WKNC interview with WAUMISS during the 2013 Hopscotch Music Festival. Check out the interview and on our iTunes podcast!
Category: Music News and Interviews
Music news, interviews, features and giveaways
Schooner have been one of North Carolina’s sleeper bands for far too long. Their 2007 full length debut Hold On Too Tight warranted heavy acclaim from critics and showcased the band’s sporadic indie pop stylings. Many would have imagined that Schooner would swiftly snowball into the state’s next powerhouse, however, songwriter Reid Johnson took some time off to re-evaluate his musical career and thus the band slowly began to dissipate from its original lineup. After receiving a lineup overhaul, Duck Kee Sessions in 2010 propelled the band to the national spotlight.
The band’s original lineup fell to the wayside, but this new roster clearly displayed a newly invigorated vision of Schooner. They were touted as one of Paste Magazine’s “Best of What’s Next” and even made their way down to South-By-Southwest after the heavy acclaim from Duck Kee. But with the release of Neighborhood Veins, the band’s latest full length, they’re prepared to bask in the spotlight that they’ve so patiently waited for.
Neighborhood Veins marks the first national release from local label PotLuck Records and it’s an excellent display of Schooner’s brilliance. It’s a collection of songs that range from fuzzed out pop gems to bleary-eyed folk-infused madness. By now Reid Johnson and the new lineup for Schooner have found their groove, they acknowledge their musical past while still looking boldly forward to the future. Neighborhood Veins’ closing track is a sprawling 12-minute adventure, something that one could have hardly imagined upon first glance from a band like Schooner.
After their bold step forward, you can expect Schooner to finally take their place as a North Carolina powerhouse amongst our brimming indie rock scene. That’s precisely why we’ve chosen Schooner as our Local Artist of the Month for October. You can check out their latest video for “Trap” below. If you missed their interview and live performance, you can check it out and on our iTunes podcast!
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Keep it tuned to WKNC all week long for your chance to win tickets to any of these great shows below! Just be the correct caller when the DJ asks for it, and you and a friend could be hitting up some of the coolest local acts around.
Friday, January 31st 2014 – Live Nation presents: The Pixies with Cults @ Durham Performing Arts
Monday, October 7th – Wavves with King Tuff and Jacuzzi Boys @ Cat’s
Tuesday, October 8th – Junip with Barbarossa @ Cat’s
Wednesday, October 9th – Baths with Groundislava and Time Wharp @ Kings
Wednesday, October 9th – Lake with Ser Onda @ Pinhook
Thursday, October 10th – Richard Buckner @ Pinhook
Friday, October 11th – Toon and the Real Laww with Cesar Comanche @ King’s
Friday, October 11th – Colleen Green with The Memories and White Fang @ Pinhook
Saturday, October 12th – Eleanor Friedberger @ Cat’s
Saturday, October 12th – Cat’s presents: The Helio Sequence and Menomena @ Kings
WKNC interview with Cy Dune during the 2013 Hopscotch Music Festival. Check out the interview below and on our iTunes podcast!
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Interview: The Dodos
The Dodos played Kings Barcade on October 4, accompanied by Dustin Wong and Raleigh natives First Person Plural, in support of the recent release of their fifth studio album, Carrier (Polyvinyl Record Co.). Before the show, I spoke with drummer and multi-percussionist Logan Kroeber of The Dodos. The band is no stranger to the triangle, having opened for New Pornographers, Drive-By Truckers and Guided By Voices in recent years. We discussed what influenced the new album’s songwriting and instrumentation changes, collaborations, favorite songs and the critically-acclaimed sport of hacky sack. Check out the interview below and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes!
Beginning on Oct. 4, WKNC will be debuting a brand new local music talk show known as Carolina Grown. With the unfortunate departure of longtime DJ and host of The Local Beat, Adam Kincaid, now comes the time to expand on new horizons. Carolina Grown will follow a similar format, but will bring a fresh new spin to the local music scene.
Every Friday from 5:00-7:00 pm Carolina Grown will showcase some of the area’s finest local music. Hosted by Grant Golden, WKNC’s Local Music Director and founder of The Bottom String–a North Carolina music blog–Carolina Grown will bring in local musicians, label owners, journalists, community members and more. The goal of Carolina Grown is to shine light upon local artists and events that deserve recognition. North Carolina is a fantastic but crowded scene, thus some brilliant artists can get overlooked. Carolina Grown is here to bring these voices to the forefront by providing an outlet for these folks to share their message.
Be it art, music or any other variety of entertainment, we’re here for you. That means you as a listener, as an artist, as a promoter, as a venue owner or as a community member. Carolina Grown is here to serve as a soapbox for those with a message and as a reliable outlet for those interested in immersing themselves in their local community. WKNC has always been an integral part of the local scene and we’re always looking to give back to the community. We want you to be able to trust our voice, to see our stamp of approval and know that you’re about to hear something unique, sincere and most of all good.
Be it indie rock, folk, hip-hop, jazz or bluegrass, there’s always bound to be a music-maker catering to your tastes. It’s just a matter of finding them! But thankfully we’re here to do that for you. So tune into WKNC every Friday from 5-7 to soak in the sounds of your area’s finest musicians.
Boston-based indie noise pop Speedy Ortiz is a band that went from playing house shows to packing Kennedy Theater at Hopscotch 2013. This of course was spawned by the release of their debut album Major Arcana that received overwhelming positive reviews including “Best New Music” from Pitchfork. Within a week, this Boston quartet found themselves growing too large for the house shows they had originally booked for themselves. Speedy Ortiz have become one of our favorites here at WKNC as they have been put into heavy rotation since their release a couple months ago. They stopped by Wristband City the morning after their show to talk a bit about their set, their rise to fame, and food.
Electronic music has been on a swift rise throughout the past few years. While some folks may write it off due to the bro-step phenomenon, that discredits all of the fantastic sounds that are coming out of this still burgeoning scene. When one looks into electronic music, the beacon of light–at least for me–comes from Flying Lotus’ Brainfeeder label based out of L.A. Flying Lotus, grandnephew of the legendary Alice Coltrane, rose to prominence with his jazzy, psychedelic take on electronic music. Since his rise to fame, he’s used his label Brainfeeder to put the spotlight on equally talented acts from across the globe.
One of the label’s most recent standouts is Essex’s Lapalux. The U.K producer crafts a mesmerizing blend of soulful R&B with contemporary beat music to create a hazy, yet infectious brand of electronic music. Lapalux’s music strikes both the mind and the body. He’s capable of both slow-brooding, pensive beats and outright bangers. Throughout the past few years he’s been honing his craft, releasing four EPs since 2008. But his full-length debut on Brainfeeder, Nostalchic, displays a full realization of these aforementioned themes. Heady beats are embellished by smooth vocal samples and shuffling percussion, making for an entrancing listening experience.
Lapalux sat down with me for an interview on the first day of Hopscotch, hours before his stellar set at The Pour House. Lapalux was embarking on his first U.S. tour, so we spoke a bit about the difference between stateside shows and those in other areas of the globe, how his style came about, and some of his major influences when he first began making music.
Keep it tuned to WKNC all week long for your chance to win tickets to any of these great shows below! Just be the correct caller when the DJ asks for it, and you and a friend could be hitting up some of the coolest local acts around.
Tuesday, October 1 – Surfer Blood with Team Spirit and Andy Boay @ Cat’s
Wednesday, October 2 – The Dodos with Dustin Wong and First Person Plural @ Kings
Thursday, October 3 – Colossus with The Beggars @ Kings
Thursday, October 3 – The Koolest with Floco Torres @ Pinhook
Friday, October 4 – Kooley High with Kourvioisier and Oxymoron @ Kings
Saturday, October 5 – Heads On Sticks album release with Body Games and Matt Northrup @ Kings
Saturday, October 5 – Elf Power with Organos and The Wigg Report @ Pinhook
Saturday, October 5 – Black Rebel Motorcycle Club with Restavrant @ Cat’s
Sunday, October 6 – Saint Rich with Wool @ Pinhook
Sunday, October 6 – Unknown Mortal Orchestra with Jackson Scott @ Cat’s*
Crystal Stilts stopped by the WKNC studio before their show with Deerhunter to speak to Walter-Ego and Prism about their new album Nature Noir, non-existent rooms, the inherent dangers of doing 90’s covers, and Snoop Dogg.