MY TOP 30: Year 3 Posts of ALL-TIME! Links – INTRO & 30-16

INTRO

30.BRAIDS pop quiz	25. Kaydean pop quiz	20. Quiet Company pop quiz
29. Girl in a Coma 5Q	24. The Shondes Call	19. She’s a Tease pop quiz
28. BB Gun Johnny pop quiz & Feedback LOTTO	23. The Jezabels pop quiz	18. Jon Sandler pop quiz
27. Larissa Ness pop quiz	22. TsuShiMaMiRe 10Q & Elephant Sky pop quiz	17. Neon Desert Music Festival El Paso Week
26. Medicine Park pop quiz	21. Peelander-Z pop quiz	16. Stefani Vara 20Q Part 1

MY TOP 30: Year 3 Posts of ALL-TIME! 5. The Blistering Speeds LOTTO Interview

MY TOP 30: Year 3 Posts of ALL-TIME! 

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.

See the original post here — LOTTO Interview:  The Blistering Speeds — Room to Rock Artist.  It includes a “Acca of Hexham” performance from a Maggie Mae’s show captured on Balcony TV Austin. 

See all 4 Room to Rock LOTTO Interviews here.

See all the LOTTO Interviews here.

See all my posts (including the original LOTTO Interviews) at my music column, Urb’l (Urban Cool) Remedy, here.

MY TOP 30: Year 3 Posts of ALL-TIME! 11. Day vs. Night LOTTO Interview

MY TOP 30: Year 3 Posts of ALL-TIME!

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.

See the original post here — LOTTO Interview:  Day vs. Night — Room to Rock Artist .  It includes their song, “Caught in the Radio.”

See all 4 Room to Rock LOTTO Interviews here.

See all the LOTTO Interviews here.

See all my posts (including the original LOTTO Interviews) at my music column, Urb’l (Urban Cool) Remedy, here.

MY TOP 30: Year 3 Posts of ALL-TIME! 12. SALVO LOTTO Interview

MY TOP 30: Year 3 Posts of ALL-TIME!

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.

See all the LOTTO Interviews here.

See all my posts (including the original LOTTO Interviews) at my music column, Urb’l (Urban Cool) Remedy, here.

LOTTO Interview: Alison Clancy

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 submitted by the artist, I think it deserves to see the light of day.  This is the last pending LOTTO Interview.  I would have posted this on Tuesday, but there’s been a lot going on in September and I’ve gotten a little behind.  See the other LOTTO Interview that was pending featuring the ATX’s SALVO here.

That said, I normally had a Cause of the Month interview that kicked things off the first week of each month.  Since, I’m not writing the column for the the whole month, I’m just going to choose what would be my COM and link it here.  I choose the Texas Council on Family Violence as the September 2011 Cause of the Month.  Click on the link to find out more about the organization and enjoy the interview.
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Cause of the Month:  Texas Council on Family Violence

Alison Clancy is a Brooklyn artist who fronts two bands.  HUFF THIS! and Electric Child.  She was actually the answer to on of the questions in a previous LOTTO Interview.

The question reads, “Play it Forward: Make a case for an up-and-coming indie artist or act that you’re really into and that you feel more people should be into. Who is it and why should we be into them, too?”  Fifth Nation played her forward.

The idea is simple. I have a list of questions that are a mixed bag of musical, fun, serious, and silly. Alison Clancy chose ten numbers from 1 through 50 without getting to see the questions.  The questions she answered for this interview are the questions that corresponded with the numbers that were chosen.  The list is currently holding steady at 100.

Alison Clancy started as a modern dancer and brings that sensibility to her musical expression.  Especially her videos.  Watch the official video for “Lovin You” by HUFF THIS!  Read Alison’s LOTTO Interview below.

UR:  Why did you get into music?
AC: Because it feeeeeeeeeeeeels GOOD!

UR:  Greatest movie of all-time?
AC:  I probably haven’t seen it.  Or it hasn’t been made, yet.

UR:  What’s your guiltiest pleasure?
AC:  Guilt is never pleasurable.

UR:  Tell me a secret.
AC:  Don’t have many.  I’m a pretty open book.  Maybe too open.  I was kind of in a cult for a while, but that’s not even a secret.  I like crazy people and freaks and sometimes I can follow their logic a little too long even when it doesn’t make any sense.  Or I let people into my life who maybe I shouldn’t trust so quickly.

UR:  What do you hate about the music industry?
AC:  In the music industry there is always the slight chance of a song, person, or band garnering money/fame and sometimes this makes people unnecessarily possessive/jealous/competitive.  For me, the point of playing music is expression/community/catharsis.  Having come from the dance world, where no one is ever expecting fame or glory, it’s all about process and the discipline of training.  This was a very foreign and frustrating dynamic for me at first, but now that I understand it I think I’m getting better at dealing with it.

UR:  If someone were to play you in a movie of your life, who would it be and why?
AC:  I would play me because I’m awesome at being me.

UR:  What would the soundtrack to the story of your life sound like?
AC:  Grass growing, airplanes crashing, lots of classical ballet music, sexy R&B, and Zach Hill bloodying himself on a drum set.

UR:  Does Ghost still make you cry like it does me?
AC:  Hmmm.  Haven’t seen it in ages.  Would probably depend on the context of my life at the moment.

UR:  You can get a song remixed in another genre, which of your songs would you remix and in what style?
AC:  I would get the HUFF THIS! Song, “My Love,” remixed as a dubstep dance anthem.  The cello/synth dance duo, Electric Pussy, might do this.  If so, it will be SICK!

UR:  Favorite part of your body?
AC:  Whatever part is being touched by my lover.

MY TOP 30: Year 3 Posts of ALL-TIME! 25. Kaydean pop quiz

MY TOP 30: Year 3 Posts of ALL-TIME!

Editor’s Note:  Kaydean is an artist signed to Zonisphere Recordings, part of Zonisphere Media Group, and I used to write a weekly music column, Urb’l (Urban Cool) Remedy, for Zubterrain, the e-zine of the the Zonisphere Media Group.

25. Kaydean pop quiz
I didn’t know too much about Kaydean when this posted and I still don’t.  I do know that he is a producer and has worked in the music industry as such for many, many years.  I also know he’s worked with both Janet and Robyn in the past.  That’s all I need to know.  Ha!

Seriously, though, as an artist, I think he’s exploring interesting territory and not doing what you would expect.  At the time of this pop quiz interview, he was promoting his just released concept double EP, Emerge/Submerge.  You can tell from the songs included with the pop quiz that his brand of ambient electro is richly layered and that, with this particular project, he was exploring the two sides of his musical spectrum and how they met in the middle.

His pop quiz interview, posted on Friday,  June 10, 2011, and takes the Year 3 Number 25 spot.  It was the first pop quiz of June 2011.  The second posted on Friday, June 24, 2011 and featured Elephant Sky.

See the original post here — Kaydean pop quiz interview.  It includes his songs, “Tranquility” and “Daywalker” and 3 Doors Down’s video for “Let Me Be Myself.”

See all 28 Year 3 pop quiz interviews here.

Courtesy of Google

MY TOP 30: Year 3 Posts of ALL-TIME! 28. BB Gun Johnny pop quiz & Feedback LOTTO Interview

MY TOP 30: Year 3 Posts of ALL-TIME!

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’s pop 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.

See the original Feedback post here — LOTTO Interview:  Feedback — Room to Rock Artist.  It includes a live performance video of their cover of Kanye West’s “Love Lockdown.”

See all 4 Room to Rock LOTTO Interviews here.

Lipstick Letters pic-olio – Lubbock/ATX

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.
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Cause of the Month:  Out Youth Austin

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 the location for the shoot.

Lipstick Letters play the inaugural OUTlander Fall Festival during Austin PRIDE 2011 next weekend, on Saturday, September 10, 2011.  Go  to the OUTlander Facebook Page for deets!

They are also the first September 2011 pop quiz interview Artist.  Read it here.

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LOTTO Interview: The Shears – Room to Rock Artist

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 2^nd Annual Room to Rock music showcase and fundraiser event TONIGHT at Peckerheads on Sixth (6^th 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!

Get the 411 here, RSVP at the Facebook Event Page, and learn more about the organization at the official site.

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.]

TS:         

Kimbra

David Bowie

Mariah Carey

Sameer Gadhia

Bruno Mars

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.

LOTTO Interview: Feedback – Room to Rock Artist

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 2^nd Annual Room to Rock music showcase and fundraiser event on Friday, August 26, 2011, at Peckerheads on Sixth (6^th and Trinity).  Doors open at 7:30PM.  Show starts at 8PM.

Starting on Monday, to countdown to the event, I have been featuring a daily LOTTO Interview (and will do so through tomorrow) 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 not necessarily the order of the interviews).

Get the 411 here, RSVP at the Facebook Event Page, and learn more about the organization at the official site.

The Blistering Speeds kicked things off on Monday.  Day vs. Night kept it going yesterday.   Read each of their LOTTO Interviews here and here, respectively.  Next up in our series of Room to Rock LOTTO Interviews is Feedback, the official band of Bazaarvoice, who will follow the Blistering Speeds during the showcase.

The idea is simple.  I have a list of questions that are a mixed bag of musical, fun, serious, and silly.  Feedback 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 Feedback perform their version of Kanye West’s “Love Lockdown.”  Read their LOTTO Interview below.

UR:  Anyone you would pattern your career after?
FB: Probably the Rutles…Or maybe Spinal Tap, but mostly just for the great stage props.

UR:  What are the top references you use for this band, musical or otherwise?
FB:  The main criteria we followed in selecting the music was to play the tunes that we are excited about.  Our band members seem to have a similar taste in music, but we are pretty diverse when it comes to age.  Since we mainly do covers, it ends up as somewhat of a “best of” from the ‘70s all the way through to today.

We had two rules we tried to follow:

1) The audience should be able to recognize the song within a few notes.
2) Once they recognize it, it should make them smile.

UR:  What’s a genre of music you’d like to try that your fans would be surprised by?
FB:  Bluegrass soul!  Don’t be too surprised if we break out some angry banjo or maybe even a fiddle one of these days…

UR:  If you were to redo a song from a musical, what song would you do from which musical?
FB:  It probably wouldn’t be a huge stretch for us to try a few songs from musicals.  Maybe “Seasons of Love,” from RENT – it has a big sound, lots of vocals, and it’s definitely a feel-good tune.

UR:  American Idol’s Jennifer Lopez, The Voice’s Christina Aguilera, or X-Factor’s Paula Abdul?
FB:  J.Lo…Of course.