5 Score Pachyderm

Happy LouFest day!  It’s Saturday, August 28 and that means Forest Park is ready for its inaugural music festival.  After checking out the grounds last night and looking at the weather report today (it’s going to be quite nice) I am as giddy as could be.  Make sure to check yesterday’s preview post for today’s music schedule (sounds confusing I know) to prepare yourself for all that today has to offer.  If you’re a twitterer you can follow all of the LouFest buzz in real time at loufesttweets.com. 

Enough about today though, because tomorrow will offer up another onslaught of music for us STLers.  Starting at 1pm on Sunday local St. Louis rockers Magnolia Summer will take the stage and offer up their brand of self-described “strummy Americana sound somewhere between Son Volt and the Pernice Brothers”.  Having released 2 digital EPs after the release of 2009’s excellent Lines From The Frame don’t expect Magnolia Summer to slow down any time soon. 

Lead singer and multi-instrumentalist Chris Grabau took the time to answer my questions, which you can find below.  Chris also stopped by St. Louis Public Radio yesterday along with festival organizer Brian Cohen to talk all thingsLouFest and play a few tunes on the CityScape program.  You can listen to the interview/performance here.

1.)  What can people expect from a typical Magnolia Summer show?

Since the beginning, I have been flexible with the the number of musicians who perform live with the band.  I like the opportunity to play with arrangements and see what other musicians bring to the table.  While it’s partly out of necessity – several guys in the band play in other bands – I like how a revolving group of people keep things interesting and elicits new arrangements.  I think that approach helps make every show relatively unique.
 

2.)  What are some of your favorite venues to play when you’re out on tour?

We don’t tour as much as we would like but I have always enjoyed Austin.  I love the Continental Club in Austin.  In Chicago, Schubas and the Hideout are great places to play as well.  However,  one of my favorite places to see a band and to play is Off Broadway in St. Louis.  There’s some kind of magic about that place.    
 

 3.)  What’s the most memorable thing to happen to you guys while on tour?

By in large, we’re kinda a low drama group – but I will say that we actually eat incredibly well when traveling out of town.  John Horton has a knack for finding the best local place to eat. 

4.)  What are some of your favorite bands and/or albums out there right now?

It depends on the day but over the last couple of months, I’ve been in a bit of a rediscovery mode.  Specifically, Pavement’s catalog with the extended remasters.  I have also been finding a lot of great old blues and soul records through emusic (Howlin’ Wolf, Son House, John Lee Hooker and Henry Townsend).  Vieux Farka Toure’s Fondo is amazing.  Start with Vieux’s Fondo then check out his live CD that came out a few months ago.  I just discovered the new Superchunk record and its also fantastic.  Conversely, I’ve been listening to Jónsi and Alex’s Riceboy Sleeps. 
 

 5.)  Any tips for local bands/artists trying to make a career in the world of music?

Jason McEntire from Sawhorse says it best, “The song is boss.”  Strive for the long haul and make your own body of work. 

Hopefully you’ve been enjoying the LouFest-heavy content on the blog the last couple of weeks, because there’s only going to be more.  The powers that be at LouFest have been nice enough to give me a press pass for the festival and I will be all over Forest Park covering the festivities this weekend. 

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again LouFest has set itself apart by working towards being as sustainable as possible, while putting on an incredible show at the same time.  With incredible national acts like She & Him, Broken Social Scene, Jeff Tweedy, and Built To Spill there’s something for every music fan to enjoy.  Beyond the big names LouFest has also highlighted St. Louis’ fantastic and growing music scene by including several local acts. 

One of those local acts has made a name for themselves far from the confines of the Lou, but remain connected to the local music scene.  So Many Dynamos‘ latest LP Loud Wars was produced by Death Cab’s Chris Walla and contains the synth-heavy, guitar-hooked, high-energy tunes the band has become known for.  Make sure to catch So Many Dynamos at LouFest this Saturday at 2pm sharp and read on to see the band’s answers to my questions.

1.)    What can people expect from a typical So Many Dynamos show?

 I think as we get older  less guitars get thrown, less bodies flail about the stage, and fewer bad jokes get told (that last one might not be true, actually). With our songs, the energy is built into the music.  We’re happy to leave the on-stage shenanigans to the kids. Although, at the end the set you are guaranteed to find four sweaty dudes staring back at you.

 2.)    What are some of your favorite venues to play when you’re out on tour?

We’re happy to play wherever anyone has some floor space (especially in Athens or Boston). Said floor space is also helpful for sleeping purposes.

 3.)    What’s the most memorable thing to happen to you guys while on tour?

Lots of bands come back from tour with stories of excess (see: Motley Crue’s tour diary ‘The Dirt’).  However, while touring Europe our night of obligatory Amsterdamian excess was also perhaps our most miserable.  Maybe it was the fact that we found our hostel via a Google search for ‘The Most Awesome Hostel in Amsterdam’ and wound up in the heart of the Red-Light District where all of Europe’s mindless party people converge to, urg, mindlessly party; maybe it was the depressing sight of drugged women in shop-front windows looking eerily similar to the mannequins we had just seen in London; or maybe the illegality of drugs is what makes them fun in the first place (probably not), but our first night in Amsterdam flat out sucked.  The next morning, we rented bikes determined to see the better parts of the city we knew we were missing. Being one in a sea of local cyclists in Amsterdam after such a demoralizing night renewed my faith in humanity, and was enough to count as my European tour highlight.

4.)    What are some of your favorite bands and/or albums out there right now?

 As a band it seems like we’ve been really into rhythmic centered music lately like Tears for Fears, Fool’s Gold, and the New York Noise Compilation which features Konk and Liquid Liquid among others. I personally have been looking even further backwards, searching for music to satiate my funky needs. So far Fela Kuti’s album ‘Zombie’ and Miles Davis’ ‘On the Corner’ have been the most successful.  A few of us saw LCD Soundsystem at Pitchfork over the summer and came back feeling very inspired.

 5.)    Any tips for local bands/artists trying to make a career in the world of music?

 I’m not very good at counting syllables, but I think this might be a Haiku, or not:

                Do not have any money making ambitions

                Play music with people who are also your friends

                Love St. Louis, it will love you back