to see new places. In 30 days.

You guys are embarking on a tour across the United States, do you have favorite locations? Is there a specific reason as to why?
Ah, New York for sure. We have a pretty good draw here. We have a sort of romantic connection with it. It was kind of one of the first things we did, we came to new york. There is also kind of this buzz around coming to this city with a purpose so it feels cool to be coming to this city to be playing a show. You know, like this world class, world famous city, putting on a show is pretty fun to do here. It feels like a bit of an honor. To be coming all the way up here [from Oklahoma and California] to be playing a show is special.

What have you guys enjoyed most so far on this leg of tour?
This leg, like where we are right now, I mean this is the part of the tour where the set start to really feel good, you start feeling confident, reactionary rather than trying to remember your parts. I’ll say it over and over again but, honestly, the best part of this tour so far has just been hanging out with this band [Sure Sure]. It’s just been fun to watch them, they’ve been cool and it’s fun to watch them, learn from them, hear them. Their music is just really sophisticated.

You guys don’t have an album out yet, correct me if I am wrong here.
No, we just have EP’s.

Can we expect an album sometime soon from you guys?
Yeah, I mean it’s something we are working on but we don’t just want to put out a record to just put out a record for its own sake. I think right now we are really just collecting songs, and writing, and touring but for sure that’s the idea. We are all very romantic about it, we want Wilderado LP 1 very badly, it’s a huge goal.

Who are your musical influences?
I think for the band it’s a lot of Third Eye Blind, Kings of Leon, and real early Coldplay. Crosby Stills and Nash. It’s a lot of thing honestly.

If you collaborate with any artist dead or alive to write a song who would it be and why?
Max:
Miley Cyrus! I wanna sing with Miley, I wanna know what it’s like. I’m dead serious. I think she’s awesome.
Tyler:
I may be saying this because we just saw Paul McCartney, but I think George Harrison. I’ve always liked his solo stuff and the way he told stories about himself. I think he had a lot of influences on the guitar melodies and guitar lines we’ve wrote.
Colton:
Since you brought up The Beatles, I think Paul.
Justin [Drums]:
I’m just gonna agree there with The Beatles!

– Sabrina A.

INTERVIEW WITH … WANK

I got a chance to interview Southern California Punk Band WANK recently. I talked with frontman Bobby Amodeo on music, Foo Fighters, and the future of WANK …

THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: I always start out with an easy and quick question. An icebreaker … So CD or Vinyl?

WANK: VINYL

THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: And for my readers who don’t know who is WANK and how did you guys come to be?

WANK: We’re the unsigned rock band that KROQ in LA added to rotation. We are the band that Mike Ness of Social Distortion and Chris Shiflett of Foo Fighter produced. Check us out.

TRB: Can you tell us about the first song you guys wrote together as band?

WANK: Fearless from Get a Grip – Generation X meets The Boss.

TRB: What musicians have you guys admired or learned from over the years?

WANK: I’d have to say Mike Ness, Joe Strummer, The Beatles and Elvis Costello. Yes they’re all legendary but they all brought the tunes and lasting stage presence.

TRB: Can you tell me more about your bands’ typical creative, recording and writing process and what goes on behind that?

WANK: Danny presents an idea, we refine it and arrange it as a band, we take it to the studio and track it with a producer.

TRB: Speaking of that … Let’s talk about your new single “Salvation” which was produced by Foo Fighters’ Chris Shiflett. What was it like working with him?

WANK: Awesome!

TRB: How do you think he added to the track?

WANK: Chris was a blast to work with. He came in very focused – his vision elevated our tune on all levels.

TRB: Here’s a fun one … What’s your favorite Foo Fighters track?

WANK: That’s a hard one! So many great songs but if I had to pick one I’d say LEARN TO FLY.

TRB: Are there any current artists that have been “On Repeat” for you guys lately? What music have you been digging?

WANK: Been really digging THE INTERRUPTERS as of late. Great style and cool tunes.

TRB: And what’s next for WANK?

WANK: We have a full length coming out this December which we’re stoked about! Really our plans involve lots of gigging and getting our new music heard.

TRB: Anything else you would like to add?

WANK: Thank you.

Until then,
Brittney W. 🙂

SURE SURE x WILDERADO // MUSIC HALL OF WILLIAMSBURG

Last week I got to spend my Saturday night surrounded by some great people and even better music. Sure Sure with supporters Plastic Picnic and Wilderado wrapped around to Williamsburg, Brooklyn to play venue Music Hall of Williamsburg for Halloween weekend. The bands delivered some incredible music to the crowd that left me quite astonished. The show they put on was just so well produced and was so good for just an indie band barely making it in this scene.
Indie band Sure Sure got alternative underground band Plastic Picnic to open for them for this specific date. Although this band [Plastic Picnic] hadn’t been touring all the dates with Sure Sure and Wilderado, they are definitely to be noted when discussing this show. Plastic Picnic, for being a band with little to no releases, proved themselves to be such an interesting band. The band have a unique guitar sound that is intricate and interesting compared to other alternative-music sounds, the band matches this with a deeper vocal composition which is uncommon to hear against the chorus pedal on a guitar. The band has a remarkably unique sound to them but it’s not the only thing that caught my attention. The band had such a good stage presence. With their involvement in the crowd, you could tell the band is filled with people who care for the music and for those who support their dream to become something. Check out their photos and their links below:

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The next band to find their way onto the stage with rough low-lighting was Wilderado. I got the chance to speak with the band in a personal interview before the show, I can’t wait for you guys to see what the band had to say when talking about the future of the band. The idea of an album release from these guys is so exciting to be discussing, especially after seeing what this band had to offer for us last Saturday. Wilderado are the perfect mixture of indie and rock with an almost country/blues touch to the vocal structure of the lead singer Maxim. It’s something I have hardly seen a mixture of in the indie scene but I personally love the band’s sound and I think they are going to be blowing up on their first album which is in the making. Wilderado were another band that took me by surprise this night as I didn’t know what to expect but I was blown away by what the band had shown us that night with their musicianship. Stay tuned for the interview here at ‘The Reclusive Blogger’ and check out the photos I got of their set below.

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The last band of the night to come out for the show was Sure Sure. If i wasn’t already blown away by the other two acts, then Sure Sure had definitely done it for me. The band has a fascinating and distinctive sound to them. Sure Sure has a total indie rock vibe to them following suit to the aesthetic of the whole show but the way they also connect these enthralling psychedelic synth and keyboard sounds to mix with the delicate guitar that is so prodigious was something that caught my attention instantly. The guitar is something that has to be noted as the guitarist was someone who pulled the band together with the complex yet captivating sounds he produced. The riffs of the guitar were out there when it comes to something that is delicately crafted and given thought to. The way the band connected the guitar, at times, to the synth was interesting but the idea alone of the skill level of the guitarist is something that must be noted. This guy seriously knows what he is doing, the guitar is absolutely one of the best concepts of this band. To tie it together, the band had a great image and too small of a following for who they are. Sure Sure is another band, with their first album release, who are going to be blowing up the scene. The band is just simply so talented and already mesmerizing attracting large crowds. I can see such a bright future for this band and can’t wait to hear and see more. You can view their photos below …

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– Sabrina A.