Criminal Hygiene: Interview

Los Angeles rock band CRIMINAL HYGIENE exchanged a few words with me below to discuss their new upcoming tour and the importance of education. 

Who is in the band and where are you guys from?

The band is Michael Fiore from Smithtown, New York, Michael Hiller from Manhattan Beach, California, and Birdman from Tacoma, Washington. 

What brought all of you together?

Fiore was going to college at USC and all our friends were kinda living in the same neighborhood playing music together in different bands. We started Small Smile Records to self release all our material and have shows and everyone was focused around that. We eventually all lived in a huge house in the ghetto and recorded and practiced there, but mostly played basketball and drank Colt-45. 

Who thought of the name Criminal Hygiene? Was there any other possible names for the band?

Original bassist, James Watson, who left the band a little over a year ago came up with the name. It was part of a lyric to the chorus of our song "Teeth", which was vaguely about him knocking his front teeth out skateboarding. Honestly, we needed a name quickly and we thought it was catchy and kinda funny so we just ran with it. It doesn't really mean anything, we've had a good laugh with it. We actually never considered any other names which I guess is interesting. 

Who has influenced your music?

I mean, you name it, and we've probably been influenced by it. We are all into a lot of music, and probably consider ourselves students of music. I'm personally always going back and trying to find the band that influenced the band that I like, and then going back even further and seeing who influenced them. We're all into classic rock, country, punk rock, classic pop and even some new wave and disco, old ska, all kinds of shit. We're big on songwriting. I would say we all agree on Jeff Tweedy and James Mercer as some of our modern favorites. 

In your opinion what is the current state of rock and roll?

I've got this romantic idea of what rock and roll is supposed to be like. I feel like it lacks some of the danger and mystery of previous years, probably due to the fact that you can find anything you want about any band on the Internet now. Things have changed a lot, some for better some for worse. There's a lot of saturation now, and a lot of that idea of anyone can start a band now with a facebook or twitter page and a few garageband recordings. Some of that is good, because more people are creating now, but on the flip side it becomes harder for serious musicians and bands to make a living off of their craft. In Los Angeles specifically I've noticed a trend of hip garage bands all kind of doing the same thing, some of it seemingly based more on image and shit than actual songs, and most of it turns me off, but if you sift through there's a couple of great rock and roll bands out there. We're not one of them yet. 

Why is it important to get an education?

To not get fucked or fall behind. Its really good to be one step ahead of people in the music world, and I think being educated and dedicating yourself to learning about your field is imperative. Its personally helped me time and time again. And I'm not saying everyone needs to go to college if they don't want to, I'm just talking about educating yourself about a project you're about to undertake, such as starting a band. It really helps to seek out others who have been doing it a while and pick their brain. To me that is the most important education to us right now. 

Favorite subjects to revolve your lyrics and songs around?

I write about what I know, as cliche as that sounds. A lot of lyrics can end up being really personal, which I think is gratifying.

Criminal Hygiene for FYF 2015?

Who we gotta kidnap to make this happen?

How did your beef start with Buzz Bands LA?

Well I caught Kevin Bronson, head BuzzBands writer, asleep on a chair at FYF and I tweeted about it. After a long battle of words we concluded that we are going to have a foot race for charity. If I win, he's gotta wear a Criminal hygiene T shirt for a week and donate to a charity of his choice. A feud isn't always a bad thing. 

Best experience you've had during a live show? Worst experience you've had during a live show?

Some time in March we played the Troubadour in LA on tour with The Orwells and we just really nailed the show. It was packed and we weren't too drunk to fuck everything up and we just really played well. We could all feel it, and it is hard to explain It was a really special moment for us as a band. Worst experience recently was probably on tour in Tucson, AZ. We were a bit late to set up our stuff, kinda got sidetracked with friends from town and played air hockey at a bar instead of setting up and sound checking. We were drinking and then went on stage and we were just terrible that night and no one could care less about us. haha. It was kinda fun to taunt them though I guess.

How do you determine when a song or a project is worth releasing out to the public? As a band would you say you are all often satisfied with your own work?

We usually write stuff separately, like bits of a song or maybe even a complete song that could use some work and start playing it as a band. Once we practice it a bunch and we decide its ready to be tried out at a live show, then we demo it and maybe show some people and get it ready for the public. But it all starts in the practice room and then gets played live before it is recorded. I'd say we aren't ever really satisfied, and that's what keeps us going. 

Lastly what are your plans for the remainder of 2014?  Project?Tour?

We are playing this weekend in Tempe, AZ and then in November we go on a 2 week tour with Twin Peaks and Meatbodies up the coast and such. We'll be starting to work on our second full length LP after that. Hopefully locking in that Rolling Rock sponsorship, its been a long time coming.  Cheers


http://www.criminalhygiene.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/crmnlhygne

Bandcamp: http://criminalhygiene.bandcamp.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/crmnlhygne

SIAM: Pay Attention

The artist of the day that came to my attention is SIAM who resides in Ghent, Belgium. SIAM is a female vocalist who at the moment only has one music video out and two tracks available for streaming on her Soundcloud. Though it might be early to determine her music career I definitely have a good feeling for what is to come next. Down below Faisal provides us with some smooth production while SIAM blesses us with her beautiful vocal delivery.

Same Thing: http://youtu.be/ibLVFhh5UY0

https://soundcloud.com/s_ivm

Shirt: Interview

Introductions are unnecessary when it comes to the versatile New York rapper "Shirt" who has consistently released quality hip hop tracks with creative visuals to accompany them.
Scroll below to read about his views on today's culture of hip hop and his famous stunt of faking a New York Times article.













Where did your rapper name originate from? 

Like 5-6 years ago I was designing clothes.  The name Shirt is just cool to me.  Something clean and maybe memorable.

With being from New York how has that inspired and altered your sound?  

Growing up in New York you're just primed to be more open-minded musically I think.  Friends, my brothers, girls I dated, everyone was into dope, different shit that rubbed off on me.  Listening to music in headphones on the train, writing to beats that way for so long.  You can't escape the energy all around you.   But I love all this new shit that comes out constantly too.  I don't think it has much to do with the city now unless it does.  Like it doesn't have to.  Now everybody making music is listening to things from all over the world and being influenced.  So you're getting all this interesting work.  My favorite dirty rap beats right now come from Britain.

One of your music videos titled 24 Frames references a wide selection of films. Who are your favorite directors and in any way have they inspired your music? 

Can never think straight when asked this shit.  Wes Anderson, Michel Gondry, Woodie Allen, Scorcese off top.  Lots of people.  It's hard to watch a great thing, film or documentary, talk or interview, and not be inspired.  That doesn't really happen.  I'm the guy writing certain lines down, pausing a movie and taking screen shots for reference.  I'm serious about my inspiration.  I make sure and put it to work.

In your opinion who in New York is currently keeping the true culture of hip hop alive?

I don't tell someone they're not allowed to like something because they didn't always like it.  Or it's not what they originally knew or came from.  Like who can say what to anyone out here?  Who the fuck are you?  That shit is all weird to me.  Someone can't learn to love something even more and with even more care for it than someone whose maybe loved it all along?  That's just not a real point to me.  I'd say the people truly keeping Hip-Hop culture alive everywhere are the people who love the music and the artists, and support where they can.  If you're only playing songs ironically or to live some real life meme, you have problems.  If you're playing the music as you live and breathe and go through things, you're keeping the culture alive.  It's simple.

What are your plans for the remainder of 2014? 

Presentation is so ill to me.  So fun.  There's a lot of new exciting work coming.

One of my favorite songs from you is titled "Life and Art" can you explain the story behind that song and what was happening during your life that led you to create it? 

The music by Bonobo took me there.  Darvin played it for me.  I think my brother played it for him first.  I had this article cut out from the Times on my desk my guys were written about where the headline read "Breathing Life, and Art."  So that's where I started.  Sometimes I write really fast and later on I'll stand back and try and figure out what it all means.  That record became about how hard it is to balance living life and making art.  Living as an artist.  Living knowing what you go through is gonna come out of you through your work at some point.  Foolishly thinking you can try to separate the two and realizing yeah, no.  The fears about not making it, not being a success like you want to be yet.   

In what ways are you trying to make people view rap/hip hop?

If you love it already there's nothing really to say.  You get it.  When someone makes ignorant comments to me about how rappers only do this or say that I basically go crazy on them.  I get really defensive.  I might not be a fan of someone because I like what I like but it doesn't change the fact that  these guys are telling you what's really going on with them and communities they come from.  Deep shit too.  I don't think there's another genre of anything that does it as expertly and beautiful and can communicate to that many people worldwide.  I've thought about language playing such a big part in the confusion at times.  Raps might as well be Chinese to some people.  Then just the curses and wild shit sticks out and you think you know what's being said.  You don't.  Country singers talk about their bitches and guns too.  

Was one of your main purposes of releasing the RAP project to help the genre and lifestyle to be seen in a different viewpoint?

The main purpose was to continue telling my story through this artform I've let completely change my life.  If you listen and get things from it you didn't get before from a rapper, that's amazing.  I'm not doing things in the raps that I wouldn't do in other parts of my life.  I'm the guy thinking differently about things than most people, looking at stuff from different angles, devouring art.  All of that goes into the music. 

How did you get the idea to create the fake New York Times website and article?
 http://www.nytimes.la/2014/shirt/

I've always loved disrupting things and causing an entrance.  I want to break, man.  Get my story out with some style.  I looked at the Times article like a new work of mine.  A new medium I hadn't played with yet.  It's not gonna just be music you get from me.  It never has been.  I probably also wanted to set a precedent.  I'm not wired to create from a follow the leader position.  Rappers put songs on blogs and stand in front of cars in their videos and that's how they promote.  I'm too interested in amazing artists and risk takers to make my own work and do things in a basic, safe way.  

What reaction did you receive after people discovered the article was fake?

I've no doubt that if you're a person who's into people breaking the monotony of every single thing around us, and you heard about what I did, you loved it.  I wanna say straight up if you thought it was super ill what I did, you know what the fuck you're talking about.  If you thought what I did was corny, you're corny.  People are so scared.  They're scared for themselves, for people around them, people they don't even know.  I get it.  Some thought I was crazy, some think I'm a genius.  I'll let you tell it.

What is your prediction of how hip hop will be viewed 10 years from now? 

I think it'll get weirder and then chill and get weirder again and then chill.  I think a better time span to ask about would be like 40-50 years from now.  What then?  Who knows.  I have a feeling classic will remain classic.

Any last words you'd like to say to the readers? 

I hope your day's been alright.  Days are up and down so either way it'll be ok if you get through it.

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/shirt/rap-album
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SHIRTNYC
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC14X-J5USGbK-w8mOHUoTFg
24 Frames Music Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eyl5nUYWoBE

Download RAP: sendspace.com/file/26mwr2

Foliage: Interview

Screw the intro.
We all know you came here for the interview so lets get started!


Please Enjoy!







What got you interested in creating music?

Well, it was early 2014 and my best friend and I had made a bet. We've always been heavily into music and decided to try our hand at songwriting. We both promised we'd release something (or at least try to release something) by the end of the year. I kept my end of the deal, he did not. I was also interested in doing it because I feel the music scene over here is really derivative and bland with the massive amount of rap, indie, punk, and ska artists here. It's an overflow of same and I think that's just so idiotic and unoriginal.

What kind of artist would you classify yourself as?

I'd classify myself as a pretty independent artist. I prefer working alone. Even when recording. Sure the whole band aesthetic is nice, but i'll save that for live purposes. Joining the live band will be my 3 best friends (and a bassist, which I still haven't found yet). I feel the independence of writing your own music and recording it yourself at home is more true to heart. No stress on anyone else. ❀ Foliage ❀ started as an intimate bedroom solo project, I intend on keeping it that way for the future as well. Maybe one day i'll leave the bedroom, but it will always be me on my own.

Can you describe life in San Bernardino? Did you live in San Bernardino as a child if so how was it?

San Bernardino is literally one of the worst places in California, if not, the entire US.  Everything about it is disgusting. This city is bankrupt, dirty, lifeless, basically nothing at all. And it will not improve. This city has grown worse and worse every year. This is a place where you will get robbed in broad daylight and nobody will care. Even sadder, the cops don't do much around here to enforce, because it's just going to happen again. Prostitutes and druggies everywhere. You ever hear that "haha dude, go stand on the corner" referencing prostitution? Yeah, that's literal here. I grew up here all my life. I guess I live more on the Rialto side of California rather than San Bernardino, but it's still basically San Bernardino minus the gang violence and hookers everywhere. 

Are you surprised by all the great feedback you have received with only a few tracks posted to Soundcloud?

I actually am surprised with all the feedback my music has gotten. It started as nothing serious. I wasn't expecting so many people to like it (since so many people are unfamiliar with the genre and aesthetic dreamy/gazey-ish music has to offer). But people loved it. I expected maybe just a bit of recognition in my town via social media, but there's people all over listening and I think that's really great. Who knew, a 16 year old boy who was always failing in High School and getting in trouble, would be making music at home in his living room getting tons of recognition via the internet? I sure did not picture 2014 like this, but i've definitely accomplished the most in my life this year so far. 

How soon will we be receiving your next project?

Hopefully very soon. Singles had built up a lot of praise over the internet so I decided to release 'URL' to keep people patient (and possibly more excited). I have a lot of the song ideas and demos ready. I've been busy a lot with school recently so I try to take advantage of every weekend or break I can get to record. It's stressful, but will be coming soon. Having to write it all, record it all, produce it all is a pain but that's the price to pay and its worth the outcome.

Is there a central theme you'd like to share with us that revolves your next project?

There's no theme really. I guess you can say my music is really sad. I try to mask the sad emotion with a happy melody. I have a lot of concepts and ideas about the world and society. A lot of stuff running through my head is trying to have as much fun in my youth, wondering too much what the future will hold, and death. My brain is non-stop running with these weird things like afterlife, past lives, what purpose we serve on this Earth, why do we die, why do we dream and are dreams showing us future images, or are they fragments of our memory and thoughts, stuff like that. I guess I can sum it up by saying my music is based around my own ideas on the world and my teenage-hood as well as thinking about the future. Not wanting to get old and be in love and young with your significant other. Love is a stupid thing that I still have yet to experience in life. Maybe we don't need love, maybe we all need time.

Lastly what's your opinion on the internet. Describe both the pros and cons.

Well the internet is crazy man haha. I guess I can say the pros are getting yourself out there. Talking to a piece of space and sharing your life with the web that somehow gets slapped back to you via your computer screen, phone or whatever you use. The cons are a lot of weird/crazy people going on about nonsense. You know, teenage girls complaining about how they don't have the latest iPhone or how they "need that Lana Del Rey record" because Lana is 'bae'. It makes me cringe seeing stuff like this, especially in my hometown. I feel as if my music recognition comes from other places, not my hometown. My city could care less about any musician unless you're Alex Turner or any other typical mainstream "indie" artist (yes, with quotation marks). To sum it up, the internet is basically sharing your opinion on something and ranting about whatever is bothering you. People will hate you, people will love you, but who cares? Get off the web and go outside for a change.

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/foliagemusic
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/M.JosephWalkerisFoliage
Twitter: https://twitter.com/_Foliage_

Loyle Carner: A Little Late EP

After only having about two tracks on his soundcloud Loyle Carner has finally released his very own EP. Loyle Carner is a underground rapper from London with something to prove. He might sound familiar due to his great feature on Rejjie Snow's 1992 track.
Download or stream for free now! 








stream:
 https://soundcloud.com/loyle-carner/sets/a-little-late-ep

download:
 http://www.datpiff.com/mixtapes-detail.php?id=645092

Family Cookout: The O'My's and Donnie Trumpet

Two of Chicago's finest come together to create something beautiful. WARNING! This project will touch your soul.

download here: http://www.hulkshare.com/theomys/family-cookout

stream here: https://soundcloud.com/the-omys/sets/family-cookout

Bansheebeat: Interview

I apologize for my short absence in the interview game but I have now returned to interview Bansheebeat! Since this interview is already long I'll keep the intro short by saying this is a great producer representing the state of Arizona. Please enjoy!


Where were you born and where are you living now?

I’ve lived here in Tucson, Arizona my entire life. It’s not the most entertaining place to live, but it’s cozy, I guess. One of my favorite places in town is our local arthouse theater, The Loft. They’re always showing really great films, and they serve great beer. In addition, there’s a really great chain of stores called Bookmans, They have a great selection of retro games, used books, and pretty much everything else. Including pornography.

Can you describe the pros and cons of living in Arizona?

Despite the fact that it’s usually pretty boring, Tucson is a pretty chill place to live.
Although, Tucson—and as far as I’ve heard, much of Arizona—really doesn’t have much of a scene/market for electronic music, which makes it pretty hard to book shows and support like-minded musicians in town. Tucson’s got a big soft spot for Americana acts, and really, really bad metalcore (much of the 2006-2009 boom in deathcore came out of the greater Phoenix area), but unless you’re an in-house DJ for a club, there isn’t much of a community to get involved with. There’s also the thing about how it’s really hot here.

How do you come up with a song and a general concept for a project?

That’s somewhat difficult to answer because I don’t exactly have a consistent formula. Ideas can stem from a word, image, or feeling, and I’ll try to capture that musically. Or I’ll just come up with an interesting melodic figure or beat, and just build off of that. The creative process is something that’s always really interesting to hear about, but it’s really hard when you try to put it into words yourself.

What cultures have influenced you and your music?

When I first started getting into electronic music, I was really into the early 90’s wave of IDM out of the UK. Stuff out on Warp, even some of the really clubby stuff out of the British rave scene. Early on into my production days I moved onto the big rush of UK Funky and Garage, stuff from the Night Slugs and L25 crews. I’ve been really into a lot of different online subcultures over the past year. Like, I was a huge fan of vaporwave since back before Dummy reported on it and it became this huge thing, but only just last year I decided to reach out to a few producers I know and I kind of got involved in the then-growing future funk scene for a while. Despite that I’m really over that whole scene now, getting involved led me to meet a lot of really great internet personalities, like Saint Pepsi and Luxury Elite. I connected with Yung Bae, while he was still going by Stereo Component. He really was the main person who inspired me to get more involved in online music communities, and introduced me to so many incredible people. Soon after I got really involved with the people behind URL venues, like Ecchiparty, and joined up with Peachboiz.
From there I met countless great artists like Maxo, RunFoxRun!, Noah Hafford/Synchronicity, Goliad, astroskeleton, Ivy Hollivana, and countless other wonderful individuals. So many people I’ve met online over the last year have been super supportive, and many of the scenes I’ve been a part of have been bustling hotspots of positivity and musical creativity. Another group that really inspires me is everyone affiliated with Zoom Lens. I love what all of them do in regards to DIY spirit, and really pushing the boundaries of what you can do both as an artist and to get involved your listener community.

Favorite anime series?

This is gonna sound really cliché, but Neon Genesis Evangelion, easily. I could talk for hours about how the series was an integral part of my teenage experience, one that has influenced me more as an individual than any other creative work in existence. I’m also a big fan of the Monogatari series (or really anything Shaft makes, to be honest), and I’ve recently been really getting into the works of Masaaki Yuasa. I’m also a huge fan of Hiroyuki Imaishi. As far as manga goes, I’m really into JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and the works of Inio Asano and Hajime Ueda.

What do you miss most from your childhood?

This is kind of a copout answer, but just being a kid. While there’s really not a specific thing I miss most, being completely void of responsibilities and most heavy consequences was a pretty great benefit of being a kid. Also, the biggest thing is just that everything about the world was new and exciting, wondrous and beautiful, and while you can still hold those views about the world at any age, there’s just something special about discovering the world around you for the first time.

Would you say video games have inspired the sounds of your music?

Definitely! I got my first game console, a Super Nintendo, when I was five. I played it constantly, and was completely blown away by the playful melodies of Jun Ishikawa, the orchestral brilliance of Nobuo Uematsu, and the chilling ambience of David Wise and Kenji Yamamoto. Video game OSTs were probably my first big musical influence. Later on, I was introduced to the works of Tim Follin, Austin Wintory, Ko Otani, and Shoji Meguro. I also often use 16-bit sounds in my music, especially those from the SNES.

Which producers have had the biggest impact on you?

I’ve always been incredibly inspired by everything Flying Lotus has done. The way he blends textures and styles together into a seamless package is awe-inspiring. When I first started producing, I really took a lot of cues from acts like Boards of Canada and Massive Attack, as well as newer producers like Nosaj Thing and Nicolas Jaar. Some of my older material was rooted in the chillwave/witch house boom in 2011. I was especially captivated by the haunting soundscapes of producers like Balam Acab and Holy Other. Lately though, I’ve been really, really into doujin music, which is this vibrant Japanese scene of video game and pop inspired dance music primarily made by bedroom producers. Some prominent examples include Kagerou Project, Livetune, and early Supercell. I’m also really interested in doing some stuff with Vocaloids, kind of inspired by that whole scene, in the future.

How old were you when you created your first track?

While I’ve been writing music since I was about twelve, I don’t quite recall when I put out my first electronic production. In high school, when I first got into electronic music, I played around a lot with really introductory programs like GarageBand and Mixcraft, but that was before I really started to think about it seriously. I think I first tried out Ableton Live my senior year of high school. I know I didn’t really start digging into learning sound design/synthesis until the summer after I graduated.

How many projects have you released?

While I’ve played and recorded in countless bands over the years, I haven’t put out too many solo releases out. Aside from a few EPs I’ve put out under other names that probably don’t exist anymore, all of my solo material has been released as bansheebeat.

When did you first perform for a live audience?

When I was in elementary school I joined the “band program” in fourth and fifth grade, where I played the bells. I think my first ever performance was a duet bell piece I played with a lifelong friend of mine, where we played a beginner’s transcription of “On Top of Old Smokey.” Don’t ask me how I remember that.

Do you live off your music career or do you have a job supporting you?

I currently live with my family, including my parents, my thirty-four year old brother, his dog, and my two really young cousins. I work for my dad at my family’s formal wear rental shop, but I also take odd jobs playing percussion for theater and musical productions at my university, giving drum lessons, and the occasional piano accompanist gig.

Lastly, where do you hope your career in music will take you?

That is a really huge question. I’d love to continue to push my abilities as an electronic producer as much as I can, and I’d really like to travel and tour around in the near future. I’d also like to eventually work as a composer, writing and arranging various pieces, and possibly work as the conductor for an orchestra. I’m also really interested in scoring incidental music for various media, like video games or film, where I can really combine my more traditional influences—like Shostakovich, Mahler, and Beethoven—with my modern electronic ones.

Bandcamp: http://bansheebeat.bandcamp.com/album/galactics
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/bansheebeatmusic
Twitter:https://twitter.com/sailor_banshee