The Airborne Toxic Event, an American rock band, have been on tour  for 11 months promoting their second album “All at Once.” We talked with frontman Mikel Jollett about playing at non-traditional venues, the band’s charity work, and what it takes to put on a memorable live performance.

How does your second album “All at Once” differ from the first album?

Mikel: The biggest difference was that we knew people were going to actually hear it, and that wasn’t true on our first record. We made the first record at a friend’s house and weren’t sure anyone was going to hear it. We knew the world was going to give the new record a listen, and when you’re standing in front of the world it’s like “What have you got to say?” So I spent a lot of time really thinking. My grandparents and uncle had just died, and we were a really tight knit family so that really changed my perspective. I spent a lot of time thinking about life and how fragile it is. I think a lot of the songs deal with that idea. The first record is more about desperation, unrequited love, recklessness, and the desire to run away from whatever life you inhabit.

You’ve been published in the LA Times, Men’s Health, and had a short story featured in McSweeney’s. Did songwriting come natural to you?

M: There was a moment where something clicked for me. I don’t know why it did but it just made sense. So it’s hard to say if it’s a natural skill or not. I mean you have to write a lot of songs before you write one good one. I do like to write though. It’s like I’m doing what I should be doing when I’m writing.

You have a history of performing at non-traditional venues, especially when you went on tour to support the DVD release of the documentary “All I Ever Wanted,” where you played at New York town hall, synagogues, churches, chapels, etc. What was the reasoning behind these choices?

M: We wanted it to be in non-traditional places. We wanted to make music and inhabit different spaces. There’s something about seeing music up close when you’re not in a standard format club with a perfect speaker system or stage. To just set up somewhere and play…I think it gets closer to the idea of communicating with your audience. When we were touring with the Calder Quartet it was important for us to make each one of those shows a unique experience in itself. We feel the same way now doing the big rock shows, but I guess the venue isn’t really what’s important.

To promote “All at Once” you released “Bombastic,” a weekly series of one-shot, one-take acoustic performances of each song off the album leading up to its release. Why did you choose to introduce your fans to the songs acoustically?

M: We did the same thing on the first record too. Everyone knows there’s a lot of studio trickery. Everyone knows about editing software and photoshop and all these different things you can do to dress something up. We thought it’s a really honest thing to just stand there and play your song in one take without any editing. I think people really enjoyed it. I think it makes you think about the songs in different ways. It made us think about the songs in different ways. A lot of people like the acoustic versions better than the electric versions, which we were really surprised by because we played these songs like on a boat, or in a car, or at some church, or in a bus, or on a carousel. Those things are all real. We really did just play them like that.

Earlier this year the “Origins Tour” took you to three different cities (LA, NYC, London) where you played five shows in each, beginning with the smallest venue. Can you tell us more about that?

M: We wanted to return to the venues we played coming up in each city from the smallest to the largest. There’s something about those earlier shows that was just electric. We played pianos in NYC in front of like 100 people and people were just losing their minds. It was really cool. It was really fun. When you play big stadium gigs, especially festivals, and you look out at this huge see of people you don’t have as much interaction with them. It’s a great experience but it’s not intimate. To return to the smaller venues and play like that…it was kind of like honoring the early story of the fan. It was a gift that we wanted to give our fans.

What makes a memorable live performance in your opinion?

M: We always say rock ‘n’ roll has to happen to you, not in front of you. The visceral energy, the flirting with disaster, the sense that something can go horribly wrong- that’s what makes it rock ‘n’ roll. I think there’s a lot of ways to bring that to life in a show and we try to skate that line every single night. We interact with the crowd, we go into the audience, we bring people up onstage, and half the show is like some kind of sing-a-long. We tend to speak to the crowd a lot. I’m always thinking like “How do I make the few thousand people in this room feel like this is just the band and them?” I don’t think anybody really wants to feel far away. If you go see a show it’s because you enjoy the band and you enjoy the music. You want to be as close as you can. So trying to bridge that gap is always the goal.

Do you have a favorite place to perform?

M: We always say you have to play the room you’re in, not the room you’re not. I don’t think location really matters that much. It’s mostly a rapport with the audience. We’ve had some great rapport on this tour where you feel every fist in the air, every full-throated scream, and we realize we’re in this too. It’s less like we’re performing on stage and more like we’re conjuring these stories together, and we’re together with the audience in the entire experience. I forget where I am most of the time. Once we’re on stage I don’t even know what country I’m in. We just get into this state and we’re jumping off of stuff, and climbing all over the venue, and there’s beer being thrown around, and we’re climbing on each others backs or going out into the middle of the crowd. There’s a frenzy that happens and that frenzy is what it’s about. Place just really doesn’t make a difference.

Do you have a favorite song to play live?

M: I’ve enjoyed playing the ballads lately. With the first record we toured for a couple years and everything was so loud all the time. I got tired of so many screaming loud guitars and loud drums, and I really just wanted to play some quieter song. The level of intimacy that the quieter songs allow is really important. On this tour we’ve been playing some of the quieter songs like “All for a Woman,” “Letter to Georgia,” and “The Graveyard Near the House,” and it has been great. I really enjoy having these quiet moments of reflection. After being in a rock band for a few years your ears start to ring and loud noises become so commonplace that having something quiet is exciting.

How much of your songwriting inspiration comes from literature? For example, “All I Ever Wanted” is based off of Kundera’s “The Hitchhiking Game.” What does translating the written word into music add to the meaning of it for you?

M: Songwriting is kind of like condensed story-writing. It’s sort of like…um…theres the song “Yesterday” by the Beatles right? If you have that same melody, that really intricate melody, but you pick different words so it’s (singing) “Yesterday I got out of bed and I went to the store and I bought a cup of tea,” it would be really weird. Or let’s say you have the same lyrics but you didn’t have that melody. It wouldn’t make sense. It wouldn’t be as powerful of a song. One or the other on their own isn’t what is telling the story, but together it makes sense. With “Yesterday”, any human being anywhere in the world can hear the melancholy in those words, the sorrow in the melody. There’s something about the two together that makes it really powerful.

The band is involved in a lot of charity work from setting up Neda Speaks to playing numerous charity events. You’ve just announced that you’ll be joining Death Cab for Cutie at KFOG’s 26th Annual Concert for Kids. Did the band start out with the goal to get involved in charity work or did it develop on its own?

M: With Neda Speaks in particular that all started when I saw the video of this woman being killed. I was so moved by it. It was so haunting and terrifying. You literally watch this woman get shot in the street, bleed out and die. And she’s holding a sign that says freedom. She got shot because she wanted her vote counted. I welled up and I felt such a strong connection to this woman. I was fascinated by the idea of what a small world it is because here’s this person I’ve never met, but that I shared an extremely intimate moment with. I felt angry at the Iranian government and I wanted to do something. So I wrote the song “Neda” about her, and then approached Amnesty International about raising money to get prisoners out of jail in Iran. We set up a website called Neda Speaks, hosted a benefit show, did a campaign, and released a single so all the proceeds went to the cause. I felt very driven to just do something for these people in the memory of Neda. I’m really glad we got to help others. It was a great thing to be a part of.

What has been one of the biggest highlights on the current tour for you?

M: We were playing the DeLuna festival in Florida and the stage was set up on the beach. While the sun was going down I started climbing up the scaffolding and I looked at the water and I was like “Man, the water is beautiful. I want to jump in.” So I threw off my boots and ran towards the ocean and jumped in while the band kept playing. A bunch of the crowd came and jumped in too. It was a great rock ‘n’ roll moment. I got back on stage and finished the set. During the last song I threw my boots off again and pointed at the ocean and the entire crowd ran with me and jumped in. We were out there for like 20 minutes and everyone was chanting and hugging. It was one of those awesome, spontaneous rock ‘n’ roll moments where you realize “God, I love doing this.”

What’s next for The Airborne Toxic Event? Anything you want to say to your fans?

M: We’ve been on the road for 11 months. We’re making plans for next year and we’ll be announcing some stuff soon. But if I could say anything it would be thank you for this year. It’s been such an incredible year on the road, and it’s a privilege to be able to play music. We are very appreciative. We’ve met so many great people and gotten so many letters and e-mails. People look out for us on the road and you can tell they really care, and we really care about them. It’s been awesome. It’s been a life-changing experience.

Upcoming concerts:

Dec. 6th – Marquee Theatre, Tempe, AZ, US

Dec. 7th – Marquee Theatre, Tempe, AZ, US

Dec. 8th – Ace of Spades, Sacramento, CA, US

Dec. 10th – Valley View Casino, Valley Center, CA, US

Battles, an experimental rock band from New York City, released their second album “Gloss Drop” earlier this year. We talked to drummer John Stanier about what it was like collaborating with various musicians on the new record, the benefits of being a trio, and Battles unique live show.

You guys were playing in different bands before Battles. How did you all come together?

Well, Ian pretty much knew everyone from different times- my old band had played with his band, his old band played with Dave’s old band. So Ian had moved from Chicago to New York, and one day I ran into him on the streets and he said he was doing a new project. I went along and I liked it, and here we are eight years later.

What was the original objective when starting Battles?

There really wasn’t an objective when starting Battles. I wasn’t looking for another band to be in since I was already in one. Battles wasn’t an art project, but it certainly wasn’t “Oh we’ve got to get a manager, we’ve got to get signed.” There wasn’t any of that. It was more about naturally letting it take its course. There was zero agenda from day one, no master-plan, no manifesto. I think that has a lot to do with why we sound the way we do, because there are no rules or boundaries, and we let it organically take its course.

On “Gloss Drop” you work with various artists who provide vocals. What were the advantages and challenges of collaborating?

Ironically, collaborating was the easiest part of making the record by a long shot. Normally it would seem that it would be the hardest part but it was pretty simple. Three of the four people we already knew. I knew Matias Aguayo from Kompakt. Kazu Makino we knew from Blonde Redhead, and it was just a matter of ringing her up in Manhattan, asking her if she wanted to do it and driving her to the studio. We knew Yamantaka Eye from when we played with Boredoms, and we sometimes use their soundman, so he was up for it. Gary Numan was really the only person we had never met or didn’t have any contact with. So it was as simple as getting our manager to get in contact with his people. We met him in Boston and he was on tour so it was perfect. Really simple.

If you had to sum up the sound of “Gloss Drop” how would you describe it in comparison to your previous records?

I would say it’s a more focused record, not as all over the place. Now it’s only three people and I think being a trio really opened up our sound. It’s a little more to the point compared to our previous records, especially in our early EPs where we were trying to figure out what it was we were going to do in the first place.

Because vocalist Tyondai Braxton left the band you had to figure out a new way to approach your live performances. You do this by projecting footage of the various singers during the show. What was the first gig like using this new method?

The very first gig we did without Tyondai was in Japan right after the earthquake and we didn’t use the screens. It took some time to figure out the screens and how we were going to do it, but it works and I really like it. I’m super used to it actually and I don’t think I would want to go any other way now. It’s very very fun, even more fun now to be honest.

Do you have a favorite song to play live?
No, no! It’s like asking to choose your favorite child.

What has been your favorite memory thus far on the current tour?

My favorite memory…too many memories. Everyday is fun.

What do you consider to be the greatest achievement since the band formed?

Certainly I would say that completing “Gloss Drop” is the biggest achievement by far.

What’s next for Battles?

A lot of touring still. We’re nowhere near finishing at the moment, so we’ll be touring well into next year. That’s kind of all I know right now.

Great. Lastly, how did curating All Tomorrow’s Parties Nightmare Before Xmas come about?

They just asked us a while ago actually and we said “yes.” They asked us to pick “x” number of artists to play, and then they came back a while later and said “alright, here are the bands that said ‘yes’.” So from our part it was very simple. I’m really looking forward to that. It’s going to be awesome.

Check out Battles perform their most recent single “My Machines” live:

Upcoming concerts:

Nov. 30th – Sala Apolo, Barcelona, Spain

Dec. 1st – Joy Eslava, Madrid, Spain

Dec. 2nd – Kafe Antzokia, Bilbao, Spain

Dec. 5th – Live Club, Trezzo sull’ Adda, Italy

Dec. 6th – Das Bett, Frankfurt, Germany

Dec. 7th – Postbahnhof, Berlin, Germany

Dec. 9th-Dec. 11th – All Tomorrow’s Parties-ATP 2011, Minehead, UK

Check here for more dates.

Terraplane Sun, a five-piece blues/folk rock band out of Venice, CA, are making a name for themselves in Hollywood with songs featured on various hit TV shows. We caught up with Ben and Johnny to talk about their favorite tour memory in Amsterdam, airlines as a source for discovering new music, and the value of deodorant.

How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you before?

Johnny: We switch up so many different instruments and styles that it’s hard to stick us into one category. But definitely like folk, blues, hints of country, and vintage rock kind of stuff.
Ben: We could just keep it simple and call it rock n’ roll.

Collectively, how many instruments can the band play?

B: I don’t know if we’ve ever actually put a number on it, but definitely north of ten.
J: One guy alone in the band I think plays five. So that boosts our median number.

If you could have written any song in music history, what would it be?

J: Wow. I wish I could have written the verse from “Dirty Work” by Steely Dan, the hook from “Kind Woman” by Buffalo Springfield, and maybe the bridge from…uh…
B: I think I’m just going to have to settle on “God Only Knows” by the Beach Boys, written by Brian Wilson. That’s probably the most spectacular song I’ve ever heard.
J: “Pet Sounds” is a major influence so I can definitely second Ben on “God Only Knows”

Your music has had a lot of success on television with songs featured on “Nurse Jackie,” “Damages,” and “The League,” as well as your song “Trouble” being chosen as the theme song for A&E show, “Relapse.” What’s it like being a developing band in Hollywood?

J: A little fish in a big pond. Every night there are four or five bands playing at every gig across L.A. You can sometimes feel lost, but there are so many different avenues for a small band to break through.
B: I feel like with any city or any era there is always kind of a sound that becomes the norm. And like Johnny said, there will be five bands playing in any given area, but four of them probably fall into the sound that’s hot right now. I guess we like to pride ourselves on hopefully having a sound that’s unique.

It is very interesting times. Like you said, there are so many ways a band can take things into their own hands and traditional avenues have kind of taken a backseat.

J: You have to be super creative now. People aren’t buying CDs so you can cross that off the list. You can make a YouTube video on a bunch of treadmills and the next thing you know you can headline a national tour.

You released  your second album “Coyote” in January. How does it differ from your first album?

B: It’s night and day. The first record was more or less me just kind of blabbering with a producer. And “Coyote” was kind of like the rebirth of Terraplane Sun as we know it today. We went into the studio after a year of playing with nine songs and within three days we layed it down.

You guys come from all over the U.S., but have settle in Venice Beach. What appeals to you about Venice?

J: Venice has such an amazing vibe to it. It’s more gritty, and not as polished as Santa Monica and other parts of L.A. You have a lot more freedom to do certain things because there’s less judgment. It’s like an artist colony and it makes you feel like you can do as you please. Creatively, it’s just an inspiring spot.
B: I’ve never known another beach town quite like it. It’s aware of the beach and it’s proximity, but it’s kind of like when the city meets the beach, so it’s like this kind of edgy, artistic little nugget that cool stuff comes out of.

You play a lot in Southern California and Vegas, and recently went to Amsterdam. What has been your favorite tour memory so far?

J: I don’t really want the world to know…
B: Amsterdam for me. That will be a trip I’ll remember for the rest of my life. As far as one moment in Amsterdam…
J: Oh ya! We met a pub owner on one of the first nights we got there. He was eyeing us up and down and claimed to be a blues aficionado. At first I thought he was going to fight me, but he ended up taking us in as like his adopted American children, and invited us to play at his pub the next day. So while we were setting up outside the pub the following day this woman drives by on a bike with a cello strapped to her back. I went after her and asked if she wanted to play with us and she said yes. We sat down and I began to tell her what the chord changes were, but she just said “No, don’t worry about it.” So we laid into the song and she made it one of the most beautiful performances I’ve ever heard in my life. She never heard the song once and she nailed every change plus improvised a cello solo. It was just one of those things where all the pieces came together. It was incredible.

What are you listening to while you’re on the road?

J: Ben, who’s that sick guitar player that we listened to on the way up? I’m going to butcher his name if I try to say it.
B: The west African guy? I’m a huge fan of Ali Farka Toure. It’s like the best road music in my mind.

I actually discovered him on an airline music channel.

B:It’s funny, airlines are really becoming the source for discovering new music. I’ve actually just discovered a couple new bands on JetBlue.

If you were going on tour and could only take three things with you, not including your instruments, what would they be?

J: When I was a kid we had a huge fire that came by my house and I did kind of the same thing, where I actually could only take what I could carry. I still get made fun of this till this day because my priorities were deodorant, my guitar, toothbrush, underwear, and that was it. I left all my toys and like…
B: But why deodorant?
J: Well think about this- my house burns down, I’m homeless, and I have to get a job so I have to smell good. So i’d probably still go with deodorant on the road.
B: That’s a no brainer.

You were wearing deodorant at 11?

J: I was a hairy child. I’m just kidding. I was trying to be a little older than I actually was.

Favorite place you’ve ever played?

B: We were just at the Belly Up in San Diego. I think that’s my favorite place. I love that place. It’s one of the best sounding venues. The Cosmopolitan in Vegas is pretty cool too.
J: Ya, the Cosmopolitan is my favorite.

If you could choose any place to perform where would it be?

B: Hollywood Bowl, baby!
J: I would love to play the House of Blues on the strip. I grew up going there as a kid, and it has been a life goal to get up there. I don’t think it’s too far out of reach at this point, which is really exciting.

What do you like most about playing live?

B: The relationship between the band and the crowd.
J: It’s a rush like no other. When the crowd is really vibing off you…that energy is something you can’t replicate in any other medium. But also, the musicianship in this band is incredible, and I love being able to improvise. Those freedoms really elevate our playing and that’s just an amazing feeling.

What is your favorite song to play live?

B: Probably “Tell Me I’m Wrong.” Johnny probably agrees too, ya?
J: That’s definitely the one.
B: No matter what kind of night we’re having, as far as if we have the crowd or not, we can always rely on that song.
J: Without fail that trombone solo will put a smile on my face every single night.

What do you consider to be your greatest achievement so far?

J: I think the record has been the greatest achievement because it took so many chance occurrences and events to even get this formation of the band together and get us all on the same page.
B: Ya, just the band in general. After I finished the first record I played with several musicians, and I’m sure you know musicians tend to be crazy. Finding guys to collaborate with where there are no egos is difficult. So I was more or less ready to not even continue, but then I met them and we got really lucky. From where I am now to where I was then, it’s amazing we’ve gotten this far.

What’s next for Terraplane Sun?

B: We’re currently sitting on our best material so we’re working feverishly to try to get into the studio and find a producer to make our third record, a record that will validate us in the music world.
J: We should be dropping an EP within the next month and a half, so we’re super excited about that. We’ve got an amazing bunch of new tracks, so stay tuned!

Upcoming concerts:

Nov. 22nd – The Hotel Cafe, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Nov. 23rd – The Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas, NV, USA

Nov. 24th – The Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas, NV, USA

With their first album in the works, folk pop band Ellen and the Escapades have already received critical praise, including being named winner of Glastonbury’s Emerging Talent Competition in 2010. Currently touring in the UK, Ellen took the time to answer our questions about touring, performing live, and the anticipated new album.

They’ve also given us a pair of tickets to give away to one of their forthcoming shows, find out how to enter at the bottom of the post.

How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard the band?

Ellen: I think the best way to describe our music would probably be to say it’s a blend of folk, rock and pop music. We’re massively influenced by bands from the sixties and seventies, like The Beatles and Fleetwood Mac, but also more contemporary artists such as Ryan Adams, Bon Iver, and even bands like The Shins.

Who are The Escapades? Where did the name come from?

E: The Escapades are:

Jeff Schneider on electric guitar and backing vocals
Chris Quick on keys and backing vocals
James Warrender on drums
Andy Calder on bass

In perfect truth, we came up with the name Ellen and the Escapades because of the alliteration, and not a lot else!

You released your first ep ‘Of All The Times’ in 2010 – do you have plans for a full album soon? If so, when are you hoping to release it and how has your sound progressed?

E: We’ve actually spent the last few months recording the album, in between playing the summer festivals. We’re hoping to release it in the spring, but nothing’s set in stone just yet. I think we’ve developed our sound massively since the EP came out – we’ve just grown as a group of musicians and I think our arrangements and songs have just gotten better. Some of the tracks on the album are songs we’ve released before, but changed and re-recorded and some are totally new. We worked with a producer called Matt Peel, and he’s been great with us – he’s really pushed us and I think it’s made a big difference. We’re really excited for everyone to hear it!

You’ve just kicked off a UK tour. What are the best and worst things about touring?

E: The best thing about touring for me is just being out on the road with the guys, playing in different places each night, and just getting into a routine of gigging. I think naturally you just kind of grow in confidence and become more comfortable with the shows and the audiences. We feel very lucky that we’re able to do it- it’s a lot of fun… I guess the worst things are probably the times where we’re in a van for hours on end and not getting much sleep- that can get kind of tedious but we can’t complain, really!

What are you listening to at the moment while you’re on the road?

E: It depends on the mood in the van really – there’s usually a lot of Beatles, The Band, some soul and Motown stuff… A lot of the time we’ll all listen to different stuff on our MP3 players. At the moment, I’m really enjoying a band called Other Lives. There’s a new Ryan Adams record out too, so that’s on my player a lot.

You played a lot of festivals over the summer. Which one was the highlight and why?

E: I think Green Man was a big highlight for all of us this year. We really didn’t expect to be playing to such a big crowd and the response from the audience was so great – we all loved it. It’s such a lovely festival in general and there were a lot of bands playing that I really love too, so for me it was perfect!

What would be your dream venue to play in?

E: I’ve always loved the idea of playing in old theatres. I think that’d be really cool. We were really spoilt when we toured in Switzerland. We played some stunning shows by the lake out there. I’d certainly be up for doing that again too.

What do you like most about playing live? Do you ever get nervous before performing?

E: I always get nervous to a degree, but some times more than others. Mostly I get nervous when there’s either a really big crowd, or if a venue is really, really intimate. The ones in between aren’t as nerve racking for me for some reason. I love playing live though. It’s probably my favourite thing about being in a band. It’s different every night and always unpredictable so it keeps things interesting.

What’s your favorite song to play live and why?

E: We have this song called ‘All the Crooked Scenes’ and that’s probably my favourite to play live at the moment. It’s fairly quick and kind of has a different vibe to a lot of our other stuff. I really pushed myself vocally too when I wrote this so it’s always a nice challenge! And I really like what everyone plays on it. It sounds really cool when it all comes together.

What do you do when you’re not performing or making music? Do you still have day jobs?

E: There’s actually very little time spent not making music/performing/rehearsing and other such Ellen and the Escapades related activities! So it’s quite a novelty to have days off. I tend to do really boring, regular stuff! I like to see my family and friends, go out, go to gigs – do all that sort of thing. We’re all almost impossible to employ because of what we do, so at the moment Andy works one day a week when he can and that’s about it!

There’s been a lot of debate recently about whether music streaming services are good for up and coming artists or not. What’s your take on it?

E: I’m quite on the fence – I think there are pros and cons to them. I think in general, for up and coming bands, the internet is a great thing and a good way to promote yourself and for people to find your music. However, it’s also useful for bands like us for people to hear our music on internet sites such as MySpace or Facebook and then buy it on iTunes or Amazon, rather than listening over and over again on Spotify.

What would you say has been the greatest achievement so far since the band formed?

E: We’ve achieved a lot of things we’re really proud of and we feel very lucky that that’s the case. Obviously winning the Glastonbury emerging talent competition was a big thing for us. But really, I suppose we have just recorded our debut album, and we’ve done that completely on our own without any label backing, and we’re all really, really proud of the way it’s sounding. We managed to reach our Pledge Music campaign target in just a week and this has gone a long way to helping us finish the record. Hopefully we can go on to achieve even more great things once it’s released too!

Check out their latest single, When The Tide Creeps In:

WIN A PAIR OF TICKETS TO SEE ELLEN AND THE ESCAPADES LIVE!

We’ve got a pair of tickets to give away to one of the bands upcoming shows, all you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is:

1) Like us on Facebook

2) Like the blog/competition announcement post here.

The competition closes on Friday 18th November and the winner will be announced on the Facebook post.

Good luck!

Upcoming dates:

Nov. 22nd – The Wheelbarrow, London, UK

Nov. 23rd – Boileroom, Guildford, UK

Nov. 26th – Durham Students Union, Durham, UK

Nov. 29th – Stereo, York, UK

Nov. 30th – The Forum, Sheffield, UK

Dec. 2nd – Bolton Brow Workingmans Club, Sowerby Bridge, UK