I bought a used Nikon D80 in the summer of 2010 and was instantly discouraged by my photos. It took a lot of reading, looking at others’ photos, adjusting my camera, buying new lenses (most of these are taken with a 35mm f/1.8), and messing around to finally get in a photography groove…
The Manichean are one of Houston’s bands on the rise. They first got onto my radar a few years ago, when I went and saw them at one of those hodgepodge showcases The Meridian was known for, and their brand of drama-rock was an instant success to me…
When I stumbled across post-emo rockers Adelaine a year or so ago, the band almost sounded too good to be true, honestly. I mean, c’mon; how could I not like a band that melds melodic-yet-heavy, very emo-influenced guitar rock…
The Dead Revolt have quickly evolved into my favorite Houston band. They take cues from so many of my all-time favorite bands — Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, Yes, and At The Drive-In, to name a few. And they do it all with just three extremely talented individuals…
I have seen The Wheel Workers three times in the past year. They are relatively neglected by the Houston music media, but hopefully I can begin to change that. There’s something about them that screams, “we should be on tour opening for The Decemberists”…
My first interview subjects are Kenny Hopkins and Steve Wells from the up-and-coming Houston indie/psychedelic rock band Featherface. Featherface are everything a young Houston indie-rock band should be…
The first time I stumbled across Athens/Asheville gang Reptar, I honestly had no idea what the hell was happening. I walked into their debut EP, Oblangle Fizz, Y’all, pretty much blind…
I’m just going to come right out and say it, folks: Omotai isn’t really a “band.” What they are, rather, is some sort of massive sonic beast birthed beneath the crust of the planet, way down where it’s dark and hot and inhuman…
It’s been a busy couple of years for Houston-dwelling post-emo rockers the last place you look. After lurking under the radar a while and releasing debut full-length The Lies We Tell Ourselves to mixed reviews, in 2009 they released a vastly different followup…
After having played together for about a year, Yello Echo have still managed to remain mostly unheard of, for reasons I can’t fathom. When I first saw them playing at an art exhibit opening a few weeks ago, I was quite literally staring…
Believe it or not, I can remember the first time I heard The Smoking Popes. I was in college, and one afternoon I ran into a friend who was DJing at the college radio station, a friend who happened to be completely freaking out, ecstatic over this awesome, incredible song he’d just heard…
The fourth in my ongoing series of Caroline Sessions interviews; this one features Runaway Sun and Tim Qualls, along with the standard free BBQ and beer. It’s sure to be a great show with these two…
The Caroline Sessions are doing some real good this weekend. Sunday (tomorrow) they’ll be hosting a Benefit for Japan at Caroline Collective, with funds going to the Red Cross. Plenty of bands and sponsors have volunteered their time, money, and effort…
For the second on-the-road Caroline Session, Melissa Savcic and File Under Jeff played last Sunday at the Spacetaker ARC. Despite the occasional interruption by a passing train, they both played solid sets…
I was never in marching band. It wasn’t that I hated the brass or snare or tuba, nothing like that — it’s just that I saw all those poor bastards practicing outside on the parking lot tarmac in the Texas afternoon heat, wearing those hideous, heavy woolen uniforms…
So, the Grammys are well and over, so I guess it’s about time to get the Official Space City Rock Top-Ten Lists of Amazingly Cool Things You Must See/Hear/Whatever (late, late, late, sure, but hey, we meant to do that, alright?). Read it, and obey…
Chris Becker is a recent addition to the Houston avant-garde music scene. He’s an electronic musician and a composer whose work ranges from improvised pieces for silent films to hour-long compositions for ballet and contemporary dance…
Thursday January 20, 2011 was not only my birthday but it was also the day Underoath started their Headlining winter Disambiguation tour. I had an interview with Keyboardist Chris Dudley at 6 but La June and I decided to arrive earlier. At that time it seemed like a good idea but after sitting outside in the freezing cold; it wasn’t a good idea after all.
Houston has always, always had awesome, amazing bands. Screw the naysayers; it’s the honest-to-God truth. Even in the lean times, even when 99.9% of this city thought “Houston music” was pretty much ZZ Top, Destiny’s Child, and nothing else…
In 2004, award-winning film maker Reggie “Bird” Oliver visited DJ Screw‘s grave with Screw’s mother a week before her death and promised her he’d do whatever he could to tell the world about her son’s accomplishments…
“Everything I do is guided by DJ Screw. 100% of it. I do exactly what he would have done.” I was talking to DJ Lil’ Randy of the Screwed Up Click from his small studio…
I’ll be honest: when I first heard about Roky Moon & BOLT (then just known as “BOLT,” all caps), I thought it sounded fun, but I seriously doubted it would last. It seemed like one of those one-off things a bunch of scenesters do when they get bored…
A few months back, Passion Pit stopped by our fair city and brought with them the relatively unknown BRAHMS. A wonderful show overall, but it was BRAHMS who served as the perfect foil for Passion Pit’s sugary sweet, love-stricken beats…
An hour didn’t seem so long to wait once we entered the Senses Fail tour bus. La June and I had arrived promptly at 3 o’clock, looking for someone to speak to about the interview we had set up at 4…
Of all the bands I’ve run across in the past year, few have made as huge an impression as Brooklynites Freelance Whales. I went into the band’s debut album, Weathervanes, totally blind, expecting throwaway Pitchfork-friendly pop…
On Friday, November 12th, at Diverseworks, the Catastrophic Theatre will debut the world premier of their adaptation of Pixies singer Black Francis‘ concept album Bluefinger, titled Bluefinger: the Fall and Rise of Herman Brood…
“The most important thing to know about Herman is that he was Dutch, and white. But he wanted to be American, and black.” That was among the first lines I heard as I sat in on rehearsals for the stage play Bluefinger: The Fall and Rise of Herman Brood…
With the release of their second album, Disconnect from Desire, School of Seven Bells has added a little bit of an edge to their delicate brand of dream-pop…
It’s funny, but the memory had gotten totally and completely buried, deep in the base of my brain. It wasn’t until I put Burn Berlin Burn, the 1997 double-EP opus from Berlin-bred, raw-as-hell electro-noise slam-punks Atari Teenage Riot on the player once again…
The first time I saw American Fangs live I was floored. They embodied everything I look for in music. They had the energy, the balls, aggression, and a little bit of stank…
The Cleveland-dwelling duo of Nicole Barrile and Sam Meister, better known as mr. Gnome, are honestly one of those bands that have to be witnessed live and in-person to truly be believed. Without seeing the pair onstage, both band members pounding away on their respective instruments…
News on the March are one of those bands that tends to leave me feeling tongue-tied and at a loss for adequate words to describe what they really, truly sound like. “They’re, um, kind of old-timey-sounding?…
Starting with the percolation of New York’s pan-disciplinary No Wave phenomenon in the late ’70s, a small but steadily-expanding space has been cleared out for female musicians in the tradition of rock guitar. Groups like the Bush Tetras, Ut, and the various permutations of James Chance’s bands…
When I first heard I’d be talking to Kyle Turley about his debut album, I thought to myself, “Remember what Billy Bob Thornton did to that Canadian DJ.” But Kyle Turley isn’t like that…
First a brief note to explain the existence of this interview. In summer 2008, I was assigned by another publication to do an interview with Amy Rigby and Wreckless Eric in advance of their show in Houston to promote their first album together. The interview was supposed to run…
The last time I saw The Lonely H, they were playing Rudyard’s on a weeknight, capping an entertaining-yet-oddball bill of local bands that sounded nothing like ’em and pretty much playing to a quarter-packed house at best…
First a brief note to explain the existence of this interview. In summer 2008, I was assigned by another publication to do an interview with Amy Rigby and Wreckless Eric in advance of their show…
Modern day visionaries, like the Rupert Murdochs and the Warren Buffetts, have exceptional antennas for business. However, few can boast that they’ve clothed a generation and, through music, forged a sociopolitical movement…
fter hearing She’s the Dutchess, He’s the Duke, last year’s debut album by Seattle-dwellers Jesse Lortz and Kimberly Morrison, aka The Dutchess & the Duke, I’ll admit I was a bit worried. Not for me, no, but for singer, songwriter, and guitarist Lortz…
Every once in a long while, I run across a band — generally, it seems, by accident — that totally and completely blows me away. They come seemingly out of nowhere, play like they’ve never done anything else in their lives…
