PRODUCT COPY

Originally published in Performer Magazine

As one of the biggest bands to come out of the Los Angeles punk scene in the ’70s and ’80s, X has been through it all – a handful of albums, tours, changes in their lineup and a brief hiatus before regrouping in the late 1990s. They have consistently played shows and toured since returning to the scene, and although they have not released any new music as a collective since 1984’s Ain’t Love Grand!, they continue to receive great critical praise over their live performances.

The band’s most recent set of shows, however, was introduced with some unfortunate news.

On July 9th, X announced that guitarist Billy Zoom had been diagnosed with bladder cancer, and aside from the first four shows at The Observatory in Santa Ana, CA, he would not be accompanying the band during their three-month stint of shows, as he would be seeking immediate and intensive treatment for the disease.

“I just love Billy so much,” says lead singer Exene Cervenka. “I’ve known him for 40 years. I just worship him. He’s the funniest, smartest person in the world – it’s really sad.”

This isn’t the first time members of the band have dealt with health issues – in 2010, Zoom announced that he had been successfully treated for prostate cancer, and in 2009, Cervenka released a statement that she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, which she later found out was misdiagnosed.

“Life is not easy,” Cervenka continues, “but you know, Billy always quotes Betty Davis when she says, ‘Getting old isn’t for sissies.’ We’re getting older, but we’re moving along.”

At the time of publication, Zoom had just started chemotherapy at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles and was doing “as well as can be expected for someone in his situation,” according to Cervenka. “I really think he’ll be fine – he’s got a good prognosis, so we’re hoping for the best.”

With Zoom unable to travel with the band, X enlisted the help of Texas-based guitarist Jesse Dayton (Waylon Jennings, Supersuckers) to temporarily fill in alongside the rest of the original X line up – Cervenka, vocalist/bassist John Doe, and and drummer D.J. Bonebreak.

While Cervenka says the absence of Zoom is undeniably noticeable, Dayton’s charisma has helped to make the transition a little easier. “After just one rehearsal, he stepped right up and knew all the songs. He’s very talented, very artistic and very professional – and he’s fun to be around. He’s the perfect person to have here filling in,” Cervenka continues. “He’s playing the songs like they’re X songs, while putting his own personality into them. He just goes out there and tears it up while making sure the audience is having a great time.”

There’s no doubt that X has felt the love of their audience, and after almost 40 years of being in the industry, they’ve built a fan base that continually supports the band through it all.

Less than 24 hours after Zoom’s illness was made public, fans and friends donated well over the goal of $50,000 to a GoFundMe account set up by X’s tour manager, Mike Rouse, to help Zoom and his family support themselves as he went through treatment. “In the music community, we all take turns helping each other out and have since the beginning,” Rouse wrote on the GoFundMe page. “Punk rock and benefits always went hand in hand: you name the cause, and the bands and fans will be there.”

X’s Facebook page has been flooded with comments like, “Kick cancer’s ass, Billy!” – all sending wishes for a speedy recovery.

“I think he’s overwhelmed by the love people have given him and his family, and the amount of money that was donated,” Cervenka says. “It brings tears to my eyes. I had no idea what to expect, but the audiences have been so overwhelmingly supportive through it all.”

And that support, she said, is what keeps the band going, especially through the hard times.

“It’s tough because there’s a part of me that feels like I shouldn’t be having a good time out here – almost like a weird survivor’s guilt,” she explains, “but we know that the fans want us to have a good time and they want to have a good time. They are celebrating that we’re here, and even if Billy isn’t; they know he is here in spirit and they are supporting him by coming out.”

In less than two weeks, close to 2,000 people raised over $80,000, and the support continues to trickle in, as donations are made on the GoFundMe page almost hourly.

The support has been so phenomenal that the band is working on setting up a “Billy Zoom Cancer Grant” through the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, a non-profit organization based out of LA that aims to give financial assistance to musicians who are struggling to make ends meet while facing illnesses, disability or other ailments.

“All of the money that isn’t used will be donated,” says Cervenka, “so if there is a guitar player or drummer or someone out there with cancer, this money can go to help that person who may not have the name recognition or support. You can keep the fund going in his name, and I think that’s the best way to honor him is by knowing that he is helping other people because he’s a very good person.”

The future is inevitably uncertain, but for X, the support they continue to receive throughout the years has allowed them to consistently do what they love most – tour and perform.

“Bands are always waiting for what’s next. I think it’s the same for everyone in the creative industry whether you’re an artist or writer or whatever, you just kind of have to hope that the phone will ring for that next gallery opening or gig,” Cervenka says. “Luckily for us, the phones keep ringing.”

At this point, the band’s main focus is to do whatever they can to ensure Zoom is healthy and cancer free, but Cervenka said that so long as the fans keep coming, you can expect to catch X performing for many more years to come – and, in confidence, she says, with Billy alongside them.

“We want to keep playing and we hope that once Billy gets better and feels up to it that we can get back on the road. I hope we just keep getting to play because I really love it and value it more every day for these very reasons,” Cervenka says. “It’s been a great run for X, and I never want it to end.”

For a list of upcoming shows, or more information on how to send support to Billy Zoom’s GoFundMe campaign, visit xtheband.com.

Originally published in Performer Magazine

It has been ten years since the initial release of their widely acclaimed debut Broom – so there is no doubt the music of Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin has gone through quite a bit of change and progression throughout their career. The band has captured a variety of stylings, from soft acoustic folk ballads to catchy indie-pop tracks over the years – all while managing to create an overall sound that is undeniably their own. However, where they shine the most and seem to gain the most applause from critics and bloggers alike is in their energetic live performances.

Which is why their fifth studio album, The High Country, may be their best work yet.

“One of our friends told me that before she goes to our shows, she wants to get pumped up by listening to our music,” says Phil Dickey (guitars/drums/vocals), “but the studio albums are never on the same level.”

From start to finish, however, The High Country is a raw, high-energy record sure to fix any SSLYBY fan’s craving for the feeling of attending their live performances.

After spending a month demoing and practicing, the trio of Dickey, Will Knauer (guitar/vocals) and Tom Hembree (bass) recorded the album at Seattle’s legendary Hall of Justice with the help of Beau Sorenson (Superchunk, Garbage).

“It’s more in the direction of Let it Sway – but there’s a lot more energy and it’s a lot more aggressive overall,” says Knauer.

Opening track “Line on You” is a high-octane track filled with fuzzy upbeat guitar riffs, followed by the fast tempo of “Step Brother City,” the first single off the album. Even the slower ballads, like “Madeline,” have their own sort of raw beauty.

The band attributes a large part of this sound to Sorenson, who previously worked with the band on Let it Sway in 2010.

“It was really great because there was never that moment of trying to get to know each other, so we could just get to work immediately,” explained Knauer. “He helped us to be very efficient and gave us some extra power that we don’t normally have.”

“I think sometimes when we’re self-recording, even if it’s a lo-fi recording, we tend to aim for perfection and keep doing things over, and one of Beau’s big things is trusting the recording process,” added Dickey.

Originally published on FLAUNT.COM

Phantogram’s Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter are, as the name suggests, a duo that create an optical illusion of psychedelic, dreamy, beat driven sounds.

Hailing from Saratoga Springs, New York, the band was signed to Barsuk Records in October of last year, and released their first full-length record “Eyelid Movies” this past February. It is a recording of eleven songs that leaves the listener filled with musical metaphors in connection with each track, just as the band intended.

“A lot of our ideas stemmed from visual imagery and what we imagined something would sound like; for example, in ‘Running from the Cops,’ we wanted to recreate what it would sound like if we were actually running from the cops,” Carter said.

Having landed gigs opening for acts like Minus the Bear, Ra Ra Riot, and Yeasayer, Phantogram are currently touring extensively in promotion of their new album. The duo stopped at Bordello Bar in Downtown Los Angeles, and played a set that was both aesthetically and melodiously pleasing. Despite being comprised of only two-people, Phantogram use synths, samplers, keyboard, and guitar to make it seem as if the band is comprised of something much larger. They also use various lighting techniques creating a stunning live visual to go along with their electronic beats. The band had the small, crowded bar moving along to their dance rhythms, especially those of us who had one too many cocktails prior to the performance.

You can catch Phantogram on tour now.

Case in point – during a late night recording session, Dickey blew out his voice after screaming the lyrics to “Trevor Forever” – but Beau insisted on continuing to record.

We decided to put ‘Trevor’ on first because it was late, and I thought it would be fun to scream,” Dickey says. “I think I was kind of already losing my voice at that point, and Beau thought my voice sounded kind of cool broken up like that so he put ‘Madeline’ on. I kept telling him, ‘I can’t really sing right now’ and I was trying to discourage him from recording that song, but we ended up keeping it – it actually sounded pretty cool,” he adds.

“When The Beatles recorded ‘Twist and Shout,’ the story is that they had been recording all day and John’s voice had blown out but he was like, “I have one more song in me.’ So he just started screaming the song – I was kind of going for that but you know, not as good,” Dickey jokes. “I had never screamed before on an album – basically, I had no idea what I was doing but it all kind of worked out.”

He also said the renowned recording space itself helped to add a bit of a rougher edge to the album.

“We also did the vocals to a cover of ‘Negative Creep’ by Nirvana that night. It was 3 or 4 in the morning and that’s the same studio where Nirvana recorded the album, so I let myself be affected by the sort of spookiness and history of that place to see how it resonated with me.”

Aside from the energy of the recording studio, the band says they draw most of their songwriting inspiration from things that go on in everyday life.

“A lot of stuff came from books I’ve been reading, movies I’ve watched or experiences that left a strong impact on me,” says Knauer. “I found myself constantly thinking about something I had seen or felt – those are the things that end up getting expressed through music whether you want them to or not because your brain is still trying to figure them out.”

One interesting experience that still resonates with the band – being named U.S. State Department Cultural Ambassadors in 2012.

After members of the Boris Yeltsin Foundation did a quick Google Search and discovered the band, they approached SSLYBY to visit Russia as part of an attempt to amend the former president’s name. The band spent their time headlining the Old New Rock Festival, one of Russia’s biggest music events, and even visited a high school where they played an acoustic set, ate lunch with companions of Boris Yeltsin, had their lyrics translated in Russian by the students, and later did a Q&A and tour of the school.

“And after the students went away, Boris Yeltsin’s friends gave us a ton of vodka,” laughs Dickey. “The whole thing was kind of a weird dream – those were a few of the craziest days of our lives.”

The name “Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin” is one that is clearly memorable, and has gotten them attention from the Boris Yeltsin camp and by those who are simply amused by it. But, much like the band’s music has progressed over time, as history takes its course, the meaning behind the name has inadvertently evolved as well.

“We came up with the name right about the time Boris Yeltsin was resigning from office and we were hearing his name all over the radio. I think people kind of thought of it and him as a joke,” Dickey explains. “Then he died in 2007 and people thought it was a little spooky that we were named after a dead president. And now I’ve seen some things online saying that our band name is so much more appropriate now with everything going on with Putin, so even its meaning has sort of changed and progressed.”

For a band that is constantly evolving and changing, one thing remains the same – they will always make sure to keep producing music their fans will love.

“I think it’s just always going through a new level of change that we may not plan or expect,” says Knauer.

The High Country is out June 2 on Polyvinyl Records.

Originally published on FLAUNT.COM

Beach Fossil’s Dustin Payseur takes a very laid-back approach to creating music, and it’s paid off. The band’s self-recorded debut, released in May on Captured Tracks, is filled with illusory lo-fi tracks that compliment the backround of any setting without completely fading away or being forgotten. We caught up with Payseur after the band’s performance at the Troubadour in support of Here We Go Magic.

FLAUNT: You recorded your first album initially by yourself. Tell me a bit about your experience during the recording process.

Dustin: There’s not really much of a process, to be honest. You know, I kind of just sit there in my room with an instrument, be it a guitar or bass, and just kind of mess around for a little bit until I come up with something I think sounds nice. I’ll usually record that, and then layer on top of it. I’ll listen to that over and over and play something with it, and then record that on top of it. Usually it’s all recorded in one sitting and I can get a song done on the spot.

F: What is your backround in music?

D: I’m not classically trained in it, but I take a lot of influence from classical music. I love classical music, it’s one of my favorites. I mean, it’s kind of impossible to try to compare classical music to any other sort of music. It’s definitely the perfection of sound as far as art in sound, because it’s so up front that it’s backround. As a songwriter, it has influenced me in a very important way because it’s very humble. There’s so much going on, and there’s only one person writing it, and everyone else is just playing the part. There’s something about the mind of the creator versus the Dharma of just playing in and being whatever instrument you are.

F: You’re also a poet. Do you ever transform your poems into song, or is that usually a different entity?

D: Sometimes; it just depends. Sometimes if I have really bad writers block, I’ll take a notebook or something that I’ve written some poetry in, and take little pieces of it and structure it into a way that can fit with the song. But you definitely can’t take it from poetry because it’s so different. At least my style of writing poetry versus writing a song, like, write a song it has to be strict, it has to be structured, it has to work with the song, it has to flow very well, the vocals have to hit like a drum. But when you’re writing, you can be as free as you want, you can say whatever you want, and it doesn’t have to have any sort of boundaries. It’s very different, but they are both very enjoyable in very different ways.

F: You considered joining a Taoist Ministry at one point. Would you consider yourself to be a very spiritual person?

D: I don’t know. I don’t really know what “spiritual” means. I have a lot of faith in humanity. Growing up, I was really pessimistic, really interested in the punk scene, and that got me into anarchy on a very surface level. And then reading more about anarchy, reading a lot of the early texts and then reading a lot of eastern philosophy that has a lot to do with anarchy, I was like, ‘man, there is really something to this. Kind of like being responsible for yourself and if everybody thinks that way then everyone is kind of responsible for themselves, ect. It’s kind of a really great form… anyway, I’m going off on a tangent. I don’t believe in souls or spirits or anything metaphysical. There’s definitely a lot going on in this universe that we can’t explain, and we’re limited by the human mind and our sixth senses and our human perception to see how things actually are, we can only take them as how we can perceive them. If you wanna call that spiritual, then sure.

F: Does that have an influence on you as an artist?

D: Absolutely. Again, it’s letting my intuition lead me wherever it wants while I’m writing a song. No one’s taking control, not even myself. Just leaving that open and going with the flow. And even the subject matter I suppose. I just kind of let nature take over and let everything grow the same way a bush would or anything else, just let it come out.

F: I also read your bassist threw his guitar into the East River during a show a few weeks ago.

D:(Laughs) Yeah.

F: What happened with that?

D: Not much, I wasn’t really surprised. He breaks his bass a lot. He bought a brand new one right after that, smashed it on the drums to the point where he couldn’t even play it. And then in Chicago, I was playing on a guitar that I had also thrown off the night before, so it was messed up. We were both playing and everything was kinda falling apart during the set, so on the very last song without even talking about it, we both smashed our instruments. I had to go and buy a guitar like fifteen minutes before our set in San Fransisco just so I’d have something to play. But yeah, it didn’t really surprise me, he’s always spur of the moment kind of freaking out like that. And it’s good, I’d hate to have somebody who doesn’t do that.

F: What’s up next for Beach Fossils?

D: We were going to have a full length come out, writing all together as a band. But since our guitarist quit, we are going to release everything we recorded as an EP, and then release a full length as a band. We just came up with that idea a few days ago. It’s really sad that we lost him, because he was such an amazing musician and such an amazing song writer, but at the same time it’s nice that we have new beginnings and we can start again. It came as a surprise, you know, it wasn’t anything we planned on. I don’t know, it’s good to have that, it’s good to have change, to have fresh dynamics to make you push in new interesting directions.

You can catch Beach Fossils on tour now.

Photographed by Scott Clark