New Arrivals

L.A. Record x Etnies Limited Edition Shoe
The Polyamorous Affair – Bolshevik Disco (CD)
Dak – StandThis (CS)
Michael Nhat – Self Titled (LP)
Luis by Luis Farfan
Outtakes and Interrupted Moments by Dan Monick
Ill Always Be A Sucker For A Sense Of Wonder by Dan Monick
Witch – Self Titled (LP)
Pop Noir – Shirt

Pre-Orders

Voices Voices – Origins (CD)
Voices Voices – Origins (12″)
We Are The World – Clay Stones (CD)
We Are The World – Clay Stones (LP)

Top Sellers

Tweak Bird – Reservations (EP)
Sun Araw – In Orbit (CS)
Arthur Verocai – Arthur Verocai (LP)

11/26/09 Utrecht, NL – Tivoli Oudegracht (Le Guess Who Festival)
11/27/09 Middelburg, NL – De Spot
11/28/09 Kortrijk, BE – The Strip
11/30/09 Wien, AT – Arena
12/02/09 Ljubljana, AT – Menza Pri Koritu
12/04/09 Salzburg, AT – Rockhouse
12/05/09 Düdingen, CH – Bad Bonn
12/07/09 Brighton, UK – Freebutt
12/08/09 Birmingham, UK – Vivid
12/09/09 Salford (Manchester), UK – Islington Mill
12/10/09 Edinburgh, UK – Sneaky Pete’s
12/11/09 Glasgow, UK – Captain’s Rest
12/12/09 Blackburn, UK – 41 King Street
12/13/09 London, UK – Catch 22
12/14/09 Oxford, UK – The Wheatsheaf
12/15/09 Surrey, UK – Fighting Cocks
12/16/09 Nijmegen, NL – Merleyn

Download: Jonneine Zapata “Good Looking”

(from Cast The Demons Out available now from Jonneine Zapata)

Jonneine Zapata has a stare that makes men cower and weep. She is the closest thing to Jim Morrison in the Silverlake scene and her live show is mesmerizing. She will be holding residence at Silverlake Lounge on Mondays in October and she has just finished her first national tour (opening for Soulsavers) in support of her debut Cast The Demons Out. Zapata arrived with her own bowl of homemade macrobiotic breakfast to meet L.A. RECORD at an Echo Park coffee house. She speaks to Scott Schultz about Nick Cave, the importance of eye contact and how macrobiotics go with an Italian meal in Brooklyn.

How long have you been macrobiotic?
Jonneine Zapata: Thirteen years.
What made you shift diets? Was it teenage rebellion?
Jonneine Zapata: Exactly! All the kids are doing it! My family is Mexican and Italian and when they see me eating this, they think I need psychotherapy.
Do you put hot sauce on it?
Jonneine Zapata: That’s not exactly macrobiotics, Scott. Macrobiotics means long life. It means eat anything you like as long as you’re willing to take on the consequences—then by all means do it. If you want to eat sugar, then by all means, go ahead. If you want to go up and down with your life. Good luck—it’s your life. You want to have a headache , be dehydrated, rob the minerals out of your body, terrific. Eat all the sugar you want. Have a ball.
Where did you grow up?
Jonneine Zapata: I grew up all over the place. All over Orange County. We moved around quite a lot. I lived in Hawaii, Texas and I even lived in Kansas. I’ve traveled. I don’t remember a lot about Kansas, except the private school I went to there. That part of Kansas we were in never got back into modern times, and they would still hit kids with rulers. I’ve been singing my entire life. I just kind of came out singing. I didn’t know people sang for careers when I was listening to records. It’s the same thing as laying bricks to me. I’ve played the clubs off and on for seven years. And I mean off and on. And then I would go back to my bricklaying job.
What is your bricklaying job?
Jonneine Zapata: Odd jobs here and there, but no dependable job. What’s your bricklaying job?
Selling newspapers, but there aren’t any newspapers left to sell.
Jonneine Zapata: Even Rolling Stone got shriveled down to where it doesn’t stand out on the rack any more. It’s all advertisements. The only good thing I can say about them is that they attacked George Bush from the beginning, where a lot of papers didn’t.
You have one of the most intimidating stares of any performers that I’ve seen. I remember seeing you walk by last week when I was eating a slice of pizza, and I remember staring intently at my pizza and thinking, ‘Don’t make eye contact.’ Where does that come from? Is it a mask, or are you actually making eye contact and reading the audience?
Jonneine Zapata: It’s from my mother. But I also feel, if you’re going to pay tickets to see me, I’m there too, and I have something to seek out. So if you don’t want to be looked at or stared at, it’s probably not the right show to go to. I mean, what should I do? Stare at the ceiling? I’m trying to engage people, not separate from them. It’s not an intent to stare anybody down or intimidate them. It’s just seeing who they are. There’s a lot going on in people’s eyes. A lot of living. A lot is said right in the eyes.
You hold your stares for a long time. Do people start to look away?
Jonneine Zapata: I think you disarm people first. It’s like they’re watching a movie. Instead of them thinking about you and what your doing, they’re off of me and onto them. They’re thinking, ‘I remember when I was in high school, or I remember when I was with my mom.’ It’s like a psychological connection to their past. It’s kind of like a drug and their guard is down. They don’t even see me—they’re having an image of their own in front of them. Some people give me the OK, and they’re like ‘Yeah!’ And some people look like they are about to cry.
So your mom used to use that stare on you?
Jonneine Zapata: Oh yeah—my mom is from Brooklyn. She’s a street girl, you know. She walked the walk. But my dad, he was a rough, tough Mexican too. So it’s probably in my blood.
Are you a descendent of Emiliano Zapata?
Jonneine Zapata: No, I wish I was. I guess we all are somewhat. I admire him more than any musician.
How are you going to maintain your strict diet while you’re on the road?
Jonneine Zapata: I got a little camping gear, some hot plates, and I bring my dishes and everything. And I’ll try to coordinate it the best I can. If I have to wander off once or twice and eat a bagel, I’ll eat a bagel. I’m psyched for our first national tour. It’s a big thing to happen for a band just starting off. We had our first show last November as a band promoting this record. It’s a fairly quick but steady progress for us. I looked up the clubs on tour, and they’re all of the places I’ve ever wanted to go but haven’t been—like the Bowery in New York City and the Paradise in Boston.
Mark Lanegan and Soulsavers are a great draw. He’s been a part of so many great bands dating back to Seattle in the ’90s all the way through Soulsavers and Ghetto Twins. How did your paths cross?
Jonneine Zapata: Greg Dulli has been to some shows, and he has been spreading the word about us. Also, Jason from MySpace Records is in with the band and he sort of helped us out with this. Everybody knew somebody and it all just came together for us, but Jason had the biggest hand. We’re ready for the new record. We already have new songs. They’re arranged and semi-rehearsed. Now it’s just a matter of recording them. Now that this tour has come up, we don’t know where we fit it in exactly—I guess we’ll have to do it when we return. We’ve got the residency and we’ll probably include some of the new songs in the sets on the road, and then we’ll break them out locally during the residency. It’s kind of weird, though, because even the old songs will be new songs in the new cities.
Your music has a wide range from soft to really heavy. Did you start as a performer with the softer sound or the heavier music?
Jonneine Zapata: I started across the board. When I first started playing, I went heavy, then softer, then heavy, then softer again. You can write a song like ‘Out In The Woods’ and then two seconds later write a song like ‘Worry.’ It has an emotional passing. Even in songs like ‘Worry,’ it has softness and predatory elements that are soft and undercurrents. And then it gets a little heavier. So I’ve been all over the map. I’m not really one to settle for one thing or another, but I hope it all flows together. I write all the songs. I sometimes collaborate on the new stuff. I’ll be walking, mostly in the kitchen while cooking, and I hear little melodies, and then a feeling or emotion will come up, and then the lyrics come out. And then I say, ‘Maybe I should get a pen and paper because I have to remember what I’m saying…’ I’m like, ‘Uh-oh, piece of paper time.’ And I just get out a piece of paper and write down everything. I’ll sing it with a little melody and go, ‘Oh, that’s nice—here’s the verses and here’s the bridge. I have it written—now when can we lay this down?’
I hear an old Western influence in your song titles and themes—are you a fan of Sergio Leone films?
Jonneine Zapata: I love Westerns. Especially the old old ones like John Wayne movies.
How did you hook up with your guitarist?
Jonneine Zapata: He was in another band Sabrosa Purr, and I was thinking, ‘I’m going to blow out of this town and move into a macro-biotic community in Alaska.’ I thought I wanted to live off the land for a little bit. Literally I had three shows, and I was out. I gave my notice to my landlord, and then the other band was like, ‘You’ve got to stay here, and you will play with Jeff.’ Nobody ever asked Jeff. They just said, ‘You’re going to go here and he’ll be here, and you’ll play. You guys are going to work together and go on stage, and she’s not going anywhere.’ We clicked. And at first I didn’t see the long-term relationship that it was going to be. He had a specific style, and I had an idea of what I wanted, and I didn’t know if that was going to marry. We did some older material first, and I thought, ‘Well, that’s OK.’ Then I took another break. I think it was important to stop and get off the horse. I want to take some stuff in and fill my well. I took a long time off, and I was ready to do some more stuff. And I really liked Jeff by that point. I thought, ‘We can try this together.’ This was in ‘06, and I didn’t like anyone else at the time. So I worte a new set of material and wrote really close with Jeff to make sure we had what I wanted. We played a bunch of shows at Molly Malone’s, and we had some great duo shows together. It was fantastic, and then the record came out. A producer—Jack Douglas—had come in to see some of the shows, and he said he wanted to work with us. We went in as a duo, and then Jack got really busy, so we just recorded it ourselves.
When you first started did you have a band? Or were you a solo act?
Jonneine Zapata: I had a band for a second, but it wasn’t working. It was mostly session musicians, and they had sort of a session approach. I didn’t really like it. It didn’t sound right—it went up and down and all over the place. I figured I could go with just a guitar player, and if I couldn’t get my songs over that way, then I was probably doing the wrong thing.
Onstage, you have a maximum of energy with a minimum of motion. Are you into martial arts?
Jonneine Zapata: I think it’s a matter of really paying attention. You don’t want to push. I think people expect rock singers to jump up and down. For me it’s power in a different way. I’d like to be like H.R. of Bad Brains. That’s power at the top. Maybe I’m trapped.
How long did it take you to be comfortable enough to be so bare with your emotions onstage?
Jonneine Zapata: That hasn’t happened yet. I think that will require a lot more maturity on my part and a lot more work. This band has yet to begin to really work an audience and to understand what we’re doing on stage. And the power of what we should be doing with it. That is my goal.
Do you have a role model when it comes to your songs?
Jonneine Zapata: Nick Cave.
Jim Morrison is the person who comes to mind when I see you—even more than guy singers who try purposely to emulate him.
Jonneine Zapata: I get so much Jim Morrison from people. From the beginning to now. I think people who sing who have a good voice—even when people who sing talk, they talk with rhythms. Like comedy—timing is within you. But if you have a gift, you can always work on it and hone it. There’s nobody to grasp on from the female vocalists, so Nick Cave was really the one I focused on. I listened to a lot of Nick Cave and Jim Morrison. I really listen to mostly men. I wish I was head of the hardcore scene, but I’m not. I’m skinny and fragile—I’m never going to be that. I’m not Henry Rollins or H.R.—I’m not a big thick guy, so I’m limited to what I’ve got. So I’ve got to make the maximum of what I have. Bring it to the table and hone my craft and look up to artists who inspire me. Unfortunately, there aren’t any women who inspire me in that way.
When you were growing up in O.C., did you attend a lot of punk shows?
Jonneine Zapata: Oh gosh, my mother wouldn’t allow it. Never, never, never. I just had to stay in my room. I wish I could have. Thank god for YouTube.
Are your parents deeply religious?
Jonneine Zapata: Not anymore. It was important for them when I was growing up to have the Holy Communion. I went to parochial school, and that was very important because the older people in my family—the grandparents and the great-great-grandparents—were extremely religious. They were from Italy and Mexico. My grandmother is the kind of person who throws salt in a corner of the room and they light candles. I told my mother we had this tour coming and please wish us the best for this. She called the whole family in Brooklyn. They’re all at St. Peter’s Cathederal in Brooklyn lighting candles.
Are they going to come see you when you play the Bowery?
Jonneine Zapata: You don’t want to see my family show up at the Bowery.
Have they ever seen you perform?
Jonneine Zapata: Not the family in New York. Thank God—they’ve always known: (Brooklyn Italian impression) ‘Jonneine, she has such a byootifool voice. Dooo somthin foh da family, please.’ But I think when they see the show they’ll be, ‘Ohhhh! We didn’t know she does that!’ They’d be a little floored. It took my mom a little while to accept it too.
I see and hear a lot of religious subtext in your songs and titles.
Jonneine Zapata: I’m probably more religious that I’m willing to acknowledge. It’s just in me. Catholic school—how could it not be? Heavier than I care to admit, sure.
What are your goals for your Monday night residency at Silverlake Lounge?
Jonneine Zapata: I didn’t even know if I was supposed to have goals, but it’s kind of good that you brought the question up so I can start thinking about them. My goals are to get some goals. We’re doing the residency because we think it’s somewhat expected of us. For me I guess the goal would be to get my band in front of a live audience once a week. To get my band ready to play every night. I want to work out some new material. That’s all I ever want to do. I’d like to write some new material and get it out there immediately.
Two years from now—do you hope to be touring year round and playing every night?
Jonneine Zapata: Absolutely. That’s not a goal for two years from now. That is a goal for this time. Next summer. 2010. Period. We want to be a touring band, no question.
Do you have a name for the back-up band, or are they just ‘the boys’?
Jonneine Zapata: It’s the boys so far, but if you can think of anything tell me. I wonder what it should be. I should have something. I love Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. I feel I should be careful with it, because it could get hokey. If you have any ideas, let me know, please.
What are your favorite venues in L.A.?
Jonneine Zapata: Silverlake Lounge in October! We love the Silverlake Lounge. We played there a little while ago, and there was great sound, and it’s on the level with everyone. I don’t like to be up too high.
Too hard to hold eye contact?
Jonneine Zapata: Yeah! I don’t like it. Then you have to look down, and I don’t like looking down at people. I like to be even with them. I really hope it’s going to be the Troubadour because I’ve seen some really great shows there. I saw Tweak Bird there. Oh my God! And Big Business played with them, and when I saw them live, I loved it. I really love hardcore metal. I like guy bands—metal and hard like Misfits, Danzig, Rammstein.
You opened for the Raconteurs a few years ago as a duo with Jeff—what was that like?
Jonneine Zapata: That was an interesting CD he had just put out, and he really opened a lot of doors for women and duos. If you can’t bring it as a duo, then I don’t know if you have a song. I was scared, because we were just a duo singing sad slow songs, and I thought the crowd was just going to smash us. ‘Fuck you, you girl singer!’ I thought that was what I was going to get, and I was like ‘Fuck!’ And this is in L.A.—shit, what are we going to do? And my guitarist Jeff Mendel—he brought out his little Peavey amp and took his shoes off and walked right out on stage. Set that sucker down and played everything in the most perfect time possible, and when we walked out, that crowd just said, ‘WHOOO!’ And we hadn’t even sang a note yet. And then—note one, they were INTO it. My website got so many hits, they knocked it down. I needed more bandwidth. I had no idea. It’s barely up anyway, and the people went. By the second night we came, people were singing the songs I had up on MySpace. I was looking in the pit, and they were singing ‘Lucky Girl’ with me, and I was like, ‘Whoa!’ In one night. Jack has super-great fans. And walking out there with Jeff, I was really comfortable because we had been playing a while and he killed it. It was really wonderful. It turned out to be an exceptional two-night run.
Who are your favorite local bands?
Jonneine Zapata: I’d go see Tweak Bird anytime. I love them. I don’t get out much though. Earthless. You can put them down as one of my favorite bands. I just got their new CD and I played it a few times and right away I knew—these guys rock! That’s the kind of music that I like. I mean ROCK! ROCK! ROCK! I like Dead Meadow and Mogwai.
Do you act?
Jonneine Zapata: I’ve done a little bit. I’ve dibble-dabbled. I’d like to do some more. I’d like to direct. I write shorts and things like that. I like to take one thing at a time.
Your structure is very dramatic, and you definitely convey emotion in a sincere way.
Jonneine Zapata: I’ve probably seen too much footage of Freddie Mercury. When he would grab the microphone and go ‘Wohhh!’ those big movements were just huge to me. Tina Turner—the way she used to move. She could just put her arms out and do a little bit … [suggestive motion[ A little bit of that—not much! I’d just watch her, and I would go ‘Oooh momma, I’m a-gonna get on stage and do a little bit of this!’ She would just put her leg out a little bit, and you were like, ‘God, you’re just hot!’ THAT’S show business! I want to see something. I don’t want to see a girl who’s not connected to the music and not putting on a show. Tweak Bird’s got it right. He hit those drums and he was singing and he was making faces—you know I want to see a show!
What do you think of Nick Cave’s duet of ‘Henry Lee’ with PJ Harvey?
Jonneine Zapata: I would like to see him do something with a woman who has a bigger range vocally—something that could really make him sound even far more eerier. His voice is very cunning. I don’t know how it’s recorded, but I would love to find out and study that for my own self. I think it’s very nice. PJ is not scary to me. She’s so fantastic. What a needed artist—but she does not frighten me, and he frightens me. I want to see him with someone who is frightening.
Do you ever get compared to PJ?
Jonneine Zapata: Yeah, I do. I get more comparisons to Jim Morrison than I do to her. I figure you can get compared to Jewel or you can get compared to PJ Harvey—where do you want to be?
I used to perform stand-up comedy at the coffeehouse where Jewel got discovered. She was a great coffee house singer.
Jonneine Zapata: She has a sexy quality. She’s pretty. She has an interesting voice. She can yodel.
Can you imagine seeing a Nick Cave CD on sale at Starbucks?
Jonneine Zapata: I saw Regina Spektor for sale at Whole Foods. I thought, ‘At least it’s something I would buy.’ Whatever else they’re selling I won’t. I’d love to see a Nick Cave record in here. too.
Nick Cave you want to buy as an entire CD as compared to individual digital songs. I think your CD plays best in its album format, too.
Jonneine Zapata: I always listen to Nick Cave album by album. I never mix them up. I listen to The Boatman’s Call and No More Shall We Part. I’ll never mix those songs up.
Have you performed at SXSW?
Jonneine Zapata: No, but I hope that we have an opportunity this year. I think the great steps for this year would be playing there and even if we could get 12:00 in the afternoon slot at Coachella. Terrific. We just want to play. We have to get out there. Probably the record’s coming out in September in Australia.
Maybe Nick Cave will hear it.
Jonneine Zapata: I hope so. I can try to send him a copy I guess. Have you heard The Dirty Three? It’s beautiful. Cinder is the name. That’s a beautiful record.
What cities are you most excited about visiting on your tour?
Jonneine Zapata: I’ve been everywhere, but in a very different capacity. Not traveling for music and going to sing? I can’t wait to play in front of people I don’t know and meet them. I think that will be the most inspiring thing coming my way from the tour—stepping out of the Hollywood bubble. I’ve always wanted to do that, but everything is kind of here for me, and I’ve stayed here based on that. It’s really dificult to take a five-piece band on the road, and I didn’t want to go as a duo. I think this is a really good shot for us, and it’s going to work out right.
When you reach New York City, will your family in Brooklyn make you eat a big meal with them?
Jonneine Zapata: I’ll sit there with my macro bowl while everyone at the table tells me how skinny I am. But my mom—I’ll come over to the house alone and she’ll say, ‘You’ve got no meat on you! You can’t organize anything because you don’t eat any meat!’ Then when I go up on stage and sing she goes, ‘That’s my kid! Broadway! Macrobiotic!’ I think this particular diet has made my voice stronger actually. It keeps all the ick off my chords, and that’s important to me because I want my voice to work forever. I don’t want it to be compromised in any way because if I don’t have that I have nothing.
Do you ever feed the band that stuff?
Jonneine Zapata: Oh, they love it! Well this is a morning porridge, so that’s not your cup of tea. I would never feed you this breakfast, but I would feed you a lunch or dinner and you’d love it. They go crazy for it. They’d cook it themselves if it didn’t take so much work. They’d eat like this all the time.
Do you check out other performing arts aside from music?
Jonneine Zapata: I want to see stand-up comedy. I like to go to the Groundlings Theater and I like to see things right in the moment. I want to be out of my head. You have to be very available to do that. If you’re stuck in your thing, you’re going to lose.
Stand-up comedians are right up at face level. When things go wrong, you can see the pupils dilate and the flopsweat.
Jonneine Zapata: Scary business. It’s very exciting. I love Richard Pryor. I watch him all the time, and I just cannot believe he just looks effortless. I once watched a tribute to him on DVD, and a comedian said most people go their entire lives trying to cover their flaws and Richard Pryor went his whole career trying to exploit them. I just got chills because that’s me. When you ask who influences me, I say Richard Pryor. I want to uncover. I want to say, ‘It’s OK—we’re not perfect, we’re not pretty. It’s OK if you’re not so interesting—maybe you’ve got this or that or the other. Uncover it and let it be. We’re fine. We’re fine—we’re not broken. There’s nothing to be fixed. Leave it alone.’

JONNEINE ZAPATA EVERY MONDAY IN OCTOBER AT THE SILVERLAKE LOUNGE, 2906 SUNSET BLVD., SILVER LAKE. 9 PM / FREE / 21+. FOLDSILVERLAKE.COM. JONNEINE ZAPATA’S CAST THE DEMONS OUT IS AVAILABLE NOW FROM JONNEINE ZAPATA. VISIT JONNEINE ZAPATA AT JONNEINEZAPATA.COM OR MYSPACE.COM/JONNEINEZAPATA.

Download: Om “Cremation Ghat II”

(from God Is Good out Tue., Sept. 29, on Drag City)

Al Cisneros revived Om with Grails drummer Emil Amos and release the megalithic God Is Good this week on Drag City. Chess-playing sunrise-watching Cisneros discusses everything but how his drummer’s name is an anagram for ‘SOMA LIME.’ This interview by Dan Collins.

It’s just two guys making all that racket, right?
Al Cisneros: Always. Me and Emil. He joined in April 2008.
Changing drummers in a two-man band is a 50% line-up change. How has having Emil in the band changed things?
Al Cisneros: He adds a life and an energy to the group. His style and the fluidity of his playing have allowed the very premise of the two-piece band to actualize, which is to have a dialogue between the two elements. And he’s also a songwriter, and so we’ve had prolific tense and positive collaboration, where ideas from one of the other will reflect off me or him, and it results in a higher outcome than we would have been able to arrive at individually. I feel like what we’ve done on this album God Is Good has actually most matched up the original concept to how it turned out in the end.
From concept to execution was pretty straight?
Al Cisneros: It was beautiful. It felt like we were being guided. Parts would just appear, and we would just know. We would get this charge. When the momentum goes into its own orbit, the songs, the whole experience carries with this vibration. The entire process of this recording was like this from the beginning until its here. We even have plans for some songs for some splits for 2010.
You guys have been known to play for hours at time. You played a show in Jerusalem for five hours straight. That’s longer than some Warhol films!
Al Cisneros: That was in December of 2007. That show was totally unique. Many of our sets go very long, but that one specifically… it was pretty overwhelming, being in the region and having been to some of the sites locally prior to performing that night and going to the Dead Sea. We were there on the first or second day of Hanukkah at the Western Wall—seeing so many pilgrims doing their vespers. I was able to go to Golgotha and see that. It was incredibly intense, and by the time we were in the middle of songs, it was definitely a different experience. The show went into a morning, and it was sort of an offering of gratitude in a sense for me. And the audience was with every note of the performance. Nothing like it will probably ever happen again. It was really beautiful. It was overwhelming.
Were you extending old songs or coming up with new material on the spot?
Al Cisneros: Both. Things were extended—on their own it felt like—but were just readily there. It didn’t feel like it went on that long. It was a personal experience of relativity.
You often speak the language of physics in interviews—in discussions of patterns that are present at the atomic level and repeat throughout nature, and time and numbers show up a lot when you talk. Do you think music taps into that somehow in a way regular life doesn’t?
Al Cisneros: They’re one study. There’s no differentiation between music and life in that way. Our songs aren’t preconceived in a numerical pattern or sequence of numbers. Those are found through analysis of the work later, maybe, but they’re definitely more of an emotional response of… I wouldn’t even say the ‘authoring’ of the parts, I’d say the ‘editing’ of the parts. Because the parts seem to be there already. As a musician, I feel like I discover the parts the way an archaeologist might.
Viktor Shklovsky said that the purpose of art is to ‘make the stone “stony”’ again—taking things out of life and making them fresh and new for the first time. Do you think you achieve something like that in your music?
Al Cisneros: I’ve definitely felt personally what he’s said. That’s good to know—ha ha! I’m learning every time we play music. It’s a study constantly.
Do you think Om is a more ‘serious’ band than your old group, Sleep? Not that Sleep was flippant. But I don’t see any Om album titles like Dopesmoker.
Al Cisneros: The work you’re hearing now is relevant to where we are in our journey now. Sleep expired in ’97, and so the themes and lyrics were from that place in the journey. Om is where I am now. I couldn’t sing about dragons and pot trappings now.
Is it that things are darker—perhaps politically—now?
Al Cisneros: Oh no, I think that it’s the same. Maybe the darkness distributes itself differently in each era, but nothing’s changed.
You went several years between folding Sleep and starting Om. What were you doing with your time? Catching up on your ‘sleep?’
Al Cisneros: I went back to school, and I was working—just studying life. I was constantly hearing songs in that interim—constantly internally working on music in that sense. Playing a lot of personal practice. After Sleep had broken up, I felt eventually dead—not in a positive way. I was uncertain whether I would play an externalized form of music ever again. But the songs created mentally during that interim became incrementally more intense until I had to do it.
In the last couple years, a lot of bands have combined metal with almost space or krautrock. Om seems to be part of that tradition. Even your name evokes a space rock band—like ‘Amon Düül’ more than a metal band.
Al Cisneros: I’m not too versed in that school. I wouldn’t say I’m influenced by that genre, but I definitely have respect for it. I’m not moved by things outside my life, at this point. It’s not why I play music. When I was growing up in music, of course I had outside influences and outside inspiration constantly—going to shows, listening to records, ingesting that sonic food. But now it’s to a place that’s in there. My record collection is small. And I leave that space intentionally open so that I can use the music that comes up inside me.
Most of the people who speak about music the way you do wind up, it seems, playing dissonant noise like La Monte Young or Tony Conrad. But you play something that at its root is always metal. Is there something in you that still wants to rock out?
Al Cisneros: For me personally it’s inescapable in this embodiment, because of how important the first four Black Sabbath records were. The Iommic influence will always be there. It’s an element at this point. It’s like fire, water, Iommi.
Have you ever met him?
Al Cisneros: No. I met Ozzy one time, and gave him my Sleep: Volume II cassette and had him sign a Black Sabbath record. He was promoting some record with Zakk Wylde at the time, so I don’t think they were very pleased. All the records I had were Sabbath records.
The Dio-era Sabbath records weren’t your thing?
Al Cisneros: Those first two Dio-era Sabbath records are iconic, and some of the most perfect metal records ever made! But I didn’t really follow them after Ian Gillan joined the band.
Would you be willing to open for a Dio or Ozzy-helmed version of Sabbath?
Al Cisneros: If we were ever given an opportunity to open for any line-up of Iommi and Butler, it would be the highest honor and privilege.
Even if your record collection is small, do you have a favorite band now? Maybe a favorite L.A. band? Who do you play with down here? Who do you love?
Al Cisneros: Of course Big Business. I saw a band a year ago there called Tweak Bird that I enjoyed.
Hell yeah! We had them on our poster. Are you guys having fires up there near San Francisco like the ones we’re having this week?
Al Cisneros: I don’t want to talk about that stuff!
What do you want to talk about?
Al Cisneros: If you want to talk about the new album God Is Good, that would be great.
Okay—what was your personal favorite song off the album?
Al Cisneros: Oh, man, that’s a hard one, because I feel this album is totally balanced! There’s four songs—there’s four mountaintops. There isn’t a valley on this album for me! I’ve only felt that way in my life before once, with Sleep in 1991 on a demo, and part of 1992 finishing it as an actual album with the thing that became Sleep’s Holy Mountain. That also shared that same thing where it felt the songs were manifesting in this way that was beyond yourself. Fast-forwarding so many years, this was the same experience. This visit comes and takes all the things that you’ve prepared and puts them where they need to go. I’m so grateful to be a participant in it.
That sounds very biblical. Was that inspired by your trip to Jerusalem? I wondered about the title.
Al Cisneros: It’s a continuous theme in all the work of this band. The first album was called Variation On a Theme and essentially God Is Good is a variation on the theme. Or the other records are variations on the theme God Is Good. You can look at it from both perspectives. Same subject, essentially. All of the subject matter and all of the lyrics—all of the verses—tap into that same summary point.
You’ve said your music was often emotional, but it sounds like since the start, you’ve had a game plan.
Al Cisneros: No, each one is its own thing. They continue in sequence.
Not like Queen’s Day at the Races and Night at the Opera?
Al Cisneros: Oh God—ha ha ha! Definitely not!

OM WITH LICHENS AND TWEAK BIRD ON FRI., SEPT. 25, AT THE ECHOPLEX, 1154 GLENDALE BLVD., ECHO PARK. 8:30 PM / $15 / 18+. ATTHEECHO.COM. OM’S GOD IS GOOD IS OUT NOW ON DRAG CITY. VISIT OM AT OMVIBRATORY.COM OR MYSPACE.COM/VIBRATIONSONATHEME.

Via: White Noise

The Bird Brothers are extremely excited to announce this Independence Day that we will be touring the U.S. and parts of Canada supporting TOOL! We will be playing 13 shows over three weeks so check the tour page for all the show dates. We are sure this will be a most rad time, and when it’s all over we will pour all that professional experience into recording our first full length record. Happy Birthday America…start the van.

This of course means that the previously announced UK and Netherlands dates are cancelled.

Tweak Bird supporting TOOL
Jul 19 Salt Lake City, UT – Energy Solutions Arena
Jul 21 Phoenix, AZ – US Airways Arena
Jul 22 Rio Rancho, NM – Santa Ana Star Center
Jul 24 San Antonio, TX – AT&T Center
Jul 25 Grand Prairie, TX – Nokia Theatre
Jul 27 Duluth, GA – Gwinnett Arena
Jul 29 Charlotte, NC – Bojangles Coliseum
Jul 30 Fairfax, VA – Patriot Center
Aug 2 Manchester, NH – Verizon Wireless Arena
Aug 4 Kingston, ON – Kingston Regional Sports and Ent. Centre
Aug 5 Toronto, ON – Molson Amphitheatre
Aug 7 Cincinnati, OH – PNC Pavillion

VIA: White Noise

Shit, we wish there were still such a thing as summer vacation in adulthood, ’cause there’s nothing we rather do than hit the road with Audacity as they tour the West Coast with Mika Miko, skip across the pond with Tweak Bird for Supersonic Festival with a side trip to Amsterdam, and then hit the beaches here in Southern California with The Blank Tapes.

Audacity West Coast Tour w/Mika Miko
07/14/09 San Diego, CA – The Casbah
07/15/09 Los Angeles, CA – 5 Star Bar
07/17/09 Los Angeles, CA – The Smell
07/18/09 Berkeley, CA – 924 Gilman St
07/19/09 Santa Cruz, CA – The Crepe Place
07/20/09 Arcata, CA – The Green House
07/21/09 Portland, OR – The Space
07/22/09 Vancouver, BC – Biltmore Cabaret
07/24/09 Seattle, WA – Capital Hill Block Party
07/25/09 Portland, OR – Satyricon
07/27/09 San Jose, CA – Nickel City Arcade
07/28/09 San Luis Obispo, CA – SLO Art Center
07/29/09 Long Beach, CA – Alex’s Bar

Tweak Bird in the UK and Netherlands
07/22/09 Amsterdam, NL – Paradiso
07/23/09 Nijmegen, NL – De Affaire Festival
07/24/09 Kingston upon Thames, UK – Fighting Cocks
07/25/09 Brighton, UK – Freebutt
07/26/09 Birmingham, UK – Supersonic Festival
07/27/09 Edinburgh, UK – Sneaky Pete’s
07/28/09 London, UK – White Heat @ Madame Jo Jo’s

The Blank Tapes Southern California Tour
07/26/09 Echo Park, CA – Echo Curio
07/26/09 Costa Mesa, CA – KUCI Days @ The Lab
07/27/09 Echo Park, CA – The Echo
07/28/09 Costa Mesa, CA – La Cave
07/31/09 San Diego, CA – Che Cafe
08/02/09 Venice, CA – Air Conditioned Lounge

Details for each individual show can be found on the Tours page.

Big Business release date for their new full length, Mind The Drift, out May 12th 2009 on Hydra Head Records. With Tweak Bird riding shot gun the guys will swerving around the country for the next month. Tweak Birds Reservations EP now available on green vinyl courtesy of White Noise.

Download: Big Business “Gold and Final”

Apr 22 2009 The Max – Dallas, TX
Apr 23 2009 Red Seven – Austin, TX
Apr 24 2009 Warehouse Live – Houston, TX
Apr 25 2009 Spanish Moon – Baton Rouge, LA
Apr 26 2009 Alabama Music Box – Mobile, AL
Apr 29 2009 Common Grounds – Gainesville, FL
Apr 30 2009 City Limits – Delray Beach, FL
May 1 2009 The Social – Orlando, FL
May 2 2009 Jack Rabbits – Jacksonville, FL
May 3 2009 The Drunken Unicorn – Atlanta, GA
May 5 2009 Cat’s Cradle – Carrboro, NC
May 6 2009 The Ottobar – Baltimore, MD
May 7 2009 Rock & Roll Hotel – Washington DC
May 8 2009 The Note – Westchester, PA
May 9 2009 Union Pool – Brooklyn, NY
May 10 2009 Mercury Lounge – New York, NY
May 12 2009 Middle East Downstairs – Boston, MA
May 13 2009 Grog Shop – Cleaveland, OH
May 14 2009 The Basement – Columbus, OH
May 15 2009 Headliners Music Hall – Louisville, KY
May 16 2009 Small’s – Detroit, MI
May 17 2009 The Bottom Lounge – Chicago, IL
May 18 2009 Triple Rock – Minneapolis, MN
May 20 2009 Larimer Lounge – Denver, CO
May 21 2009 Bar Deluxe – Salt Lake City, UT
May 22 2009 Neurolux – Boise, Idaho
May 23 2009 Dante’s – Portland, OR
May 24 2009 Neumo’s – Seattle, WA
May 25 2009 The Big Room – Olympia, WA
May 27 2009 Bottom of the Hill – San Francisco, CA
May 28 2009 Detroit Bar – Costa Mesa, CA
Jun 1 2009 Troubadour – Los Angeles, CA
Jun 2 2009 Casbah – San Diego, CA

Download: Tweak Bird “Eternal Squaredance”

Donate or Join the L.A. Record supported team here. Also several of us from the office will be partaking in the the walk so come down and support if you are in the area!

Date: Sunday, April 19, 2009 Location: Pasadena Rose Bowl, Pasadena Email:mailto:walkms@cal.nmss.org For more information call: 1.800.344.4867 ADDRESS: Pasadena Rose Bowl, 1001 Rose Bowl Drive, Pasadena, CA 91103 TIMES 7:45 am Registration Opens 9:45 am Opening Ceremonies 10:00 am Official Start

Join the movement at Walk MS to bring us one step closer to a world free of MS! Come and celebrate the movement in Pasadena. There is fun for the whole family as you enjoy a beautiful 5K walk, roll or stroll around the Rose Bowl. There is guaranteed fun with entertainment on the route and at the finish festival with food, music, jugglers, face painters, team booth and fund give-a-ways. Register today for the Walk MS Greater Los Angeles and join 5,000 Southern Californian’s as we raise awareness and funds to find the cause and cure to multiple sclerosis. MS stops people from moving and YOU can help make sure it doesn’t. Register today!