The Tribe

The Rolling Stonehill recently got the chance to sit and chat with Brendan Murray '14, an active musical force on campus, to talk about his love of guitar, his musical heroes, and his new release, The Tribe.

RS: How long have you been singing and playing guitar? Are you self taught or have you undergone any formal training?

BM: I started taking guitar lessons at a local music shop when I was a freshman in high school, but with a much different mindset for the instrument than what I do now. When I first started learning to play, I wanted to play classic rock style riffs like Aerosmith, Zeppelin, etc As I widened my musical landscape I got more into newer alternative rock like Wilco, Kevin Devine, Brand New, Gaslight Anthem, Sonic Youth. I started to become more interested in using the guitar as a device to work with songs I was writing, using the new voice I was learning from those bands. I stopped taking lessons when I graduated high school, but I still consider myself a student at the instrument. Whenever I talk to people I know who play I always try to pick their brain to learn more about it.

RS: Do you play any other instruments?

BM: I play a little bit of piano/keyboard but always struggle to feel comfortable writing and performing with the instrument. I'm hoping to take some more time with it soon to try to become more comfortable with it, because I love the sound of the piano, and would love to try and use it in my own work. I'm also hoping to pick up a banjo over winter break and use that. I love the sound of a banjo and think its such a versatile instrument, and more versatile than a lot of people give it credit for. It can be used to make things sound very pretty, like the way the Ballroom Thieves use it, or it can give a song a really folky sound like in songs by Neil Yong, or probably my favorite, it can be used to make things sound very angry or menacing with bands like Modest Mouse, so the banjo is something I'd love to get into.

RS: Talk a little bit about your new release, the Tribe. What inspired its content, and who came up with the cover design? It's awesome.

"The Tribe" cover design
by Jackie Kolgraf '14

BM: The Tribe is the EP I recorded this summer back home on Long Island at Island Music Lab, with a really awesome guy who did a great job working with me named Scott Byrne. Its a four song EP with all original material, songs I've written between the beginning of freshman year of college and the end of sophomore year. Lyrically, the songs just tell stories of different spots in my life, as basically all of my songs are autobiographical. When I write songs I try to be honest with how I feel about whatever I'm writing on. The final song and the title track “The Tribe” is about my group of friends here at Stonehill. Those 6 people I talk about in the song mean more to me than just about anyone who isn't family, and they've become almost like family since I've been up here. The song just talks about things I've been through with them. I decided to name the EP after that group of people because of how much they meant to me, and because they all impacted my life so much, and that life served as the backdrop to the song on the record.

The cover design is awesome, its one of my favorite parts of the record actually. One of the members of my “Tribe”, designed it for me. Jackie Kolgraf is an insanely talented graphic design student that goes to Stonehill, and is one of my best friends. We were talking about the project one day and I asked if she'd be interested in helping design it. I told her to just try to get inspiration from the name “The Tribe” and run with it, and she did an amazing job.

RS: Who exactly is Craig Finn?



Craig Finn of The Hold Steady

BM: Ah, yes this question comes up a lot. Craig Finn is the frontman of a band that means an incredible amount to me called The Hold Steady. He has this great story-telling ability to paint an honest picture, two halves of a tale really, the high that can come from feeling young and invincible, and the crash that can come when you take that feeling to far. They also use those themes to explore topics of destruction, forgiveness, and redemption, all themes that really fascinate and appeal to me. In the song I named after him, I reference one of my favorite songs, written by him called “Stay Positive” That idea got me through a lot of difficult stuff, both within my own mind and things happening around me. It became a mantra for me, something I would scribble on notebooks and in the margins of songs. The song is about trying to convince myself to stay positive, and whenever I do that, his words ring in my ear.

RS: What artists spark your creativity? What bands do you listen to in your spare time?

BM: I'm inspired by a huge range of artists. The Hold Steady are obviously a big influence, as are bands that I just love to listen to. I take a lot of inspiration from bands who play somewhat similar music to I'd like to make Wilco, Brand New, Modest Mouse, Gaslight Anthem, The Front Bottoms, Manchester Orchestra, Kevin Devine, Neil Young, the Band, are all big influences on me and I don't think me saying that would surprise many people. I also take a huge amount of inspiration from music I don't ever see myself playing, noise rock bands like Sonic Youth is a big influence on me trying to find new ways to use the guitar. Older hardcore punk bands from the 80's like Black Flag, Minor Threat, Bad Brains, Seven Seconds, the Youth of Today. I'm not a huge hip-hop fan but the stuff I do like, the lyrics always really appeal to me and want me to get a little better or smarter with my word play, stuff like Jay-Z, Kanye, Kids These Days, George Watsky. Really anything that feels like a real honest expression or can pack a punch when it comes to energy makes me want to do the same thing, which is why I pull from so many genres.

Really though, where I get the most inspiration is seeing people I consider friends make stuff that consistently stuns me with just how good it is. Devin and Martin in the Ballroom Thieves, Chris Borelli and his work in the 4LM project, Steve MacDonald of the Okay Win, and your stuff. It makes me so inspired to see people I know doing stuff that I enjoy so much, and it makes me feel like I can do it to, and it makes me want to do it so much more

RS: Tell us a little known fact about Brendan Murray, the artist.

BM: Hmmm. I guess a little known fact about me is that I would love to give hip-hop a shot as a form of musical expression in my own work, but I'm not sure if I ever will. Its so distant from what I try and seeing guys like you and Chris Borelli do it, I would love to do it, but I don't know if I ever will.

RS: What lies ahead for you? Are any new musical projects in the works?

BM: I'm hoping to record more towards the end of this semester and kind of doing the opposite of what I did with “the Tribe”. When I recorded that, I went into a semi-professional studio and worked with Scott as my producer, and came out with a high-quality acoustic record that I'm really proud of. This time around, as I write new songs, I want to incorporate new instruments and techniques and just record it myself. I want to bring in electric guitar and some effects, piano and keyboard, percussion, banjo, really I'm open to anything. I recorded my first song in this idea last week, and put it up on my sound cloud (http://soundcloud.com/brendan-murray/skinny-love). Its a cover of Bon Iver's “Skinny Love” and I use a kinda freaked out electric guitar running through a couple pedals and effects and ran my vocals through some reverb and other effects. It stands in pretty stark contrast to my acoustic EP, and I want to keep exploring that contrast in a lot of different areas, but I think my first impulse will always be the simple arrangement of acoustic guitar and honest lyrics. It just feels right to me.

Download Brendan's EP at http://brendanmurray92.bandcamp.com

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Rex Macipinlac '13
Image credit: Brendan Murray and Tremagazine

LADY GAGA: IN THE HAUS

Lady Gaga as she appears in the music video for her 2008 hit , "Poker Face"

Since Steffani Germanotta hit the pop world in 2008, it’s safe to say that the mainstream has gone gaga for the lady. New York native Lady Gaga has entertained our eyes as much as our ears with her flamboyant fashion sense. This post is to highlight the artistic team behind the force that is Lady Gaga. From stage sets, to ensembles, to music videos, the team responsible for getting Gaga where she is today is called the Haus of Gaga. This 18 member team is comprised of multiple fashion designers, art directors, stylists, and dancers. So yes, for all those who were fans of the meat dress—thank this team. They’re responsible.

Gaga has established herself, over the past four years, as a walking fashion statement that advertises the simple message of being yourself. Promotional campaigns revolving around her album such as “The Fame Monster,” serve as proof. 

The music video to her most successful “Fame Monster” single to date, “Bad Romance,” illustrates her fight to retain individuality and to not be swallowed by the successes of her newfound fame. The video oozed of everything pop from signature dance moves, to product placement, to set design, to fashion. The Haus of Gaga put together scenes depicting Gaga being forced to drink vodka, dancing in a futurist designed bathhouse with “monsters” dressed in white leather suits, and posing in the center of several diamonds floating mid air. This video also introduced her concept of the “monster” (her positive flip of the word “freak” which she equates with individuality, for empowerment purposes) to which she refers to her dancers as, and also introduces the signature “monster” dance (which I find suspiciously similar to a Michael Jackson Thriller move). As for advertising, she is portrayed in multiple outfits, one of which includes heels designed by the late fashion designer Alexander McQueen. 

Hedi Slimane's contrasting photos of Germanotta
 were meant to illustrate her  struggles with fame

Two photos were shot for the Fame Monster’s cover by fashion designer Hedi Slimane in collaboration with the Haus of Gaga. Both were black and white and illustrate a contrast: one depicts a gothic crying Gaga with black hair, and the other depicts a short haired blonde Gaga, covering her face. Both intentionally serve to illustrate a self conflict one undergoes in dealing with the pressures of fame. 

Her tour which followed the release of the Fame Monster took place between 2009 and 2011. All of the sets’ designs were created by the Haus of Gaga, including animated backdrops, white and gold leather costumed outfits, and animated shorts to serve as interludes throughout her set

Pop culture analysts and critics have compared Gaga as a grand scale artist who parallels Michael Jackson and Madonna, in regard to her showmanship. The Haus of Gaga is a low key force that I personally feels deserves more credit for their achievements have only elevated Gaga to the status of a renaissance woman.

Rex Macapinlac '13

Image credit: Wikipedia

"Give us a squeeze"

Continuing the flow of on-campus artists gracing our blog posts, we knew we needed to track down Derek Krevat '13, member of the self-proclaimed Alternative/Rock group Foxglove.  With a catchphrase as endearing as "give us a squeeze", we knew we had to find out more about the Boston-based trio.

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RS: How long has Foxglove been together? How did the band form itself, and how'd you guys decide on the name?

DK: We've been together since 2010, but we went from a five-piece band to a trio in late 2011. We decided on the name because in my backyard, there are flowers that look like Foxglove flowers, which are really poisonous. We liked the idea that they were so dangerous but also pretty.

RS: Talk a little bit about the new release, "Strawberry Lemonade." What inspired its sound and lyrics?

DK: We're pumped that Strawberry Lemonade is out. It had been a work in progress for about a year before we started recording it. We started writing it during the summer, so we tried to give it a bright and summery feel. We just always wanted it to be the perfect CD to play on the way to the beach. Chris, bassist and vocalist, wrote most of the lyrics. He moved back home after four years of college, so the first track, Boomerang Kids, is all about moving back in with your parents after graduation and all the confusing but humorous feelings that come along with it. Most of the other lyrics are about love, relationships, and friends.

RS: Who came up with the idea for the album cover?

DK: The album cover came about through my sister, who did all the photography, and I bouncing ideas off each other. We wanted the album cover to match the bright and summery sound we tried to capture. After a while of throwing around complicated concepts, we decided to keep it simple, and went for a literal but creative depiction of Strawberry Lemonade (the title track).

RS: Do you guys play a lot of live shows?

DK: Since my brother (the drummer) and I are at college, we try to play shows pretty much every time we're home for breaks. We've played a few gigs in Boston, including places like the Greatest Bar, All Asia, and McGann's. We also play a lot for our friends in our basement, and at parties.

RS: What's next for Foxglove? Are there any music videos, shows, or EPs ahead?

DK: We are currently recording a music video for Boomerang Kids, which we hope to have up soon. We're having a CD release concert on November 24th, and are still working out the details, but it'll be posted online as soon as we know. After that, we'll begin work on our next EP, which we're hoping to record next summer.

RS: Where can we find you?

DK: Find us online at...

www.facebook.com/foxgloverock
http://www.youtube.com/foxglovema
twitter.com/foxgloverock
http://foxglove1.bandcamp.com/album/strawberry-lemonade

Strawberry Lemonade is also for purchase on amazon.com and on November 24th it'll be available on iTunes.

Interview by Rex Macipinlac '13
Images from Foxglove's media sources

Music Comes Full Circle

For those of us that are self-proclaimed “music nerds” like myself, it seems like music has surrounded us from the day we were born. An obsession with music and the emotions and feelings that it brings out in us isn’t something we chose, but something we were born into. It was passed down through our family like blue eyes or red hair. There was just no escaping it.

This was certainly the case for me. For as long as I can remember every car trip, every family get together, there was music. When we cleaned the garage every summer, the stereo would be outside, warbling away. I suspect this is the same for many people, irrespective of background, where you grew up, or what music was being played. Songs from bands like The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Dire Straits, The Clash, The Police, and The Counting Grows soundtrack my earliest memories. In fact, the first time I was brought out of my house as a baby was to watch a pay-per-view event where some of the most popular musicians came together to celebrate Bob Dylan’s 60th birthday by holding a concert in Madison Square Garden, with greats like Eric Clapton, Tom Petty, and Pearl Jam performed classic Bob Dylan songs.



Neil Young

But above all those great artists, there is one that always sticks out and recurs over and over in my earliest musical memories-Neil Young. My dad is an avowed Neil Young fan. He has seen him countless times, and owns all of his albums in one form or another. His passion for Young’s music even extends into his earlier outfits like Buffalo Springfield and Crosby Stills Nash and Young. Ever since I can remember his music has been in my ears. Listening to classic Young albums as my dad and I would drive to baseball games when I was young, my dad showing me Neil’s more fun and lighthearted songs like “Old King”, a banjo-tinged ballad about a canine companion, are memories I still hold dear to this day. But, as I grew up and developed my own musical taste I shied away from artists like Young and Dylan, shrugging it off as “my dad’s music” and developing a taste for 70’s rock like Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin. Then one day as I returned from a trip to New York City, my dad popped in new Neil Young and Bob Dylan CD’s he had picked up as he indulged his music obsession at a closing sale of Tower Records. The music I was hearing this time seemed different, and didn’t bring the usual feelings of apathy, but instead a sense of enjoyment and excitement. I quickly began to put Young’s albums into my own music rotation, and soon became a Neil Young fan in my own right.

This discovery could not have come at a better time. My dad and I have always had a back and forth relationship, one that could be both driven apart and brought back together by our shared passion and temper. But as I listened more and more to Neil Young, it became an easy talking point, something we could always go back to when times got tough. We attended his concerts together, a tradition that still continues to this day, we shared excitement as new albums came out and we dissected every song on them, sharing opinions, our favorite songs, what excited us about the albums, and what disappointed us. Neil Young became an important marker in my own musical development. I fell in love with Young’s embrace of unpopular, sometimes strange elements in his music and sought out bands that also indulged that affinity for the weird. That search brought away from the rock radio I had grown to despise, and into the indie and alternative music scenes, and led me to my favorite bands now, bands like Wilco, Sonic Youth, The Gaslight Anthem, Kevin Devine, Brand New, and Manchester Orchestra. I began to listen to Young less and less as I found bands from my own generation that struck a chord with my music obsession. He was always around my listening, but not at the forefront anymore.



As I left for college, conversations with my dad occurred less and tended to shift in focus. As I struggled in my first year at school, we began to talk, and often argue, about my struggles, how to fix them, and consequences of them. The lighthearted conversations about music and sports that had brought us close had started to slink away and tensions between us were again becoming strained, a development that delighted no one. I began to wonder if things would ever go back to the simplicity of Neil Young album discussions and comparing the bands I found to him. But then things began to change. I got my act together and the two of us both made a concerted effort to not only talk about “business” like school and summer jobs. As the new semester started we both promised to talk more often, and try to find our way back to the things that had brought us such closeness.

And at the perfect timing whispers of new Neil Young albums and tours began to surface. Rumors that he would tour with his original band Buffalo Springfield kept my dad and me guessing and speculating over their veracity. Announcements that he was working with his (in)famous backing band Crazy Horse brought excitement, which only grew, as half hour long sessions of him and the band were leaked online. Relations began to improve and things came back to normal.



Manchester Orchestra



Then one recent night as I clicked around Youtube videos of one of my new favorite bands, Manchester Orchestra, I found something that immediately caught my eye and ear. It was a video of three members of the band, two sporting guitars and one with a harmonica, covering the Neil Young classic song “Hey Hey My My”. I immediately posted the link on my wall, excited to hear his take on this combination of different styles and eras.



The video immediately put me into thought about how the music of Neil Young, and music in general, has brought me and my dad full circle. No matter what direction my musical taste goes, how far away the heavy guitars and passionate, sometimes screamed, lyrics of Manchester Orchestra seems from the folk rock acoustic tales and erratic electric guitar play of Neil Young, I always find my way back. It seems as though Young’s music will always be a factor in my life, and I couldn’t really be any happier. It is really a sign of why I, and the whole of us that count ourselves as “music nerds”, fall in love with music. It allows us to make connections and bridge gaps that may not be possible without music. It seems to bring everything back to the beginning.

 

Brendan Murray '14

Image credits: last.fm and www.guitarlessons.com

Signalfire on Fire

Signalfire's band logo and Wes Nelson '13, member of Signalfire

Wes Nelson, a member of Stonehill's class of 2013, is also a member of the four man band Signalfire, who just formally released their second album, "Don't Trust This Storm." With the band's project now featured on Spotify and the Google music store, the Rolling Stonehill recently caught up with Wes to discuss Signalfire's latest progress.

RS: How did Signalfire form and how did you guys come up with the name?

Wes: Signalfire is a music collective of 3 brothers and me(Wes, their cousin). We've been jamming since middle school, in basements, and our first attempts at recording started when I was just a freshman in high school. We've had many different names, each with different meanings... Some that come to mind are Cloud Nine, Rebel PC, and Eight The Flume.. The name Signalfire came about after a long session in the studio when we were in high school.. our stylistically eclectic nature is adopted from the fact that each of us has different taste in music, and the result of this is that each of us brings a different sound to the band.. As much as it may not make sense, we saw our sound's direction as a "fueling of the fire" of many different sounds all coming together, so that prompted one of us(I forget who) to say we were "signaling the fire"...

RS: Who makes up Signalfire, and who plays what?

Wes: Signalfire consists of the brothers Hansen...

Adam Hansen: Drums, guitar, vocals, piano, ukulele, production engineering
Mark Hansen: Guitar, vocals
Chris Hansen: Piano, keys, vocals, trumpet
and their cousin.. me,
Wes Nelson:Guitar, bass, vocals, piano, banjo

RS: What artists out there inspire your band's sound?

Wes: Our inspiration is very eclectic, as I've already stated. I'm very in tune to the indie world, and also inspired by bands like Incubus, Vampire Weekend, and MGMT.

Chris is an accomplished classically trained pianist, and he actually never listened to anything but Chopin, Rachmaninoff, and ragtime until he hit a Radiohead and Red Hot Chili Pepper's phase in college.

Mark is our most gifted song writer, and anything that involves an acoustic guitar and great lyrics keeps him going.

Finally, Adam is a very gifted percussionist and sound engineer, and any heavy music with great percussion, or very finely produced rock music inspires him.

Collectively, our approach is very 'Local Natives'- esque, where not one song was written by and performed on the same instruments as any other. But our sound most resembles that of Incubus, Radiohead, The Killers, and others of the like.

RS: I see your work has officially hit the Google music store and Spotify. Congrats. How did you guys make that happen, and what are your thoughts on it?


Wes: Yes, our music finally hit the Google music store, Spotify, bandcamp.com, and iTunes late this summer! We're so excited! This album has been in the works for years, and to finally start getting our name out their and get the feedback we've wanted to hear, it's very rewarding!
We did this with Reverbnation Distribution Services, and we can't say enough great things about it!

RS: What surprises can listeners expect on your latest, "Don't Trust This Storm?" How has the experience of putting the album together differed from the recording of your last self titled album?

Wes: On DTTS, listeners will be surprised by quite a lot actually. Our goal for the album was "pristine production". We actually spent close to two years in the studio fine tuning details.. and we're very excited about that because it brings the sound of the album to a whole new level than we've ever had.

Another surprise will definitely have to be the great work of our friend Drew Crook. Drew is featured in vocals on two of the brighter tracks on the album.. and his voice just fit the tracks perfectly. The sound of those two tracks, "Advice Column Letter" and "Skyline", were something totally different than we'd ever done before, and they turned out to be two of the most notable tracks on the album.

DTTS is a greatly different piece of work than any of our old stuff. DTTS shows the greatest progress the band has achieved in our 9 or so years together. We finally optimized the use of Cubase 4 in a make shift studio in the Hansen brother's basement. We also learned a great deal about production in the process, and it really showed in the final product. Very happy with DTTS!!

RS: What's next for Signalfire? Any new shows or releases on the horizon?

Wes: The future for Signalfire is finally here. The difficulties we face now are that the Hansen brothers currently go to school in Utah at BYU, while I'm here at Stonehill. This has lead me to a much more independent approach to songwriting, which actually resulted in the track "Strawberry Jam", which I wrote freshman year here at Stonehill. Currently, the Hansen bro's have just about completed a new studio in their condo at BYU, and they just sent me some new demos to mess around with a couple of weeks ago. Our goals now are to shamelessly promote DTTS, and also work for a new EP has already begun, which we hope to release early next summer!

RS: Where can we find you online?

Wes: You can find us online atwww.reverbnation.com/asignalfire and Spotify. Purchase our music on iTunes, the Google music store, and asignalfire.bandcamp.com. Like us at www.facebook.com/signalfiremusic. Follow us on twitter at twitter.com/signalfiremusic

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Interview by Rex Macipinlac '13
Images credit to Wes Nelson and Signalfire's media pages