The Return of Death By Chocolate: Angela Faye Tillet interview

This is the second band in 2012, who I interviewed many years ago, and disappeared, and then made a return this year. Actually Death By Chocolate are on their third album. They are on Darla Records. They still have not played any gigs but you can check them out here. And here's the old interview:

Death by Chocolate is a new interesting group being foisted on the American public. Where do they come from and what are they about? This playful record is a mix of sixties psychedelia and bubble gum pop. Imagine Captain Beefheart meets Shampoo. Angela Faye Tillet is a teenage chambermaid from Clacton-on-Sea, miles and years from London. Songs like "Mustard Yellow" and "Ice Cold Lemonade" recall a different time and place, and should go down well with people with "Japan" fever. They also do songs by Dudley Moore, and from the movie Harold and Maude, plus the theme song from The Flying Nun. I talked to lead singer, Angela Faye Tillet the other day on the phone right before Angela had to go to work.

AL: Is this a band proper or is just you?

Angela: Oh no it's a band. It's me and two other guys. There's also a producer who decides what we will record. They do the music and I do most of the lyrics.

AL: How did you find each other?

Angela: Through Michael Alway who runs the label, L Records. He got us together, because he knew we were of like minds. We got along immediately.

AL: Were you in other bands before that?

Angela: I did some stuff with Michael Alway, but not really, I was in no other bands. Death by Chocolate has been together for a year now. We did a couple of tracks for a compilation, "Songs for The Jet Set, volume 3." That seems like a long time ago.

AL: Were those like demo songs?

Angela: Yeah, it was a practice for the album. We wanted to see what it would be like.

AL: The album seems like it was conceived as a whole, mixing the spoken bits and the songs. Who's idea was that?

Angela: A bit of both really. Michael wanted to do stuff about colors and things like that. I had to write down what all these colors meant to me. It all comes down to editing.

AL: Were you influenced by children's stories?

Angela: We wanted it to be like you were watching the film Willy Wonka.

AL: Have you played any shows yet?

Angela: None. We want to. We just want to establish ourselves and release a few records and get known. But I am looking forward to playing some live shows. I hope so. It might be like a picnic in the park. I can't imagine it being like a normal evening in a club. We want to have sets and scenery.

AL: So you live outside London?

Angela: Yeah, I live in Colchester. It's about an hour out on the train from London.

AL: Has that influenced you and your music?

Angela: You mean being out in the sticks? Probably because when you grow up in a small village you are only surrounded by people who are into the same things that you are into. I think so. You get narrow minded about things, sometimes in a good way and sometimes in bad way. I think we have went in the good way. It's more inspiring and realistic in a way. London is all very well, but a bit of a nightmare and really expensive. Living in London is expensive.

AL: You have lived in London?

Angela: I used to work there when I was at school. It was a ride but a little bit too hairy for my taste. I used to work for the government. I worked in the publicity office. It's a job that you do when you're at school. It was at Whitehall right by Big Ben.

AL: What do you do now?

Angela: I work in a pub. I grew up in a pub, so I like it. That's what they did. I like to drive around in my car. I like Cider. I drink Guinness too.

AL: You have a song about Salvador Dali? What was that about?

Angela: Oh that was Mike's idea. It's just titles and things about paintings mixed together. I suppose that I like art.

AL: Are you a fan of Dali?

Angela: Not particularly. I think he's quite dark. I do appreciate him, but he's not my thing.

AL: Many of his painting are about masturbation and being a narcissist.

Angela: Yeah, I know. All fucked up things. I like things a little bit more straight and narrow.

AL: You did a song from the movie "Harold and Maude." Was that your idea?

Angela: No. That was something that Joe was into. I haven't seen it. I knew you were going to ask me that. I should buy it on video. I'll make an effort. I've heard about it.

AL: What about "The Singing Nun?"

Angela: Which one? The Singing Nun? I don't know which one you mean?

AL: Sally Field. "Who Needs Wings to Fly?"

Angela: Right. When people say that I think that they're saying The Leaping Nun. Sorry. Mike was a big fan of that song. I liked it a lot. We did it a long time ago.

AL: Are you a big Dudley Moore fan?

Angela: He's alright.

AL: Do you have any favorite films?

Angela: That's one of those questions where you draw a blank. Well, Bedazzled obviously. I like Ghostbusters. Anything that has Bill Murray in it is fabulous.

AL: I like Rushmore a lot.

Angela: I never heard of that. When did that come out?

AL: About two years ago.

Angela: Wooo. That went by.

AL: It's a great film. It's one of the great Bill Murray films.

Angela: Is it? What's it like? What does he play in it?

AL: He plays a rich guy. There's a private school. One of the students falls in love with a female teacher. Bill Murray has two sons at the school. The student looks to Bill Murray for help, and they both end up battling for the girl.

Angela: Sounds familiar now actually. Sounds nice.

AL: What about TV shows?

Angela: There's a few good things on at the moment which are quite obscure. Comedies. We have a program called "Operation Good Guys" which is a spoof of police documentaries. There are a few fake news programs. I used to be really into comedy. These are things that you haven't heard of, because nothing has crossed the Atlantic.

AL: Why do you think people choose to do music?

Angela: You have to want to do it because you believe in personal expression. Don't bend over backwards to please other people. Just do something silly and relevant to yourself. You are not going to change the world and be anything better than you are. Do it for the right reason.

Marissa Nadler "The Sister"

Marissa Nadler Takes a Confessional Turn in Forthcoming Release The Sister, Out May 29

Watch her teaser video for The Sister at YouTube

Boston-based songstress Marissa Nadler has announced the forthcoming release of The Sister, a collection of eight new tracks subtly linked to last year's self-titled critically acclaimed LP, out May 29 on her own Box Of Cedar Records.

"Heartbreak is a great muse, but it can wear you down," she admits, referring to the stormy relationships that haunted many of the heavenly hooks on her most recent works. "For The Sister, I realized I had muses all around me, whether it was childhood, betrayal, friendships, new love, nature, or hope. The narrator's stronger in my songs now, and more able to bounce back if they choose to."

The dream-folk artist notes that each year she feels freer to write what she wants. On The Sister she keeps her confessionals as intimate as possible explaining, "I wanted the starkness of every song to reflect the lyrical content. Some of my biggest influences are confessional songwriters. It's always been a very powerful thing to listen to Elliott Smith and Joni Mitchell, and feel so much from their stories."

SPIN called Nadler's 2011 full-length "one of the year's most disarming records... a cyclical, finger-picked beauty that, once you lean into it some, never lets you go," while Pitchfork gave it an "Albums of the Year: Honorable Mention" and an 8.1 review. The release was featured on Vogue, KEXP, NPR "World Cafe: Next," NPR First Listen, who called her music "dreamy, melancholy and utterly captivating," and made American Songwriter, WXPN, and Drowned In Sound's favorite albums of 2011 lists. Additional details about The Sister to come.

For more info, please visit: http://marissanadler.com
http://marissanadler.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Marissa-Nadler/103715669667855
http://www.etsy.com/shop/Marissamoon6
http://twitter.com/#!/marissanadler

LOW announce US Tour

LOW ANNOUNCE 12 DATE NORTH AMERICAN TOUR WITH DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE

MP3- Try to Sleep
MP3- Especially Me
Video- Especially Me
Video- Try To Sleep

Beginning April 10^th, Sub Pop recording artists Low will serve as main support for the first 12 dates of Death Cab for Cutie’s upcoming North American spring tour. These dates will bring the bands to intimate venues and historic theaters across much of the United States, as Death Cab for Cutie performs with San Francisco’s innovative Magik*Magik Orchestra. Low was specially selected by Death Cab for Cutie as main support for these dates.

Low are touring in support of their 2011 release, C’mon, which was recorded in an old church in Duluth, MN and mixed in Hollywood, CA with producer Matt Beckley working alongside the band. C’mon received warm accolades from such places as: SPIN, Blurt, Entertainment Weekly, The Boston Globe, Washington Post, and NPR, who had this to say about their latest release:

Lush and beautiful in its simplicity…Longtime fans who've lived with Low will no doubt appreciate the return to form, while newcomers ought to fall in love with these songs and want to dig into the rest of the band's 18 years of passionate restraint.

Alan Sparhawk describes C’mon simply as: “Warm, pretty, large like Nashville without the country. Mim and I are talking to each other in the lyrics, sometimes it's not pretty, but it's as honest as love.”



Low Tour Dates:
Jan 27 First Avenue, Minneapolis, MN
Mar 09 All Tomorrow's Parties, Minehead, United Kingdom
Mar 26 Teatro Central, Sevilla, Spain
Mar 27 Apolo, Barcelona, Spain
Mar 28 Teatro Kapital, Madrid, Spain
Mar 29 Sala Capitol , Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Mar 30 Kursaal, San Sebastian, Spain
Mar 31 Círculo de Bellas Artes, Madrid, Spain
Mar 31 Círculo de Arte de Toledo, Toledo, Spain
Apr 02 Glee Club (UK), Birmingham, United Kingdom
Apr 03 Royal Festival Hall, London, United Kingdom

w/ Death Cab for Cutie:

04/10/12 Denver CO @ Ellie Caulkins Opera House
04/11/12 Omaha NE @ Omaha Music Hall
04/13/12 Louisville KY @ Louisville Palace
04/14/12 Grand Rapids MI @ Covenant Fine Arts Center / Calvin College
04/15/12 Milwaukee WI @ Riverside Theatre
04/16/12 Chicago IL @ Chicago Theatre
04/19/12 Toronto ON @ Massey Hall
04/20/12 Montreal QC @ St Jean Baptiste Church
04/21/12 Boston MA @ Citi Performing Arts Center / Wang Theatre
04/23/12 Providence RI @ Veterans Memorial Auditorium
04/24/12 Buffalo NY @ Kleinhan's Music Hall
04/25/12 Philadelphia PA @ Tower Theatre

Blast from The Past: Mull Historical Society

Mull Historical Society are back in 2012 Interview from 2003 by Alexander Laurence

The idea that all Scottish people are depressed is a myth Mull Historical Society is a one man show starring Colin MacIntyre. He has a very fresh and interesting approach to music, which recalls the rich instrumentation of The Flaming Lips. He even designs his own record sleeves. Colin has played gigs with The Strokes and Travis. His first album, Loss (2001), contained a balance of songs ranging from the ridiculous to the sublime. Colin hails from the Island of Mull (population: 2,000) off Scotland's west coast. He went from playing small clubs to big venues within a a year.

Last summer the stage was set to create the new album. Colin went back to the studio with almost 35 songs to work on. Three months later he emerged with Us (2003). Not surprisingly, Colin is incredibly pleased with the results. The album immediately shot up to the top 20 in the UK. He has been creating a stir of interest in the United States and has played two small tours so far. Colin was in Los Angeles at the end of April 2003, playing to his cult audience. I chatted with him in the lobby of the Knitting Factory right before the show. I struggled to decipher his thick Scottish accent which is always a challenge. He seemed excited about bringing his music to a new audience. Colin MacIntyre is one of today's great songwriters.

I did this interview in 2003. After an eight year break Mull Historical Society is back with a new album City Awakening (2012).

***

AL: Have you played here in America before?

Colin: This is the first proper tour. I have done some dates in New York. This is the first time I have gone east to west. I am playing the songs acoustic and with a stripped down sound. It's a challenge to play them that way. But often the songs are written on an acoustic guitar. This tour of America is just me and a piano player. Hopefully we will come back with a bigger lineup. Some of the shows in the UK I have had thirteen people on-stage. I prefer touring with a five-piece.

AL: How do the songs start out for you?

Colin: Piano or guitar. Or with nothing. It's random. Sometimes you hear something on piano or guitar, then you want to bottle it. You hear something that sounds interesting. I get the dictaphone out and try to record it. More often than not the melodies are just in your head. It has nothing to do with having an instrument in your hand. I'll see some words and maybe a title appeals to me.

AL: Were you in other bands before?

Colin: Not really. Growing up in Mull I was always in cover bands since I was a kid. I was in The Lovesick Zombies. We played anything from The Clash to Van Morrison, to The Beatles to Bowie. But I was always writing stuff on the side. Then I left Mull. I was learning how to write better songs and how to arrange songs. I wanted to make my own music.

AL: Why did you call yourself Mull Historical Society?

Colin: Mull is where I am from. There is an actual place called the Historical Society. It's an organization on the island. I saw one of their ads in the local press. I tried to imagine what they were like and what they did. I wrote a song about them. I just decided that I would call myself that.

AL: Did you have a lot of songs written before these two albums?

Colin: Yeah. I had hundreds of songs. They were all 4-track demos. Since I was fifteen, I had been writing songs on a 4-track. I just kept developing songs. I was working and doing other things. I had moved to Glasgow. Loss was me writing new stuff at that time. Sometimes I go back to the early demos and find a line that I can use or a melody. It's good to have that catalogue to use. It's like a library. Most of it is stuff that needs developing that will never see the light of day. But it is good to have there. Both Loss and Us is me writing at that time. I am starting to think about the next record. I don't need to record it for a while. But I am always thinking of songs.

AL: Had you done a lot of shows before you recorded Loss?

Colin: No. I probably did six shows before I signed to Warner Bros. I met my manager, Tony, and things just came together. I had played a lot previously about five years before that. I didn't play much in those years. I was writing, recording, and working jobs. Everything came together about three or four years ago. I felt like the songs started to sound like me as opposed to sounding like someone else. I met the right people. I held off for a long time. I was struggling for ten years sending demos off. It worked.

AL: The new album sounds more stripped down. The first few songs like "The Final Arrears" sounds like a continuation of Loss, but a few songs in, it goes into a different place.

Colin: That was definitely intended. Producing myself, as I have done with both records, I have to control that. Sometimes as a songwriter you want to keep adding. And as a musician you want to keep adding. As a producer, it's important sometimes to take away. It's a constant battle with myself in the studio. I think that I have got the balance right on this record. Loss was everything including the kitchen sink. The whole house really. I wouldn't change anything. It was just me making my first record. I wanted as much melody and as much sound on it as possible. Us I think is just more balanced. You want to evolve as a songwriter and as a producer.

AL: Did you want to do everything on the first record, because you thought that maybe you wouldn't have a chance to do another record?

Colin: I don't think that I was that pessimistic. At the time it was important to me to include the sounds of steel drums and tubular bells. There is a lot of that still going on with the new record. But it is important for those things to work together. I have done all my recordings at Gravity Studios in Glasgow. Even some of the first demos, some of which, became Loss. I recorded it on an Apple Performer. I worked with digital tapes too. I mastered it all at Abbey Road back through analog. I recorded both albums in much the same way.

AL: Were there any live takes with a band?

Colin: The only live takes I do are with the drummer. I use that as a skeleton, then I add all the other parts. I do a layered approach. It's like adding meat on the bones. Some songs I play the drums, so I do it differently. For me, sometimes the song can write itself. Songs like "Us" and "Minister For Genetics and Insurance" seem quite abstract. Recording the song actually became the song, if you can see what I mean. While recording the song, sometimes I wasn't sure exactly where it was going. Most of the rest were all written. When I did these albums, I worked on thirty or thirty-five songs all at the same time. You start to see the songs as a collective. You think: this one has too much strings.... Each song can help the others. I don't like too much of one thing. It helps me to decide what should stay in there. Like the sound of sheep at the end. Everything is there for a reason.

AL: You have quite a number of songs about animals?

Colin: I don't know why. All the videos have animals in them as well. There's one song "Animal Cannabus" that says that animals don't really have clothes. Animals still have a chain of conduct obviously. But the song was about why don't we be just like animals and get rid of fashion and style. You don't have to think about what to wear. You can just be yourself. There's a lot of that on the first record: in terms of people being an individual. Whether you want to be like an animal is your own preference. The feelings are the same on both records.

AL: Then you have a song like "Barcode Bypass" which is like a short story.

Colin: Yeah. I like ideas about how the whole culture is: fast food, fast food TV. It's all just crap. It's not really bad. I am not making any big comment on it. I am just observing it. "Barcode Bypass" is a song about a small shop owner. He talking about how the 24-hour supermarket is taking all the business away, and he's going to have to close down. He's too proud to admit so he just stops taking his medication. He walks off with his dogs. On Us I have a song called "The Supermarket Strikes Back." It's about the supermarket owner having his say about the situation. I do like the clash between the corporate, capitalist society and the community of small cottage industry. I like to pick characters who are living in that.

AL: What was it like playing with The Strokes in the UK when they broke out?

Colin: That was great. I spent six weeks with them. We played with Moldy Peaches as well. They are interesting guys. I enjoyed playing with them. It was the very start of it all for them at the time. It was two years ago. It was great fun. We spent six weeks together. It was their first UK tour. It was exciting. They will never forget it. I will never forget it either. I think that most people who came to see the Strokes also liked my band. By the end of the tour I had two of the Strokes singing "I Tried." The Moldy Peaches were there too. I remember that it was a very good feeling. It was like a traveling road show with three very different bands.

AL: Do you have any hobbies?

Colin: I play a little soccer. I write a lot. I like the Glasgow Celtic. I write short stories. I have written tow novel and about twenty short stories. I would love to publish them someday. They are similar subject matter to my songs. I have been reading a lot of American authors like Raymond Carver, Charles Bukowski, and Richard Brautigan. I like the rawness of it all. They don't put in a word that doesn't need to be there. I like that direct style. I would like to get published at some point, but at the moment I am just concentrating on music.

AL: Have you liked any recent records?

Colin: I don't listen to a lot of new music. I have about stack this high. I don't have a real record collection. I like the new Johnny Cash record. The Flaming Lips. I spent most of my time listening to my own music.

AL: What about the video for "Watching Xanadu?" How did you get permission to run on the dog track?

Colin: All my videos are done by friends. One is from Mull. We had to get permission. That dog track is in East London. It's famous. I had to run across the track in between races with all these people watching me. Thousands of people were shouting at me. We filmed for three days around the streets of London and the Underground. I was running the whole time. It was really hard to do. I just did the video for the new single "Am I Wrong?" It's good fun.

AL: What is your favorite part about doing music?

Colin: I think that the initial spark of coming up with a new song is why I do it. It gives me a lot of fulfillment. I love working in the studio. I love playing live.

AL: What should young people do if they want to do music?

Colin: Don't give up. Keep on writing. Keep doing songs. Don't send your songs away till you know that they are right. Try and find your own sound. Unless you sound original or are trying to be unique, you are nothing. There are all these sources and influences. You regurgitate these things. You soak them up and spit them out. All I can say is that I never stopped trying.

****

Website: www.mullhistoricalsociety.com

--Alexander Laurence

Foxygen "With All My Friends"

Jessie Baylin "Hurry Hurry"

JESSIE BAYLIN RELEASES NEW VIDEO FOR
"HURRY HURRY"

MUSIC VIDEO DIRECTED BY ACTRESS SCARLETT JOHANSSON

WEST COAST DATES WITH THE WATSON TWINS CONFIRMED

NEW ALBUM, LITTLE SPARK, IN STORES AND ONLINE NOW VIA BLONDE RAT

Nashville, TN-based singer-songwriter Jessie Baylin is excited to announce the release of her new music video for "Hurry Hurry." The clip for the track was helmed by Jessie's close friend, actress Scarlett Johansson, with Adam Kimmel (Capote, Lars & The Real Girl) handling the cinematography. As a complimentary visual to the album's soft and sweeping opener, the elegantly filmed "Hurry Hurry" was a clip shot in one take on New York City's Manhattan Bridge with the New York skyline as its backdrop. Its simplicity perfectly balances the purity of emotion felt in the song.

"One of the greatest gifts of growing up with Jessie has been watching her develop as a musician," Director Scarlett Johansson said. "This song has a dreamy Brian Wilson sort of feel; I wanted to build on that and allow the video to carry on dreamily and use the changing tone and Jessie's expression to match the vibe of the melody."

WATCH: "HURRY HURRY" MUSIC VIDEO

(Directed by Scarlett Johansson)

Photo: Matt Wignall

Produced by Kevin Augunas (Cold War Kids, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros) and arranged by modern-day auteur and multi-instrumentalist Richard Swift, Little Spark, Baylin's third full-length album, carries with it a classic pop tone that evokes memories of the Brill Building and Laurel Canyon in the '70s while retaining a decidedly modern, empowered worldview.


JANUARY
25 - Seattle, WA - The Triple Door *
26 - Portland, OR - Doug Fir *
29 - San Francisco, CA - The Independent *
31 - Los Angeles, CA - The Troubadour *

* = w/ The Watson Twins

Chelsea Wolfe UK Tour

CHELSEA WOLFE ANNOUNCES FIRST EVER UK TOUR w/ 2:54 & TOURS EUROPE

PERFORMS "MOVIE SCREEN" FOR INCASE'S ROOM 205

3RD ALBUM, CHELSEA WOLFE (S/T), DUE 2012

California native Chelsea Wolfe has always embodied both light and dark. Yet though her music is a raw strain of electric folk tinted by black metal and deep blues, it never wallows in despair. Instead, it wraps itself like a thick blanket around the human experience, encouraging uplift, seeking triumph. Her voice is a haunting call, warm and lingering, and her lyrics acknowledge life's obscure and melancholy moments in service to the unlikely truths and beauty they so often reveal. Her music exudes strength in the midst of adversity. It makes sense then that her influences run from Nick Cave and Selda Bagcan, to director Ingmar Bergman, with nods to the dramatic flair of Antony Hegarty, and even more so that she hails from the wilder, woodsy part of her state.

Wolfe's unique romanticism began early, but it was always a private affair. At 9, she started sneaking into her father's home studio to record warped keyboard covers and originals. Growing up, she lacked the confidence to share her work, and it wasn't until much later that she even considered making music for others to hear. But in 2009, Wolfe embarked on a three-month stint abroad with a group of nomadic performance artists, playing cathedrals, basements and abandoned nuclear factories, and returned home with a new vision and drive. She recorded two albums worth of material back to back, starting by toting around an 8-track and recording as the mood hit, eventually editing her findings into her stunning 2010 debut, The Grime & the Glow. Described as both healing and harrowing, enchanting and narcotic, the album established Wolfe as an elemental force on the rise. At last ready to embrace her gift, she relocated to Los Angeles in the same year and recorded her second album Ἀποκάλυψις (pronounced "apokalypsis") which found Wolfe in an actual studio with her live band, even as she maintained the strikingly visceral elements of her powerful debut. It was released in summer of 2011 and showcased her unique songwriting ability, as well as a serious heaviness of sound and an ever-present counterweight: that transcendent voice, which rightly landed it on numerous best of 2011 lists.

Chelsea Wolfe is already hard at work on a third album, fittingly self-titled considering her newfound poise, due out in 2012.

WATCH ROOM 205

SPRING EUROPEAN TOUR 2012
4/02 Waterfront Studio, Norwich, UK !

4/03 Buffalo Bar, Cardiff, UK

4/04 Deaf Institute, Manchester, UK !

4/05 Captain's Rest, Glasgow, UK !

4/06 Mello Mello, Liverpool, UK.

4/07 The Garage, London, UK *

4/08 Academy 3, Birmingham, UK *

4/09 Old Blue Last, London, UK.

4/10 The Thekla, Bristol, UK. !

4/11 Green Door Store, Brighton, UK !

4/12 Roadburn, Tilburg, The Netherlands

4/13 Magasin 4, Brussels, Belgium

4/14 4AD, Diksmuide, Belgium

4/15 L'Aéronef, Lille, France

4/16 L'Epicerie, Lyon, France

4/18 Postgarage, Graz, Austria

4/19 Locomotiv Club, Bologna, Italy

4/20 Init Club, Rome, Italy

4/20 Elita Festival, Milano, Italy

4/23 Cafe Potrvá., Prague, Czech Republic

4/24 Thalia Kino/Schauburg, Dresden, Germany

4/25 Berghain Kantine, Berlin, Germany

4/26 Debaser, Malmö, Sweden

4/27 Blå, Oslo, Noway

4/28 Strand, Stockholm, Sweden

4/29 Kuudes Linja, Helsinki, Finland

5/01 Molotow, Hamburg, Germany

5/03 Winston, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

5/04 Le Point Ephemere, Paris, France

5/05 Le 106, Rouen, France