Kendra: You all are going for extra credit this year, releasing not one but two records. The first, ‘Kingdom,’ is set to drop on June 10th and I gotta know was the split representative of the music found on each record? Are they a very night and day pairing, these two 2022 releases? 

Chad Price: The two EP’s aren’t drastically different but I feel ‘Kingdom’ leans to the punk rock side while Animal is more of a hard rock vibe. The “story” continues throughout, so it all flows beautifully together when you finally have it all in one place.

Kendra: Overall you said ‘Kingdom’ is very dystopian but has a sense of hope to it. Okay, so very much the way we’ve been living in America for way too long now…With that, what pushes you on a day-to-day basis to look for the positives in life? 

Chad Price: If you wallow in the negativity of this country or the planet you will kill yourself. We all need an escape. There’s so much beauty in this world it would be a shame to only feed on the news and the socials. I try to stay positive for my family and friends.

Kendra: Again, this EP as a whole feels very reactionary to America and the world at hand, especially your single, “Red.” Was there anything in particular that drove you to write this song or was it a culmination of a lot of things gone wrong in reality? 

Chad Price: The shit show of the American political landscape is an enormous amount of fodder for creativity. Psychopaths abound. You have to say something if you have a voice.

Kendra: With you releasing two records this year and being from the Midwest, I’d love to know if you had to compare them to a staple main and side Midwest dish, which two would you compare them to and why? 

Chad Price: I’m vegan but both releases are delicious. Like brownies and ice cream.

Kendra: Also, with Coachella still fresh on my mind and all these artists from today bringing out the likes of Shania Twain and Hayley Williams, I’d love to know what artist you’ve drawn inspiration from would you love to connect with if you had the chance to at a festival like that? 

Chad Price: Ronnie James Dio. Unfortunately, he is no longer with us so Tom Waits will have to do.

Kendra: Lastly, with ‘Kingdom’ out on June 10th – anything else you can share with us, perhaps tour plans? 

Chad Price: We have a week or so of dates planned corresponding with the ‘Kingdom’ release and a couple of festivals later in the year. We’d love to hook up with another band and do some opening slots to get our name and faces out there. We plan to be busy so be on the lookout. 

The post Rise & Shine with A Vulture Wake appeared first on ZO Magazine.

Part of what they consider a growing scene in Indiana, the talented trio known as The Orchard Keepers went ahead and dropped not one but two singles in the last month. A rambunxious marriage of thrilling rock and throwback new waves sound, their double single was on the table as we talked twins, obscure trends, and more in this back and forth with 2/3rds of their musical fam.

Kendra: Were you always sure your life would revolve around music when you were younger?

Ayanna: I definitely knew I wanted music to be a part of my life in a big way from a very early age. Once Ella, our bass player, and I met at 13, there was pretty much no turning back. We both knew that we had to create music together in some capacity.

Kendra: Double singles are sort of like twins in that they were “born” or dropped the same day. With that, what famous twins would you compare your own set to? Powerhouse Olsen Twins, the relatable Mowrys, the rebellious Maddens or perhaps another pair?

Ayanna: At the risk of sounding real dang pretentious I would relate our dual singles to the famous twins; Apollo and Artemis. Partly because they’re both like kinda badass (and I like to hope that these songs are both like kinda badass), and also because I feel like The Olsen Twins don’t really give off the vibe we’re going for.

Kendra: These two were released the same day, but were they written around the same time? Or did the inspo for one come way before or after the other?

Ayanna: So, Ella wrote “Driftwood Abbey” and I wrote “Sugar Spit,” and we were both a state apart during the whole writing process (literally and figuratively). I believe we wrote them around the same time, though, but that’s about as related as they get in terms of lyrical meaning and inspiration.

Kendra: Your sound comes with a lot to unpack. From rock to punk to New Wave, it’s all rolled up into a nice tight package. The latter, New Wave, is such an obscure, sort of underground sound that’s continued to influence all these years later. Do you feel any new, out-there style from modern music will have a similar lasting effect?

Ella: Every generation will have artists that leave a lasting impression on pop culture. I remember being a kid and hearing The Strokes or the Arctic Monkeys for the first time and to me that was the real deal that’s what rock was. In terms of the underground I feel it’s no different. There may not be a name for this new music but bands like Screaming Females, The Growlers, and Hop Along will for sure leave a lasting impression because they mean so much to the generation listening to them now.

Kendra: I have some in-laws in Indiana but other than that, I don’t know much about it or its music scene. Would you say it’s one that has found its groove or is it still growing?

Ayanna: Based on how much the scene has changed in the last few years, I think we’re still growing, which is a good thing! We have seen so many new crazy amazing bands popping up all over the place recently, and we couldn’t be prouder to be part of such a thriving scene.

Kendra: With the double single out now, what’s next as the rest of 2020 unfolds?

The Orchard Keepers: We’re hoping to get some more touring under our belt, and perhaps even a second record!

The post The Duality of The Orchard Keepers appeared first on ZO Magazine.

Photo Credit: Greg E Andrews

Last week found S-E-R-V-I-C-E in Indianapolis and this week they’ll bring their ferocious sound to Chicago and beyond for a handful of dates that round out their October and take them straight into November. They’ll be making audiences pulsate beyond compare with music from their latest, Drag Me. We talked about how the record would fit into the John Waters’ universe, their reputable demeanor, and more!

Kendra: When you two came together and eventually decided to form the band, was it not only because of the connection you shared but also because you felt it was time to start a new chapter away from your previous bands?

Jilly: Playing music together wasn’t so much a decision we made as much as it was a force – something that happened to us. We knew we wanted to work together as soon as we met. And the very first time that we hung out, we wrote a song. Then we walked around New York and took some photos, and they looked like a Leonard Cohen album cover or something. It was like we had already been in a band for a long time. That same night, we thought of the name S-E-R-V-I-C-E and it stuck.

Russell: Yeah, our bands were touring together and the more I saw her perform and sing every night the more I knew we needed to work and write songs together. I’ve done records, writing and performing outside of the Blues Explosion, and I was convinced we could come up with something cooler and better than anything I’d ever done.

Kendra: When listening to your music it’s as if Janis Joplin met Sid Vicious in the pit at Ozzfest in a way. With such a heavy sound, is there anything any of you listen to that would surprise fans? A Taylor Swift album in the mix perhaps?

Jilly: Ha, or Nick Cave met Captain Beefheart standing in line by the supermarket magazines! We listen to just about everything. We’ll jump from Swans to Nina Simone to Bill Monroe to Chelsea Wolfe. And we stay on top of what new artists are doing, including mainstream pop.

I’m a fan of all of the divas; Aretha to Mariah to Bey to Lizzo. I’m not sure anything should be surprising. Hmm…I went through a pretty intense Oasis week recently, albums and Liam interviews. There was a month I could only listen to Sky Ferreira. We’re constantly crate digging as well as searching online for old treasures and new artists. There’s inspiration everywhere.

Russell: I listen to everything and different things every week…that’s good that is, Ha! Right now it’s Michael Nesmith’s solo stuff, Don Covay’s Mercy LP, Brian Eno, Flamin’ Groovies, Bakersfield country (Wynn Stewart, Merle with the inimitable country guitar picking of Roy Nichols), The Kills, Butthole Surfers, Cecil Taylor, The Groundhogs, and ALWAYS Miles, The Stones, Ike and Tina, Dylan, and some straight-up punk like The Germs or proto-punk like Stooges, VU, Television, etc! I’m all over the map all the time.

Photo Credit: Greg E Andrews

Kendra: Being fans and appreciators of John Waters, if your own Drag Me got to be the soundtrack to any Waters’ classic which would you choose and why do you feel it’d be a perfect fit?

Jilly: I would let Mr. Waters pick.

Russell: Yep, I agree…but it’s Female Trouble, Desperate Living, and Polyester that are most inspiring to me and that I most humbly imagine our songs could possibly be a part of the soundtrack.

Kendra: Your latest video for “Hey” showcases what people can expect when they head out and see you live. When formulating your live shows, were there any artists you saw back in the day that taught you what and what not to do onstage that you take heavily into consideration now as a performer?

Russell: I’ve simply always been inspired by a live performance where there’s a ton of personality, unique style, unmitigated blistering talent, shamelessness (just don’t give a fuck), and a lot of crazy in effect. IE: seeing Al Green on TV when I was 14, Iggy Pop, James Brown, Jesus Lizard (JSBX actually cut our teeth touring with them nonstop for the first few years we were together as a band), Townes Van Zandt (that I’ve unfortunately only seen on video), Elvis and Jerry Lee obviously, The Dolls, Johnny Thunders, Sex Pistols, and the list goes on and on.

Jilly: Eric, the singer for the New Bomb Turks, would do this thing where he shook his hand and kind of baptized the kids in the audience who were singing along. He did that to me on the Destroy Oh Boy tour and it made a huge impression. I wanted to do THAT!

I took up the good word that rock and roll lives and I pass that on to people with that same move. And someone will take it up from me. My other main influences are Spencer Moody of the Murder City Devils who I got to see live a dozen times and Mark E. Smith of the Fall who I never did. Dang. Both are such sincere poets sharing open wounds. What else is there for a singer? For generally badassery, tone, and vocal prowess, I’m into Alison Mosshart of The Kills, Nick Cave, and PJ Harvey.

The post S-E-R-V-I-C-E Drag You to New Levels appeared first on ZO Magazine.

More time has passed for Mike Adams At His Honest Weight between his upcoming release, There Is No Feeling Better, and his last but it was all for good reason. We sat down with Mike Adams to talk about new music, holding onto hope, and despite the world possibly being a “writhing heap on a fireball” in the future – what that holds for him.

Kendra: This time around you took a couple of years to really get There is No Better Feeling made. Was that due to past experiences where you felt like you may’ve rushed through the process?

Mike Adams: Not really. I’ve had the great luxury over the years of making albums on my own terms and at my own pace. The main reason this one took a little longer is because I wanted to try something different.

On albums past, I typically record everything at home by myself, in my spare time, then hand it over to Adam Jessup who can take his sweet time mixing and perfecting all the sounds. It’s very efficient that way, but I’ve made three and a half albums like that and was just getting a little bored in that process.

Also, my friends who play in the live version of this band are really incredible people and artists in their own right. In an effort to document us as a team, I decided to get all those guys involved this time around. We really mixed it all up and rearranged our lineup (our guitar player on drums, bass player on guitar, me on bass…that kind of thing) just as a fun creative-challenge and to keep it exciting. Most of the time and energy was spent on planning things out and trying to align everyone’s’ busy schedules. The actual recording and making of the album went very smoothly and was a ton of fun. Once we were finished recording, Adam had less time than ever to mix the album. We inverted our entire approach. Oh, also, my daughter was born while we were making this record.

Kendra: Perhaps one of the most relatable songs today is “Pressing Mesh” as it deals with what I think 99% of us are feeling, that idea of holding onto even the tiniest bit of hope during a full-blown shit storm. Was that motivated by personal experience or America’s continuous spiral?

Mike Adams: You got it. This is one of the most overtly broad political songs I’ve ever written. I hope it’s still poetic enough to leave room for some interpretation, but I’m basically singing here about trying to figure out where I stand. I feel pushed to find a moral center lately, and I need something basic and trustworthy to build my thoughts on, especially regarding the media, climate, racism, sexism, parenting, being a good neighbor, etc.

It feels like a big mess of tangled wires most of the time, and I really want to figure out which ones I can cut and which ones I can start tugging at to get the knots out and clean it up a bit. It’s an exciting time, culturally, because I think a lot of peoples’ hearts and minds are being kickstarted in a way that I have never really experienced before. It is also scary because a lot of us in the margins are susceptible to harm in the chaos of trying to figure this stuff out. It’s a balancing act, but this song is a resolution to get to work!

Kendra: Essentially you dug deep and asked yourself some of the most essential questions while writing and recording this album. Would you say it was better than therapy in a way?

Mike Adams: I don’t know about “better,” but for me, it definitely serves as self-medication. I vaguely remember reading a Johnny Cash quote someplace where he equated his songwriting to prayer. And there’s also the famous Brian Wilson quote about “Smile,” intending for it to be a “teenage symphony to god.”

I relate to those lofty ideas of using music to communicate with something bigger than, and hopefully outside of, myself. It does feel like therapy, or prayer, or meditation, in that regard, although I’m certain I could benefit from some clinical talk-therapy as well, ha!

Kendra: Of all the songs on the record, which do you feel you’ll still have all the feels for when playing it live in 10, 20 years time?

Mike Adams: Assuming we’re not gnashing our teeth in a writhing heap on a fireball in 10-20 years, I think “Wonderful To Love” might have some staying power for me, personally. It took a really long time to get that song right where it ought to be, and I couldn’t let it go. Just kept working on it, so I reckon that means it touches something deep in my brain that I won’t shake anytime soon.

Also, in 10-20 years we should have self-driving cars. You know how a lot of artists are doing these Living Room Tours now? I hope I can be the first guy to do Van Tours where I just get people to sit in my van with me while it drives us around their town and I do the whole show in there. Then I could do an entire tour without ever having to step outside the van; which is the best part of being on tour, anyway. Being in the van. It rules and is not boring, uncomfortable, torture at all.

Kendra: Over the years I’ve talked to musicians from all over the country and world, and you may be the first repping Indiana. What’s the music scene like where you’re at?

Mike Adams: I’ve lived in Indiana my whole life, I love it here. I moved from a small cornfield up north to Bloomington, where I live now, in large part because of its reputation as a music and art town. The scene in this small town is strange and constantly in a state of flux. It’s mostly powered by the university and its high turnover.

But, it’s deep and wide and has endured for a long time. My friend Bethany just started a thread on Facebook this week asking people who their “all-time favorite” Bloomington band is/was. It’s an exciting thread to read, and there are very few repeat answers. It’s an easy and fun place to live and be creative if you want to be. It often feels like a year-round summer camp to me. Indianapolis has a lot of great, creative activity going on, too, and it’s just a few minutes up the road.

Kendra: Podcasts are the absolute norm right now. What’s the story behind Tan Van Tour Talk?

Mike Adams: I really love the idea that ANYthing can be a podcast. It’s the Wild West out here! No rules. It’s bonkers and weird and exciting. We started Tan Van Tour Talk as a goof on that notion, kind of. Like, what would an hour-long ambient recording of the Tour Van be like? Insightful? Torture? Too revealing and mystery killing? Like nothing at all? It’s devolved from that genesis and has basically become a talk-show, but I’ve grown to love it a lot. It’s a very fun way to pass the time. It is a really cool way of documenting our travels and our shared experiences. Like an audio tour diary. Now, does that mean it’s valuable to anyone else besides us? I have no idea! But we make it publicly available because we are desperate for attention.

Kendra: Can you let the people know what you have going on in the foreseeable future? Touring perhaps?

Mike Adams: We’re working out some tour dates right now for the fall. Hopefully, by September you’ll be seeing and hearing a lot more live activity from us. We’re back into those scheduling weeds again, but we’re excited to play and to spend some more time together.

The post Mike Adams At His Honest Weight Grasps to Hope appeared first on ZO Magazine.