Eli Mardock and wife, Carrie, in the studio. Photo by Joe Teplitsky.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Dirty Dancing: Singer/Songwriter Taps into the Power of Porn

To say the video that feature’s Nebraska musician Eli Mardock’s song “The King of the Crickets” is NSFW (Not Safe for Work) would be an understatement.

Titled “Double the Pleasure,” the video opens with the sound of Mardock’s somber piano chords as two young women in bikinis — Francesca and Caprice — nuzzle on a cushioned wicker beach chair sipping cocktails. As they kiss, an MTV-styled song-credit graphic appears in the lower left-hand corner of the frame that includes Mardock’s website address (elimardock.com).

By the 30-second mark, both “actresses” are topless. By two minutes, one is completely nude as Mardock’s music fades away, replaced with canned ocean sound effects and moaning.

From there, well, let the video’s producer, X-art.com, describe it for you:

“X-Art features beautiful, explicit, HD erotic videos that will absolutely blow your mind! Over 100 gorgeous girls-next-door and fresh-faced fashion models getting f***ed in HOT, explicit sex scenes all shot in crystal-clear 1920×1080 Super High Definition Video!”

As the video comes to a proverbial climax, the models are performing an act that cannot be described without using the words “acrobatic” and/or “flexible.” In the afterglow, Mardock’s music fades back in, as the video fades to black.

There are those who will find Mardock’s decision to license his music for use in the soundtrack of hardcore pornography not only distasteful and offensive, but a tacit endorsement of an industry some consider misogynistic.

“People can say whatever they want,” Mardock said. “I will say that I think suppression is unhealthy. And often, people who have a problem with pornography also have problems with sex. You know, they’re wracked with guilt and self-disgust. They battle all their lives to suppress, control and deny the impulses within them which are fact. And it’s a huge waste of energy. Of course, obsessing about sex and watching porn all the time is a huge waste of energy, too. I don’t advocate either — both suppression and overindulgence will fuck with your head.”

Mardock said he was introduced to X-Art by a friend who runs a boutique advertising/television/film/music licensing company in New York City. “It was immediately clear that music is one of the most important elements in their videos — so I was intrigued,” Mardock said. “The plan was to compose original music specifically for a couple of their videos. But they had so much enthusiasm for the early demos of my solo material that I sent them (as examples) that we decided to go with that instead.”

To take full advantage of the video’s promotional power, Mardock timed the June 2012 release of his EP, NE Sorrow Is Born, with the online release of the video, and it worked… probably.

Mardock said his digital-only release, available in 111 countries via 80+ retailers and through his website, has been downloaded more than 7,500 times, while sales of the EP’s single, “Cut Me Open,” (also used in an X-Art video) has clocked more than 11,000 downloads. But how much of that download traffic was due to X-Art? Mardock isn’t sure.

Keep in mind, he’s had some success long before he dabbled in dirty movies. Mardock has toured in the United States and Europe both as the frontman of his former band, Eagle Seagull, and as a solo artist. He is arguably one of the area’s more successful local indie rock musicians, so it’s hard to directly credit the porn videos for his music sales.

“Judging from the numbers of views/comments on YouTube, etc., it’s definitely had an impact,” Mardock said. “But, at the same time, I’ve had promotional campaigns going in both the U.K. and the U.S. that have generated a lot of press/interest.”

The licensing fees and exposure were both factors in his decision to sell music to X-Art. So was the quality of X-Art’s past videos. “I wouldn’t be interested in working with a typical adult site,” Mardock said. “That kind of stuff just isn’t appealing to me.”

X-Art’s director, Brigham Field, is a professional fashion and beauty photographer based in Los Angeles whose work has been published in a number of magazines, including GQ and Maxim in Spain, according to his website.

“Brigham is amazingly talented,” Mardock said. “He’s an artist. And, it’s female friendly. He co-founded X-Art with his wife, Colette. You know some people will say it’s all the same and blah blah blah and that’s alright. But for me, there is a huge difference between (typical porn and X-Art), and believe it or not I’m really very picky about who and what I would want to be associated with.”

But at the end of the day, it’s still hardcore pornography. And there are those who will question whether someone who’s “enjoying” a porn video would care enough about the music to track down the artist and buy the song. “I’m sure there are,” Mardock responded. “But, there’s no doubt it’s had a positive impact on sales.”

And, apparently, no negative impacts, or so he says. But though he described the experience as being “overwhelmingly positive,” music from Mardock’s latest EP, Hamburg, which was released Feb. 14, will “probably not” be used in future X-Art videos.

Is he having second thoughts? Not likely. Whether or not you agree with Mardock’s experiment in the flesh industry, it’s hard not to admit it gave him some exposure he wouldn’t have received elsewhere. And in an era when the indie music industry seems to be on permanent life support, any creative solution to getting your music heard is probably a good one, whether you can watch it in the office or not.

Over The Edge is a weekly column by Reader senior contributing writer Tim McMahan focused on culture, society, the media and the arts. Email Tim at tim.mcmahan@gmail.com.

First published in The Reader, Feb. 14, 2013. Copyright © 2013 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

* * *

Happy Valentines Day, there’s no indie shows tonight in Omaha, so drive to Lincoln and check out Day 2 of Lincoln Exposed.

* * *

Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2013 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

The men of Ladyfinger, from left, are Pat Oakes, Dan Brennan, Chris Machmuller and Jamie Massey.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Love and Aliens: Ladyfinger Releases Errant Forms

The evolution of Ladyfinger can be heard from the first track of the band’s new Saddle Creek Records release, Errant Forms.

“Renew” opens with brittle, electric guitar chords before the rhythm section of drummer Pat Oakes and bassist Dan Brennan slides beneath warm keyboards, Jamie Massey’s smokey, twirling guitar and frontman Chris Machmuller’s cool growl.

You could say Machmuller also sang on the band’s 2006 debut, Heavy Hands, but not like this. These days Machmuller really sings, confident on the ghostly, glowing high notes that follow the song’s prophetic line, “I will grow old.”

If it sounds “pretty” compared to the howling noise of Ladyfinger’s early years that’s because it is. Still, the music is no less bracing or powerful, just easier to grasp in its clarity.

Or as Machmuller put it, “There’s more space between the parts on this record.”

A brief history: Ladyfinger (also known by the legal restriction Ladyfinger (ne)) formed in 2004 out of three other bands: Massey from Race for Titles, Machmuller from Bleeders for Treats, and Oakes and bassist Ethan Jones from Putrescine The original foursome produced two albums, Heavy Hands and the 2009 followup, Dusk. After that, Jones left Ladyfinger to be replaced with “new guy” Brennan, formerly of rock band The ’89 Cubs.

Ladyfinger, Errant Forms (Saddle Creek, 2013)

Back to the present: Better singing means understandable lyrics. Good thing Machmuller knows how to tell a story. On Errant Forms‘ first single, “Dark Horse,” he spins a non-autobiographical yarn about a wild, irresponsible party hound who’s “looking for a road I ain’t ever gonna find” but finds it when he discovers his wife or girlfriend is carrying his baby. Coincidentally, Machmuller discovered his wife was in a “family way” shortly after writing the song.

Then there’s “Galactic” — also not auto-biographical…probably. The brutal rocker describes a guy who picks up signals in his head — numbers and images — obviously messages about an alien coup, which he explains with the line: “I’m a space invader and I think I can save this planet from galactic destroyers from space.” Rush’s 2112 has nothing on these guys.

Like their previous albums, Errant Forms was recorded by their old pal Matt Bayles, whose track record includes working with Mastodon, Minus the Bear, Pearl Jam and fellow Saddle Creekers Cursive.

Working with such an accomplished producer puts pressure on the band, Oakes said, especially when the band isn’t sure it’s ready to enter the studio.

“This record seemed like it was pieced together out of random parts more than the last ones,” Oakes said. “When we went in for Heavy Hands, we knew exactly what we wanted to do, and had played those songs a million times, but for this one, we asked ourselves, ‘Are we ready to record? What if this whole thing falls apart?’”

When it comes to working with Bayles, uncertainty could spell trouble. “Matt does not indulge you,” Machmuller said. “He refers to our sessions as ‘abridged.’ He’s used to having six to 12 weeks in the studio. We only had two weeks (at Omaha’s ARC Studio) to track 13 or 14 songs.”

“He’s very thorough, very meticulous, and that’s what makes him a good producer and engineer,” Oakes said. “If you push back, Matt will stand his ground and be a dick about it. He knows that time is of the essence, and he’s not going to negotiate with you.”

Good thing he likes these guys.

“He doesn’t do our records to make money” Massey added. “He’s been good to us when he didn’t have to be. He bends for us and we appreciate it.”

While the way they make records hasn’t changed much, the way the band and label sells them has. In the old days bands simply released records and hit the road, hoping college radio and good reviews piqued people’s interest.

These days marketing is all about online placement and social media. “The social network sphere is completely different than when Dusk came out,” Oakes said. “As a result, we’re seeing things happen with this record that have never happened before.”

Things like first single “Dark Horse” being selected as the “Daily Download” at rollingstone.com, where readers can listen to and download the track for free. Massey credited Saddle Creek’s Jeff Tafolla, in charge of licensing and new media, for the increased exposure, including Errant Forms being available as a digital stream from taste-making music blog AbsolutePunk.net.

But these new-fangled sales methods go beyond blogs. Tafolla suggested Ladyfinger launch a Twitter account (@ladyfingerne) as well as a Facebook page (@facebook.com/ladyfingerne).

“All four of us have access to these accounts and can do what we want with them,” Oakes said, “but it gets complicated.”

“I’ve been signed up to six brand new things that I have to figure out,” Machmuller said. “I’m worried about keeping all the passwords straight.”

With fans now able to hear the entire album from their computers for free, some of the “specialness” that comes with buying an album has faded. That’s one reason Errant Forms is being offered on vinyl in addition to digital download. “We considered going the vinyl route with Dusk,” Machmuller said. “Vinyl has become less of a novelty and more of a collectible. We saw the trend even back then.”

Saddle Creek says Ladyfinger’s combined sales for their past two releases was somewhere north of 1,200 units, far from what’s needed to make a living. All four band members have day jobs. Brennan, 34, is a sound engineer at The Slowdown when he isn’t on the road working sound for bands like Cursive. Massey, 37, is an art director at Turnpost Creative Group and proprietor of The Sydney in Benson. Machmuller, 32, launched Workers Take Out and now runs O’Leaver’s Pub, while Oakes, 35, is a production manager at Ink Tank Merch, a custom screen printing company owned by Saddle Creek.

With families to support and a music industry in decline, why keep putting out records?

“At the end of the day, for me, it’s all about playing shows,” Oakes said. “And if we sell more albums, that could mean playing bigger shows.”

“None of us have never not been in a band,” Machmuller said. “I love hearing things in my head and hearing them become recorded music. That’s the best part.”

Ladyfinger plays with The Seen and Hussies this Friday, Feb. 1, at The Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St. Tickets are $8. Show starts at 9 p.m. For more information and tickets, go to onepercentproductions.com.

First published in The Reader. Copyright © 2013 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

* * *

More Ladyfinger… The fine folks at Love Drunk today released the new video for Ladyfinger’s “Away Too Long.” If you ever wondered what Saddle Creek Records’ world headquarters look like, here’s your chance to get a peek. Check it out below:

* * *

The Thermals, Desperate Ground (Saddle Creek, 2013)

Saddle Creek Records announced via Pitchfork (Who needs to issue a press release when you’ve got Pitchfork?) that the label signed (former) Sub Pop act The Thermals. The details, from the actual press release issued by the band:

“The Thermals are pleased to announce they have signed to Saddle Creek, a label the band has known and admired for many years. The Thermals and Saddle Creek have a long history of sleeping on floors together: The Thermals have toured with Cursive and Ladyfinger, and Hutch and Kathy organized the first Bright Eyes show in Portland way back in 1999.

“The band formed in 2002 and has released five records and toured 15 countries. The Thermals’ sixth LP and debut for Saddle Creek, Desperate Ground, will be released April 16 and is available now for pre-order at the Saddle Creek Online Store. The album was produced by John Agnello (Dinosaur Jr, Sonic Youth) in Hoboken, NJ. Agnello and The Thermals completed the record and evacuated the studio just hours before Hurricane Sandy ravaged New Jersey, a fate quite fitting when you consider the product. Desperate Ground is a true scrappy and scratchy return-to-form for The Thermals, with all the raw power and unhinged adolescent energy that made their early LP’s so insanely enjoyable.

“Lyrically, Desperate Ground is a brash and irresponsible ode to human violence, a black celebration of the inevitability of war and death. A dark and yet joyous affair, Desperate Ground tells the (murky) tale of a lone rogue in the night. One man, one path, one sword. An unceasing urge to destroy. A never-ending battle against the forces of nature. A destiny impossible to avoid.”

The signing could be good timing for Saddle Creek, as Sub Pop announced last week that it’s reissuing the band’s first three albums on vinyl. “On March 5, fans can own limited-edition, colored vinyl copies of 2003′s More Parts Per Million, 2004′s Fuckin’ A, and 2006′s The Body, the Blood, the Machine. The triple-reissue (which also includes the rare “No Culture Icons” 7″) comes on the 10th anniversary of the release of More Parts Per Million.”

The only Thermals album I’ve owned was More Parts… which reminded me a ton of Superchunk. I haven’t heard their last couple of albums. After 2008′s “Returning to the Fold” single, the band jumped ship from Sub Pop (or was pushed) and landed at Kill Rock Stars for two more LPs, the last of which was Personal Life in 2010.

The Thermals are no strangers to Omaha stages. They last played in Omaha at The Waiting Room in May 2011. Before that, they played Slowdown Jr. in April 2009, and before that, Sokol Underground with Thunder Power back in November 2007.

Hey Maha, here’s another band for you to consider for this year’s festival…

* * *

The Whipkey Three opens tonight for touring Columbus, Ohio band Red Wanting Blue (Fanatic/EMI/Caroline) at The Waiting Room. $10, 9 p.m.

* * *

Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2013 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Greg Loftis

Greg Loftis is something of a local legend. Maybe “local legend” isn’t the right word. How ’bout urban legend?

I first interviewed him in 2006 for my column where Loftis talked about his new band An Iris Pattern as well as his association with Idlewild, Greg Dulli and Tommy Hilfiger (read it here). Shortly thereafter, Loftis’ band became Malpais. And then I lost track of him. He went off somewhere out east I believe. Now he’s back — tonight to be exact, when Malpais headlines a show at The Waiting Room.

Says Loftis via Facebook: “We have been held up rehearsing and make our re-debut at the grand reopening of (The Waiting Room). We are sounding exponentially better than we ever did and have plans to tour, record and release this year.”

But in addition to Malpais, Loftis has a new band with Bret Volk (Underwater Dream Machine) and Nick Carl called LVC Underground. “It is a fantastic harmony-drenched Americana-esque affair with leanings toward Simon and Garfunkel, Ryan Adams, Nick Drake (but sonically denser), The Twilight Singers, The Beach Boys and The Brian Jonestown Massacre!!! In short, it rules.”

You can see LVC Underground’s stage debut tonight as well, as they’re opening at The Waiting Room along with Moses Prey.

While both of those stories are interesting, leave it to Loftis to outdo himself with talk of his solo record, which he says, he’s been recording at Levon Helm’s home studio, “The Barn,” over the last few months and includes contributions from Chris Robinson of the Black Crows, Steve Earle and members of The Band.

Wait, what?

“Steve lives three miles away so it’s kinda cheating,” Loftis explained. “The assistant engineer up there works with the Crows, who did a disc up there. The crazy legends that just pop in and out to say ‘Hi,’ honestly just desensitized me after a while.”

Loftis said Helm had just passed a few weeks before he went up to record, “so it was a divinely spiritual time to be recording at his house. He was most definitely there… I became a REAL singer up there honestly, and I know for CERTAIN I owe that to Levon. I was just terrified to do my first vocal takes and I swear I felt this enormous hand on my back and heard a raspy ‘Relax and sing your song, son’… and I could do no wrong after that. Ripping through 3-5 part harmonies in 1 to 2 takes a piece. Stuff I never in my life could approach doing before. Then singing with those guys around … You get a nod from a Black Crow about your Americana-styled singing and you know you can feel alright about it. They know something about it. That hippy Chris has a set of lungs that just bellow. He has all the gears.”

Loftis said he plans to return to The Barn to mix, overdub and do a couple more songs. But right now, he’s back in Omaha, and specifically, in Benson, and he couldn’t be happier.

“I am just so fantastically happy/excited/euphoric about Benson. BENSON!!! Woo!!! It was our dream before I left that it would live,” Loftis said. “I am so glad it needed not a damn thing from me to grow and come alive!!!… I feel like I left the town that was empty and on the backside of the ‘Saddle Creek national high’… and returned to find this epic, diverse creative wonderland I am sooooo down to get lost in for an extended period of time… at least get a few baby records gestating within Benson’s belly!!! Watch em’ pop out of her in the summer!”

If you think Loftis sounds exciting in print, wait ’til you see and hear him tonight at The Waiting Room. The show is sponsored by Shiner Beers, which means it’s only $3. Starts at 9.

* * *

Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2013 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

King Khan and BBQ Show at The Slowdown, Nov. 28, 2012.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I never got my free booze at last night’s King Khan and BBQ Show concert at The Slowdown, but it’s not Sailor Jerry’s fault. The booze maker, who sponsored the event, had a converted Streamliner camper parked on the curb outside the club with blinking lights and signs and such. I didn’t bother to climb inside, and found out later that’s where they were distributing drink tokens. Kind of a weird deal, but there’s probably some sort of law that prevented them from setting up a table right inside Slowdown. Or something. I didn’t want to go back outside so I skipped it. I’d already bought my Rolling Rock anyway.

The “free” element was an ongoing riff played on by the KKBBQ duo, who kept prodding the rather large crowd about the freebies. “How’s your free booze?” said a smirking Mark Sultan sitting behind his two-piece drum kit, almost accusatory. Odd. Sultan, playing drums, guitar and singing (simultaneously), and King Khan on guitar and vocals were dressed in Mardi Gras-quality royal attire, complete with capes and feathered chapeaus. Glittery and cool. So was their music, a combination of garage, punk and sock-hop doo-wap, Chubby Checker meets Elvis meets Jack White meets the cast of Treme. They prodded the crowd to dance, and got a few to do a half-assed Frug.

Digital Leather at The Slowdown, Nov. 28, 2012.

Digital Leather opened the show with their usual grinding garage attack. I’ve seen these guys a hundred times and they never fail to bring it, but were especially on point last night. As I was sitting there wondering how many times I’d heard this set (or a slight variation), Shawn Foree and Co. threw out a golden nugget I thought I’d never hear them play again — “Studs In Love,” the homo anthem from Blow Machine re-engineered from an electronic hump fable to a roaring, spitting metallic confession. Foree launched it with a full-on riff attack aimed directly at the rhythm section of bassist Johnny Vrendenburg and drummer Jeff Lambelet (the best bass & drum duo in Omaha) settling into a tense, unrecognizable grind before barking out the line “I’m a man’s man / I don’t need no bitch.” F*** yes! They closed out their set with another classic — “Styrofoam,” from 2008 album Sorcerer.

I accepted years ago that Foree considers Digital Leather’s garage-rock stage presentation to be a completely different animal than the band’s electronic, proto-New Wave music heard on the recordings. I get it. But I’m beginning to wonder how long it will be until he breaks down and breaks out the Korg on stage once again. Maybe never. And that’s fine as long as he keeps putting out great records. Again, if you’ve only heard Digital Leather on stage over the past couple years, check out their recordings for a whole different take on their music.

* * *

Below, for your reading pleasure, is this week’s column, which also is printed in the current issue of The Reader. I include it here instead of merely providing a link as I usually do because of the topic. Saturday night’s Millions show definitely is worth the trip to Lincoln for any Millions fan, as there’s a good chance you’ll never hear this band play again.

The Millions, circa 2012. Photo by Ted Schlaebitz.

Column: A Million Reasons Why

Marty Amsler, like some of us, lives two lives.

Most know him as the mild-mannered “creative” at Nebraska advertising agency Bailey Lauerman. He’s a Mad Man ad guy who heads a team of Mad Men ad people that do some of the best creative work in the country. I know because I’ve seen it first hand in my “other life” at Union Pacific.

(To this day, I still meet people who think I make a living writing this column for The Reader. These are the same people who watched Sex and the City and thought Carrie Bradshaw could afford her cool Manhattan apartment and countless pair of $300 Manolo Blahnik shoes on what she made writing her weekly column in some faceless newspaper…)

Aside from Bailey Lauerman, there’s Marty’s main gig — his wife, Julia, and their son, Truman.

And then there’s The Millions, the band Amsler started way back in the late ‘80s in Lincoln with guitarist Harry Dingman III that included vocalist Lori Allison and drummer Greg Hill. Over the course of about six years, The Millions lived the rock ‘n’ roll dream. They generated a large following playing local gigs, got signed by Smash Records (a subsidiary of major label Polygram), quit their day jobs and recorded and released their debut album, M Is for Millions in July 1991. They toured, and then released their second album, Raquel, in September 1995. They toured some more. And then broke up and went their separate ways, leaving behind some great music and fond memories.

And now, just like that old rock ‘n’ roll story always seems to go, they’re getting back together again, for one night only — Dec. 1, 8 p.m., at Lincoln’s Bourbon Theatre. Well, at least three of them are, anyway. Greg Hill no longer plays drums and doesn’t want to. Drummer Brandon McKenzie will be sitting behind the drum kit that night. So can you really call this a “Millions reunion”?

“Lori, Harry and I don’t look at this as a ‘reunion’ show,” Amsler said. “Just old friends getting together again to play some songs we wrote a while ago to help some other old friends release a project they’ve worked tirelessly on.”

The Millions, Poison Fish (Randy’s Alternative Music, 2012)

The project is Poison Fish, a collection of lost, unreleased Millions recordings that capture the unbridled spirit of the band before they got signed.

The collection (under the name The Millions NE, because a different band now controls “The Millions” name) is being released by Randy’s Alternative Music, a record label run by Randy LeMasters, a Pittsburgh-based music entrepreneur who said the Millions’ music “turned my world upside down.”

LeMasters has spent nearly a decade working with the band and Millions’ fan Malcom Miles piecing together tracks heard on the new release from remastered cassette tapes, as the original master tapes (apparently) no longer exist.

Despite the frustration of spending years trying to track down those original masters, LeMasters says the release’s timing couldn’t have been better. “The band might not have gotten together for the CD release show in years past due to commitments with family and careers,” he said. “The time is right.”

And the timing may be right for other reasons. There’s a resurgence of interest in the post-punk, pre-Nirvana, “first wave” bands that influenced The Millions, such as REM, Throwing Muses, Cocteau Twins, Kate Bush and The Sundays. Some of the best new music released this past year, from indie darlings like Twin Shadow, Wild Nothing and DIIV, are revising the post-punk new wave sound for a new generation of listeners who may also discover something new in The Millions.

And if you’re wondering, no, LeMasters isn’t doing it for the money. “I’ve never been in the music ‘business’ to make money,” he said. “I do it for the love of the music and for my passion to get music into the ears of other fans. Other than the love one gets from family and friends, I believe there is no greater pleasure than sharing music with willing, eager ears.”

For Amsler, playing with his pals in The Millions again fills a void he didn’t realize he had.

“I have a very fulfilling career in advertising,” he said. “I get to spend my days working with some of the most talented people in the industry. I have great clients and more creative opportunity than I know what to do with.”

And though he gets the same creative fix from working with his B-L team, “I didn’t realize how much I missed just playing a song together – being super ‘cops-show-up (which they did) loud,’ getting in the zone and drowning all else out,” he said. “It’s so powerful, perfect and precarious. I didn’t realize how much I missed that — or them.”

Motivation to strap on his bass again also came from his family. “They see how much I’m enjoying it,” he said. “I get to share a side of me that neither of them knew.”

So I had to ask Amsler, the way the music industry is these days, would he do it all over again?

“That’s something I’ve thought about during the years,” he said. “Looking back, I’d have killed for the internet, e-mail, downloads or a damn cell phone (imagine being on the road for six weeks without one). That certainly would have made our lives easier on many fronts. But there was something about the music scenes when you had to be an active participant (not optional/digital) that was pretty amazing. I also think we were the last generation to get the big ‘quit-your-day-job’ record contract. Obviously, it wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be, but for a while, recording, touring and playing WAS our day job. That was pretty cool.”

The Millions play this Saturday, Dec. 1, at The Bourbon Theatre, 1415 ‘O’ St., Lincoln. Tickets to the all-ages show are $10 adv.; $12 DOS. Show starts at 9:30 p.m., with no opening bands (so get there on time). For more information and tickets, go to bourbontheatre.com.

First published in The Reader. Copyright © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

* * *

Here’s one that was flying under the radar: Tonight at The Waiting Room is the listening party for this year’s Christmas for Pine Ridge compilation.  The CD includes tracks by So-So Sailors, The Whipkey Three, Gerald Lee Jr. (Filter Kings) and a bunch more. The music starts at 8 p.m. Consider it a warm up for Saturday night’s benefit show, also at The Waiting Room.

* * *

Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Nik Fackler

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

As mentioned before, I typically point you to my weekly column in The Reader on Thursdays because the topics generally aren’t music related, but when I do write music-related column, like this week’s interview with Nik Fackler, I’ll go ahead and include it here (as well as point you to The Reader‘s website). So here you go:

The filmmaker and musician is about to take another turn.

by Tim McMahan

Who exactly is Nik Fackler?

He used to be known as a filmmaker who wrote and directed Lovely, Still, the independent feature film starring none other than Martin Landau, Ellen Burstyn and Elizabeth Banks. If you haven’t seen it, you’re not alone.

But after the film failed to garner national distribution, Fackler changed careers. These days, he’s a rock star (whatever that means in the post-music industry era). In fact, this column was targeted to support the debut vinyl release by his band InDreama, which takes place this Saturday at The Slowdown in what surely will be an orgy of weirdness and delight performed (and viewed) through sweaty Halloween masks. Fackler would have it no other way.

But InDreama is just one slice of this musician’s life. Our interview for this column took place less than 24 hours after Fackler returned from a two-week tour playing bass with nationally known indie pop band Tilly and the Wall. Fackler talked via cell phone while driving from band practice with InDreama and heading to another band practice for dance/grind/vibe rock band Icky Blossoms, where he plays guitar. For those of you keeping count, that’s three bands, simultaneously.

So I guess Fackler is committed to being a musician, right?

Well, no. While all this was going on, Fackler completed his second feature film, the documentary Sick Birds Die Easy, and submitted it for consideration to the Sundance Film Festival. He’s keeping his fingers crossed that the movie will have its world premier there in January.

And then… what?

“Right now I feel overwhelmed,” Fackler said. “I would hope that I can do music for awhile, and if none of it succeeds, I’ll always have filmmaking waiting for me. It’s mostly filmmaking and storytelling that’s calling me, but music is a much easier way to express yourself. It’s more fun and it’s cooler than filmmaking, even though I think I’m better at filmmaking…”

Such is his conundrum. It’s not that Fackler is confused as much as exasperated. He says making films is really more about the business of selling a project. “You have to make the most beautiful package possible — here’s a great script, great actors, great music — it has to be something they can’t say ‘no’ to.”

“They” are the money people who will finance it all. The plan was to ride the success of Lovely, Still to his next film project. “I didn’t touch a guitar for two and a half years during Lovely, Still,” he said. “I was ready to be a filmmaker. And then Lovely, Still wasn’t successful. I’m proud of it and hope over time more people get to see it, but it didn’t go anywhere. It came out in 2007 when every (film) distribution company was closing its doors. The film sat there and waited for the economy to pick up and was forgotten.”

Meanwhile, Fackler’s disillusionment about the filmmaking process only grew. “I got to the point where it was time to write a new script, and that time passed me by,” he said. “I felt constricted. I hoped Lovely, Still would blow up and I could make another film right away. When it didn’t, I had to start over. I knew it would take years to make another film, so I picked my guitar back up because I needed an immediate release of creativity. If I don’t have that, I feel like I’m being choked.”

InDreama, self-titled (Team Love, 2012)

Fackler became a wanderer. He didn’t have a job, he slept on couches, he traveled. “I fell off the grid,” he said. And all the while, he wrote songs and recorded them on his MacBook using GarageBand. After a year, he had completed 15 songs, which he played for Ashley Miler, a Kansas City music producer with a “far out psychedelic mind” who helped pull it all together into a cohesive package.

The final product is a very strange, very personal musical document of Fackler’s lost year that listeners will either “get” or won’t. He hopes it’s the former but is okay if it’s the latter. “If people like the music, that’s awesome. If not, I’m not paying attention.”

While all that was going on, Fackler finished his next script, tentatively titled We the Living, which he said combines mythology and religion with a science fiction aspect. But before he figures out how he’s going to make it, he has to go on tour with both InDreama and Icky Blossoms before (hopefully) heading to Sundance to screen and promote Sick Birds...

So who exactly is Nik Fackler?

To me, he’s the same 19-year-old mop of hair that I remember meeting at his parents’ diner back in 2005. Goofy, smiling, bleary eyed and happy. Now 28, he never seems to age, but he’ll tell you he has.

“It gets harder as you get older,” he said. “No one is expecting anything from me, but I’m expecting more from myself. As I get older, it gets weirder. I own a house and am in debt to banks and don’t have health insurance (and probably should). Should I be worried about this? I’ve got all sorts of lives to live beyond this one.

“I would love to say I have a direct vision to my path, but I don’t,” he said. “I’ve really let go as an artist. I jumped off the path and don’t see it anymore, and something inside me tells me that’s okay.”

* * *

Join Fackler on his pathless journey this Saturday at The Slowdown for the Freaks of the Night: Halloween Costume and Dance Party a.k.a. the InDreama record release show. Also on the bill is Icky Blossoms, Lincoln freak show performer Plack Blague and Places We Slept. Tickets for the 9 p.m. performance are $6.66 in advance or $8 day of show.

Over The Edge is a weekly column by Reader senior contributing writer Tim McMahan focused on culture, society, the media and the arts. Email Tim at tim.mcmahan@gmail.com.

* * *

I’ve been listening to Philly dreampop band Sun Airway most of the morning. The publicist describes their music as “Touches of ELO and New Order brush up against hints of modern sounds like M83 and Radio Dept., carried by the subtle breeze of Bjork’s Homogenic,” which  pretty much sums it up. There’s definitely a heavy M83 dreamgaze thing going on. Pitchfork gave their last record, Soft Fall (Deep Ocean), a dazzling 7.3 rating. Check out their video for “Close,” below. Opening is Kite Pilot, who is on a bit of a local tour with four show slated in as many weeks. $12, 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, over at O’Leaver’s, those boot-scootin’ sumbitches The Filter Kings are headlining a show with Reno Divorce and Ground Tyrants. $5, 9:30 p.m. Don’t forget your cowboy hat!

Finally, down at The Slowdown, it’s the return of Jakob Dylan and The Wallflowers, with Trapper Schoepp and the Shades. $30, 8 p.m.

* * *

Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Desaparecidos, from left, are Conor Oberst, Matt Baum, Denver Dalley, Landon Hedges and Ian McElroy. Photo by Zach Hollowell.

The Politics of Thrashing

Desaparecidos is back and angrier than ever.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Also published in The Reader, Aug. 9, 2012.

In the on-again off-again world of indie rock band Desaparecidos, when Conor Oberst calls you drop what you’re doing and run to his side, right?

Not at all says Desaparecidos guitarist Denver Dalley. “Well, maybe to some extent, but it’s not like anyone abandoned any commitments.”

Over the phone last week, Dalley quickly ran down what the rest of the band’s been up to. Guitarist/vocalist Landon Hedges is busy with his band, indie powerhouse Little Brazil. Keyboard player Ian McElroy has been in New York working on hip-hop project Rig 1 “but I don’t know how close he is to releasing new material,” he said.

Drummer Matt Baum has been vacant from the drum kit. “Before we started back up again he said he had an itch to make music,” Dalley said. “He’s done a lot of podcasts for his comic book world (called The Two-Headed Nerd).”

As for Dalley, he’s been bouncing between homes in Omaha, Nashville and Los Angeles. When not touring as part of dance-rock project Har Mar Superstar, he’s been finishing recording his own project, Statistics, as well as a score for a feature film about the Joplin, Missouri, tornado. “I also went to massage therapy school last year,” he says, though he doesn’t know if he’ll ever actually apply those new skills.

And then there’s Conor Oberst. But we all know what the Bright Eyes frontman has been up to.

“Marikkkopa” b/w “Backsell” 7-inch, Desaparecidos (2012, self released)

Just two years after the last time Desaparecidos got together for the Concert for Equality concert, all their schedules have aligned and the boys are back in town. And judging from their new single, “Marikkkopa” b/w “Backsell,” they’re better than ever.

The single’s A side continues the band’s attacks on anti-immigration xenophobes by taking on Arizona’s Joe Arpaio, sheriff of Maricopa County, the king of racial profiling who has earned the title “America’s Worst Sheriff” by the New York Times. If you’re wondering what Arpaio is all about, just listen to the song’s lyrics, which paint the portrait of a racist rounding up illegal immigrants in a style that recalls the worst of Nazi Germany or The Klan.

Oberst has never been one to pull punches when it comes to his politics, so it’s a good thing the rest of the band shares his beliefs. “Fortunately, we all agree on these things,” Dalley said, “but we do discuss them ahead of time.”

For example, Dalley said there was some back-and-forth over the use of the word “spic” in “Marikkkopa,” in the line “These spics are brave and getting braver.”

“The whole song is written from the perspective of this person who is really anti immigration,” Dalley explained, “but we didn’t want it to come across in the wrong way. We thought about it and decided there is a time and a place and a context where (that language) is appropriate. This song is supposed to be controversial and make people think. Not to compare ourselves to them, but songs like Lennon’s ‘Woman is the Nigger of the World,’ and Dylan’s ‘Hurricane’ prove that there’s a point in using that kind of language.”

Considering that most of Desaparecidos’ fans already share their politics, isn’t the band merely preaching to the choir? Dalley said songs like “Marikkkopa” stoke the flames when the fire dies down after the headlines are forgotten. “It gets the conversation going again,” he said. “After we started streaming the songs yesterday (Aug. 2), we watched the Twitter feed and some people thought it was dead on while some said we’re lumping too many things together.”

Then there’s that sizable portion of the audience who doesn’t care about the lyrics, the ones who just want to rock out. “I’m guilty of that myself at times,” Dalley said, adding that he loves it when the crowd gets revved up over the message “but there’s a line you don’t want to cross. There’s a way to bring (issues) up, and a point when someone gets carried away.”

So when Oberst spends too much time on his soapbox, whose job is it to tell him to shut up and play? Dalley laughed. “Knock on wood we haven’t had to deal with that,” he said. “Maybe one night he’ll get on a tear and we’ll have to play him off, like on The Oscars.”

Good luck with that one.

Despite the politics behind the band’s message, Dalley said Desaparecidos (for him at least) is more about having fun, just like it was when the band first started in the early part of the last decade. Though 10 years have passed since the band’s only album, Read Music/Speak Spanish, was released, little has changed.

“It’s shockingly the same in the best possible way,” he said. “I was excited about the idea of practicing and the hi-jinx and laughing with the guys, and it really has been like that.”

There is a nostalgic way in how Dalley describes not only the band’s reunion, but the entire Omaha music scene. He compares the heyday of Saddle Creek Records circa 2001 like being in high school.

“There was a point afterward where everyone went off to college and got married or whatever,” he said. “Now it’s like people are returning from college and going back to their old stomping grounds, where they find a new, younger generation. I could go to a Cursive show back in 2000 and name everyone in the crowd. Now I only know a handful, and that’s great. I still feel like part of something. It’s different, but it’s the same.”

Desaparecidos is slated to play only a half-dozen shows after this Saturday’s Maha Music Festival. Dalley is unsure what will happen after that.

“There’s no plan as of now,” he said. “I think Conor has a handful of solo dates this winter, so as of now there’s nothing scheduled, but we’re all kind of open to whatever and hoping something happens.”

But only “as long as it’s still fun,” he added. “One of the reasons we went on hiatus was because there was starting to be expectations and it was getting stressful. It got away from being dudes having fun playing the music that we love. We’re all focused on that now.”

* * *

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Seems like only yesterday instead of 11 years ago that I was drinking coffee with Denver at the 13th St. Coffee Shop where he broke the news about his new band for this story. We all expected big things from Desaparecidos, and we got them. Desa was destined to be Saddle Creek’s counterpunch to Cursive’s uppercut — a brash, in-yer-face punk band pissed off at the suburbia that would become its fan base. Oberst was and is at his best when he’s political, and Desa provides that outlet in a time when this country desperately needs his voice. It would be a shame if he and the rest of the band put away the boxing gloves after this brief reunion tour.

Speaking of which, Desa kicks off that tour tomorrow night at the infamous 400 Bar in balmy Minneapolis before they head back to town to co-headline the Maha Music Festival at Stinson Park Saturday night. Tix are still available for $35 at mahamusicfestival.com, where you can also check out the full festival line-up, schedule and other pertinent info. I’m told this is the fastest selling concert in Maha’s brief history.

* * *

Tonight at Slowdown Jr., it’s the return of Big Harp with Gus & Call and Field Club. $7, 9 p.m. Get your weekend started on Wednesday!

* * *

Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Simon Joyner (the one in the hat) and his band. Photo by Zach Hollowell.

Simon Joyner: The Ghosts in the LP

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Also published in The Reader, Aug. 2, 2012.

Singer songwriter Simon Joyner would very much prefer that you listened to his new double album, Ghosts, as it was intended to be heard: Played on a record player.

Unlike other artists who over the past few years have made their recordings available on vinyl as a sort of kitschy gimmick or nod to a hipster scene that prefers analog over digital, Joyner wrote Ghosts, which comes out Aug. 14 on Sing! Eunuchs!, as four sides contained in a one gatefold sleeve, its dark themes ebbing and flowing from the dissonant chaos of Side One to depths of guilt, confusion and regret on Side Two to the grim, bleak darkness of Side Three to a deceptive pop relief on Side Four. The time it takes to get up and turn the record over gives listeners a brief respite between waves of desolation.

“There’s a lot of death on this record,” Joyner said. “Our guitarist, Mike Friedman, said that it was so heavy that he listened to the first record and then took a couple hours off before he listened to the second one.”

Simon Joyner, Ghosts (Sing, Eunuchs! 2012)

It’s hard to imagine listening to a digital version of Ghosts on an iPhone in shuffle mode while jogging, and stumbling across a song like the piano-and-guitar dirge “Swift River, Run” with its lines: “I’ve seen the levee burst / Seen fences devoured by the sun / Should the giant redwood burn / The ash will darken everyone.” Taken out of context sandwiched between, say, KC and the Sunshine Band and a Twin Shadows track, the slow, dismall song could seem almost comical. Taken in its proper place with the rest of the album, and it’s sobering darkness before the dawn.

Is it too much to ask a generation of distracted iPod-slinging youth to listen to and experience all four sides of Ghosts in their entirety? “I don’t think so,” Joyner said Saturday over the phone.

“I really don’t appreciate what that convenient form of listening has done to the album as an album. It’s kind of ruined it in a lot of ways,” he said. “There’s been some damage done to the album as a work of art in the new media, but I think there will always be serious appreciators of music who want the whole experience and not just convenient and quick entertainment. But it’s always been comparatively few.”

Joyner said he created the song arc on Ghosts in an attempt to make the listeners feel like they’ve “been through something and come out on the other side, whatever it may be.”

“Especially with a double record, the middle can get really deep into it. The songs work in a way where you’re kind of getting through the mess of what’s being worked on thematically.”

Side One opens with “Vertigo,” a violent, psychedelic, psychotic blues song that’s a crash of noise and fear. “(The song) announces some of the (album’s) themes: Escape and entrapment,” Joyner said. “Musically speaking, it sets the tone as far as the jagged, dissonant qualities of a band doing jagged, dissonant songs. It lets people know that this is going to be something different.”

“Different,” as in a change from Joyner’s usual style, though there’s nothing “usual” about a Simon Joyner album. Joyner began playing intelligent, personal coffee-shop-style folk back in early ‘90s, releasing his first cassette of songs, Umbilical Chords, when he was just 17. Since then, he’s recorded a dozen albums that range from the static folk of his landmark 1994 release The Cowardly Traveller Pays His Toll to the droll, bleak Heaven’s Gate (1995) to the afternoon balladry of ’99’s The Lousy Dance to the midnight acid blues of ’06’s Skeleton Blues to the somber beauty of ’09’s Out Into the Snow. Though the albums vary in their own ways, the common thread always has been — and continues to be — Joyner’s personal lyrics that provide dark and sometimes uncomfortable glimpses into the way he views life and death and all the stuff in between.

Ghosts continues those themes, but with more death than usual. It’s not so much a collection of eulogies as much as elegies to his own life and the lives of friends now gone. Side Two highlight, “Cotes Du Rhone,” for example, is about singer songwriter Vic Chesnutt, an old friend and musical influence who took his own life on Christmas Day 2009.

“I wrote (the song) in a Vic way, describing things in sort of a goofy, poetic way that I associate with him,” Joyner said. “I tried to write a Vic Chesnutt song about Vic Chesnutt’s death.”

The rock incantation “If It’s Alright With You (It’s Alright with Me),” which bridges Sides Two and Three, also is a tribute to Joyner’s friends who have passed. One verse, for example, repeats “If it’s alright with Jessica / It’s alright with me.” Joyner said he’d read a book about the Viet Nam War with a section about soldiers marching through the jungle chanting a similar recitation for their fallen comrades.

“It was a way of preparing themselves for death, trying to strengthen themselves for what’s going to happen,” Joyner said. “It got me thinking of the people I had lost over the last couple years and how it was weighing on me, and this idea of cataloging them as a way of respecting the dead. The more you deal with and interact with the difficult things in life, the better you will be in actually confronting these things. It’s not always a celebration.”

If it sounds depressing — and it certainly can be — there are plenty of breaks in the clouds, like the Side Four gem “If I Left Tomorrow,” which could be mistaken for a pop song. “It’s hopeful in its own way lyrically,” Joyner said. “It’s saying even though this thing is probably going to end, it’s not just wasted time, we didn’t compromise anything.

“Sometimes a tornado will take a house and will leave a staircase, that’s a hopeful thing,” Joyner said, referencing a line from the song. “There are disasters and rough stuff we go through, but there’s usually some exit, something provided that allows you to make it through another day. And whether it’s in a relationship or just whatever various things that life presents, that’s where the hope comes through.”

Simon Joyner and his band will celebrate the release of Ghosts with Solid Goldberg, Lightning Bug and Sun Settings Friday, Aug. 3, at The Sydney, 5918 Maple St. Showtime is 9 p.m. Admission is $5, or purchase the album for $20 at the venue and admission is free. For more information, call 402.932-9262 or visit thesydneybenson.com.

* * *

There’s a second part to this interview with Simon Joyner that appears in print as this week’s column in The Reader. It talks about record labels and Kickstarter and that sort of thing. I’ll link you to it tomorrow.

* * *

Conor Oberst picked The Huffington Post to debut and explain the new Desaparecidos single “MariKKKopa,” which you can read and hear right here. It’s a darn good punk song laser focused at Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Ariz. Once again, Conor proves he’s not afraid to name names to give his message some teeth. The single and its b-side “Backsell” (streamed at Alt Press) features (as the article says) “Oberst adopting the voice of anti-undocumented immigrant groups.”

Also from the article:

“As far as paying for public services for these new Americans — although I believe their participation in the economy would do so — I’d recommend cutting our military budget in half. We’d have more than enough money for all the basic public services we all require. I’ll never understand how we allow public health and education to suffer here at home while we spend endless amounts of money overseas fattening the purse of defense contractors.”

Tell it like it is, Mr. Oberst. Something tells me he’ll have even more to say when he takes the stage at The Maha Music Festival next Saturday night at Stinson Park.

* * *

Tonight at The Waiting Room it’s Manchester UK producer/DJ Star Slinger with LOL Boys and Touch People (Darren Keen, ex-The Show Is the Rainbow). $12, 8 p.m.

* * *

Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Icky Blossoms on the Earth Day stage in Elmwood Park, April 21, 2012.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The germination of Omaha indie dance-rock band Icky Blossoms dates back to a different sort of flower created by the band’s mastermind, Derek Pressnall.

Started in 2007 as a side project to Pressnall’s main band, Tilly and the Wall, Flowers Forever was a multi-layered, psych-rock head trip, but by 2010 the band’s sound began to change. The band’s final evolution came at a frenzied performance at Slowdown Jr. in October 2010. With only about 50 people left in the club, Flowers Forever closed the evening with an unexpected number called “Babes” that transformed the room into a throbbing dance club. The crowd, who only moments earlier had been struck motionless by the thick, buzz-saw shoegaze sound of Montreal band No Joy, at once lost all inhibitions and simply let go, liberated by the song’s irresistible bass line and disco thump-thump-thump.

Bodies moved. Hands rose. Sweat glistened. And just like that, Icky Blossoms was born. At its core were Pressnall channeling John Lydon and Fred Schneider, dreamy blond vocalist Sarah Bohling sounding like a modern-day Nico, and crazy-haired guitarist/dynamo Nik Fackler, on his knees coaxing shrill noises from his axe, lost in the moment.

When “Babes” ground to a halt the crowd cried out to hear it again. Never ones to disappoint, Pressnall and Co. took it from the top, and the party continued. And then things got weird(er) when someone (maybe Capgun Coup’s Sam Martin) broke open an enormous bag of popcorn and began throwing it like like buttered confetti. It was strange, surreal, fun, and became a sort of blueprint for future performances.

“Every performance should evoke emotion, danger, excitement,” Pressnall said, surrounded by his bandmates last week at the Old Dundee Bar & Grill. “What’s the worst thing that could happen? We’re a rock ’n’ roll band. We want the show to be exciting and a little uncomfortable in the best sense of the word. We’re trying to push ourselves on stage, and there’s a bit of magic involved.”

Icky Blossoms, self-titled (Saddle Creek, 2012)

The band tried to recreate that magic when recording its debut earlier this year with TV on the Radio’s David Sitek in his Los Angeles studio. “We were looking for instantaneous grooves,” Pressnall said. “That was the first thing we talked about for every song — the groove has to be there as soon as the music starts.”

“We constantly asked ourselves if a song would translate to a huge club or a massive festival,” Bohling said. “Would the groove get everyone’s attention?”

No doubt the grooves on the new album are impossible to ignore. Clocking in at around 42 minutes of sonic debauchery, Icky Blossoms’ debut, slated for release by Saddle Creek Records July 17, re-imagines the band’s dense, high-energy live sound. At the core are the songs — modern dance numbers that combine house beats and sonic stylings influenced by bands like Jesus and Mary Chain, The Happy Mondays, Depeche Mode, The B-52s, The Cure, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Public Image Limited and hometown heroes The Faint. Pressnall, Bohling and Fackler know what buttons to push, and gleefully jam them down as hard as possible on every track.

Album highlights include howling opening number “Heat Lightning,” orgiastic dance mantra “Sex to the Devil,” hypnotic album closer (and early single) “Perfect Vision,” and, of course, the track that’s bound to light up every runway at Fashion Week this fall, “Babes.” Taken individually, each track has its own sonic vibe; but as a whole, the album can be overwhelming, if not exhausting.

While Pressnall, Bohling and Fackler are the core members, the band’s stage lineup is a revolving cast. The current configuration includes the powerhouse rhythm section of drummer Clark Baechle of The Faint and high-kicking bassist Saber Blazek of Lincoln band The Machete Archive.

“It’s safe to say Clark has come up with some things that have impacted the band,” Pressnall said, though he added that they could lose their star drummer now that The Faint intends to regroup later this year. “Both Clark and Saber will work with us for the next six months,” he added. “Who knows where we’ll go from there.”

But that’s not the biggest question hanging over Icky Blossoms’ future. Beyond the fact that Tilly and the Wall has recorded a new album set for release later this year by Team Love Records, Pressnall and wife Jamie (also a member of Tilly) have a couple young children to raise. How can he do that and tour?

“Being away from my children is incredibly hard, much harder than I thought it would be,” Pressnall said. “It’s hard to describe. The separation really started to affect me after a couple weeks in LA. When touring, I would like to see my kids at least every two weeks, but if I had to I could go out for four weeks at a time. We’ll figure it out.”

Then there’s Fackler, who is more well-known outside of Omaha as a successful filmmaker. His 2008 feature film debut, Lovely, Still, which starred Martin Landau and Ellen Burstyn, landed him a nomination for an Independent Spirit Award.

Fackler just completed his second feature film, a documentary titled Sick Birds Die Easy shot in the jungles of Africa. “It’s an exploration of western culture and ancient culture, drug addiction, spirituality and the destiny of mankind,” Fackler said. Now that the first cut is in the can, he’s in the process of submitting the film to festivals, which he says will tie him up most of July.

But with all that going on, the band still plans to tour this fall and winter. They’ve already signed with national booker The Windish Agency (M83, Ra Ra Riot, Dirty Projectors) and have their hearts set on a landing an opening slot with a more established band.

But no matter who it is, Fackler said the goal will still be to create an environment from the stage where people can let loose and dance.  “If you’re making music, that’s the best compliment.”

Icky Blossoms will celebrate the release of its debut album with UUVVWWZ and Depressed Buttons Tuesday, July 3 at The Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St. Showtime is 9 p.m. Admission is $7. For more information, call 402.884.5353 or visit onepercentproductions.com.

* * *

Muscle Shoals, Alabama band Nightmare Boyzzz calls their music “Shit Pop,” which conjures a number of unsavory images that seem right at home at a place like O’Leaver’s. They actually play sweet garage rock that recalls our old friends The Ramones. Check out “Devil III” and “My Body Breaks Down” at their Bandcamp page. Also on the bill, Omaha’s own Peace of Shit and Black Out Sounds (Worried Mothers, Thee Tapeheads). O’Leaver’s, $5, 9:30 p.m.

The Whipkey Three returns to The Waiting Room stage tonight in support of their recent self-released album Two Truths. Read more about Matt and the boys and the new record here. Opening is The Lupines (Ziegler, Tulis, Friedman, Dabestani, amazing) and The Ground Tyrants. $7, 9 p.m.

Also tonight, Lonely Estates plays at The Barley Street Tavern with The Rocketboys and From Indian Lakes. $5, 9 p.m.

* * *

Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Darren Keen as The Show Is the Rainbow holds court in Dundee, Aug. 27, 2011.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I’ve been writing about The Show Is the Rainbow (TSITR) and other Darren Keen projects for almost a decade. So when I received an email yesterday announcing the permanent moth-balling of TSITR, written by an obviously frustrated Keen, it was more than a bit of a downer.

In addition to being a creative force, a musical talent and a hard-working mofo, Keen is one of the most polarizing figures in the local music scene. People either enjoy his pulse-rising electronic music and over-the-top performances, or discard him as a Har Mar Superstar rip-off or a no-talent attention getter. There is no in-between.

I’m not going to recap Keen’s entire career — you can read about it yourself by doing a search on “Darren Keen” in the search box on the right of the screen (or just click here). Suffice to say, Keen’s made a lot of music, released a lot of material and played a lot of shows all over the world. He’s been grinding it out for nearly a decade, but judging by the email, he’s had enough.

Keen said he’s always wanted to be famous, but on his own terms. “At the end of the big tour I did last year supporting my new record Tickled Pink, I knew it just wasn’t going to happen,” Keen wrote. “TSITR had become the kind of band that people ‘LOVED,’ but also were kind of done supporting. They had paid the cover the past few times I had come to town, and the novelty was just gone. The records sold less and less, each year, and crowds just dwindled. I had come full circle, from House Shows to Small Bars to Big Clubs to BIG support tours, to Clubs, Bars, and finally House Shows with lots of days off.”

Keen counted the change in his pockets after his last 45-day tour and discovered that he generated a grand total of $1,500. He said he’s at a point in TSITR where “people just stopped showing up, and stopped buying my records.” Tickled Pink digital sales generated less than $70 as a pay-what-you-want record, while the vinyl version sold about 120 copies, “not even close to enough to pay off the pressing costs.

“I don’t blame people for being ‘over’ TSITR, over my bullshit rockstar attitude, over my shit talking on stage, over my disregard for the ‘touch barrier,’ over buying records that aren’t as good as the live shows, over paying to see live shows that were shocking years ago, and now just feel boring, I really don’t. I used to be able to grab a mic and say ‘I’m the best, coolest motherfucker in this room.’ I said stuff like that, because I meant it, but I just don’t feel that way anymore. I’ve lost my edge, and I don’t know how to get it back. I love you all, and I will still be making music. I never thought I’d break up TSITR, but I suppose, the hardest lesson for a musician to learn is, just because you CAN make a song, doesn’t mean you have to.”

You can read Keen’s entire letter posted at Hear Nebraska.

So the reality of the situation is this: Darren Keen isn’t going to stop making music altogether; he’s just going to stop performing as TSITR and releasing new TSITR material. He’ll continue performing as Bad Speler and Touch People. But as a one-man act, there’s nothing stopping Keen from pulling out TSITR again, right?

“I think I am going to do one more (final) TSITR show,” Keen replied. “I know nothing would stop me from bringing it back in the future, but it’s just not very likely. Touch People and Bad Speler are both finding a stride, and they also sort of have a yin-yang relationship IMO, that TSITR just doesn’t seem to fit into anymore for me…”

* * *

Tonight at The Waiting Room it’s Cincinnati glam-rock band Foxy Shazam with Stars in Stereo. $12, note early 8 p.m. start time.

* * *

Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Comments from a blog post on Lazy-i last week raised the eyebrows of one Mike App, the gentleman responsible for booking the local stage at this year’s Maha Music Festival.

The blog post outlined Maha’s announcement of the remaining main stage acts, along with the local stage line-up: Icky Blossoms, The Mynabirds, UUVVWWZ, Universe Contest and Eli Mardock. A sixth band will be selected by popular vote from performers at an Omaha Entertainment and Arts (OEA) showcase to be held in the near future.

Among those commenting was a Lazy-i reader named “Jake” who had issue with the local band selection, saying that many bands who have played OEA showcases “for free” in the past have never made the Maha cut. “To see so many Saddle Creek acts is just a poor choice,” Jake said, adding, “Once again Maha has picked their friends to play along with Garbage (yuck) and left out all the bands who have played their fundraiser and supported them…” You can read his comments and others’ at the bottom of this post.

Before we get to Mike App’s response I should point out that Maha is never going to please everyone, and shouldn’t try. There always will be bands in the line-up that someone doesn’t like, whether on the local or national stage. Jake’s larger complaint is that some bands he likes (and he lists them) have yet to play Maha (and Jake has pretty good taste).

But such is the way of the world. I’ve asked Maha to book Digital Leather on the local stage for a few years. It’ll likely never happen, and it’s (probably) partially my fault because I’m the one who pointed out DL’s content (especially on earlier albums) isn’t exactly “family friendly,” with songs like “Slut” and “Studs in Love” and the irresistible “Please Be Quiet” (with its lovely chorus, “Shut the fuck up.”). But who ever said rock ’n’ roll should be safe? In the end, I have no idea why DL isn’t playing Maha, but I never thought it had anything to do with App or any of the Maha people “picking their friends,” and App inasmuch reiterates that in his response:

“The local stage (selection) started out as a battle of the bands format, but based on input from the music community — including two of the most vocal opponents, Tim McMahan and Kevin Coffey — we responded and shifted course to the format we employ today,” App wrote. “This year we allowed six different organizations the opportunity to make those selections.

– “OEAA ‘popularity contest’ format during the Benson showcases each summer selects the Maha opener.

– “Maha board selects the local stage closer/headliner, which is based on lots of input from the likes of (Tim McMahan), Chris Aponick, Kevin Coffey, Andy Norman, Kent Wolgamott and anyone else who wants to weigh in. We listen. In our four years that’s been It’s True, Satchel Grande, Somasphere and Icky Blossoms.

– “The managers at Waiting Room, Slowdown, Duffy’s and Bourbon each suggest 3-4 bands, from which Maha and Hear Nebraska representatives sit down to discuss and select. The input received when making the Maha board selection also goes into this decision. BUT, if the tavern manager does not suggest a band, we don’t have the ability to discuss it.

– “Maha is underwritten and driven by the community. We have tried our damnedest to engage broad swaths of that community when forming and shaping Maha. This present format provides Maha with more stakeholders than if we selected all the bands ourselves. We think this works.”

App pointed out that bands chosen by Maha local stage acts to play curated showcases get free tickets to Maha, but no assurance that they’ll be considered for the local stage in coming years. He agreed that he digs the bands that Jake lists. “All are crazy good bands that represent Omaha and Lincoln at such a high level,” he said. “We might be able to tweak our process to figure out how to get these bands and others like them engaged in Maha.”

He’s open to suggestions, but the fact is, as I said, he and the rest of the Maha board will never please everyone. No “process” will ever do that. As a whole, I think it’s a strong local stage line-up, albeit slightly heavy on Lincoln bands, but so what? Yes, three out of the five bands are Saddle Creek acts, but it would be hard to argue against any of them and the size of their fanbase compared to some of the bands Jake lists. Maha is trying to sell tickets, after all, and while none of the local acts by themselves will generate ticket sales, they may be enough to tip the scale for those on the fence trying to decide whether to drop $35 per ticket.

* * *

Tomorrow, some off-topic comments about Yelp, restaurant criticism (and criticism in general) and Lot 2.

* * *