Pro Tip #23

Planning a trip to the record store soon? Go through your collection of CD's and (if you have any) vinyl to see if there's anything you can part with. Luna usually offers generous trade value for your old and unwanted music, but it's worth a shot to ask any non-corporate music retailer if they'd be able to make a deal with you. It could shave a couple dollars off of that new album you've been wanting to pick up but couldn't quite make the financial splurge for. 

The Butterfly Tour 10/8

Last Friday, after the obligatory trip to my favorite local brewer (Sunking) for a $5 growler fill, I headed home to walk my dog and change clothes. Shortly thereafter, I was en route to meet up with the boyfriend and head out to my first haunted house of the season.

We opted for Nightmare on Edgewood on Indy’s south side. At $15 a head, the haunt is easily worth the money. This is primarily so because of NOE’s touching policy… or lack thereof. Fingers combed my hair, hands were laid upon my shoulder, my pant legs were tugged at, mechanized cutting devices were thrusted at my limbs, and there was even once an effort to pull me from the bear hug grip I had on my escort. While the haunt utilizes some familiar old tricks, NOE’s first room of terror is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in a haunted house before. Let me just say- so as not to spoil the surprise- you are locked in a small room for what feels like an eternity. And you will NOT be standing still.

After Nightmare on Edgewood, I trucked north to Broad Ripple to purchase some Christmas presents from my friend Ashley Woodrum and enjoy a short visit with she and boyfriend John. Looking for an affordable local visual artist to buy your next birthday or Chirstmas present from? Look no further. Also, check out her Alice in Wonderland series, as featured on Heavy Gun Blog.

Space Owls Series - Ashley Woodrum

Next on The Tour was a brief stop at The Mousetrap to see Catch Curtis for the first time; I unfortunately missed them at Wuhnurth in September, so I made a point to catch their early set here in town. Be on the lookout for an upcoming Thursday night Catch Curtis gig at The Mousetrap with improv/dance/livetronica group Embryonic Fluid.

30 minutes later, I realized I was falling behind my own schedule (hey, sometimes you have to be flexible on The Butterfly Tour) and headed back into the village to check out electro mashup DJ Matt Allen’s new weekly event at Tru Nightclub- Blend.

I had one last stop planned for the night: the final installment of Cultural Cannibal’s weekly event at Hyde. My sources on the scene told me before I was able to get there that the party downtown at Hyde was dead, even past the stroke of midnight. Such was the case for the previous week's event,  as well. To understate, this was depressing news to me, as the one night in the series that I did attend was ridiculously packed and tons of fun. I guess you can't win them all.

So instead of relocating downtown, we stayed at Tru and got dirty with Matt Allen all night long- including an unlikely dubstep version of Owl City's "Fireflies"- a mocking summarization of Matt Allen's feelings about the electronic sub genre. He did throw in a few legitimate womp wobbles, though. And I appreciated that.

In summary

1.)    Go to Nightmare on Edgewood.

2.)    Buy art from Ashley Woodrum.

3.)    Go see Matt Allen (with special guest Steady B) on 10/15.

Local music knowledge trumps spelling skills

Last night I was preparing an event preview for The Pass' show in Indy this Friday. Without even realizing it, while typing the names of the supporting acts, I subconsciously keyed in "Jookbox" instead of "Jukebox" and thought to myself, "Wait. That doesn't quite look right..."

VS.

The seasons, they are a-changin'

Three weeks after Wuhnurth, I finally put my camping gear away yesterday. It’s bittersweet; refreshing to have my living room floor space back, yet sad to pack up all of my outdoor living gear (even if it is covered in filth and stained with the smell of campfire). For some people, Labor Day signifies the close of summer and beginning of fall. For me, boxing up my tent, cast iron skillet, and portable gas grill is the official expiration of summertime.

This festival season has been my best yet, unquestionably. I ended my two-year relationship with Bonnaroo, but this was inevitable. The mediocre lineup saturated with mainstream artists was an instant turn off (Kings of Leon? Really, Bonnaroo?!). After a sizeable amount of experience at smaller, local festivals I’ve also grown to despise Bonnaroo for its colossal size. It’s ironic that it took my virgin festival experience at Bonnaroo 2008 to make me realize that there’s a massive underground culture of people who think, act, dress, feel, and live just like me… and that I don’t have to travel to Tennessee every year and bear their farcical temperatures to enjoy being a part of that culture.

That said, I did attend two smaller festivals with a balance of grassroots bands and nationally touring acts. Summer Camp (in Chillicothe, IL over Memorial Day weekend) was my first time working in the field. S-Camp had their shit together and conducted media relations with the highest degree of professionalism, including daily press briefings in the morning and afternoon. Five stages, all 5-8 minutes within walking distance of each other, and a supreme lineup of talent could only set a reporter up for success. My coverage resulted in three full-day reviews, a full set review of the Heatbox show, an interview with Boombox, an interview/review with Kinetix, and an interview with Ana Sia.

I also covered the All Good Festival in West Virginia. It was the farthest distance I had ever traveled for a music festival, but the drive proved to be more than worth it. All Good trumps Summer Camp for its camp-with-your-car policy, freedom to bring in your own beer and alcohol, picturesque mountaintop setting, no overlapping sets, and the realest crowd of hippies I’ve ever had the pleasure of festivaling with.

Other festival-related highlights of my summer included Springfest (standout performance: GARGANTA), Mojostock, Wuhnurth, and Knollfest.

I also got to see Lady Gaga this summer, one of the most beautiful, detailed, well-constructed, and energizing shows I’ve ever seen in my life. She really is an artistical, musical genius.

Heavy Gun mobs around Broad Ripple

I've been working closely with Heavy Gun Blog co-founder J. Brookinz lately to develop an educational article divulging the details of the upcoming Broad Ripple Music Fest Beat Battle. The story has developed into something bigger than originally thought and it looks as though I'm now writing the cover story for NUVO that will publish three days before the Broad Ripple Music Fest. No sneak previews here, but I do have a special behind the scenes video from the photo shoot that took place last Sunday.

Special thanks to Jay-P Gold for catching the candid footage and uploading the video.

Click here to watch.

Tuesday is the new Saturday

I've been saying it for quite sometime now, that Tuesday is the new Saturday. I sweartogod it's the truth.

Last Tuesday September 28th, I started my night at The Slippery Noodle with blues harmonica legend Charlie Musselwhite. An excerpt from my review on NUVO.net:

Musselwhite’s harp style is unique and he impressed me with his dramatic crescendos, all the way down to a barely audible puff of air through his instrument. He threw his voice from a sing to a growl with zero effort in a matter of seconds. And while most of the music was upbeat and played at a comfortable speed, Musselwhite did express a certain fondness for more a more traditional sound. “Slow blues- gotta have it,” he said. “Gotta have some slow blues.”

After that, I headed to The Melody Inn for the weekly installment of their EDM night titled "Juxtapoze". Special guest drum and bass DJ Klute was the out-of-town headliner (I missed his set due to some technical difficulties as he began, my lack of patience, and a 7:30 start time for work the next morning), but I was really just there for the dubstep anyways. Altered Thurzdaze (IndyMojo.com and G9 Collective's bi-weekly dubstep event at The Mousetrap) resident DJ Kodama was set up in the back room when I arrived, busting out grimey tunage well past the scheduled close of his set. Win.

Bass face!

Butterfly_89000, That DJ Girl, and JK

The next morning on IndyMojo.com, I made this post to the Klute thread in the discussion forums:

I had an epiphany last night during Kodama's set. Allow me to put it into simile format:

EDM (specifically, dubstep) is to music, as chronic is to weed.

In other words...

All my life I've been content with what I knew in regards to music. I wasn't unhappy or displeased with what I was listening to. But once electronic music found its way into my life, it feels like now nothing else can ever compare. I still like and enjoy other types of music, but just a little less than electronica.

... just like smoking really good weed. Or having really good sex. The other stuff is still okay, but once you've had the best, nothing else can really compare.

T.Party launches local line of fashionable t-shirts

T.Party shirts are statement shirts, printed simply in just text, with the occasional small graphic- so that they are easy to fit into your wardrobe and into your life. They don’t demand a particular style or feel- just however your personal style dictates to dress it up or dress it down. Some of you are divas, DJ’s, designers, stylists, shopaholics, and showstoppers- and each of you has a different personality and lifestyle- T.Party makes it easy for you to show that.

As I stood at the bar, gazing to the elevated DJ booth while sipping on my Vanilla Kiss martini, I felt a genuine connection to the words being said about the shirt that I was wearing. Admittedly, I was inside of a swanky sushi bar (my maiden visit to Blu Martini, by the way) wearing holy jeans and flip flops- generally not giving a shit about others’ judgment of my style as I so often do. However, from the waist up, my outfit was all class. The foundational piece, of course, was my T.Party tee; a special-edition, early release from the EDM series which (T.Party founder and designer) Kaitlin Elyse and I have been collaborating on. The text (grey letters against a black shirt, designed by Herron print making student Adam Wollenberg) read, “Dubstep is my drug of choice,” referring to my personally favorite sub-genre of electronic music. The ultra-thin fabric unobtrusively clung to my body and the length stretched down past my belt line. A conservative, yet showy, V neck begged for an accessory; I opted for a long necklace of black beads wrapped around my neck three times. I finished with curls from my hot rollers (one of this girl’s best friends) and a small black clutch.

They don’t demand a particular style or feel- just however your personal style dictates to dress it up or dress it down.

“Yes!” I thought to myself as Kaitlin gave the heartfelt introduction to her line of fashionable tee’s before an army of models began to walk the runway. Any other time, my modern bohemian style would have been too casual for a posh spot like Blu Martini. But T.Party allowed me to incorporate a new versatile garment into my wardrobe that enhances my existing collection of clothing. The adaptive nature of the shirt facilitates accessories and layers to achieve a look appropriate for any outing, while still showing off a girl’s best feature- her individuality.

T.Party shirts work the other way, too. Additional women privileged enough to wear the same design to the launch paired the shirt with fitted black leggings, two-inch heels, big hair, and glamorous jewelry- looking sophisticated enough to party at any of the trendiest clubs in the city.

As Sally Singer, editor-in-chief of The New York Times Style Magazine, said Thursday morning on NPR (ironically, the day of T.Party’s official launch) about the contemporary female consumer- “She's shopping a curatorial way. She's shopping by the piece, not by the look.” In the radio interview, Singer continued to hypothesize that rather than buying an entire new wardrobe every season, “People are buying things that they want to wear because those things will change their look enough to make them feel connected to their time.” It’s become clear to me that T.Party has made it’s official debut in Indianapolis just in time to assist fashionistas across the city in making that connection.

For more information, photos from the launch party, and to find out how to get your own stylish t-shirt from Kaitlin Elyse, visit T.Party on facebook.

Read an exclusive two-part interview with T.Party on the Fashion Wrap Up blog here and here.

 Amy Beers, Kaitlin Elyse and A.J. Jones 

 

Free Art Wednesday

Art is a strange thing. It’s something that is dispensable to a lot of people yet for artists, creating is something we could never live without. I didn’t start creating things when I was younger because I had grandiose dreams of selling it to people. It’s just something inside of me that made me need to create things, for whatever reason or purpose. I don’t stop creating because people stop buying. In times good and in times bad, I’ve always given away art. - Nathan Monk

My friend and past collaborator Nathan Monk just recently commenced a weekly art give away. Basically, all he asks in exchange for you to own a piece of his creativity is... a piece of your own creativity. Simply comment on his blog with your title for the piece of art that he posts each week and wait to see whose he likes the most for the winner. 

Momma’s Got a Squeezebox (left)
Daddy Never Sleeps at Night (right)

Rebel Doll 'Zine

An excerpt from "Letter From Miss Jane" in Issue #1:

As I've gotten older, I've found myself becoming more and more of an analog girl. I've always shot with film, listened to records, and sometimes wish I could ditch the cell phone for a land-line again. I do enjoy the digital world every now and then, but lately feel that the technology that is supposed to be bringing us closer together as a community is making us drift further and further apart. Why call your friends when you can PM or text them? Why visit your friends to see how they're doing when you can leave them a message on their Facebook walls?

Don't get me wrong; I do my fair share of messages and tweeting, but I long for more porch sitting and grabbing a coffee. I think that digital has its place. I just don't want people to forget how to socialize and participate physically in their community.

- Miss Jane

From RebelDoll.com:

Rebel Doll is accepting Art, Photography, Prose, Poetry, Short Stories, How-to/DIY articles, Recipes, Band Reviews, Band Intervies, Show Reviews, Film Reviews, Comics, Games, etc. (if you are unsure about your piece send it in anyway).

Visit website for additional details, contact information, and specs to submit your art.