Tag Archives: Video

New Ninja Gun Music Video!!!

My day just improved after seeing this new music video for “Hot Rain” by Ninja Gun

Seriously, I do not think I have smiled that much in a long while while watching a music video on the interwebs. The song comes off their Sabot Productions release titled Roman Nose that dropped earlier this year.  If you have not checked it out yet, you really should.

Interview: Jeff Rowe

Singer / songwriter Jeff Rowe is one of the most DIY guys I have had the pleasure of meeting.  A few months back, he stopped and played a show in Akron at the Gurley House.  I remembered canceling plans to see another band that night just to make sure I could see Rowe play.  I’ve been a fan of his music after I reviewed his solo-debut Barstool Conversations last year.  There was just something about his sincere-ness in every song that I ate up and when I found out he was touring, I really wanted to make sure I was in attendance.

That night, I chatted with Rowe for a while and I will say this: He is hands down one of the nicest people I have ever had the pleasure to meet.  His wife was pretty damn awesome too.  His stories were great and he was just so happy to be able to play for everyone at the house that night.

I finally got some time to chat with Rowe again, this time through email, as I feel more people need to know about this DIY musician.  I look forward to the next time he swings through Akron and can not wait for his next release.

BHP – First and foremost, for those who do not know you, who are you and what is it that you do?

JR – I’m a songwriter (sigh) from just north of Boston. I tour a lot and do my best to have a great time and make friends along the way. I’m more of a story collector than a story teller.

You grew up in a tough town just outside of Boston. How did you deal with the hard times as a youth?

The fair city of Gloucester, Massachusetts made for an interesting childhood. In all my travels I’ve still not yet come across a place quite like it. “The Island” is really a conundrum of sorts that is packed with characters that Hemingway would have been banging the keys for if he were writing an episode of the twilight zone. I had a mixed bag of a childhood but falling in love with music in many ways created an exit strategy for me and a way to not fall into some of the trappings that we all know too well.

What types of music were you listening to while growing up?

In the kitchen and living room my mom would be listening to Neil Diamond, Joan Baez and various Motown artists…from my brothers room i would hear Metallica, Slayer and COC… From my sisters room could be heard The Dead Kennedy’s, The Pixies and the Violent Femmes… I think all of that wound up giving me a healthy appreciation for music and shaped my listening habits as a child.

So how did you get your start as a musician? Was Boxing Water the first band you were in?

I got a guitar when I was fifteen years old and started a few local punk bands and helped start a small venue that would later play a vital role for the north shore punk scene as a whole, a life source of sorts. It was a room that held maybe 40 people but we’d pack in a hundred. It still amazes me today thinking about how many bands came through our little venue that went on to be national acts. It was all very DIY for me from the start, my feeling was that if you want something to happen you’ve got to make it happen because no one is gonna do it for you.

What happened to Boxingwater? Where can I find some of their songs at?

Boxingwater was together for 6 or 7 years, we started moving around a bit and it just got to be too hard. Two of the members of Boxingwater are now in the band Landmines and they are fantastic. I was in several bands before Boxingwater but that band was the first time i took it seriously and tried to do something that would go beyond Massachusetts. Most of our stuff is now out of print but I think we may try to get some kind of discography going one of these years, I’ll send you some songs though.

Sweet!  You left a punk band and completely shifted in musical style.  When did you decide that punk music was not your thing anymore?

I’ve never felt that punk wasn’t my thing at all, playing acoustic is something that I’ve been doing for many years now and it just sort of took over organically and went from convenient to a legit outlet. I love playing songs alone and feeling like I’m walking a wire of sorts with no band to fall back on but at the same time I really do miss playing in a band. That is something I am going to re-visit at some point for sure. Right now its so much easier to tour and write on my own.

Playing acoustic music huh? How did that transition happen?

To be honest I started playing acoustic shows years back when I couldn’t find a drummer and it forced me to take a more detailed look at my songs and how I’d be able to format them to be played acoustic. It really just kind of stuck and i got offered more shows and just went with it. My horizons have been broadened as a result and I’ve stumbled (literally) across some great music that exists beyond the bounds of the punk community.

I heard that you left Boston for Richmond, Va., to more or less perfect your musical style. Is that true? Did you have any influences there that helped you fine tune your act?

I actually moved down to RVA with a bunch of Boston friends because it was much cheaper and we thought it would be easier to tour, not to mention that Richmond is a great city as well. I made many friends down there but I’m not sure how much of an effect it had on my music or playing acoustic in general. Richmond has always had a wealth of great bands from Born Against and Inquisition up to Smoke or Fire and Landmines.

Your debut full length Barstool Conversations was dropped about a year ago, how personal were the songs on that release to you? It was not the most upbeat album, but to me hit me hard in a good way.

Barstool for me is a very personal record. There is a lot of myself and my close friends in those songs. In a way I think songs are my way of confronting some things in my life that I otherwise couldn’t find the words to articulate or convey what it was exactly that I was feeling. Those songs are all very real for me and I’m proud of that record for what it is and even though in some cases it makes my head spin that those songs had to be written, I wouldn’t change a thing.

You have toured not only the US but also overseas. What were your experiences like while traveling?

The travel is one of the absolute best parts of touring for me. Music has taken me to places that I never thought I’d get the opportunity to see and I’m real thankful for that. I’ve made some friends in far off cities and countries that I will have for the rest of my life and nothing can touch that. The experience of letting your guard down in a foreign country and just going with whatever the days and experiences bring is something that I’ll always keep close and those memories are the ones that inevitably stick when the tour is over.

You tour with your wife correct?

I always tour with my wife Alissa. She is my best friend and to be honest she’d much better with handling the rigors of the road and more adept than most folks I’ve ever traveled with. At the end of the day we both want the same things and neither one of us is willing to fracture our relationship over extensive touring so we do it together, the planning, the routing, merch etc…

You dropped an EP in the spring called New Winter, New England. I dug what I heard, but what exactly is a Tragabigzanda?

Tragabigzanda is what the city of Gloucester was called by its original inhabitants. All that seems to be left of that history is a road on the outskirts of town where wealthy folks “summer” called Tragabigzanda. I used it because I thought it was fitting because the song is really about trying to remember the innocence of teenage years and the steps that were taken to inevitably lose it. Also there is an amazing poet from Gloucester named Charles Olson that dropped it a few times in his earlier work.

Are you going to record a new full length anytime soon? Will you put that song you recorded in a hotel room in it? I forget what it was called, but I loved it when you played it live at the Gurley House.

Right now I’m writing and culling through a bunch of new songs to start piecing together the next record, not sure of any timeline, but by the end of 2012 I’d very much like to have a new record out. That song is called “simple & fair” and I’m 99.9% sure that’s going on the next one.

When we chatted the night you played Akron, you were telling me some funny stories about touring Europe. Care to entertain the readers here with one or two?

Where to begin… I’ve actually thought about compiling a bunch of road stories for a zine and giving them out at the merch table to anyone interested. I could take up pages and pages for this one. I’ll just say that I’ve got a doozy that takes place in Russia and involves a man that’s incapable of reading social queues, a potential kidnapping, wild dogs and Dostoevsky.

Potential Kidnapping?  I do not think you told me that one.  I would totally love to read that.  So, when not touring you have quite the cool job back home in Boston. Who is it that you work for again?

I have been a professional craft brewer for the last five years with Harpoon Brewery in Boston. It’s a fantastic job that couples hard work with science… perfect for a dork like me.

Two dream jobs, man you lucked out. What’s next for Jeff Rowe?

I’ve got a split 7″ with a sick pop punk band called Mayflower. We both have an original and we cover one of each others songs. I’ll be playing Fest 10 and plan on hitting the road again in Feb. It looks like I’ve got Europe, U.S., Canada and beyond on the docket.

Check out Jeff Rowe’s website, http://jeffrowemusic.com/, for more videos and updates from this one man band (and his lovely wife).  If you want to hear more of his music, head over to his MySpace page or Facebook page.  Better yet, head over to Anchorless Records and grab one of his albums!

Jeff Rowe from efi on Vimeo

This video was Jeff on a boat overseas.  I remembered him telling me he played a show on a river.  I love it when the fans sing along…

Free Show Tonight @ The Rock Hall w/ Murder By Death & The Buried Wires

Created by Aaron Seachrist at OKpants.com

Summer is coming to an end folks, but that does not mean it is over just yet.

Tonight the very talented Indiana rock/country act Murder By Death will be playing a FREE show at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum.  This show will take place outside in front of the Cleveland staple and is open to everyone who attends. 

I just checked the weather and it looks like it is going to be the perfect evening for an outdoor show.  I have been getting in to Murder By Death over the years after being introduced to them through some friends of an ex of mine.  At first I was not entirely sold, but the more and more I listen to them, the more I really appreciate their style.  This is a band that I have been wanting to check out live for a while now.  Looks like that will happen tonight.

Local rockers The Buried Wires will be opening the night off around 7pm.  Make sure you get there in time to see this up and coming act.  Named by Scene Magazine as a “Band To Watch” in 2010, it is safe to say they will be putting on a great show.

The FREE show is part of the Rock Hall’s Summer In The City Series and sadly, this is the last one of the year. Summer in the City is sponsored by Ohio Natural Gas, Magic Hat Brewing Company, Amtrak, KeyBank and Jim Beam.

Direct Hit! – My Latest Internet Craze.

I hate the term “latest internet craze” when it comes to all those stupid, time-killing photos tons of internet addicted humans who fancy themselves comic reliefs by “planking”, “owling”, “horsemaning”, and oh, let’s not forget “cone-ing” (although I will admit it was funny the first time I saw it). 

If you have no idea what I am talking about, a.) you are lucky and b.) google them for more explanation.  It’s not a craze.  It is stupid and shame on you mainstream media for evening bringing it to light thinking any of it is funny. 

When I think of a latest internet craze, I think of something that is a little more meaningful than some douchebag laying on a curb while some other douche takes a picture of them.  Seriously, that is NOT FUNNY.  Get off the hotel sign and quit pissing me off.

Anyways, enough of my rants today.  I will tell you about the latest internet craze…  DIY bands offering up their music online (some for free).  Skipping “the man”, these DIY bands take care of it all by themselves with help of independent labels and work hard doing it.

That right there is way more interesting to me that seeing a some huge dude perch like an owl (honestly it looks like he is trying to poop his pants).

DIY bands are nothing new, but boy are they becoming more and more plentiful these days.  There are tons of websites out there (some labels and some just hosts) that host DIY bands and their music like Death To False Hope Records, If You Make It, and BandCamp.

One DIY act in particular that I have been digging lately is Direct Hit!.  Last night I downloaded their newest LP called Domesplitter that was put out by Kind Of Like Records.  I found the download on their BandCamp page after receiving an email from one of the band members self-promoting the new release (I think I was on a mailing list from downloading one of their EPs earlier on Death To False Hope Records – I am ok with that as it is not spam).  I will admit that I did not pay anythingfor the download, but I am planning on order ordering Domesplitter  on vinyl (in fact, I just did, so there! Redemption on my end!).

Milwaukee’s Direct Hit! is a pop punk act with an edge.  Domesplitter was a little heavier than I was anticipating and for that I loved it more.  This is the band’s first full length release that actually contains songs from the band’s first five EPs – an anthology have you.  Even if the album is technically not brand new material, I must say I am impressed with it.  Full of hooks and anthem-like sing-a-long opportunities, the songs on this release are down right fun to listen to.  This is a band I should have been a fan of since the beginning.

Check out their BandCamp page.  Or head over to Facebook and be a fan or if you still can tolerate MySpace… 

Here’s a couple entertaining videos for your viewing pleasure:

I love this video and may have posted it before…

This Charming Man Every Little Secret EP Released

Should things go well for me, I will have this in my collection shortly:

That my friends, is the limited This Charming Man Every Little Secret EP that Suburban Home Records was so generous to re-release.

Taken from the fine folk at Suburban Home Records (they said it better then I could have):

Previous to forming The Gaslight Anthem, Brian Fallon was the singer of the punk rock outfit This Charming Man. This Charming Man’s debut EP, “Every Little Secret” is filled with catchy sing-a-long hooks and unforgettable lyrics. “Every Little Secret” is the only documentation of this short lived band and this vinyl release not only has the 6 songs from the original release, but it also has 4 untitled demos that were never released. This release is extremely limited due to the fact that this will be 1 of the final 2 Vinyl Cooperative releases. The pressing is 333 on black vinyl, 667 on brown vinyl. Due to copies going directly to coop members, the band, and XoXo who released the record originally, there will only be around 70 copies on black and 500 copies on brown for sale. I would appreciate if if you did not buy more than 1 copy of each variant. Shopradiocastwill be the only place this record will be available other than possibly XoXo or Brian Fallon/Gaslight Anthem. There will be a test press contest to go along with this. Good luck.

The 70 black vinyl EPs apparently sold out in 20 minutes on Shopradiocast.  I am pretty sure I placed one of the first orders.  Lightning speed internet quickness ensured a quick order for this guy.  I was a tad excited to see this surface and wanted to make sure that I grabbed a copy.

There should be a few brown versions left if you are lucky.  This will be a sell out item.

If you fancy yourself a die-hard, try placing a bid on the test pressing of Every Little Secret on TheOldLP.com.