5. The Blistering Speeds LOTTO Interview The Blistering Speeds take the Year 3 Number 5 spot with their Room to Rock LOTTO Interview. This was part of a series of LOTTO Interviews tied to a local charity event. As I previously stated in prior posts, I volunteered to MC Room to Read’s 2nd Annual Room to Rock charity showcase fundraiser on Friday, August 26, 2011.
Along with that, I decided to feature interviews with each of the scheduled bands. It all came together kind of fast and we were pressed for time, so I decided to use the LOTTO Interview format from a weekly music column I used to do for another site.
This is the fourth and highest ranking LOTTO Interview (and third from this special Room to Rock series) to make the Year 3 countdown. The first featured another ATX-based band, Feedback, who tied with a BB Gun Johnny pop quiz at Number 28. The second posted at Number 12 and featured SALVO, who is another ATX artist. The third was yet another Austin band, Day vs. Night, at Number 11. The Blistering Speeds, Day vs. Night, and Feedback were all part of the Room to Rock series of LOTTO Interviews. That only left one band off this countdown.
11. Day vs. Night LOTTO Interview Day vs. Night is another Austin indie band doing their thing and they take the Year 3 Number 11 spot. This was part of a series of LOTTO Interviews tied to a local charity event. As I previously stated in a prior post, I volunteered to MC Room to Read’s 2nd Annual Room to Rock charity showcase fundraiser on Friday, August 26, 2011.
Along with that, I decided to feature interviews with each of the scheduled bands. It all came together kind of fast and we were pressed for time, so I decided to use the LOTTO Interview format from a weekly music column I used to do for another site.
This is the third LOTTO Interview (and second from this special Room to Rock series) to make the Year 3 countdown. The first featured another ATX-based band, Feedback, who tied with a BB Gun Johnny pop quiz at Number 28 and the second just posted at Number 12 and featured SALVO, who is another artist based in the ATX. Day vs. Night and Feedback were both part of the Room to Rock series of LOTTO Interviews.
12. SALVO LOTTO Interview The Year 3 Number 12 spot goes to SALVO. ATX in the house again! Represent! Represent! Like NYC-based Sariah at Number 12 before her, this rank is impressive because this interview only went live on Tuesday, August 9, 2011.
Interesting also because I wasn’t sure if both of our schedules were going to allow this interview to see the light of the day, but SALVO got it to me and I posted it! And here it is at Number 12. Not too shabby! Shows that SALVO’s got mad support from her peeps.
The LOTTO Interview is a variation of THE REAL popolio pop quiz interview. I created it for a stint as a weekly music columnist at Zubterrain, e-zine of Zonisphere Media Group, based in New York, which is now on a hiatus due to a site overhaul. I brought my LOTTO format over to popolio and started using it a bit.
I wanted something standardized, but that would allow for more variability in and the interpretation of those questions, the answers, and the order of the questions. I also wanted more of a balance in the mix of the type of questions. As I created my 100 list of questions, I made sure everyone other question was a musical question and tried to balance the fun ones with serious and pop cultural ones.
This is only the second LOTTO Interview to make the Year 3 countdown. The first featured another ATX-based band, Feedback, who tied with a BB Gun Johnny pop quiz at Number 28.
See the original post here — LOTTO Interview: SALVO — ATX . It includes a video of a live SALVO benefit performance.
The Year 3 Number 15 spot goes to a post that just went live last month on Thursday, August 18, 2011. It was an informational post recounting a press release I received regarding ATX band, Boy + Kite. They won a contest hosted by local radio station, 101X. They won a spot on the Toadies’Dia De Los Toadies fest and paid-for production for 3 new songs by the Toadies’ record label, Kirtland Records. I also included a stream of their song, “Think in Stereo.” We congratulated them on their win.
Now that we are at the half-way point with both countdowns, I want to reiterate that these are not MY personal TOP 30 posts; they are based on the internal WordPress stats for both site locations. In other words, rankings are based on how many hits each post received. So, that’s not about me. That’s about how many visitors a post got. Candidly speaking, it’s also about how aggressive an artist and/or their reps were about cross-promoting and cross-linking their particular interview or story.
I also want to say that I’m very excited that so many El Paso and Austin artists have made a showing on both countdowns. I do pride myself on being a national and international site, but it does mean a little more when they are from Texas. El Paso is my hometown and I do live in Austin, after all.
Need an alternative to ACL? The Long Tangles play the Ditch the Fest Fest 2 (which is a benefit for all Austin-area wildfire victims) tomorrow at the Beauty Bar (617 East 7th Street). They go on at 2:20PM on the Outside Stage. $5 wristband for all shows or $2 per.
September 16, 2011
Name: The Long Tangles
Genre: Matrimony Rock/Indie Pop
Forthcoming Release: Finer Things (Overhead Records)
Release Date: October 11, 2011
This, That, or the Other 1. Underground OR Mainstream? Underground
2. Maintain Artistic Integrity and Vision OR Make a lot of Money? (OR Both)??? Both, please.
3. Studio OR Stage? Stage. No. Studio. No. Stage.
4. Spirituality OR Hedonism? Agnostic
5. Make Love, Have Sex, OR %$*!? We do it all.
Fill in the Blank
6. Music is my hot hot sex.
7. We’re musically inspired by each other,bike rides, relationships, swimming, culture, fears, music, money, fall.
8. If I could have made any music video it would have been “Whip My Hair” [Willow cover] by Skull Tape.
9. If I was a super hero I’d be Wolverine.
10. Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll should change to Red Bull, Late Night Tacos, and Gas Money.
Short Answer
11. I make music because: It’s fun, it feels good, and sometimes you have to. Also, it’s cathartic – writing, getting frustrated, getting it right, then performing it, and letting your body and mind to memorize it. 12. I want my fans to: dance and feel connected to what we’ve written like it’s what they meant to say or think. 13. If I could only share one thing about myself it would be: The Long Tangles are industrious and efficient.
14. Wild Card! We met in a seedy bar in New Orleans, and Coco was underage. 15. I want my musical legacy to be: That we worked with other people to make beautiful music and support each other rather than working against anyone. We’re all in this together, right?
Watch the video the Long Tangles wish they would have made!
Listen to “Drawing Conclusions” from the Long Tangles’ forthcoming release, Finer Things. Click on the cover to go to their official site.
27. Larissa Ness pop quiz
Local pop/dance singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Larissa Ness, is one of a few artists that have been featured more than once at THE REAL popolio in its different iterations. She is also one of the few true local pop artists who embraces and celebrates that moniker wholeheartedly. She hosts great video premiere premiere parties (where she also performs) at various local clubs.
Taking the Year 3 Number 27 spot is her pop quiz interview that posted last year on Friday, November 19, 2010. Hers was actually the very first pop quiz at THE REAL popolio’s new location at this URL. So, there was only one pop quiz interview for November 2010.
See the original post here — Larissa Ness pop quiz interview – ATX. It includes her song, “Get To It,” and a video of Judy Garland singing “Over the Rainbow” as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz.
28. BB Gun Johnny pop quiz & Feedback LOTTO Interview The Year 3 Number 28 spot brings us our first tie! As part of my El Paso Week countdown to the inaugural Neon Desert Music Festival, I included BB Gun Johnny’spop quiz interview. They were not one of the Neon Desert Artists, but they are El Paso-based. It was the first pop quiz of April 2011, going live on the 15th, during the week that I was posting daily Neon Desert 5Q interviews.
In Year 3, I started adding “interview” to the pop quiz heading. I had found that in previous years (as told by a few contacts) that the thought was that these were pop quizzes you were supposed to take and people were missing the fact that they were interviews. Not pop quizzes for visitors to the site, but for the artists, themselves. I didn’t think it was a such a big deal as these type of standardized interviews have appeared in magazines for decades; usually on the back page. But, I adjusted things to clarify things.
I noted before that though I feature national and international artists, I do highlight when they are local and regional. In Year 3, another tweak I made was to abbreviate the regional cities in the titles of such posts. So, in BB Gun Johnny’s case it became “EP” instead of “El Paso.” Austin became ATX, Dallas D-Town, Houston H-Town and so on and so forth. In some cases, I don’t know the city’s nickname or whether it has one, so it stays the same.
The Feedback LOTTO Interview is a more recent post. I volunteered to MC Room to Read’s 2nd Annual Room to Rock charity showcase fundraiser on Friday, August 26, 2011. Along with that, I decided to feature interviews with each of the scheduled bands. It all came together kind of fast and we were pressed for time, so I decided to use the LOTTO Interview format from a weekly music column I used to write for another site. The Feedback LOTTO Interview went live on Wednesday, August 24, 2011. More background info and how it all works is broken down in the original post [see below].
Interesting to note, Feedback is the official band of local company Bazaarvoice and normally do covers. So, maybe that’s how they got all these hits to claim the Number 28 spot so quickly. I jest. I jest.
See the original BB Gun Johnny post here — BB Gun Johnny pop quiz interview – EP. It includes their song, “Alcohol & Chocolate,” and MSTRKRFT’s video for “Easy Love.” See all 7 Neon Desert interviews and more here.
Just by chance you’re getting a double dose of Lipstick Letters this week. They are both a pic-olio and pop quiz interviewArtist. Their pic-olio posted on the last Tuesday of a 5-week month on August 30, 2001, as regulary scheduled. They were also set to be the focus of the first of our two monthly pop quizzes, kicking things off nicely for us in September. See the pic-olio here and read their interview below.
This, That, or the Other 1. Underground OR Mainstream? Underground 2.Maintain Artistic Integrity and Vision OR Make a lot of Money? (OR Both)??? Maintain Artistic Integrity and Vision 3.Studio OR Stage? Stage 4.Spirituality OR Hedonism? Spirituality 5.Make Love, Have Sex, OR %$*!? Make Love
Fill in the Blank 6.Music is my soul.
7. I’m musically inspired by life.
8. If I could have made any music video it would have been “Thriller” by Michael Jackson.
9.If I was a super hero I’d be Batman (because he’s just a regular guy who kicks some a**).
10. Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll should change to __________________, __________________, and __________________. (OR Not)
Short Answer 11. I make music because: It’s cheaper than going to a therapist.
12. I want my fans to: Sing along to my songs. 13. If I could only share one thing about myself it would be: I tattoo my feet with symbols from places I have been. I call them my “passport” because they take me wherever I want to go.
14. Wild Card! “May what you choose always be greater than what you lose.” Jenni Lord quote.
15. I want my musical legacy to be: A songwriter who touched souls.
Watch the video Lipstick Letters wish they would have made!
outtake from popolio pic-olio posted on Tuesday, August 30th
Watch a video of Lipstick Letters performing their original song, ”Out of the Blue,” live at Darwin’s Pub here in the ATX. Click on the pic to go to their official site.
Editor’s Note:Zonisphere Media Group, home of the e-zine, Zubterrain, where my weekly music column, Urb’l (Urban Cool) Remedy, lived, continues to undergo a site overhaul, indefinitely. So, my column is currently halted. I finished out my June posts here at THE REAL popolio.
My articles normally went live on Tuesdays. I thought I was done for the meantime, but I have a few outstanding. Since this was in flux and already scheduled with the artists, I think it deserves to see the light of day. At Urb’l Remedy, I would have called this a BONUS Photo Pictorial (only to post on the last week of 5-week months like August). THE REAL popolio version is a pic-olio, that could post any time.
That said, I normally had a Cause of the Month interview that kicked things off the first week of each month. I had reached out to local R&B songbird, Lisa Marshall, to be my interviewee for August, but then I learned about the hiatus at Zubterrain. I do know her COM would have been Out Youth Austin. So, for these two August posts (one posted at the beginning of the month), that’s what it will be. Click on the link to find out more about the organization and enjoy the pic-olio. +++
Thank you to Jenni Lord and Tina Turner (yes, that’s her name!), collectively Lipstick Letters, for their openness to the process and patience on waiting for these to post. We did the photo shoot way back at the beginning of July. On Ms. Lord’s birthday weekend, no less. I got the chance to interview Jenni Lord for SXSW earlier this year. Please check out that interview over at therepubliq.com.
I’m not going to give away the concepts this time around. I’ll just leave that to your imagination and interpretation. It will be Lipstick Letters and my little secret only visible in the traces of their lipstick. Corny, I know. Couldn’t resist. I will say, we had a quite a few set-ups, so I went with 10 final photos.
Shout out to Corey Hurt and Eric Garcia for hosting us and providing thelocation for the shoot.
Editor’s Note: The LOTTO Interview was one of the features for my weekly music column, Urb’l (Urban Cool) Remedy, that was part of Zubterrain, the e-zine of the Zonisphere Media Group. That site is undergoing an indefinite overhaul; so, my column is currently on hiatus. For the purpose of this series of interviews, I’ve decided to use the LOTTO Interview format here at THE REAL popolio.
I will be MCing Room to Read’s 2nd Annual Room to Rock music showcase and fundraiser event TONIGHT at Peckerheads on Sixth (6th and Trinity). Doors open at 7:30PM. Show starts at 8PM.
On Monday I started counting down to tonight’s event by featuring a daily LOTTO Interview with each of the featured bands – The Blistering Speeds, Feedback, The Shears, and Day vs. Night ( BTW, that is the order they perform in, but was not the order of the interviews). There was a bit of a delay in getting the Shear interview, so that is why nothing posted yesterday. But, better late than never, here it is!
The Blistering Speeds kicked things off on Monday. Day vs. Night kept it going on Tuesday. Feedback held it down on Wednesday. Read each of their LOTTO Interviews here, here, and here, respectively. Last, but not least, in our series of Room to Rock LOTTO Interviews are the Shears, who will be playing second-to-last after Feedback and before Day vs. Night.
The idea is simple. I have a list of questions that are a mixed bag of musical, fun, serious, and silly. The Shears chose five numbers from 1 through 100 without getting to see the questions. The questions they answered for this interview are the questions that corresponded with the numbers that were chosen. The list is currently holding steady at 100.
Watch the Shears play “Air Balloon” from a Club 1808 show captured by Austin Music Weekly. Read their LOTTO Interview below.
UR: Anyone you would pattern your career after?
TS: Well, any road to success would be the pattern we would want to follow, but all roads are different. We wanna’ get there anyway we can. John Mayer, Jason Mraz, Bruno Mars, maybe.
UR: What are you trying to achieve when you perform live?
TS: To inspire some sort of positive emotion…While rocking the shit out of the stage. We want to put on a great show! Inspire the audience anyway we can, whether it be to dance, be creative, musically or just to have a damn good time.
UR: What would the soundtrack to the story of your lives sound like?
TS: Like this!
UR: Put the super-baddest vocal group together by voice. Any living (This sucks. We wanted Ella Fitzgerald.) singer/vocalist from any group. Name them, the vocal role they’d play, and what group they’re from. [2 to 5 members only.]
Not sure what roles they would play, but the name of the band would be the Eargasms.
UR: Why did you get into music?
TS: It’s one of the few things we love to do and will never get tired of. Music is great. Music is Beautiful. Music is inspirational. Music is creative. It is all that and more. Emotions, feelings we cannot describe. Music is the pure language of the soul.
5. The Blistering Speeds LOTTO Interview
