I wasn’t happy with the sound and video quality captured at Weatherground’s show back in March, so the band let me grab new footage while they played a gig at The Airliner last month. The video below includes those shots and the interview from the original post.
I was going to make it a lazy evening at home one night last week, but I figured I’d hop online to check out bands playing within walking distance of my apartment. Ten seconds into the first song heard on Weatherground’s MySpace page (a tune titled “Question”), and I knew I was going to see their show instead. Lead singer Jaewon Choe has the kind of voice you can listen to often – early Peter Murphy meets Kurt Cobain is a fair metaphor. He said he’s had people come up to him at shows and say “I didn’t expect an Asian guy to sound like that.” Choe grew up in Pasadena, and he said he usually doesn’t get an answer when he asks, with a smile, what they expected an Asian guy to sound like. While I spoke with him after the band’s set, a number of people stepped up to say how impressed they were with Weatherground’s sound. In addition to a great live show, the band’s current CD is exceptionally well produced. As I’ve heard studio albums of lesser quality, I was stunned to find out the band did it themselves. Below are video clips of Weatherground’s set and a short interview with Jaewon Choe.
ShoutNote launched one year ago this month. I’ve enjoyed trolling the underground to get the opinions of bands about how they’d change the indie music scene, whether they were from Los Angeles, New York or elsewhere. Though other projects have required more of my attention lately, I plan to continue posting to ShoutNote. Thank you to those who watched and rated my videos. Below is a montage of bands I saw and spoke with over the past year.
Free Blood played a set along with Yeasayer on April 25. As one of the notable groups from the Brooklyn music scene, the two-person act combines electronic dance grooves with dissonant noise and trippy techno pop. It’s an experience to be heard and a fun show to check out if they pass through your town. A few live clips in the video below.
Aaron David Gleason played an acoustic set at the Room 5 Lounge in February, and I had the pleasure of watching him perform with guitarist Dean Moore. Gleason is an artist with Adrenaline Music Group, and his recorded material is a blend of electronica, blues, pop, and an occasional backbeat of Latin rhythm. Even in his acoustic sets, Gleason steers the listener on unexpected turns, with minor chord progressions just when you think a song may develop into a bluesy anthem. Recommended is a tune called Mastermind, which can be found on iTunes along with Gleason’s self-titled EP.
There’s two live clips in the video below, one of Gleason and the second featuring Moore, who also sports some decent chops on vocals. Both provided the most eccentric and more comical answers I’ve received from bands so far. Check it out: