2016 Top 10: Found Sound Founder Kyle Henson

Source: YouTube

Found Sound's founder, Kyle Henson, has a definitive taste and a passion for finding the latest, greatest songs out there. When we asked him to think of his Top 10 favorite songs of the past year, he had a list created in less than an hour. He's a man that knows what he likes. Here's what got Kyle excited in 2016.

1. "Radio" - Sylvan Esso

Sylvan Esso's most radio-friendly song to date is about being forced to make radio songs. Unconventional melodies and Nick Sanborn's expert mixing make this track a stand-out. Before the last chorus when the real drums come in = best drop I've ever heard.

2. "Packed Power" - Blind Pilot

Phenomenal lyrics in Blind Pilot's signature layered, complex and heartfelt style 

3. "No Matter Where We Go" - Whitney

All the good stuff about 1950s America with none of the bad stuff. Catchy, riffy, summery.

4. "Left Handed Kisses" - Andrew Bird ft. Fionna Apple

"Left Handed Kisses" is an eccentric duet about what it's like to be in your own head. 

5. "Oh Hold" - The XX

"On Hold" is influenced by Jamie's time away from the group. I love me a good Hall & Oates sample. 

6. "Astonished Man" - Thao & The Get Down Stay Down

This is an amazingly heartfelt track. Thao Nguyen is thinking about where her dad might be now. He left the family when she was very young and she hasn't seen him since. 

7. "Bad Decisions" - Two Door Cinema Club

Since when did Two Door Cinema Club pick up where Earth, Wind & Fire left off?

8. "White Flag" - Joseph

Everyone needs a good "fuck you" anthem. These three harmonious sisters have created the year's most vindictive masterpiece. 

9. "Swim" - Dan Croll

Is this song happy or sad? In this case, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. This is how to do pop in 2016.

10. "Watching the Waiting" - Wye Oak

This song somehow feels like it's a brand new style of contribution to a well-established genre from a well-established band.

BONUS! Best Video: "Friends" - Francis & the Lights ft. Bon Iver and Kanye West

Francis can dance. Justin Vernon can sing. They make a great song together. Oh look! Kanye!

BONUS! Best Album: 22, A Million - Bon Iver

While none of the songs on 22, A Million made the list, the album as a whole is a wonderful, cohesive return from Bon Iver that's surprisingly humble after years of anticipation.

Wreck Loose - Long Time Listener, First Time Caller

Wreck Loose’s single “Long Time Listener, First Time Caller” is a very strong start to the next phase of the already well-established quartet’s trajectory. The track is the first single off of the band’s forthcoming album, due out in early 2017.

The song is a piano-pop masterpiece, featuring lead singer and songwriter Max Somerville’s distinctive vocals and upbeat piano style. Guitarist Nathan Zoob’s masterful playing weaves in and out to add an essential layer of complexity to the track.

“Long Time Listener, First Time Caller” is undeniably influenced by the piano-pop of the ‘70s and 80s, but only borrows some of the best traits of the genre, like the unconventional song structure, while adding modern touches, like guitar layering and quirky lyricism. The song’s story, for instance, involves a pro wrestler, werewolf and the Statue of Liberty. Quirky.

Musically, the song traverses styles as comfortably as Somerville’s voice fits in his Elton genre. The intro and outro riffs ooze epic, arena-filling rock, and other parts of the song recall soft piano ballads. The entire track is bound together by a very tight rhythm section and Somerville’s dynamic vocals.

After the breakup of Backstabbing Good People, which featured The Commonheart’s Clinton Clegg and Somerville, Wreck Loose has emerged as a focused and cohesive mainstay of the Pittsburgh music scene. “Long Time Listener, First Time Caller” could be the band’s first step on a journey beyond Pittsburgh’s hills and rivers and into the national music scene.

Wreck Loose is celebrating the release of their single alongside Pittsburgh favorite the Big Bend on Saturday at Brillobox.

Album Review: Spacefish - Earth Jokes

Earth Jokes, the unconventional, self-produced sophomore album from Spacefish packs a hefty but wacky 10-track punch, utilizing a battery of weird sounds, effects and samples to create an experimental work grounded in simple rock n’ roll. The trio are releasing the album Saturday with a show at Delanie’s coffee.
 

The first track, “Welcome Back, Spacefish,” serves as a brief introduction, but really it sets the tone for the entire album with modulated synths, samples and other unsettling scratching and hissing noises from unknown sources not often found in modern music over a simple, but driving beat.

The album hits its stride in the third track, “Eating Horses,” which features several ambitious time changes that are masterfully executed, with clever drum parts and sound effects, creating a delightfully experimental but surprisingly coherent whole. “Creature,” another standout track, ends with samples from a public health announcement about mosquito-borne diseases.

Vocals throughout the album are often modulated, and the album makes heavy use of feedback guitar and lo-fi drums, giving the whole record a sort of Jack-White-meets-gothic-poetry vibe. Indeed, according to their EPK, the band describes their music, genre and movement as American Gothic, creating the feeling that, “something terrible is going on (no matter how good it might feel against your cheek.)”

This style of wit pervades the album and is evident throughout the band’s standout live show. Frontman Nate Dibert brings tons of infectious energy to the stage, managing to play all of his parts while rolling his eyes into the back of his head and maniacally bouncing around the stage.

The album is punctuated with the track “Enter: Ed Tangerine (Entry Log 55),” which is a quasi-hip-hop track that sports slowed-down vocals over music that would be as at home in a haunted house as it is on the Spacefish album.  

Earth Jokes toes the line between experimental and digestible in a masterful fashion. Although the album sports classic signs of experimentalism including, chopped up samples, modulated vocals, sounds with unclear origins and uncommon song structures, Spacefish clearly draws influences from mainstream music that forms the tracks they make, creating an album that’s as enjoyable as it is refreshing.

Spacefish is hosting their album release party on October 15th at Delanie’s Coffee.

Thrival Festival Review

Much like the city it’s trying to showcase, Pittsburgh’s Thrival Innovation & Music Festival has had a successful few years, scaling up from one stage in a bakery square parking lot, to a full-fledged regional music festival with top national talent. Much like Pittsburgh’s rise over the past few years, the festival’s ascent has been laden with speed bumps, but despite some logistical hitches, the fourth year of Thrival showed unmistakable promise for the future and was itself a very entertaining experience.

With each passing year, Thrival has grown tremendously in scope, necessitating new additions to the team behind the festival. This year, Thrival hired a PR firm to promote the event and worked with Great Area Productions to book this year’s acts. Both turned out to be great choices. This year’s installation of Thrival was the most visible the festival has ever been, with campus-specific promotion strategies a comprehensive social media presence and well-placed afterparties that brought a lot of the Pittsburgh music scene’s stakeholders together.

Grey Area Productions also put together a fantastic lineup, featuring the perfect mix of lower tier cards that outperform their draw, and headliners that live up to the hype. Early acts, Rubblebucket, Wild Child and Lettuce reliably put on shows that exceed their national renown and though day one’s headliners, CHVRCHES and The Chainsmokers have a bigger pull than day two’s collection of Rubblebucket, Metric and Thievery Corporation, all 5 acts put on shows worth writing home about. 

Metric

From day one, notable acts included Pittsburgh native Daya, who received a warm hometown welcome and the legendary funk band Lettuce. On day two, Rubblebucket’s impressively outsized stage presence and orchestral instrumentation complimented Wild Child, who played earlier in the day and could be seen dancing along with the crowd to Rubblebucket’s set. 

Rubblebucket

Wild Child

Almost all of the artists, including both of day one’s headliners CHVRCHES and The Chainsmokers remarked on how beautiful the location at Carrie Furnaces was. Both of the festival’s stages were placed in the shadow of the massive blast furnace that once produced thousands of tons of molten iron ore per day. In addition to just looking really cool, the setting juxtaposed Pittsburgh’s new face against its heritage as an industrial town. 

Carrie Furnaces

Logistically, Thrival still has a few kinks to work out. Notably, beverages could only be purchased with a token system. Each token cost $2 and had to be purchased in a line of its own. This created a system where, in order to get a beer, a festivalgoer had to wait in three lines, one to get a 21+ wristband, one to get drink tokens and then another to get a beer. This system necessitated a ton of waiting and dissuaded many from getting drinks. Additionally, the lack of free water, a rookie mistake for a music festival, posed a legitimate health hazard to many who were dehydrated and didn’t have time to wait in 2 hours of lines just to get water. Finally, the festival actually sold out of water on day one, augmenting the water shortage.

Day two’s cancellation of Ty Dolla $ign, an unfortunate event outside of the control of the festival, also posed some logistical concerns. The first few acts on day two were on the wrong stages, Hudson Mohawke and Rubblebucket were switched, and before Hudson Mohawke there was a 45 minute period where no acts were performing. While this logistical hitch is certainly not Thrival’s fault, there were certainly a few things the festival could’ve done to avoid the confusion and dead air that ensued. None of these changes were announced to the general public, and though the festival asked Wild Child to extend their set, the dead air put Rubblebucket and Hudson Mohawke on track for the regular set durations.

The festival did a fantastic job showcasing local music, including Pittsburgh’s Meeting of Important People and Bastard Bearded Irishmen who opened the festival on day one, and Chalk Dinosaur, Donora, Brooke Annibale and Balloon Ride Fantasy who opened day 2. Day two’s local show culminated with local favorite Beauty Slap’s excellent synthesis of electronic music and brass. Though these local acts were as talented as their touring counterparts, the overwhelming majority of the crowd only showed up to see the touring acts, reflecting a frustrating truism of Pittsburgh music where local talent outpaces audiences looking to support local music.

beauty Slap

Thrival has created a wonderful regional music festival that showcased wonderful local talent and brought very competitive national talent to a location that was very representative of Pittsburgh. Though the festival could’ve used some logistical help and audience buy-in, the festival showed unmistakable promise and a long-term commitment from a talented staff. In future years it seems that in addition to creating a top notch entertainment experience, it seems that Thrival must create the audience that wants to consume such an entertainment experience out of Pittsburgh’s largely disjointed music scene. Though next year’s festival has its work cut out for it, we’re thrilled to see something of this scale in Pittsburgh and we can’t wait to see next year’s installation of the very successful festival.

Thrival Festival Preview

This week marks Thrival Innovation & Music Festival’s fourth year in operation in Pittsburgh. Launched by the nonprofit startup incubator, Thrill Mill, Thrival now consists of a week-long innovation expo, complete with keynotes, exhibitions and tabling, as well as a two-day music festival. Though this year’s lineup features heavy hitters, CHVRCHES and The Chainsmokers, Thrival didn’t start out on such a grand scale, and like most events of this nature, has been growing organically for almost 10 years. 

According to Bobby Zappala, founder and CEO of Thrill Mill, Thrival originally started in a Shadyside parking lot as The Baller Barbecue. The original idea was to get stakeholders in the Pittsburgh startup community together to network. The first Baller Barbecue was hosted in a Shadyside parking lot right next to the home of one of Thrill Mill’s board members. A few local bands played, fruitful connections were made and then everyone went home. 

The event was held once per year, and then the frequency was increased to 2 or 3 times a year. Each time, the event grew in scale. More bans played. Food and drinks were available by donation at first, but changed to be available for purchase later. Eventually, the entire event became a ticketed affair with proceeds supporting Thrill Mill’s incubator program. 

As the Baller Barbecue Expanded some others in Pittsburgh began to take notice. Foundations looking to increase Pittsburgh’s regional renown and spur economic growth approached Thrill Mill with the idea to make The Baller Barbecue a much larger event. Thrill Mill rebranded their event and Thrival was born.

The first Thrival focused heavily on innovation programming, bringing in speakers from the region and working with the startup community in Pittsburgh to celebrate how far the city had come in the last 10 years. Though innovation was the primary focus, music made a significant appearance, as Thrival brought Frightened Rabbit, RJD2, De La Soul and Formula412 to a single stage in Bakery Square. 

Bobba Zappala

Dan Law

After the success of the first event, Thrill Mill hired Dan Law to be the executive director of Thrival. Dan was able to land some major sponsorships from PNC and others to expand the music lineup. The event added a second stage in Bakery Square and brought headliners Portugal. The Man and Moby as well as supporting acts, Phosphorescent, Misterwives, Raury and Mayer Hawthorne. 

Last year’s event brought a presenting sponsorship from UPMC Enterprises and a new location in Hazelwood. The lineup expansion continued, with the festival bringing Panic! At The Disco as well as Manchester Orchestra and former Wu Tang Clan members, Raekwon and Ghostface Killah. The event marked a turning point for the music portion of Thrival, as the event began to function like a regional music festival rather than a large concert, drawing people from the surrounding area. 

This year, Thrival has booked its most ambitious lineup yet. With UPMC Enterprises’ continuing sponsorship the festival has been able to book acts that have topped lineups at other regional festivals and bring the event to Carrie Furnaces. It’ll be bigger than the attendees of the first Baller Barbecue could’ve ever imagined and help solidify Pittsburgh’s place as a successful rust belt revival story with the region’s premier entertainment experience.

Interview: Jesse Ley of Delicious Pastries

Image by Travis Mitzel courtesy of Delicious Pastries. 

Pittsburgh's own Delicious Pastries release their new single, "Pygmalion Cantations," on Friday, Aug. 26. The track, which was commissioned for a film, will be released by Golden Magnet, a new collective formed by members of Delicious Pastries, Mariage Blanc, Sleep Experiments and Host Skull. Jesse Ley of Delicious Pastries told Found Sound via email about the experience of writing music for a film and getting the collective together.

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"Pygmalion Cantations" [the new Delicious Pastries single, out Aug. 26]  was commissioned for a film. How did you meet the filmmakers?

The director reached out to us via email. Aside from signing the contracts and a brief encounter at a live show, most of the correspondence transpired electronically. It's amazing what you can do with computers nowadays!

Was it harder to write music for a movie than it is to normally produce music?

Not particularly. Thankfully we didn't have a lot of parameters with this project. Aside from giving us a few reference points (Tame Impala, Strawberry Alarm Clock, Pizzicato Five, etc.), we were mostly left to our own devices.

Did the filmmaker have creative input into the song? What was the process like?

Absolutely! Well, I should say, the input was in the type of song – the kind of style. The vision was in place from the beginning. They wanted the music in the film to cultivate a specific kind of vibe. So, naturally, the style of music or type of band were deliberate choices. I think that one of the reasons why Delicious Pastries was asked to be a part of this project was because of the director's belief in our ability to create a song that would serve the film's purpose. Ultimately, the director is a fan of our work and, luckily for us, no one writes a Delicious Pastries song better than we do!

The song will be released with Golden Magnet Collective. How did that get started?

Yes, that is correct. "Pygmalion Cantations" is the first official Golden Magnet release. And the Golden Magnet Collective sprang into life by objectively analyzing our own strengths and weaknesses and asking if there is a better way to approach the intricacies of a creative endeavor. It stemmed from the realization that by aligning ourselves with a collection of like-minded individuals, we could create an environment that challenges us to develop as artists, while also giving us the opportunity to gain a greater understanding of the more nuanced aspects of the music business.

What's the vision for the collective?

To function loosely as a label, but most importantly, to promote a sustainable approach to creating music and art and literature and films, etc. Naturally, the collective will assist in traditional label responsibilities such as booking, promoting, distributing, etc. But ultimately we wanted to create a platform that would allow us to pull from our collective strengths so that we'd be able to increase and elevate the overall quality of our creative output.

Why did you all decide to create Golden Magnet?

We wanted to create a formal channel that allowed us the opportunity to document out individual and shared creative projects, while simultaneously having a means to deliver and promote said projects to the largest possible audience. Hopefully, we will be able to inspire and encourage one another to continue writing, recording and releasing new and interesting material. And hopefully, moving forward, we will be able to act as a beacon for other music/art-related projects that we find interesting and worthy of deeper consideration.

Will "Pygmalion Cantations" be part of a future Delicious Pastries release?

Funny you should as that. Anything is possible! It depends on how many Grade A jams we cook up in the next couple of months. The main reason we are releasing a single right now is because we are about to drop out of the spotlight for a little bit. For most of the fall and winter, Delicious Pastries will be retreating back into the studio full-time to begin work on our new album. We wanted to leave our fans with something they can sing their teeth into while we are away. What better way to drift into obscurity than with a big bang?! But we will be documenting parts of the recording process and posting photos and video clops of our time recording on both Delicious Pastries' and Golden Magnet's Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages.

Was any part of the writing/recording process for "Pygmalion Cantations" collaborative with other members of the collective?

Unfortunately not. We were already pretty deep into the recording process by the time the collective was officially established. However, you can anticipate collaborative releases from various subsets of the collective in the very near future!

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Check out "Pygmalion Cantations" on the Delicious Pastries Bandcamp and Soundcloud pages.

The single and all future Golden Magnets Collective releases can be found on the collective's Bandcamp and Soundcloud.

Album Review: LOOM - Searights

Searight's new album, "LOOM," is available on Bancamp.

Pittsburgh locals Searights have worked hard to hone their guitar-driven indie pop for LOOM, second release out Friday, Aug 26 on Bandcamp. The record's 10 tracks span solid indie rock and more experimental, instrumental tracks, all rooted in the tradition of guitar rock. Searights' two guitarists carry instrumental melodies and consistently push each song forward. 

LOOM comes about two years after Searights’ self-titled debut EP, released in September of 2014. In that time, the band has been ubiquitous in the Pittsburgh music scene. While their increased cohesiveness certainly shows in the new record, the band’s desire to put out a polished, professional product is clear. The Bandcamp description for the first EP reads, “recorded in basements, bathtubs and bedrooms,” while LOOM features a full credit list, including a studio and mastering house.

Standout, radio-ready tracks off of the album include "Let It Breathe" and "The Long Run," both featuring catchy, complex guitar parts that serve as a coherent backdrop for memorable lyrics. Influences as diverse as Real Estate and Oasis can be heard in many of the tracks, but come through loud and clear on "Slide Song."

Radio hits aside, LOOM's diverse song selection represents a full picture of what the band is capable of. Track three, "The Enterprise," features intricate layered guitar parts over a solid drum-and-bass groove sans vocals. The inclusion of an instrumental track so early in the album demonstrates their commitment to showcasing the many facets of their band. The result shows the band’s complexity and desire to capture a complete picture with this album.

Searights’ new album adds a lot to the increasingly accomplished Pittsburgh music scene. Their brand of guitar-driven yet sophisticated indie rock, and their commitment to playing shows, lands them a very comfortable spot in a Pittsburgh niche.

You can catch Searights at their album release show at Cattivo alongside Chet Vincent & The Big Bend, Pond Hockey and Emerson Jay on Friday, Aug. 26. 

Best Coast @ Mr. Smalls - 8/15/16

Photo by Sam Suter.

Bethany Cosentino is everything you want out of a frontwoman. Her sassiness, charisma and honesty give her effortless grace and completely capture the attention of anyone in her audience. Though she has mixed feelings towards being in the spotlight, she magnetically attracts it, becoming the center of attention the second she takes the stage. 

Though Best Coast is primarily Cosentino singing and playing guitar and guitarist/producer Bobb Bruno, the two are joined on tour by a bassist, drummer and guitarist/keyboardist rounding out the group to a robust five members capable of reproducing the band’s surf rock-inspired, complex guitar layering. 

The band played a diverse offering of tracks spanning their three-album discography. While hits "Crazy for You" and "California Nights" were (of course) crowd pleasers, deeper cuts like "Our Deal" and "When Will I Change" were met with the same enthusiasm and a plenty of the sold-out show's crowd knew every word to every song. 

Cosentino spent the entire show drinking La Croix and seemed to comment on it between every track. Apparently she had made a $200 bet with her boyfriend that she couldn’t go a week without drinking alcohol. She implored the audience to tweet at him as evidence for her side of the bet. Though Cosentino’s stage banter was unique, the show’s most memorable moment came before the group’s first hit, "Boyfriend."

Cosentino mentioned that usually before performing "Boyfriend" she makes a point to tell the audience that she now hates the track. Before the band’s prior show, however, the mother of a 10-year-old girl had tweeted at Cosentino, mentioning that her daughter suffers from anxiety and listens to Best Coast whenever anxiety strikes. Cosentino makes no secret that she also suffers from anxiety, so she pulled the girl onstage for her favorite song, "Boyfriend." Before jumping into the track, she thanked the girl for making her enjoy the tune again. 

At their engaging, enthralling Mr. Small's show, Best Coast proved that they're a great band performing great music and having lots of fun with it. 

Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats @ Stage AE - 7/26/16

Nathaniel Rateliff is a man born for a different era. Sporting a tight vest and fedora, he would seem to fit in more in a movie about outlaws in the 1920s rather than onstage at a packed Stage AE. Despite the getup, he and his six-piece band, the Night Sweats delivered a standout performance to an enthusiastic Tuesday night crowd. 

Keeping in step with their vintage vibe, the band showed a taste for period-appropriate instruments as well. The lead guitarist was equipped with a 1956 reissue Gibson Les Paul Goldtop. The keyboardist alternated between a vintage Fender Rhodes and a tour-friendly version of a Hammond B-3 organ, complete with a Leslie speaker cabinet. While Rateliff himself used a modern Fender Deluxe Telecaster, both he an his lead guitarist played through late '60s Fender Silverface amps sporting the “drip edge” design, implying that they have the same circuit as their pre-CBS Blackface predecessors. Following the vintage amp trend, the bassist played through a famously warm sounding Ampeg flip-top amp from the 60s and 70s. 

The band wasted no time getting the crowd into their set. They opened with the extremely danceable “I Need Never Get Old,” followed by three other upbeat tunes, “Look It Here,” “Whole Night Left To Lose,” and “Howling At Nothing.” Despite how densely packed Stage AE was, the enthusiastic and goodnatured crowd still managed to find some space to dance.

Rateliff made a point to show his gratitude to the audience. He frequently reminded the crowd that he, “wouldn’t be here" if it wasn’t for them and that, “we made this album and we had no idea what we were in for. Thank you guys for giving a shit about what we’re doing.” Rateliff mentioned that he and his bassist had been collaborating for over 20 years, giving the impression that his newfound success was a long time coming and his gratitude was sincere. To wit, he dedicated his song, “Thank You” to everyone in the audience who made the show possible. 

Since Rateliff released his most recent album, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Nigh Sweats, he’s been consistently on the road, playing festivals and gigs around the world. During that time, the band has been attempting to record a new EP, a few songs of which Rateliff included in the night’s set. While they were well-received, it was strange to hear a song that nobody was singing along to and realize that many in the crowd knew every word to every song. They didn’t just come to hear the hits.

As the night wore down and Rateliff made a show of tossing his guitar to his tech over the mountain of amps onstage, he once again thanked the audience, asking them not to throw any drinks onstage and launched into his hit "S.O.B," featuring the most exuberant audience hum-along part of the night. After the band left the stage, the audience kept humming along to bring Rateliff and his band back out to perform a few more tunes. 

Rateliff has found a place for his vintage-inspired music in today’s pop landscape. After perfecting his craft for nearly decades, he and his band delivered a standout show to an audience that Rateliff is truly grateful to be playing for.

Josh Ritter @ Hartwood Acres - 7/24/16

Image courtesy of Mariko Reid.

Josh Ritter’s fanbase is large and dedicated. His free, outdoor show at Hartwood acres drew a crowd to the remote amphitheater, despite the biblical deluge that happened about two hours prior. The unfortunate casualty of the weather was the opening band, local favorite Ferdinand The Bull, whose set was cancelled. Yet as the day wore on and the grass dried up, Josh’s faithful fans threw down towels and picnics to hear some of his lyrical folk music.

Ritter has ensured that the same handful of songs is played before he takes the stage at many of his shows supporting his most recent album, Sermon On The Rocks. At this show, the track the audience heard before he came onstage was “Here Comes Your Man” by Pixies. While this might be perceived as conceited coming from another artist, Ritter’s thousand-watt smile as he took the stage melted any doubts the audience may have had about the sincerity of the show they were about to see.

Ritter opened the show with the slower tune "Monster Ballads," which had the audience timidly humming along to its gentle refrain. The band then took the intensity up a notch with a new album deep cut, "Young Moses." As the upbeat drums kicked in, scores of audience members hopped up form their picnic blankets and danced their way to the front of the stage where a sizable gathering remained for the rest of the set. 

Onstage, Ritter was joined by his tremendously talented Royal City Band, featuring an electric guitarist, keyboardist, drummer and bassist and longtime collaborator Zachariah Hickman, sporting a superlatively-groomed mustache. Ritter seemed genuinely grateful to his band throughout the show, who have accompanied him for the entirety of this tour starting in October. Ritter’s frequent accolades to his accompanists simply served to underscore his sincerity as a performer. 

The sheer depth of Ritter’s eight-album catalog must create tremendous backstage angst given the impossibility of pleasing each fan with his setlist in an hour and a half show. Despite leaving out some fan favorites, notably "the Temptation of Adam" and "the Curse," Ritter managed to curate a new album-centric setlist that pulled evenly from his diverse back catalog. A fan favorite from his 2002 album The Golden Age of Radio, “Me & Jiggs,” was played early in the set as well as a song from every intervening album including a solo version of “Snow is Gone” from 2003’s Hello Starling and deep cut “Rumors” from 2007’s The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter.

Ritter ended his set with two of his recent singles, “Getting Ready to Get Down” played into “Homecoming,” which featured a well-received audience sing-along refrain. Unlike many of Ritter’s recent shows, he chose to do a solo version of “Girl In The War,” followed by a full band version of “Lillian, Egypt,” both lesser known songs, as an encore. After the music came back on, the audience trudged through the mud, back to their cars, forgetting the unfortunate weather that they had to contend with to get to the show and reflecting on the sincerity and musicianship of Ritter’s wholesome performance.

New Track: MVT - Light Pollution

With influences of funk, jazz and other musical genres,  the “Mike Vadala Tribe,” or MVT as the band goes by, breaks the binds of jazz and funk, and adds a modern twist. After releasing two albums, performing in 2014 at the Rochester International Jazz Festival, and touring in the northeast, MVT is ready to release its new single, “Light Pollution,” with an EP to follow in August of this year titled The Fredonia Session including: Michael Vadala on keyboards, Aaron Walters on keyboards and percussion, Jamie Greene on drums, and Ben Crossgrove on bass.

Drawing inspiration from groups such as Snarky Puppy and Robert Glasper Experiment, MVT has a jazzy, instrumental ensemble feel. MVT originated in Rochester, NY six years ago and has now relocated to Nashville, TN. When performing, MVT can have three to as many as 20 musicians on stage at a time.

“Light Pollution” begins with deep instrumentals and eases into an ambient groove. The band uses dynamics well to illustrate a different feel in each section. The “chorus” of this instrumental piece is a high energy hip hop beat with quick moving chords and a crunchy bass synth that sits in the front of the mix. The bridge is very colorful and pleasing to the ear, this is where you can really start to hear a story being told. The single uses jazz and hip hop influences mixed with deep trance instrumentals; MVT is breaking the boundary of genre and experimenting with new and creative sounds. Look out for a video release from MVT that takes you live inside of The Fredonia Session in early July and their EP release August 1st.

Recorded live on 5/12/16 at SUNY Fredonia by Ryan Schindler Mixing and Mastering by Ryan Schindler Keyboards - Mike Vadala Keyboards & Percussion - Aaron Walters Drums - Jamie Greene Bass - Ben Crossgrove A very special thanks to: Max Puglisi Imani Cole-Palmer Wes Johnson Funk 'n Waffles Brother's Drake Brewery Flour City Station Alto Cinco James Street Gastropub & Speakeasy

Interview: The Hawkeyes

The Hawkeyes play rock and roll music. Nothing more. Nothing less. But they do it in a refreshing way. They know exactly what they're putting out into the world and they're doing it deliberately. Their honesty makes their music very refreshing and you can't listen to them without getting the feeling that they're just four guys who love music trying to have a good time on stage. We met up with The Hawkeyes after their performance at the Strip District Music Festival.

FoundSound: You guys live all over the place.  So, how’s meeting up to practice? Do you guys, just practice at someone’s house, or find a central location?

The Hawkeyes: We have a central location. It’s a big storage unite that we’ve appropriated for our devices. We brought some extension cords, because where our unit’s at, the power is a complete three hundred yards down to the end of the building. Hence the name of the record. “One plug in the wall.” That’s where that came from. That old practice spot. It’s like that whole concept of, where does a band start get started? In a place like this. That’s the whole attitude. We’re still there.

FS: Yeah, absolutely. So, you mentioned the record. How was the recording process for that?

HE: It was, you know, it was for me, long but it was necessary. Because you hear stuff and you want every little nanosecond to be perfect, in your mind. It all needs to work and be cohesive. But, the producers we work with, they did a bang-up job.

FS: What does the writing process look like for you? Is it all collaborative? Does someone do more of the front-end work?

HE: Jay will bring in a skeleton. He sits home, he fleshes out a lot of songs, he’ll play then at his solo gigs, test them out, see if they survive the live stage, and if he thinks they’re ready he brings them in and we just throw in our parts. It’s very collaborative. You can tell what song packs an audience. We went in with maybe 15 songs and we whittled it down to 9.  You just could tell which ones worked. You know, there’s no formula. If there is a formula, then I think you’re doing it wrong.

FS: Who would you count amongst your influences?

HE: Oasis, for sure. Drive by Truckers, the Black Crows, Cracker. Mellencamp, Springsteen. Jason and the Scorchers, a lesser- known band. We all like them. Wilco, Ryan Adams.

FS: Did you guys all get together and decide, we want to be this kind of band with this kind of style? Did you form to make a certain type of music? Were you friends beforehand?

HE: That wasn’t the original plan. It’s evolved into what it is purely by accident and by grinding it out, fortunately. Two of us played together years ago. Our old guitar player had a band. We were a country music gas station. We were Hank Williams, twice as loud, twice as fast. And then, Colin was like, you know, Jay, why don't you come jam with my band? Because Jay could get shows, but he couldn’t keep a backing band. We were a great backing band, but we couldn’t get shows. We really just stemmed out of that. And Jay was just straightforward Americana rock. And We were more Sonic Youth old country. And it wasn’t necessarily a train wreck.  We wrote a few songs at our first jam session.  But we were definitely marketing ourselves as a country Americana rock band, whereas now, we are more straightforward American rock ‘n’ roll. We’re by no means gonna fix a truck, or you know, harvest corn. We’re kids from suburban steel towns. It’s a really tired term, ‘Rust Belt,’ but that’s exactly where we’re from, and that’s what we write about.

FS: Do you guys play out a lot in the city, or more since you guys are scattered throughout, you guys play more outside of it?

HE: We don’t play in the city. Maybe once a month at most. We don’t go maybe more than two months without playing in the city because if we play too much in the city, our crows will thin out. We’ll do something like Strip District Music Festival, then we’re not in the city until like the end of March at Thunderbird. So, in the mean time, we’ll do something like Youngstown. Especially in the winter. Keep the trips short. We might do something in Beaver County or Butler County. We’ve got a show at the end of the month. It’s a radio station up in Butler that we’re playing an event for.

FS: Do you have a favorite city you’ve played?

HE: Indianapolis is a great place to play. We have some really good friends out there and we have a good fan base there. I mean, I’d say a close second is Milwaukee.

FS: Do you have any stories from Indianapolis in particular that you guys really like, or from touring anywhere else?

HE: The first time we played Indianapolis, well we used to do the whole “Who” thing when we opened shows. Smash a few guitars. Well we took it one step further, our drummer took a broken cymbal and wheeled it around like a tomahawk and it went right in the drum. I mean, just, - crckkk- There’s a facebook video on our timeline of the aftermath, he’s picked the drum up, kicked the handle off the drum. And there were all these people in the front and I was like looking at it and I thought, if that thing had just skimmed the wrong way, that would’ve been really bad.  But the whole place went bonkers. It was a great finish. We had to really work to get that finish. It was an accident the first time we broke our instruments, but then we didn’t do it one night, and people were bummed that we didn’t break anything. And then we started doing it every show. And that was the dumbest idea. I lopped off part of my finger in Michigan. One of us took the cymbal to the eyebrow in Canton. We don’t do that anymore. We just want people to like us for our music.  I said, you know what guys, maybe people are only showing up to see the end of the show. Probably the next, the CD release of Thunderbird was a real good memory because it was jam packed, crazy, you know, guys taking their shirts off. You dream of playing shows like that, with people right up in your face, you know, singing along to every word. We hope we have more like that.

We also opened for The Clarks which was nice of them. They didn’t have to do that, you know. They don’t do it all the time. They do whatever they want. So they were gracious enough to just give us a shot, put us in front of their audience.

FS: Yeah I feel you. So, with this event, you guys played last year and stuff. How do you see, especially because you guys tour and go out to other places, how do you see the music scene in Pittsburgh compare to other cities?

HE: It’s grown a lot since I started about ten years ago, I mean, it was nonexistent ten years ago, at least it seemed like it was, and it has just grown exponentially since then. I mean I’d say it has some catching up do to with Milwaukee, and Indi, but not by far. I mean, it’s a hell of a lot more supportive than Philly and New York. Those are cutthroat places. Some other towns we’ve played like Columbus, I think we’re a little bit, not even, but ahead of the game. There’s just more venues at Columbus. College town, definitely. I actually played there a couple times. I was in another band before this one, and my favorite memory is a Laundromat that had a bar inside of it for college kids. So you could stay near your laundry and get hammered.

Interview: Dhruva Krishna

It seems like Dhruva Krishna is everywhere. The man literally lives, breathes, eats and sleeps around his music schedule. We say down with Dhruva early on a Tuesday morning to talk shop about his involvement in the Pittsburgh music scene.

FS: How’d you get started playing music?

Dhruva Krishna: I started playing music when i was really young. I started classical piano when I was six which was a classic case of Asian parents wanting their kid to play classical music. I hated for a long time but I started getting into in when I started playing ragtime - Joplin and 1920’s entertainer music. I started liking music then but I really started getting into it when I started playing drums. That was my first love and really my only love in life. That was in 4th grade. From there I picked up guitar around 8th grade. Having the guitar, drums, piano combo is really useful because you hit all of the bases of playing in a band.  I can noodle on bass and I recently picked up the banjo. I keep going from there. All the people I look up to musically were multi-instrumentalists so I figured I should as well. That has also given me a lot f opportunities to play in different bands because I can finagle my way into anything I want.

FS: What projects do you have going on right now?

DK: There’s about 3. There’s Eastend Mile which is definitely my biggest commitment and I play drums for that. I joined Eastend earlier this year in January. That’s the most serious project I have going. I have The Family Band which is my personal thing. That came out of my commitment to Eastend Mile because I wasn’t playing guitar as much. Eastend is very rigid and strategic as a band. We practice twice a week, we’re very nitty gritty about getting everything right. The Family Band is the opposite. We’re based on the premise that it’s just about having fun. Not that Eastend isn’t, but The Family Band is all about playing fun songs. It’s mostly covers with some of my original stuff thrown in there. The main people behind that are me and Shane McLaughlin who also plays in Bergman. It’s very Allman Brothers, southern rock style. The idea is also that we change members every time we play. Shane is almost the only consistent member with me. For the show coming up we have three guys who will be the backing band. That changes the game because even though we might play the same set each show, the different band members can really change the feel of the tracks. 

My third commitment right now is Manic Soul which is my project with Shane. That’s a very old school blues shred trio like Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck. All about that live crazy sloppy blues music. That came about recently, but we’ve played a few shows already. That’s mostly Shane’s baby and I play drums. Then next semester I’m starting a solo alum. It’s been a while so I wanted to get back and explore some country and bluegrass stuff.

FS: How do you have time for all these projects on top of school?

DK: I think time management is interesting. When you find what you love, I think you just find time to make it happen. At least nowadays all of my activities have something to do with music. AB Music gets me on the other side of the equation since i’m booking and organizing music. In terms of playing shows, you have a schedule and you just work your way towards that goal. Usually I book shows and then schedule rehearsals around that. Eastend practices regularly though, so we’re always ready. Family Band is the opposite and Manic Soul is in the early stages of figuring out how we want to work. Also my basement is soundproof so practices are easy when I just have to walk 5 minutes downstairs to practice.

FS: What about drums makes you like them best?

DK: It’s not that I don’t love guitar. But when you talk about yourself as a musician, at east for me, I say “I am a drummer.” I don’t qualify myself as a multi-instrumentalist. I’m just a drummer. I also think I come off as a drummer. I’m pretty ridiculous and goony. I’m all over the place and that’s what being a drummer is sort of about for me. The guys I look up to like Keith Moon and those crazy old drummers who are bombastic people who just played their hearts out until they died at like 35. They did what they had to do until they couldn’t. I love drums because they’re the most peaceful thing ever. When I’m playing drums I’m trying to find order in chaos. It’s bringing rhythm to something that didn’t have it originally. Drums unify the band and it’s something that brings pure structure to the song. It links everyone together. If you don’t have a good drummer the music falls apart. Having the responsibility of creating that structure is something that I really love. 

FS: Was there a pivotal moment that made you decide to do music?

DK: The first one was when my sister gave me Revolver. I was listening to Fall Out Boy and thinking it was amazing so my sister told me I was a fool and gave me Revolver. That blew my mind because the album was so old but so modern sounding and amazing. That was one of the first things that got me invested in music. I grew up a bit because it had me playing music that wasn’t simple. Also I used to watch Palladia and those channels that had classic rock music videos like crazy. I binge watched that stuff. It was such a contrast to high school band which was very ordered and regular. Then I’d watch these videos of crazy dudes go insane and burn their guitars. Keith Moon drunk as shit throwing stuff and I realized that’s what I want to do. During the years when I was 10-16 that was incredible pivotal. I also love Dr. Dog and Pet Sounds but the biggest things were watching my heroes play and also getting Revolver.

FS: Have you played any shows in the past that stand out?

DK: The Thrival Kickoff show was awesome. That was just a great time. We had a lot of energy. I was solidly drunk but just having a fun time, but that’s what it’s all about. It wasn’t the most technical performance but we were having a great time and the audience could see that, which made it awesome. Recently we opened for a band called The Aristocrats. It was weird opening for them because I used to watch their videos to learn my instruments. They were some my early heroes. I got to hang out with them and talk with them but not like an interview, just sort of like musician to musician. That was a big boy moment when I realized how real my music was getting. They absolutely loved us which was weird because I was revering them like gods and they didn’t know how to take it. This last weekend Memphis Hill had a release party which was awesome because the community of my friends that play music were all together and we all jam together and love each other. I’ve played so many shows with those guys and its was awesome get the squad together. The guys from Beauty Slap came and watched, so it was a great time.