p The Appearance (TA) are a post-punk band out of southern California who claim influences from a wide range of genres, 80 rsquo;s Metal (Guns N rsquo; Roses, Metallica, AC/DC, etc.) to Southern California skater punk (NO/FX, Strung Out, Pennywise) to SKA. TA rsquo;s line-up -- Alan Oakes (frontman), Chad Kulengosky (lead guitar), Justin McCarthy (drums) and Jason Nelson (bass) ndash; have been working together for a year and in that year they have created a fun, energetic, polished, post-punk/alt.
rock sound with hooky guitar riffs, and powerful melodious lyrics. /p p Not the typical frontman, Alan is a soft spoken, intelligent shy guy who likes to spend time playing role-play games online. His sensitivity helps him to focus on his songwriting and enables him to understand and convey, in his lyrics, great passion, empathy, regret and loss.
Personally he has a very sly sense of humour and once you pull him out of his shell a little, he is a very outgoing and engaging person. During our chat we talked about his romantic life, music, touring in Britain with the Dead Presidents and his secret man-crush on Rick Springfield. And he let me call him Rick.
/p We rsquo;re calling you Rick because of Rick Springfield, right? You are a closet Rick Springfield fan? Well, out of the closet now.
/b /p p I want to be the next Rick Springfield. /p p It rsquo;s coming up on a little over a year actually. Our (former) drummer i (Jon Brucher) /i ended up getting married.
He got engaged, to his long-term girlfriend, and he has own little business and he was like, I rsquo;m just going to concentrate on that. He got married two or three weeks ago. And so he did that.
/p really for me, I want to go back to school thing. It happens. I rsquo;ve seen it happen so many times because they rsquo;re like my girlfriend, she rsquo;s not really into it.
Or I have school and it rsquo;s really hard to balance the two. You really have to devote 100% to music. For a long time you really don rsquo;t see any money; so you make your sacrifices.
It doesn rsquo;t work out for everybody. /p p Yeah. And the new guys Jason and Justin we rsquo;ve known them for years.
I rsquo;ve actually played in other projects with Justin so hellip; /p p Well, Bryan Lee was approached by Michael Narlinger who said, Hey, would you ever like to start a group? I have a little extra cash I would like to invest in a band. Do you know anybody?
And Bryan was like, well I know Alan. And he heard that I wasn rsquo;t really playing with anyone at the time so he gave me a call and said, You know, do you want to start something no promises, just kind of see where it goes. We rsquo;ll get together and write a few songs.
We have a guy who, if he likes it, he rsquo;ll put some money into a demo. /p p So we did that. Him (Bryan) and I got together and just started writing a few tunes and then called the drummer (Jon Brucher) to play.
Then we cut a demo, and Mike really liked the demo he was like, If you guys could write a whole albums worth I rsquo;d really like to put out a record. /p p And so, from there we were just like well, we need another guitar player and somebody recommended Chad (Chad Kulengosky, lead guitar). This guy called him and he showed up and right off the bat we all loved him.
And he just started writing, and all four of us sat down for nine months and wrote a record. It was really strange because we didn rsquo;t really say, Okay, this is what we rsquo;re going to do. We just kept goin rsquo; and goin rsquo;.
We didn rsquo;t really expect anything out of it. /p p No, no, actually we had a demo which we never released. It was just basically for Mike, just so he could get a taste of what we were writing and the music that we were playing.
We wrote the record and we didn rsquo;t really want to release any of the music, for an EP or anything like that. /p p I do write the lyrics. With the songs it kind of goes either way.
I do a lot of my own writing. So every once in awhile hellip; I have a handful of songs on the record that I wrote on my own, that I brought to the band they were kind of like, Yeah, we love it let rsquo;s use it. /p p And a lot of the other songs are stuff that we collaborated musically, then I just go and write lyrics and melodies.
I don rsquo;t really go into a record saying, You know what, I am going to write this record myself or we are all going to write this record together. There are moments where we collaborate there are moments when I just kind of write it on my own, and bring it to the band and see what they think. /p If you would like to listen to a few tracks from The Appearances debut album i Lost In Aurora /i you can hear it at their a href= http://www.
myspace.com/theappearance MySpace /a space. br/
L. Harper
Not only is he a dedicated family man, Andrew is also an immensely talented musician and producer. /p p He was the frontman for a href= http://www.thenormals.
com/ The Normals /a until they split in 2003 -- due to financial and familial obligations -- he is an active member of the folk-rock band a href= http://www.myspace.com/caedmonscall Caedmon s Call /a , a founding member of the a href= http://www.
squarepegalliance.com/ Square Peg Alliance /a , and a very busy producer for other bands. So with all this in his life it makes a person wonder where he gets the time to write, record and produce his solo albums ndash; His third solo album i The Morning /i is currently on sale.
/p p Andrew rsquo;s unique sound is a fusion of folk, indie, country and roots-rock blended with power-pop. The intelligent, impassioned lyrics run the gamut from passionately breathless to sweetly romantic and regret-filled melancholy; this sound defies genre placement. Andrew rsquo;s tangled tapestry of sound and lyric paints an ardent, stirring picture of this deep, multifaceted and truly talented young man.
/p p img style= float: left; margin-right: 10px src= http://farm1.static.flickr.
com/135/393102464_511a914c87_m.jpg border= 1 alt= Looking for a beer title= Looking for a beer width= 175 height= 117 / His newest album, simply titled i The Morning /i , is split into two sections, ldquo;Morning rdquo; and ldquo;Evening rdquo;. Both show the different sides of Andrew rsquo;s complicated inner self, reflecting his passionate, sometimes angry, sometimes impassioned joy on ldquo;Morning rdquo; and his darker, deeper, more sensitive side on ldquo;Evening rdquo;.
Andrew rsquo;s values, his love for his wife, children and life in general resonate throughout; but despite the depth of the emotion portrayed on the i The Morning /i it maintains a playful, energetic, rock-music flavour. /p p Andrew recently sat down with me for a chat, during which we talked about his daughters, his charity work with orphans in India, religion, a href= http://en.wikipedia.
org/wiki/Battlestar_Galactica i Battlestar Galactica /i /a and, of course, his music. /p p I kind of like to tell a story you know. And I read a lot so I always kind of like to follow that.
So there rsquo;s that. I really like short stories. I rsquo;m a big a href= http://en.
wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemingway Hemingway /a fan. I rsquo;ve written a bunch of songs based on characters in Hemingway novels.
/p p Yeah, ldquo;Marilyn rdquo; on i The Morning /i is from the a href= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sun_Also_Rises i Sun Also Rises /i /a .
It rsquo;s sort of about this guy, who falls in love with this girl, and she kind of plays him. She toys with a bunch of men. And at the end of the day they rsquo;re all miserable.
It just kind of caught me. I changed her name to Marilyn. There is a line about bullfights in Spain and a sleeping train.
/p p Yeah I do. Math and Science, the things that I should have been interested in I did terrible in at school. I loved stories, that rsquo;s how I learned.
That rsquo;s what I liked to listen to. My favourites songwriters were, you know, Billy Joel. Guys that tell stories.
Paul Simon. Those guys are just hellip; I rsquo;m inspired by what they do. /p p b Your family and friends are very important to you aren rsquo;t they?
You have even set up the a href= http://www.squarepegalliance.com/ Square Peg Alliance /a to help support each other in your art.
Tell me more about that. /b /p p Yeah, it rsquo;s a group of people that were all making music for a long time. A lot of us were friends first before we heard each other.
We have all been making music for a while now. We all care about each other and think what each other does is great. It rsquo;s kind of a way to help each other out.
It rsquo;s been really fun. We put a name to something that was already there. Created opportunities for us to do it more.
/p p I kinda don rsquo;t care. My serious end goal for me is to do what I am doing now. Where I make music in a community with people that I love.
And whether it rsquo;s shows with my band, or with my old band, or friends with a few guitars or just making records. /p p At the end of the day I get to make music with people that love me and care about me and that I love and care about. Hopefully at some point some record company sign us and we rsquo;ll all make some money.
So it won rsquo;t be so hand to mouth as it is now. But that rsquo;s the only thing I want. I want to make more money doing what I rsquo;m doing so I can support my family.
/p p His story is an astonishing one. Tim Pare left his broken long-term relationship and job in Sheffield, England. Selling everything, he moved to Shandong, China to teach English.
A year later on the Trans-Siberian Express, somewhere deep in the forests between Vladivostock and Moscow, 60 Russian conscripts from Siberia and Kamchatka got on the train. Tim says, ldquo;They were aggressive, sexually-deprived, testosterone-flooded killers and they wanted to be pissed [British term for drunk] all day. They were friendly until they asked us to give them some of our possessions and to buy them vodka.
rdquo; These were desperate men in need of distraction. br / br / It was then, surrounded by violent, barbaric, drunken Russian conscripts and with a knife to his neck, that Tim began writing what he would later record and title i Trans-Siberian Express (T-SE) /i . It may not be as mind-blowing or exciting as its birth would imply but it is very good at what it is, heartfelt, life-experience and emotion filled acoustic pop.
Tim Pare rsquo;s world weary lyrics are straight from the hip and his warm, rich vocals lend themselves to the heartrending feel of his debut EP i Trans-Siberian Express /i . br / br / img src= http://farm1.static.
flickr.com/134/356922765_ebedbf90bb_m.jpg border= 3 alt= Tim and Guitar title= Tim and Guitar width= 160 height= 240 align= left / Tim is a warm, friendly guy with a unique gentleness to him -- that is reflected in his music -- and a strong Yorkshire accent.
Tim and I recently talked about his experience, about how he became a musician and what was in the cards for him next. br / br / b Tell me how you got into music. /b br / br / My dad used to write songs, well religious musicals, and a bit for the church service.
I had to learn two instruments as a kid. I chose the guitar. My parents got me classical lessons but I sucked and started learning a few chords in secret and singing.
I always loved singing. br / br / Then my music teacher asked us to write a piano composition - oh, piano was the other - and I spent hours on it and was really proud of it. He ripped it up in class and told me to write another for the next day.
I was so angry I thought ldquo;Fuck you, you re getting nothing rdquo; but intrinsically I m scared of authority so at the last minute I grabbed this little 3/4 guitar I had and wrote a song really quickly - in about 10 minutes. It was okay, but the girls in class loved it, absolutely loved it and that was me! ( i laughs) /i br / br / b It always comes back to sex doesn t it?
i (laughing) /i /b br / br / Seems too shallow, whilst wanting to be seen as being deep. i (laughs) /i br / br / b Shallow maybe but at least it s honest. /b br / br / I think that s a thing in my song-writing actually.
This is me, warts and all. br / br / b Your EP, /b b i Trans-Siberian Express, /i /b b (or is it an album?) is as singer-songwriter, correct?
/b br / br / Yep, that s right. I wanted a ldquo;sketch rdquo;, if you like a kind of basic introduction to my songs. I m a big believer that if you can strip a song down to the bare bones then it s a good song.
That s where I wanted to start, to show I can write. br / br / b Tell me about i Trans-Siberian Express /i . It s all about a heartbreak?
img src= http://farm1.static.flickr.
com/125/356922773_b0ba169693_m.jpg border= 3 alt= Tim , Pensive title= Tim , Pensive width= 200 height= 133 align= right / /b br / br / Not all, but I guess the feel of it is probably that. Some people find it a little dark but many find it quite relaxing.
It s about reflection, I think, and a large part of that period was about the feeling of waste, that I had chosen badly and been kicked in the teeth. Anger at myself for not being strong enough to say ldquo;enough is enough rdquo;. And when you have a bad relationship I think it s quite natural to look back at a better one, or moment, and dwell on that.
br / br / ldquo;Afterglow rdquo; is optimistic I think, and ldquo;Exorcism rdquo; and ldquo;You ve Got Your rdquo; are both about the turn, the moment you leave something behind and give life another try. br / br / b What inspired these feelings and thoughts? /b br / br / I split up with my partner after trying to make it work for a long time when I should have left.
I was in a bit of a rut with my music. I d split up my band and was not really ready to write singer-songwriter stuff. I was too angry I guess.
I got a pension letter telling me that I could claim mine in 2048 if I continued full time for the council. I sold my house and went off on a one way ticket to Indonesia. br / br / Then I think I got space and time and looked at where I had begun to settle for that three on the dice.
I m on a five now. br / br / b Sorry I don t understand the dice reference. /b br / br / It s a thing from i The Office (UK) /i this guy is explaining why he has stayed at the office instead of going back to Uni i (British term for University) /i and why he hasn t made the move on the girl of his dreams and he says he is on a three in terms of his life.
That he could roll again and get a six but he was scared of getting a one. Lots of people settle for a mediocre three. I guess I threw again.
.. br / br / b So did you actually write i Trans-Siberian Express /i on the T-SE?
/b br / br / Yeah, got the basic songs down, I wrote about eight or nine, it was a bit of a surprise really, I had spent six months in China and only written one average song but on that journey it all went off. Never been that prolific before or since. br / br / b img src= http://farm1.
static.flickr.com/144/356922776_b53a8d1627.
jpg border= 3 alt= Tim Pare title= Tim Pare width= 175 height= 263 align= left / But now you are going to be moving to a full band sound, how come? /b br / br / Yeah, I ve written the first full album and some of the songs just wanted to go off at the end and really spread the sound and become a bit more epic I suppose. I started demo-ing them with Tom Jarvis -- bloke who recorded T-SE and they sound fantastic.
br / br / I think also that we want to have a go at the proper singles and record deal thing. I m putting the band together now in London. br / br / b So are these new demos similar to i T-SE /i ?
/b br / br / Similar songs in terms of strong melodies and lyrics but they have a bit more variety and bite. They don t rock out, but they do build and have some lovely harmonies and guitar parts and strings and stuff. I m trying to show a credible progression and depth to my writing and development I suppose.
br / br / We re recording the singles in London this month with a guy who did i (produced) /i Elvis Costello. I m really excited. br / br / b So what has inspired your new stuff?
If not pain? /b br / br / Lots of different things, still women, I ve only just got that one right. The first single is called ldquo;Still in Love rdquo; and pretends to be about a lover but is about China and how difficult I found it to leave.
There s a song about my Granddad and his a href= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinson%27s_disease Parkinson rsquo;s /a and a song about my first love.
We re doing a couple of full band versions of ldquo;Afterglow rdquo; and ldquo;Exorcism rdquo; as well and they might get on. br / br / A couple about me being a bastard. i (smiles) /i br / br / b i (laughing /i ) Are you a bastard Tim?
You don t seem it. /b br / br / i Sings /i ldquo;All the chances I was taking while you lay in my bed waiting hellip; For every one that you discovered there were three or four others..
. rdquo; br / br / b You cheating bastard! /b br / br / Now that s my ldquo;albatross rdquo; song.
ldquo;My Lover rdquo; second single, heart wrenching ballad img src= http://farm1.static.flickr.
com/141/356922779_961b106b26_m.jpg border= 3 alt= Bugs? title= Bugs?
width= 200 height= 133 align= right / formula. i (grins) /i br / br / I have been more sinned against than sinner though. I have a real guilt thing and so when I behave badly it really stays with me.
So I write a few songs about it. I find it difficult to do it the other way around and talk about the many good things I do and strong friendships I have. br / br / b What are your hopes and dreams where your music is concerned?
Where do you want it to take you? /b br / br / I always wanted to have one person, unknown to me, have one of my songs as their favourite in the world. I guess, to a degree, MySpace has enabled me to achieve that.
br / br / i (laughs /i ) Everyone dreams of signing a record deal and getting on a href= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Later_with_Jools_Holland i Later, with Jools Holland /i /a .
Only I wouldn t let him play piano! /p style= float:left;margin-right:5px;border:2px solid #000 / /a A.L.
Harper is an American lost in the history and passion of living in Scotland. She enjoys motorbikes, music, art and wanking. She is Blogcritics Assistant Music Editor and runs the a href= http://blogcritics.
org/archives/features/band_of_the_week.php Band of the Week /a feature, where we profile a different indie (unsigned/inde label) band every week ( a href= MailTo:a.l.
harper@blogcritics.org contact /a her for more information). She is also the Reviews Editor for a href= http://www.
allthingsgirl.com/index.shtml AllThingsGirl.
com /a and a freelance writer for hire.
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