some dark holler

IMMA LET YOU FINISH

November 6, 2009 · Leave a Comment

ema kanye

lobot halloween 09

Being Kanye for Halloween felt amazing and very powerful.  The costume came together at the last minute and before that I was thinking of being Ronnie Spector cuz my friend was going as crazy Phil, but that would have meant wearing a dress and heels and I think I would have felt very uncomfortable.  Suit jacket and microphone felt great.  We went to the SFMOMA party on 10.30 and ended up at Lobot on actual Halloween.  I don’t mean to generalize, but I felt like there was definitely a racial gap as to who recognized the Kanye signifiers. I mean, I know the costume wasn’t perfect and I looked kind of New Wave-y, but the sunglasses alone should have given it away.  For example, at MOMA I got a thumbs up from across the room from a table of black people and then at Lobot (a West Oakland gallery/warehouse space) only one or two people got it, even after I told them who I was.  Which is unfortunate cuz by then I had gotten pretty good at making “Imma let you finish…” jokes on the fly.  BUT at Lobot I did run into a Beyonce and a curly blonde girl who I made pose for a photo-op as Taylor Swift (results above).

A lot of people thought I was Tom Petty, I guess cuz of the heartbreak patch and OK, BECAUSE I AM TALL WHITE AND BLONDE.  (But I am determined not to let those details hold me back!)

DSC02501

Seve Sinatra and L. Spector

I went with my friend Seve who was Frank Sinatra, and Leif, who was a crazy Phil Spector.  I thought we had a slightly incongruous group costume that was kind of pulled together by us all being musical icons from different eras who were all probably misogynist, ego-driven assholes.  It was only at the very end of the night that I realized that oops!  We were accidentally the TRAVELING WILBURYS, the 80s supergroup featuring Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, George Harrison and Jeff Lynne.  Seve, with his dapper suit, could easily have been a Roy sans shades and Leif, with his fuzzed out trial-era Spector hair, was actually a ringer for Dylan.  NOOOOO!!!  HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!? 

Although, I must say that the phrase Traveling Wilburys, and all its connotations, is basically the BEST PUNCHLINE EVER, so as a group costume it was actually pretty sweet.

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TOUR PART 2: NYC

October 30, 2009 · Leave a Comment

kentavesm

kent ave in brooklyn, where we stayed and played

So this last trip to NYC was the first time that the city really made sense to me. I’m a country mouse at heart, and when I tell the folks at home that I’m living in California they repeat the word back to me as if I had just said that I was living on MARS. But if I had said New York City they would probably think perhaps I should be committed. Why on earth would you want to live there?!? It’s big and dirty and they’ll slit your throat for a nickel! They would probably think I was some sort of pervert. And while I never quite believed all that, I also never understood how people could actually live there. It did seem so expensive and scary and closed-in and in a word, hard.

But this time I began to understand why people say it is the only city in the world. It kind of is.

my first

 

DSC02341sm

first world

Despite that fact, the whole time I was there I did not see a single homeless person, which I found pretty shocking. However, I did go to a sort of homeless-themed fashion show, where the models wore sandals and shirts made out of plastic bags and other recycled materials. Here is a pic of a girl wearing a skirt made out of an Ikea bag. It was my first fashion show, and the whole thing initially struck me as absurd and surreal, like a satire of a hip fashion show instead of an actual hip fashion show. I definitely was not sure how to take it. Especially since I had came from a week of band practice in downtown LA, where the homeless problem is huge and very real, and people often wear plastic bags on their feet out of necessity, not style. So I had a couple moments of looking around and wondering “uh, this is fucked up right? am I the only one that thinks this is really fucked up?”

real deal (?)

But after I let it sink in a bit, I could kind of appreciate the post-collapse/world-village vibe as celebrating resourcefulness and promoting the reappropriation of the world’s trash. I mean, maybe we all should be wearing plastic bags on our feet instead of buying new shoes every year. It’s got to be more sustainable than leather and fur and neoprene and whatever else people usually put on the runways.
Also, this was the first time I recognized fashion as an interesting art form with little to no conscience. Not necessarily this show, but most of it is so unabashed, like; hey we wanna look at really skinny beautiful people and we don’t care who or what we rip off to get our point across! Which is kind of cool in a way. Honesty is usually thrilling. I mean, it’s probably more complex than that, but I get most of my clothes once a year at the Sioux Empire Mall JC Penneys after-Christmas sale. (Thanks Mom!) 

 

shows

 

social junk rocks out at DBA

social junk rocks out at DBA

For our first show in NYC we played at the opening of the maze at Death By Audio, which was rad because the bill was rad but I have to admit I did get a little frustrated by trying to get around during a show because it was literally a maze. And space or time are not really dimensions that I travel well in. The bill was packed and great, with Skeletons, Dan Friel, Knyfe Hyts and Mincemeat or Tenspeed. But the band I actually got to watch the most was Social Junk, which for this show was 2 cute boys from Philly who both wore thick glasses and holy Tshirts and looked kind of like identical twins.  Their set was sludgy, percussive and I’ll just go ahead and say it:  TRIBAL.

The next night at the Cake Shop was a super sweet bill that was like power-lady time, us and Sarah Lipstate (Noveller) and Megan (US Girls) and Real Rags, who was Ezra’s old Oberlin friend Stefan Tcherepnin and his friend whose name now escapes me because I am also bad with names (space, time, words… how do I get by in this world???) And speaking of fashion, this show had the potential to be super awkward cuz not only do Sarah and I play the same kind of guitar (Jaguar), but me and Megan sometimes favor the same kind of 3rd-grade-boy bowl haircut (check out this sweet video of her playing at the hemlock).  But that night hers was dark and mine was shaggy so it was fine. (Can you tell when I’m kidding? boys and haircuts and stuff? If you think this is bad you should read the Andy Warhol Diaries)

For our last show we played at West Nile in Brooklyn and I think it was partially because it was our last show, but I really let loose and had a great time, felt really free and I think we played well. So here are some post-show pictures of me after I got my groove back (and my whiskey on!) I would like to thank the cute sweet drunk boy who insisted that he take these pics right after I played. As he said, “this one’s for you!”

 

ema west nile peace

emawestnilewestnile smile

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At that show we played with WISH who I missed because it was so hot I kept feeling like I was gonna throw up, so I went outside to get some air.  Talk Normal also played right before us and they were really great, I think we were all like, “where have you been all my life?!?” Fast friends and they were fucking great, I just had a huge grin on my face the whole time they played, so excited. Here is a video:

Mirror Mirror was scheduled to close the show, who are some of my favorite people. Unfortunately 3 songs into their set their drummer turned into a werewolf, smashed the drums and ran out of the building. He ripped off his shirt, howled at the moon and took off down the street. For reals. You can ask them.

 



And I’ll leave you with this cute pic of Ezra at the MOMA, in an exhibit where attendees were invited to record their height and name on the wall with black sharpie. Jesus wow, the MOMA is,,, damn. So great. My absolute favorite was an exhibit on 70’s Dutch Conceptualists like Jan Dibbets and Bas Jan Ander. Do you know? How he rode his bike into a canal and disappeared at sea? And while I slack-jawed through the white rooms a lightbulb went off in my head as it occurred to me that a GOWNS performance often felt more like falling off a roof than it did like Austin City Limits.  Those thoughts exhilarated me, and planted a seed that set the stage perfectly as we headed off to Baltimore…


ezmoma

 

 

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October 30, 2009 · 4 Comments

emamirror

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YOU’RE WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO PERFORM WITH

October 19, 2009 · Leave a Comment

the great one-eyed goombah

the great one-eyed goombah

Oh man so I was just in Portland and had the obscenely coincidental pleasure of running into Oblivia and Ju Suk Reet Meate of SMEGMA in a damn KARAOKE BAR.  I went to go see them later in the week and Ju Suk  showed me this video he had of GOWNS playing in portland in 2005 at a breakfast show in a living room.  The fact that he had kept and remembered the footage and then made it into a little piece made me feel so special, it was like a little unexpected gift of something very precious, like someone finding something from your past that you thought was lost forever.  I still remember the show, it was from the first GOWNS tour with SEJAYNO, first tour ever really for me, and it’s amazing how it keeps coming back to me now considering probably only 100 people saw it (maybe I’m exaggerating a little but not much!)  So here I am with really long dirty hair.  From a simpler time…

 

 

Other PDX highlights include going to see the RAINCOATS and fucking weeping through the entire set.  Anna DeSilva looked just a little bit like my grandmother and to see  these 50+ women onstage with such poise, grace and chops just opened my floodgates.  It’s kind of the same thing that happens when I watch civil rights documentaries.  Nothing makes me cry like witnessing pure dignity.   I unfortunately didn’t get any video or pics from that night, but I had heard it was one of their best US shows, so if anyone’s got a link to footage please hook me up.

 

RAINCOATS pic from bfi.org

 

Also while up North I got some fucking rad modded guitar pedals and spent one crazy night in a My Little Pony-themed basement with 5 grey cats crawling all over me like a living blanket.  (see above pic of the great one-eyed goombah!)  The rest of the time was basically spent eating and drinking and I came close to developing an embarrassingly expensive espresso/kombucha/pinot noir habit that seems like it could add about $300/month to the city’s famously cheap living expenses.  So it’s good to be back in lean mean Oakland.  But lastly in the spirit of the NW: here is a short little demo of me and my little sister practicing my new grunge song on piano.  We’re just working out the vocal parts so it’s a little slow and out of tune but hey that’s why people love demos right?  I’ll just leave it up here until she finds it and insists I take it down.  Ah, siblings…

 

 

The GOWNS tour diary is coming soon.  I’ve been working on it not only gathering links and photos and such but also trying to tease out the narrative, the moral of the story (or perhaps that sounds too ominous!  all in good fun)


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<3 johnny

September 25, 2009 · 1 Comment

ok, tour posts coming soon, “kind heart” hobo-sign roadmap coming soon, but until then please just enjoy these videos of the brilliance, recalcitrance and intoxication of john frusciante:

 

 

 

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GOWNS TOUR DATES

August 31, 2009 · Leave a Comment

smellscreening

LIVE AT THE SMELL screening

California trio GOWNS is making a rare east coast appearance in conjunction with a pair of new audio and video releases.  We’ll be playing an exciting mix of art events and more traditional venues:

 

9.5 BITE YOUR TONGUE, TORONTO

9.6 LAB SYNTHESE, MONTREAL

9.10 DEATH BY AUDIO, BROOKLYN

9.11 CAKE SHOP, NYC

9.12 PARISLONDONWESTNILE, BROOKLYN

9.16 HEXAGON SPACE, BALTIMORE

 

These will be the first New York appearances by Gowns since the critically lauded Cardboard Records showcase at CMJ 2007.

Village Voice

Pop Tarts Suck Toasted

 

 

 

ABOUT THE SHOWS:

 

9.5 We are stoked to play a Bite Your Tongue festival by the people who put on EXTERMINATION NIGHT, a clandestine experimental art and music series that takes place in abandoned and condemned buildings around Toronto, where musicians and artists perform amidst rubble and ruins.  We are sharing the bill with Final Fantasy and others, although the exact location will remain a secret until the day before…

 

9.6 Our good friends at Constellation Records set us up with HRSTA and Blue Hawaii at this radical new audio/visual community space.

 

9.10 Our first NY show will be the opening night of the MAZE at Death by Audio, a full-gallery installation by Sam Hillmer (Zs) and artist Laura Paris.   Should be hot in every sense of the word.  Also performing that night will be Social Junk, Skeletons, Knyfe Hyts, Dan Friel and Mincemeat or Tenspeed.

 

9.11 If you would like to see as well as hear us, we recommend this show at the Cake Shop, with Noveller and U.S. Girls, or

 

9.12 at Shinkoyo Record’s ParisLondonWestNile space, with Mirror Mirror, Talk Normal and Zeldjko.

 

9.16 We will be keeping real at Baltimore’s Hexagon Space with local electroacoustic shamans Sejayno and filmmaker Nicky Smith.

 

 

NEW RELEASES:

 

LIVE AT THE SMELL is a new film documenting 10 bands involved with the legendary downtown Los Angeles venue THE SMELL, including appearances from Gowns, HEALTH, No Age, Mae Shi, and Ponytail. From Cold Hands Video, the makers of the acclaimed Portland documentary People Who Do Noise:

 

“Featuring over 2 hours of live bands from Los Angeles and beyond, “Live at The Smell” captures the live energy that pumps through LA’s legendary independent DIY all-ages venue. Recorded in high-quality audio and video over a month period in Fall 2008, the DVD gives you the feeling of being immersed in one of the many gigs presented there each week for over 10 years. The music is clean and powerful, the footage is raw and wild, and the energy is LIVE.”

 

LIVE AT THE SMELL

 

 

SOUTHERN LATITUDES SERIES is a limited-edition collection of single-session recordings (similar to John Peel’s BBC broadcasts), made at the famous CRASS studios in London.  The series has included avant-rock voyagers as Magik Markers, Sir Richard Bishop, and Grails. The GOWNS session was recorded one day in November 2007 by our hero Harvey Birrell (who has engineered punk classics from Babes in Toyland to No Age…) and is finally seeing the light of day.

 

“Latitudes began as a simple concept, to put the bands we work with in touch with our studio and to release the resulting material. Swiftly we agreed it would be a great idea to offer our favourite bands – many of them passing through London as part ot their tour – the opportunity to spend some time recording something spontaneous, collaborative, fun or experimental in our studio. Whatever the band wants to achieve in a few days essentially – something truly transient, imaginative and unique. Something we hoped to capture in the aesthetic of the resulting record – something with boundless creative scope and freedom – specific to a certain time and space – something with latitude.”

 

SOUTHERN LATITUDES

+DOG+ from GOWNS latitudes session:

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BOOTYBOOTYBOOTYDROP

August 25, 2009 · 1 Comment

ok, lots of stuff going on.

GOWNS featured on LIVE AT THE SMELL DVD. release party THURSDAY 8.27 in LA!
GOWNS “latitudes” session imminently released by Southern Records.
GOWNS going to CANADA and the EAST COAST:

9.5 TORONTO – extermination night
9.6 MONTREAL
9.10 BROOKLYN – death by audio
9.11 MANHATTAN – cake shop
9.12 BROOKLYN – west nile.

also, we work on the new record, late at night over in a lovely bright corner of dirrty west oakland we have lovingly dubbed “EAST NILE”. aren’t those oberlin boys everywhere? i think i finally might have found my favorite though…

here is my new favorite song. it’s by ester dean. no video really, just sounds but i can’t find it anywhere but youtube. i heard it the other day on KMEL while i was driving and the whole fucking set they played was so good that i got goosebumps. it culminated in this and it’s all i could remember to google later: “drop it low girl”. some of the info says chris brown is on it but i hope not cuz fuck him after what he did to rihanna, right?

OK more details on the above:

LIVE AT THE SMELL.

i haven’t seen this yet and of course i’m nervous to cuz in most cases ezra and i would both rather get a root canal than watch live footage of ourselves. also, because of timing, we’re the only band that has no audience! we had to record it one afternoon before we played a show because micheal and bobb couldn’t make it that night. so as bobb says in his filmmaker’s blurb:

“The Gowns were the only ones to not have had an audience, but it was either this way or not at all, due to scheduling constraints. So the awkward 1980s music video vibe of their segment was the lesser of two evils. Still, I don’t notice anything lacking, and I hope you can tell them how good they are, cos they are great people and great artists.”

aww… thanks bobb! actually, despite my girlie-girl aw-shucksing i am of course flattered to be included in this DVD. all the bands on here really are important and awesome. and micheal and bobb are awesome for making it work, making sure we made it on here, and choosing to use a fucking 13minute song of ours in their cut. EPIC!

but just to warn you i do have a really strange haircut. 80s skater hair, like this boy i had a crush on in middle school. still looking for a picture. closest i found was DOLPH from the simpsons.  in some ways it really doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, unless you believe like i do that the following EMF video is the basically the height of fashion right now…

 

CONFIRM OR DENY? (i’ll let you know after we play baltimore.)

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GARDEN OF MEMORY

June 20, 2009 · Leave a Comment

So every solstice there is an awesome huge new music concert at the Chapel of the Chimes columbarium in Oakland. What’s a columbarium, you ask? It’s where they keep dead people! Well this one is a totally gorgeous labyrinthian building with huge halls and narrow passages and lots of stained glass.

Julia Morgans Chapel of the Chimes

Julia Morgan's Chapel of the Chimes

 

Every year they have a new music concert that is totally packed and awesome. It’s one of those things where people bring their kids to see micro-tonal string quartets and old ladies get to fuss with max patches. There are always about 200 guys in Hawaiian shirts and you think, oh man not another old guy in a Hawaiian shirt! until you realize it’s Terry Riley. Very Bay Area!

This year I have the pleasure of performing with my favorite group, the Cornelius Cardew Choir. This is a fun-loving and sincere little group that meets in Berkeley and is inspired by the works of graphic composer Cornelius Cardew. Here is one of his scores:

Image from Treatise by Cornelius Cardew

Image from "Treatise" by Cornelius Cardew

Our group is not doing that piece though, thank goodness.  We’re actually focusing on several piece by Pauline Oliveros, including one I love very much called “Heart Chant”.  That’s one where the audience can join in.  Here is the score:

 

****The Heart Chant (2001) by Pauline Oliveros © 2001 Deep Listening Publications; performed by the Cornelius Cardew Choir and willing audience members

This is the text of the original score:
Stand together in a circle with feet about shoulder width apart and knees a little
soft.

Warm up your hands by rubbing palms together until you feel the heat.

Place your right hand over your own heart.  Place your left hand on the back
of your left hand partner (back of the heart).

After a few natural breaths sing/chant/intone “AH” on any pitch that will
resonate your heart.  Sense the energy of your own heart and that of your
partner over the course of several breaths.

Can you imagine that the heart energies are joining together for healing
yourself and others?

Can you imagine heart energies traveling out into the universe as a healing
for all victims and toward the end of violence?

When The Heart Chant ends, gradually release your palms and bring them
forward parallel in front of you.  Sense the energy between the palms as if there
were a sphere or ball that can be moved around.  Then bring your palms to
your own center, fold them over and store the energy.

We invite you to join our performance of The Heart Chant. Once we have begun singing, you are welcome to find a place in our circle and intone the syllable “ah” in length-of-breath notes that resonate your heart and those of the person to your left in the circle. (“Choreography” developed by Joe Zitt and the Cornelius Cardew Choir.)

We invite you to sing with us:

Ask a choir member (wearing jewel tone and black) for guidance OR use these directions:

1.    ENTERING THE CIRCLE:
        a.    Warm your hands by rubbing them together
        b.    stand just outside the circle at a spot of your choice
        c.    Place your right hand over your heart and place your left hand on top of
                 the left hand of a person in the circle
        d.    That person will open the circle and place her/his left hand on your back
                 behind your heart
        e.    Use the syllable “Ah” and sing for as long as you wish, breathing deeply between your notes and
              standing with relaxed knees
      (At the end of the piece everyone will fall silent. If that happens while you
 are in the circle, please follow the gentle chi-gathering movements)

3.    LEAVING THE CIRCLE:
        a.    Fall silent
        b.    Lift your left hand from your neighbor’s back and rotate to your left until
                 you are out of the circle. The singers on either side will close the gap.

——————————–

Maybe it sounds a little hippie, but this piece actually creates some of the most beautiful music I have ever heard.  There are beautiful chords and microtones that emerge.  It’s really a magical experience and if you are in Oakland tomorrow you should come by and experience it.

GOM_V1

 

 


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DEMOLITION DERBY

June 11, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Brianna at the Demolition Derby Brianna at the Demolition Derby

So this weekend I had the pleasure of going to the Colusa County Fair.  My friend Scott is from Colusa, which is a town of about 6000 people outside of Sacramento, and he still lives there.  The city has a mostly agricultural base, so the County Fair is obviously a big deal.  The Demolition Derby takes place on the closing day, and Scott says it is the town’s most exciting event of the year.  And jesus christ it was pretty dang magical.  The whole night seemed technicolor.  Scott said it was the dust in the air.  Maybe it was all the exhaust I inhaled.  Even afterwards as we wandered down the midway, all the lights from the rides looked especially beautiful and vivid.  

Here is a video of the start of the Derby that I think is really nice.  For me it’s all about the ferris wheel in the background.

 

So sometime during the ride up I had started talking about The Zipper.  All my ex-boyfriends know how I love the Zipper.  What?  You don’t know what the Zipper is?!?  No, it’s not that, silly!  It’s an awesome ride they have at county fairs that spins you up and down and around AND upside down all at the same time.  (Just watch the video and you’ll see)  For some reason when we finally found the Zipper after the derby winners had been announced, I almost didn’t go.  $5?!?  no way!!!  I said.  Even after I had talked it up for hours.  ”Erika,”  Brianna said, “listen to the screams.  It’s worth 5 bucks.”  And you know what?  She was right!

Here is a video of the Zipper.  I think it gets real good at about 9 seconds, when it starts to look like the cars are just falling out of the sky:

Yeah listen to those screams!  That is exactly how I sounded, except louder.

 

Colusa County Fair

Dusk at the Demolition Derby

 

me and brianna at the fair (thanks andrew!)

same time next year?

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2peace

May 30, 2009 · Leave a Comment

 

gowns2piece

 

Ok so we got some footage of the recent GOWNS show in Oakland.  We played as a 2piece for the first time in years.  Some of it is normal quality (thanks Connor!)  and some of it is totally blown out and crazy.  I like it.  I think the show sounded great.  Ezra was processing everything, all vox and guitar and his keyboard.  He was running it all through his computer, through supercollider patches he wrote himself.  That’s our secret recipe.  You can hear it really well on “Rope”, where the computer samples the live guitar, chops it up, pitch-shifts it and runs it backwards.  YEAH that shit ain’t even proprietary, just not that many people can do what he does.  He’s real nice though and shares.  You can download some software he wrote here from his site.  He has a tone application and a noise generator for you to play with.  Thanks Ezra!!!

 

 

And here is the super blown-out footage, which fits the sound.  We were clipping the input (purposely) of our interface which kind of makes it sound like it’s coming through a blown boombox speaker.  I love it!  Sonic assault.

 

 

 

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