Jan/100
My Indie Life: Behind the Scenes Ep. 4 and 5
I love hosting ‘My Indie Life’ because it brings viewers new awesome music to be listening to. And the number of amazing bands out there is endless! It’s fun filming a show like this, because there’s no script, and we are literally just babbling about artists we like. But sometimes on the show, because of this, there are things Rob and I wanted to say that just slipped our mind. So this is the place for those misplaced thoughts to be expressed.
Episode 4:
I discovered Marry a Thief on thesixtyone.com and immediately began listening to them on a regular basis. I purchased their 2008 album, “I’m Dying to Outlive You,” and they became a staple on my iphone. All the while, I think to myself, “How are these guys not huge yet?” Their sound is unique, yet familiar and their songs all have great pop-rock hooks that are so much better than most of the crap out on the radio. Their song, ‘Epileptic’ was featured on The Real World: Brooklyn, which is a great thing for independent artists such as these. I don’t like comparing artists to each other, but if you like Jump Little Children, Coldplay, Switchfoot, Matt Nathanson, or Howie Day, there’s a good chance you’ll like these guys. And just our luck: They are set to have new material out in March 2010!
I also found one song- “Lock and Key” by Mason Proper on thesixtyone.com. That one song made me wish they had more up there, but I made do and eventually searched other sites for their music, like myspace. Mason Proper often talks about their bad luck on the road. They’ve had a history of amps smoking and vans breaking down– so much so that it has become a ritual. They know that whenever it’s time to go on the road, something will go terribly wrong. It has become a funny inside joke. Speaking of them on tour, they have toured with the likes of Birdmonster, Via Audio, and Ra Ra Riot – just to name a few.
Episode 5:
I just wanted to copy and paste Dawin’s bio in here. Let’s see if you enjoy it as much as we did:
“i write and play all my songs on a 4 string electric guitar in my own tuning. my parents are baba lovers like pete townshend. lovers of meher baba. i’m one too i guess. i dance pretty good and i love to do it. i think it’s because i have a little black in me. i’m 25. my parents bought me my guitar when i was 11. they also bought me drums when i was 16, but i suck at those now. i wait tables at a vegan health food restaurant. i’m not vegan but i like health food. my bass player michelle dorrance, aka mash deez, is the one who named me “deez”. she is my best friend and confidant. we make each other laugh and she inspires me to make music. she’s never played bass before and neither has our drummer ever drummed. but i love them both as people and i want to be around them. i met greg (drums) and cole (guitar) at the vegan restaurant. i used to play guitar for my friend andrew’s band, creaky boards. during that time, i wrote and recorded these songs of mine on an old PC with a $200 mic, and now i’m just focusing on making more of my own music, videos, dance numbers, and mash-ups. we’re doing our first full US tour in november, with bishop allen and throw me the statue. i just bought a minivan this week. 10/04/09.” www.darwindeez.com
Rob was actually recommended The Colourist by a friend who is also into up and coming music and wanted to give us a great one for the show. So we both gave them a listen and loved what we heard. They have more of a mainstream sound than Darwin, so I feel like they may have more of a widespread appeal. The four-piece from California was named Best New Band of 2009 by OC Weekly, and there’s no surprise as to why. They’ve got a fresh sound, a killer female drummer, and a handful of beautifully written rock songs. On the show, we talked about how Kollin designed a PacSun t-shirt, but we never gave a way to check it out, so here is PacSun.com. Along with the shirt, you get a pin and a photo of Kollin (maybe to pin up on your wall?). I can’t wait to see and hear more of this group in the coming year. They just came out with The Colourist EP, which suggests that sometime in the near future, we can expect a full-length album. And that, my friends, would be music to my ears!
Thanks for checkin’ it out, watch Episode 4 and Episode 5 of My Indie Life, and stay tuned as we bring you fabulous new artists next week at MaybeHip.com!
Lexi Scherr
