::Wordless Monday::

Wednesday Duologues: Jen de la Osa

I love this conversation.  I'm not saying I have a crush on Jen de la Osa.  But I totally do.  Fortunately, I have a crush on the other half of Aloud, too.  I'm planning to score the other half of my Aloud duologue while they're on the road this fall, so stay tuned for that one of these Wednesdays.  In the meantime, DO NOT MISS the Exile release show this Thursday at Church of Boston.  The album is beautiful and, as you'll get an inkling of below, the show is guaranteed to be spectacular.  See you there!

me: this is me NOT laughing at your username [oasisfan something something]. <3

Jen : hahaha

I love that I've never bothered to change it since I was 13.

me: still a fan?

Jen : Till the end. They were the reason I finally made my parents get me a $30 acoustic guitar off a Speigal catalog.

me: oh awesome.

Jen : Yeah, it was a crappy guitar, but I loved it and wrote many terrible songs on it.

me: did you name it? do you name your instruments?

Jen : No. That's for BB King to do.

me: bb king names your instruments?

Jen : He's a phone call away.

me: can i get that number? :)

Jen : I'll be sure to put you both in touch. :)

me: please.

okay you ready?

Jen : Let's do it!

me: great! so, to situate ourselves in people's minds a bit... what are you wearing?

wait no.

sorry.

Jen : ?

me: that was a joke.

Jen : Olive. Jeans. Purple nikes.

me: purple nikes!

i love purple.

Jen : Me too!

me: i feel like there's something special about people who like purple.

you gotta be willing to feel to like purple.

Jen : Yeah, it's like those people "get it"

me: obviously.

so, lemme go back and explain that question. i was really going to ask for you to describe some object in your immediate environment. i feel like the chats are so virtual.

if you know what i mean

Jen : Right on. Well I'm in my living room. It's filled with furniture that Henry and I are selling. The walls are bare save the two paintings I refuse to get rid of. We'll be moving at the end of the month you see.

me: yes!

what are the two paintings?

Jen : The one directly behind me was painted by a family member. He did these since I was a kid. It's a beach mainly blue, palm trees, calm ocean. The place I love the most: the ocean. And perhaps his remembering Cuba.

The second is an Egyptian lady sitting down with fruit around here, mainly yellow. Her boob's hanging out. It used to sit next to the booze in my parents house all my life. My parents had no place for it when they moved to North Carolina, so I took it. Many times did I steal vodka with this lady watching me.

me: and now? do you drink with her?

Jen : Yes. Though these days it's red wine or good beer.

me: mmmm

okay that is a fantastic scene-setting job, thank you!

now the real first question: who are you?

Jen : I'm Jen de la Osa. One half of Aloud. I play guitar, keys and sing for Aloud. My partner in crime Henry Beguiristain and I write the songs for Aloud (he's the other half).

um... we're a rock band. yay!

me: yay!

how are you feeling at this point about kicking off the tour next week?

Jen : Ah, well it's really just the CD release next Thursday. The tour kicks off in Oct starting off with CMJ.

me: gotcha. so same question for the CD release show, then. :)

Jen : Ready. Ecstatic. We've finalized the set list over the weekend and started rehearsing it Monday. I can say it's going to be a real treat. We've got some cool things planned and it feels like more of production. I suppose having seen Cabaret last week helped. Don't get me wrong. We won't be dressed up like German strippers, but the idea of upping things a bit. I don't want to spoil things, but it will be a LOT of fun. We've also got the Exile Orchestra and the Exile Choir joining us.

For those of you don't know Exile is the name of the upcoming album.

me: no german strippers?!

::Wordless Monday::

Kelly Davidson Photography - http://etchedonfilm.blogspot.com

Coleman Larkin (part 2)

Man I love the people I love.

Meet Coleman Larkin.  Again.

Wednesday Duologues: Beth Holub

Man... I'm such a slacker!  I totally spaced on the duologue this week and had to ask for volunteers on my Facebook page this morning!  lucky for me, Beth came through!  It was such a pleasure getting to know her better.... 

me:  hey! you're a lifesaver - again!

and actually this is perfect, since i interviewed all the other ladies who took part in our little leonard cohen escapade...

Beth: cool

me: here's the first duologue i did, with explanation: http://thisbluesinger.blogspot.com/2010/08/wednesday-duologues-brendan-boogie.html

so you can read it and opt out if you like :)

Beth: let me grab my breakfast really quick

okay

me: breakfast is key.

Beth: Hey. sorry my internet has been acting up

Blog sounds cool

me: no worries. got breakfast?

Beth: yup

me: good. i have coffee, so i think we're all set.

so usually i start with the question, "who are you?" but lately i've been thinking the chats are so abstract - we don't really have any picture of the chatters. we could be typing naked on a ferris wheel, for all anyone knows. (which would be awesome.) so i think i'm going to start out by asking: what's one object in your immediate environment?

Beth: Humm, I am surrounded by a ton of worldly stuff...I hat three hats from Mongolia I got as a Christmas present from my former boss.

me: wow! my boss always just gives me a desk calendar...

2010 is cats.

so not as cool.

Beth: that's a good way to have cats...as a picture so they can't sit ON the stuff you are trying to work on, or wine at your door for hours on end.

me: so true. i have one of those at home. major whiner. do you have cats?

Beth: no, no pets. I live vicariously through other people and their owning of pets

me: smart woman.

okay so - who are you? :)

Beth: Classical musician who started playing viola with rock bands when she was 15, ex-pat from Arizona, Arts Administrator

me: nice! what was your first rock band gig?

::Wordless Monday::

Thirsty Thursday at TT's Tonight!!!

a recap of the week:

Wednesday Duologues: John McGrew

So we're playing this show on Thursday at TT the Bear's Place.  I don't know if you heard about it maybe, but anyways, it's yet another incredible line-up put together by yours truly.  And by yours truly, I mean I told Aaron who I wanted on the bill and he did all the work.  (Thanks, KP!!!)

Now, if you're from Boston, you darn well oughtta already know Apple Betty, the rockingest trio of rocker chicks to ever rock this town.  And The Backup Factor (with members of The Motion Sick & Naked On Roller Skates, to name a few!) have made quite a sensation this year!  And then there's some Blue Heaven band. ;)

And then there's Apollo Run.  Actually, they're on at 9pm so don't be late.  But my point is, I love these guys.  They're New Yorkers who love Boston, I'm told, and I know you are gonna love them back.  Which is why I had to interview their lead singer, John McGrew, for this week's duologue.

At the outset of our conversation, I knew nothing about John but the voice.  By the end, I was making some rather serious plans with him - and the rest of the band, too!  Read on.

Photo by Andrew Harnik

me: aha! aim on gchat :)

John McGrew: woo!

verrrry niiice

i like to stack up my i.m.s

can't miss a drop

me: excellent.

sorry about the delay!

John McGrew: no worries t'all

me: i also have to apologize because i'll probably be interrupted a bit during the conversation.

John McGrew: thats fine. me

too

yeah, i have put out about 4 fires so far this morning in the apollo run world

so, more may arise

me: good for you! anything exciting enough to share with the world? tour business?

John McGrew: Ooo! yeah. We are putting together our fall tour right now to support our debut EP, Here Be Dragons, Vol. I. We are looking to hit spots in the NE, SE, MW and hopefully a trip back over to LA.

Booking a tour without an agency is tough stuff. But we are determined.

(side note - this interview will be full of (sic)s)

;)

me: (that's how i like 'em)

John McGrew: The tour is happening at the end of Oct and beginning of Nov.

me: so, serious excitement, then! back to LA? have you toured there before?

John McGrew: yeah, we've played Hotel Cafe a couple of times an The Mint a couple of times. It's kinda nice. LA is really supportive of what we are doing. We love LA, and in return, they love us back. Its a very healthy relationship.

We LOVE Hotel Cafe (side note)

me: lovely!

let's go back a sec, since i've gotten ahead of myself.

John McGrew: worrrd

me: and since this is the first conversation between john mcgrew and mackenzie outlund ever, in the history of conversations...

John McGrew: fun!

me: hi, nice to meet you, thanks for agreeing to subject yourself to this nonsense!

John McGrew: wuddddup! pleasure is all mine!

me: i don't know if you're aware of how this all came together, since we arranged the gig with jeff...

John McGrew: looking forward to catching a drink in person at TTs

me: me too!

John McGrew: Yeah, I have no idear.

me: so i actually found out about Apollo Run first through http://www.thatcupoftea.com/

(is that your sister?)

John McGrew: no way

!

ha!

yes!

my sister is a crazy-good writer, and she has always been so supportive of us

me: she's an amazing writer. incredibly inspiring. i've been reading her blog for years now, i guess.

John McGrew: oh, that's just awesome

me: right? :)

John McGrew: i am so happy for her!

she's carved out a nice little piece o the internet wih her blog

me: so i downloaded Stars and Love Song

John McGrew: well deserved

oh, nice

 :)

me: Stars is absolutely the most beautiful song...

and i think i even posted it on my blog and FB for friends to check you guys out and thought... maybe someday we could play with them.... but then that thought got filed behind a million other To Do's.

John McGrew: oh jeez. many thanks! when we wrote it, we got really excited that we were the ones who get to sing it!

ha!

me: i know that feeling.

that is a great feeling.

John McGrew: we are filming a video for it right now, with the awesome Alex Fishcher ( http://www.alexfischerphoto.com

me: oh amazing. what's the shooting been like?

John McGrew: pretty incredible. he is using a bunch of stop motion / slow motion techniques. the whole process takes a long time and requires  lot of patience. but when you are shooting with people like Alex and his girlfriend Camille (and Jeff and Graham from A) it's fun as hell and time flies.

(from AR)

me: slow motion - does that mean you get to lip sync at high speed? (i had to do this recently for our Slow Dance Slow video.)

John McGrew: thats exactly right

imagine those "oom bah diddy oh wah yay"s in high speed. its hilarious. and takes all of my concentration not to laugh

me: right?? i had to do that while staring wistfully out a car window driving around salem, mass at night with a bunch of lights stuck to the interior of the car.

that is absolutely the strangest thing i've ever done. i think.

so far.

John McGrew: so good. i love our jobs.

me: me three.

what do you love the very most about it?

The thirst continues...

::Wordless Monday::

What do you believe in?

I believe in love.

I believe in human beings' potential for magnificence.

I believe in striving neurotically for self-awareness and emotional honesty.

I believe in believing in magic.

I believe in art.

I believe in books.
I believe in music.

I believe in the possibility of true empathy.

I believe in fighting to preserve wonder and curiosity and playfulness and generosity of spirit (commonly known as being a child).

I believe in affection.

I believe in the right of all human beings to dignity, to the facts, to expression, to respect, to agency.

I believe in the quest of all human beings to trust and be trusted, to see and be seen, to grant and receive acceptance, to challenge and be challenged.
I believe in striving for honest communication.

I believe in honoring deep down truths.

I believe in the deep, wild, knowing, creative, burning self.

I believe in story.

I believe in kindness.

I believe in chasing questions.

I believe in stopping for beauty.

I believe in passionate looking (listening, tasting...)

I believe in savoring.

I believe in the intense pursuit of juice.

I believe in talking to trees.

I believe in the wisdom of nature.

I believe in the power of sanctuary.

I believe in transcendent connections.

Wednesday Duologues: Ashley Willard

Ashley Willard.  Editor and co-founder of Boston Band Crush, arguably the online lifeline & loveline of the Boston music scene.  And I got to spend the afternoon chatting with her!  But you can eavesdrop.

Prologue:  

me: bah.  i won't bore you with tales of my workday. but i will apologize.
is now good?
Ashley: hi!

sure!

i mean if you can't it's ok

we can do it 'nother time

me: no way, now's great for me!

just let me take a deep drag, i mean sip of coffee.

almost 2 years since i quit smoking, in fact.

okay ready?

Ashley: gun it

me: who are you?

Ashley: where am i?

it's me ashley!

me: ha

hi!

Ashley: hi!

tell me when it starts

haha just kidding

you keep entering text and then deleting it

i see you doing that

me: okay, let me go back a few minutes and say "nnnnnNOW"