by Tim McMahan,  Lazy-i.com

Clearing out the ol’ inbox…

Looks like Bright Eyes is back and they’re bringing some close friends with them on the road. The band announced additional North American dates, but no make-up date for the cancelled Omaha show (due to Conor Oberst’s “voice issues”). Will the resched happen? Who knows. 

The band also announced that Cursive will be joining them on the road in April for 18 gigs, including an April 26 show at Val Air Ballroom in Des Moines. In addition, Grrrl Camp 2024 stand-out band, Hurray for the Riff Raff, is touring with Bright Eyes in late February and most of March. 

Now we all wait to see if this tour actually happens….

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Don’t get me wrong. It still rates a “Yes” on the Lazy-i scale, but you have to be in the mood for it…

The Cure, Songs of a Lost World (2024, Universal) — It would be a shame if this winds up being The Cure’s finale as Songs of a Lost World is mostly a dismal rehash of the dense, drone, downer music the band invented with Disintegration. But unlike that landmark album, Songs has no contrasting “Pictures of You” or “Lullaby” or “Lovesong” to counterbalance the endless thundering murmur. 

The closest thing to a deviation from the drone-goth recipe are the crack-bounce “Drone:Nodrone,” which could have been the album’s biggest single, and buzz-saw rocker “All I Ever Am,” which would have been a better album closer than “Endsong,” a 10-minute black-draped snooze that highlights the biggest problem with this record – these songs just seem to crawl on and on. Whereas the 9-plus-minute “The Same Deep Water as You” from Disintegration never bores thanks in part to its sweet, playful lyrics. 

Don’t go looking for anything playful in these odes to doomsday, with lines like “We toast with bitter dregs, to our emptiness” (opening track “Alone”), or “As you hold me for the last time / In the dying of the light” from “And Nothing Is Forever” or “It’s all gone, it’s all gone I Nothing left of all I loved” from album closer “Endsong.” You get the idea. Someone’s feeling old.

So who is the audience for this album? Certainly long-time Cure fans desperately looking to relieve their personal dread from 30 years ago will be satisfied as this is their best effort since 1992’s Wish. And then there’s the new, young fans who will discover The Cure for the first time. For those sad young goths, this may become their Disintegration… Rating: Yes.

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Way back in October, The Red Pears reached out for support for their show at The Waiting Room (reviewed here). I offered the Ten Questions survey. Unfortunately, they didn’t get around to filling it out until after the show had come and gone. I sat on the interview, mainly because the responses were less than forthright, but their publicist keeps asking “where is it?” so here you go, for your reading pleasure:

Ten Question with The Red Pears

These 10 questions inspired by the Pivot Questionnaire (you might remember this from Inside the Actors Studio):

1. What is your favorite album?

The Red Pears’ Jose Corona: There are many to choose from. Something we all definitely agree on are those early releases from the early 2000’s garage/indie bands. The Strokes, Arctic Monkeys, Interpol, and even things from earlier eras like Pixies and Black Sabbath. I wouldn’t say it was one album that changed everything and is above the rest. But it’s a culmination of albums. 

2. What is your least favorite song?

I don’t think there is a least favorite song. I think every song and art is admired in its own ways for its own reasons. And that can change on a day-to-day basis. It’s all in the mood of things. 

3. What do you enjoy most about being in a band?

I think just being able to play music with your friends. Creating art. Sharing that art. And being able to do that across states and regions and countries. And meeting other bands and people that are doing the same thing. I suppose it’s our “job,” but it honestly doesn’t feel like one. Maybe it’s a very cheesy thing that is said, but it’s true. When you love what you do, it doesn’t feel like a job. 

4. What do you hate about being in a band?

I wouldn’t say hate. Hate is a strong word, haha. Things can be tiring and stressful and frustrating, but what isn’t, you know? I feel like when you encounter obstacles and problems with things that you’re not passionate about, it feels like a real chore. That’s when you hate it. But when it’s something you’re really passionate about, you find ways to overcome those obstacles and problems. 

5. What is your favorite substance (legal or illegal)?

Water! Haha, it’s been saving our lives. 

6. In what city or town do you love to perform (and why)?

Hometown shows always hit differently. But it’s also nice to receive warm welcomes when we’re far from home. 

7. What city or town did you have your worst gig (and why)?

I wouldn’t say there’s been a worst gig. Even ones where things go wrong or don’t go according to plan aren’t the worst. They end up more so becoming lessons to learn from. Things can always be worse. 

8. Are you able to support yourself through your music? If so, how long did it take to get there; if not, how do you pay your bills?

We fortunately are able to. It took a lot of years and risks and sacrifices. It still requires risks and sacrifices and just smart financial management. It’s honestly a great feeling to say that this is what we do for a living. That is something that we really cherish. 

9. What one profession other than music would you like to attempt; what one profession would you absolutely hate to do?

Hmm…nothing really comes to mind. There isn’t a path that one would say is better. And if the path isn’t the path we’re on, then those are probably the paths that would bring unhappiness and dissatisfaction. 

10. What stories have you heard about Omaha, Nebraska?

Nothing really! I think a nice part about touring is the traveling aspect of it. I believe this is our second time coming to Omaha. The people have been very welcoming and supportive. It’s nice to see sights and meet people that you normally wouldn’t have the chance to if it weren’t for music.

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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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Omaha singer/songwriter Carver Jones has already worked with two big-name producers, recorded a song with a known Hollywood actress, and dropped an EP’s worth of catchy new pop music that threads the line between indie and mainstream.

But until a couple weeks ago I hadn’t heard of him. Jones had played some opening slots at Slowdown and at random bars, including his stage debut at, of all places, The Dubliner. And just last week he was scheduled to open for indie musician “quickly, quickly” at Reverb Lounge – a show that ended up getting cancelled. 

It was while researching that show that I discovered Jones’ groovy YouTube videos, including the cool, breezy “Crazy 24’; the guitar-and-vocal jam “Jeans,” and his pretty duet with a film actress I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Each song had deceptively simple arrangements that compliment Jones’ breathy, funky vocals. 

So who is he?

Other than his YouTube videos, there’s not much about Jones online. After clicking around, I found his manager, Drew Kaklamanos, a New York-based A&R guy at Photo Finish Records, who confirmed Jones was, indeed, from Omaha. 

At age 21, Jones has only been making music for a couple years following a successful high school basketball career at Millard North that earned him a scholarship offer from York University, which he turned down. “I decided that wasn’t really what I wanted to do,” Jones said. “So I just kind of dove head-first into music.”

Other than one failed attempt at learning how to play drums, Jones is an untrained musician whose vocal skills were first discovered by his parents, who persuaded him to give singing a try. The story goes that Jones and his guitar-playing buddy Hayden began jamming and writing songs togther, then decided to get in a van and see America via an impromptu busking tour.

While singing on the streets in Oregon they were discovered by Kaklamanos’ younger brother, who put them in contact with Drew. That led to an invitation to play their songs for some industry folks in New York. 

Jones jumped at the offer but his ol’ buddy Hayden instead decided to re-enroll at UNO. So Jones quickly learned how to play the guitar parts so he could do the New York audition solo. Since then, Kaklamanos has become Jones’ trusted advisor and a big part of his early success along with one of Jones’ basketball friends, Alec Allhijjawi, who not only shot and edited many of Jones’ music videos (as Road Runner Productions) but also plays bass in Carver Jones and the American Dreamers.

“Alec and I have been friends since we were 15,” Jones said. “After we graduated, we began creating stuff together. He’s one of the most artistic people I know and was always introducing me to great new music.”

Jones counts Jeff Buckley, Lenny Kravitz, The Strokes and Bob Dylan among his influences along with more modern artists such as Beadabadoobee and Dominic Fike, who Allhijjawi introduced him to.

To round out their trio, they added 19-year-old drummer Max Soderbergh, a recent Blair High School graduate. Over the past year or so, Kaklamanos introduced the band to a couple A-list producers, including Cody Tarpley, who in the past has collaborated with Megan Thee Stallion and Chris Brown, among others. 

“(Tarpley) and Drew came to Omaha and rented an Air B&B for about a week where they brought in all his gear and set it up a studio,” Jones said. “We got a  bunch of ideas down, and then a few months later I went out to LA and recorded a whole bunch more.” The product was three of the five songs on Jones’ first EP, American Dreamers Vol. 1, released this past August.

The EP’s other two tracks — “Crazy 24” and “R U Still Up?” — were recorded in New York with producer Doug Schadt, who produced Maggie Rogers’ breakthrough EP, Now that the Light Is Fading, and her hit “Alaska,” which currently has a quarter-billion plays on Spotify. 

By itself, that’s an impressive career start, but then there’s the McKenna Grace story. Grace is probably best known for playing Callie Spengler, the daughter of Egon Spengler, in Ghostbusters: Afterlife and sequel Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. Grace also is a recording artist, signed to Kaklamanos’ Photo Finish Records.

While on a road trip to drive Allhijjawi’s cousin to Arizona, Kaklamanos suggested the two head to Los Angeles to meet Grace, who had heard some of Jones’ demoes. “We had a writing session and wrote ‘Middle Name’ at her house that day,” Jones said. Grace and Jones later recorded the song with Tarplay, and it’s become Jones’ most popular track, with around 800,000 spins in Spotify.

If you knew Jones only by his videos, you’d think he lives in New York, but the Omahan (who lives still lives with his parents) says he just spends a lot of time there, thanks to Kaklamanos, who offers him keys to his New York home when they’re in town. Allhijjawi has taken advantage of their trips to make their music videos.

That said, the video for their new single, “Hit the Road! (Jack),” was shot in the American Legion Bar in Fort Calhoun. “I invited some Omaha people who are really cool to be part of it,” Jones said. “I want to show that there’s cool stuff going on in Nebraska.”

The track, which premiered today, is part the second volume of Jones’ American Dreamers EP trilogy, with the rest of the EP expected to be out by early spring 2025. All tracks are self-released as Jones remains unsigned (Kaklamanos manages Jones separately from his work at Photo Finish Records). 

“We’ve had a handful of labels reach out who are – or were – very excited about what we’re doing,” Jones said.  “Drew and I have a plan to do the American Dreamers EPs, put them all together and then see where we are. I don’t think there’s any rush to sign a record deal, but I also don’t want to be a small indie artist.”

Jones thinks a record label would probably help him achieve his dream of touring. “At this point, (the band) definitely isn’t big enough to efficiently hit the road and play shows,” Jones said. “I guess that’s where a label could come in, because it’s really hard to just tour and play rooms without knowing if you could sell tickets.”

Jones would love to land an opening spot for a larger touring act that consistently sells out good rooms, “but if not, we’ll probably book what we can in Omaha and try to make some trips to New York and LA and just keep putting our noses down and grinding, making records and playing little things where we can.” 

In the meantime, you’ll get a chance to see Carver Jones and the American Dreamers when they play their first show as headliners Dec. 22 at Reverb Lounge.

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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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I get a lot of requests from publicists. Anyone who runs a music blog gets them — dozens/hundreds of PR requests per day to hype an artist’s latest album, tour, what have you. Almost all get the delete-key treatment. There has to be a hook to make the request relevant.

In Stavro’s case, the hook is that he’s from here. According to the one-sheet “Stavro is a singer-songwriter hailing from Omaha’s storied indie scene.” Now, I don’t pretend to know every indie artist in our fair city, but I have been covering the Omaha/Nebraska indie music scene for over 30 years, and I never heard of Stavro. 

I had, however, heard of Ben Brodin at ARC Studios and Hand Branch Studio, who produced Stavro’s new LP, You Turning World, to be self-released Oct. 25. So I asked the publicist (the super-talented Caroline Borolla of the Clarion Call agency) for Stavro’s contact information.

Turns out Stavro was born and raised right here in River City. He’s just been gone for the past few years, earning his undergraduate degree in Boston. Now he’s back in town attending law school at Creighton. 

“I’d been writing music throughout my undergrad without committing to a serious recording strategy,” Stavro said (he prefers not to use his full name). “When I moved back (to Omaha), I wanted to do my best to get into some sort of recording studio with some type of professional who could shepherd me through the process. My friends who were musicians led me to Ben at the B Room at ARC.”

The new album is actually Stavro’s third LP. The first was released in 2019 on the cusp of the pandemic. The second was a “collaborative experiment” with some Greek American musicians.

“I spent a lot of my last year in school songwriting,” he said. After discovering that Brodin was about to relocate to Los Angeles, Stavro wanted to get into the studio with him before he left.

“(The album) is the culmination of work with Ben, the most intensive collaboration that we’ve had together,” Stavro said. “It took five or six months to write and took us from the first scratch tracks to final mixes something north of a year to record.”

The track premiering today, “What Might It Feel Like?,” reminds me of a couple of my favorite singer/songwriters from the ‘90s — Michael Penn and Matthew Sweet. Surprisingly (or maybe not so surprisingly), Stavro wasn’t familiar with either of them, but that’s OK considering I wasn’t familiar with Stavro.

Because apparently he has played in a number of Omaha venues over the years. “I did a residency at the Barley Street Tavern and played a couple times in Slowdown’s front room,” he said. He’s also played smaller rooms, like Blackstone Social. 

“My goal is to gig the new album locally to start, beginning with an album release show at the end of October,” Stavro said. He wants to share a bill with his pal Jack McLaughlin (Spector Poetics), hopefully at Pageturners, but the details haven’t been worked out yet. He’s also considering putting together a band. If so, he better hurry up, because that Oct. 25 drop date is just around the corner. 

Here’s the premier of “What Might It Feel Like?” from Stavro, off his upcoming album, You Turning World:

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The music of St. Louis band Foxing, who is playing tonight at Slowdown, has been described as indie, post-rock and even emo. Songs like the ethereal 8-minute “Greyhound” off the band’s latest self-titled album shift from a variety of dense tonal settings and can be quite a journey, but on songs like the opening track (“Secret History”) and “Hell 99,” frontman Conor Murphy has a way of cutting through the pretty stuff with his screeching yell-vocals. So, maybe screamo? That’s too limiting considering when it comes to vocals, Murphy is all over the map. Find out tonight at Slowdown. Joining Foxing are Indian Lanes and Treanne. 8 p.m., $25.

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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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan,  Lazy-i.com

When the project first emerged in the mid-2000s, WHY? was classified as an “alternative hip-hop” band fronted by Cincinnati rapper/singer Yoni Wolf. And there certainly was plenty of rap to go around on their 2008 breakthrough album Alopecia (Joyful Noise Records).

And while there’s very little rap to be heard on WHY?’s latest, The Well I Fell Into (2024, Waterlines), the songs’ rhyme and meter often sound like sung rap lyrics, with their tumble-on lines that could have been spoken over a thick beat instead of sung atop the often dense, bouncing arrangements (produced by Brian Joseph of Sufjan Stevens/Bon Iver fame). 

In some ways, WHY? has evolved along a similar path as Beck, whose early nonsense lyrics left people scratching their heads at their meaning, which sometimes happens with these lyrics, though the album’s overshadowing theme involves moving through life with a broken heart, or as the one-sheet explains: “The new LP is an autopsy of heartbreak as it charts the ups and downs of a devastating breakup while trading bitterness for healing.”

While some tracks are slow-burn pain anthems (the forlorn “Marigold,” the downcast “Jump”), the album’s center pieces consist of more upbeat slow-burn pain anthems. At their best (“Atreyu,” “The Letters, Etc.”), the songwriting recalls Magnetic Fields or even Sufjan.

In addition to usual bandmates Josiah Wolf, Doug McDiarmid and Andrew Broder, that album includes collaborations with indie up-and-comers Ada Lea, Gia Margaret, Finom’s Macie Stewart, as well as Lala Lala’s Lillie West and Serengeti. 

In support of the Sept. 24 headlining show at Slowdown, we caught up with WHY?, who agreed to take the infamous Ten Questions survey. Here are the answers (presumably provided by Yoni himself):

1. What is your favorite album?

The Range of Light Wilderness s/t.

2. What is your least favorite song?

Some kind of loud white blues rock guitar shit that feels like it should accompany a commercial for Fireball or Jack Daniel’s. 

3. What do you enjoy most about being in a band?

Sitting in a van listening to audiobooks. 

4. What do you hate about being in a band?

Sitting in a van after my AirPods die.

5. What is your favorite substance (legal or illegal)?

Spring water.

6. In what city or town do you love to perform (and why)?

Omaha of course because it is objectively the greatest city in the world. 

7. What city or town did you have your worst gig (and why)?

Small town in Slovenia called Murska Sobota. We played for about 10 teenage boys at a tiny rec center, or maybe a halfway house with grease-stained walls. They were making fun of us the whole time and there was a threatening air about the place. Runner up would be the time we played a Quiznos in a student center in Michigan. 

8. Are you able to support yourself through your music? If so, how long did it take to get there; if not, how do you pay your bills?

Yes, I am. It only took a few years to be able to do this but I am very frugal and lived off of cans of beans for the first decade. 

9. What one profession other than music would you like to attempt; what one profession would you absolutely hate to do?

I think I’d like being a therapist or a visual artist. I wouldn’t be good as a cop or anyone that works in a hospital (phobias). 

10. What stories have you heard about Omaha, Nebraska

I just know about Warren Buffett, Conor Oberst, Saddle Creek, lots of steak, flatness, cows (alive), and people drinking a lot. It’s like a secular, sinful Salt Lake City.  

WHY? plays with NNAMDÏ Tuesday, Sept. 24, at Slowdown. Tickets are $20; showtime is 8 p.m. 

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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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Although born in Duluth and having lived in South Carolina and the Midwest most of his life, singer/songwriter David Dondero is something of a legend among those who grew up during Omaha’s Golden Age of indie music, circa the early 1990s. 

Dondero’s first band, Sunbrain, released albums on Grass Records, a label that also put out albums by Omaha bands Mousetrap, Cactus Nerve Thang and Commander Venus, the emo act where Conor Oberst got his start.  

In fact, many an astute music critic had cited Dondero’s quivering vocal style as having influenced Oberst’s famous shakey bray heard on those Commander Venus albums as well as early Bright Eyes records (Oberst also has cited Sunbrain as an influence). 

Dondero’s own quivering vocal style had somewhat mellowed by the time I first saw him perform at the short-lived downtown bar/ music venue The Junction in 2002, where he played songs off his seminal solo album, The Transient (Future Farmer Recordings).  

“Everything I’ve heard about him was true — he’s pretty amazing,” I wrote in a review of that Junction show. “His set, while subdued and withdrawn, was riveting. Dondero is a throw-back to classic American folk singers, taking a distinctively traditional style and placing it squarely in our time with lyrics that are introspective and rooted in the everyday. The comparisons to Simon Joyner and Conor Oberst are justified (or for that matter, their comparisons to him).”

Over the years, Dondero played at a number of Omaha venues including The Cog Factory, O’Leaver’s, and 2010’s memorable Concert for Equality held in downtown Benson, which included performances by Cursive, David Rawlings & Gillian Welch and Bright Eyes. 

Dondero returns to Benson next Wednesday, Sept. 18, at Ming Toy art gallery for a performance and reading from his new book, Chaos the Cat. I caught up with Dondero last week while he was driving a lonely Louisiana highway headed to a gig in New Orleans in his Toyota Camry, which in addition to being his tour wagon is his Door Dash and Lyft driving wagon. 

On the road with Chaos the Cat

For this tour, Dondero said he’s playing mainly for small crowds of 15 to 20 people in houses, coffee shops, bookstores and gallery spaces like Ming Toy for a program that consists of song performances, readings from his book and Q&A. 

“I’ve also been asking for volunteers who are willing to read certain parts of the book with me,” he said. “So it becomes kind of a dialogue, both from the book and then through Q&A.” The performance concludes with more songs. 

He said the tour is more conducive in these alternative spaces rather than bars. “I used to be a hardcore drinker,” he said. “I’m a sober person now for nine years. So I prefer not playing bars, but still do. I don’t want the shows to be alcohol-centric; I’d rather it be about the songs and the writing.”

According to its description by publisher, San Francisco’s Unrequited Records, Chaos the Cat takes readers on a journey into the heart of California’s cannabis legalization era, where a secluded pot farm becomes the backdrop for a clash between preservation and exploitation. Amidst this backdrop, a diverse group of characters converges, each seeking their own form of self-improvement. At the center of the conflict is a trio of antagonists whose schemes threaten the harmony of the farm, pitting greed against enlightenment. The tale is narrated by Chaos, the cat, the reincarnation of an artist deeply connected to the farm. 

Dondero said the book was inspired by his time working as a carpenter on a pot farm in Mendicino County, California. “The message of the book is about people who have tried to reset their lives by getting out of their patterns that they had been in in the city,” he said. “There’s some conflict in the story ideologies, and there’s a lot going on with different people in it.”

The book already has sold out its original limited-edition casebound pressing, with the second edition now available via IngramSpark and Amazon. For the Sept. 18 Ming Toy show, entrance requires a $15 donation, but for $25, patrons also will receive a copy of the book. 

Music is the Main Thing

Dondero said while he enjoys writing, he doesn’t think it’ll ever be his “main thing.” 

“Music is always going to be one of my main things, but (writing) is definitely becoming one of my main things,” he said. “I’m really engaged in trying to write a short story a week and then record a sound backdrop. It’s a writer challenge for me, to keep moving with it and become a better writer.”

His last album, Immersion Therapy, reflects the loneliness and anxiety of life during the Covid-19 pandemic when it was written. Oregon label Fluff and Gravy Records, who released the album, were “like my family,” Dondero said. “We lived together and I played their house through the years, and we’d become friends, and then I ended up living in their garage studio through the pandemic.”

These days Dondero lives in Pensacola with his his girlfriend, Natalie. How has he managed to make a living playing music since the early ‘90s? “I wouldn’t call it a living,” he said. “I’ve pieced together a life of borderline poverty for my whole time, working odd jobs and playing music in between. It’s a juggle; it’s not like it’s provided a living by a stretch.”

Dondero said he set up a Patreon website in 2017 whose subscribers receive exclusive music, writings, videos and more.  “It’s been a lifesaver,” he said. “It’s the only guaranteed, stable income where I know how much I’ll be making a month.”

Touring remains an important income source, and Dondero said it’s become easier over the years. “When I first started booking tours, you had to send cassettes in the mail and you’d ring up a huge debt in long-distance phone charges,” he said. “You’d be in the hole several hundred bucks before leaving for the tour. Now you can book a tour on your cell phone and that’s much easier. And you can promote much easier.”

But Dondero said the music itself has become worthless from an income point of view. “It’s like, once it’s out there, it’s out there,” he said. “It’s not really worth anything unless people choose to give you money for a record at a show or something or to subscribe. The two-year break from my habit of playing music kind of got me out of a never-ending cycle of credit card debt. I was able to pay off all my stuff during the pandemic. Now I’m back to square one.

“My goals are just to put out good work and hone my skills as a guitar player and learn how to be a better writer,” he said. “It’s kind of like the life source for me — the process of working on projects and having something to complete is what keeps me rolling, while just getting used to the idea of failure — which is 99% of the time. So when those little wins come every now and again, you can really savor them.”

David Dondero plays music and reads from his new book, Chaos the Cat, Wednesday, Sept. 18 at Ming Toy Gallery, 6066 Maple St. Capacity is limited to 40 patrons. Entrance is a suggested $15 donation at the door (There are no pre-show ticket sales) or $25 gets you in and a copy of Chaos the Cat. 7 p.m. start time. No seating provided, so bring a lawn chair or a cushion.

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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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Originally from Toronto, PACKS singer/songwriter/frontperson Madeline Link isn’t actually from anywhere these days, saying in a recent Paste Magazine interview she doesn’t call any one place home, which allows her to seamlessly integrate a variety of perspectives into her songs.

Her most recent album, Melt the Honey (2024, Fire Talk Records), was written and recorded in Mexico City and Xalapa with her band, Dexter Nash, guitar; Noah O’Neil, bass; and Shane Hooper, drums. Despite the global perspective, the album has a static, indie feel like the best college music out of Chicago in the early ‘90s – sorta slacker, sorta DIY, lyrically all over the place. Standout tracks like “Her Garden” and “Honey” remind me of Exile in Guyville in their structure and sound while Link’s vocal style is loose and soaring and at times tough to understand, making listening with the karaoke box on in Spotify an added pleasure. 

With PACKS playing at Slowdown Jr. this Thursday, Link agreed to take the Ten Questions plunge. Here’s what she had to say:

1. What is your favorite album?

Madeline Link of PACKS: Nevermind by Nirvana.

2. What is your least favorite song?

4 Non Blondes “What’s Going On.”

3. What do you enjoy most about being in a band?

Playing music with the homies.

4. What do you hate about being in a band?

Nothing!

5. What is your favorite substance (legal or illegal)?

Horchata

6. In what city or town do you love to perform (and why)?

We love to perform anywhere where they’ll have us! It’s all about the crowd.

7. What city or town did you have your worst gig (and why)?

The worst is yet to come. Nothing is ever truly the worst!

8. Are you able to support yourself through your music? If so, how long did it take to get there; if not, how do you pay your bills?

No way! I’m a set dresser for commercials.

9. What one profession other than music would you like to attempt; what one profession would you absolutely hate to do?

Could try out being a psychic! Would never want to be a prison guard.

10. What stories have you heard about Omaha, Nebraska?

Toro y Moi wrote a beautiful song about Omaha! We stopped there to eat some ramen and found a sweet mall that we wanted to check out next time we were there.

PACKS plays with The Dirts at The Slowdown front room Thursday, Aug. 15. 8 p.m., $18. 

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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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Hailing from San Francisco, French Cassettes give a nod to The Beach Boys and Magnetic Fields as two “apparent influences” to the music on their third LP, Benzine (2024, Tender Loving Empire). Their dedication to well-constructed indie pop, however, is also reminiscent of acts like Whitney, Guster, Ben Folds and (a less earnest version of) Okkervil River. 

Singer/songwriter Scott “Benz” Huerta is the trio’s center-pivot, having formed the band (originally a four-piece) with guitarist/bassist/keyboard player Mackenzie Bunch back in 2006. The current iteration is rounded out by new drummer Rob Mills. While Huerta’s voice has that classic indie frontman croon, it’s Bunch’s harmonies that give their songs extra lift. 

Huerta agreed to take on the Ten Questions gauntlet in support of the band’s June 25 show at Slowdown with Ojai. But before we get to that, a quick story that involved my former life at Union Pacific Railroad: 

It was January 2015 and in an effort to attract young recruits to consider railroad careers, Union Pacific attempted what can only be called “a social media experiment.” The railroad’s Corporate Communications department created a video series, developed and filmed by videographer/musician/all-around-good-guy Django Greenblatt-Seay, wherein small national indie bands performed songs safely within the confines of a live rail yard. 

French Cassettes was among the bands involved in that experiment. They were shot performing their song, “Radley,” at Union Pacific’s Oakland Intermodal Terminal. The final product is linked at the end of 10Q, right after an 11th question about Huerta’s memory of the project.

Please to enjoy…

What is your favorite album?

Scott Huerta, French Cassettes: i by The Magnetic Fields is definitely #1.  And I know this is cheating the question but I feel like I have to honorably mention:
Discovery – E.L.O. 
Comfort Eagle – CAKE
Room on Fire – The Strokes

2. What is your least favorite song?

I don’t like pickin’ fights so I don’t go around saying this, but “Piano Man.” I like Billy Joel I just don’t really want to hear about a guy who plays piano for 5-and-a-half minutes. Maybe I just don’t get it. 

3. What do you enjoy most about being in a band?

Singing harmonies with talented singers. I’ve wanted to have that since my grandma showed me Beach Boys when I was super young. As fun as it was layering a bunch of my voice with my TalkBoy, I prefer being in an actual group. 

4. What do you hate about being in a band?

I got a bum knee and my amp weighs 40 pounds. 

5. What is your favorite substance (legal or illegal)?

Legal: green tea boba

Illegal: pickin’ fruit from trees hanging over people’s fences 

6. In what city or town do you love to perform (and why)?

San Francisco of course because it’s home base. Anywhere in Central Valley CA. We played Sacramento the other night and talk about a good-time-havin’ rowdy bunch.  New York and Denver are always really kind to us and like to sing the songs. 

7. What city or town did you have your worst gig (and why)?

A long time ago we played a blood drive — us in a parking lot with 100 folding chairs set up and not a single person showed up. The staff felt bad and made all the employees watch. Then as a peace offering, they gave us a tour of the blood bank and I almost passed out halfway through. I learned that day that I’m not a blood person. Nice folks, though. 

8. Are you able to support yourself through your music? If so, how long did it take to get there; if not, how do you pay your bills?

We’re not doing that bad, I’d say. I live pretty modestly so that helps when it comes time for bills. But especially recently we’ve been blown away by the support from our fans. That being said, there were definitely days where I was eating cans of tuna for breakfast lunch and dinner. But I don’t mind – I love tuna. 

9. What one profession other than music would you like to attempt; what one profession would you absolutely hate to do?

I attempted to be a child actor, but no one showed up to my first class, not even the teacher, so I took that as a sign. Also I was 30.  There’ve been a few others. Carpenter, mechanic, mailman in Ireland. 

I wouldn’t want to work in a kitchen only because I move pretty slowly and everyone would hate me; I got too thin skin for that. 

10. What stories have you heard about Omaha, Nebraska?

Sorry, I’m sure you get this all the time but honestly just what Toro y Moi sings about in his “Omaha” song. I’ve learned Omaha is one of people’s favorite cities to say out loud, very beautiful word. Basically, I’ve got much to learn and I plan to soak in as much as possible while we’re there this tour. I bet it’s my kinda place. 

Extra Question: What do you remember about filming the Union Pacific rail yard video?

I remember it was very early. And they told us legally we had to wear all the gear. But mostly I remember the comments on YouTube, so good. “What does this band have to do with trains?,” “music’s not as bad as I expected.” They get even better. It’s worth checking out when you have time. Union Pacific let us keep the wardrobe and I used the glasses as goggles for cutting onions, which did not work at all – do not recommend. 

French Cassettes play with Ojai on Tuesday, June 25, at Slowdown. Tickets are $15; showtime is 8 p.m. For more information, go to theslowdown.com.

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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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Despite their shoegaze collar, Los Angeles band Draag sonically reinvents a number of nostalgic influences to emerge with something wholly modern.

Fronted by singer/songwriter Adrian Acosta, the five-piece is rounded out by Jessica Huang (synth, vocals), Ray Montes (guitar), Nick Kelley (bass), and Eric Fabbro (drums). Their latest EP, Actually, the Quiet is Nice (2024, Julia’s War), is a sonic blur amidst a curtain of strobe lights, like a being wrapped in a warm blanket that has random needles woven into the fabric.

What makes Draag stand out amongst the current army of shoegaze bands is their reliance on breakneck, white-knuckle percussion. Sure, there’s plenty of drone (especially with the vocals, which are mostly indecipherable on first listen), but the tracks’ hammer beats owe as much to industrial and metal as the shoegaze masters who obviously influenced their sound, like My Bloody Valentine, Lush, etc. 

Draag should be a welcome contrast to tour headliner Wednesday – both bands play at The Slowdown tomorrow night (May 30). We caught up with Acosta and the rest of Draag and gave them the Ten Questions treatment. Here’s what they had to say.

1. What is your favorite album?

Currently: The Land of Rape and Honey by Ministry  (1988, Sire)

2. What is your least favorite song?

I’d rather not say. Too close to home. I think some people we know personally are friends with this band whose music I hate. 

3. What do you enjoy most about being in a band?

Making people feel something real.

4. What do you hate about being in a band?

The business side. It kind of sucks the fun out of it. Touring is chill, but the long drives in between can be very mentally challenging at times. 

5. What is your favorite substance (legal or illegal)?

Caffeine &  micro-dosing psilocybin.

6. In what city or town do you love to perform (and why)? 

Seattle, Missoula & Chicago. Couldn’t pick one  – those cities have very good energy to feed off of and everyone we met was polite. 

7. What city or town did you have your worst gig (and why)? 

Probably Portland, OR. The energy was off. It was more than likely our fault. 

8. Are you able to support yourself through your music? If so, how long did it take to get there; if not, how do you pay your bills?

Absolutely not. We all have day jobs. Jessica is an occupational therapist, Ray is the manager for a weed company, Nick works for the post office, Eric is a graphic designer and I (Adrian) run a construction company. 

9. What one profession other than music would you like to attempt; what one profession would you absolutely hate to do?

Adrian: Would love to work in production or coach a High School Basketball team. I don’t want to be a contractor anymore. 

Ray: Carpentry. Would hate to work in parking enforcement. 

Nick: A cobbler. Would hate to work at Home Depot.

Eric: Probably would want to attempt to be a zoologist cause I love animals and want to understand their intelligence and communication more.  And would hate to be an advertising executive for a failing fast food company.

Jessica: Painter and interior designer. Job I’d hate to do would be in investment banking. 

10. What stories have you heard about Omaha, Nebraska? 

The Murder at Mystery Manor. I also hear the food is good, the people are great, alongside some very dynamic weather. 

Draag plays with the band Wednesday at The Slowdown May 30. 8 p.m. start time, $25 DOS. 

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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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Matthew Sweet plays at The Waiting Room Saturday night. Photo by Evan Carter.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

When people talk about successful bands from Omaha, they immediately think of Bright Eyes or (more likely) 311 – a band that moved to California just before they hit it big. But one of the most successful Nebraska musicians from the ’90s (and today) still lives right here in Omaha. 

Born and raised in Lincoln, Matthew Sweet had one of the biggest hits of the early ’90s with his gem-filled power-pop collection Girlfriend (1991, Zoo Records) that boasted infectious singles like the title track, “I’ve Been Waiting,” “Evangeline” and “Divine Intervention.” The album became an international indie favorite.

It would be followed by Alterer Beast in ’93, 100% Fun in ’95 and the critical obscurity Kimi Ga Suki in 2003. In his heyday, when he wasn’t touring Sweet lived in Los Angeles. 

But as he said in an interview last month, after 20 years in La La Land Sweet moved back to Nebraska — and Omaha — 10 years ago. In fact, I once bumped into him at a Thai restaurant in Aksarben Village, whispering to my wife over my Tom Ka Chicken, “Pssst… look over there, eating those noodles, it’s Matthew Sweet.”

“It’s amazing that there still are people who recognize me, because I feel like a relic of a bygone era,” Sweet said. “But hey, we’re going out touring again. I’m finally getting out after Covid, and it’s been a long time.”

Four years, to be precise. Sweet said a health issue made him very afraid to go out in public during the pandemic, not only for himself, but also knowing so many bands that announced tours only to cancel them when a band member came down with Covid. 

“And then over the last year, I’ve really gotten myself together on my health and solved some problems — some breathing things I had — that had made it a big danger for me getting Covid,” Sweet said.

His first performance outing was at the fabeled 30A Songwriters Festival in Florida in early January. 

“I was very, very freaked out and horrified to have to sing and play at all,” Sweet said, adding that he’d only performed a few times online during the pandemic years, “but not really in a venue with real mics and PA. I was able to play a whole hour-long set with the backup of a couple of friends, and my voice worked surprisingly well.”

For this mini-tour that includes the performance this Saturday, Feb. 17, at The Waiting Room, Sweet has pulled together a band that includes him on rhythm guitar, John Moremen (who played on 2017’s Tomorrow Forever album) on lead guitar, Paul Chastain of Velvet Crush on bass and drummer Debbi Peterson from The Bangles. 

“Debbie’s a good friend of mine from Los Angeles,” Sweet said. “She came out here in 2016 or 17 to play drums on Tomorrow Forever, and I’ve recorded the Bangles at my house in Los Angeles. She’s a really good drummer.” Since this interview, Adrian Carter has been added to the band on 6- and 12-string acoustic. 

Sweet said the show’s set list will consist mostly of fan favorites. “Honestly, I’ve never been the sort of artist who has to force new stuff on people, even when they want to hear other things,” he said. “It’s great to see the reaction from people hearing the songs they remember and care about.”

That said, Sweet just released a new album – Live in Grant Park Chicacgo July 1993. The 17-song collection includes favorites from Girlfriend, Altered Beast and 100% Fun, performed live backed by a band that included Richard Lloyd (Television) on lead guitar, Will Rigby (the dB’s) on drums and Tony Marsico (Cruzados) on bass. 

In addition, Sweet is in the early stages of writing his next album, which has a project title Midsommar, a name he “swiped” from one of his favorite recent movies. “I really like that title,” Sweet said. “I’m having the ideas for the songs musically. I’m having tons of lyric ideas and all of it’s starting to come kind of in advance of making the album.”

For Sweet, songwriting inspiration comes from every angle and every medium – film, art and music. When he isn’t making music, he can be found making art, including his lovable cat images that are taking the world by storm.

“I was never good when a label wanted (me to write) a single,” Sweet said. “If anything, as I’ve gotten older, I feel more like an artist because it helps me to think about what I do and who I am. It’s more about doing the art than about whether someone cares at this point. I turned 59 in the fall. I’m sort of at a place where I kind of feel like I can be doing my little things whether I’m making a living or not. And I think that’s what it means to be an artist.”

Matthew Sweet plays with Abe Partridge Feb. 17 at The Waiting Room. Showtime is 8 p.m. Tickets are $17 Adv./$25 DOS. For more information, go to onepercentproductions.com.

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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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Icky Blossoms at this year’s Maha Festival. The band plays at The Waiting Room Dec. 26.

by Tim McMahan,lazy-i.com

Holiday concerts are an Omaha tradition and Tuesday night’s show at The Waiting Room is a hum-dinger: The return of Icky Blossoms. 

Some Icky fans (me included) got ripped off at this year’s Maha Music Festival due to the “weird weather event” that emptied out the Maha compound right before the Icky’s performed. Getting back into Maha turned into a debacle. While waiting in the line, I could hear  Icky Blossoms’ music bouncing off buildings blocks away. By the time I got back in, the set was practically over.

Tomorrow night (Dec. 26) we get another chance to see their full set, and these days, that’s a rare event. The band’s core members have their hands full living life: Sarah Bohling lives in Atlanta where she’s busy with music projects (including band No Head), Derek Pressnall has a family and full-time gig at Secret Penguin, and Nik Fackler and wife, Kat, just had their first child — the lovely Faye Rose — six months ago. That doesn’t leave much time for rock and roll.

Despite that and the fact that they haven’t released new material in years, the band’s music has never been more relevant. This year alone saw two high-profile Icky Blossoms music placements. One was the use of “Sex to the Devil” from their 2012 self-titled debut as the finale song at Versace’s 2023 Spring Summer runway show in Paris. “We didn’t realize Paris Hilton would be walking that finale,” Pressnall said via a conference call with all three Icky’s.

The other was their song “Cycle” from the same album used as the finale for video game Grand Theft Auto 5 – Cayo Perico Heist. No doubt as a result, that song now has just under 1.7 million Spotify spins.  Could there be a better time for new Icky Blossoms music and a reunion tour? 

In fact, the band is working on new music. “We have a whole process for writing and recording,” Fackler said.

“We could put out a record, but touring, especially right now, seems… there’s a lot of moving parts – jobs, babies, families and where we live,” Bohling said. 

“We’re going to take a modern approach to it,” Fackler added. “Rather than one big tour, we’re looking at festivals or shorter stints on the road.”

They said you won’t hear any of that new Icky music tomorrow night, but you will be treated to an all-new digital light show created especially for the event.

The amazing David Nance and his band Mowed Sound also are on the bill, as is PROBLEMS (a.k.a. Darren Keen), who will open the show at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15.

The concert is followed with an “official after party” at Pageturners Lounge featuring an Icky Blossoms DJ set along with DJ Tyrone Storm! No cover, starts at 11 p.m.

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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 © 2023 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.