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(09/14/16 2:53am)
Lotus World Music and Art Festival is coming up this weekend. For the 23rd year in a row, people from all over the world will flood the streets of Bloomington with music, art, and awareness. This year boasts a great line-up of international as well as American musicians playing showcases all over town. To give you a little taste of what to expect at this weekend's festival, we've curated a playlist of some must-see acts.
For a full list of schedules and ticket information click here.
[embed]https://open.spotify.com/user/eba1997/playlist/4t7P08gq4rIEXwWi31AcPr[/embed]
(08/23/16 8:25pm)
The sound of the new Hoops EP is like the sunlight dancing in the cool, breezy air of dusk. The release came at a perfect time, bidding adieu to the sweltering heat and settling in for the cool nights ahead. To celebrate the release of their self-titled debut, the Bloomington boys of Hoops will be coming home to The Bishop Wednesday night via Winspear to play with the Pills & Nice Try.
The EP is set to come out Friday on Fat Possum Records, but can be streamed now on the label’s Soundcloud:
You can also stream the EP over at The FADER. Patrick McDermott of The FADER comments on the production of the work:
“It's jangly and waterlogged but also cacophonous, like a cassette-quality Wall of Sound or something that cult Brooklyn label Captured Tracks would have released in the late-aughts.”
The album was recorded in founder Drew Auscherman’s home. Hoops began as Drew’s solo ambient project, but members Kevin Krauter, Keagan Beresford, and James Harris were added in 2014.
After Wednesday’s show, the four embark on a 2-month tour, playing shows with Whitney and Car Seat Headrest.
08/24/16 - Bloomington, IN @ The Bishop +
08/26/16 - Indianapolis, IN @ LUNA Music
09/08/16 - Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock Social Club *
09/09/16 - Madison, WI @ The Frequency *
09/23/16 - Cincinnati, OH @ Midpoint Music Festival
09/24/16 - Champaign, IL @ The Pygmalion Festival
09/29/16 - Green Bay, WI @ Meyer Theatre (Backstage) ^
10/03/16 - Nashville, TN @ Exit/In *
10/04/16 - Atlanta, GA @ The Earl *
10/05/16 - Durham, NC @ Duke Coffeehouse *
10/06/16 - Washington, DC @ DC9 *
10/07/16 - Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church *
10/09/16 - Allston, MA @ Great Scott *
10/10/16 - Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg *
10/11/16 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom *
* w/ Whitney
^ w/ Car Seat Headrest
+ w/ The Pills & Nice Try
The showtime for Wednesday’s Bloomington date is 8:30, and tickets are $8 in advance, $10 at the door. The Bishop is an 18+ venue.
(08/08/16 10:27pm)
Honeysuckle’s name perfectly reflects their beautiful, earthy folk sound. Benjamin Burns, one of three band members, chose the name because of the sensory memory honeysuckle has for him. Listen to Ben explain further in this interview with WIUX from Lollapalooza 2016. Holly McGarry, Chris Bloniarz and guest bassist Kyle Volkman join Ben to give their perspective on the new folk movement, talk their beginnings and inspirations, and offer advice to college-aged musicians.
[embed]https://soundcloud.com/user-153797804/honeysuckle-interview-at-lollapalooza-2016[/embed]
(08/08/16 10:21pm)
The guys of Houndmouth are the exact kind of cool you wish you could be. Matt Myers, Zak Appleby and Shane Cody would be performing their Lollapalooza set in just two hours but sat around smoking cigarettes and sharing their college memories, anyway. The band formed in small-town New Albany, Indiana in 2011. Not to forget where they came from, the guys told me their favorite Hoosier memories from Bloomington and IU.
[embed]https://soundcloud.com/user-153797804/wiux-houndmouth-interview-at-lollapalooza-2016[/embed]
Emily: I know you guys are from Indiana, so that’s cool.
Zak: Go Hoosiers.
E: What kind of memories do you have in Bloomington or Indiana that you want to share?
Matt: We wrote “My Cousin Greg” in Bloomington. Zak and I, we went to see my cousin Greg in Bloomington who was still in school there. He had this thought – he was like a physics major – him and his buddies would go around and grab, they would get on Craigslist and just go and pick up used organs for free by the trash.
E: Organs?
Z: Yeah. He said sometimes you didn’t even have to get on Craigslist. You could just drive around.
E: I feel like that’s something you don’t see that often, but …
Z: Seriously.
E: Organs.
Z: And he would line his house with them. There’s like no furniture, so he sat on cinder blocks and just like had organs.
E: Wow, that’s amazing. I want to meet Greg. Sounds cool.
Z: He’s awesome. He graduated, though.
E: No more organs? What did he do with all the organs?
Z: He left them in the house. They punched a hole in the wall, too, and that was like their trash can.
E: Do you guys (Shane and Matt) have any memories from Bloomington or anything?
Shane: From Bloomington? Oh, I got one. I went to Indiana State my freshman year of college, and I went to go visit some friends at IU. I had fake front teeth, they got knocked out in junior high, and so I just had a cap on it. I was walking down the staircase in one of the dorms with my friends, and I tripped, and it just popped right off, the little cap, as soon as I got there for the weekend. So I’m just rolling up, no front left tooth like an asshole.
E: Anyone even notice?
S: Well my friends were telling people that I was a hockey player.
E: That’s a good one.
S: Yeah. With my extremely chiseled physique, they all bought it.
Z: You look athletic.
S: They all bought it.
E: Very athletic, very hockey, very Canadian.
S: Much hockey.
Z: Much hockey.
E: Much hockey.
E: And what about you (Zak)? Have you ever been to Bloomington besides shows?
Z: Yeah, quite a few. Actually, it is a show, my most memorable time in Bloomington. Matt and I went to see Dave Rawlings Machine at the Bluebird, and we were literally like elbows on the stage. He finished the set, then played like an hour’s worth of Neil Young songs.
E: You guys just had a show at the Bluebird not that long ago. Do you like playing the Bluebird? How did it go?
Z: Yeah. The Bluebird’s always fun. It’s always rowdy, we like to get rowdy – it works out nice.
E: We like to get rowdy. Do you guys (Shane and Matt) like the Bluebird?
M: Yeah, it’s the best environment. The sound is whatever, but it’s just the classic place.
(08/06/16 12:45am)
With the earliest show of the day, The Strumbellas acted like an extra shot of espresso to start day three of Lollapalooza off with energy and warmth. Lead singer Simon Ward would jump down into the front of the crowd, while keyboardist David Ritter danced across the stage passionately playing tambourine. The crowd cried out “Speech, speech, speech!” as soon as David was introduced, though an introduction was hardly necessary since he sported a hat with his name plastered on front.
Various versions of Strumbellas shirts could be seen in the crowd. Others held up cardboard banjos. Almost everyone knew the words to sing. Together, the crowd and band closed the show singing the hit song, “Spirits.”
[video width="576" height="320" mp4="https://wiux.indiana.edu/wiux.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/video-1470456047.mp4"][/video]
And just like that, the day of was off and running.
https://soundcloud.com/wiuxdjc/wiux-the-strumbellas-interview-lollapalooza-2016
Emily: This is your first time playing at Lolla, so how did it compare to other places you’ve been or solo gigs?
Darryl: I don’t know. I think for me it’s been, it’s so great because I, when I was a kid, I’d go when the Lollapalooza music festival traveled around. I used to go to those shows. It was always a highlight of the year. It was like the summer thing. Me and my friends we all would hop in my mom’s station wagon and go out. So for me it has a little bit more of a special meaning to it because it’s something that I went to as a kid. … I always looked up to these bands that I was watching. Even back then, a dream of mine was to be where they are. Like wow, that dream just came true. So it’s really neat, you know? As far as all the festivals we’ve done, we’ve done so many that have been so amazing, this one just may be a little bit closer to my heart, and it feels real good, and I’m super happy to be here.
E: What were some of your favorite people you saw when you were at Lolla as a kid?
D: I’ll date myself, but Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Tool, Beastie Boys, (Red Hot) Chili Peppers – it’s so great that they’re (Red Hot Chili Peppers) still going and still doing their thing because they’re such a great band.
E: It’s on my bucket list so I’m so excited.
Jon: Right on.
E: What are you guys excited for?
Jeremy: Well, you know what? In addition to all the great music, I’m going to go get my hair cut and maybe have a massage, and then I’ve already had like three red bulls, so I’m like fired right up. I’m just going to go run across the stadium, field.
Jon: My mom’s here. So she came all the way from ... Ontario, so she’s excited to see the Chili Peppers, so I’m excited for her.
E: Excited to see the Chili Peppers or to see you?
Jon: Well, I think 50/50 probably, but you know. I’m trying to work out a scenario in which she can meet them all, but it’s not really coming together. I hope for her.
E: Does she usually come to your guys’ stuff?
Jon: This is the farthest she’s ever gone before, but usually yeah. Very supportive.
Jeremy: All of our mums are kind of our #1 fan. They all have their special little roles that they play, and it’s pretty awesome to have that.
E: What does your mom do?
Darryl: My mom is sort of of the wild dancer, copies what every other mom sort of does along the way. Jeremy’s mom is like the social media guru who finds all of our stuff even before we find it. I think your mom, Jon, is pretty much kind of in line with my mom a little bit. She’s right up front dancing.
E: Do they usually come backstage or do they like to be out in the crowd?
Jeremy: Mine are all about being back in the crowd. They don’t really want to even come back stage. “I just want to enjoy the show,” and that’s all they really want to do. So, yeah, she’s out there right now just having a good time.
E: That’s good! What about your guys’?
D: Mine aren’t here, but it’s sort of being out in the crowd and then coming back, they love hanging out with all the band members. If they can get a good conversation in with Jer or Dave, makes their day.
E: That’s so cool; I love it. What about yours?
D: She’s up front dancing. That’s her thing. I don’t think, maybe I don’t describe backstage super great to my mother, but I mean, a lot of times it’s not super exciting. We’re just hanging out, drinking water, talking about how our day was, you know that kind of thing. She’s not really interested in the rock and roll lifestyle that we lead. She’s right up front dancing, singing along.
E: You guys played with Houdmouth last night – right? How was that show? I just talked to them about it. They said it was awesome.
Jon: Yeah, it was awesome. I’ve been a big Houndmouth fan for a long time, so it’s like very cool. The turnout was fantastic.
D: And Double Door is just a great club. It kind of reminded us of the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto where it’s just like, it’s lived in. Like sometimes you go to a venue, it’s super clean, all the lines are straight, and this – the boards on the floor are all worn down, stickers everywhere, posters everywhere. It feels like that’s where live music should be happening, so that was kind of really special.
E: Do you prefer that kind of vibe?
D: Yeah, I do myself. Dingy clubs. Don’t get me wrong. I love playing really nice theaters. It’s a special treat. But, I think where we come from where we started out playing in small bars and clubs, it’s kind of like a little bit of home for us.
E: And did you (Jeremy) enjoy playing with Houndmouth, too?
Jeremy: Yeah, I’ve been a big fan for a long time, too, so it was definitely great to catch them. They’re incredible live, every song was just like, “Woah!” It was rocking.
E: They’re from Indiana, so we had a good talk about IU and Bloomington.
D: I have my favorite. When I grew up, my mom had a friend that lived in Indiana. And my claim-to story was that I went and saw the Indianapolis 500 when I was like 10 years old.
E: I haven’t even done that.
D: It was the coolest thing I’d ever done at the time. Those cars are so loud, and they’re so fast.
E: And you haven’t been back?
D: No, it’s been years, but it was definitely like a really big, fond memory for me going to Indiana when I was young.
E: Have you guys ever been to Indiana?
D: We did one show in Indianapolis. This was before all this, this was like in our early tour when we kind of played to nobody in the U.S.
E: You guys just released a full album, Hope. What are some of the messages you wanted to convey in that album?
D: I think the whole sort of theme with most of our music, generally, is sort of mentally how you go through some dark times, and how you’re able to sort of pull yourself out of those dark times. Hopefully hope is at the end of the tunnel. That’s kind of like a theme that we’ve gone with, and I think that where we are in our age – we’re not the 19-year-old band we look like, we look 19, but we’re a little bit older than that – it’s trying to pull yourself up from those tough times and drawing from that. Dark lyrics with happy, upbeat melodies and music has been our sort of go-to.
--
Jon: Where do I go to get the best deep-dish pizza around here?
E: Oh, Gino’s East. Gino’s East.
D: Is that here at the festival?
E: Well, no they don’t have Gino’s here, but they do have one deep-dish place that is down, I think, in the middle row of tents. I had it, it was good. I mean, it was like, not the best, not the best deep dish I’ve had here, but it was good. But Gino’s East is out, there’s a couple of locations in Chicago. I recommend it.
D: I like how there was zero hesitation in your voice to answer that, at all.
E: Gino’s East. Maybe it’s because I’ve only been to like two different ones, so I only go to one.
D: Well it’s the kind of thing that you find one that you really like, you got to stick with it, right? Why risk disappointment somewhere else?
E: What’s your guy's’ favorite?
Jeremy: You know I don’t really have a favorite, as long as it’s good. If it’s thin, or if it’s deep-dish, or if it’s whatever, as long as it’s greasy and got lots of meat on it.
(08/04/16 5:32pm)
Although they went to high school together in Vancouver, Canada, it took fate to reunite them walking through the streets of Brooklyn. Tom Howie and Jimmy Vallance combined their individual music endeavors in 2012 to become Bob Moses. Together, their sound is electronic and funky with a touch of darkness. They released their first full album, All in All in 2015 and soon plan to announce a North American tour.
https://soundcloud.com/wiuxdjc/wiux-bob-moses-interview-at-lollapalooza-2016
Emily: You’re from Vancouver (Canada), right?
Jimmy: We are indeed.
Tom: Yes.
E: And you live in Brooklyn (New York) right now?
J: Yes, out of a suitcase at the moment.
T: We used to live in Brooklyn.
E: And you’re on tour right now.
J: Big time.
E: Big time. How’s it going? How’s the tour and everything going?
T: Great.
J: Fantastic. I think we’ve circumnavigated the globe twice this year. So we’re just going for it.
E: Going for it – has it actually been a world tour or have you just been around North America?
J: Oh, yeah. Australia, all of Europe, we’ve been to Lebanon, we’ve been to places like I’d never thought we’d ever go. We went to Bali, Indonesia – we’ve been everywhere.
E: What was your favorite so far? Do you have one?
T: Lollapalooza.
E: Lollapalooza! True.
J: Actually, today was amazing; the show was great. We’re not done yet because we’ve got to play another show at the Samsung (stage) – we’re doing a DJ thing. And then, we got to go play Spybar tonight.
E: You’re so busy.
J: We’re just packing them in. Three days, three times in one day. We don’t care!
E: When are you guys leaving?
T: Saturday.
E: … More tours after that?
J: Oh yeah. We’re going to L.A. (Los Angeles, California), we’re taking L.A. on Sunday. Then, we go back over to Europe for a while. Then we come back, and we’re doing a whole bus tour of North America in the fall.
E: That will be interesting. What’s the difference between Europe and America touring?
J: Both are great. I would say we’re a little bit bigger in America at the moment, like North America.
T: The flights are shorter in Europe.
E: Yeah, that’s true. They’re closer together. Very true.
E: How is it different playing festivals than it is playing your own solo gigs?
J: … Sometimes festivals are gauged towards certain sounds, so you don’t know if when you’re going there if it’s what you do – you don’t know. Sometimes we’ll do hip-hop festivals, sometimes we’ll go to rock festivals, some festivals like this one cater to everything. And so you just got to kind of go up and do your thing. … Festivals are like a flex the muscle thing. Play your known songs. Have fun. It’s short, so you’re not playing as long as you would. No dilly-dallying; it’s straight to the point. Rock out, in and out like a Navy Seal.
T: Exactly.
E: And did you say you already performed today?
J: We did.
T: Yeah, we just did.
E: How was it?
T: Great.
J: Sick. It rained, and everybody stayed, and everybody came. … The way the stage is is like, there’s obviously an area for the crowd, then there’s a bunch of trees. So we had a whole ton of people, then we had a lot of people in the trees, too.
T: That was the picture.
J: For the viewers that can’t see right now, basically this is like if you saw this, your eyes would explode because it’s awesome.
E: I would agree, it’s awesome. It looks great.
E: What was your guys’s favorite song to perform live, or what was your favorite moment?
T: Today?
J: In this set? “Like It Or Not” was pretty great when that came in.
T: Changes all the time, though.
J: We do these mixes between songs. So there’s this part where the drums are going in and stops, and piano just comes in, and there’s like a nice moment where people hear the piano line they recognize. The nice thing about our set is it’s kind of like a DJ set, how it flows. So we tease or like throw in the recognizable bits in parts where people might not expect them to come.
E: Of your own music or other people’s?
J: Our music. So like the people that know it, and then if there’s enough people that know our music in the crowd, then the five people around them are like, “Aw, this is a moment!” Infectious things, so it’s great.
E: That’s great. So I know that you guys went to high school together – right? – in Vancouver?
J: We did.
E: And you met in Brooklyn kind of by chance?
T: Yeah.
E: Can you talk a little bit about how you brought those two different sounds together and how the process has kind of changed over time?
J: I don’t think we really, I mean, that sounds like maybe we said that in the past, but really when you think about it – we both listened to the same music growing up, so it wasn’t such a departure in the sense of Tom was only listening to this and playing this, and I was only listening to that and playing that, and that it was like, “How are we going to do this?” No, we were like really on the same page, and it came together really naturally. He basically agrees to everything that I say all the time. Our relationship is really boring.
E: The creative process is good then between you, right?
T: It’s good. … We finish each other’s sentences musically and this really helps.
J: It’s good to have somebody that brings, that you can bounce off. It’s great.
E: You guys released a new remix a couple days ago, right? Why did you decide to do that?
J: … Our record’s getting repackaged, so we decided to ask like our friends in the electronic scene, Tale of Us, and A-Track approached us, and we were like, “Let’s just put out the repackages, some remixes from our friends, some live versions of our songs and original tracks.” Yesterday was interesting because we put it up on SoundCloud, and it like blocked it in every country but the U.S. So we had to like go and fix that, but the cool thing was to see the reaction of people like wanting to listen to it and not being able to.
E: And getting mad about it. I saw it on Spotify, so it’s on there, if you were wondering.
J: There you go.
E: And Tom, what do you think about the reception to it? Have you heard anything about it?
T: Yeah, I mean, everybody seems to like it. It’s good. I mean we chose remixers that we wanted to sort of like touch on all the different parts of where we are, and where we’ve been and where we want to go, and stuff like that. So it was nice to have them all take part, and everybody seems to like it so far.
E: What was it like working with Tale of Us?
T: It was good. I mean, they really did it all. We just kind of, we gave them the tracks, and we had a few messages back and forth with Matteo (Milleri) just about direction, and he did a few versions, and he was very open to feedback. They work very well, and they’re very open to feedback. They wanted to do a good job, and they did do a good job. With every artist that we chose to do a remix, we wanted them to do “them”. We wanted a Tale of Us remix; it’s a very specific sound. … We wanted an A-Track remix; it’s a very specific sound. With that, they all did an amazing job.
J: It was great, so we’re super stoked.
E: You guys seem easy to work with – you’re like, “Do you!”
J: Yeah, do you!
E: If you’re releasing new remixes, are you working on new music, too?
J: At the moment, no. I mean, you’re always working on stuff, but for us, I define working on stuff: having a studio, going in every day and putting in the 9-5 studio time where you’re actually getting concrete things down. Whereas in the hotel rooms, that’s a bit more like slap-dash.
T: When that process starts, that Jimmy just described, we’ll go in with a bunch of ideas that we sort of collected and made. We’re touring hard at the moment. Obviously it’s like, the creative thing is something you can’t really stop. It just comes whenever. Last night I was trying to get to sleep, and I woke up, or I was asleep, and I woke up from a dream, and I had a song idea I had to sing into my phone. You know, it just happens. But that is very different than being in the studio, working on music – it’s like a different thing. We’re really looking forward to getting back to that, which we will get a little bit at the end of this year, and starting next year we’ll dive back into that.
E: Great, that sounds good. Anything that fans should be looking out for, or is it going to be a little bit?
J: Just come see us on the road.
T: We’re going to do a new show in the fall in North America.
J: We’re about to announce our North American tour.
T: We’ll have a new setup, lots of new cool stuff that nobody’s ever seen before. We’re really excited about that.
E: Is there anything else that you guys want to talk about at all?
J: Make sure you go out and vote. Whoever you vote for is up to you but make sure you go out and do it.
(08/02/16 1:34am)
Two polar opposites work together to create the firekid sound: acoustic bluegrass roots and a unique layer of chiptune beats made on a retro gameboy. Founder Dillon Hodges recognized that this unique sound called for a new beginning. Previously performing solo, he created firekid in the spring of 2015 and added Josh Kleppin and Heidi Feek. The trio’s first album, self-titled, came out soon after in September 2015. Firekid performed at their first Lollapalooza Thursday night at the BMI stage.
[embed]https://soundcloud.com/wiuxdjc/wiux-firekid-interview-at-lollapalooza-2016[/embed]
Emily: What’s going through your guys’ head right now with playing at Lolla? Anything?
Dillon: The immediate thought going through our head right now is - I hope the rain stops.
E: Yes, that’s true. What’s your plan if it doesn’t stop?
D: Well fortunately we’re on the BMI stage, which is sort of shrouded in tree cover, so it’s one of the few stages where the crowd won’t get terribly wet. But other than that, we’re really excited to be here. This (gestures to the artist tents) is a big difference than some of the other festivals - that will remain nameless - that we’ve done. This seems like much– they actually care about the artists here.
E: You guys went to Hangout Fest (Gulf Shores, Alabama) - is that right?
D: Which is awesome.
E: So how was that compared to this so far?
D: It’s very similar; I would put them in the same category. Hangout’s amazing. The difference is is that you’re on the beach, which is tough to beat.
Josh: It’s hard to beat the beach.
E: Well you’re kind of on the beach. Lake Michigan is right there – come on.
D: Right, Lake Michigan, which is beautiful. And the BMI stage doesn’t have a backdrop, so you can see the ships. It’s awesome.
E: Yeah, there’s pirate ships out there this weekend.
E: What are you feeling for your performance? Is there anything you’re going to do beforehand? Do you have a pre-performance ritual?
J: We don’t really, we don’t really have a pre-performance ritual. We kind of just–
D: We just make eye contact. Lots of eye contact with each other.
E: All of you? All together?
D: Yeah, just silence. You have to look at a middle point to make three-way eye contact. You kind of have to like divert your two eyes.
E: Amazing, amazing.
E: You guys have played a couple festivals – do you play festivals more than solo gigs, or is it kind of half-and-half?
D: We’ve toured a lot this year. We did a tour with Kaleo earlier this year, and we did a tour with Brett Dennen. The summertime is good for us, we do festivals, that’s what we do during the summer. We’re working on other things, too, like other new music.
E: Do you prefer festivals over solo gigs, or what’s the difference for you?
J: Festivals are great. We’ve had a really good time doing them. It’s cool to see crowds kind of gather that sort of know the music–
D: People come from all over. We’ll see people from Indianapolis, where we have a good crew, and even like Detroit, Chicago.
J: So that’s nice to see how you’re doing in the grand scheme of things. When people who may have never seen you before, or seen you before, come and find you at the festival. So that mean’s a lot, so that’s kind of fun. And it’s all right here, which is kind of nice. Touring is a lot of driving and stuff. It can be fun in different ways. You get to see different cities and stuff.
D: This way we get to see acts we always want to see but never have time to see. Like we’ll go see J. Cole tonight. We would go see Radiohead, but we’re playing the same time as them tomorrow.
E: That’s really sad, but I mean, that’s pretty special. Who else would you recommend people see while they’re here? Anyone else?
D: Heidi, who are you going to see?
Heidi: I’m going to go see Lana Del Rey.
E: She’s headlining tonight, right? That’s exciting.
E: So what can we expect from your performance?
D: Well, it’s sort of a hybrid of a lot of things. I grew up playing bluegrass music, so it’s a lot of like acoustic roots elements, but Heidi plays gameboy during the set. It’s a lot of chiptune music, and Josh has got quite a rig of his own back there. It’s a bit electronic and acoustic hybrid music. It’s kind of unique. I think that’s what you would expect.
J: Pop music too, it’s pop songs.
E: Both things you brought up: You’re from Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Obviously there’s a lot of musical history past there with the Rolling Stones, Otis Redding and Bob Dylan recording there. Has that influenced your music at all, the history around you?
D: A little bit. It more influenced the way I sing more than anything. I didn’t even start singing until I was like 16 years old. I was playing acoustic guitar before that, mostly bluegrass. But growing up in Muscle Shoals, of course soul music is a big thing. I didn’t know it existed until I was 16, that’s about the age I started singing, so it really influenced my singing more than anything.
E: About the Gameboy … that’s really cool. How did that come to be that you do that?
D: Well we are a combination of acoustic and electronic music, and so we get offers all the time to get these solo acoustic things, which we hate doing because it just sounds like a bluegrass band. And so I figured I could actually bring a gameboy to a solo acoustic performance, and it would still feel solo acoustic but would have electronic elements. We tested it out for the first time at Hangout Fest, and everyone loved it, so we made it a permanent part of our sound.
E: Is it a normal thing that people play on a gameboy?
D: No. It’s a special cartridge that you have to, you can either modify it yourself or have somebody else modify it. It’s a special cartridge called LSDJ, if anyone wants to look it up.
E: And how did you come to hear about that?
D: There was a movie called “It Follows.” The guy who did the music on that is called Disasterpiece, and I liked the music so much on the movie. I went to look it up, and I read on his Wikipedia page that he’s a chiptune artist. I didn’t know what that was so I looked it up, and it’s people who make music with retro videogames and computers. And I was just like, “I’ve got to have some of that.” So that’s how I got the sound I like so much.
E: You released your self-titled album in 2015 under firekid. I know you switched - right? - from being under your own name to firekid? Can you talk a little bit about why you switched, and what’s coming up in the future?
D: I switched going from my name, Dillon Hodges, to firekid, mostly because the music I was making was so different. Firekid was just a nickname I’d been given, so it felt appropriate, and it’s kind of a band thing as well. That’s where the name came from. As far as what we’re doing next, we’ve had a lot of pretty big life changes in the last year or so, so we’ve sort of been hibernating a little bit and making new music. I don’t know what the timeline is for the release of it or anything, but I think some of our best stuff is not far ahead of us.
E: And you guys are all going to be together on the album?
D: Yes.
(07/26/16 12:12pm)
Face it.
You paid hundreds of dollars to be extremely hot and tired running stage to stage, all the while being surrounded by the types of people you thought you left behind in high school. You will shell out even more money for meager portions of food and drink in order to survive the day. And after a trying 12+ hours, you will be covered in dirt and have to hike through your misery back to your hotel.
But that’s a rookie move. So don’t be that guy. Read this list; we’ve been there so you don’t have to.
TRAVELING IN CHICAGO
-You can’t park downtown Chicago without shelling out wads of cash. The best thing to do is get an Uber or take the L train back to your hotel. Plus, if you’re new to Uber, use the code LOLLA2016 to get $15 off your ride.
WHAT TO BRING/NOT TO BRING
-Backpack. Bring one. Please do it. Nobody wants to carry stuff and you will have so much stuff. There’s freebies, you will take off your clothes, buy merch, buy food, have water and sunscreen. So please, bring the backpack.
-The weather calls for so0me rain this weekend, so make sure you bring an umbrella (42in. or smaller) or poncho if you care about getting wet. Even if you don’t mind getting wet, your phone does. So bring a plastic bag or a waterproof case.
-Extra empty water bottles. Lolla and Camelbak are buddies, so Camelbak has water refill stations across the park that are lifesavers. You’ll want to fill a couple bottles up at a time since the lines can get long, and you have places to be. Lucky you have that backpack to store them in while you wait 7 hours in front of the headliner’s stage.
-Your phone needs energy too! With the bad reception and the amount of photos you’ll be taking, your phone will die fast. I recommend bringing a portable charger or two to keep your battery alive.
-Check out this list if you have questions of what you can bring to the festival.
WHAT TO WEAR
-I kind of looked cute the first two days last year, but by day 3, I was wearing a baggy band t-shirt, running shorts and tennis shoes. It was probably the best decision I have made in my short lifetime.
-The weather is brutal, and you're in it. The sun and the rain do not care about how cute you look, so think of them first.
-I know it’s hot, but wear closed toed shoes. The crowds do not care about your toes.
AT THE FESTIVAL
-Lolla Cashless makes it so you don’t have to risk losing your cash or cards. Register your cards to be attached to your wristband, and all you have to do is scan your arm at vendors across the festival. It’s the future, man.
-MAP + APP. The paper maps are at the front gates, and they’re a must. It’s easy to get turned around or spend precious time searching for a stage or vendor. The app also has a map, a customizable schedule, and pretty much everything else you could need.
-Sadly, Grant Park seems to be a dead zone for cell phone service. If you need it, there’s WiFi available at most vendors and sometimes even chargers.
-Hate to break it to you because I know you’re trying to see all 15 acts you scheduled on Saturday, but you will really only see 3-5 shows a day. That’s okay. Choose wisely and enjoy what you do see. If you want to see a big headliner, get there EARLY.
-If you're in a group, it's OK to break away. It's hard to juggle everyone's schedules and groups are often slower. Make sure you have a plan to get back together or a meeting place in case you can't get in contact, though.
-Grant Park has some wonderful trees and hills. If you’re at the Samsung, Petrillo, BMI or Pepsi stages, I would recommend taking a break from the crowds and lounging around under the trees.
Remember to keep hydrated, be safe, and have a great Lolla!
(07/26/16 12:03pm)
For its 25th anniversary, Lollapalooza added an extra day to make four days jam-packed with music. From little indie acts to big headliners, WIUX picked its top acts to see at this year's festival and highlighted them in this Spotify playlist.
(02/05/16 12:43am)
If every weekend you find yourself at the crossroads between relaxing or going out, this Friday night at The Bishop you can give into both. Real Estate frontman Martin Courtney will be performing a soft and sunny psychedelic set perfect for dancing or just hanging out.
Joining Courtney is power-pop group EZTV and Bloomington's alternative rocker Mike Adams At His Honest Weight. The show is set to begin at 8:30 p.m., and tickets can be purchased for $12 in advanced or $14 at the door, ages 18+.
Courtney's most recent solo project, "Many Moons", came in October 2015, about a year and a half after Real Estate's third album, "Atlas". Wanting to move away from the abstract music made with Real Estate, Courtney's "Many Moons" turned into "an album that feels lush and calm, but with a newfound sonic clarity." The introspective collection of songs was greatly inspired by Courtney's transition into fatherhood and balancing his new role while on the road.
The nostalgia and beauty of Marvin Courtney's sound is sure to be the perfect backdrop for any type of Friday night and a show you don't want to miss.