Search Results for: JOHN

POSIES BLOOM THEN ‘PLUG IN’

Interviews, ,

FOREWORD: Got chummy with fab pop melodicists, the Posies, at Maxwells in 2000. I first met ‘em a few years earlier at Mercury Lounge’s backstage basement. Talk about mainstream radio missing out on an exuberant straight-ahead rock band. In the ‘70s, they’d kill for the Posies. Then again, Big Star died on the vine at the time.

Nonetheless, charismatic singer-songwriter-guitarists’ Jon Auer and Ken Stingfellow, who’d met at the University of Washington, never met a contagious pop hook they didn’t

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PIPETTES READY TO INVADE AMERICA

Interviews

FOREWORD: The Pipettes are an early ‘60s pop geek’s wet dream – adorable dolled-up chicks doing synchronized dance routines fronting a sturdy melodic rock band that’s not afraid to get dirty. At the Gramercy Theatre, late November ’07, they rose to the occasion, getting fans to dance along and snicker at their sassy teen brashness. This article originally appeared in Aquarian Weekly.

Go back in time to rock ‘n roll’s musically conservative ’62-thru-’63 timeframe, a period dissolved by JFK’s assassination …

JOE PERNICE @ THE FEZ

Interviews

Joe Pernice / The Fez/ March 5, 2001

By John Fortunato

“I’d like to end with a hopeful cover song ‘cause I don’t have one of my own,” wry singer-songwriter Joe Pernice moans softly to a packed Fez crowd before the clock strikes midnight this frosty Monday. After a pause, he further cautions, “someday it’ll be all over.” The seated audience chuckles, then he easily slips into New Order’s “Love Vigilantes.” Very few artists could pull off re-interpreting Goth-rock drama …

PERE UBU’S TRAVEL ODE TO ‘ST ARKANSAS’

Interviews,

FOREWORD: Pere Ubu have been investigating bizarrely conceptualist avant-rock since their humble pre-punk origin in’75. Fronted by skewed art-damaged relic, David Thomas, they’ve released dozens of strangely divergent original albums, EP’s and singles over the years. I was supposed to see Pere Ubu when they played Warsaw in Brooklyn during ’04 (after I conducted this interview), but a foot of snow kept me away. But I heard the half-filled audience nonetheless loved every minute of it. By ’06, unheralded Keith

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THE PAYBACKS KEEP GETTING’ ‘HARDER AND HARDER’

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FOREWORD: The Paybacks are just another solid-bodied garage band from Detroit. Jarring lead singer, Wendy Case, battling back from years of drug abuse, became the hardest rockin’ chick in the midwest. By ’02, her bands’ rough ‘n ready Knock Loud zoomed forward in overdrive. Since then, ‘04s arena rockin’ Harder And Harder and ‘06s Love, Not Reason, came to the fore. This article originally appeared in Aquarian Weekly.

Born in Akron, Ohio, raised in the foothills of North Carolina’s Blue …

MOJO NIXON’S WILD PARTY PRESIDENCY

Interviews

FOREWORD: Satirical nutjob, Mojo Nixon, should’ve become president in ’90. I put his name out there, but the ignorant public went with that sleazy dog, Clinton. Anyway, Mojo’s a happy miscreant ably mocking out America’s tabloid stars on a whim. In the ’80s, he snubbed MTV’s lackluster scum, or as he called it, gism, and in the ’90s, he continued to tour. After playing a hilarious  set at Wetlands in SoHo,  we got together and tried to get the Yankees

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NIGHT MARCHERS N’ HOT SNAKES PICK UP REIS’ PIECES

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Image result for JOHN REIS ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT

Despite signing a self-mocked major label deal in the post-grunge ‘90s, San Diego-based singer-guitarist John Reis has stubbornly maintained his cherished do-it-yourself integrity. A reluctant guiding light rebirthing ‘emotional hardcore’ from the ashes of ‘80s DC trailblazers Fugazi, Reis piloted seminal combo, Drive Like Jehu, while contemporaneously commencing increasingly accessible faux-soul aggro-garage legions, Rocket From The Crypt. Some time thereafter, he prudently struck up dazzling ancillary outfit, Hot Snakes, an arguably more consistently tight collective, while keeping unheralded troupe, The …

NEW PORNOGRAPHERS LINKED TO ‘MASS ROMANTIC’

Interviews

FOREWORD: New Pornographers keep delivering good aggressive pop music at a consistent rate. After I interviewed co-leader, Carl Newman, to promote 2000’s indelible Mass Romantic, the casual combo received more than a glimmer of underground fame. So they kept pushing on. ‘03s Electric Version wasn’t quite as great, but ‘05s Twin Cinema really hit the spot. ‘07s Challengers was only slightly less intriguing. This article originally appeared in Aquarian Weekly.

100 miles north of Seattle lies the bohemian city of …

NEKO CASE: ‘BLACKLISTED’

Interviews

FOREWORD: I heard one of the skin mags offered singer-songwriter Neko Case good money for nude pix but she declined. While that may be too bad for curious males (or females), her naked reflections will have to suffice. And she shows these bare emotions on nearly every song she puts forth.

On the side, the fresh-faced red-headed lass has worked with the Sadies, Corn Sisters (a duo with fellow folk composer, Carolyn Mark), and New Pornographers. I took my wife

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THE NEGRO PROBLEM’S ‘JOYS & CONCERNS’

Interviews,

FOREWORD: Since this ’99 interview with Stew of the Negro Problem, the colorful orchestral pop mastermind’s Passing Strange has won a Tony Award for Best Musical Book. He’s also released at least one Negro Problem record (‘02s Welcome Black) and two under his own name, Stew (‘00s Guest Host and ‘02s The Naked Dutch Painter). Unfairly confined to the underground (literally, I saw him play Knitting Factory’s basement space twice), Stew is a truly gifted tunesmith in need of better

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MUFFS GLAD TO BE ‘ALERT TODAY ALIVE TOMORROW’

Interviews,

FOREWORD: The Muffs should’ve been as big as Blondie, the Go-Go’s, Bangles, or at least, Courtney Love’s Hole. Led by big-voiced shouter, Kim Shattuck, they tore into trashy hard pop candy with utmost conviction and nervy verve. I got to see ‘em thrice in New York City during the late-‘90s. But the first time I saw Kim in person standing outside of CBGB, she had sunglasses on and wore pants instead of the li’l skirts she’s known for and I

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MR. T EXPERIENCE PROVES ‘YESTERDAY RULES’

Interviews,

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FOREWORD: Mr. T Experience is the brainchild of Frank Portman, a mainstay of Berkeley’s famed late’90s Gilman Street scene. After a five-year layoff, MTX came back strong with ‘04s Yesterday Rules. At that time I spent a few hours eating, drinking and talking with Frank and his female publicist at Brooklyn’s North 6 club – prior to his show. Nice guy. In ’06, Portman’s first novel, King Dork, arrived. This article originally appeared in Aquarian Weekly.

Before Green Day and …