Everyone is back! I repeat, EVERYONE IS BACK! Yes the FAB 5 is back and geeking it up. This week we chat about the Emmys as well as Apple's Press Conference. So sit back, relax, and GET YOUR GEEK ON! - The Geeks

CLICK HERE FOR GEEKITY SPEAKITY

The weekend kicks off tonite at The Cellar Door with Slum Drums, the newest incarnation of DJ Doodie & his super friends.
twitter.com/cellardoor1600

Comedy and Richmond go together like flies on poo poo. Maybe not so apparent to the normal "Fan Rat" or doe-eyed VCU student but definitely the scene is growing and attracting real talent. F-BOMB hopes to cement that in the mind of our city dwellers with the first multi-day comedy fest that we can remember starting tonight at the ye ol' Hat Factory. Begin your 4 day quest to sunshine with the best young comedians in the country.

Johnny Hugel has been documenting Richmond Comedy for us for years now. Check out his archive for RVA and his blog hugel.tumblr.com

READ 9 REASONS TO LOVE RICHMOND COMEDY HERE

READ THE INTERVIEW WITH F-BOMB HEADLINER DOUG STANHOPE HERE

READ RICHMOND COMEDY NO LAUGHING MATTER HERE

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4 Full Day Festival Pass: Includes EVERY show and event at Hat Factory for 4 Days! Thursday ticket: Featuring Whitney Cummings from Chelsea Lately. And opening night party. Friday ticket: Featuring Jon Reep and Buckin’ Comedy Throwdown. Plus, admission to Friday Night Roundup. Saturday ticket: Featuring Doug Stanhope, VA Comedy Showcase. AND admission to Brain Drain with Audio Ammo. Saturday 4:00PM at Current, witness the “Yo Mamma” battle. Sunday ticket: Featuring a Showcase of Virginian comics. Plus don’t miss Will the Farter from The Howard Stern Show all-weekend. And much, much, more. - Hat Factory

BUY F-BOMB TIX HERE

Finally a video from daybyday that's not owned by a large network and can be shown here. Dave and Will took their act to LA almost 3 years ago once they secured some work with Fuel TV producing skits for a show called Stupidface. The guys quickly got noticed and they secured a management agency that got their videos into the hands of Will Ferrell's Funny or Die Network that was in pre-production for the first season of their HBO show.

The two have already filmed for the next season of the Funny or Die Presents. No premiere date is set yet. We'll let you know! If you want to see more… there's plenty of it HERE on YouTube.

CLICK HERE FOR DAYBYDAY: PUMPKIN and BUBBA discover nature.

For years I've heard people at their shows mention how unbelievable it is that they are unsigned. Their sound becomes more and more polished and we await their return to the stage as they are now locked in a room writing us new material. Directed and edited by our own Ben K Muri. - Jonathan

CLICK HERE FOR DUCHESS OF YORK

Witchmond is a blog devoted to the underground and experimental music scenes in Virginia. Despite the punning reference in the title, Witchmond's coverage stretches beyond the boundaries of Richmond, incorporating other central Virginia cities such as Harrisonburg and Charlottesville. Founder Andy Dunlap is still based in Richmond and covers what's happening here, but since Witchmond started in 2008, he's been joined by the Harrisonburg-based Parker Girard, and Dylan Mulshine, who lives in Charlottesville. It's Dylan who is responsible for the Witchmond Music Festival, which explains why it's taking place in Charlottesville instead of here in Richmond. However, if you're willing to make a short drive, you'll be able to catch plenty of great experimental acts over the course of this weekend.

There are a total of four shows happening as part of the Witchmond Music Festival--three of them on Saturday, and one really long one on Sunday. The entire thing should wrap up in plenty of time for you to make that drive back to Richmond and get to work on time Monday morning. You really owe it to yourself to check it out.

The full lineup, in easily digestible form:

S A T U R D A Y S E P T E M B E R 1 8 T H

12PM THE BRIDGE PAI (209 Monticello Rd, Charlottesville VA 22902. $5)

5:30 YOHIMBE (raleigh nc)
5:00 ACID KICKS (philadelphia pa)
4:30 MYCEUM (charlotesville va)
4:00 DIM DUSK MOVING GLOOM (baltimore md)
3:30 FLESH CONTROL (richmond va)
3:00 THE THREE-BRAINED ROBOT (greensboro nc)
2:30 DYLAN LANGUELL (richmond va)
2:00 WAX LIMB (waynesboro va)
1:30 CONFEDERATE THREAT (richmond va)
1:00 BUCK (richmond va)

7PM TWISTED BRANCH TEA BAZAAR (414 E. Main Street, Charlottesville, VA 22902. $7)

11:00 PC WORSHIP (new york city)
10:00 HALLELUJAH THE HILLS (boston ma)
9:30 LEFT & RIGHT (charlottesville va)
8:30 MICHELE SEIPPEL (richmond va)
8:00 TEAADORA (somewhere distant)
7:30 DERRICK HART (peoria, Il)

12AM AFTERPARTY AT MAGNOLIA (FREE--Magnolia is Dylan Mulshine's house; you should be able to get the address at one of the two earlier shows that day)

GRAVES
RAW MOANS
NURSE BEACH
CAVES CAVERNS
BABYGIRLPUSSYCAT
FROM THE DARKEST PART OF THE WOODS

S U N D A Y S E P T E M B E R 1 9 T H

4PM THE SOUTHERN CAFE' & MUSIC HALL (103 South 1st St, on the Downtown mall, Charlottesville, VA 22902, $10)

11:00 INVISIBLE HAND (charlottesville va)
10:00 RHYTHM BANDIT (charlottesville va) + PROJEXORCISM (hickory nc) COLLABORATION
9:00 ORDER (va)
8:00 HEIGHT WITH FRIENDS (baltimore md)
7:30 TRUE WOMANHOOD (washington dc)
7:00 MACAW (washington dc)
6:30 UGH GOD (philadelphia pa)
6:00 BUILDINGS (washington dc)
5:30 BLACK GIRLS (richmond va)
5:00 SOFTSPOT (new york city)

[All performers and timeslots subject to change]

As always, keep an eye on Witchmond for the latest word on all of these events. Questions can be emailed to Dylan Mulshine.

Love him or hate him. Wiz Khalifa of Pittsburgh, PA, will be at Center Stage tonight at 7. Part of XXL’s Freshman Class of 2010, Wiz Khalifa has been making major waves in the hip-hop game.

In recent times, hip-hop has carved out several sub genres and varied audiences to match. Some say Wiz is nothing but the quintessential pot rapper. Some say he’s Pittsburgh’s best hip-hop talent. Either way, Wiz Khalifa has amassed a cult following that has brought something refreshing to the game. He’s undeniable. Check him out tonight at Center Stage w/ special guest Big K.R.I.T. Doors open at 7. Show at 8. 600 E Grace St.

http://www.myspace.com/wizkhalifa
http://twitter.com/REALWIZKHALIFA

http://www.myspace.com/bigkrit
http://twitter.com/bigkrit

written by Neil Lopez

Two amazing NY bands, Soft Spot and Diehard play the Weird dance party this Saturday, 9/18, hosted by Anna & Meghan.

Soft Spot is the brainchild of real life lovers, Sarah Kinlaw & Bryan Keller. Their music has a dreamy, rich quality and the band is known to experiment with musical forms -- Kinlaw often incorporates tap dancing as percussion while singing.) Soft Spot has received glowing reviews from the likes of the Sundance Channel, Logo, Mtv.com, and VH1.com.

http://www.myspace.com/withlovesoftspot

Diehard is a four person indie rock/pop band whose music effectively captures the mid-90s sound of bands such as Superchunk, Velocity Girl, Pavement, and other faves. Diehard's tight, guitar-driven sound laced with classic boy/girl harmonies has gained the attention and admiration of music nerd go-tos such as Pitchfork, Brooklyn Vegan, and Ohmyrockness.

http://www.myspace.com/diehardnyc

Soft Spot will go on at 10pm followed by Diehard. Live music will be followed by the divine-vinyl-spinning-NY-ex-pat, DJ Baby Andy!

Recorded live at The Hat Factory, RVA MAG presents an hour of Audio Ammo's Brain Drain.

CLICK HERE FOR RVA RADIO

For more Audio Ammo www.facebook.com/audioammo

---------------------> BRAIN DRAIN & AUDIO AMMO PRESENT: DEATHFACE

BRAIN DRAIN returns for September with DJ guest DEATHFACE (T&B)

Deathface (aka Johnny Love) has been blowin’ up the scene for years, previously producing + DJing + gaining global recognition in the duo Guns ‘N’ Bombs. Signed to Trouble & Bass, Deathface blends bassline, dubstep, breakcore & devil worship into a very heavy, unique brand of rave music. He has remixed everyone from Drop The Lime to Buraka Som Sistema and his tracks have received support from heavy hitters like Diplo, Crookers & Laidback Luke. We’re pumped!

Download Deathface’s recent summer mixtape from the Mishka ‘Keep Watch’ series here: http://j.mp/deathfacemixtape

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/deathfacekills
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/deathfaceforever
Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/johnnygunslove

Bring some extra cash for the party - Deathface will have some sick tees for sale!

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As always, your neighborhood bros AUDIO AMMO will also be in the spot providing you with killer tunes!
http://www.facebook.com/audioammo

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18+ $5 over 21 // $7 under

Buy tickets here: http://j.mp/deathfacetix
**Note: Due to an early show at the Hat Factory, doors will open at 10pm instead of the usual 9pm.

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Take advantage of the Bottom and Back Bus. They do pick ups all over the fan and drop you a block from the party.
http://www.2bnb.org/

Hopscotch Music Festival
09.09-11.10 - downtown Raleigh, NC

PJ was invited to photograph the Hopscotch Music Festival in Raleigh last weekend, and since there was no way I was going to miss a festival of over 130 bands, I went too. Not only was I impressed at how well the first festival ran, but the city of Raleigh was really welcoming to thousands of artists and music lovers. There were day parties at the venues, free outdoor concerts, special listening parties (Superchunk’s Majesty Shredding at Foundation, presented by our friends at Merge Records), and amazing food and local beer at every turn.


The first band we saw was Raleigh’s Gray Young, who played carefully crafted post-rock, a genre that has been underrepresented the past few years. They took over the stage, moving around and offering a great sample of what we were going to experience over the next three days.

Next was Cults, who at the time were on tour with Best Coast. They played some songs from their only release, a 7” on Forest Family Records. The simplicity of the recordings was replaced with a more rock and roll, energetic set. I definitely liked them more than PJ, but I am biased towards female singers.

We skipped Best Coast since we had seen them at Macrock and went next door to the Pour House and found Birds of Avalon setting up. The folks in this band are really involved in the local scene--Paul Siler and Cheetie Kumar are co-owners of Kings Barcade—which made their heavy psych sound even sweeter.

Sleepy Sun are from San Francisco, which is home to some of my favorite current artists like The Fresh and Onlys, and they also have a pop-psych sound like many of the bands I love there, but the songs were slow and meandering. The singer reminded me so much of Constantine Maroulis that I couldn’t look at him.

Friday we decided to attend some of the day parties. Many of the bands like Megafaun and Bellafea played at night but also during showcases during the day, similar to South by Southwest.

We walked into Pour House looking for a friend but found Collections of Colonies of Bees at the Hometapes Showcase. We had missed them the night before (they played after Best Coast and everyone who was there raved about them on Twitter) but were so thrilled to stumble upon them. They were playing their not-yet-released LP from beginning to end and I loved their long, melodic instrumental songs. I really hope I get to see them again soon.

Next door at Tir Na Nog was a label showcase, so we stopped in to buy some vinyl and see Veelee, a local band featuring former Richmonder Matthew Park, who was also in Opening Flower Happy Bird. I liked them a lot—they had a Matt & Kim sticker on a case, which is a good comparison to their music.

We headed to King’s for another daytime show, this one featuring free beer from Triangle Brewing Company (North Carolina’s local beer is some of the best I’ve had) and our friends Bellafea, who were amazing as always. It was weird seeing them in a bright space during the daytime but they are so good and Heather McEntire is so engaging that you can’t help but just stare at them.

Friday and Saturday featured large shows at Raleigh’s downtown plaza. We showed up early Friday and sat down but were forced out fifteen minutes later. I was annoyed but since it was the first time this festival has ever happened, I just don’t think they prepared to have volunteers and security to show up so early.


The Rosebuds played first and I can honestly say after seeing them rock at XX Merge last year, that the sound was horrible. They didn’t sound like themselves. They were fun and poppy and cute and I could tell they were playing well—our friend even walked around to see if the sound was bad everywhere, and he reported back that yes, it was.

Co-headliner Broken Social Scene fared better, sound-wise, but that was perhaps due to the six guitars on stage playing at once. I was happy to hear some older songs (though the woman singing the Feist part on “7/4 Shoreline” was no Feist) as well as new stuff from Forgiveness Rock Record, which I have listened to several times this week, and it is more enjoyable than I thought originally.

We skipped Panda Bear in order to get some food (next year, Hopscotch organizers: more food trucks/vendors at the plaza shows!) which was a good decision since most people did not enjoy Noah Lennox’s set.

Afterwards PJ went to see Whatever Brains and Harvey Milk while I held it down at King’s. I saw John Mueller from Collections of Colonies of Bees and Volcano Choir play an excellent set, hitting his drums with a rise and fall in intensity and speed so you felt like you were a part of the rhythm.

PJ joined me for Ben Frost, who is a noise guy who lives in Iceland and played in front of a few stacks of large borrowed amps. I couldn't believe the amount of talking and general rudeness during his set. I don't know if it was because Atlas Sound was next but many of those people just sat through two other noise acts so they can't claim to not know what to expect. Anyway he was amazing, and might have been my musical highlight of the weekend.

For his Atlas Sound set, Bradford Cox played just an acoustic guitar and used live samples to serve as the background sounds for his wonderful, stark set. I love his records but seeing the songs live changed how I viewed them. I thought of “Sheila” as romantic and pretty, but seeing Cox perform it made me realize it’s about being lonely , depressed and disconnected with others.

Saturday we wandered around and watched some bands but nothing that day or probably the whole weekend had as much impact on us as the panel at the Raleigh City Museum, Hip-Hop Planet: Music and Its Work in the World. The panel included music writer Christopher Weingarten, 9th Wonder, Charlie Smarts (both local hip hop artists), Mark Anthony Neal, a faculty member at Duke University, and CHUCK D. He was a later addition and no one really knew he was speaking until the organizers tweeted about it a few minutes before it started.

After some technical difficulties, Weingarten DJed for about 15 minutes and played some of the songs Public Enemy famously sampled. Then Greg Lowenhagen, co-organizer of the festival, moderated the discussion panel. I learned so much about the political climate in the 80s and also what the panel thinks about hip hop today (many of the popular artists are manufactured and most great hip-hop is coming from the undergound). Chuck D talked about why PE agreed to play the festival, noting that the local scene is where great music is created and praising Hopscotch for bringing national and local music together.

This ran later than expected (Chuck D had nothing to do until he performed, so they talked almost two hours after it was supposed to end!), so we missed most of the Love Language’s set. They are one of my favorite live bands so I’m glad I didn’t hear their tunes marred too badly by the sound at City Plaza.

No Age played next. While the sound at their show wasn't very good (shocking) and they blew a few speakers, I loved their punk rock attitude which was missing from many of the bands. They definitely converted me into a new fan.

Crew Grrl Order, who is signed to Chuck D’s record label, did a few songs before PE came out. I really loved how genuinely excited they seemed to be performing. Chuck D spoke earlier about how groups were missing from current hip-hop and I was happy he was doing something to change that.

On their current tour, Public Enemy is playing their entire album Fear of a Black Planet to celebrate its twentieth year after release. After “Brothers Gonna Work it Out,” Flava Flav said that he had to do something before they continued, which was pull out his famous clock neckwear from under his shirt. They launched into the next track on the album, “911 is a Joke,” a crowd-pleasing favorite. At one point, Flav made an announcement to promote three future endeavors: a line of liquors, a biography and FFC, Flav’s Fried Chicken and thank everyone for making him VH1’s number one reality star. It was all a bit ridiculous but we were all having a good time so it didn’t matter.

The rain was getting to us, so an hour into Public Enemy’s set we walked to Slim’s to see Chapel Hill’s Dex Romweber Duo, who have put out a few records on Jack White’s fantastic Third Man Records. Dex Romweber, who was one half of Flat Duo Jets, plays guitar and sings while his sister Sara Romweber drums. Their music is rockabilly plus Elvis plus southern roots music plus a whole lotta fun.

We then went to Tir Na Nog to see The Golden Filter instead of Dungen because I was too tired to go to a challenging show (also the venue is tiny and I had a panic attack there Thursday and missed Akron/Family), so I was treated to one of the worst bands I have ever heard in my life (Tigercity) and this fun dance band. Their first song was about liking kitties and ice cream and since I love those things, as well as girls in cute patchwork minidresses and tulle Elizabethan collars, I was in heaven.

The last act of the weekend was one-man electronic band Washed Out. It was really crowded and we only stayed for a few songs. While I enjoy this kind of music, seeing it live makes me appreciate how much better it is on headphones at home.

There is no doubt that I will return to Raleigh next year for Hopscotch 2. It was such a smoothly-run festival and I was so impressed at the variety of music and events I was able to attend.

Hopscotch Music Festival
Independent Weekly

more IN THE BLACK & WHITE

2010 Intro: For about nine months in 2006, I collaborated with one of my best friends, Eric Smith, to produce a zine called No Signal. We did five issues during that time, but then ceased production--temporarily, I thought at the time. Though it took us about a year to finally admit it, the cessation ended up being permanent. Eric had come up with the name and concept for the zine, and for a variety of reasons, he no longer wanted to continue it. I'd done most of the writing, though, and had written enough articles to fill two more issues of the zine by the time we officially declared it dead. Most of those articles were time-sensitive--reviews of records and shows, an interview with Landmines from about the time their first EP was released--but part of my intent with No Signal had been to document parts of Richmond's past that were disappearing into the sands of time. To that end, I interviewed longtime Richmond musician Chris Wade, now a resident of Wisconsin, about a variety of bands that he was involved with during the 90s. Coming upon that interview recently, while digging through old text files on a flash drive that I rarely use anymore, I felt bad about the fact that it had never been printed anywhere. Then I realized that, since most of the information discussed in the interview had been long in the past even four years ago when it was conducted, there was no reason why I couldn't run it here on RVA's website.

At the time I conducted this interview, Chris was maintaining a strong web presence, and was doing quite a bit of preservation and distribution of old, mostly forgotten Richmond-area bands, only some of which he had played in. He also had a website set up for his current musical endeavors, which he talked about in his answer to the final question in this interview. Unfortunately, for reasons I'm unaware of, Chris has since disappeared from the internet. His Myspace page (linked above) is still active, as is his Youtube channel, which provided the videos I've embedded below. However, wadebrigade.org is gone, his audiosuede blog is gone, and none of the email addresses I have for him now seem to work. It's a real shame, because there were some awesome things on his websites that are now gone. Cadillac Flambe, the label that released Hose.Got.Cable's CD discography in 2006, still seems to be out there, but I would advise making successful email contact with them before sending any money, as their website hasn't changed since four years ago, and may appear more alive than it actually is. That said, if you don't have the Hose.Got.Cable CD, you need it, so do what you can to secure a copy.

2006 Interview:

No Signal: I know you were in Groove before Hose.Got.Cable--was that your first band?

Chris Wade: Mot counting a million high school bedroom and garage bands, my first band that played shows and put stuff out was called As It Stands.

NS: Can you give me a brief history of that band?

CW:I played bass guitar and I met a metal kid in the next town over named Tony Frasca who played drums. In 1989 we started associating with kids in the straight edge hardcore scene in Newport News, VA. The bassist for Rebound, Ernie Miller, who ended up being a good friend and bandmate a couple years later, introduced us to singer Lance McLeod and guitarist Craig Moore. We started getting shows in DC, RVA and Va Beach. We added another guitarist named Craig Henry and put out a 7" and had a song on a comp 7". Not too bad for high schoolers back then. Our particular mix of influences afforded us the luxury of playng, you know, a hardcore matinee one weekend and then a death metal show the next. We were listening to everything from Born Against and Judge to Slayer, Janes Addiction and Soundgarden. A couple years later, as A.I.S. started to fizzle out, I was asked to sing for the band that would become Groove.

Groove, "Useless," 1991

NS: How'd you guys arrive at that weird alt-rock/post-hardcore sound you had?

CW: Groove was actually the same musicians as Rebound and later Device but with me singing. We were listening to Quicksand, Soulside, Fugazi and stuff and I had developed this whiney yell by singing along in my car on the way to work. Those guys were all great musicians and had the hardcore thing so wired. They wanted to grow and be challenged, pretty much like everyone else in hardcore at the time. I had been writing lyrics forever and was stoked to use them finally. Our demo is one of my favorite recordings of any of my bands. By the time the records came out, however, we had added Nathan Camfiord on guitar. He had been in the band when it was Device and is hands-down the most talented musician I've ever played with. But he took us in a different direction. Plus, it didn't help that we were starting to listen to Pearl Jam and Black Crowes.

NS: Did it get you any grief from the hardcore purists of the day?

CW: We really didn't do much in the hardcore arena. We were pretty much accepted everywhere, as all the lines between genres were kinda blurred in those days. There was one show in Portsmouth, VA though, where a crowd of skinheads, led by a now-relatively prominent artist/musician whose name I won't mention, were chanting "Punk's Dead, Shave Your Head" at me between songs and even broke out in a chorus of "White Christmas" for us.

Hose.Got.Cable, "Gumwrapper Roses," 1994

NS: How'd Hose.Got.Cable start? Why'd you go from just singing in Groove to playing guitar in Hose?

CW: JJ Garfinkel, the drummer, and I moved to RVA. We were having trouble meeting up for practices between members in DC, RVA, NN and even OBX. Plus Richmond had opened my mind to alot of new music and the direction Groove was going wasn't as edgy as I wanted so I quit. We had become great friends with Hgual and they sort of adopted me during their period of reconstruction. John Partin (Hguals singer) and I had never been guitarists in a band and didn't really know much about the right way to play, whereas John Skaritza and John Peters (drums and bass) were really, really good and it seemed like a novel idea: have a really tight rhythm section holding it down while these two wankers are making noise on their cheap guitars.

NS: What's the real story behind the name "Hose.Got.Cable"? (I've heard legends, but I don't necessarily trust them.)

CW: You know, I think that the mystery about what it means eclipses the actual meaning and furthermore I think that in some lame, artsy way that was the intention. Ultimately dude, I don't even know what it means. It's just dumb. You can't imagine all the dumb shit we were called on tour. Horse.got.cable? Ho's.got.cable? Just silly. Ours was just one of many bad band names, and most of them happen to be 3 words.

NS: HGC were notoriously accident-prone. Do you have any good stories to share about onstage misadventures?

CW: The time that Partin inhaled his pick and choked on it and Scott Berger wrote in Throttle that it was staged or something, that's the big one. He was holding his pick in the same hand that he was holding the mic and he took a deep breath to scream or whatever and just sucked it in. When he dropped to the floor we all thought he was just rockin' out, y'know...then he didn't get up. Everything stopped. Scary shit. Our friends Chris McPherson and Nikki Price both did the Heimlich or whatever and somehow he coughed it up. We broke stuff alot and I hit Peters in the head with my guitar a couple times. But we weren't violent...just clumsy.

NS: What was the deal with Patrick Kennedy's role in the band?

CW: Pat was alot of things: roadie, manager, accountant, devils advocate.

NS: Was he considered a member or not?

CW: Yeah, I guess so. Inquisition had Trey, AVAIL had Beau Beau and we had Pat. I don't think we gave Pat enough credit back then, actually. Pat could've been even more of an asset. He wanted to help us get bigger by contacting labels and getting us on bigger bills with bigger bands. For whatever reason we didn't do those things and Pats role became unnecessary.

NS: How'd he end up singing "2616"?

CW: We just gave him one song to sing live. People loved it and he loved doing it. He would freak out and have these seizures.

NS: And hey, goofy side-question: did it ever get weird having all of your bandmates be named John?

CW: It made it easy when people were contacting us about shows. Everyone in our circle went by last names back then. You don't even know the half of it, dude. Between a couple of houses lived a bunch of dudes named John and Chris. John Partin, John Skaritza, John Hofbauer, John Peters, John Campbell and John DeMary. Then there's Chris Wade, Chris McPherson, Chris Voccia and Chris Rupp. All I know is that there were some unimaginative parents-to-be circa 1972.

NS:As far as I could always tell, you did the most singing in Hose. Did you also write the lyrics?

CW: Actually, I think Partin sang the most. We wrote the lyrics to the particular songs we sang, though.

NS: Did any of them have any serious meaning to them, or were they just nonsense? (I've always suspected the latter.)

CW: I can only speak for myself and my lyrics. Although it's mostly screams and mumbles and sounds like nonsense, I've actually always been a bit obsessive about my lyrics meaning something, at least to me.

NS: As a young hardcore fan during the time you guys were around, I felt like there was a current of progress and change in the hardcore scene of the time. It was hard to define, but it was there in all of the bands doing the chaotic thing, the emo thing, the math-rock thing, etc. Were you guys aware of it at the time? (Personally, I considered you guys part of it, but I have no idea what it seemed like to you at the time.) What was your perspective on the scene, both in Richmond and in general, at the time you guys were around? What bands did you consider your peers at the time?

CW: Straddling two or more genres and/or scenes has been a common thread in most of my bands. Hose was lucky to be able to play with AVAIL alot, but we could just as easily share a bill with Kepone. There was so much experimentation back then and the definitions of which you speak were by-products of musicians just going for it. I mean, if you were on stage screaming and pouring your heart out that was emo whether you meant to be emo or not. If you were jumping around and falling down on stage it was because you were lost in the moment. Math rock, I think, was just the natural progression of punk rock. Punk rock was the art of fucking with regular rock to make it weird. Math rock was just fucking with punk rock because punk rock wasn't fucked up enough anymore.

NS: Let me ask about the prank built into the Majesty LP--specifically, the way it was set up so the listener thought they should play the side with "Ego" on it first, and the way that song would seem like unlistenable noise to the average listener. I actually knew people who heard that first and thought you guys had lost your shit and started to suck, and never even bothered to play the other side, with the real songs. So my question is... why'd you guys do that? Why put an experimental noise version of "Ego" on the record instead of a more conventional version? And why mess with your audience that way?

CW: pretty much to weed out those people. If someone is stupid enough to not listen to the rest of a record because there's 10 minutes of what they consider "unlistenable noise" at the begining then fuck them. If no one gets killed in the first 10 minutes of a horror film do people walk out of the theater? Let's face it, it's like my wife Alicia always said: noise is much more fun to make than to listen to. But it's art. It's challenging. Why not make it? To know that there are people that really did [react] that [way] is just fucking awesome. It means that our hypothesis was correct. Joke's on them.
[Explanatory note, 2010: For those who aren't sure what song we're talking about here, "Ego" is the final song on the Cadillac Flambe discography CD, and is not credited on the track listing. During live performances, it was a long, drawn-out jam of a song, but sounded a lot more like Hose.Got.Cable's standard material. The version on Majesty and the discography CD is more of an experimental noise track, and acts as a bit of an endurance test.]

NS: When and why did Hose break up?

CW: Hose broke up in 1995 because it was no longer any fun.

Nudibranch, 1996

NS: I know very little about Orlock, but in certain circles that band is legendary. You guys released a demo and two 7 inches while I was... I don't even know, looking the other way or something. I never heard you til after you broke up, and I never saw you guys play. So, what's the story? Who was in the band, how long were you together, and what happened to make you appear and disappear so quickly?

CW: After hose.got.cable I played bass in Nudibranch, which was a real honor. Flossy, who was just the most amazing singer, quit, and we continued on as Gingwin with me and Perry Saunders (guitarist) sharing the vocals. Gingwin actually toured, making it out here to Milwaukee even, but only put out a cassette demo which is probably owned by more people in the midwest than in Richmond. Gingwin sputtered and stalled. My wife Alicia and I conceived Orlock as this fun punk/metal thing but with strong female vocals, something that was, and still is, truly lacking in music. We really wanted Becky Sanchez from More Fire for Burning People to play bass and More Fire drummer Bret Payne to play drums but that didn't work out. We asked David Seaman, the drummer of Nudibranch/Gingwin, to play, and Perry from Nudibranch/Gingwin joined on bass. We did a fair amount in a short time. Two seven inches, a song on a Food Not Bombs cd comp and a US tour all in about a year. Alicia and I were married and David and Keith were best friends, so on tour we became these competing teams. That was a pretty odd tour, in that half of the shows we played were really blown out and awesome and the other half were empty. And many of them fell through completely. What would have been our last show in Minneapolis was a house show. We arrived to find out that the dude had been kicked out of the house...for doing house shows. We drove straight from MN to VA and broke up.

Orlock, "Spanking," 1996

NS: What have you been doing since Orlock? When did you move to Wisconsin? And what's The Wade Brigade all about? Do you have any other current musical projects?

CW: After that Orlock tour Alicia and I decided it was time to start having kids. We have three, boy-girl-boy ages 4-8. Our kids are awesome and creative and way more rewarding than getting in a stinky van. We focused our energies almost entirely on our kids for the first few years, doing some art and music here and there. In the last couple of years, however, we've been more prolific, musically. We do some video as well and Alicia is always doing photography and painting. In 2005 we did an Orlock show in RVA with Trevor Thomas from Hex machine on bass and Bret Payne on drums. But mostly we've been 'recording artists' as it's a more appropriate way for us to do what we enjoy without sacrificing our family life.

It's very important to us that we are able to create but we're unwilling to let our family slide in order to do so. We moved to southeast Wisconsin on April 1 of this year. Right before we moved we bought a Mac, which has streamlined everything in regards to recording music. In other words we're able to do more in less time and with less effort. So we win either way.

The Wades, "Movement," 2005

Our friend, RVA artist Seth Ganz, came up with the name Wadebrigade and envisioned a website that would encompass all-things-Wade and serve as a way to keep our friends informed about our family, music, art, etc. Patrick Power hooked it up and we worked together on a design that represented the duality and equality that Alicia and I have in everything we do. It's a repository of Wade-related stuffs: mp3's, images, videos and writings. The main page is our, can I say this word...'blog', which is updated regularly. Right now our name for musical projects is simply The Wades, but I think it's always been obvious that when our kids get older we'd pull a Partridge Family and I think then we'd call ourselves Wadebrigade.

But yeah, everything we do is represented on wadebrigade.org. If not, there's a link that will take you there. [2010 Note: As I said at the beginning of this interview, wadebrigade.org is sadly defunct, at least at the moment. If anyone out there can help me get back in touch with Chris so we can update this article, please let me know by emailing me.]

Full of longing for freedom, Alyssa Salomon's new show "Tell Me Again, the World will be Beautiful" at Page Bond Gallery is focused on ocean, flight, forest, and taking a second to enjoy the simple pleasures they offer.

'Tell Me Again, the World will be Beautiful' at Page Bond Gallery opens shortly with a preview Thursday, September 29th 6-8pm with a reception Friday, October 1st 7-9pm during First Fridays Artwalk. The show will be up through October 30. Also exhibiting at the time will be Eleanor Rufty, with her lovely, evocative new "The Beach Pictures"

For more information, visit www.pagebondgallery.com.
www.AlyssaSalomon.com
www.LogOnInn.blogspot.com

Continuing with today's theme of the 90s, here's a great video I discovered on Youtube recently--Grip, later known as Dayspring, playing at the Metro in December of 1992. They're doing their song "Diffidence," which was on their first EP, Friction Burn Fatal, released on New Age Records and apparently still available, at least on CD if not vinyl. In the early 90s, straight edge hardcore was branching out musically from the template laid down by Youth Of Today and other late 80s Revelation Records signees. Some bands were getting more emotional, while others were slowing down and bringing in more metallic chugs and mosh parts. Grip kind of did both, as should be apparent from this performance.

This video features Grip's original 1992-93 incarnation. Ken Penn, the singer, is now a high-fashion photographer. Rhythm guitarist Cam DiNunzio is best remembered today as the guitarist for Denali, though he also played in Lazycain and River City High. Lead guitarist Jon Field has played in the long-running straight-edge band Up Front for over 20 years. Bassist Aaron Connell--who sports a sikha hairdo in the video, reflecting a time when Hare Krishna's influence on hardcore was at its apex--went on to play in a huge list of bands from Richmond, Philadelphia, and the Pacific Northwest. That list includes everything from the melodic emocore of Christ, the post-hardcore of Harkonen, and metallic hardcore band Himsa. Finally, drummer Rich Green went on to play in Richmond faves Action Patrol and Wardance Orange.

Bonus: this footage was shot at the Metro (upstairs from the current location of Empire), which has been shuttered for 15 years but was once the main punk/hardcore club in Richmond. So you can take one last look at a legendary location that hasn't been seen in way too long.

Jackie O set the Hat Factory on fire a few weeks ago and here's hoping we get her back soon to do it again. Check her out at www.myspace.com/djjackieo

CLICK HERE FOR JACKIE O

In the fall of 2009, Virginia Commonwealth University students Emma Ellsworth, Kenyatta Watts and Nathan Madden walked into a documentary film class as strangers—not only to each other, but to the art of film-making as well. The trio quickly developed an idea, narrowed a focus and began developing an outline for their film that was tentatively expected to explore the graffiti culture in Richmond.

In the three-months that followed, the trio worked diligently to learn all they could about graffiti’s history, purpose and perception. The team had no delusions that they would create the first film of its kind, as each knew graffiti has been well documented. The only hope was to produce a film that introduced graffiti in a different light and informed audiences from all cuts of cloth about an art form that is, at its roots, controversial yet beautiful. Their final product, 'Get up.' aired on PBS in January.

CLICK HERE FOR GET UP. PT2

Silent Music Revival is a unique event in the city of Richmond. Once a month this event combines classic silent films with live performances by musicians who have never seen the film. On Sunday, September 26th The Low Branches will perform a live, improvised soundtrack to the Jean Epstein classic Le Tempestaire.

I had the chance to ask The Low Branches some questions about the progression of their music and their impression of the Silent Music Revival.

Jameson: So how long have you been playing together as the Low Branches?

Christina: About one year. Give or take.

Jameson: Your music seems very element inspired, is there anything to that?

Christina: By "element inspired"- do you mean fire, water, air/wind, earth?

Jameson: Yes.

Christina: Well, it’s not literally inspired by the four elements, but it’s an obsession that I have – to find likenesses between how I am feeling internally and how the natural world is feeling or acting. I write from the perspective of a naturalist. Both my experiences and emotions always intersect with that side of the world. Nature is both reassuring and beautiful but also dangerous and a constant struggle. So are human emotions.. However, the writing is not only metaphorical – it’s often quite literal.

We work on the instrumentals to find a place that reflects the concept of the writing. It is often very quiet, like the wilderness: just you, your thoughts, and the subtle sounds that accompany that space.

Jameson: When did you know that it was time to take your music public?

Christina: I don’t think I ever knew that it was time. It just happened. It felt like a really strange thing to do. To be honest, it completely threw my life off balance. I am not a performer by nature. Matt and I worked on some demo tracks together and all of the sudden we were getting asked to play shows.

We got a great response as “The Low Branches,” so we kept it up. There has been a lot of support and I’m really thankful for the people we’ve gotten to know along the way.

Jameson: Had you heard of Silent Music Revival before you were asked to play?

Christina: Yes, though Dave Watkin’s set was the first one we had been to. I like the idea. I’m sure many other musicians can attest that when writing songs, it often feels like you are writing a film, but it rarely becomes realized in a visual way. Silent Music Revival allows musicians to introduce their music into a new context which is out of their creative control – both exciting and scary.

Jameson: Does the idea of playing to a movie you have never seen make you nervous?

Christina: It is a little intimidating. But we’re not going to be approaching this simply as improvisational. I think we’re going to try and capture the mood of the film as best we can and let the music that we've already composed try to guide us through the story.

Matt: I experimented a lot in grad school with combining music and visuals with my friend and colleague Ben Gaydos. Although, I've typically had a board of effects and electronics to help create a sound-scape. With our current set up being purely acoustic, it will require a different approach, but I'm excited to try something new.

Jameson: If you could pick any film to play to as a live sound track which film would you choose?

Christina: Rivers and Tides: Andy Goldsworthy Working with Time immediately comes to mind. Goldsworthy (visual artist) has been a great inspiration for me in many ways, and the film is breathtaking. It’s a documentary that I go back to and have the same sort of awestruck spiritual experience every time. It has a soundtrack by Fred Frith which is perfect, but I like the idea of experimenting with it... maybe incorporating voice.

Matt: I'd have to say Red, from Krzysztof Kieslowski's Three Colors trilogy. Such a beautiful and complex film, it's become one of my all-time favorites. I'm not sure I could do it justice, but it would be fun to try.

More info can be found www.myspace.com/silentmusicrevival
Become fans of The Low Branches

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Silent Music Revival Presents:
Le Tempestaire (1947)
Live Soundtrack by: The Low Branches
Sunday, September 26th
8PM (sharp)
Gallery 5
FREE

Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest (4AD)
The warm haze of lo-fi vocals and shoegaze guitars combines with programmed beats and synth swirls to create a melodic crossbreed of electronic music and psychedelia. Deerhunter have previously established this sound on albums like Microcastle, but Halcyon Digest improves on it significantly. Perhaps their best work yet.

Olof Arnalds - Innundir Skinni (One Little Indian)
It may be easy to predict that a native of Iceland, who is also a member of Múm, plays psychedelic folk with lush backing arrangements. Regardless of predictability, though, Arnalds' music is charming and pleasant, with her unorthodox voice adding just enough of a rough edge to keep things interesting.

Marnie Stern - Marnie Stern (Kill Rock Stars)
What a pleasant surprise! This album, filled with hyperactive but melodically driven postpunk, surpassed my expectations. It features significant instrumental proficiency, not just from Stern but also Hella's Zach Hill, whose excellent, unorthodox drumming is immediately recognizable. Imagine Kaki King jamming with Battles, only twice as awesome. This record rules.

The Hold Steady and Wintersleep
Monday, September 20 at The National

Expectations are a real motherfucker. Negative expectations are very easily lived up to, to the point that they can verge on self-fulfilling prophecy. Positive expectations are easily disappointed, especially those which are held long enough to become a sort of truism in the mind of the person holding them. And then there are the grey areas--the manner in which personality traits, outlooks, and interests can shift and evolve more rapidly than preconceptions, leaving an individual suddenly shocked by the realization of how far he or she has come in life, and how little previously-held ideas relate to the present situation. This may all seem like irrelevant and not-especially-deep abstraction, but all these ideas flashed through my head over the course of The Hold Steady’s show at the National.

Wintersleep, The Hold Steady’s opener, lived up to my long-held expectation that any band warming the stage for a larger, more recognized act will be mediocre at best, and more realistically, completely abysmal. It was little surprise when the singer announced they were Canadian – they had a very Canadian (for lack of a better descriptor) sound, resembling what I assume Broken Social Scene would sound like if I could make it through more than thirty seconds of their music. Propulsive, almost dancey drumming underpinned some atmospheric guitars, all topped off with nasal vocals which sounded like either a painfully strained stab Eric Richter in his Christie Front Drive days, or a fairly spot-on impression of 90s folk-pop flash-in-the-pan David Gray. In Wintersleep’s defense, there were two or three songs, later in their set, where they seemed to remember that they owned distortion pedals. Those songs made me think that if I heard their music played in the background of some overpriced coffee shop, I would make a mental note to ask the art school drop-out barista the band’s name after ordering my quadruple red-eye. However, I’d almost certainly forget to inquire by the time I reached the counter.

The Hold Steady had attached themselves to any number of positive expectations in my mind over the years. I never completely bought the whole “saviors of rock and roll” idea that much of the sycophantic media has tagged the band with, but I can get down with any band who can incorporate Thin Lizzy-style verbosity, name-drop Dillinger Four and Profane Existence, and dig up Dave Pirner from wherever the hell he happens to be these days for a guest spot. I didn’t even like the band at first, but even before they eventually grew on me, I had The Hold Steady pegged for a good live band. At some point during their performance, however, I experienced the very abrupt realization that they are just not a band I’m really into anymore; that over the course of the days slipping through my fingers, my perspective had shifted. These days, the sort of work put forth by bands like The Hold Steady seems to me increasingly disingenuous and formulaic.

And it’s not exactly that they aren’t a good live band. The performances were spot-on and the sound at the National was excellent as usual. They have all the live band moves down--all the “I can’t hear you” gestures to the crowd, all the stage banter, a set list stocked with all their most singalong-ready material, from “Positive Jam” all the way to “Rock And Roll Problems”--everything that most people willing to shell out twenty bucks for a show expect. But that was the problem. Judging by the vast majority of people dancing and singing along to the songs, I am in the minority holding such an opinion, but The Hold Steady seemed to have internalized many of the worst clichés of the genre that critics have tagged them with saving. They are what happens when a band starts believing its own positive reviews.

Like I said, there will likely be a considerable number of people in attendance who would disagree with everything I’ve just written. And maybe it is just me. Tastes and perceptions change. While I certainly value being a smartass, I just don’t feel like The Hold Steady’s shtick--the smirking post-collegiate irony laden with more B-list cultural references than a Family Guy marathon--constitutes lasting rock and roll. There’s a lack of danger, and of the aesthetic sharp edges that make for memorable music. Rock and roll should be a force that makes a listener want to fight, to fuck, or to channel Mesopotamian trickster gods, not an environment for frat boys chugging five dollar PBR’s to watch a guy who looked like a young Eugene Levy doing a bad Prince impression.

There are scores of bands out there, from Grinderman to Graveyard, who are approaching rock and roll from the right angles, with the sort of guts and soul that make lasting artistic documents. Maybe it’s just that my tastes have shifted – again, I really am trying to at least acknowledge that fans of this band are likely to remain fans after watching them, and also to readily acknowledge my place as the wet blanket in the back of the room, scowling into a plastic cup of Starr Hill – but their music just doesn’t do it. And I wish I could express my reservations more eloquently than with those two words, but it might be appropriate than I can’t. The essence of the best rock music lies within the moments which can’t be translated to a page, but on the opposite side of that coin, many criticisms can be difficult to convey beyond explaining that you’re not really feeling it, and not really relating to it. But these criticisms come from the same emotional perspective as positive reviews of The Hold Steady. Reactions to their music, whether positive or negative, are often an immediate, gut-level response. Just because some people have found themselves oriented away from what the band tries to get across doesn’t mean that a whole lot of other people are likely to agree.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25th @ The Camel Richmond, Virginia
"DRUMS" v 1.0 A dance event featuring the deep & soulful side of Drum + Bass.

STUNNA - Bassdrive Chicago IL
Stunna is a classically-trained jazz pianist and working musician based in Chicago, STUNNA (aka J. Cappo) has crafted his own unique sound within the fast-paced world of Drum + Bass music. With a number of strong releases on various high-profile labels worldwide and a solid Stateside and international touring schedule under his belt, this host of BASSDRIVE Radio's popular 'GREENROOM' show is determined to spread his own sound as well as exclusive tracks from producers around the globe. This is the 1st area appearance from this internationally known drum + bass talent. He will be playing a mini set on 97.3fm from 7 - 8pm before his performance at The Camel at midnight.

Label affiliations: 31 / Bassdrive Radio / Basswerk / BIOS / BS1 / Defunked / Fokuz / Fokuz Ltd / Forestry Service / Funk Star / Future-Retro / Golden Orb / Have-A-Break / Hustle Audio / Influenza / Levitated / Lucky Devil / New Identity / Offworld / Outsider / Peer Pressure / Phunkfiction / Phuzion / Point 9 / Red Mist / Respect / Rubik / Santorin / Sidechain / Telluric / Urban Chemistry / Vampire / Vibez / Westbay

http://www.greenroomdnb.com/
http://www.soundcloud.com/stunna
http://www.myspace.com/stunnachi
http://www.bassdrivearchive.com/stunna
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stunna/6246344626

JOANNA O. - Turnstyle, Richmond VA
One of Richmond's top drum + bass talents will be throwing down the smooth sounds for a special birthday set at DRUMS.

CADENCE - Substructure, Charlottesville VA
A Richmond favorite returns to the decks for drums! His DRUMS set will be Broadcast live from the camel on-air at 97.3FM Wrir.

Additional sound provided by TURNSTYLE. (turnstyleonline.com)
Lighting and Lasers by DREAMBEAMZ (dreambeamz.com)

Free giveaways from our sponsors while supplies last. Exclusive mixes available at the event from the DJ's performing.

Ages 18 & Up // 9pm - 2am
$10 Admission all night
Lighting & atmosphere provided by Dream Beamz!
Bring : your fun friends, good vibes, and dancing shoes please.

The Camel
1621 West Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23220
http://www.thecamel.org/

The Camel has many fine beers on tap and just rocks in general!

Sponsors :
Turnstyle (http://www.turnstyleonline.com/)
Agio Life (http://www.agiolife.com/)
Dream Beamz Lasers (http://www.dreambeamz.com/)
EvolveVA (http:www.evolveva.com)
WRIR 97.3FM Richmond (http://www.wrir.org/)
The Camel: (http://www.thecamel.org/)
Underground Concepts: (http://udconcepts.com/)

9/25 - TICKET GIVEAWAY on WRIR 97.3fm (7-11pm) 4 admission passes
Tune into 97.3fm WRIR on your fm dial (or simulcast at http://www.wrir.org/)

Stunna drops in to preview the beats at 7pm...L Toro at 8pm..& later..
We will attempt a live broadcast of the event over the FM airwaves from 9pm - 11pm. Listen to get free entry to the event.