American Recordings, home to System of the Down and Johnny Cash, recently signed The Vacation. President Dino Paredes leapt to sign the band comprised of fraternal twins Ben Tegel and Steve Tegel, Denny Weston, Jr, and Eric “Dutch” Suoninen after he saw one of their shows. Paredes felt they were a great live band who echoed a mix of T. Rex, The Stooges and early AC/DC. I discussed the band’s recent signing and success with frontman, Ben Tegel. SB: Let’s...

Viva K is a four piece whose sound range from dancy electro to psychedelic rock and George Harrison inspired melodies. The Los Angeles quartet comprised of frontwoman Ween Callas, guitarist Ravi Dhar, Sitarist/beatmaker Evan Haros and bassist Scott Skoda have gone from humbly playing Eastside venues for a couple of people three years ago to a residency at hipster haven, Spaceland as well as opening for local favorites, She Wants Revenge amongst others. I sat down with Ween and Ravi...

1.) OK, someone puts a gun to your head and forces you to describe your band’s sound. Go. (Pow.) I’d probably just say shoot. Put me out of my misery. I don’t want to go back to my day job anyway….. but I guess that’s just a music fans response to not wanting to drop any reference points really. Essentially I’m a sucker for big rock songs, catchy choruses and weird left turn bridges, that aside I don’t like to...

So, maybe Moth is an acronym and we didn’t know it. We sincerely regret not asking what it means. (Maybe we should have a contest and ask users to guess. First place wins a six pack and bug repellent.) What we do know is  that when answering questions via email, MOTH frontman Brad Stenz sort of  replies like a super peppy publicist with a flair for caps lock… However, you can’t really blame a guy for trying to sell his record. And in their favor,...

Wayne Coyne is the greatest guy ever.* Just keep that bit of information in mind, it will make sense later. If you happen to be an audiophile and not completely blind, you may notice that the Flaming Lips are on the cover of tons of music magazines lately as they promote their latest album, At War with the Mystics. Like other Lips albums, Mystics is a milieu of soundscapes, weirdo lyrics, electro/acoustic embellishments, countrified signing and psychedelic titles. And I...

Steve Cooper will admit he’s more than a rapper, although he doesn’t mind the title. He’s also a booty-shakin, falsetto-singing, public policy-workin’ kid from the East coast who is using the good fortune he’s finding in Los Angeles as he inches toward fame. So, you moved here 6 months ago from NY. Do you think you can “make it” easier here than in NYC? It’s not even close. Physically the labels aren’t there. The community of musicians is much bigger,...

Q and A with Frontman, Mark Salomon 1.) So you guys are coming on ten years of service in the rock n’ roll game, how do you keep the momentum going and also, how do you keep yourself inspired? Well… not really sure on momentum – it’s either there or it isn’t. We’ve tried to create our own in the past and that’s always been a really bad idea. There’s a word for momentum generated by the people in need...

They’re from L.A. and somehow these BeeGee-ified rockers slipped under our radar, but pretty soon it will be hard for you to miss Under the Influence of Giants as their debut release picks up speed and they begin a series of tours. If we were one of those rags who did the whole “recommended if you like” tag we’d say, “recommended if you like Yacht Rock.” And if you knew what we meant by that, then we’d make out with...

Band member name answering: Noah Lit What you do in band: Load the van and sing. 1. Boring starter question: How did you guys meet? Internet chatrooms: gardeners.com, knittingcircle.net and vigilanties.gov. 2. Follow up boring question: How did you pick the name Oliver Future? My great-grandfather was an entertainer in the famous Russian postwar scene with a band called Oliver and the Future of Workers of the World. He died in a bizarre ballet accident but the name lives on....

The Bronx are the kind of band that can come off as pretty damn scary if you don’t know them. Singer Matt Caughthran’s vocals are gut-wrenching, spine-curdling wails that will shake the soul out of you. Their music is louder than loud, they can drink you under the table anytime anywhere, have totaled not one, but two tour vans (if my memory serves correct) and in general, just aren’t fucking around. But fortunately for me, I’ve known Bronx founding member...