About Flagpole. (Athens, Ga.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 5, 2011)
C O N C E AWN 2011 CONCERT SERIES Presented by ik Athens First Ban k& Trust Distinction SUNDAY, OCT. 9 HALF DOZEN BRASS BAND Traditional Horns WEDNESDAY, OCT. 19 PACKWAY HANDLE BAND Old Time Bluegrass American IVit l- r/.ri Int Connect©Athens FOR MORE INFORMATION. VISIT WWW.AMCONCERTS.COM OR CALL 706.769.2633. ■ NEXT ' *•» % FRIDAYS SATURDAY! j OCTOBER = 14 & 15 veri70nwireless AMPHITHEATRE Tickets available at all Ticketmaster outlets including • Publix Super Markets • TICKETMASTER.COM • 1.800.745.3000j^G?75 Venue box office ***► /*■*<; Ur i . j i Ti The venue is located off GA-400 in Alpharetta. For more information, visit VZWAMP.COM All ofliili o«d ukcdvltt tubjoct lo thong* wilhoot oolk*. r — • - V r«k.li lubjtct to ttrvitt ihoigt. Centtrlt iomi or thi»«. JUNIOR BOYS Searching for Truth from Canada to China eremy Greenspan, half of Canadian experimental dance/synth pop outfit Junior Boys, has written enough songs in his time to know that inspiration often comes from the most unexpected places. But for the duo's newest release, It's All True, his search for a muse led him a little farther from home than even he expected: to Shanghai, China. "You're talking about a place where the vast majority of people don't listen to any thing that we do, so that was exciting. Being there was good for gaining a little bit of per spective on how insignificant popular music can be," he says of his experience. "They're not cynical just because things are happening at such great speeds. Things are growing and happening at such an exponential and incred ible rate. There's such positive stuff going on, it seems like, and it was infectious to me." The globe-spanning trek is, in many ways, a perfect representation of Junior Boys. Greenspan and partner Matt Didemus have long been musical explorers of sorts, writing songs by combing through the sonic spheres of any equipment they can find in search of new sounds. "The drive to want to play with new equip ment and listening to new sounds is what motivates us," says Greenspan. "We play around with a piece of equipment enough that you start getting a loop that sounds interest ing. And then you keep building and adding parts before we translate that into a song and lose the parts you don't want, building choruses and verses. But it just begins with tinkering around on some piece of equipment looking for something new." It's that search that often presents the unfair paradox and generalization of much electronic music: when you're relying on com puters and machines to create your sound, how do you keep things from sounding too, well, computerized and machine-like? "I think people can sometimes hide behind [technology]. But ultimately, you can hear things that sound like demos. You can hear things that sound like they were written by software developers in Japan rather than musicians," laughs Greenspan. "For me, I find synthesizers to be these incredibly soulful things. I don't overly concern myself with how a song is made; I'm more concerned with how the final product affects me." Much of Junior Boys' effect comes in a matured live show—one that's been carefully developed and molded over time. "Matt has control of the sequencer and has about five synthesizers onstage that are either being triggered by the sequencer or that he's playing directly, and then he has an array of effects," says Greenspan of the live setup. "I'm play ing a Ic of keyboards these days, and never used to. I'm playing a lot of electric keyboards and those sort of things. And then we have a drummer on an electric drum kit, so every thing he plays is triggered and takes samples from our record and other places." It's All True is a logical step for Junior Boys' discography, reflecting a now veteran sound without losing the sense of explora tion for which they've become known. For Greenspan, the sound seems a logical step for music in general. "Electronic dance music has taken over the world now," he says. "Every indie-rock band has some sort of dance element now; even modern hip-hop is starting to have some of the sounds. It's kind of weird that it seems like a lot of the dance music scene itself died, but the remnants of it are very pervasive." Alec Wooden WHO: Junior Boys, Egyptrixx, Twin Tigers WHERE: 40 Watt Club WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 8,9 p.m. HOW MUCH: $12 V J 14 FLAGPOLE.COM • OCTOBER 5, 2011
