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Glorious Noise Interview with Boy Crisis

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Boy Crisis In July 2008, the Guardian hailed Brooklyn-based quintet Boy Crisis as, “the hottest electronic pop group to emerge from America since, ooh, MGMT at least.” In the next year, largely on the strength of the playful single “Dressed to Digress,” the group signed a high-profile record deal with B-Unique, recorded an album, and went on tour in the UK.

In the next year, however, something happened. The anticipated Tulipomania never came out. They were seemingly dropped from their label. The quintet turned into a trio. Concomitantly, frontman Victor Vasquez’s side project, Das Racist (a rap trio comprised of Vazquez, Himanshu Suri, and Ashok Kondabolou), began gaining momentum. But there may be light at the end of the tunnel for Boy Crisis. We met up with the band after their show at Bonnaroo and discussed their past, their present, and their plans for the future.

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Topanga Canyon

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Topanga CanyonWe were somewhere on Henry Ridge Mountainway when the car finally broke down. It wheezed to a stop right in the middle of an already narrow part of the road. Stuart slammed his fists on the steering wheel and screamed.

“Don’t hit the car,” Hal said. It was his car. He bought it sophomore year of high school with 1300 one dollar bills he’d saved up for months. To say it was his pride and joy would be a bit much since he barely knew how to check the oil, never mind change it. But it was his car and he didn’t like Stuart pounding on it.

“What?” Stuart finally asked after staring at Hal for a bit. “What did you just say?”

“Don’t hit the car. It’s not going to fix anything.”

“Shut up, Hal. You’re an idiot.”

That was how we generally talked to Hal back then and he generally took it. I doubt any of us are proud of that fact now but it’s what you do when you’re 20 years old and there’s someone who will take that kind of abuse. You abuse them.

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Lost Classic: The The – Mind Bomb

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The the - Mind BombThe the – Mind Bomb (Epic)

My introduction to The the was when Jake and I drove across Michigan—from Grand Rapids to Kalamazoo to Detroit—to see them. I went simply because Johnny Marr was in the band. I was heavy into all things Marr then and since he was in the band for The the Vs. The World Tour 1990 then I was willing to do it despite never having heard a word or note of the music. That’s what young musical obsessions are all about.

Memories of the show still stir my soul. When the whale songs that made for warm-up music faded out (yes, whale songs) the Royal Oak Theater began to shake as Matt Johnson called out from off stage, “This is a dance band!” As a dedicated fan of The Smiths I have to admit I was a bit horrified by that declaration. But his meaning soon became clear: you will NOT be seated for this show.

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Glorious Noise Interview with the Founder of the All Good Festival

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All Good FestivalTim Walther is the founder of the All Good Festival. He also runs his own promotion company – Walther Productions – and manages Dark Star Orchestra, who we’ve covered here, and will also be playing All Good this year.

The jam band phenomenon (and the festivals that support it) has grown and evolved over fifteen years now, and All Good was at the beginning of it. We put together some questions for Tim about the evolution of All Good and this year’s event (July 8 – 11), which he kindly answered through an email exchange.

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