INTERVIEWS
Anthony Raneri found himself in familiar territory last Saturday at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. The New York-born singer/songwriter is constantly on the road with Bayside, but his January has consisted of the 4th annual “Where’s the Band?” acoustic tour, alongside like minded-frontmen Ace Enders, Evan Weiss, Matt Pryor, and Chris Conley. Armed with his musical comrades and his debut solo release New Cathedrals, the beloved crooner is getting ready for an intimate evening of inspiring sing-alongs for his music old and new.
Popping in and out of their small backstage dressing rooms, Raneri and his tour brethren, all close to or in their thirties, enjoyed each others company with the exuberance of new college roomates. With a cigarette in hand and a big smile, Raneri sat down with me to talk about New Cathedrals, as well as what it’s like to be on a musical road trip with some of your best friends.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Err…maybe not. But, at least for red carpet regulars, it is a pretty glamorous season. And while most of us won’t necessarily have the opportunity to decide between the Versace and the Valentino, we can still invite our besties over to cheer for the winners and play a few rounds of “guess who bought more Botox?” We're talking about the nominees, obvi!
To bring a bit more flavor to these uber-tasteful soirees, First Course grabbed a seat in the sweet kitchen of Flex Mussels’ Executive Pastry Chef (and former Top Chef: Just Desserts cheftestant) Zac Young. Check out Zac’s suggestions for the ultimate awards season dessert party and why everything is better with bacon.
Last month tech-house sensation, Manufactured Superstars came to the big apple for an exclusive party at LAVO NY. Denver natives and founding member of the infamous online music store, Beatport.com, Bradley Roulier and original employee of Beatport Shawn Sabo, two original have been in the electronic music industry for years. Their latest single, "Take Me Over" featuring Scarlett Quinn has been a We sat down with the two before their New York City gig to get the inside scoop on their first collective album through Black Hole Recordings.
Hi Joonbuggers –
Yes yes, its been a while, I know, but what can you do? I've been running around all over NYC like a headless chicken, I just haven't had time to write to you guys about my escapades. Next week I will tell you all about the Royal Wedding antics that went down in NYC, but first I better catch you all up a bit.
When I first arrived here in New York (some 12 - 13 yrs ago), the Paramount Bar at the very swish boutique hotel The Paramount was THE place to be. Over time, like most fashionable bars and restaurants, the once Ian Schrager-owned hotspot gradually fell from grace. Until now, that is. Yes, The Paramount Bar is making a welcome comeback in Midtown.
New County (previously known as The Goodnight Anthem) is a pop rock band from Philadelphia Pennsylvania. The band is currently on tour in support of their most recent release, Lives We Lead, and has recently graced New York with performances at The Vibe Lounge and Angels and Kings (with Places and Numbers). I chatted with lead singer Tony Rodini about their new album, touring, and playing in New York with Vanilla Ice!
Q: For a little bit of an introduction, how would you describe your music to someone who’s never listened to it before?
Tony: Everything has a pretty positive message and a pretty positive vibe to it. We never wanted to be pigeonholed as a “scene band,” so we’re pretty much just pop rock, kind of a little bit of alternative stuff. Pretty happy, positive music.
Joonbug spent some quality time with Brooklyn based rap duo (or dudet) Grieves and Budo to rap about being a part of the Rhymesayers label, their new tour with Atmosphere, the upcoming album due to release in the Spring and traveling to the rings of Saturn. The usual.
Q: Are there going to be a lot of new songs coming out for the new tour with Atmosphere?
G: I think we are probably going to play a couple new songs on this [Atmosphere] tour. On the tour that we are going to be doing in the winter, we are going to be supporting the new record a lot more. On this one we are trying to get one last push on the 88 Keys [and Counting] record that we just released.
Mike West has been in the rap game for a decade and a half and has seen plenty of “beef,” especially since he comes from the “Thug Life” camp. It is extra poignant when he has beef with someone he used to call friend or “onetime homeboy.” Still, the turmoil with DJ Khaled of 99 Jams that has been brewing for almost five years now has spawned a highly anticipated new mix tape, Divide & Conquer Part II from the South Florida hip-hop legend.
Young Man (Colin Caulfield) broke onto the music scene when he began uploading covers of his favorite songs to YouTube. Several notable covers later and a rather flattering acknowledgement from Dearhunter front man, Bradford Cox, Young Man is set to release his debut EP titled “Boy” on August 31. I recently caught up with Colin to talk about his distinguished YouTube presence, a sold out show with Local Natives at Governor’s Island, and his debut release.
Q: What kind of experience did you have while writing and recording "Boy" ?
YM: I was writing it during the last summer that I was living with my parents. I go to school in Chicago. I live there now but I would go back and live at home for the summers, like most people do. So for me the subject material and the idea of growing up and dealing with your future, I was in the midst of all that. At that point I was starting to grow out of being a kid. It was a very emotional experience writing the album, because for one, I’m not a five-year-old. Writing from that perspective is draining in a way because to really put yourself in that position is weird as a 20-year-old. So I just got really into it and I think it shows.
Joonbug had a chat with David Murphy, bassist of Sound Tribe Sector 9 (STS9). STS9 will be playing two shows in NYC to kick off their Summer Tour. An acoustic “Axe the Cables” set at Blender Theater @ Gramercy on August 11th (Sold Out!) and a plugged in show at the Roseland Ballroom on August 12th. The new tour has specificlly placed special acoustic shows to promote the live acoustic album, Axe the Cables, and show fans some love sans laptops. Murphy dropped knowledge on the bands progression, the planned acoustic shows, the return of their lightman Saxton, activism projects and advice for first timers who plan on seeing the intellectual party band throw down in NYC and across the US.
Carnival always stays true to its name: Fun, Festive and Freaky. It was the usual Friday night: a packed house and a hot-n-sweaty dance floor. There was a point however when I thought I lost my 'mojo'
Once the room was full, I scanned the area and observed the crowd. Early to mid 20s, 50/50 male female, an ethnically mixed group, but it appeared that there was a large birthday party with a predominantly Latin American crowd. I mapped out the next hour in my head with Hip-hop, Pop back to Hip-Hop and then I was going to hit them with a few super hot and sexy Reggaeton tracks. A deadly, combo with a booty shaking guarantee!
SO….everything was building just how I had planned it. They were predictably goo goo for GaGa, Jay 'kept them real', the peas got them giddy and then I thought I was going to hit the ‘G-spot’ with Daddy Yankee, but I when I dropped "Gasolina" I did not get the screams and cheers that I had highly anticipated. It wasn't like the song killed the dance floor, people were into it, but they seemed to be indifferent.
There was no time to sweat it, but I did think it was strange. It wasn't until about 20mins later when I realized where I went wrong. I started to play Punjabi MC's 'Boys and Girls' feat Jay-z and the crowd went BALLISTIC. I was surprised bc it's a re-current track that I don't play often. I squinted my eyes and watched as the bday party group went absolutely NUTS . It finally dawned on me that the 'Latin American' group was NOT Latin American, they were Middle Eastern. Oops, but hey it was really dark inside.
I followed Punjabi MC with MIA's Paper Planes and then shifted to T.I. into Kanye into Shakira and I before I knew it, I was rocking one hot ass party. Everything and everyone was Gucci!
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