10 Questions with...Team Spirit

This week at A.T.W.N., I have the pleasure of sharing an interview I did with Passion Pit's former synthesist & remixer, Ayad Al Adhamy. Ayad has gone out on his own and is now the frontman for the amazing Brooklyn based "rock-n-soul" band, Team Spirit. Let's get to it...

10 Questions with...Team Spirit

Ayad, what’s the biggest difference for you going from the back of the stage on keys with Passion Pit, to now being the lead with Team Spirit? 

The need to be in better physical shape! Singing, ripping guitar and flailing around on stage is quite tiring... Also the responsibility with leading a band into battle!

What was it like opening for the amazing Welsh rockers The Joy Formidable?

It was great! I’ve played with them in the past countless times (I even started a label to release their EP in the US!) and it was amazing to see them just rock out relentlessly. It was amazing!


Hardcover, Paperback, or Kindle?

Paperback

For those who are new to Team Spirit, tell us what bands have helped to influence your sound?
Thin Lizzy, Rolling Stones, The Replacements to name a few...

Movies or Books while touring?

Movies/TV shows. Ive exhausted most of TV by now... Currently watching Game of Thrones, Vikings and The Following.

Comics or Novels as a kid?

I was a little bit of both - I did have a serious comic collection - favourites included Cable and Deadpool series.

Avengers or Justice League?

Hmmm loaded question? In essence it could be Marvel vs DC... as a kid i was heavily into Marvel but never liked the Avengers. However the Justice League animated movies are pretty rad... Justice League!

Fiction or Non-Fiction?

Non-fiction, or fiction based on fact... But sometimes Fantasy, which I guess is total fiction...

One book, and one band.... 

Fatherland by Robert Harris is a great historical crime fiction book... I read it way back in high school and I remember loving it. And the band “Guards”!

Last question: What was the main source of inspiration behind your self-titled debut EP “Team Spirit”?

Freedom! And rock n roll!

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Thanks to Ayad Al Adhamy for taking the time to stop by All The Write Notes and chatting. If you would like to keep up with the band, you can check them out on Facebook and on Twitter. You can pick up Team Spirit's debut EP here, and check out their live dates here. Trust me, Team Spirit's energy is amazing and they put on a show not to be missed.

Jay Spencer is a MG/YA writer, Visual Art teacher, music and book blogger, an extremely tall husband, and father to two amazing kids. If not at the rink or on the court with his young kids, he would gladly talk to you about any genre or decade of music, and anything Marvel or Star Wars.

Radiohead - An Interview with Author Evan Roskos

Today at ATWN, author Evan Roskos stops by to talk about his love of everything Radiohead, his critically acclaimed book Dr. Bird's Advice for Sad Poets, and Evan offers up some fantastic giveaways for our readers, and Radiohead fans. Let’s get started…

How did you get introduced to Radiohead?
A UFO descended from the stars and landed in my backyard. A small creature, looking basically like the stereotypical grey alien creature of popular culture, only with a more pallid face and the crackling voice of an English adolescent, placed a cassette tape in my hands. The creature left without a word. The tape contained no markings, but the music needed no words to tell me it was the glorious sounds of some far off land. Also, I borrowed a copy of Pablo Honey from my friend Valerie, dubbed it, and started saving up to buy a legit version after the first listen. I never looked back, but I yearn for that alien to return and apologize for knocking the limb off of our tree.

How many times have you seen Radiohead play live?
Five times, all post Kid A. (They only played one Philadelphia show when I was in college, but it was during the summer so I didn’t get there.) I have dozens and dozens of phenomenal bootlegs thanks to the internet. Even though you didn’t ask.

What is one song by Radiohead you couldn’t live without?
Oh, man. I don’t know. There’s so many. I mean, “Let Down” is pure and wonderful. “Bloom” is amazing. “Arpeggi” and “Street Spirit” and “There There” and “Paranoid Android” -- I can’t choose! I won’t choose! I’ll just say “Creep” or the cover of “Nobody Does it Better” to annoy people.

Are there lyrics to a Radiohead song you wish you had written?
Not really—writing is so particular to a person’s sensibilities that I’d never be able to match what someone like Yorke has written. I mean, I’ll always love my own writing best of all because it’s mine. But I’d rather have Yorke’s lyrics with the band’s phenomenal music.

Kid A or The Bends?
There’s this really obscure German import of the band jamming to some Miles Davis that’s better than both of them, but you probably haven’t heard it.* The Bends. But not by much. I mean, it’s like picking between two different but perfectly wonderful desserts. Some days I want chocolate pudding; other days I want mint chocolate chip ice cream. Either way, I win. With The Bends there’s a stronger nostalgia for me, though I introduced Kid A to my wife and that’s her preferred album. So maybe I should say Kid A to avoid marital strife. No! I’ll remain true to my inner Radiohead nerd, who will always be single and awkward around women! I felt that the live versions of Kid A had a better tempo than the record. A little more raw and aggressive. After listening to the concert bootlegs all summer in 2000, I was surprised that the album itself had a slower pace, despite how layered and beautiful it sounds. So, The Bends.
*This is a fabrication.

Atoms for Peace or Thom Yorke’s solo album?
Yorke’s solo album, The Eraser. But in this case it’s like picking room temperature tap water or room temperature bottled water. I have no issues with Yorke’s interest in his side projects and I do enjoy The Eraser. I have yet to really fall in love with anything related to Atoms for Peace.

Paranoid Android or Fake Plastic Trees?
PARANOID ANDROID. Paranoid Android is easily a top 3 Radiohead song. Fake Plastic Trees is the song I play on my acoustic guitar when I’m reminding my wife I’m sensitive and poetic. It’s basically the pale, British version of Colt 45.

Have you ever been caught dancing like Thom?
Caught?
No.

What did you think of the “pay what you want” formula Radiohead did with their album “In Rainbows”?
I actually bought the special edition with all the cool artwork and the bonus CD, which was a great deal since worldwide shipping was included. I remember talking to a guy I knew who worked in the music industry and he chalked the whole thing up to a publicity stunt that overcharged fans for the special edition to subsidize the people who were going to clearly pay nothing for the album.  That conversation...sickened me.
I thought it was a cool idea and certainly an idea that would work for a band with a huge, web-friendly following. It fit with Radiohead’s various online experiments (the TV station, the webcasts, the rabbit-hole website designs). I was disappointed that they didn’t release full information on the results, as they had claimed they would. The reports were that the average price paid was pretty low. I expected that, since there are plenty of people who don’t believe in paying for music, but hoped for full disclosure anyway.

What were you listening to when you wrote Dr. Bird's Advice for Sad Poets?
It was 2010 when I wrote it and my son had been born that spring. So, lots of upbeat stuff: Los Campesinos!’s Romance is Boring, Jonsí’s self-titled debut; Murder by Death’s Good Morning, Magpie; and Menomena’s Mines. Also, obsessively and less upbeat in many ways, The National’s High Violet.

Would James, the MC in Dr. Bird's Advice for Sad Poets, like Radiohead? What about the imaginary pigeon therapist, Dr. Bird?
James actually has a moment where he puts on a Radiohead shirt but is hesitant to wear it to a party he’s attending that night for fear it’ll seem like he’s trying to be cool. (Though, I suspect RH doesn’t get teenager cool points. They seem like REM in the 90s: dad rock. YES, I SAID IT. LET’S ALL JUST ADMIT IT’S PROBABLY SOMEWHAT TRUE PERHAPS.) Anyway, James’s friend Derek sees the Radiohead shirt and makes a face. “I just find them boring,” he says to James, who replies: “Well, is the SHIRT boring? It doesn’t play music.” That exchange in the novel is 100% for my friends who know I’m a huge Radiohead nerd. Dr. Bird prefers the work of Andrew Bird not only because it’s an easy joke, but because the work is atmospheric and lyrically complex and most importantly: sounds great on sunny days. Have you ever see a sad pigeon on a sunny day? Hell no you haven’t.

Photo Credit: Radiohead

Favorite album cover by Radiohead?
OK Computer. That album cover is carved into my eyeballs. I have a print of the artwork from that era on my wall. I also once made a Windows 98 theme based on Radiohead artwork from The Bends and OK Computer. It even had sounds. Spent a week perfecting it. What a horrendously awesome waste of time. I could’ve been talking to girls!

What other bands/artists do you like?
I have a weird collection -- it’s not deep or hipster-obscure. It’s somewhat commercial and random. I can listen to any of these bands in the same week: Andrew Bird, Neutral Milk Hotel, System of a Down, Björk, Murder By Death, Menomena, PJ Harvey, The Mars Volta, Talking Heads, DEVO, David Bowie, Beck, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Los Campesinos!, Jónsi…. Nevermind the 90s standards (Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains) and other classics (REM, Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin).
So. Yeah.

Photo Credit: Poetry Foundation

We couldn’t have an interview with you and not bring up Walt Whitman. Tell our readers, who may be unfamiliar with his poetry, why they should read his work.
Simply for this line: “Limitless limpid jets of love hot and enormous, quivering jelly of love, white-blow and delirious juice” More seriously, though: Walt Whitman is a tough sell -- he doesn’t write short, compact poetry, so it’s not like a Robert Frost poem where there’s a clear point in a compact number of lines. Whitman uses archaic language and the structures of his poems don’t make themselves apparent immediately. He writes about America in all its variety -- the good, the bad, the true, the gory. He celebrates everything. He’s in love with the human body, its strength, its sexiness, its vigor. He never really gets pessimistic, even when he starts writing about the Civil War. He celebrates the passion of soldiers, the bravery. He says it is lucky to die just as it is lucky to be born. The universe is a vast, fascinating thing just as a blade of grass is a vast and fascinating thing. He believes we should learn from experience not from books. And yet he writes a book to tell us this. “Do I contradict myself?” he asks. “Well, I contain multitudes.” There’s something so vital and exciting about his poetry, especially when digested in snippets as James does in the novel. Whitman has little mantras, nearly perfect life-affirming, glorious statements that don’t require that you decode. He’s often smashing you in the brain with these truths. He’s not for everyone, but he’s one of the most positive poets I’ve ever read, constantly looking to the world and celebrating something. The perfect poet to read on difficult days or bright sunny days. I highly recommend the site http://whitmanarchive.org. Especially to read the 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass which is, in my opinion, the superior version (Whitman revised the book a number of times in his lifetime, but the poetry gets a little stodgy as he ages). Also, Walt Whitman’s America by David S. Reynolds is a great book about 19th century America and how it influenced the poet.

******

Thanks to Evan Roskos for taking the time to stop by All The Write Notes, and now it's time for the giveaway! Evan has graciously offered our North American readers two chances to win...
First: The Mega winner will receive a signed copy of Dr. Bird's Advice for Sad Poets + Radiohead postcard from Amnesiac promotion + 1 copy of a high quality Radiohead bootleg from the winner's preferred era (Bends/OK Computer OR Kid A/Amnesiac OR In Rainbows).
Second: Our second place winner will receive a signed copy of Dr. Bird's Advice for Sad Poets and a journal featuring a Walt Whitman quote on the cover.
Amazing!!! Now,  if you aren't one of the lucky two to win, or you just can't wait to read Dr. Bird's Advice for Sad Poets, it can be purchased at any local indie-book store, or through Amazon, or Barnes & Noble. Now if Evan has you craving more Radiohead, then check out the amazing fan-site At Ease on the web, or on Twitter.

Jay Spencer is a MG/YA writer, Visual Art teacher, music and book blogger, an extremely tall husband, and father to two amazing kids. If not at the rink or on the court with his young kids, he would gladly talk to you about any genre or decade of music, and anything Marvel or Star Wars.

a Rafflecopter giveaway *The Giveaway is for North American addresses only. Sorry.

Do you have a band like Radiohead is to Evan? If so, we at ATWN would love to hear about it. Leave us a comment below...

Nightlands: An Interview with Dave Hartley

photo credit:  Catharine Maloney  

For anyone who isn't in the know, Dave Hartley spends a good deal of his time playing bass guitar for the outstanding band, The War on Drugs, out of Philadelphia.  I could go on and on about his solo project but, it might just be best if I step aside and let his label, Secretly Canadian, tell you a little bit about Nightlands:

Nightlands is the recording project of Philadelphia-based multi-instrumentalist Dave Hartley. The music he creates in his bedroom is itself a bed of delicate, chiming strings and bubbling synths beneath a blanket of choral vocal arrangements. It's dreamy in the literal sense -- the seeds for the album were sown when Hartley began archiving musical ideas that occurred in his sleep with a simple bedside tape recorder. As a result his debut album Forget the Mantra is, in essence, a field recording of Hartley's dreams -- a travel journal through pop music and a collection of psych-hymns from the first human lunar colony. The songs sound both huge and intimate, breathy and cavernous like massive echoes of a faraway concert. It's the big, shadow music from just across the lake.

Nightlands released a new album, Oak Island, this past January (which you can purchase right HERE) and Dave was kind enough to take a little time to sling emails back and forth and answer a few questions about writing, reading, music, and a little basketball for safe measure.

The futurism of Oak Island seems to line up with themes that appear in the work of Arthur C. Clarke or Philip K. Dick.  The multi-layered vocals of your songs certainly creates a robotic vibe.  Although, your cyborg seems a little more at peace than the Replicants in Dick’s story.  If anything, your robot seems to come from a planet with a fascination for 70s era AM radio.  From reading other interviews, I know that you have an interest in sci-fi.  Any authors in particular?

 Those are interesting observations. I don't really understand exactly what the connection is between my interest in sci-fi and the music I write... It's not explicit, but it's certainly there. I generally favor really ethereal, spacey sounds but more classic, universal lyrics as a contrast. I like the contrast. My favorite sci-fi author is far and away Arthur C. Clarke--I've read and reread all of his classics and even some of his non-fiction. The City and the Stars is my favorite, followed by Imperial Earth, Fountains of Paradise, Rendezvous with Rama, Childhood's End, and 2001, of course. He just thinks with such amazing scope...he can take a human story, zoom out to show interpersonal context, zoom out again to show communal context, zoom out again to show cultural context, zoom out again to show geological or biological context, and usually zoom out to some unheard of distance to show the story in the context of time itself. It's just so heady and sensitive and mind boggling. I'm also a big fan of Dune, although the sequels weaken substantially. Other authors I admire are Heinlein, Asimov, Orson Scott Card, Dick, and some others that are escaping me.

You do a little non-musical writing here and there.  Most notably, your NBA blog for WXPN has been a showcase for your written work.  As a writer who loves music, I’m always trying to convince myself that the two are really closely related but, being that I only know three chords, I can’t say I’m an expert.  Since you wear both pairs of shoes, what kind of relationship do you see between being an author and being a musician?

I see myself absolutely writing a novel someday, probably relatively soon. Writing to me seems a bit like recording: long periods of frustration with occasional bouts of exhilarating inspiration. I imagine everyone writes differently, just as everyone records differently. The huge difference is, of course, that music is meant to be performed, whereas literature or prose are meant to be read. Much less payoff, it seems. Perhaps that's why authors are so grumpy.


You have a degree in Philosophy.  If you could sit down at a bar with any author and just shoot-the-shit about philosophy, who do you think you’d be sharing a beer with?


Well, I come from the school of thought that Philosophy is more of a process rather than a body of knowledge. So in that sense I don't really have a favorite Philosopher or Philosophical thinker, though there are many interesting texts. The author I'd most like to have a beer with is William Knorpp, and I have had a beer with him on a few occasions--he was my advisor and mentor. He is just a profoundly reasonable man, capable of cutting through mounds and mounds of jargon and rhetoric with a single phrase. On the other hand, I'd love to "shoot the shit" with Cormac McCarthy, Oliver Sacks, Malcolm Gladwell, Jon Krakauer, to name a few.


I’ve heard you say before that the freedom to make almost any kind of music can be taxing.  I believe you used the term paralyzing.  I think our readers, who are mostly trying to pound out words for novels, can relate to that feeling.  I know I struggle with containing myself to a single idea at times.  How did you rein yourself in while working as a solo artist?  What was your most consistent struggle?

I impose restrictions upon myself by using a primitive recording set-up. My goal is to use consumer-grade gear and stretch it to places its not meant to go, using hyperbole and innovation. I love when I send an album to be mastered and the engineer says, "wow--what studio did you use to record this? what microphones did you use?" and I say, "I used a 7 year old M-Box, a 6 year old macintosh and a beta 57". You don't get bonus points for making a record with shitty gear--if it sounds good, it sounds good, but I think the shitty gear really helps me, at least at this stage in my development. I have to make lots of commitments early and figure out strange ways to make the gear work, and its my process. I like it a lot. I'm sure I'll graduate to better gear and choose new, arbitrary restrictions at some point.

My most consistent struggle as a solo artist is choosing between comfort and discomfort. There is no right or wrong. Sometimes comfort is a signpost saying "go this way, follow this impulse" and sometimes comfort is a signpost saying "you've done this a thousand times, you're scared--go the other way." It's a struggle, and without other sounding boards, I'm constantly challenged.

You’ve said that you grew up as an avid reader.  A fairly significant number of our readers (and the writers on our staff) write books for kids.  What are some stand-outs from when you were a kid?

Ender's Game was a big one. It was one of the first books I choose for myself and devoured. It was a private world and stoked my love of reading. I'm also massively indebted to my Dad, who read me Lord of the Rings and Dune as a kid, both of which remain my favorites to this day. From there I plowed through all sorts of sci-fi and youth literature. Clan of the Cave Bear was another big one. All these books still hold up now.

Am I right that the name of the band is inspired by Cormac McCarthy’s “Blood Meridian”?  Your music and McCarthy’s grittiness seem like strange bed-fellows.  Is there a significance to the connection or was it one of those “that sounds cool” moments?

I went through a two year period where all I did was read Blood Meridian or listen to the audiobook (which is spectacular, by the way--totally recontextualizes the work). It became something of a pathos. Anyway, I remember reading the phrase "night land" or "night lands," and it made me stop. The context was, a landscape or a stretch of earth, is a different place at night. It is not the same place. And then a few months later I was re-reading 2001: A Space Odyssey and came across "night lands" in reference to the side of a planet that doesn't see the sun (the dark side of the moon, for instance). I just knew it was the name for project--later I realized that my music was all coming from my dreams and from recordings I had made of my dreams. I swear it didn't register to me that there was any connection. It was either subconscious or coincidental.

I can't emphasize, though, how deeply Blood Meridian wedged itself inside me. It was insatiable. I couldn't get enough, and I couldn't explain why it fascinated me. It was a little embarrassing, actually, because the book was so incredibly dark and morbid--but there are thousands of gruesome and violent books that do nothing for me. I still don't completely understand the connection, aside from the fact that it's simply an astounding, colossal work. How does something like that get written? What sort of mind set was McCarthy in during its creation? What sort of combination of inspiration and analysis did he use? I will come back to it for the rest of my life, I'm sure.

Do my Celtics stand a chance in the play-offs this year?

No, but they could upset the Knicks in the first round. Without Rajon Rondo (and Ray Allen, for that matter), they won't get out of the conference-semis, though.

Any books on your nightstand right now?

Right now I'm reading "Time Enough for Love" by Robert Heinlein.

Interview: Kelsey Macke, YA Author

Last week, the lovely Kelsey Macke announced that her amazing book, Damsel Distressed, has been picked up for publication by Spencer Hill Contemporary!

Kelsey Macke has been creative for as long as she can remember. From an early age she was on stage singing, penning poetry, and writing notebooks full of songs. When the idea for her debut novel, DAMSEL DISTRESSED, popped into her head, she was undeterred by the fact that she had no idea how to actually write a novel. Her bff, the internet, was her guide, and after much trial, error, and candy, she finished it, and set out to get it published… a process far more difficult than, the internet (now her mortal enemy), had lead her to believe.

Her whirlwind adventure was made even more unbelievable when she signed with fabulous agent, Jessica Sinsheimer of the Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency and, shortly after, Danielle Ellison of Spencer Hill Contemporary bought her debut.

This innovative, mixed-media art project has given Kelsey an incredibly unique opportunity to join two of her passions: writing and making music with her husband as half of the folky, indie-pop band Wedding Day Rain.

DAMSEL DISTRESSED, and the companion album of original songs, Imogen Unlocked, are scheduled for release in October 2014.

Did you catch that? Her book is being released with a companion album! How amazing is that? I cannot tell you how excited I am about this project. If you're curious about what it might be like, check out her vlog, where you get a tiny taste of her music intertwined with her book.

And now, five questions with Kelsey!

1. Tell me about Damsel Distressed. Where'd you get the inspiration for the story?

Damsel Distressed popped into my head shortly after I read John Green's The Fault In Our Stars. It was after reading THAT book and watching his vlogbrothers videos on youtube that I realized for the first time, that he was not some magical word elf. He was a regular dude, with a family, and an obsession with the internet, and he wrote books. It wasn't long after that that I got the inspiration to write what was basically a Cinderella story from the point of view of the "ugly stepsister". The Cinderella thread was all but forgotten, however, as I began to outline. What WAS emerging, though, was a girl, Imogen, who had a lot of baggage. I heard (and can still hear) Imogen's voice LOUD and clear... which was why the first draft came relatively easily. I wanted to write the story of a person who had problems, but those problems could not be glossed over as in so many books. I didn't want a  main character who was "sad." I wanted a main character who was clinically depressed, medicated, and who had struggled with self harm. I didn't want a main character who was constantly saying, "oh, I'm so plain and un-beautiful, but all the boys like me." I wanted a main character who doesn't match any of societies biggest requirements for stereotypical beauty.

2. How did you come up with the idea of Imogen Unlocked? Did you know you wanted to do the companion album while you were writing the book?

Imogen Unlocked came out of a collaborative brainstorming session with my agent, Jessica Sinsheimer. We were discussing the book, and also discussing my experience as a recording artist (in my younger days) and how much singing/songwriting is a part of my life. She thought there must be someway that we could tap into my own musical interests in connection with the book. It was like a bolt of lightning struck my head when I realized that my band, Wedding Day Rain, would be perfectly suited to create the companion album and that I would be able to enjoy the fruits of both writing, and also experience the joy that I feel when performing/writing/recording with my husband Daron as Wedding Day Rain.

3. What's your favorite band/album? Who are your musical influences?

I know that it's annoying when people can't name a specific band or album that is their favorite, but truly, it would be impossible to choose just one. Music has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, and even before that. Through my life, I've listened to all sorts of music, from growing up on southern gospel quartet music, to my obsession with New Kids on the Block in elementary school, to emulating Mariah and Whitney with my hairbrush for hours on end, to my punk rock phase in junior high school when I wore baggy pants and saved my money to buy Green Day albums that were YEARS older than "Dookie". When I was in high school I was in a sequined-vest wearing, jazz hand waggling show choir, and I fell in love with broadway musicals, and in college, I became nostalgic for 80s hair metal and subdued alternative rock music like Augustana and the Fray. Now I listen to just about everything. In my car, I almost exclusively listen to 90s on 9 for my throwback jams, but at home, I listen to bands like Tegan and Sara, the Civil Wars, Bon Iver, The Temper Trap, Death Cab for Cutie, MGMT, Phoenix, Imagine Dragons, Of Monsters and Men, Metric, and M83... I really could go on for hours. It's best we stop here. 

The point is that art inspires art. 

Every word I've ever read, every painting I've ever contemplated, every song I've ever sung along to has inspired every single piece of art that I, myself have put into being. I think that's one of the most beautiful things about art, really. We NEED art to MAKE art. I NEED art to MAKE art. Art isn't made in a vacuum. 

4. Do you listen to music when you write? If so, what'd you listen to while writing Damsel Distressed? 

I am weird. 

I can't listen to music with lyrics... or truly, music with structure of any kind while I am actually putting new words on the page. I can't turn off the lyrics. I can't stop thinking about what the music is saying and free myself up to say what I AM saying. Even so, I could have music on prior to writing, or while editing/revising, and I had a playlist for DD that always put me in the perfect state of mind for working on Imogen's story. 

Playlist: DAMSEL DISTRESSED

5. Do you think of yourself more as a writer or as a musician, or is it possible to separate the two?

I think it's hard to separate the two, but certainly not impossible. I've been singing/writing songs for way, WAAAYYYYY longer than I've been writing. I've been singing my whole life and only really began writing fiction in 2012. That said, I think that writing is just another form of creative expression and for me, all creative expression is precious and useful and important. I see these experiences as a way for me to connect with a totally new side of my creativity. In truth, I don't really think of myself as a writer... unless I'm actually writing. Like, right now, I'm far more of an tumblr-wench than a writer, and when I'm teaching, I'm certainly more of a teacher than a writer. Being a writer is "in" me, but it's not all that I am, not at any given moment anyway. 

I think that everyone has creativity in them, and it just takes a bit of trial and error to see what the best ways are for them to get that creativity expressed! I'm lousy with clay and paint, but I draw a MEAN DOODLE, and I think that counts for something. I hope that everyone who already identifies as a writer or a poet, or whatever, would give songwriting a try, or slam poetry, or playwriting, because I feel that creative expression only makes you a more well rounded artist and human being. 



Thanks for taking the time to do the interview, Kels! Don't you guys LOVE HER?! Now's probably the perfect time to add Damsel Distressed to your Goodreads shelves, right? Right.

Images Du Futur - ATWN Interview with Montreal band Suuns

With their sophomore album, Images Du Futur, released earlier this month, All The Write Notes chatted with Max Henry and Liam O'Neill, one half of Montreal’s alternative psych-rock band Suuns, about reading on the road, their favorite books, and who they're listening to.

                           ***
Favorite book(s) and why?
Max: It's hard to pick a favourite... there are a few books that have stayed with me - Tropic of Cancer comes to mind; it's a proper indulgent fantasy of how most artists like to imagine themselves. I thought of Montreal more than once reading it. I'm big on Camus (The Plague). Heart of Darkness and Lolita both for proving how effortless beautiful language can be. Cancer Ward still jumps out at me every now and then, for the introducing me to Bacon's Four Idols... heavy shit.
Liam:  Call me a generation Y-er, and that's precisely why I love this book, but it's gotta be Infinite Jest.  It is truly the book of our generation - nothing else has touched me so deeply and dealt with problems that I deal with.  I've read a lot of books that I find interesting or stimulating, but nothing that I've had so close to me.  It's a friend, it's a manual, it's hopeful and terribly sad.  I think about that book every day.


What are the members of the band reading at the moment? 
Max: Liam's reading Karamazov. I'm between books, just finished Invitation to a Beheading.

Does what you read have an impact on your songwriting?
Liam:  Definitely, insofar as what you're reading introduces you to different modes of thinking and creating.  When I read David Mitchell's number9dream, it totally changed my perspective on John Lennon's songwriting and got me into that world.

What was the last book any of you couldn’t put down? 
Max: Lucky Jim. Hilarious.
Liam: Breakfast of Champions.  I read it when I was fifteen or sixteen, and it introduced me to a totally new way of thinking.  I remember reading it in the backseat of my parents' car, driving on a vacation somewhere, getting my mind blown, my introduction to critical thinking and philosophy.  Plus it's fucking hilarious and anyone who knows me knows I like a good laugh.

Kindle or hardcover? 
Max: Oy. Kobo - I read 'The Human Stain' on it. Just doesn't cut the grapes. It's kicking around here somewhere under a pile of books.

What other bands/artists do you enjoy?
Max: Valleys from Montreal. Marc got me hip to Wallace Stevens.

Have any of you ever re-read a book? 

Max: The Great Gatsby was totally lost on me in high school. Very glad I re-approached that. Outside of that it's the standard reader's anxiety - too much to read, too little time.

Favorite character from a book?
Max: The lost generation's women stick out to me. Bee? Bess? Bert? Was it Bert? Call me old fashioned.
Liam:  Probably Murray from Don Delilo's White Noise.  Wide eyed and weird. 

On the road, do you get much time to read? 
Max: That's where most of the reading goes down. Down time can easily be very unhealthy for your mind - bands'll sweep through TV series, all kinds of garbage. I guess that can work, but it makes me feel pretty lousy.

What was the inspiration behind the new album, "Images du Futur"?
Liam:  It's hard to talk about a literal inspiration behind the album, but in retrospect, it seems like we were probably inspired by now obsoleted, once futuristic technology and movements.

What is it like touring with fellow Montreal based band The Besnard Lakes?
Liam:  They are the sweetest.  Proper ladies and gentlemen, consummate professionals, and they like a good nip of scotch too.

What does success mean to the band? 

Max: Progress, growth - sincerity? So long as we keep it honest I think we'll be ok. Easier said than done.

Is there an author you would love to have a beer with? 
Max: Robert Pinsky? Fuck it, Leonard Cohen, jesus I'd love to meet that guy. He's around here somewhere.
Liam:  Probably George Saunders.  I think he used to be in a band!

Are there any books you would like to recommend to everyone? 
Max: Borges' Labyrinths! And Palvgrave's Golden Treasury. I carried that mofo around like a bible for while.
Liam:  Just read Infinite Jest. Just read it. I know two types of people: those who haven't finished IJ and don't like it, and those who have and say that it changed their lives. So there it is.

Thanks to Suuns for stopping by, and as a treat to our readers, we're giving away one copy of each of their full length albums. Now, if you aren't one of the lucky ones to win our giveaway, or you just can't wait, you can buy Suuns new album, Images Du Futur, over at iTunes,or from their labels official store. If you would like more info on Suuns, you can check them out on Twitter, Facebook, a recent review in the NYT, or better yet, check the tour dates below to see if they are playing at a venue near you.

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Suuns Tour Dates

03/23/13 Toronto, ON - Lee's Place
03/29/13 Joliette, QC - Cabaret Arena w/ We Are Wolves
03/30/13 Terrebonne, QC - Moulin Neuf w/ Plants and Animals
04/04/13 Montreal, QC - Sala Rossa
04/05/13 Quebec City, QC - Le Cercle
04/09/13 London, ON - Call The Office
04/10/13 Windsor, ON - Phog Lounge
04/11/13 Hamilton, ON - Casbah
04/12/13 Kingston, ON - The Grad Club
04/13/13 Ottawa , ON - Ritual
04/15/13 New York, NY - Mercury Lounge
04/16/13 Washington, DC - Black Cat
04/17/13 Pittsburgh, PA - 6119
04/18/13 Cleveland Heights, OH - Grog Shop w/ The Besnard Lakes
04/19/13 Grand Rapids, MI - The Pyramid Scheme w/ The Besnard Lakes
04/20/13 Chicago, IL - Schuba's w/ The Besnard Lakes
04/21/13 DeKalb, IL - Otto's Nightclub w/ The Besnard Lakes
04/22/13 Bloomington, IN - Bishop Bar w/ The Besnard Lakes
04/23/13 St. Louis, MO - Firebird w/ The Besnard Lakes
04/24/13 Fayetteville, AR - J.R.'s Lightbulb Co w/ The Besnard Lakes
04/25/13 Dallas, TX - Club DaDa w/ The Besnard Lakes & Black Mountain
04/26/13 Austin, TX - Austin Psych Fest
04/29/13 Rome, IT - Lanificio 159
04/30/13 Modena, IT - Mattatoio
05/02/13 Zagreb, HR - Culture Factory Club
05/03/13 Krems, AT - Donau Festival BUY TICKETS
05/04/13 Munich, DE - Atomic Cafe
05/05/13 Berlin, DE - Comet
05/06/13 Cologne, DE - Studio 672
05/07/13 Metz, FR - Les Trinitaires
05/08/13 Zurich, CH - Rote Fabrik
05/09/13 Paris, FR - Trabendo
05/10/13 Lille, FR - Le Grand Mix
05/11/13 Brussels, BE - La Nuit de Botanique
05/12/13 Amsterdam, NL - Melkweg
05/13/13 Brighton, UK - The Haunt
05/14/13 London, UK - XOYO
05/15/13 Leeds, UK - Brudenell Social Club
05/16/13 Dublin, IE - The Grand Social
05/17/13 Liverpool, UK - Kazimier
05/18/13 Bristol, UK - The Exchange
05/22/13 Victoria, BC - Lucky Bar
05/23/13 Vancouver, BC - Media Club
05/25/13 George, WA - Sasquatch Music Festival
05/26/13 Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge BUY TICKETS

ONE: An Interview with YA author, Leigh Ann Kopans

For our readers who aren't familiar with ONE can you give them the movie-trailer version of things.  A little something to bring them up to speed.

Well,  I guess my official blurb is movie-trailer ish! 

When having two powers makes you a Super and having none makes you a Normal, having only one makes you a sad half-superpowered freak.

It makes you a One.

Sixteen-year-old Merrin Grey would love to be able to fly – too bad all she can do is hover.

If she could just land an internship at the Biotech Hub, she might finally figure out how to fix herself. She busts her butt in AP Chem and salivates over the Hub’s research on the manifestation of superpowers, all in hopes of boosting her chances.

Then she meets Elias VanDyne, another One, and all her carefully crafted plans fly out the window. Literally. When the two of them touch, their Ones combine to make them fly, and when they’re not soaring over the Nebraska cornfields, they’re busy falling for each other.

Merrin's mad chemistry skills land her a spot on the Hub's internship short list, but as she gets closer to the life she always wanted, she discovers that the Hub’s purpose is more sinister than it has always seemed. Now it’s up to her to decide if it's more important to fly solo, or to save everything - and everyone - she loves.

I'm not giving anything away when I mention that Merrin plays the drums.  How did you go about deciding to make that part of who she is?  What drew you into the idea of her instrument of choice being the drums?

Well, I guess because Merrin is the kind of girl who is very angry and frustrated, but knows that having a temper tantrum won't get her anywhere. She needs an outlet, an acceptable way she can hit stuff and make lots of noise. That's playing the drums.

Merrin's also a petite girl, and I noticed when I was searching for drumming videos that the vast majority of drummer girls are also small-framed. I think it must be something about wanting to make yourself bigger than  you actually are, which is also a big part of Mer's character.

Check out Ilana: to me, she looks just like Merrin:

You also mention early on that Merrin is drawn to listening to a little heavy metal when she needs to vent.  In an age dominated by Taylor Swift and Hip-Hop, what led you to choose metal?

Well, music like Taylor's put angst and emotions into words. For people who want to voice their feelings in an emo way, that works, but Merrin just wants to drown them out. Metal is loud  and a little wild, so it works for that.

So, lets drag Merrin out of the future for a second.  I'm riding in her car.  She throws a CD into the stereo. Who am I going to be listening to?

My Chemical Romance, Danger Days. No hesitation.  She might even listen to it in 2139 - she's into vintage stuff. ;)

You also chose (or many would say your characters chose for you) to have Merrin's love interest be a musician as well.  I'm sensing a theme here?

Oh! I just needed a way for him to really prove to her that he understood her without telling her. Merrin doesn't trust words too much, but when Elias picks up a guitar and starts playing along with her, he's speaking her (emotional) language. Really, he doesn't like playing guitar too much. ;) 

BUT if you want to see what he looks like playing guitar?

We here at ATWN are also really interested in the writing process and how it lines up with people's love of music.  Do you listen to music while you write or are you a "shhhh, I'm writing over here" kind of person?

Oh, music was a HUGE part of writing ONE. Especially for mood. Kravitz's  "Fly Away" and Aerosmith's "Fly Away From Here" are pretty much anthems for Merrin at the beginning of the story. "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer is great for some of the midsection moments, and "Meteor Shower" by Owl City and "Wake Up" by Arcade Fire framed my writing of the end.

If we were to take a peek into your record collection, what would we find there?  What do you think people would be most surprised to find in that same collection?

Hmmm...well I pretty much only listen to Spotify. *Hides* I do love Dashboard Confessional (emo! emo!), Cake, MCR, any male acoustic guitar, a guy named Johnny Stimson who describes his music as "musical sunshine," (true!) and a healthy amount of Taylor, like any self-respecting YA author. 

What might surprise you is that Taylor is one of the few women in my music rotation - I tend to like listening to the male voice more. No clue why.

First concert?

Barenaked Ladies! In an ampitheater, with lots of pot in the air (not mine!)

ONE gets a ridiculously fantastic movie deal and you get to collaborate with the production of the soundtrack, hit me with ten songs that would have to be on it.

From your mouth to God's ears! LOL. Um, The five i mentioned up above,  "Up Up Up" by the Givers, "On Top of the World" by Imagine Dragons, "Never Say Never" by the Fray, "Us Against the World" by Coldplay, and "Belief (stripped)" by Gavin DeGraw.

Thanks Leigh Ann!

Thank YOU! I'm so very honored and excited to have been asked. You guys are incredible.

You can pre-order a copy of Leigh Ann's "ONE" by clicky-clickin' this little link right HERE


As a quick thank you to all of Leigh Ann's fans and for the fans of ATWN, leave a comment below and you'll be signed up to win a copy of all of the songs that Leigh Ann mentioned above. You can give her ONE soundtrack a listen below via Spotify.

Interview: Jennifer A. Nielsen

With author Jennifer A. Nielsen's second book in The Ascendance Trilogy, "The Runaway King",  hitting the shelves this Friday, I thought it would be a perfect time to chat with her about the role of music in her life, and how it has impacted her writing.

1. What is your favorite band/artist and why?
That’s so hard to answer! I’m listening to a lot of Mumford and Sons right now. I’m not super loyal to any one group though. I might like one song and play it nearly on a loop, but not connect to any of the band’s other songs.

2. If we were to peek at your iPod, what bands/artists would we see the most of?

I actually just did peek at it and decided my tastes are pretty diverse. I have four main playlists: soundtracks, musicals, writing music, and listening music. Of the latter, I’m all over the map for music choices. My top ten listens include Coldplay, Mumford and Sons, Eddie Vedder, U2, Snow Patrol, Simon and Garfunkel, and Linkin Park.

3.  Do you own any vinyl?

No, but I have great memories of huddling around a record player as a child and listening to my mom’s albums. As clean as the sound can be for music these days, nothing replaces the memories I associate with the needle on vinyl.

4.  Do you listen to music when you write?

I mentioned having a playlist just for writing. It’s pretty inconspicuous music, no lyrics, so it can just meld into the scenes as I work on them. T.J. Morgan is my current favorite artist to write to, but I also write to the soundtracks for Last of the Mohicans and Chronicles of Narnia. In my mind, when the new king is crowned in the end scene of The False Prince, music is playing from The Chronicles of Narnia.

5. What is your special connection to Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam? 

My husband actually introduced me to Eddie Vedder’s solo album for Into the Wild. I was immediately hooked on the music, but one song on that album became life changing. Guaranteed has a line in it that says, “I knew all the rules, but the rules did not know me, guaranteed.” At the time, I was working on a story idea but couldn’t quite pull it together. I felt the attitude of the song’s narrator was exactly the type of character my story needed. That story became THE FALSE PRINCE. Another song on that same album, Rise, had a big impact on the book’s sequel, THE RUNAWAY KING. Those who read the book and listen to the lyrics of that song should have no problem seeing the connection. Rise is actually my ringtone right now.

6.  Do your musical interests have a direct impact on your writing?

Very much so, I think. There are certain songs that hit me so strong I know they’re going to form a story one day (Run by Snow Patrol, for example), or that almost turn into movie trailers for me where I can close my eyes as I listen and see certain scenes from the book play out visually (Clocks by Coldplay). Music, in fact, probably has a stronger external influence on what enters my writing than anything else I might be exposed to.

7.  What did you listen to while you wrote the sequel to The False Prince, The Runaway King? 

The strongest musical influences for THE RUNAWAY KING probably came from Eddie Vedder’s Rise, What I’ve Done by Linkin Park, Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol, and Roll Away Your Stone by Mumford and Sons. For the latter, there is one verse in particular that stuck with me throughout the writing:

It seems that all my bridges have been burnt,

But you say that’s exactly how this grace thing works.

It’s not the long walk home that will change this heart,

But the welcome I receive with the restart.

8. Is there a concert you will never forget?

This is my horrifying confession – I have actually never been to a concert. (Long pause while your readers pick themselves up off the floor.) I have no excuse for it – it’s just something I’ve never done.

9.  Is there a band/artist you wish you could have seen?

Which makes this a perfect follow-up question. Someone recently told me about having been at an Eddie Vedder concert where he played some of his Into the Wild songs and they said it was an unreal experience. Maybe if he does another tour, I think his would be the place where I would love to repent for Question #8.

10. Have you ever found a song you just couldn’t stop listening to?

All the time! And if I love a song, I won’t quit listening until I’ve memorized the lyrics because then I can replay it in my head even when I can’t hear the music. That current most obsessive song for me is Carry On by Fun.

11. Do you like listening to mixes of various artists, or full albums?

For rock music, I rarely listen to a full album, and if I do, that is true love. But I almost always do full albums for soundtracks and new age stuff. But there are a few albums I really enjoy – for example, even though it’s been around for a while, I don’t think there’s a single song on U2’s Joshua Tree album that I don’t like, and several that are all-time favorite songs.

12. Is there a songwriter you wish you could write with?

Ooh, what a cool question! Yeah, in a perfect world, I would love to write something with Muse. Their stuff is so different from most of what’s out there, and there’s so much depth in their lyrics, I think even if they only let me sit in a corner and watch their process, it would be a fascinating experience.

13.  Are there any bands/artists that you would like to recommend to everyone? 

I think Grouplove has put out some interesting and unique songs recently. Their Colours is so different, it’s worth hearing just to see how it’s put together. I’ve also just discovered Agnes Obel and she’s quickly rising as a favorite singer when I want something more ethereal to listen to.

14.  Is there a band/artist today you think Sage, your MC in The Ascendance Trilogy, would enjoy? 

Hmmm. I think a modern day Sage would be a music guy. I don’t know about specific groups, but he likes to dance and I think he’d prefer music he can move to. Also, having created him, I’m going to endow him with an innate love for REM. Just because I can.

15. Do you have a favorite album cover?

I love the self-titled album cover from The Airborne Toxic Event (2009). It’s spare, beautiful, and tells a story in itself.

THE GIVEAWAY!
This week, Jennifer has graciously offered all of our readers a chance to win a SIGNED, I repeat, SIGNED hardcover copy of "The Runaway King", the sequel to one of my favorite reads of 2012 "The False Prince". If you aren't the lucky one to win, or just can't wait, "The Runaway King" hits store shelves this Friday and can be purchased at any local indie-book store, or through Amazon, or Barnes & Noble. If you want to connect with Jennifer about the Trilogy or her previous books, you can visit her on her website, Twitter, or on Facebook . 

Jay Spencer is a MG/YA writer, Visual Art teacher, music blogger, an extremely tall husband, and father to two amazing kids. If not at the rink or on the court with his young kids, he would gladly talk to you about any genre or decade of music, and anything Marvel or Star Wars.

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Now we know Jennifer chose Muse as someone she would love to collaborate with, what about you? Leave a comment below, we'd love to know.