Suburban Home Records Mix Tape Volume 5, “Someone’s Gonna Die” marks a new approach to our Mix Tape series. Partly because it costs less money and partly because we found so many songs we had to put on this mix (putting the running time at over 100 minutes), Mix Tape Volume 5 is available as a free download and not a physical compact disc. While we will miss the physical, tangible qualities of the past volumes, I won’t personally miss having to burn thousands of CDrs and hand-packing every one of them. Let me know your thoughts on this approach.
“Someone’s Gonna Die” was inspired by I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch In the House’s new album, “The Sounds of Dying”. Our own Andy Thomas helped me put together the track listing for this mix. The first two songs are from the new album which will be up for pre-order on Thursday, July 15th. The 2nd of Sonofabitch’s songs is a cover of Two Cow Garage’s “Postcard and Apologies” and their version is absolutely fantastic. We figured it only fitting to put Two Cow’s version on right after and while keeping with this mindset, we put a Townes Van Zandt cover by Michael Dean Damron (of ICLASOBITH) followed by the original song. The rest of the mix finds a number of Suburban Home tracks from the likes of Austin Lucas (new demo), Tim Barry, The Takers, Armchair Martian, Jr Juggernaut, Jon Snodgrass, Drag the River, and Look Mexico alongside some of our favorite tracks by new and old bands. We took submissions for this mix by bands who thought their music would work on this volume of our Mix Tape and while we had only planned on putting 1 or 2 songs from these submissions, we put like 6 or 7 songs. We apologize to those of you who submitted tracks that were not selected, but we hope you understand that it was impossible to put all the submissions on. Additionally, I picked a few of my favorite newer bands like The Evening Rig, Arliss Nancy, and John Moreland and the Black Gold Band. We put a number of oldies but goodies from the likes of Lucky Old Sun (Ben Nichols old band), Slobberbone, the Replacements, and more. I think that this could be my favorite Mix Tape yet. I haven’t stopped listening to it since we finished it.
Please download this mix. If you run a blog, please post it on there. If you are in a band on this Mix, please post the mix for download on your Facebook/Twitter/Myspace pages. After downloading the zipped folder, send it out to everyone you know. If our yousendit link expires, just email me or post a comment and I will replace the link with a new one. We really hope you enjoy this mix and if you find some new bands that have caught your ear, please consider buying a record from them or their label and make sure you mark their tour dates on your calendar.
If you could take anything home from our previous mix tapes, it would be great if you downloaded the mix and shared it with at least 4 other friends. I would love to see this mix reach people all over the world. As I always say, music is meant to be shared.
Download hi-resolution cover art and back art if you want to print your own covers in the event you want to burn this onto CDs (it would have to be 2 Audio CDs or 1 Mp3 CD since there is over 100 minutes of audio). Artwork done incredibly by Brandon Proff.
It’s no lie, the Vans Warped Tour is the longest running traveling festival of all time. The punk rock summer camp has been going strong for 15 years now and once again has shown no signs of quitting any time soon. I am sure it is safe to say that Kevin Lyman, the Warped Tour founder, has no intention what so ever of shutting down his vision that has brought bands and fans together yearly all over North America.
The festival for myself has been more or less a ritual over the past 15 years. I have gone with my friends to Warped Tour almost every summer since I was a little 18 year old punk kid without a care in the world. Some of my best memories come from spending hours in intense heat watching bands I love with others who share the same interest. I have written about many of those memories last year so I am not going to repeat myself but I will say that “Eiffel Tower” and “FAFGAD” will always bring a smile to my face when one of my friends happens to bring them up.
Now I will admit that last year I announced my retirement to the Warped Tour. At the time I was serious and felt it right to stop going while I was still having a good time. I stood by my decision and was ok with it. After going to the Warped Tour for 14 years I decided I saw all the bands I could ever want to see and just did not have it in my anymore to continue going.
Well I lied. Sort of…
I just came out of retirement early and it was all because of a little Californian band called Face To Face. The second I found out that they reunited and were playing the 2010 Warped Tour I had no choice but to go again. Can you blame me?
So yes, I am a liar like Henry Rollins. Oh well. I might as well talk about my day at the 15th annual Vans Warped Tour in Cleveland. I will warn you that there may be some shocking material in this post featuring yours truly. So without further adieu…my review.
“I’m getting too old for this sh*t” – Me upon entering the gates of the Tower City Amphitheater.
It was ridiculously hot on Thursday as I got my ticket scanned for entry to the festival. When I say hot I am talking 95 degrees with a heat index of at least 100. The sun was a bastard and just scorched all who got in it’s way. I knew to dress accordingly and to bathe in sunscreen so I had no worries about getting sun burnt but I was pretty damn miserable the moment I set foot into the grounds. I laughed at myself knowing that I might have made a bad choice by coming out of retirement but decided what the hell and chose to make the best of it.
Before I even got started roaming around I wanted to say hello to my cousin who was at the tour as well but not as an attendee. He was working EMT in one of the first aid tents near the entrance. When I greeted him there was a young kid in the tent already with a war wound like none other. Half crying the young music fan was holding a towel to his head and was just covered in blood.
My cousin smiled at me giving indication that he was in for a long day. He called for an ambulance as the kid needed stitches due to a 2 inch gash in his forehead. Apparently the kid was watching metalcore act Confide and fell in the pit – headbutting the ground with his skull. I felt band for the little guy mostly because I knew that not only was his day cut short but I was also pretty sure his parents would never allow him band to the Warped Tour again.
Every Time I Die was already opening the day by the time I arrived to the main stage. I was bummed out to see such a killer act play the early slot but that is one thing Warped has always been known for, no set schedules. In fact one of the reason I missed some of their set was because I had to partake in my little ritual of going to the inflatable schedule and writing down what bands I wanted to see. Closing with “We’rewolf”, the band thanked Cleveland for coming early to see them and was positive that they had set the level for the day. I could not agree more.
I took one, count ’em, one lap around the festival grounds. Why? It was too freaking hot. I just wanted to see if there were any interesting merch booths and maybe take in a band I had not heard of before. I had intentions of spending more time exploring but found myself stopping at the Kia / Kevin Says Stage to see Left Alone.
As they rifled through their set playing songs like “Sad Story” and “I Hate Emo” the kids in the crowd showed their support and early on energy by dancing around as well as forming a circle pit that spun around the soundboard. Lead singer Elvis Cortez enjoyed the insanity but did call out one long haired kid who clearly was moshing like an a-hole. Elvis Cortez was also the only original band member on the stage. What was up with that?
I shook my head in disbelief as I walked past the AP stage and saw apparently a popular Mike Posner on stage swooning hundreds of little girls with his R&B soul music. All I could think of was what in the hell this guy was doing at a punk fest? I did not even give him a moment of my time and headed to the main stage where I would remain for the next few hours.
Before staking ground under the giant shade tent I detoured to the Skullcandy stage where a band called AM Taxi was playing to a very small crowd. The band, who features members of Luck Boys Confusion, put on a good rock show and impressed me with their sound. I will be checking them out more in the near future.
Alkaline Trio took to the main stage under the shade tent that seemingly served no purpose. Even if the sun was blocked it was still 100 degrees under that giant tent with no airflow at all. Even if I was a sweaty mess I still enjoyed AK3’s set including “Cringe”, “Armageddon”, “Dine, Dine My Darling”, “This Addiction”, and also “97”. There was little movement on stage by the band during their set but overall they put on a good show.
New Jersey metal act The Dillinger Escape Plan were without a doubt the most energetic group I’ve witnessed at the Warped Tour for a while now. Lead singer Greg Puciato was all over the stage causing fans to go insane and at one point hopped on top of some stacked amps and leaped without a care. A few songs after, guitarist Jeff Tuttle, who joined singing duties repeated the feat and leap off another stack of amps. It was an insane performance and one of the highlights of my day.
I had many the option to check out other acts while the bands on the main stage while their sets were being broken down and new ones were set up but I was finding myself overheating. I consumed more water than I thought my body could handle so it was nothing to do with hydration. I was just finding myself exhausted to the point where I just was not caring anymore. It was a scary thought as I used to go to Warped Tours with intentions of just pounding beer after beer but in reality I am getting up there in age so I was not completely shocked.
The whole reason I came out of Warped Tour retirement, also known as Face To Face, finally took to the stage to a much smaller crowd than I had anticipated. Trever Keith and company sounded absolutely amazing and played the radio friendly “Disconnected” as well as “Walk The Walk”, and one of my favorites “I’m Trying”. The band announced they were finishing up a new album and even played a cut off of it.
In the middle of their set Trever Keith called out to the huge group of young kids just sitting down under the amphitheater seeking shade who were clearly ignoring his band. He shouted at them “I just want you to know there was music before 2005. You should go ahead and Google it.” The true punk rock fans applauded in approval while the kids – just sat there clueless. It was depressing to see such an influential punk rock band have such a small crowd. Not letting it affect them they played their hearts out to the older Warped Tour crowd.
A few more people seemed to enter the main stage area before the Bouncing Souls were to take the stage but still it was nothing in comparison to previous years performances from bands like NOFX and Bad Religion as well as the kiddie pop punk act Paramore and (cough, cough) 3OH!3. It just seemed as if the people who paid the $40+ for a ticket were more interested in the younger acts playing the smaller stages. Honestly when I thought about it, things were running as designed (bands playing for fans) but I just was hoping for a little more respect for the bands that made the Warped Tour what it is today… The main stage just did not seem to be the focal point of the day.
The East Coast punkers took to the stage with Dillinger Escape Plan’s Jeff Tuttle who ran all over the stage getting the crowd riled up. Greg Attonito took things a step further and jumped down from the stage and started singing songs to the fans at a more personable level from the barricade. Countless kids crowd surfed their way towards Greg Attonito and each time one came close to him he would hold his hand out and pull them closer.
A few songs into their set they brought out UK act The Exposed to the stage with them to play along. Seeing members of other bands hit the stage with them through their just screamed how punk rock they really are. The band sounded great and clearly was happy to be playing to all their fans on summer day. Hearing “The Something Special”, “Lean On Shena”, as well as a handful of other Souls’ songs put a giant smile on my face and at that moment I forgot about the sweltering heat and sang along enjoying every moment. Ending their set with “True Believer” I could not be happier with what I just saw. Long live the Souls.
It was about 5 o’clock and there were could other bands I wanted to check out before Andrew WK was to hit the main stage. I sat there and contemplated which stage I should check out and if a lap around the grounds was in order. Sum 41 was to play as well as All American Rejects and Polar Bear Club in that 2 hour span so I had plenty of options but chose to do something completely different.
I threw in the towel.
That’s right folks, I gave up. As happy I was at the end of the Souls’ set my body was pleading with me to get the hell out of dodge and find some air conditioning. I sat there for at least 10 minutes trying to convince myself that leaving was a good idea. I knew I was going to miss some of these bands and most of all would be missing puke rocker Andrew WK, someone I have admired for years.
I finally grabbed my gear and headed for the exit. As much as I wanted to see Andrew WK, I knew those 2 hours until showtime were going to kill me. It just made sense to head out and hope the puke rocker comes back to Cleveland another day. My few friends who were there were not even bothered by the fact of me bailing, some of them followed my lead.
I do not think I will be returning to the Warped Tour ever again. This is my letter of resignation. It is not because I have issues with the way the festival is running, it’s more or less issues with myself. Feeling like I’ve been caught on fire for an entire day is just not my idea of fun. The kids, on the other hand, love it and I hope they continue to do so for another 15 years.
If by some chance next year has an amazing line up that can not be missed then maybe, just maybe, I will succumb. Until then I am done. I just do not have it in me anymore to do a day long festival on asphalt. I’m still all for festivals and hope to hit Bonnaroo again but as far as the Warped Tour goes, I am out. Fifteen years is good enough for me.
This years line-up was a little weak for me personally because I just had not heard of any of the bands on the roster or had no interest. Again, that is just my opinion because I saw a whole lot of other music fans in their glory. I looked at them and remember the times when I was younger and was just overwhelmed. As for myself I only cared about eight bands total and had no intentions of exploring for more music.
So yeah, this is a half assed review since I bailed and decided to get pizza and go record shopping. Well, that is kind of punk rock if you think about it too right?
So am I getting too old for this sh*t? Not really. Mentally I am with everyone else, physically on the other hand is a different story and I know when my limits have been met. Face it, the Warped Tour is for the kids. I was there once…
You didn’t think I actually forgot about Those Darlins now did you? I admit it has been quite some time since I talked about the band I was pretty much obsessed over in 2009. After all I only saw them four times live and probably posted way too much about them but whatever…I like to share what I love.
Those Darlins have not really been around these skirts of town in a while. Earlier in the year they played a folk festival down in Southern Ohio but I was unable to make it there. Sadly Nikki Darlin broke her left forearm in two places while there forcing the band to cancel their tour. If you want the full story of what happened click HERE.
Honestly I am not sure they have even been to Cleveland yet this year.
Well that is all about to change as Those Darlins have set a date for a Cleveland show. So mark your calenders on September 21st and head on over to the Beachland Tavern to see one of my favorite acts do their thing.
Opening for them is rock act Turbo Fruits hailing from Tennessee, home of the Darlins too. It’s going to be a great night. Cowboy boots optional.
(as taken from Urban Dictionary):
v. To take elements of two or more pre-existing pieces of music and combine them to make a new song. n. A song comprised of elements of two or more pre-existing pieces of music.
2. I’m in the middle of mashing-up songs by Tom Jones and Michael Jackson. (verb usage)
1. I’ll play my mash-up of Tom Jones and Michael Jackson at the club tomorrow night. (noun usage)
Max Tannone might not a name you now until you find out that he is the man behind the mash-up that is called Jaydioheadamongst other music blending projects. Years ago my pal Kevin shared with me a track called “Wrong Prayer”, a mash-up of Jay-Z and Radiohead. This was around the time that Dangermouse‘s The Grey Album was getting some attention and being a fan of both Jay-Z and even more so Radiohead I was just impressed with what I heard. Years later that track was released on Jaydiohead, a free downloadable mash-up album made available by Max Tannone.
Recently I had the opportunity to speak with the music manipulator. He was more than kind to answer a few questions for me about mashing music. Enjoy!
BHP: Your name might be unknown to some but it’s safe to say what you have done is talked about by many. Can you quickly introduce yourself?
MT: Sure, well my name is Max Tannone. I’m from New York City and I make music and remixes. I guess this is called a producer, although my definition of a producer is someone who works with other musicians in a studio setting developing a project…perhaps that makes me more of a beat-maker or a remix artist than a traditional producer.
I use the term “mash up” myself a lot in regards to what you do but I know most people prefer to call this form sound manipulation something else. What do you prefer it to be called?
It doesn’t matter to me. People shun the term “mash up” because of the negative connotations it carries. The term has transformed into a signification of a musical gimmick, mainly due to the availability of inexpensive computer software allowing people to experiment with music. I embrace this though. I love the fact that anyone can create a mashup, a remix, an original track, whatever – with little equipment or prior knowledge. I don’t necessarily enjoy everything that’s created, but the fact that it can be done is vital. So, that being said, you can it a mashup, a remix, whatever is easy for you.
To someone who is not familiar with mashing, how would you explain it to them?
In general sound editing is manipulating or combining different sounds together. I only have experience doing this in the digital realm, and have never physically cut and spliced tape like the originators of remix culture – but the principles remain. Its easier to picture visually. Imagine creating a collage, with the different pictures that contribute to the overall image representing different pieces or loops of sound. Pictures can be layered, altered, etc. Imagine having an image of the Mona Lisa and applying 40 consecutive Photoshop filters to it. You probably wouldn’t even recognize it at the end. This is an extreme example, but you get the idea.
How did you get into “mashing” music? Was it something you recently started or have you been toying with it for a while now?
I learned how to mix instrumentals and acapellas (which is just matching their tempos and starting them on the “1”…very easy) several years ago. From here I got heavily into making my own beats, learning how to sample and adding my own elements. At the time the producer group The Neptunes had been producing every R&B and hip-hop song and I was fascinated. It was the first time I began to think about how the music was actually created, rather than just listening to it. After a few years of just doing beats, I got back into the mash-up thing, but wanted to add my own elements as well. The first track I did was “Wrong Prayer” from Jaydiohead and made it into a full out project, just to see what would happen.
Who did you first “mash” and why?
Way back in the day I would just experiment. I had hundreds of acapellas and instrumentals and would just mix random ones together. I remember being really excited the first time I got something on tempo that sounded good. Soon after you realize that this is what DJs do, live, every night. I wanted to go beyond a basic track A vs. track B type thing. The first mash-ups aren’t anything special… Mash-Up 1 , Mash-Up 2 , if you want to hear them. They are perfect examples of something a decent DJ would do live all night. So I tried to expand from this.
How do you go about finding the right songs to mix up? I can not imagine that is an easy task.
For me it starts with a concept. Than I gather as many songs as I can from each artist or genre, and just start listening. I make notes on what I think would sound good together, and just test it out. When I find something I like, I try to make it a complete song. How I choose depends on the vibe of the tracks, their respective sounds, tempos, instrumentation, etc.
How long does it generally take to disassemble songs and recreate them to your liking?
Anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks to do one track.
Have you experienced any legal issues yet?
I got a cease and desist letter from Minty Fresh Records. They said I had to stop using the name “Minty Fresh Beats”, so now I just go by my regular name. Maybe that’s a good thing because I got a lot flack for that name, haha.
Obviously you can not make a profit from this so you allow your work to be downloaded for free on various websites via P2P sharing. Which album has been downloaded the most?
Probably the original Jaydiohead album – but I don’t know for sure. Everything has been re-uploaded by countless people on many different sharing sites. Not to mention single tracks that have been downloaded via blogs and my soundcloud page. Its impossible to know. The Jaydiohead website has over a million hits but you really cant correlate that to downloads. It could be more or less.
Jaydiohead is genius to my ears. I adore the project and can not help but to think about the ever popular DJ/Produce Dangermouse and his project called The Grey Album. Did he provide any influence to you by doing what he did years ago or did you pave your own path?
Thanks I’m glad you like it. The Grey Album is great, and was just a stepping stone for Dangermouse. The work he’s done since then is amazing – definitely one of my favorite producers. That being said, I never really thought about the Grey Album when I was making Jaydiohead. Not to take anything away from it, I was just concentrated on making something sound cohesive and interesting – just like any piece of music.
So how did you come up with the idea of mixing Radiohead with Jay-Z? Seems so far fetched yet so perfect one you hear it.
I heard “I Might Be Wrong” by Radiohead and thought it would be a nice hip-hop beat. I made a few minor adjustments and it was ready to go. I am very familiar with Jay-Z’s catalog, so he was a natural choice for me. I wasn’t put off by the number of Jay-Z remix albums that already exist. That was one of the reasons I did it, maybe I could do something that would stand out.
Mos-Dub is your most recent work and I think it is brilliant to do what you have done by combining Mos-Def with reggae music many may have never heard of before. How did you come up with this idea?
[I] recently became heavily into dub reggae music and again, thought I could sample it. Like Jay-Z, Mos is one of my favorite MCs and the idea of working with him (obviously not in person) was exciting. Dub can be very political and socially conscious, and Mos Def’s lyrics often represent this too, so they came together nicely. There are a few other MCs that I’d like to do projects with…
Have you heard from Mos Def yet in regards to this? What about Jay Z or any other major artists?
Haven’t heard from Mos Def. Jay-Z wrote about Jaydiohead on his Twitter account which was pretty cool. The Beastie Boys were supportive of Doublecheck Your Head, and posted 4 of that project’s 7 tracks on their website. One thing I want to say about the Beastie Boys is that they have been supporters of remix culture from very early on. They uploaded a bunch of their acapellas on their website a long time ago, before the mash-up and remix culture got to the fevered pitch its at now…so props to them.
That is awesome to hear that about the Beastie Boys! They are indeed one of the biggest supporters of remix culture. How did you feel when you found out their posted your remixes on their website?
I felt honored. Doublecheck Your Head wouldn’t have happened without Adam H (Adrock.) He liked Jaydiohead and contacted me about doing a similar remix with their Check Your Head album. I jumped at the chance.
Seems as if you prefer to tackle on NYC MC’s. Is this something intentional?
I’m most familiar with their work, and they are some of my favorite artists. I grew up listening to them, so these projects are tributes in a way.
Do you make it to a lot of shows in NYC or are you mainly a club kind of guy?
I’m still developing my DJ sets and “live show” per se. But as far as a concert-goer, I see stuff pretty often. The best DJ set I’ve seen in recent memory was Rusko at Webster Hall.
How about one that someone else created? Do you have any favorite mash up artists?
DJ Swindle has done some cool stuff. He did an album with Nas and Al Green that I enjoyed. I’m into kind of conceptual projects, or at least ones where every song isn’t 20 songs blended together. I appreciate that from a technical point of view, but its often musically uninteresting for me.
You started a DJ and moved to more of a producer, right? Have you produced many bands/artists you would like to mention?
Yes, although I want to get more involved with DJing. I would like to do some of this live. To be honest, my production experience outside of these projects is really limited. I haven’t been able to work with an artist or group from start to finish on an original project. I hope that’s on the horizon.
You are quite personable, more so than most artists out there. How important is it to you to be friendly to your fans on Twitter and Facebook?
It’s weird to think of people as fans. I don’t like to. I see myself like anyone else, just experimenting with music and putting it out there. I’m honored that other people are into it. Interacting with people is a great way to share ideas and get feedback. If people ever have questions or want to get into doing this stuff I try to help them.
Have you ever considered going your own way and putting out original material?
Yeah. I have a bunch of original beats, sampled beats, and more electronic dancey stuff online at my soundcloud page. I’m most comfortable with hip-hop, and would like to work with an MC on an album from start to finish. I keep coming back to this idea of a concept album where each track is part of a story or something, I don’t know why I’m into it. It could be really corny, I don’t know.
What’s next for you? Any new mashes you can hint on?
I’m working on some stuff now, I don’t want to say anything because I’m not sure how it will turn out yet. Still experimenting…I just want to keep going.
