Very Short Interviews, Part I - Daniel Markham (One Wolf)

I am starting a new segment, that unlike other segments on this blog, will actually be a recurring item. The idea is that I will conduct a (very) short email interview with various musicians of my choosing or of your suggestion. There are no rules here, but they will generally be longer than a "sec" but shorter than a "like forever."

For the very first installment, I had the brief distinguished honor of talking with Daniel Markham, brain extraordinaire behind One Wolf, a.k.a Un Lobo, not to be confused with Los Lobos, or any other lupine-related band. Quite recently, he put out an outstanding new CD you can check out here.

In the interest of not letting the intro be longer than the interview, let's get started.

wf: You just went on a tour to the west coast. Tell us something about how bad it smells when 26 guys ride in a van for 2 weeks. Or maybe something else about that trip that is more interesting than dude funk.

dm: it's funny. i packed clothes for every day of the tour just because i don't like smelling bad. but, i was the one being made fun of for being clean? that didn't make a lot of sense to me. i guess being dirty for two weeks is some kind of rite of passage for musicians. i don't get it.

there were so many things that happened that were interesting. but since this is a short interview, i'll keep it short. visiting the town where twin peaks was filmed was pretty surreal for me. i couldn't believe i was there, and then some people at the diner asked if i was related to peter fonda. i guess i did look pretty "easy rider" at the time.


wf: What are your current plans for One Wolf? and when I say current plans, I mean future plans, because obviously you are at your computer right now.

dm: i'm working on a small texas tour right now for july, then hopefully another in the fall with my favorite band of all time, sf59. then, i'll be moving to denton in august with charlie shafter and the gnomes. i'm writing a lot of songs lately, and i'm looking at next summer to record a new album. i'm just really looking forward to moving to a new community that seems so alive with music. i was super inspired by mount righteous. so hopefully it will be the right thing for us.


wf: Discuss 3 of your current musical influences in 2 words or less (feel free to cheat).

dm: queens of the stone age-BAD ASS!
sf59-so underrated
pj harvey-always exciting

wf: Am I forgetting to ask anything?

dm: what was your favorite series on 90's nickelodeon? PETE & PETE!


wf: Did you grow up hearing that using condiments could help prevent STDs?

dm: i grew up in rotan, so anything's possible. they do make some really strong mustard these days, though.


wf: Now you ask me a question (make it a good one).

dm: do you really hate it when people make grilled cheese sandwiches in your house without your permission?

wf: I live for that, and sadly it just doesn't happen enough.

DeVotchKa on Conan

In case you missed it:

Albums I still just can't help but like, Part I

• Red Headed Stranger - Willie Nelson.  You've all heard "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain," no doubt, but if you haven't listened to this entire album all the way through, then you are most definitely missing out.  If at all possible, I would recommend listening to this album on vinyl.  After all, that's how it was intended.
  

• ¡Viva Terlingua! - Jerry Jeff Walker.  All of Jerry Jeff's more recent work aside, this one really is a classic.  No matter how much the Texas country scene has bastardized this whole style of music, Jerry Jeff doing "Desperados" and "London Homesick Blues" is simply spot-on.  No, he didn't write either of those songs, but the ambiance of the recording is just so incredible.  Sure, he may have influenced some horrible Texas country folks down the line, but don't blame him, he was just having a good time.
  

Songs that still get me (if you know what I mean), Part I

• Fort Worth Blues - Steve Earle - I still remember hearing this song for the first time when he played the Townes Van Zandt tribute show on Austin City Limits.
  

• Star in My Heart - Billy Joe Shaver - A song he wrote for his son, who passed away shortly after. Now he dedicates the song to Eddy when he sings it.
  

Funny

So I just found a guy blogging about my hometown.  Kind of funny to read someone else's interpretation of what goes on in such a place.  I can imagine it is so foreign to almost anyone that would go through.  

It is also interesting how people are so inclined to ask questions like "Why do people live here?"   I don't know that many people who live in Gail ever ask that question, other than maybe the angsty high school kids, but there are so many value judgments inherent in a statement that would ask why people would live in the middle of nowhere as opposed to a much more important "somewhere."  Maybe I'm reading too much into it.  

Here's the link.

Visioneers

Just watched the trailer for the new Zach Galifianakis movie Visioneers.

It is really hard to tell what the movie is like, that is, whether it will be super funny, or more quirky, but I'm going to go ahead and set my sights high and say it looks amazing.  Mainly just because Zach Galifianakis is pretty much on top of his game right now.

His show at the Boulder Theater earlier this year was probably the funniest hour and half I've ever witnessed.  So funny in fact that I can't even remember any of the jokes. 

That's funny,

haha

We have found Providence

With all the gushing over the Old 97s I've really neglected my "Denver sound" folks, namely the new releases by DeVotchKa and Slim Cessna's Auto Club.  

Slim's new album Cipher was released last month, and while they played a few SXSW shows and one hometowner, they've been relatively quiet since.  I guess that is the reality of having a band where a number of folks live in different cities. 

Nonetheless, the new album has a great progression, although their slower songs seem to have grown darker on this album.  Overall, however, this album definitely delivers with some great new songs.  Given that this is the band that brought us "He, Roger Williams," they could get away with just about anything in my book, but they don't rely on any formulas on this record.

For any of you who have seen recent live shows, you'll already know "Children of the Lord," quite the quintessential tent revival rocker with a redux of a familiar Vacation Bible School song.  "Scac 101" brings some great contrast, with what one might deem a bit reminiscent of older Slim.  The thematic tune of "An Introduction to the Power of Braces" appears throughout the album, the significance of which must be interpreted by the listener I suppose.

On top of the well arranged songs, the album artwork, especially the photos by Gary Isaacs, really give the album a great visual presentation.  Isaacs has become somewhat of an icon in the photography of a number of Denver musicians, and the inside photo is a great example.

Next up we have the new album by DeVotchKa, A Mad and Faithful Telling, released on the Anti- label, their first LP released on a label.  Honestly I hate to try and describe the sound because I know I've been heavily biased by reading various reviews of DeVotchKa over the recent years, and thus, I don't know that I have much different to say.  Needless to say they still have a pretty good corner on the market of gypsy indie mariachi cabaret music.  However, speaking of Gary Isaacs, here's a great new press photo he did for DeVotchKa:

An important recommendation I would make is to purchase the ITUNES bonus track of "Undone," featuring the Tom Hagerman Quartet.  While the regular cut of "Undone" is a great listen, I prefer this extra track.  We had the opportunity to see Tom play an instrumental show in Boulder a few months back, and while a completely different experience from DeVotchKa, it was an amazing night of instrumentation with his extremely talented colleagues.  If that's your thing, don't forget to pick up a copy of Tom's The Breakfast Playground.   Other good listens off the new record are "Along the Way" and "A New World."  Still haven't really warmed up to "Transliterator," but maybe with time.

While I'm on the subject of Denver music, a couple of other items of note.  Around this time last year, Smooch Records announced that there was a documentary in the works about the Denver sound.  I've not heard any updates on this, but hope to see something out soon.  One can argue there is no specific "sound," but there is an interesting element to the fact that the city has produced such distinct and notable acts as 16 Horsepower, Slim Cessna's Auto Club, Munly Munly, DeVotchKa, Woven Hand, and the Denver Gentlemen to name a few (in no particular order).  

Speaking of Munly, the only news I've been able to find on him is that he is working on a double album on the fictional town of Lupercalia, although the most that has been heard of him lately has been his appearance on New Years Eve with his new band Munly & the Lupercalians.  However, word is that the Lee Lewis Harlots are no longer playing, for reasons that I have only heard in rumor form.  And I don't want to be one to go spreading rumors...

And finally, one more Denver-related release on the horizon is the new Woven Hand record Ten Stones, slated for an August release.  Hopefully that means they'll play a hometown show by that time, although they seem to have a more adoring fan base in Europe than here in the U.S.  

i can't get a word in

He does the theme from Endless Summer

Anti- Records has a free sampler up for Download on their blog.  It includes DeVotchKa, the Weakerthans, Billy Bragg, Man Man, and many more.  

Minor notes of interest (to me):

Old 97s played on Leno Thursday night.  No clip on youtube yet surprisingly, but the performance was a good one, at least in the sense that it was really good to hear Old 97s back at it playing new music.  Here's Rhett and Murry playing a song from the new album:

In other news, the Avett Brothers have just (finally) announced the release of a new EP, entitled The Gleam II.  It has been rumored on the message board for some time now, but they have just made it officially official.  Thank you.  Thank you. Thank you Gentlemen.  I can't wait.

And finally, for those of you with a twinge of indie hip hop blood, the new Atmosphere album When Life Gives You Lemons... has been impressive thus far.  Current favorite track is "You."  

Say what you'd like about it, or just repeat what the critics say if you prefer, but we saw Baby Mama last night, and I was pretty impressed, given that people were talking about its bad reviews while we were in line to get tickets.  As I was noted saying after the movie, "I don't even laugh that much in movies, but this one was pretty funny."  

The ending was a little ridiculous, but overall a funny movie with a great job by Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Greg Kinnear, Steve Martin, some guy that looks like Zach Braff, and various SNL cast members.  Will Forte has a great 1 minute appearance, or I guess, "cameo" as they say in the biz.  But then again I'm not in the biz so I wouldn't know.

You know the people that love you.