Category: National

Live reviews of act traveling through Denver, many published originally on Denver Post Reverb

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….