ed: This interview was conducted in July of 2011. Royal Baths played their last show as a San Francisco band on August 6th as a part of .

by Mariana Timony

When I call Jeremy Cox of to let us into his Haight apartment, I’m surprised by the youthfulness of the voice that answers. I’ve been listening to Royal Baths for the entire drive up to San Francisco, and young is not a word I would use to describe disquieting songs like “Bad Heart” and “Needle and Thread”.

When Jeremy appears, he’s definitely young - 23 years and 3 days at the time of the interview, to be specific - but he’s dressed like an old photograph: hair parted and slicked back, white shirt buttoned all the way up, black cardigan, and pressed black slacks. His long lashes are darkened with mascara. When I ask him about his attire he says he dresses like this everyday.

Jeremy leads us up a tiny flight of stairs into the house. It’s constructed strangely-there’s a bathroom off a kitchen and windows too high for anyone to see out of, like the Winchester Mystery House or the interiors of a Hitchcock film-San Francisco to the core. We meet singer-guitarist Jigmae Baer in the kitchen where it appears the two have been at work on a 1/4-full economy size bottle of Jim Beam. They’ll polish it off during the interview. Accompanied by the whiskey and a box of cookies, we follow Jeremy and Jigmae up yet another flight of stairs towards what must be Dorian Gray’s attic, or so the gothic atmosphere would suggest.

But no. When we reach the top, it’s the prettiest room I’ve ever seen, a tiny jewel box of a bedroom encased in glass. Sunlight pours in from the surrounding windows and french doors open up onto an unguarded ledge (more like a rooftop, but who can tell in this jumbled up house). The view is what stuns us the most - a panoramic postcard vista of San Francisco, framed by the blue of sea and sky.

“When I moved in here I said that if I ever moved out I would have to leave the city,” says Jeremy. This is exactly what Royal Baths are doing. They’re taking the opportunity to turn next their tour across the United States into a full scale relocation. When Baths get to New York, that’s where they’ll stay. They don’t know who they’re playing with for their “last show” in San Francisco, and don’t seem particularly interested in learning either. It’s clear that, for better or for worse, Baths are done with the city.

Here’s the thing: despite the candy brightness and youth-oriented culture that’s been its calling card since the Gold Rush, San Francisco is a difficult city to survive in, primarily for the young. It’s sinister how so pretty a place can be so harsh at the same time. Baths’ music has heretofore drawn from a darkly lit and brutally honest view of San Francisco, but soon they’ll be working with a new geography, musical history, and identity. New York is a city that, in some ways, is the diametrical opposite of San Francisco. I can’t wait to hear what Baths do with it.

Where did you guys meet?

Jeremy: Jigmae and I met when I was in Arcata, which is where I’m from. We just kept running into each other, and I moved to Portland, Oregon during my senior year. We kept in contact for a few years before I came here and we started playing together.

What do you think is unique to San Francisco that makes it have such a defined sound, for lack of a better word. What about this geography promotes the sound?

Jigmae: For rock and roll, the coasts seem to be focal points for gathering artists. Between Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, San Francisco is pretty appealing. It’s hard to live in San Francisco, though. It’s expensive to be a part of a band and even just to live here. That pressure must inform the music. Pressure is a lot more prevalent here than in Portland, where it’s very easy and laid back. L.A. is kind of a little schmoozy from my perspective. San Francisco is the first choice for me on the West Coast. It’s the middleground of not being an asshole but also being serious about your music.

Jeremy: I feel like SF is more of an incubator for music and creativity and when bands go outside they’re appreciated more than when they’re actually in the city. It’s always interesting to see.

What’s the most exciting thing about moving to New York, which has a totally different musical history?

Jigmae: New inspiration and learning new things is really exciting for us. That’s the beauty of it. You can’t foresee how you’re going to be affected by change but it’s an exciting prospect rather than facing stagnation and playing with the same ideas.

Do you think San Francisco needs an all-ages venue, like the Smell in Los Angeles?

Jigmae: Very much so.

Jeremy: The city’s starved for any all-ages venue or any DIY venue. A lot of people have tried to start them, but they’ve been crushed.

Jigmae: Crushed mercilessly. We were excited for our last warehouse show because it was all ages. The cops broke it up after the first band played. It’s just a shame how rigorously they’ll shut down these cool things.

Do you like warehouse shows?

Jigmae: Depends on the warehouse, but those are my favorite if they’re done right. There’s some shitty warehouses, but the good ones…Also, something thing that’s exciting about New York is that our experience with warehouses there is that they’re really well supported.

Why do you like warehouses the best?

Jeremy: I feel like people running the warehouses are very excited to be there, they’re obviously voluntarily there and setting everything up and they’re involved. Whereas at bars people are kind of…they don’t really want to be there and be dealing with bands. That’s not always the case.

Jigmae: There’s some good people, but it can be weird.

So what are your recording plans?

Jigmae: We finished our second record and beyond that we have 7″s that are embarrassingly overdue to turn in so theoretically we’ll be finishing some singles. They’ve been so delayed that it’s hilarious to say we’re going to finish them. I think it’s three of them now that we have to turn in. Beyond that we are actually preparing for a third record. We have at least half a record ready. We’re just raring to go.

Will that be recorded in New York?

Jeremy: Probably. I kind of had fantasies about going to New Orleans and recording during tour. That’s a beautiful town and it has a romantic charm to it.

Are you guys fans of My Bloody Valentine?

Jeremy: I’ve never listened to them.

Jigmae: Yeah. I respect that band and listen to them occasionally, but very infrequently. They are in that vein of that sound, that area of music of bands that we listen to.

are the ones who recommended Royal Baths to me. Their band seems to be building on the same sort of influences as you, but their music sounds completely different.

Jigmae: For anyone to make anything worth listening to it’s based upon the influences in your life. It comes from yourself so it’d be kind of frightening if our bands sounded the same. Hopefully we’re not clones.

Are you into noise bands at all?

Jeremy: I feel like noise is something that occurs within a project that doesn’t necessarily have to be defined. When it is the definition of the whole project it can become overbearing or obnoxious.

Jigmae: I got into really heavy noise and I’m kind of past that, but it still stays in my head. You’re just a product of different phases in your life. I feel like with the best noise bands, if you strip it down, you can still find some folk structure in it.

Are your songs basic in that sense as well?

Jigmae: The root of them, the essence of them, are folks songs, blues songs.

How do you write your songs?

Jeremy: Jigmae and I will come up here and I’ll have an acoustic guitar and Jigmae writes all the lyrics. So he has a typewriter and I have a guitar. It’s nice to not be attacked by iPhones and computers where you’re trying to write a song. Silence is a huge part of our songwriting.

Jigmae: It’s nice to just see the words on the paper in a nice font as you go.

What kind of equipment do you guys use?

Jigmae: Marshall stacks, the bigger the better.

Jeremy: We use the same guitar amps for recording. I like to explore to get sounds on a record, not have each song sound exactly the same. So for our sound we change guitar amps a lot and also for our sound we sing through guitar amps just because I like the sound.

Jigmae: It’s also a question of poverty and what’s available to you.

Jeremy: On our first record we used one microphone for every track except for the drums. It was just out of necessity. We did it track by track.

Jigmae: Jeremy’s really into building guitars, he always seems to always have a new Frankenstein guitar.

Jeremy: I love taking things apart.

That’s really cool that you build your own guitars.

Jeremy: My uncle helps me. I’ll go to his house, which is up north a couple hours, and he’ll help me put together a guitar. It’s always nice to build your own.

What’s your favorite guitar you’ve built?

Jeremy: Embarrassingly enough I like the Wayne’s World reissue guitar from the 90s. I like how that one feels. I put new pick ups in it, and that’s my favorite. Some of the cheap guitars feel a lot better than the more expensive ones. With equipment, I don’t like to focus on aesthetics. I like a guitar that I can trash around.

On “Litanies” you used a lot of different instruments like the xylophone. Are you going to be using them again on your new record?

Jeremy: I don’t know if the xylophone will be finding it’s way back. I took cello lessons for three or four months. I’m not really too fond of keyboards. We’ll probably try to incorporate more string instruments. Sometimes the electric guitar gets kind of tiring.

Your band recently released singles on a European label. There seems to be a historical kinship between London and San Francisco and a lot of residents really appreciate our music more than local residents do.

Jigmae: There’s a strong history of rock and roll in England some of Europe and, just from what I’ve seen, their generation is not really pursuing making that music. It’s more been electronic based. So I’m sure they’re hungry for it, they’re just begging for it.

Are you not into electronic music?

Jigmae: There’s the occasional band that strikes me.

Jeremy: It has a place. I would hate to say I don’t like an entire type of music. It’s always frustrating when people say that because it’s really band by band.

Jigmae: We listen to Suicide and Kraftwerk.

But just because you play synths doesn’t mean you sound like Kraftwerk.

Jigmae: I try to stay away from negativity.

Jeremy: A lot of synth music tends to be super power poppy and that kind of stuff just bugs me, but, then, guitars do too.

When people talk about your band and how you fit into the San Francisco scene, they always say that you made the music that you guys wanted to hear, that you thought was lacking in the area. Do you feel like your music is “dirgey” and “funereal” and other words that reviewers have used to describe you?

Jigmae: We have mottos of the month and we come up with a new one every so often. The latest one was, “The Baths are here, the party’s over.” We’re not making something to our ears is ugly, we’re making what to our ears is beautiful. It’s how you perceive beauty and maybe our perception of beauty is different. We just try and be honest. We don’t try to dwell. It’s just an honest reflection of our lives and the lives of our friends around us. If that comes out as sad then…We’re just trying to look at things as they are, clearly, and not trying to skirt around things and create a false persona.

Jeremy: I also think our music isn’t necessarily dismal or sad, there’s a lot of comedy in it.

Jigmae: It’s satirizing the sadness sometimes.

Jeremy: A lot of it’s satirical and I think people’s perception of bands are different. What you were saying about Cosmonauts citing the same influences as us, they probably perceive the music differently than we do. That’s important to recognize. So there.

Was your music a reaction to the music that was being played around here, like one-too-many boring 3-chord punk bands?

Jigmae: I don’t have a problem with 3 chords.

Jeremy: We usually don’t change chords at all. We can’t really knock that.

Jigmae: If you pay attention, not to sound overbearing, but if you listen to a lot of the bands we admire and that other people might admire, they complained also during their time. There was no renaissance. Maybe there was a renaissance, but many bands are in a vast forest of shitty bands and shitty generic ideas. That might instigate it, but it’s more about trying to create something. What are we here for anyways? We’re idealists. There’s no nihilism here.

isn’t trying to duplicate your grandfather’s old R&B records any more than shoegazers today are cloning the riffs on your aunt’s Jesus and Mary Chain records. Waterhouse’s aggressively up-beat, soulful arrangements are grounded in the same fertile Southern California good vibes feel that infuses the music of other popular pop artists living in the Bay, including friends Ty Segall and Mikal Cronin. We caught up with Nick Waterhouse to talk about the new LP, eBay and pressing plants before he and his Tarots join the Allah-Las for a headlining show at Slim’s in San Francisco Wednesday night (ed: ).

mp3:

Tell us more about the new LP. Where did you record?
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It was recorded at McHugh’s Distillery in Costa Mesa, California.

The album was one of the wildest things I’ve done in my life. It was recorded in a bunch of trips down to Southern California, often in these manic 48-72 hour periods which were bookended by 8 hour drives and scheduled around shows with the Tarots. So it was like: Drive, Show, Sleep, Record, Show, Sleep, Record, Drive. There were times of total peak intensity and times of exhaustion, just crazy, rabbit-hole moments in this studio with no windows and you don’t know if it’s night or day. I discovered how difficult it is to get a large ensemble to all be ‘on’ for certain takes, especially when someone is tired. And because I cut as live as possible with everyone in the same room, it could get pretty intense. I can say that I really stand behind it for everything, though — it’s a record, which is supposed to be a record of a place and time. The Naturelles, The Tarots are all over it, and I’ve got Ty Segall on drums on two tracks, some members of the , and of course, Ira Raibon of The Fabulous Souls playing sax on a few tunes. It’s going to be out in March or April of 2012.

How did you and Ty connect?

Ty and I have known each other since we were growing up in Orange County together. Him and some of the Moonhearts and Trad Fools guys used to come see this band I was in at the time, and after I left for San Francisco his musical career really began with the Epsilons. When he came to San Francisco we played music together a few times. I just phoned him up and asked if he was available that particular weekend, knowing full well that he was a viciously talented drummer.

Your music is a refreshing counterpoint to a lot of what’s played in the Bay Area now. Do you think of yourself as a “local artist” or do you happen to just live here?

I feel like an anomaly, though I do feel right at home with DJs more than other bands. I have never really been at home anywhere, but San Francisco.. it has been where I managed to get the Tarots together. I don’t know what that means in the grand scheme. I never fit in anywhere, but also fit in just fine.

Not many people know that you operate your own (very successful) record label. What has been your biggest challenge so far?
.
Yeah, . Besides learning everything by trial and error - it was probably when the hand letterpressed labels for the Allah-Las ‘Catamaran’ single were burned accidentally by the pressing plant, who had to bake them. It delayed the pressing by about two months to have them restamped and printed, then baked again and pressed. The price of doing things in a particular way. I don’t care. That single is so good.

Speaking of records, auctions of your 45 have . We keep one at the house in case we can’t make rent one month.
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I am really flattered to be auctioned off like a rare RnB tune by the same people I have watched on there, and the same people I know are major DJs. It’s surreal. I would love to see it get played at the nights some of these DJs run in Europe. The record is definitely made for dancers, so it’s profoundly satisfying to see guys I would want to DJ with going ape over trying to get a copy.
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It’s funny because I don’t know if my acquaintances and friends from San Francisco realize I can identify their ebay accounts. There are some whom I gave freebies to that have probably made more profit than I have on ‘Some Place’ at this point.

What does the future hold? Any news on an overseas tour?
.
I’ll be producing the Allah-Las forthcoming debut LP, as well as a single for the Naturelles out on Pres. There’s a tour in the works up the coast in December, and then some European dates I’m working on for March. After that, a lot of US dates to support the album, which will be out in April.

Nick Waterhouse & The Tarots headline tonight at Slim’s supported by and label-mates the . Tickets, , are 9 in advance and 11 at the door - show starts at 8:30. Waterhouse’s 45rpm “” has been sold out for awhile now, so if you want a chance at grabbing that you’ll have to try eBay. Watch the black/white vid for the song “I Can Only Give You Everything“ below:

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After releasing the eminently enjoyable Play it Strange LP back in 2010, ‘s famously prolific employees Tim Cohen and Shayde Sartin of brought their listeners to a lowered state with this year’s EP release Secret Walls back in April. Apart from contributions of two previously-unreleased tracks for the , the band recently released a new 7″ single via British DIY label SEXBEAT. ”I Would Not Know the Devil” was debuted shortly before the group left for a one-month long European tour. We caught up with Shayde for an update as the F&O wrap up their face-melting jaunt across the old continent.

[Terry Malts @ Brick and Mortar]

are a three-piece power-pop band that fuses a wad of bubblegum on top of aggressive guitar playing that rivals the freneticism of the Buzzcocks. In the short time the band has been in existence, they have released a six-song tape and .

Playing dive bars across San Francisco and Oakland, Terry Malts have drummed up a local following, including praise from ‘ guitarist Wymond Miles. They are also mentioned in lockstep with a former project, San Francisco pop-outfit . Terry did not fire off the magic bullet that “ended” the Bay Area five-piece (college is putting the band on hold, for now) — who’s original members included Philip Benson, Corey Cunningham, and Nathan Sweatt, three long-time friends and bandmates — the timing just worked right. We sat down with singer/bassist Philip Benson and talked about the Ramones and Jerry Seinfeld:

mp3:

What’s the best part of starting over?

PB: Initially it started as something to do on a Friday night and then we ended up liking it a lot and doing it. It’s just refreshing to make a different noise. We were going to do it simultaneously (Magic Bullets) - but it just so happens to be funny timing. It’s definitely not conscious. (laughs) We didn’t start Terry Malts to sabotage Magic Bullets. We were just bored. We were bored and we were drunk.

When people first listen to Terry Malts there is the instinctual reaction to compare it to your former project, Magic Bullets.

PB: It’s the same people. I’m playing bass. I’m not a bassist. Corey [Cunningham] plays guitar. Our dummer Nathan [Sweatt] plays bass in Magic Bullets, he’s not a drummer per se - but he’s had a drum set for awhile but he’s never been in a full-on band playing drums. And the way Corey plays guitar is completely different with how he plays (in Magic Bullets).

How would you describe your sound?

PB: Obviously lates 70′s punk, early 80′s hardcore music. Fuzz pop kind of stuff. I guess that would be like late 80′s and early 90′s. Everything we listen to. People want to say that we sound like Ramones meets The Jesus and Mary Chain - it’s not supposed to be intentional but it makes sense to me. I hate to limit ourselves to that aesthetic too, because I feel like we like to mess around with song structure and stuff.

Who’s Terry?

Honestly, they are two words that sounded good together. We were juggling around the idea for awhile of making up a persona for “Terry”, we’d write books as “Terry” - thought that it would be cool, then after awhile we realized it was kind of hokey so we stopped. Honestly, it doesn’t mean anything.

What is your songwriting process like?

There are a bunch of different ways - somebody might have a bar, or we all go to practice and start playing and see what happens. It’s what exciting and refreshing about playing in Terry Malts - we really have no expectations for ourselves at all. We just kind of go with whatever sounds good.

What do you think of the idea that’s been tossed around about artists in San Francisco — that the City is good for incubating talent, but perhaps not for drawing as wide of an audience as playing in Los Angeles or New York would.

Totally. I feel like San Francisco has a lot of cool bands and stuff, but I definitely don’t feel like there’s a really cohesive scene or anything. What always blew my mind is when all these bands would be touring through [California] that I’d have liked to see and then I’d check out their itinerary and there would be no stops in San Francisco. And I’d always ask “What’s wrong with it?” Playing here long enough I see why. I don’t want to sound like I’m talking shit on San Francisco. Me and Corey live here. Nathan lives in San Carlos. I’m from Redwood City, Corey’s from Tennessee. We’re not really a “San Francisco” band — and I don’t want to sound pretentious. We just happen to be here now. I just feel like that it’s something to live up to, that people will say “That’s what San Francisco sounds like.” There’s a bunch of cool bands in this city. That’s what journalists define it as.

That’s another thing about Terry Malts - we’re not trying to appeal to anything in particular. We’re just playing because its fun and we are goofballs and the three of us get along super well. We write some songs, and people like it. That’s not a breaking point, it’s just that having people like your songs is encouraging.

Will a full length be released soon?

We are recording a full length. We also have 7″ coming out and the release date is October 11th. “Something About You” is the name of the track on the A side. The B side is two songs — “No Sir I’m Not a Christian”, and the middle song is called “Fun Night”, a song we play near the end of our sets. (laughs) It’s kind of like a call to arms. You know, all of this is really simple. There’s no mystery. When you read what I’m actually saying - I’m talking about hamburgers, you know.

Are there advantages to working with Slumberland, which is based in the East Bay, as opposed to a geographically distant label?

Yes, because we get to actually see him [label owner Mike Schulman]. I think the interpersonal interaction is pretty important. It is your art, you’re putting money into it, and it is a label. Seriously, Mike is one of the coolest persons. He’s easy to talk to, one, and he knows what we’re talking about. Everything so far — and I’m not trying to sound cutesy or anything — has been perfect. We’re all on the same page.

Slumberland seems to be the ideal place for a band like Terry Malts.

We’ve been fans of Slumberland for fucking years! Corey used to send Slumberland demos when he was a teenager.

Whats your concept of the perfect pop song?

Has to be a song alone?

No.

The Ramones. Pretty much their entire catalog, to be honest.

Will there be another tour to accompany your full length?

We’re just solidifying the end of our October tour [with Wax Idols]. We haven’t even done anything. Like I said, the first time we left this area was for Los Angeles and San Diego (with Grass Widow and The Fresh and Onlys, respectively). It’s totally different from Magic Bullets. Have you seen the movie with Jerry Seinfeld? In the movie he throws away all of his materials, starts completely over, and decides to do a standup comedy tour. And people show up because its Seinfeld. It’s kind of interesting. He finds a lot of obstacles along the way. He’s been doing the same jokes for years and years.

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Terry Malts are going on an extensive US tour with friends in October/November - dates reprinted below via . Check out our interview with singer Hether Fortune here. Together, the bands have set up a to help with their expenses, which may score you some band swag depending on amount donated. Before they leave in October, they are playing a few Bay Area gigs, including September 12th at the with and at with and .

Terry Malts’ second 7″, entitled ““, drops 10/11 and can be pre-ordered (digital download available 10/3). You can listen to the B-sides of the release on the band’s .

Thu 10/20 - Los Angeles, CA @ TBA
Fri 10/21 - San Diego, CA @ Tower Bar
Sat 10/22 - Tucson, AZ @ Plush ^
Sun 10/23 - Marfa, TX @ Padre’s Marfa
Mon 10/24 - Austin, TX @ 29th St. Ballroom at Spiderhouse
Tue 10/25 - New Orleans, LA @ Siberia
Wed 10/26 - Memphis, TN @ Hi-Tone $
Thu 10/27 - Atlanta, GA @ 529
Fri 10/28 - Raleigh, NC @ The Layabout
Sat 10/29 - Washington, DC @ Comet Ping Pong #
Sun 10/30 - Baltimore, MD @ Golden West Cafe
Mon 10/31 - Philadelphia, PA @ TBA
Tue 11/1 - New York, NY @ Cake Shop
Wed 11/2 - Brooklyn, NY @ Shea Stadium
Thu 11/3 - Youngstown, OH @ Cedars Lounge
Fri 11/4 - Detroit, MI @ Majestic Cafe
Sun 11/6 - Chicago, IL @ Cole’s *
Mon 11/7 - Milwaukee, WI @ Quarters RocknRoll Palace
Tue 11/8 - Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
Fri 11/11 - Seattle, WA @ TBA
Sat 11/12 - Portland, OR @ East End

^ with Acorn Bcorn
$ with Kruxe & Bake Sale
# with Foul Swoops
* with Radar Eyes

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would never complain about being cast in Ty Segall‘s shadow. A musical partnership that stretches back to their days at Laguna Beach High, Mikal and Ty are living out the ambitions of every shred dog who has dreamt of touring with his best friends from SoCal to NYC and in between. All the while cuts of Mikal’s self-titled debut record, a “cleaned up” pop garage ballad, surge across the web as label prepares its release on September 20th. We talked with Mikal about adjusting to life in one’s mid-20s and the perfect pop song.

Saw the Black Lodge show at Hemlock a few weeks ago. Do you guys play house parties?

MC: I joined that band the day of that show. And they had only practiced a few times before I guess. Same with TOAD, who played after Black Lodge. We had just gotten back from tour the night before and that show was ridiculous and so fun. Black Lodge will play your house party.

Who are you taking on tour with you? How did you guys get together?

MC: I was living north of LA (in Val Verde, by that Magic Mountain theme park) for school, so it’s friends from down there. I borrowed two members from the awesome band Pangea (Danny on guitar and Eric on drums), then my former roommate Cory plays another guitar (who plays as the band WHITE, also awesome) and my buddy Chad plays bass, who plays in a lot of great bands too. They’re awesome and I’m really happy to play with them! The lineup might change since I moved to San Francisco but I don’t have anyone yet. We’ll see!

What are the major differences between the self-titled debut and your earlier work in Moonhearts/Reverse Shark Attack?

MC: I think it’s a lot poppier… and much cleaner. The songs are very different, not as “weird” as or “punk” as . The subject matter is also a lot more personal on this record. A lot more acoustic guitar too, haha, and a lot more vocal harmonies. This stuff is what I hear in my head all the time but wouldn’t really fit stylistically with other bands I play in. But like both those other bands I tried to keep the songs simple and distill them down to the necessary elements as much as possible.

Your label has described the new record as “conceived and recorded as a sort of therapy to help cope with adjusting to life post-college.” What has been your hardest change?

MC: The time writing that record was really hard and strange. I had been in and out of schools at that point for about 7 years, and I didn’t know what was going to happen after that. It was not specifically “post-college” I’m adjusting to but that crazy time in your mid 20′s where nothing is stable. At that time the combination of frantically trying to fulfill graduation requirements, having a bad breakup with a girlfriend and the uncertainty of the near future was really insane. I drove up to San Francisco and recorded the record during my school’s spring break, getting back on Monday 2 hours before my first morning class. I felt like i was losing my mind, but at the same time really excited for the few plans I had. I went on a few back-to-back tours right after I graduated and haven’t been home since… I kind of accidentally wound up in San Francisco with a duffle bag and my bass, realizing mid-tour that I didn’t have time to go back home and get my stuff because of various August shows. I haven’t “adjusted”, but the past few months has completely changed my mindset and it’s all amazing. I’m extremely happy and I’m doing what I want to be doing (playing music) every day. Tired but happy.

Is it hard to stay creative when you’re grouped with hundreds of other “garage” acts (just in California) or is that more of a challenge to differentiate? Are genres more helpful or harmful to artists?

MC: It’s strange, our group of friends has been playing “surfy garage” music for a long time, way before this recent interest in it. So when it all the sudden got popular we were kind of confused but happy that people wanted to hear what we were doing. But honestly everything I do, and what my friends do, makes a conscious effort to not be pinned down by one genre. I never want to be “schtick-y” or whatever. We have the same influences as a lot of people but try to spin it in a different direction. Not sure if we’re successful in that but that’s the plan. I’m just really passionate about that era of music (60′s garage and pop bands) and want to use some of that voice to express my own ideas. I don’t know. In the end, genres only exist so people have a frame of reference to talk about music.

You’re leaving on tour soon and the new record drops September 20th. What are your goals next year?

[photo credit: Ruthie Swanson]

WHITE FENCE is the moniker of one Tim Presley, master multitasker and purveyor of a sinister brand of flower power music that hisses and pops with the joyful lopsidedness of a four-track recorder. When he is not recording as White Fence in his Echo Park bedroom, Presley tours with the Strange Boys and Darker My Love. He has also served a stint in The Fall and recorded on their record Reformation Post TLC, the influential English band’s 26th studio album. White Fence played Saturday at (teaser below, filmed by George Augusto) with Ty Segall, Audacity, and Crazy Band in preparation for their trip up to Big Sur this weekend to perform the second day of the immediately-sold out Woodsist Fest (Tim’s live band includes his brother, Sean Paul Presley of Nodzzz). Recently, Tim had a chance to wax philosophically with us about New York City, Black Flag and Highlights magazine.

Reading your views on how Los Angeles has informed your music, down to the random acts of violence, reminds me of an interview New York Magazine did with of the Liars where he discussed ways LA “disturbed” him. “It’s got to do with the idea that people are in their cars and they feel safe, and then the actual landscape that they’re traveling through is pretty much left untouched … there’s a massive stream of homeless people, and downtown is kind of their world.” How much of that aligns with your personal view?

I’m disturbed that he’s disturbed. Doesn’t he live in LA and fuck girls here? It’s a little cliche to talk about the plastic, Botox world of Los Angeles when it’s just as bad in New York. Everyone’s afraid to talk shit on New York, but I will. That place is just as fucking lame as anywhere else in the US. I was just in Brooklyn weeks ago and everyone looks the same. It’s one giant college campus of cool people. I even saw a old dusty very homeless lady with Vans chukka boots. It makes me want to dress like a priest, and then become one. At least in LA it’s so spread out that I don’t have to see such a high concentration. Los Angeles is such an easy scapegoat, so when white-Indie Rock people talk about it negatively, especially about the obvious things, I get defensive. Don’t get me wrong — I like Liars and appreciate what they do. I’m just venting on a bigger picture here. I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, and was raised to hate LA until a friend showed me a great and beautiful side with genuine, amazing people. Also there is so much here. It’s very big. We have helicopters.

You’ve been a big proponent of the burgeoning music movement in LA and White Fence is certainly on the forefront of that. What would you say are the biggest differences between the bands in San Francisco and the sounds of the Echo Park scene? You have a unique view, having been enmeshed in both worlds.

I don’t know if LA really has a “sound” now, but there are cool bands/artists that vary [across] the spectrum. SF is good. I can honestly say that I love bands from SF at this moment. But we need each other — the SF/LA [dynamic]. It’s like brothers. The back and forth. Good and bad. I dunno. I will say, because SF is geographically tighter it helps with that energy. Plus they know what the sun feels like. We don’t because we live on it.

What to you constitutes the perfect pop song?

“The Humpty Dance” (by the ). Totally off the topic, but what if you got sent to prison and on your second night your cellmate dosed you with hi-grade speed. Wouldn’t that be just awful?! Think about it.

One tour highlight that is most visible in your memory thus far?

Swimming in a lake in Pennsylvania with the Strange Boys on a hot day after a noble game of whiffle ball. Inside jokes are a highlight. Reading Highlights magazine in the dentist office is nice too. I usually enjoy Goofus and Gallant.

How rad is this year’s Woodsist lineup? Seems to be booked with some bands that are on the cusp of doing great things.

Yes, Jeremy Earl (Woods/Woodsist) is awesome for putting it on. He himself is doing great things. I am very happy to be a part of it.

Love,

Tim Presley

7-25-2011

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plays the second day of this year’s (sold out!) in support of a stacked lineup (including a sub-in from the Mantles, who were added to the bill in place of the recently-dissolved ) before heading south on a w/ Woods and Ducktails that ends at the Bowery Ballroom in New York 8/13. ”Is Growing Faith” can be picked up directly from Woodsist via mail-order and digitally from iTunes . White Fence’s 7″, released on the heels of “Growing” and entitled “Harness b/w The Pool”, can be purchased from (housed in the eponymously-named boutique store on 988 Valencia) or .

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BLASTED CANYONS are formed by Heather Fedewa (Wax Idols), Matt Jones (Master Slash Slave), and Adam Finken, and recently put out their debut s/t record via after forming over a year ago and playing a series of gigs with the likes of Ty Segall, Thee Oh Sees, and Fine Steps. For a band that lists “weed” as one of their influences, they are a trio that plays inspired, decidedly nonpassive music that lurches between hardcore and krautrock but, taken together, settles on a self-described “weird ass” amalgam that is one parts garage, one part punk, and three parts synth. Their sound has drawn references to the late Jay Reatard’s epic Tennessee outfit, Lost Sounds. We had a chance to sit with the band one evening and talk about sriracha and OKCupid.

There’s a great Lester Bangs quote where he says that “the first mistake of art is to assume it’s serious.”
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HF: I was going to sum up everything by saying that this band started as a joke. And that’s how it will stay. It continues to be a joke. I mean, we love it, it’s fun, a lot of people like it but we recorded a song today, while I was eating lunch, because I had too much Sriracha. It’s called “Mouth on Fire”. It’s about eating too much Sriracha. That’s what our songs are about. It’s about nothing. Matt’s the only one who writes…

MJ: Good lyrics?

HF: Good lyrics, I guess.

MJ: You guys are making me blush. To be honest, to be able to let go, and not to have complete control over something, is I think what makes this band so good. Cause we’re all kind of like – I mean it sounds stupid to be like, this is more of a “band” band – everyone kind of writes songs, we really try to keep it loose.

HF: Yeah it’s more of a Communist band, cause we all play everything, we’re all responsible for all the gear, we all have to write songs.

AF: It’s the perfect democracy. If somebody says I don’t like this song, and somebody else says I don’t like this song, we don’t do it.

How did you guys initially meet?

HF: Well, our friend Max was doing an artist installation at the MoMa, and I was working for him and for the opening he wanted bands to play. I was just kicked out of Bare Wires, didn’t have a band anymore, actually – no – we met on John’s stoop, and then we met at the Knockout, but we met a couple times. I was working with Jen, [Matt’s] ex-girlfriend. We became friends, and then Jen suggested we start a band together.

AF: I met Matt, 4^th of July, two years ago. A month later, ironically at the Knockout, he approached me and told me to come check out this new thing he was doing with Heather. I had never met Heather, and I saw their set at Amnesia and we ended up getting together and playing a show the next night at a house party. I had one four-hour practice, five songs [before that].

How did you first show go [at their friend's artist's reception at the MoMa]?

MJ: MoMa shut it down. They told us we couldn’t have a reception in here and that we definitely couldn’t have music in here. Then one of our friends pulled it together, and she said she knew someone at Matador bar, the bull-themed bar. Arrow bar? Whatever it’s called. So anyway we moved it over there, and 30 minutes later we were shredding and by 9 o’clock it was done. That was actually really fun.

Do you feel like there’s a need for something like The Smell? A DIY, all-ages venue in San Francisco?

MJ: That’s an interesting question.

HF: Yeah. We are missing something like that here. I have a legitimate teenage fan base that’s bummed they can never see me play. There are some certain warehouses, but they sound like shit and are always organized poorly. I think it’s because a lot of people are just too busy. Or too stoned.

Adam, you are the only classically-trained musician in the band?

AF: (laughs) I took a bunch of theory classes at community college. I don’t really apply too much of it. Just little knowledge of keyboards.

HF: He knows how to transpose key signatures on keyboard, which has been a big help.

Do you guys intend to keep the same set-up where each member rotates and plays a different instrument?
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AF: Yeah. We all have our weaknesses with each instrument. And we definitely don’t write songs to play to our strengths. Whatever we think will be the best combination for this particular song.

HF: We basically forced [Adam] to learn how to play drums.

AF: Basically I just model myself after Fedewa (laughs). I try to rip her off on the drums. On the record, I play drums on one song: “Lasers versus Lizards.”

The new record’s out — is there going to be a digital format besides what’s been released with the Castle Face flexidisc? How has it been working with John Dwyer’s Castle Face Records?

MJ: Well to start out we just wanted to put out the record first. We made CDs for promo but I just think making CDs is dumb. Maybe when we repress it we’ll do digital download cards, people really like those. I didn’t really anticipate quite so much interest right off the bat – which is great. That’s where we want to be.

AF: We just like keeping it simple and working with people we are more or less close to. Matt and Heather are pretty close to John.

MJ: To be honest, to me it was ideal that Castle Face would put it out. All of their stuff has been air-tight so far. And I’ve worked with John on — basically from the beginning with Castle Face on pressing their records, taking on a bit more. John and [Brian Lee Hughes] are both pretty good friends of mine. So it’s pretty natural that it happened that way.

HF: You know we all work at ?

That was my next question.

HF: He [Matt] really works there.

MJ: I’ve worked there for 6 years and then I got these guys jobs. We send stuff to distributors, basically we work with labels. We’re a manufacturing broker. With the exception of flexidiscs, which we manufacture ourselves. That’s what they do and that’s what I’m in charge of now.

AF: Like that flexidisc book. It’s our book.

HF: We worked on that forever.

AF: If I ever saw anybody mistreat one I’d be like “WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?”

Comparisons have been made to you and Lost Sounds, Jay Reatard’s former synth-punk group. Is there any special kinship you guys feel there?

HF: I got Matt into Lost Sounds. I was really close with Jay and he was a huge influence on me in many different ways. I met him through friends over the years but we really got close when I was on tour with Bare Wires, and we were in Memphis for four days and Jay was there and he kind of took me hostage and we dated for awhile but mostly we were just friends. He was a genius. So I’ve listened to the Lost Sounds for a long time – it was never my intention to sound like the Lost Sounds but when somebody takes punk, garage, pop, and weird ass synths – that’s what you get. I don’t mind. That is an absolute honor to me, to be compared to Lost Sounds in any way.

Heather what does this project mean to you in relation to Wax Idols?

HF: They basically started the same time. Wax Idols, I had been doing that by myself for years. It was kind of like a secret, personal thing. But both bands came to fruition at the same time. But what’s different for me is that with this band, like we said, we all write songs — it’s a total democracy — whereas Wax Idols is like a regime, everything is up to me. I’m able to have tunnel vision with that, whereas with this I can relax and have fun. But I have fun with Wax Idols too, I do. Its just easy for me to do both because they are so different. And I’m a multi-instrumentalist – so when it comes to playing live, I am able to play drums, synth and guitar. Honestly, [Matt and Adam] would have to call it quits. There might be a period of time in the future where we can’t be as proactive because I’m gone with Wax Idols, but I would never be like, I won’t tour with you guys because Wax Idols is it.

AF: Somehow we ended up as best friends.

HF: I would say more like a dysfunctional family.

AF: We look out for each other. We always end up ganging up on one or the other.

MJ: It’s usually me.

Where do you want to take Blasted Canyons?

HF: Japan.

MJ: Yeah Japan would be sick. I think Japan and Europe would be awesome.

HF: We just want to travel. Finken and I haven’t got to do shit. Matt’s been able to tour [with Jonesin'].

MJ: I think Europe would be possible, I think Japan would be possible. It would be cool.

HF: We’re working on an EP too. It will probably be out in the Spring.

A lot has been made about the current generation of artists that call San Francisco home. What bands are you listening to right now?

HF: is the best band in the world. They are based in Australia but I would tour with them for the rest of my life if I could. They are my favorite band on the planet right now, so good.

AF: There’s a lot of good bands up here right now. I fucking love , they are rad, and rules. And the cool thing about all of these bands is that everyone gets along. Everybody has to be kind of homies, there’s drama here and there, but it seems that everybody gets along pretty well.

MJ: I agree. You know what, four or five years ago, there was nothing. There were the wackest bands playing around here.

AF: I was on OKCupid for a couple weeks, and some chick from New Zealand added me, and her whole profile listed every Bay Area band. And so I was like “hey…check out our band.”(laughs) “We PLAYED with Thee Oh Sees!”

Anything else?

MJ: Come to our show in Oakland. And we didn’t even mention the fucking . Hello? Amazing fucking band.

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is the opening band on a stacked bill that includes Mike Donovan (Sic Alps), Royal Baths (who are moving to New York and will be playing their final show in San Francisco for awhile on August 6th at the Verdi Club), and Thee Oh Sees, at the Uptown in Oakland July 28th. Tickets (21+). They play the following week at Engine Works (17th & Capp) with TMRS and Twin Steps, presented by LEAF (also 21+). Facebook event .

Their self-titled debut album is available through . The holographic Flexidisc book produced by Castle Face featuring exclusive tracks from Blasted Canyons, Ty Segall and Mikal Cronin, Thee Oh Sees, Bare Wires, and The Fresh and Onlys can be purchased from . Listen to “Death and a Half,” the fourth track off the new LP, below.

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Check out more on Blasted Canyons.

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After chugging through their set at San Francisco’s Verdi Club for the Milo Minute release show several weeks ago, a somewhat bleary-eyed Lillian Maring looked down from her drumset into the crowd and half-heartedly entreated the audience for a ride back to the East Bay. This was — lauded by The New Yorker, recruited by Kill Rock Stars, booked to open for the likes of Sonic Youth - coming home and willing to chum up to cruise across the Bay back home, a small but telling indicator of the band’s legendary DIY ethic. After an extensive European tour and months of recording and self-releasing the 7″ on their new label, , we found time to talk to Lillian, bassist Hannah Lew and guitarist Raven Mahon about pajama yuppies and stonercam.

Welcome back — any highlights from Europe?
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RM: We had a really good time. It was our first time to Europe (not considering three shows we played there last fall), so we kind of had an idea of what to expect, but I was really blown away by the hospitality. It’s amazing that Europe has this built-in infrastructure for providing touring bands with places to stay and home-cooked meals no matter what kind of band you are or what sort of show it is. We really lack that in the United States. Right after we got home we played a record release show for the 7″ we just put out and were really inspired by the Euro hospitality so we bought everyone burritos.

HL: We had dinner with Anna De Silva and her partner Shirley. It was amazing to meet her and talk “shop.” We got to play in some pretty amazing legalized squats in Europe. Many of the places we played had flats designated for the touring bands. There’s so little funding for the arts in the U.S. and in general touring as an American band you get used to traveling pretty roughly, so it was refreshing to tour in a hospitable place . I could have stayed longer!

You got along so well with touring buds/blind dates that you recorded a - are they any other bands you were introduced to out there that we should listen to?

RM: Yeah, definitely. There is another incarnation of Trash Kit and happening in London right now which is called . Also, Rachel, the drummer from Trash Kit has another project called . We played with a band in Vienna that we all really liked called . Two ladies — they were rad.

HL: We played with a great band called in Zurich as well. Also a band called in London. I really liked them!

Oaklanders Nectarine Pie just put out a video shot with a Super 8 with the help of label-head Rob Fales (read our interview with him here). When it comes to Grass Widow’s own videos, what’s the appeal of shooting with an older film camera? Is it purely aesthetic — or is there a subtext of conscious luddism, something you have talked about in past interviews?

HL: Shooting on Super 8 is the cheapest way to shoot with actual film. You can’t just turn on the camcorder and hit stonercam. Each cartridge is 3 minutes long and when you shoot you really have to plan. I have shot with Super 8 for a long time and I actually think in the color scheme of the film stock at this point. When they discontinued Kodachrome I thought I would just stop making films, but then Kodak made a new Ektachrome film stock with nice colors so I’m back in the saddle.
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This might be totally incriminating…but a big reason I initially got into shooting with Super 8 was because Kodak had this old deal with Cala Foods (a local grocery store that is now out of business) where you could drop rolls of Super 8 to get processed along with the 35mm still pictures in a slot in the grocery store. It cost $3.00 to process a roll there-which is really cheap!