All New Ed Schrader Show, Episode 1 with Dina Kelberman & DDM!

All New Ed Schrader Show Episode 1 : 2016/02/10
All New Ed Schrader Show Episode 1 : 2016/02/10
All New Ed Schrader Show Episode 1 : 2016/02/10
All New Ed Schrader Show Episode 1 : 2016/02/10

SEE ALL THE PHOTOS HERE

This week marked the relaunch of a Baltimore institution: the Ed Schrader Show! Long before Ed helmed Ed Schrader’s Music Beat, he was known for hosting the always-unpredictable Ed Schrader Show, a live talk show held at various spots around Baltimore. The show would present various notable (and often unsung) people of Baltimore and sitting them down for a chat with Ed in his unique interview style.

After taking some time to focus on music pursuits, this week Ed brought the show back to Metro Gallery and interviewed artist Dina Kelberman (check out her project I‘m Google) and rapper DDM (who is also in the stellar group Bond Street District), both long-time members of the creative scene here in Baltimore.

It was a great show, full of funny moments as well as heartfelt, insightful ones. I’ll add a podcast link here when it goes up- this is just the first in a monthly series of new shows, so you can come to Metro Gallery in march for next month’s taping.

Future Islands 1000.

Future Islands @ FI1000
Future Islands @ FI1000
Future Islands @ FI1000
Future Islands @ FI1000
Future Islands @ FI1000
Future Islands @ FI1000
Future Islands @ FI1000
FUTURE ISLANDS

Dan Deacon @ FI1000
Dan Deacon @ FI1000
Dan Deacon @ FI1000
Dan Deacon @ FI1000
Dan Deacon @ FI1000
Dan Deacon @ FI1000
DAN DEACON

Danny Brown @ FI1000
Danny Brown @ FI1000
Danny Brown @ FI1000
DANNY BROWN

Ed Schrader's Music Beat @ FI1000
Ed Schrader's Music Beat @ FI1000
ED SCHRADER’S MUSIC BEAT

Valient Thorr @ FI1000
VALIENT THORR

FI1000
FI1000
Future Islands @ FI 1000
FI1000
Future Islands @ FI1000

Earlier this summer I made the trip down to Carrboro, NC with noted Baltimoreans Kevin Sherry and Mark Brown to watch Future Islands play their celebratory 1000th show. I wrote the following for Noisey:

FUTURE ISLANDS BRING IT ON HOME TO NORTH CAROLINA FOR THEIR 1,000TH SHOW

Future Islands capped off their first 1,000 shows (and a tremendous year) with an all-fam celebration in Carrboro, NC this Sunday, appropriately dubbed FI1000. Not wanting to miss it, I packed into a car with a few other Baltimoreans and road tripped it down there. Though known primarily as a Baltimore band, the boys grew up in North Carolina and started the band there, so it felt right for this party to be down south.
Located at the open air Carrboro Town Commons, the show had kind of a block party or family reunion vibe with a lineup filled with old friends of the band. NC buddies like Valient Thorr and Lonnie Walker, along with Baltimore friend Dan Deacon and Ed Schrader’s Music Beat. Add in Danny Brown and about 4,500 exuberant fans and that’s a recipe for quite a party.

The relaxed atmosphere was pretty perfect for a intimate fest like this, with the artists mingling with the (mostly young) crowd, who seemed appreciative of even the early bands on the bill. But once Danny Brown took the stage, the energy of the crowd spiked sharply, with people dancing exuberantly, grinding, chanting along. The stage fencing almost gave way at more than one point. I don’t think the Carrboro Town Commons security staff had seen a show like this before.

Dan Deacon kept the energy high, performing a set mixed with both new tracks and old classics like Wham City and Crystal Cat. I’ve seen him do his audience participation parts more time than I can count, but it never ceases to amaze me how he can coax a huge crowd into seemingly anything. He also took time to speak about police violence and how it affects us all, the most somber moment of the night but delivered in a classic uplifting and reflective Deacon manner.

All the artists told stories about Future Islands, some dating back to even before they were a band. The anticipation was super high for them to take the stage at dusk. Always charismatic on stage, it was obvious how pleased the guys were to be playing in front of friends and family. Throughout, frontman Sam Herring kept the crowd engaged with anecdotes and stories (told in a Southern accent that grew throughout the night) about their time as a band, growing up in North Carolina, and about the other bands who played. It was a great set, full of both intimate moments and big stage moves – confetti and huge balloons kept the crowd bouncing. They played a packed set which of course included songs like Seasons and Tin Man, but also ranged to older, little heard songs like Pinocchio and New Autobahn, to the obvious pleasure of the crowd. They closed the show out with a promise to return to Town Commons when they hit 2000 shows, though I guess they’ll need a larger venue next time.

VIEW THE FI1000 SET HERE | READ THE STORY ON NOISEY HERE

Firebrand Records Tries To Rewrite The Music Industry

Ryan Harvey & Son of Nun - Firebrand Records

Music has a long history of association with activism and politics but traditionally when it comes to the ‘music business’ it seems that artists with a political agenda have struggled to find the support that their more mainstream contemporaries receive. Local activist and musician Ryan Harvey seeks to help change that with his new endeavor, Firebrand Records, and to help achieve it, he’s working with Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine – one of the few truly mainstream bands who also promote an overtly political agenda. Through the label, they aim to support a roster of diverse, political musicians. I spoke with Harvey at local pub Liam Flynn’s Ale House about the new label, how it came to be, and it’s goals.

Harvey has been involved in activism since the late 90s and music for over a decade, starting with the Riot-Folk Collective, a national group that started in 2004. RFC was heavily involved in going to protests and in his words, “we were singing songs and we felt the politics were very sharp because we were actually involved in what we were singing about, or if we weren’t, we knew about it in a real way.” Around the same time Morello, guitarist for Rage Against The Machine, had started a folk project of his own under the name The Nightwatchman. “He got in touch with us and we kind of had an email friendship, so we met him a year later and we started collaborating.”

In 2006, Harvey’s childhood babysitter was killed in Iraq, which led to him working with the group Iraq Veterans Against The War. “The first thing we did with them we did this tour for a month through the rust belt where we had veterans and student antiwar activists speaking every night and I was playing music… for the the final event in Chicago i had Tom fly out and do two concerts. He was really happy to be part of it,” Harvey recalls.

After a decade playing folk punk for other activists and like-minded people, Harvey had already started to realize that he was seeing the same faces in every town when he toured, but working with Morello and other mainstream artists like Eddie Vedder brought access to new people. “It became a strategy of ours, using mainstream musicians and the forums that they’re able to create through their music to connect with people who might agree with the ideas that we were talking about,” he says, noting that “The underground is cool, you kind of have the moral high ground… but on the other hand you’re like – ‘man, there are a serious amount of people you’re able to access when you are in that mainstream world.’”

While touring in 2011, Harvey started meeting artists from around the world who were not satisfied with their reach and the idea for a different kind of record label started to coalesce, one that would be designed to help artists gain more attention (and sales) without compromising their politics or ideals. Last summer, he brought the idea to Morello, along with a list of artists who had already expressed interest and Morello was instantly on board. Firebrand was officially a go.

To facilitate their mission, Firebrand started with the standard (and much maligned) industry instrument, the record deal, and rethought it. “We took the regular recording artist agreements and we hacked them to pieces, trying to craft an artist agreement that underground artists want and need.” Harvey and Morello strove to end up with a record contract that protects the artist, which is the opposite of a normal recording contract which generally exists to protect the label’s interests.

One of their first signings was Son of Nun (aka Kevin James), a long-time Baltimore-area conscious rapper, activist, and former public school teacher. I spoke to James about signing to the label, which marks a return to music for him after a several year hiatus. “I don’t have a lot of experience with contracts and record labels, but what I’ve heard that is different about what we’re doing is the flexibility in terms of what the artist can and can’t do.” A consistent theme when James speaks about Firebrand is that he refers to the label as “we”, which is not how most artists tend to reference their record labels.

When asked what he thinks Firebrand is doing differently, James breaks it down for me: “honestly, the main thing that keeps me plugged in and makes me excited about doing this project is the fact that its a label thats explicitly about supporting music that’s trying to change the world. That’s what it’s about for me. And the fact that the people that are leading the label are artists themselves and have been in this movement for years lends credibility and a lot of trust on my part to their behalf.” He adds with a chuckle “I definitely read the contract, too.“

Since Harvey and Morello are activists as well as musicians, they are also aware that sometimes artists want to release music as part of current events. As Harvey explains, “someone might write a song about Baltimore Uprising – and they don’t want to wait three weeks for a promotion plan and for emails back and forth with their management and whatever. They might just want to upload it overnight.” Firebrand allows their artists the flexibility to release music this way, which also acknowledges the changing ways people discover music in 2015.

Though the goal for Firebrand is to spread ideas and viewpoints through music, Harvey stresses that “we are trying to be a very real record company.” They have contacts with artist management through Morello’s ties to the industry, and are working with Anti-Flag records for vinyl pressing and distribution, though Harvey predicts most sales will be digital, and any vinyl releases will have modest volume to start.

The label’s first release, a sampler entitled “A New World In Our Songs”, is available now via their web site as well as iTunes and Soundcloud. It has tracks from Harvey and Son of Nun (his track,”It’s Like That” is the bracing highlight of the album), as well other Firebrand artists like bell’s roar, Lyka Till, Built For The Sea and the Egyptian musician Ramy Essam, who was arrested by the Egyptian government, tortured and eventually driven to take asylum in Sweden as a result of his music.

Hopefully, the kind of support Firebrand plans to offer will translate into more musical output reaching more ears, as the ultimate mission of the label is to help the ideas and perspectives of their artist’s reach a broader audience. Harvey feels the label’s support could be instrumental: “Underground musicians can make money on tour, typically- you make t-shirts, you make CDs, you go on tour, you have a good time, you eat and drink, but once you get home you have to go back to work. What if we could sell even a couple thousand albums a year through digital promotion for these artists? That could be thousands of dollars that they weren’t seeing before. That could pay for your recording. That could fund a tour.”

Check out Firebrand Records: SOUNDCLOUD | TWITTER | WEB | FACEBOOK

Ryan Harvey & Son of Nun - Firebrand Records

Adam Savage’s bday w/ Pig Destroyer, Magrudergrind, Cemetery Piss & Putrisect

Pig Destroyer @ Metro Gallery
Pig Destroyer @ Metro Gallery
Pig Destroyer @ Metro Gallery
Pig Destroyer @ Metro Gallery
Pig Destroyer @ Metro Gallery
Pig Destroyer @ Metro Gallery
Pig Destroyer @ Metro Gallery
Pig Destroyer

Magrudergrind @ Metro Gallery
Magrudergrind @ Metro Gallery
Pig Destroyer @ Metro Gallery
Magrudergrind

Cemetery Piss @ Metro Gallery
Cemetery Piss (cricketcemetery.bandcamp.com)

Putrisect @ Metro Gallery
Putrisect (putrisect.bandcamp.com)

For his birthday, Baltimore promoter Adam Savage gave us a present – a sick party at the Metro Gallery (a venue that has stepped up it’s game of late with a remodel, new stage as well as way more metal shows). Local newcomers Putrisect are the most promising new band I’ve heard this year- brutal, guttural howling vocals, killer riffs and a “fuck y’all” live performance attitude add up to a band to watch. Black Metal band Cemetery Piss (featuring the birthday boy himself) have been a fave of mine for awhile but they just keep getting better and more consistent. Pick up their new 7″ if you are at all a fan of the genre. I had to slip away at this point to go to LadyFest to see Whore Paint, but Inter Arma’s set was, by all accounts, incredible. Magrudergrind killed, as always – love those guys and the crowd obviously did as well. Finally, it’s great to see Pig Destroyer strutting their stuff as a five-piece – they have been playing a lot of out of town dates, and it shows in how together they are. One of the best times I’ve seen them in awhile (and I’ve seen them a lot). Super secret birthday suprise: A Pig Destroyer Misfits cover set with Adam joining in on vocals!

SEE ALL THE ADAM SAVAGE BIRTHDAY W/ PIG DESTROYER, MAGRUDERGRIND, CEMETERY PISS, PUTRISECT PHOTOS HERE!

Earlier in the day, I shot Pig Destroyer and Magrudergrind band photos, so be on the lookout for those soon…

Pig Destroyer Misfits covers with Adam Savage on Vocals @ Metro Gallery
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ADAM!

Lady Fest 2014 – Days 1 & 2.

Big Mouth @ LadyFest Baltimore
Big Mouth @ LadyFest Baltimore
Big Mouth @ LadyFest Baltimore
Big Mouth (bigmouthsound.bandcamp.com)

Whore Paint @ LadyFest Baltimore
Whore Paint @ LadyFest Baltimore
Whore Paint (whorepaint.bandcamp.com)

Coup Sauvage & the Snips @ LadyFest Baltimore
Coup Sauvage & the Snips (coupsauvage.bandcamp.com)

War on Women @ LadyFest Baltimore
War On Women (waronwomen.bandcamp.com)

Lizz King @ LadyFest Baltimore
Lizz King (www.ehserecords.com/lizzking)

Dasher @ LadyFest Baltimore
Dasher (dasher2.bandcamp.com)

Curse @ LadyFest Baltimore
Curse (cursebaltimore.bandcamp.com)

Trophy Wive @ LadyFest Baltimore
Trophy Wife (trophywifetheband.bandcamp.com)

Crimson Wave @ LadyFest Baltimore
Crimson Wave (crimsonwave.bandcamp.com)

Nervosas @ LadyFest Baltimore
Nervosas (nervosas.bandcamp.com)

Big Mouth @ LadyFest Baltimore

This was such a great event. Two days of bands, workshops and community in Station North. Got to see some of Baltimore’s best bands and discover quite a few out of town acts that I had never heard of – Coup Sauvage and Whore Paint in particular impressed me. Baltimore rules.

VIEW ALL THE LADYFEST 2014 PHOTOS HERE

Last night of the Gold Bar with Diarrhea Planet & more.

Diarrhea Planet
Diarrhea Planet
Diarrhea Planet
Diarrhea Planet
Diarrhea Planet
Diarrhea Planet
JS2_5782

Saturday night was the last night of The Gold Bar, an amazing local venue started by Dana Murphy of Unregistered Nurse Booking. In the same building as the Crown, it was unfortunately only open for a little less than six months, but in that short time managed to have amazing shows like Skull Defekts, the Death Set, Nothing, Big Mouth, and dozens more that I was too wizened to take pictures at.

A really cool spot and Baltimore is poorer with it gone – but Diarrhea Planet, Cowabunga Pizza Time, Ratboiler and Music Band, along with a packed house of local troublemakers, gave it quite the send-off. Beer, silly string, confetti, champagne and bodies were all flying through the air by the end of the show (sooner, actually), which sold out by 9pm. Everything got a little fuzzy (and messy) there at the end, but it’s safe to say everyone had quite the time.

JS2_5813
JS2_5811
JS2_5803
JS2_5807

SEE ALL PHOTOS FROM THE LAST NIGHT OF THE GOLD BAR WITH DIARRHEA PLANET, COWABUNGA PIZZA TIME & RATBOILER + PARTYING PALS

Penultimate Gold Bar show, Big Christ’s last show + Old Lines.

Big Christ (last show).
Big Christ (last show).
Big Christ (last show).
Big Christ (last show).

Friday night one of my favorite Baltimore bands, Big Christ, played their last show at the Gold Bar (itself winding down – this was the second to last night of the venue’s existence) with another local favorite, Old Lines. Big Christ has been around for a bit, playing noise rock/punk in the vein of Black Flag or Shellac… clearly enunciated, bold lyrics with pounding, lurching music backing it up. They have a couple release up on their bandcamp, but I don’t think any of them really compare to their live sound. I saw them play recently with Protomartyr and was struck by how good they sounded; Friday they had improved even more. Apparently one or more members are moving away, a shame, was looking forward to them developing further.

Old Lines.
Old Lines.
Old Lines.

The night was capped off (after plenty of nightcaps) by my friends Old Lines, who I’ve been talking with about providing some promo photos for their upcoming release on No Sleep for awhile now. Finally the night seem primed for everyone to be drunk enough for it to happen… with the help of some local lovelies, of course.

Old Lines.

SEE ALL THE BIG CHRIST & OLD LINES PHOTOS HERE
All my photos of Old Lines | All my photos of Big Christ

Pig Destroyer & 3 Floyds beer release with Old Lines, LTW

Pig Destroyer @ Black Cat
Pig Destroyer @ Black Cat
<a href="https://www.flickr .com/photos/joshsisk/8717977613″ title=”Pig Destroyer @ Black Cat by Josh Sisk, on Flickr”>Pig Destroyer @ Black Cat
Pig Destroyer  + Katherine Katz (of ANB) @ Black Cat
Old Lines @ Black Cat
LTW @ Black Cat

3 Floyds Brewery and my friends in Pig Destroyer (primarily Scott Hull, noted craft beer fan) collaborated on a beer, Permanent Funeral, which rated VERY highly on the various beer sites, including Beer Advocate calling it one of the top 40 beers of the world. To celebrate, they threw a release party at the Black Cat in DC. Continuing on my mid-year resolution to get my site up to date, here are the photos I took at the event… Baltimore band Old Lines and (now-defunct, I believe) DC band LTW opened.

VIEW ALL THE PHOTOS FROM THE PIG DESTROYER/3 FLOYDS BEER RELEASE HERE

Luray Caverns.

Luray Caverns 2013
Luray Caverns 2013
Luray Caverns 2013
Luray Caverns 2013
Luray Caverns 2013

Continuing to catch up with posts of things from the year I neglected this site. Last summer, Dana and I took a trip to Luray Caverns. It was my first time – a really amazing place. I recommend anyone go at least once. If you can manage to go in with a smaller group it’s very much a peaceful experience. They have weddings down there, too, apparently, which would be pretty amazing and unique.

VIEW ALL THE LURAY CAVERNS SHOTS HERE

Ian Svenonious: the Make-Up reunion, Chain and the Gang LP release show.

Chain and the Gang @ Comet Ping-Pong (record release)

My good friend Chris Richards published an article today in the Washington Post (with photo contributions from yours truly) titled “How the “Sassiest Boy in America” became the most interesting man in rock-and-roll“, and I thought this would be as good as an occasion as any to post photos from the recent Chain and the Gang show at Comet Ping Pong in DC (which marked the release of their new record, Minimum Rock and Roll), as well as photos from the once-in-a-lifetime the Make-Up reunion at the Lithuanian Hall in Baltimore.

The Lith Hall show was pretty spectacular, mainly because I have a pretty low opinion of reunions, and most I’ve been to are fairly disappointing. I forgot, however, just how good of a performer Svenonious is – while I never saw the Make-Up in their heyday, I’ve seen all or most of his bands since and he definitely still has it. Strutting the stage, engaging in his crazy banter, busting his lip on the mic and bleeding without even acknowledging it… good stuff. The rest of the band brought it as well, though I wondered about the absence of Steve Gamboa on drums.

Flash forward a year, and I’m asked to go check out Svenonious’ current band, Chain and the Gang, play at Comet Ping Pong as they bring out their new record, Minimum Rock and Roll. Equally fun time, though minus the anthem factor of having known the songs for 15 or so years… but still, they have it down and know how to work with the crowd and the initimate atmosphere brought with it a sense something crazy might happen at any moment. I was surprised, however, to find the Gang opening for the Coathangers… perhaps a sign of the times? Perhaps not since a good chunk of the crowd seemed to leave after their site, skipping the headliners.

VIEW ALL THE MAKE-UP REUNION PHOTOS HERE | VIEW ALL THE CHAIN AND THE GANG PHOTOS HERE

The Make-Up at Save Your Soul in Baltimore:
the Make-Up reunion 2013
the Make-Up reunion 2013
the Make-Up reunion 2013
the Make-Up reunion 2013

Chain and the Gang LP release at Comet Ping Pong:
Chain and the Gang @ Comet Ping-Pong (record release)
Chain and the Gang @ Comet Ping-Pong (record release)
Chain and the Gang @ Comet Ping-Pong (record release)
Chain and the Gang @ Comet Ping-Pong (record release)
Chain and the Gang @ Comet Ping-Pong (record release)

the Death Set e.p. release at Gold Bar (w/ Spray Paint, Wax Witches)

The Death Set

Haven’t updated my site in a WHOLE YEAR. Wow. Going to rectify that, hopefully, with a bunch of new stuff and slowly posted old stuff as well. What better way of starting it off than something that combines the two – photos of old homies and former Baltimoreans THE DEATH SET, playing an e.p. release show for their new record on Dim Mak, ‘King Babies’ at the Gold Bar?

A great night of seeing old friends, though a bunch of old heads I expected to see didn’t make – I guess we are all getting old now. Still, Johnny and Dan tore it up, played old favorites, crowd surfed, jumped around and generally reminded us all why TDS were considered Baltimore’s Best Live Band back in the day… good times.

SEE ALL THE PHOTOS HERE

The Death Set

The Death Set   The Death Set

The Death Set

The Death Set, ‘Light the Fuse’ from King Babies

Flashback to: the last time Death Set played in Baltimore, when they played Sonar with the F Yeah tour (which is now a documentary), and one of my favorite shows ever, them and Matt & Kim at the Lo-Fi Social Club, before it became the Hexagon then Dan Deacon’s studio.

Daybreak reunion @ Golden West

Daybreak reunion
Daybreak reunion   Daybreak reunion
Daybreak reunion

Saturday was something I thought I would never see… the reunion of Baltimore band Daybreak. They were a late 90s/early 2000s power violence band who put out records on Reptilian Records and Robodog Records (now Robotic Empire). I never saw them, but their records made their way to Baton Rouge by way of Page 99’s distro table and the Robodog’s Geocities-era website. Me and my friends appreciated the music, extreme but approachable and with musicianship, and even more, we appreciated the humorous piss-takes at “the scene” and the feeling of a crew of punks that we got from their record art and inserts… I thought it was cool that there was enough people who liked this music there to even HAVE a crew!

Anyway, somehow, someway, 10+ years later and I am friends with alot of the people involved with the making of these records, and they are all great and I am thankful they decided to do this reunion show so me and others had the chance to finally see this band! It was a fun night, and for a good cause – to help pay for a friend of the band’s cancer-related medical bills.

Audio/Visual juried Exhibition.

Audio/Visual photo show NYC @ powerHouse   Audio/Visual photo show NYC @ powerHouse   Audio/Visual photo show NYC @ powerHouse

Audio/Visual photo show NYC @ powerHouse

I am currently displaying 3 pieces in New York Photo Festival’s juried exhibition Audio/Visual, at PowerHouse Arena in Dumbo, Brooklyn. It’s a show about music & photography, which pretty much means photos of musicians, though there were some interesting shots that didn’t quite fit that mold. You can read more about it here. The show is up all month, so if you find yourself in Dumbo, stop in!

Here are the photos that are in the show (Janelle Monae, Monotonix, The Spark):

janelle monae @ 930 club.   monotonix @ sonar : f yeah tour
the Spark @ CCAS

Double Dagger’s Last Show.

Double Dagger's last show.
Double Dagger's last show.
Double Dagger's last show.
Double Dagger's last show.
Double Dagger's last show.

Great show, best night. I stage dove, in fact all the photographers stage dove… wait, EVERYONE stage dove. Denny’s dad held it down at the front for the whole show! So much fun, what a good send off for one of the best bands the city has ever seen. Thanks for the memories, guys.

If you are interested, you can also:

Urbanite review of Under The Strobe Light (my book).

Al Shipley over at Urbanite just did a nice little write-up about my book. The thing basically sold out the first run, only a couple left, but I am about to do a second run, with some expansions and some changed design elements, so feel free to purchase one – but if you want the new & improved version, it won’t be out for a bit yet! If you don’t mind the OG edition, go ahead!