Maranatha is the studio project of Collin Simula, former drummer of Symphony in Peril. The latest Maranatha release, Incarnate, features Simula taking on all writing and recording duties. I spoke with Simula about the album and the inspiration behind it.
What are the plans with this release? Are you forming a full band? Maybe a proper release with a label? Some one-off shows somehow?
Plans-wise, I’m kind of just riding it out, honestly. I didn’t realize it would take off as fast as it did. I would like to put out a physical release in the near future, and I’d love to do a split seven-inch or two sometime soon. It’s super liberating to have self-released this and it’d take a pretty good deal for me to sign with someone.
I do plan on getting a live band together for some one-offs. No real plans of touring, as I am a father of two kids with one on the way, and very happy with my designer day job. But I definitely want to play some shows. Selfishly, it’s also liberating to have done this all myself, as far as writing/recording goes. So I’m not sure I’d actually form a studio/writing band, just a live one.
Since Maraqopa came out yesterday, I thought this would be a good opportunity to plug the interviews I did with Damien Jurado and Richard Swift for my “day job.” (That’s in quotes because it’s actually a nighttime gig…irony, right?)
We also talked at length about Maraqopa and the nuances of their relationship in the studio. Plus Swift used the term “grown ass woman” while discussing Captain Beefheart. That counts for something.
Connecticut’s Life In Your Way returns from the grave to release three EPs, each with their own specific theme, on the Come&Live! label. I contacted designer Bryan Minear about his work designing the covers.
“I knew I wanted the artwork for the three EPs to remain somewhat consistent. I kept in mind what Thrice did with The Alchemy Index, which I believe Dustin Kensrue himself did the artwork for. But really I just wanted to visualize what I felt the EPs were, which is hard sometimes when you don’t have any music to use as inspiration. The three artworks were done before LIYW even stepped into the studio. I felt like I had a firm enough grasp on the concept and what LIYW were going to do on their end to bring it all together. Darkness was the first to be completed, and still remains my favorite of the three.”
Summer is all about good weather and good music. And no other band will embody the summer feel than Seapony. Hailing from the great music mecca of Seattle, this dreamy surf-pop sound is sure to be found on any quality summer mix.
But don’t be so quick to lump this band into one season. Seapony will certainly be a vital part of music for the quite a few seasons to come.
I recently sat down with Jen from Seapony at the band’s Brooklyn debut for Northside Festival. We talked briefly about what summer means for Seapony and the band’s upcoming plans. And with the best set of the weekend, I highly recommend checking out this band if you can.
Western Pennsylvania’s Zao is about to play what may be their only show of the year (July 2 at the Altar Bar in Pittsburgh). Additionally, they’re poised to release their 10th studio album, and I got the chance to talk to guitarist Scott Mellinger about the upcoming show, album and Scott’s anger issues toward me.
The Altar Bar show is the first and possibly only show for Zao in 2011. What’s the reason for the sparse appearances? What can we look forward to?
Sadly, with our situations it’s tough getting together and doing shows. We hopefully will be doing some more though in the future here, one show a year sucks for us, too! Also I think people can look forward to five guys that are hungrier to play than most bands out there touring. Life changes and priorities change, but music is all of our lives, and we appreciate every single second we get to do it. We look at these one-off shows as the only chance we get to prove we are worth coming to see!
I haven’t read of any opening bands. Is it a surprise?
Oh yeah! There are three: Arcane Haven, Hero Destroyed and Brown Angel. All extremely awesome heavy bands that are coming up in Pittsburgh. Brown Angel actually consists of dudes that we are very close friends with and that Jeff has played with since high school!
For some indie rock listeners, connecting with the music of an instrumental band can be challenging. Even at their zenith (e.g. Don Caballero, Godspeed! You Black Emperor), bands determined to move audiences by the sheer audacity of their, well, music alone can wear out their welcome. It just happens. Maybe it’s because the quiet/loud/quiet formula gets old? Maybe the human ear just yearns to connect with a human voice from time to time?
Whatever the reason, Maserati probably doesn’t care. Though they started out following the instrumental codes of post-rock, the band soon transformed into a futuristic groove-based instrumental act, and they remain that to this day — despite whatever changes in taste indie rock fans have gone through since their inception, and despite the infinitely more significant human tragedy that befell their former drummer.
On Nov. 8, 2009, Jerry Fuchs was pronounced dead. Early New York headlines detailed a story of a Brooklyn partygoer who fell down an elevator shaft after it gave way. Some reports said the person helped others out before he even attempted to jump. Within hours, Fuchs (also known for his wild percussion skills in !!! and Turing Machine) was identified.
Fuchs’ sudden death not only shocked friends, family members and fans all around the world, it also left the rest of Maserati’s members grief-stricken and conflicted. Earlier in 2009, the band had begun work on their fourth album, Pyramid of the Sun.
With the help of Zombi’s Steve Moore, the band finished the recordings that gave way to Pyramid of the Sun and the 10-inch single Pyramid of the Moon – a kind of light vs. dark undertaking. Using song sketches from Fuchs’ computer, all tracks were finished by asking “What would Jerry do?”
Maserati announced a tour in support of the newest release with Zombi’s kit man Tony Paterra filling the empty spot. On the final show of the first leg of the U.S. tour (a West Coast tour begins in April), I sat down with guitarist Coley Dennis, escaping the noise of the Atlanta bar — but not the cold. He somberly admitted that each show has come with hesitation and excitement, yet the unprecedented stoic performance given later that night oozed the same bittersweet feelings that marked the conversation.
Buzzgrinder regular Chase Pagan is coming down to Austin for our SXSW day party with a new band, Family History. We’re really excited to have Family History make its SXSW debut at our party. As such, we thought Buzzgrinderers might want to know a little about this latest endeavor.
Was there anything in particular that prompted the creation of Family History, or was it an organic process that just kind of happened?
I was really wanting to write with people, instead of doing it all on my own. This first batch of songs are some of the ones I had all ready written on my own, but I am hoping we get to do more writing together before the record is recorded.
How does Family History differ from what you’ve done in the past personally? What things are distinctly “Chase Pagan” about the band?
I would say I am playing a lot more guitar, maybe singing a little lower.
It’s still pretty scattered and all over the place, as all ways.
Are there any immediate plans or ideas for the band in terms of records and touring at this point?
The only plan as of now is to record. We are talking to some exciting producers about getting involved, I will fill you in on that when I can.
What’s your favorite thing about SXSW?
I think looking at all the people, seeing the different fashions that people are trying to pull off! That is all ways fun. Other then that catching up with friends and bands I haven’t seen in a while.
SXSW can be crazy for so many reasons and in so many ways. Do you have any zany stories from trips to Austin in March?
The only thing that comes to mind is, one year we were about to hit the road and we lost one of our friends that was riding with us for about 10 hours. He didn’t have a cell phone, so we just had to search the whole town for him. We found him just sitting on the curb out side a bar.
I sat down with Nick Nowell, lead singer of The Famine, a month ago to talk about their new album, The Architects of Guilt. The weekend prior, an assassination attempt on Gabrielle Giffords had occurred, and it dominated most of our pre-interview conversation and also bled into the interview itself.
It was somewhat fitting as The Famine’s new album is, in large, a statement of disgust of America’s current political climate. The album is out now, and I can’t recommend it enough. It’s heavy, passionate and intelligent — everything a good metal record should be.
This is the fourth of four parts that we’ve been posting throughout the week. Yeah, it was a long interview.
15 years ago, if you wanted to listen to a band like The Famine, you couldn’t just hop online and find them. You had to search for the kind of stuff. Do you think with kids now there is a dissociation or a detachment from bands? At least for me, there’s something visceral about holding an album in your hands. You know, having something tangible.
I think we might be the last generation that will really do that. Why would a kid run around and get yelled at by a guy in gym shorts when he can sit at home and play X-Box or surf the internet? Kids don’t seek out bands anymore — bands find them.
And why would kid who has been listening to Taylor Swift on the radio with the processed vocals and drums listen to something like Cattle Decapitation — which is awesome but very inaccessible — when they can listen to Killswitch Engage where they will recognize melody and verse/chorus structure. Why listen to A when B is sleeker and better packaged? But then you got C, D and E, which dilutes it even further.
You guys went on tour with Underoath, Solid State’s biggest selling band. How was that?
The guys from Underoath are all super nice and were kind enough to take us out, but at times we thought, “What are we doing here?” It was the biggest crowd of disinterested 14-year-old girls texting their boyfriends about how fat we were.
I sat down with Nick Nowell, lead singer of The Famine, a month ago to talk about their new album, The Architects of Guilt. The weekend prior, an assassination attempt on Gabrielle Giffords had occurred, and it dominated most of our pre-interview conversation and also bled into the interview itself.
It was somewhat fitting as The Famine’s new album is, in large, a statement of disgust of America’s current political climate. The album is out now, and I can’t recommend it enough. It’s heavy, passionate and intelligent — everything a good metal record should be.
This is the third of four parts that we’ll be posting throughout the week. Yeah, it was a long interview.
So why do TV shows and movies and art get a free pass, while music gets the shaft? Everyone throws away their Prince albums or their INXS albums. "I don’t want to be androgynous and I don’t want to hang myself masturbating, so I’m only going to listen to Further Seems Forever."
But they keep their David Carradine movies.
He was delightful in Death Race 2000.
I think that’s a great question, and I’ve never actually considered that before. But my response to that would be it’s because — and I’m not sure how this came about — for 25 years in this country, there has been a defined and reinforced market for Christian music which isn’t the same for Christian TV shows or Christian movies. Except for Bible Man.
Which is awesome.
It’s awesome in the same way Evil Dead is awesome. It’s like a… social experiment.
I sat down with Nick Nowell, lead singer of The Famine, a month ago to talk about their new album, The Architects of Guilt. The weekend prior, an assassination attempt on Gabrielle Giffords had occurred, and it dominated most of our pre-interview conversation and also bled into the interview itself.
It was somewhat fitting as The Famine’s new album is, in large, a statement of disgust of America’s current political climate. The album is out now, and I can’t recommend it enough. It’s heavy, passionate and intelligent — everything a good metal record should be.
This is the second of four parts that we’ll be posting throughout the week. Yeah, it was a long interview.
You don’t support the troops!
[laughs] I’m not that guy. I’m not that bleeding heart, but you can say, “I want all of our soldiers to do the job they were hired to do and come home safely, but I don’t want them to kill innocent people.” I think that’s an admirable line to draw, but a lot of people would then cast suspicion on that which seems silly to me.
Do you think metal, as a genre, should be more political?
I’m a political junkie, but I’m not gonna say I know more than anyone. These are my opinions. Fat Mike got a lot of flak for trying to enter the politics game, and people said, “You’re in your late 30s and you’re a noted drug abuser from a pop punk band.” And they, myself included, just rolled their eyes. I don’t want to be that guy.
Maranatha is the studio project of Collin Simula, former drummer of Symphony in Peril. The latest Maranatha release, Incarnate, features Simula taking on all writing and recording duties. I spoke with Simula about the album and the inspiration behind it. 
Photos: Obits at the Black Cat
Photos: The Promise Ring at The Metro
Photos: Monotonix at Fun Fun Fun Fest
Photos: Valient Thorr at Fun Fun Fun Fest
Photos: Danielson, Welcome Wagon at The 930 Listening Room