Woven Bones by Bekah Cope

Zoo music is Dee Dee from Dum Dum Girls, and her husband Brandon (Welchez) who plays in the Crocodiles. Both Dum Dum Girls and Woven Bones first 7" singles came out on HoZac Records in March 2009 so we had a label connection already. We had mutual friends, interests in each other sound, etc. etc. -- they offered up the idea of doing a record for us and we jumped on it. Dee Dee and Brandon are two of my best friends.

Our first full length will be out on Chicago's HoZac Records in mid-spring 2010.

You guys have released much of your work on 7" records -- a lot of bands don't utilize that format anymore -- any specific reasons you guys still press vinyl? How does a band today balance releases on vinyl, CD, and direct online releases --- are iTunes releases, etc. essential in this era?

7"s or 45's are still the way to release a non digital single, so we use that format. They are really popular again these days, and become instantly collectible sometimes. CD's are so disposable and people just download digitally for free anyways these days. Vinyl is the way to actually get a product to the music consumer that actually wants a physical item. The art is bigger, it's more tactile, the music sounds warmer, and actually records last longer than CD's if taken care of. I'm sure our LP will be on CD in the spring, and when something bigger happens for us with bigger distribution we'll have CD's. Right now, we are selling records to a niche sector of the music economy, and most of them have iPods or record players. We'll get into iTunes and digital stuff soon, probably around the time the LP comes out. Everything has just been going so fast we haven't thought much about digital yet.

Woven Bones by Bekah Cope

We played San Diego and Costa Mesa in June, but for an actual tour this is the first jaunt for us out West. We're super excited about all the shows. We have friends all over the West Coast and we're ready for a little vacation from the Lone Star State, though Austin is so a good home to come home to.

What are your thoughts on Austin as a breeding ground for musicians -- a perfect city for musicians because of the myriad of opportunities, or a dilution of talent because of the mass quantity of bands in town?

Austin has all the resources you need and rent is cheap enough in the right spots to be able to pull off the rock n roll life. At the same time, I think Austin is also a place that takes hard work to get your band decent local recognition. It’s a fine line of playing enough, not playing too much, and playing the right shows before you build a solid local fan base. I do believe that the real dilution of talent here is that there are many bands that think Austin is their ticket to fame -- it's not at all. You gotta work hard here too. Nothing just happens because you live in Austin -- it's a regular city when the festivals aren't going on. It's a great youthful, artistic city, but still just a regular grind like any other city on any normal day. Austin is a perfect place if you take hold of your own destiny in it.

Thank you for speaking with Austinist.

Woven Bones: [Official] [MySpace]
Shapes Have Fangs: [MySpace]
Dated: [MySpace]


Flip through the Austinist Weekend Music Preview Slideshow below for details on a number of events in town this weekend.

Images from MySpace / Facebook / provided by entity.

Digital is more convenient, but that only makes paper all the more special. Humans are multifaceted and can’t exist in a vacuum of virtual reality. The first thing anyone does when they see a letterpress printed piece is to touch it. It’s automatic. It’s also evident in the “handmade nation” surge, with people going for very tactile things like knitting, needlework, jewelry making, cooking etc.with gusto. There is something innate in the need to make things.

How do paper arts serve to connect us with our history and propel us forward?

It’s a continuation of history to work with paper but also a recycling of the old to use in a new way. We have foregone setting lead type in favor of polymer plates made digitally which open a range of image and type options. Reaching back as you move forward.

Anything you can tell us about your new line of stationary currently in production, or do we have to stay in anticipation a little longer?

We’re actually offering an exciting new line of print-your-own holiday cards at EAST! For 5 bucks anyone can chose from 1 of 4 designs to print her/himself on our Challenge press. We provide paper, envelopes, plates and ink. You provide the strong arms to run the press!

Ben (Kent) and I spontaneously produced the foundations of all of the songs -- several of the songs on the record went straight to 2" tape as they were conceived, if that makes sense. Then I would try to bring more structure to them by adding keys for bass parts and keys for other melodic elements -- since the guitar is often rhythmic at best. Keys Keys Keys. Piano was my first instrument. I even play guitar percussively because of that. I would add all the vocals and harmonies last to try to bring it all together.

On the technical side: the drums and guitar were recorded live in the same room. We'd run back and forth after rolling tape. Then the basics were transferred into the computer. Overdubs were done digitally but with lots of analog in the signal path. We built up layers and layers with keys and vocals. Then the guitars were too thin. So we added a couple guitar overdubs in a few spots on the recording. Then the drums would get lost. So we'd back up again. We'd run the mixes by good engineers who don't even like our music. We didn't want musical opinions at that point in the game -- just balance advice. I mixed it in the box. But I prefer to mix back out through the console -- it sounds better. A digital mix buss is at best a representation of other virtual tracks. I love analog gear. It far outweighs the fidelity and reliability of digital. But we were ready to be done with this record. You pick your battles. We had it mastered by Jason Ward in Chicago Mastering Service because he rules.

Image provided by Black Cock

Once we all agreed the song was good enough...Jordan and I would add more noise using keys mostly. And the best part...we'd remove lots of my vocal tracks and replace them with Whitney, of course, and Jordan & Ben as well. So even if I handled most of the shaping after Ben and I produced the skeleton of the song, there were important breakthroughs that we made with writing or performances by Ben, Jordan and Whitney that were essential to zipping it up. It's our record.

How do you define success and what is the ultimate goal for this band?

Longevity. Either you created a musical moment or scene so powerful that it spawned several bands to become great (The Pixies). Or maybe you continue to put out great records even though your label dropped you, or your CD sales are down, or your band broke up and you went solo etc. (insert name here) The new model for "making it" includes internet marketing. And the internet comes with a lot of hype. After a couple years the dust settles and a new story is written about a particular band. I think a long track record of creativity is a good measuring stick.

But along the way, every creative person can be distracted by rent, bills and the job that pays for those things. You'll find out that band x wants to get their song into a commercial because band y made $10K on this or that. You can't hate on that. We all see the old standards dying: CD sales, a big tour bus, and advance from a label (what is that actually?). But it seemed like that was Bob Seger's job. Now bands are trying to mix instrumental versions of their songs before they even have a fan base. And to check if we're on the right course with our music, we're left trying to measure things like MySpace hits , Bandcamp downloads and YouTube views. Maybe that's not how things shake down in the end. Those things can be hyped and manipulated. But shitty music is still shitty. And hopefully bands are thinking about that and not taking the hype too seriously.

Ultimate goal: I have a studio. I know a lot of talented people. I plan to explore all the musical ideas I can in this band (and any other project). What is my lame excuse otherwise? And of course, if we get some recognition from fans or media along the way and maybe even a buck or two...I wouldn't complain. Black Cock should be big in Japan!

Thank you for speaking with Austinist.

[Black Cock MySpace]
[Tia Carrera MySpace]
[Woodgrain MySpace]
[Eagle Claw MySpace]

Mainly people rarely know what you mean when you tell them you’re a printmaker. This is sad because so much of the books, newspapers, commercial art and advertising we come in to contact with everyday is done using a printmaking process.  The other problem is the confusion between giclee and art printed from an inkjet/laser printer being called a “print”. I did a demonstration for a high school class where a kid told me he could get my 11 layer hand printed work out of his ink jet at home. I was incredibly insulted but the truth is many people don’t understand the difference. The printing technology has high jacked much of the terminology originally used by printers. Those who are marketing inkjet/laser printed work as fine art prints are adding to the confusion.

What excites you most about the future of printmaking?

Despite how long printmaking has been around we are still finding new processes and new ways of using it. It is also great seeing the different ways artists are trying to make the printmaking mediums greener through changing the chemicals used or by recycling old plates to create new works. There are just a lot of exciting things going on in the field.

Where else can we see or purchase work from the Women Printmakers of Austin?

Right now we are participating in E.A.S.T at our new studio at the Pump Project annex on Shady Lane so we have framed and packaged work for sale. We also have a beautiful book of all our previous trades we created in honor of our 14th anniversary last year which is available for purchase all the time from our website as well as at the studio. Many of our artists have portfolios of their work on our website and can be contacted for sales through that venue. In addition we have a couple of shows each year where work is available to view and purchase. People interested in our upcoming shows, workshop, etc. can sign up on our website to be notified.

Helping Schmidt achieve his vision is a cast of great depth. For an actor, Chekhov is dessert. It is a chance to work on text that was the laboratory for most of our modern acting theory. So, it is no surprise that the cast list of this show reads like a Who’s Who in Austin theatre. It should also be said that this is an Equity Member’s Project Code, which means that each of the Equity cast members in the show (four in total) have agreed to forgo their usual salaries to participate. Everyone on that stage is out there for nothing but the love of making theatre. Leading the way is Babs George as Ranyevskaya. As formidable as she is fragile, she has an infectious laugh that’s surprisingly heartbreaking. Her identity is so wrapped up in her homestead that she really (forgive the cliché) can’t see the forest for the trees. In spite of the fact that she still has her brother Gaev (Ev Lunning Jr.), her daughter (Robin Grace Thompson), and her foster daughter Varya (Liz Fisher), she feels that if the orchard is cut down, it will eliminate the very witness of her existence, and threaten the memories of her husband and son. It’s a tremendous performance. Matching her in turn is Matt Radford as Lopakhin. He wears his new fortunes with obvious unease, and in spite of the power it affords him, he remains a bit of a misfit in the changing social order. Radford is at his best here, reserved until the flood of triumph that comes from buying the estate at auction and becoming the owner of the land where his forebears were slaves. But it doesn’t seem to bring the desired happiness—Lopakhin cannot seem to make the expected proposal to Varya, as if neither she nor he really feels deserving of that kind of happiness. As Varya, Liz Fisher has a quiet desperation about her. As she points out, she cannot be the one to propose, and so she buries herself in the management of the house. The rest of the cast is a tight and clean ensemble. Dirk Van Allen is the sweet and doddering Firs, trying to keep everyone warm in their coats. Ev Lunning Jr. hopelessly loquacious as Gaev. Sarah Gay (Dunyasha), David Boss (Yasha), and Noel Gaulin form a low-brow love triangle. Playing the staunch governess with her usual comic precision is Bernadette Nason. Simeonov-Pishchik, played by Rob Matney, is the charming leech of a neighbor. Robin Grace Thompson is optimistic yet grounded as Anya. A special mention goes to Nigel O’Hearn as the tutor Trofimov. His presence onstage was magnetic, and we hope to see more of him.

This world of characters is expertly contained by Rommel Sulit’s set, which has the wonderful feel of being simultaneously inside and outside. Buffy Manners’ costumes, always gorgeous, give special thought to the changing status of the characters, and Adam Hilton’s sound design that really creates the sense of time and place. He takes the phrase “breaking string” and run with it.

The short and the long of it is that every artist in this collective should be proud of their contribution to legacy of Chekhov. This production captures all the felicity and heartbreak that one hopes to get from his drama. It almost certainly takes considerable time to translate a play like this, but here’s hoping that Schmidt and Breaking String will bring us their next offering as soon as they can. Браво!

Photo by Che Torres from MySpace

What’s the Deal: Stumbling across this local Austin band is probably the easiest way to discover them. There is only one show listed in their upcoming show section on MySpace and their EP is currently sold out. But, stumble their way, and you’re likely to be pleasantly surprised. They pull off their mix of shoegazy rock and western-influenced, atmospheric and somewhat psychedelic instrumentalism with class and confidence, which is especially impressive taking into account how young they are. Like, high school young.

“Three Coffins” starts with crickets and the music of a balmy evening and builds into guitar and bass thrums in a way that could be the score to a turn-of-the-century western. Then, the instruments spend the next nine or so minutes rising and falling, building and breaking.

What’s The Deal: They’re playing the Mohawk the day before Thanksgiving for the 101X Homegrown Live concert along with Mother Falcon and Hotel Hotel.

Other Tracks Worth Checking Out: “On A Broken Horse”

Chief Rival [MySpace]

Last Chance by Nicholas Henning, 48” x 72” Oil and Sharpie on wood

I begin my pieces in one of two ways. The first is by coming across an image or design that reminds me of something or someone personal and adding imagery to it layer by layer until I am satisfied with the composition and combination marks. I project the images onto wood or paper and decide which material and technique would best suit it.

Alternatively, I might start with a story and basic idea of the imagery that I want to use to tell my story. In this case, I have to do a lot of searching through my collection of images to find what I need. If I don't have what I'm looking for I'll search online, at the library, on the street, or at the grocery store. I used to work much more slowly, but having the larger studio space at Pump Project has allowed me to work on multiple paintings and ideas at once. Typically, a piece takes between a week to two months to complete.

As someone who has worked then both solo and among a community of fellow artists, what do you dig about Austin's art scene? Also - be honest - what frustrates you?

The most exciting part of the Austin art scene is the almost overwhelming number of interesting artists here who are willing to take risks and make work that is different from anything you'd find in other cities. However, the most frustrating part is that as a result, it is sometimes difficult for artists to receive attention for their work, either from the galleries and media, which are overloaded with artists seeking exposure, or from the public, which can become apathetic about the art scene due to over-saturation.

What is your favorite part about E.A.S.T?

This will be my first year participating in E.A.S.T. as an artist, as I had a studio in my former home on the west side until August. But as someone bouncing from studio to studio it was always great to meet the artists, see their studios, and receive insight into how some pretty amazing artwork is produced.

What can visitors expect when they visit your studio?

I'll have a few of the pieces I have finished since moving into my space displayed, some works that are in progress, and my supplies and equipment, which allow me to produce work.

Last question: Inquiring minds want to know Nick where the name "Pump Project" came from. Do tell?

Pump Project is in a large 1950s warehouse which has been converted into studio space for 30 artists. On the ground floor of the building is a rather large water pump.

After E.A.S.T., be sure to catch Henning's work at Birdhouse Gallery (1304 East Cesar Chavez), where he'll be showing the second weekend of January.