April 2011 (PDF) - Antigravity Magazine

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ANTI-NEWS DREAMS OF THE ’90S (& PING PONG) ARE ALIVE IN KAIA WILSON BY OSA ATOE Remember queer-core? Remember overtly feminist DIY punk bands who screamed their message from the stage, empowering a generation of women and queers? You do? Well that means you’re old and that you probably already know who Kaia Wilson is. She was in not one, but two seminal all-dyke bands, Team Dresch and the Butchies and has also produced several solo records, mostly released on her old label, Mr. Lady Records, which put out records by queer and girl bands up until 2004. Kaia has toured through New Orleans several times and we welcome her back once again to the Crescent City! ANTIGRAVITY: When’s the first time you played a show in New Orleans? Kaia Wilson: In 1994! It was with Team Dresch on our first big national tour. According to my memory, these rad kids put on a show for us at a church. And I remember all the mossy trees and it being really humid. The show was rad! On this tour, you’re playing with Jenny Hoyston of Erase Errata. How’d you end up teaming up with her? Jenny and I lived together for a couple years here in PDX, and we’ve known each other forever. My old band the Butchies toured with Erase Errata and her other band California Lightening. We just like singing songs together, really. We like harmonies. We’re also in a ‘70s cover band together called Feelin’ Alright... Sweet light FM soft sounds! What’s the queer DIY scene like in Portland and how has it changed since the ‘90s, when Team Dresch was a band? Yikes! I have to admit to being a bit of a hermit. I know there’s tons of incredible art and music happening and that Portland is a thriving place for sure, but I barely leave my house except to play ping pong or sing karaoke these days! So it would be hard to compare to when Team Dresch was a band. I can say the general feeling I get, though, is that in the early and mid-‘90s there was this sorta feverish political freak culture thing happening that was radical and I haven’t felt anything quite like it since. Which other musicians have you been collaborating with over the last few years? I have been collaborating with Amy Ray of Indigo Girls as her lead guitarist in her rock band. We just talked about Jenny Hoyston. Team Dresch has reunited here and there. We went to Brazil last year and it was amazing. My cover bands, Feelin’ Alright and my Sinead O’Connor cover band, have brought me to play with Hannah Blilie, Katy Davidson, Rachel Blumberg and Marisa Anderson-- all phenomenal musicians. And, um, I did some work with Justin Bieber but that’s kinda top secret. Why did Team Dresch start playing reunion shows and why is it important to all of you to keep playing together? Because we still love the music we made together, and people still want to hear it and I feel that our queer pride message is still just as important and valuable as it was back then. Honestly, it’s so hard for homos still, especially rural homos... How were the Butchies reunion shows you played last year? Oh, they were so much fun! I’m totally into reunions! Great to play with Alison and Mel again. Melissa York is also the drummer for Amy Ray, so we’ve continued to play and tour together still. In the past, you’ve worked on record labels such as Chainsaw and Mr. Lady that highlighted queer DIY bands. Why’d you stop? My music was released on Chainsaw and Candyass Records, but I never worked for or at those labels. But with Mr. Lady... You know, as rad as it was to be half of that label and to champion queer punk bands BACK TO THE BEACH: HANGOUT FEST BRINGS BIG NAMES Last May the small beachfront town of Gulf Shores, Alabama – a short 3.5-hour drive from New Orleans – saw an influx of music lovers for the first Hangout Beach, Music & Arts Festival. Despite being its inaugural year, the fest was able to draw such big names as Trey Anastasio, Girl Talk and The Roots. Attendance was estimated at nearly 40,000, which is quit an achievement considering the timing of the fest. Though the lineup was initially announced in February 2010, the festival was slated to take place only weeks after BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil well malfunctioned, spilling millions of gallons of crude into the gulf and igniting a firestorm of controversy and a scramble to protect the delicate ecosystem of the region. Festival organizers handled the issue with grace, donating a portion of proceeds from ticket sales to oil spill relief. And despite some nagging weather issues on the last day, the weekend went off without a hitch. So much so that the festival organizers were able to secure a five-year deal with the city of Gulf Shores to continue producing the country’s only beachfront festival of this magnitude. This year’s lineup has blown last year’s out of the water (pardon the pun). With headliners like The Black Keys, My Morning Jacket, Paul Simon, Foo Fighters and Widespread Panic, the festival is primed to compete with the likes of Bonnaroo and Austin City Limits for attendees. Last year’s main draw was to be The Flaming Lips, but the band had to cancel at the last minute due to the illness of a band member, so this year they make good on their promise and headline Saturday night. This year’s lineup is a genre-hopping medley of underground darlings, hot new acts, regional favorites (including New Orleans’ own Honey Island Swamp Band, Galactic and Trombone Shorty) and internationally renowned acts. Another hometown favorite makes an appearance as well. Abita Beer is an official beverage sponsor, along with Georgia microbrewery Sweetwater, so the on-site beer options are a step above most fests. Weekend passes are $174 with VIP packages starting at $525. The festival is expected to sell out, so there is currently no plan to offer daily tickets (follow us on Twitter @ antigravitymag and we’ll let you know if daily tickets become available). There is no camping on the beach, but campgrounds are accessible nearby in addition to the laundry list of condos, hotels and beach houses for rent. The festival website is a good jumpingoff place to find accommodations and information on the shuttles that will run to and from the site daily. So if Jazzfest doesn’t blow your skirt up and you feel too old to do the camping thing at Bonnaroo (or maybe you’d just like a nice weekend at the beach with some great tunes), Hangout Fest may be a great fit for you. —Erin Hall To see the full lineup and more information about Hangout Fest, visit hangoutmusicfest.com. and artists, I am not really geared towards business in the way necessary to enjoy success and fulfillment of being a small business owner. I am really more about doing and creating and if there’s not a hands-on, creative thing dominating my endeavors, it doesn’t hold my attention for too long. Any new solo recordings in the making? Yes!!! I actually have probably four albums worth of stuff, but I’m just trying to make one really, really solid record and working on finding the right label and folks to help me release it. I’m hoping to get it out in 2011 or early 2012. Oh no, 2012!!!! Did you really compete at table tennis in the Gay Olympics in Germany last year? I totally did, not only am I totally gay in my sexual identity, but I’m also totally gay in my athletic identity! What sport is gayer than ping pong? It was so much fun! I won a gold medal in women’s doubles and a bronze in a team event. I mostly won a lot of pride though, like a bucket full of gay jock pride. Kaia Wilson is playing in New Orleans on Friday, May 6th at an as-yetto-be-determined venue with support from local bands Teen Times and Firebrand. Check myspace.com/nomorefictionshows or noladiy.org for details. 4
ANTI-NEWS RECORD STORE DAY 2011 SEES TONS OF EXCLUSIVE RELEASES HIT LOCAL SHOPS Spring time is upon us and by the time you read this, it will probably be over. Such is life in New Orleans; we get about three weeks of perfect weather before the humidity sets in, the bugs come out and we all start our annual six month sweat-fest that we call life. Aside from all that, Spring time also means we, the New Orleans music junkies out there, get our yearly fix. By this of course I am talking about National Record Store Day, a day when only independent stores get to stock limited runs of LPs, CDs, 12”s, 10”s, 7”s, T-Shirts and all types of other swag from bands that we know and love. This year’s Record Store Day falls on Saturday, April 16th and it is the fourth day of its kind, excluding the mini Record Store Day that fell just before the holidays last December. Conceived four years ago by a gentleman named Chris Brown (not the asshole R&B singer) and put into motion by a group of hardworking music aficionados, the day is meant to celebrate “the unique culture surrounding over 700 independently owned record stores in the USA, and hundreds of similar stores internationally.” Over the past four years, since the day’s inception in April of 2008, National Record Store Day has grown tremendously, with more stores participating every year and more artists releasing music exclusive to this day. This year’s event is no exception, as the amount of releases and stores participating have grown yet again. This year, no fewer than six independently owned record stores in New Orleans will participate, including the Mushroom located Uptown on Broadway, Skully’z Recordz on Bourbon, Jim Russell’s Records on Magazine, Peaches Records on North Peters, the Louisiana Music Factory on Decatur and Odyssey Records on Canal St. The best way to figure out what each store will be stocking is to simply call them, but be forewarned, nothing can be held aside and nothing can be sold before April 16. That said, this year boasts an incredible array of releases, so start saving up and get there early, because if this year is anything like last year (and it will be bigger, I promise), many of the limited pressings will be gone within minutes. So, without further ado, let us get into some of the items that will be made available for this special day. We will start with some of the many 7” releases to look forward to; Snapper Music will be releasing “Wait For My Love” by the 13 th Floor Elevators, ROIR will have “Pay to Cum” by Bad Brains, the Cults will get “Abducted/ Go Outside” released by INTO/ Columbia, Fela Kuti’s “Monday Morning in Lagos Parts 1 & 2” will be put out by Junketboy/ RED, Vice Records will release Off!’s “Live at Generation Records,” Raphael Saadiq will see “Radio/ Can’t Jig Anymore” released by Columbia and “Foggy Notion” by the Velvet Underground will be put out by Sundazed Records. And that is just the tip of the needle. In addition to these releases, I am going to highlight a few more that have caught my eye and that I am anticipating. The Black Angels will have two releases, a 10” white vinyl called Phosgene Nightmare by Blue Horizon and a 12” by Light in the Attic called Another Nice Pair. Boris should, hopefully, still release one of their two upcoming full-length albums, Attention Please, on Sargent House, even though the late April release of the two albums, the other being Heavy Rocks, has been pushed back to late May as a result of the tragedy in Japan. Daedelus will be releasing a 12” called Tailor Made on Ninja Tune in an extremely limited pressing of only 150 copies. The biggest of the releases, some might argue, will come from Warner Brothers and the Flaming Lips and it will be called Heady Nuggs: The First Five Warner Bros. Records 1992-2002. Gucci Mane and Waka Flocka Flame will each have awesome (!) exclusive T-Shirts coming out, Gucci’s being a picture of his freshly tattooed face and Waka’s will read “Go Flock Yourself.” Prurient, via Hydra Head Records, will release Many Jewels Will Surround the Crown, Panda Bear will release his new album, Tomboy, on his own imprint Paw Tracks with a T-Shirt included, Oval and Liturgy will share a split on Thrill Jockey and Sonic Above: Record Store Day releases by Sonic Youth, 13th Floor Elevators, the Black Angels Youth will release a live colored LP entitled Whore’s Moaning: Oz ’93 Tour Edition. Aside from the releases mentioned above, there are literally dozens upon dozens more coming out on Record Store Day as well. Last year, Josh Homme (of Queens of the Stone Age) was the Record Store Day Ambassador; this time around we have another heavyweight representing the day officially as Ambassador and while he might be aging and hard to understand at times, this man will certainly eat your soul if you do not attend; yes, I am talking about Mr. Ozzy Osbourne. So listen to the man when he points his finger at you and says, “Be there,” because he is right; you should be there-- if not to support your favorite local music shop (which you should do anyway), then at least to get your grubby mitts on some limited and collectible music that these artists and labels have made just for you. -Dan Mitchell 5
Page 3: STAFF Publisher/Editor in Chief: Le
Page 8 and 9: COLUMN HELLO NURSE! BY NICHOLE BRIN
Page 10 and 11: THEATRE COLUMN NOTES FROM THE SPLAS
Page 12 and 13: COLUMN SLINGSHOTS, ANYONE? BY DEREK
Page 15 and 16: MUSIC BECAUSE WE SAID SO: LIVE PICK
Page 17 and 18: MUSIC BLOCKHEADS UNITE! FOR COMMUNI
Page 19 and 20: MUSIC can. Antigravity covers many
Page 21 and 22: MUSIC 21
Page 23 and 24: MUSIC JAZZ FEST MIXES IT UP: RECOMM
Page 25: MUSIC may be living under a rock, b
Page 28 and 29: REVIEWS Your enjoyment of Starting
Page 30 and 31: EVENTS N.O. VENUES 12 Bar, 608 Fult
Page 33 and 34: EVENTS THURSDAY 4/21 (Cont...) Howl
Page 35 and 36: EVENTS Carrollton Station: Standup
Page 37 and 38: COMICS 37
Page 39: PHOTOS 39

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