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This Old Ghost – Island Of Violent Lovers

After reading the tag line on This Old Ghost‘s Twitter page I believe they do themselves a disservice by proclaiming the bands they sound like. After listening to their EP on bandcamp I disagree with them wholeheartedly. That’s not to say I don’t like the music, I do, a lot. Yes, there are influences from a specific musical spectrum, but know this Ryan, Ian , Karri, Rob, Brendan, own your sound and find ways to distinguish yourselves from the crowd. All in all, the Island of Violent Lovers EP is a very comfortable sweater you’ll likely grow more attached to after repeated listens. And I most assuredly have a sweater fetish. Peace.

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Our First Interview: Natureboy’s Sara Kermanshahi

Recently I had the great pleasure of interviewing Bushwick, New York native Sara Kermanshahi of the band Natureboy. And if you haven’t listened to her latest self-titled release Natureboy, you’re missing out. Her songs are infectious acoustic odes laden with degrees of tenderness, fragility and longing. Her guitar playing is sedate and mellifluous, punctuated with a potency both endearing and captivating. Sara’s songs when played draw you closer; unconsciously you lean into them just to catch hints of their glowing warmth.

d. durand: I’ve been checking up on you Sara and I know you are a first generation Iranian-American born and bred in the great state of Washington. A Seattleite. Tell me about what it was like growing up in Seattle.

Sara: Seattle was good for the most part. Gray and rainy as well.  Made some friends, started a band, went through teenage angst, pretty much like everywhere else.

d. durand: Growing up in Seattle obviously there is a lot of history as far as bands go, any musical influences aside from Nirvana?

Sara: Oh yeah, but Nirvana really turned my head around and made me like good music. Growing up I listened to a lot of Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead, Modest Mouse, My Bloody Valentine, PJ Harvey, The Cure etc….

d. durand: Ok, an odd question. If you could be a Nirvana song which one would it be, and why?

Sara: That IS an odd question! Probably “Negative Creep.” It says it all in the title.

d. durand: Being a first generation Iranian-American how does your heritage influence you approach to songwriting, or not?

Sara: It doesn’t really. I’m still lost on my approach to songwriting. I don’t have a certain method or technique to writing. I know I have to be inspired, if I’m not inspired then its all shit.

d. durand: Do you come from a musical family?

Sara: Not that I know of, my parents were artists when they were young, mostly painting.

d. durand: What music was you exposed to while growing up before you developed your own musical taste?

Sara: Well, there was a lot of Persian music around and I did take a liking to it, would sing some songs in Farsi. But I never really got into it. So American radio was my thing until I could buy CD’s.

d. durand: How did your family react to your decision to pursue music as a career?

Sara: Sure they have their worries but they have been very supportive. They really want me to do what makes me happy. They’d do and have done anything they can to help me.

d. durand: Is it me or do I hear a bit of the Middle Eastern time signatures, especially the phrasing typically associated with the sitar. Is that a conscious thing or totally subconscious?

Sara: Totally subconscious. I don’t even think about time signatures when I’m writing. It just comes out naturally.

Continue reading “Our First Interview: Natureboy’s Sara Kermanshahi”

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Bowerbirds – Tuck The Darkness In

Coincidences exist in this world to show us how everything is connected in sometime unexpected ways. When I first listened to the the Bowerbirds one of the first impressions I got was the distinct tranquility and beauty of the music, and how it reminded me of some of my favorite bands:  Blind Pilot, Fleet Foxes, Sufjan Stevens, Horsefeathers and of course Bon Iver. Then after I started doing a bit of research I discovered the band has a close affiliation with Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and his Wisconsin studio (part of their album was recorded there). Having said all of that it means nothing without a musical offering from Bowerbirds, listen to “Tuck The Darkness In” and feel how it seeps into your bones. Their forthcoming album The Clearing via Dead Oceans is scheduled for a March release, I’m marking it on my calender now. Peace.


(Via 405)

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Owen – Ghost Town

Some nights there’s too many moons separating your breath from the one you love. And so you forget how ‘no place like home’ isn’t a place after all. It’s moments spent with your lover making small talk within a shared womb of body heat. Listening to Owen makes you want to write poetry (even bad poetry) or beautiful prose. Makes you want to try your hand at love and living again. These songs have been crafted out of the wood of flesh, and leavened with the stuff left fermenting within the cracks and crevices of an honest soul. And even though at times the words tumble forth a bit awkward and off key, they are more real and vulnerable because of their straightforward quality. Owen has constructed these songs, not the preening kind, but the kind of songs that catch you seeing yourself within their sober reflecting pool. Lucky you, the release date for Owen’s forthcoming album Ghost Town is scheduled for November 1st (today). I am looking forward to letting his songs into my life and spending long hours making them my friends. Listen to the entire album below. Peace.