Category: Interviews

Interviews with prominent bands and other figures in and around the Denver, Front Range, and National/Global music scene.

“Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson,” Synchronicity and the Populist Promise of Kickstarter
April 26, 2012 Off

“Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson,” Synchronicity and the Populist Promise of Kickstarter

By Billy Thieme

Ben Dicke, local theater professional, looks for Kickstarter Funding to Premiere the Controversial Emo-Punk Musical at the Aurora Fox, Just in Time for Election Day.

Could it be any more … prophetic?

In an election year that’s rife with populist rhetoric, where pundits on both sides seem to pontificate endlessly about the problems of the common folk of Main Street, the excesses of the rich and Wall Street, and how neither side has the right idea about either, Ben Dicke, a local theater teacher and accomplished producer, director, playwright and performer, has been called by the muses to produce an uncannily appropriate play in the Aurora Fox – “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson.”

These always tricky (or so I’ve been told) muses have called out to him over an emo-sounding band (actually, it could be argued that emo – with its roots in common angst and the everyday futility of making it through in an overwhelmingly unfair (but often tearfully beautiful) world – might be the epitome of rock’s populist side), to produce and act in one of American Theater’s few emo-rock operas. And – also like much of the real-life action and rhetoric of this year’s supremely important pastime – this musical-American-political-history-lesson-slash-controversial-production promises to pack a strong comedic punch.

DenverThread Interview – Flipper – Steve DePace
March 28, 2012 Off

DenverThread Interview – Flipper – Steve DePace

By Billy Thieme

OK – Who remembers Flipper?

More appropriately: Who knows why they should remember – or at least be aware of – Flipper?

Get this: – It could be argued that without Flipper, there may have been no Nirvana, or much of the sloppier side of “Grunge,” or at least the whole scene would likely sound a little different (less sloppy, maybe?). Disagree? Let’s discuss (in comments).

In any case,regardless of what we all think, Flipper has left an indelible mark on music in its 33-years as a band on this accursed planet. A deep-cut-with-a-dull-blade, thick and juicy sludge trail, maybe – and one that may have laid the original tracks for sludge metal bands like Sunn-0))), Sleep, The Melvins and the like – but indelible nonetheless. And if that kind of connection can hold true, then we should all remember Flipper, and they should be held aloft in our music appreciation lists alongside heavy hitters like Black Flag and Black Sabbath, in reflection of their contributions.

I think that Flipper may indeed have been before its time in a sense. We were described as a Grunge Band in 1980, a full 10 years before it became a musical format. – Steve DePace

And – even if you disagree, or don’t even know whether or not you agree – you’re in luck, because Flipper is holding a two-day residence this Thursday and Friday – March 29th and 30th – at the venerated Lion’s Lair to kick off another long touring season (Europe – for about a million dates – is next). The seminal pre-post-hardcore-avant-sludge-proto-noise-punk band is celebrating two Punk Rock Art Show openings in Denver this week with the shows. First, on Thursday, March 29th, “Ruby Ray: Punk Passage” opens at the Colorado Photographic Arts Center (445 S. Saulsbury St., Lakewood), and celebrates the San Fransisco punk scene of the late ’70s. Then, on Friday, March 30th, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver will open up “Bruce Conner: The Primal Scene of Punk Rock,” which focuses on the San Fransisco punk scene in 1977, with flyers, photos and videos.
But enough of anything not about Flipper. In sync with the two-show Lions Lair residence, DenverThread spoke with Flipper drummer Steve DePace about Flipper’s history, now and future, and a few other things. Check it out – and get to these shows:

The DenverThread Interview: Michael Gira
March 20, 2012 Off

The DenverThread Interview: Michael Gira

By Billy Thieme

Gira discusses SWANS and more, before an upcoming gig with Wovenhand, The Howling Hex, March 24 at the Oriental Theater

When I discovered SWANS at a 1986 punk show at the Eagle’s Lodge (they played cuts from their then-current LP “Greed,” with two bombastic drummers, thundering bass and bulldozing guitar, Jarboe screaming and Michael Gira – barefoot, shirtless, drenched and suffocating himself with a mic chord and self-loathing howls of terror – or pain – or disgust) it was one of the shows that changed my life, and cemented my lifelong involvement in the interpretation of music – especially live music. And it wasn’t just because I was one of two people that I know actually enjoyed the show (my date being the other – and we still talk about that day).

It was because I knew I’d seen something musically that, in my young 20-year-old mind, made no sense. In the context of destroying buildings with sonic explosions, or of torture, or of avalanches of rock and mud tearing through entire villages – sure, in that context what I’d experienced made sense. But not as music. My body, though, felt otherwise, and that gut feeling has remained with me since then.

Fast forward 26 years, and SWANS remains one of the most intriguing and influential musical artforms in my life. And they’ve gone through a world of evolution – from that aggressive, sonically crushing noise in the ’80s, through a terrifyingly beautiful and complex oeuvre of sonic sculpture as the ’90s progressed, to a recently reformed, fully formed and mature modern prometheus the likes of which would likely make Mary Shelley quiver with delight upon discovering – so complete a match for something so human, so man-made, horrifyingly misshapen – and perfectly sublime.

Suffice to say that, if you haven’t seen or experienced SWANS – even on record – do it. The visionary leader behind the seminal noise and eardrum-crunching band, Michael Gira (pronounced gear-AH, I now know), is beginning a tour of the western side of the US and Europe, and is stopping here at our beloved Oriental Theater this Saturday night, March 24th, for a solo opening spot to “warm up” for David Eugene Edwards’ local behemoth Wovenhand, and featuring The Howling Hex.

It’s a pairing not destined to happen again – to miss it would be a huge mistake. Gira was gracious enough to take some time to talk with me about SWANS, his views on illegal downloading, his music, David Eugene Edwards and more. Read on to see what we talked about….

Threading Now – Denver Day of Rock uses local musicians to create community, still needs volunteers
May 3, 2011 Off

Threading Now – Denver Day of Rock uses local musicians to create community, still needs volunteers

By Billy Thieme

On Saturday, May 28th, Concerts For Kids will be presenting Denver Day of Rock, now in its third year, in downtown Denver. With a slew of bands – both local and national acts – that cross genres from pop/rock to Zydeco, the all-ages event is a perfect opportunity to get everyone in the family out in front of some decent live music.

Denver Day of Rock was put together by Concerts For Kids for the first time in June of 2009 as an all-day outdoor music event designed to raise awareness of children in the Denver community, and the many charities that exist that help them. In just three years, the show has grown from two stages in two completely separate parts of town and a show at the Fillmore, to five stages along the 16th Street Mall and more than twenty bands.

Golden’s Erik Husman records sophomore effort @TheWalnutRoom Thursday night
March 22, 2011 Off

Golden’s Erik Husman records sophomore effort @TheWalnutRoom Thursday night

By Billy Thieme

One of the more popular new trends lately has been a band’s live rendition of an influential record from their past. It’s a pretty cool thing, too, to see bands like Pixies play albums we all grew up listening to, live, in their entirety.

It’s not often, though, that we get to share the stage with the performers to help create a recording that just might become one that everyone remembers years from now. This Thursday, local troubadour Erik Husman and the Walnut Room are offering just that opportunity. Husman, a brand-spanking new addition to the scene, out of the city of Golden – will be playing a set of all new material that night, and recording the entire affair, and will produce the result as his second release.

“I’m kind of freaking out, really,” said an almost giddy Husman when I sat across from him in a Golden bar recently. “It’s not like preparing for a gig. I’ve got to do about 180 hours of studio performance [about the time it took to record his first album] free-form, live, in one take. There’s no going back,” he added. “But it’ll be the most genuine thing, the only way to capture the real me.”

Husman’s style ranges from rough spirituals and anthems that recall Woodie Guthry and Pete Seeger with heavy influence from classic country, to a solid indie feel with a little more more than a nod to the Radiohead crowd.

What/Where This Weekend? The “Love Project” debuts, and Sunder plays at the Larimer Lounge
February 11, 2011 Off

What/Where This Weekend? The “Love Project” debuts, and Sunder plays at the Larimer Lounge

By Billy Thieme

This weekend’s one night stand will feature some photos from the “My Life” project, but is focused on “The Love Project.” As the Denver Post’s John Moore reported recently, “The Love Project” came out of De Giovanni’s deep desire to “… figure out how to recognize real love,” as a result of her last breakup. The methodology of each shoot is to open the shutter quickly, again and again and again, for one minute, and one minute only, as the couple in question attempts to show her their love. One and only one photograph is chosen to represent the couple, and becomes a vision of their connection.