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MIMICRAWFORD
MUSIC NEWS AND GOSSIP
Can I Get a Witness?: Although Athens has
always had an uncomfortable attitude towards
artists who work outside the realm of the
traditional guitar, uas: and drum setup, there
are always a few people willing to risk it.
Case in point is Witness the Apotheosis.
This darkwave duo, composed of Terance
Schmidt and Zak Vaudo, rarely plays locally
but has steadily kept recording and writing.
Most recently the pair released its newest
seven-track EP, When the Night Comes, which
features five different versions of the title
track and a couple of others. Witness the
Apotheosis previously released the Monomyth
EP in 2009. The band next plays live July 5 at
Atlanta venue the Shelter, but you can check
them out over at www.witnesstheapotheo-
sis.bandcamp.com and www.facebook.com/
WitnessTheApotheosis. I heartily encourage
you to do so.
Y Great Exportations: Whether you love
'em or not, the meteoric rise of local bands
Futurebirds and Reptar cannot be denied.
Each will play this fall's Austin City Limits
Festival on Sept. 16. No word yet on who
each will actually play alongside. The festi
val has seven stages. Reptar will also play
Chicago's Lollapalooza Festival in August,
but before that the band will do a couple of
dates with Brooklyn, NY's Matt & Kim at the
end of May and then a string of dates with
Reptar
England's Art Brut in June. Reptar, which
digitally released its new EP, Oblangle Fizz
Y'all, a few weeks ago, will have a fresh vinyl
7" of the record released on July 11, courtesy
of Brooklyn's Black Bell Records. Futurebirds,
who are always on tour, are on the road for
now until the end of June (playing dates
with Jonny Comdog, Drive-By Truckers and
Centro-Matic) and will play Manchester, TN's
Bonnaroo, which runs June 9-12. Get more
information over at www.futurebirdsmusic.com
and www.reptarathens.blogspot.com.
From Their Living Room to Yours: Goofball
house-punk band The Fuzzlers released their
album, The Fuzzlers Are Here, back in April,
but you can stream it for free over at www.
thefuzzlers.bandcamp.com. Containing 12
tracks, the longest of which is only 1:25
minutes long, there's not much commitment
required to listen to the whole thing, and if
you like it, you can grab a real CD copy for a
mere $5. You get a poster that you can display
in your home to show your loyalty, too. The
Fuzzlers have some kind of invented back-
story regarding the band and a scientist that
I can't figure out to save my life. Dig 'em over
at www.thefuzzlers.com.
Drop a Line: Derek Wiggs is busy organiz
ing his annual Slop Fest, which will run
July 21-23 at Little Kings Shuffle Club.
A few bands have already locked in to play
the largely local bill, and the first night
will be mainly a dance party hosted by DJ
Mahogany. There are lots of spaces avail
able to play, though, as the event runs for
several hours each day. Interested? Then drop
a line to Wiggs via wiggsy84@gmail.com or
get in touch by searching for "Slop Fest" on
Facebook and becoming its friend.
Summertime, Summertime: Madeline is gear
ing up to release her newest full-length
album. Titled Black Velvet, the album will be
released on LP and CD, each available for
special package pre-orders now, and comes
courtesy of new Athens label This Will Be
Our Summer, which was spearheaded by Len
Neighbors (Athens PopFest) and Mike Turner
(HHBTM Records). Madeline will play a record
release show on Friday, June 3 at the 40
Watt with The Goons and The Plague. She'll
play a free, all-ages in-store performance at
Wuxtiy Records' downtown Athens location
on Saturday, June 4 from 5-6 p.m. and an
in-store show at Wuxtry in Decatur on Sunday,
June 5 from 3-4 p.m. For more info on all
this, please see www.oursummerrecords.com.
Something Is Happening: Congratulations to
Athens' Lera Lynn for taking top songwrit
ing honors in the Chris Austin Songwriting
Competition at Wilkesboro, NCs Merlefest.
She has recorded a new live video of the song,
too. In other news, Lynn made a video for her
version of TV on the Radio's "Wolf Like Me"
and has made an MP3 of the track available
for free at her website. She's got several dates
planned for the next month or so and on July
27 will play the "Music City Roots" radio show
(on Nashville, TN's WRLT 100.1 FM), which is
done live from Nashville's Loveless Cafe. For
more information, see www.leralynn.com.
Gordon Lamb threatsandpromises@flagpole.com
Consider flie Source
INTERACTIVE
"1a* funny," says Consider the Source
If S bassist John Ferrara. "When we first
started playing, we were trying to figure out:
'What are we? What scene are we?'"
Valid questions. After all, the band incor
porates myriad influences to produce its
unique sound. Guitarist Gabriel Marin and
drummer Justin Ahiyon studied music in India
just before the band officially formed, and
that Eastern influence is tremendously present
in the band's music. According to Ferrara, all
three members of Consider the Source were
"into Middle Eastern and Indian music" before,
but Marin and Ahiyon took their adventure to
"study it in a more authentic way."
When they first played for a jam-band audi
ence, Consider the Source realized these fans
"took to" their music. While the bandmembers
like jam bands and their audiences, they pre
fer not to be labeled one.
"We don't sound like a traditional jam
band; we don't even sound sort of like one,"
says Ferrara. "But, I guess, because we do a
lot of improvising, no vocals, reacting off each
other, we're put there. But we identify much
more with progressive rock and jazz fusion."
To keep its musical options free and open,
the band uses the blanket label of "progres
sive rock."
"It's a very broad genre," says Ferrara. "It
can be a dude with an acoustic guitar doing
some weird, crazy shit, or it could be like
King Crimson... who are the kings of it, in my
opinion."
One of progressive rock's key aspects is
that it's more cerebral than traditional jam
music—based more on technical planning
than "in the moment" bursts of inspiration,
according to Ferrara. "Progressive rock is more
calculated—it'll deal with odd times, meters
will change somewhat frequently—at least rel
ative to jam music. There're solos in prog rock,
but they're often more thought-out than in
jam music. In jam music, whatever the player's
feeling at the time, they play."
Most Western popular music is in the
4/4 time signature, so most Westerners are
accustomed to this meter. Some of our hemi
sphere's popular songs are in 3/4, a meter
most commonly associated witN the waltz.
When a band deviates from these two familiar
time signatures, it can be quite challenging
for an unaccustomed audience to hit upon
the rhythm. Consider the Source exploits its
audience's rhythmic unfamiliarity to "keep the
listener on their toes."
'This very often happens," laughs Ferrara,
"and it's hysterical to watch. Everyone [in the
crowd] will be jamming out one way, then
seven [beat] comes in, and they don't know
what to do. They're bobbing on the two and
four, and then all of a sudden, their one is
now a five, and they don't know what to make
of it. But then, they adjust to it. And they like
it. They like that they've just been screwed
with a little bit.".
The band has toured around the U.S.
several times, and in October 2010, they per
formed in Israel and Turkey. "I was a little ner
vous at first—going to the part of the world
where the music that we've been playing actu
ally originated from," says Ferrara. "We didn't
want to come across as phonies [laughs]. But
what else can you do? You've got to play what
you play. So we did, and sure enough, we were
very well received."
Far from being perceived as "phonies," in
the Middle East the band found an audience
accustomed to its odd rhythms, according to
Ferrara. "The coolest thing about Israel and
Turkey both, as far as the audience's response
to us, is that every single person has awesome
rhythm. When they clap along, they're dead
on."
Besides being eclectic, technically impres
sive and uniquely innovative, Consider the
Source aims to be an interactive band that
genuinely connects with its listeners: "What
we're all about is communicating with our
audience," says Ferrara. "That's what we
crave—what we love."
Kevin Craig
. ;
WHO. Consider the Source,
Lazer/Wuif, Jungol
WHERE: Caledonia Lounge
WHEN. Saturday, luna 4,9:30 p.m.
HOW MUCH: $7(21+), $9 (18-20)
12 FLAGPOLE.COM-JUNE 1,2011
