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PAGE 6
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 28, 2007
Heartfelt interview with the Heart Attacks
By Bobby Moore
rmoore 7@my.westga .eciu
Guest writer
On March 4, I met up
with The Heart Attacks,
who were just coming off
of a lengthy tour with The
Queers and The Manfields.
When I first met up
with the band, they were
playing soccer with some of
their friends. After six goals
by guitarist Tuk and four by
lead singer Chase Noles.they
sat down for an interview at
the Brewhouse, a restaurant
in Atlanta’s Little 5 Points.
Silence: You guys are about
to go on tour again, right ?
Ttxk: Yeah, we’re going to
spend a few days at SXSW
and then we are going to go
on a Hellcat package tour
with a few bands like The
Necromantix.
Silence: Just a few' weeks
■
■ ago you were ending your
first North American tour that
included dates in Canada.
What was that like?
Chase: Honestly, it was
awesome. The Queers (the
opening act) were awesome.
Silence: Do you like how
you were received outside of
Atlanta?
Chase: It varies from city to
city.
Tuk: We’ve done a few East
Coast mini-tours so we’ve
got a following in some cities.
You’ve got to understand
that we’re the first band of
our kind to reach the level
that we’ve reached.
Brian Taylor art galleiy views nature from its roots
By Morgan Wenderoth
Guest Writer
mwenderl @myyvestgci£du
This month in the
Main Gallery on the first
floor of the Humanities
building, we are brought
the lively works of
Brian Taylor. Brian
Taylor is a Professor
of Art from Shorter
College in nearby
Rome, Georgia. Taylor
received his Bachelor
of Fine Arts from the
University of Memphis,
and his Master of Fine
Art from Memphis
State University. His
concentration for both
degrees is in Studio
Art.
The pieces that he
brought to our main
gallery are from a body of
work titled “Translated
Landscapes”. This
particular body of work
consists of paintings
done in an abstract
expressionist manner.
They are paintings of
landscapes, and the
Chase: There are bands like
The Casualties where if you
are a street punk band you
sound like them. There’s no
band like that for us.
Silence: Your album has
been out for several months
now. When you go to towns
you haven’t been to while
touring, do the people in the
audience seem to know all
of the songs already?
TUk: It varies.
Chase: What’s really funny
is when they
nod their
head and
fake like
they know
our songs.
It was even
funnier when
The Queers
would play
their two
or three
Ramo n e s
covers and
kids in the
audience
wearing
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Ramones shirts wouldn’t
know' the songs.
Silence: Was it exciting to
become a part of Hellcat?
Tuk: Yes sir.
Chase: It was huge for us to
have them take a chance by
signing us since we are the
only band of our kind.
Silence: Based on the
review's I’ve read, a lot of
writers don’t know how to
take you guys, so they fall
back on the old, lazy "let’s
mystery and emotion
that the landscapes
posses. Brian Taylor
says, “translating the
landscapes is a process of
losing oneself in nature,
of remembering to
forget the preconceived
descriptions that we have
attached to its visual
forms. The landscape
is in a continual state
of becoming - nature
is an energy that is
changing something
into something else.”
To make all these
paintings, Taylor
works from complete
and realistic drawings
that he creates while
in nature and which he
then takes back to his
studio and puts away.
He then paints his
translated landscape
from memory of the
place and the experience
of making the drawings.
Using acrylic paint
on laminated wood,
he produces vibrant
abstract landscapes that
show the energy that is
compare them to The Clash
or The New York Dolls”
when you guys don’t even
sound like The Dolls.
Chase: We don’t look like
them, either. 1 don’t wear
high heels on stage. 1 will
admit, though, that we do
sound similar to them in
some songs.
Thk: We don’t sound like
The New York Dolls. I’d
rather be compared to
someone like Motley Crue.
Chase: And don’t forget that
we sound like Ratt.
Tuk: Give me a break
“She’s my cherry pie!” We
don’t sound a thing like that.
Chase: If there’s one band
from the ‘RO’s that we luik
and sound like, it’s Spinal
Tap. Speaking of lcxiks.
sometimes 1 type "vintage
t-shirt” into ebay. And
sometimes I buy them.
TUk: And you can print
that!
Silence: I had anew one the
We promise, this Brian Taylor painting looks better in
color.
in nature. He shows the
movement, change, and
other day. Someone told me
that you guy s are a rip-off of
the Towers of Lond< in.
Chase: I didn't even know
who the lowers of London
were until he (Tuk) told me
about them the other day.
I\ik: They weren’t even
punk kids that grew up
listening to it like we did.
They were a bunch of posers
listening to Oasis. Plus, we
don’t have a SI million and
a major label backing us.
Silence: What bands are you
really influenced by'.’
Chase: The Coasters, Dire
Straits. Huey Lewis and the
News, all of the Eagles side
projects and Drivin’ and
Crying.
luk: We don’t really like
those bands.
Silence: You mentioned
The Eagles in jest, but the
opening riffs of "Hellhound
and Heartless” remind me a
little of Joe W alsh
Tuk: That's awesome, dude.
elusiveness of all the
different landscapes.
It’s more like western rock
and roll. Surely your parents
liked stuff like that. t<x>.
Silence: Oh yeah. I could
tell you anything you want
to know' about Lynyrd
Skynyrd.
Ink: I love Lynyrd
Skynyrd.
Chase: I like them. tix>.
We’re not bozos that wear
belt buckles and all of that,
though. Get with the times,
man.
Si len c e:
1 lave you
read these
alb u m
reviews
I just
referenced?
I uk: Yeah,
they usually
say worst
album of
the year.
Chase 1 : Oh
yeah, "beer
drip pin g
rock and roll " or w hatever.
Tuk: What it comes down to
is that they don’t want to see
a band w ith long hair play ing
punk roc k and roll but if you
lixik back at the bands that
started punk they hxtked a
lot like us.
Silence: I’ve noticed that
even the bad review s say that
the title track and the song
w ith Joan Jett ("Tearstained
Letters") are gixxY
I think all the songs are
about even, so what sets
Taylor's work is
focused on reconnecting
the viewer with nature.
To help the viewer
with the mystery that
the landscapes posses,
phrases are extended
from the titles of the
paintings. The phrases,
some w ith a poetic feel,
are usuallv connected
with the piece during
the work's development,
and are said to be the
painting's signature,
not that of the artist.
For example, one of
the first paintings seen
when approaching the
gallery, and my favorite,
is “Cactus Plants At
Night” as if to seek
the truth behind the
impulsiveness of doing
nothing with abandon.
It is a piece that is
very much alive. It not
only catches the eye,
but captures it as well;
it has so much energy
and motion in it that
the painting is utterly
breathtaking. This
piece being a particular
I I II \\ IS I ( ,1 ( )| ,1 \\
them apart?
Chase: 1 appreciate that,
man I think they just like
the one song because of Joan
Jett.
Tuk: I really like Lyes I like
that catchy 7()’s punk sound
I want the next album to be
more like that
Silence: How did the duet
w ith Jett come about?
Tuk: Chase w rote that song,
and he had in mind to sing
it with a woman. When Lars
Lrederiksen suggested that
we make a list of who we
had in mind, and he said
we should start at the top of
the list and she was the first
person we contacted.
Chase: We didn’t know
who we’d get. I figured n
might be someone like the
girl from The Horror Pops
i Patricia Day).
Ink: We had in mind to get
Jett or Debbie Harry.
Silence: What bands would
you like to tour with in the
future?
Tuk: 1 and love to tour with
furbonegro. and Motorhead
would blow my mind.
Silence: lb wrap this up.
what will the band be doing
in the near future?
Chase: louring a lot and
then recording.
Tuk: W e re going to work
hard for a year and if we
haven’t progressed then
we ll need to make changes.
favorite of mine. I had to
ask the artist about the
inspiration behind this
piece. Taylor describes
it as a landscape in
New Mexico at night, it
was windy with lots of
energy and excitement
in the air. and the cactus
plants were of the same
colors that he uses in
the painting.
In his artist
statement Taylor writes.
“My art is an attempt
to portrav the illusive
qualities of the light,
color, and movement
within a particular
natural environment.
Also. I hope to reveal
a poetic undercurrent
-a kind of romanticism
that I feel exists in the
organized chaos of the
natural world." Taylor's
statement expresses
exactly what the viewer
sees in his work:
expressions of abstract
landscapes and of an
“organized chaos” that
exists in the mysteries
of the natural world.