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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
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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
