Interview With Jonny "Swagger" Natale of Tail Light Rebellion

Today, I'm talking with Jonny "Swagger" Natale of east coast folk punk/mixed genre group, Tail Light Rebellion. (See interview with Jessica Pietrzykowski of Tail Light Rebellion)

How long have you been doing music, and how did Tail Light Rebellion come to be? 

I've been doing music since I was about 14 or so (1994... hahahah) - I started working intensely on computer based music the second I discovered a music tracking program called Scream Tracker 3 - Based off the old Amiga Computer music tracking programs. I was regularly churning out industrial / goth / early techno / dark rock enough to earn the nick name "Poor Man's Trent Reznor" in highschool. Even wrote a zinearticle about an introduction to electronic music at one point. My hometown had precious few musicians at the time - at the end of the day, all I wanted was a band - howevr I'm grateful for the early computer experience, because ultimately it is what lead me to becoming a recording/mixing/mastering engineer, and producer. 

Tail Light Rebellion came to be after my long running band, The Swaggerin' Growlers, blew apart - there was a major falling out with the long running drummer, and every attempt at keeping it alive after we parted ways just didn't work. Bandaid on a few dozen bullet holes. Not knowing what to do with myself, I improvised a one man band setup, and kept playing; It's all I know how to do, to be honest. First under Jonny Swagger, but honestly that didn't feel right for many reasons. So I took the John Darnielle approach and created a band name. The name Tail Light Rebellion came from a combination of two things: The opening lines of one of my favorite New Model Army song, Vagabonds ("We followed the tail lights out of a city, moving in a river of red") that our good friends Mischief Brew were covering at the time. So as an ode to them, I combined Tail Light with the proto Mischief Brew project's name, Kettle Rebellion - Making Tail Light Rebellion. 

Honestly, Erik and Denise were insturmental in this project happening, as was my good friend, Griffin Sullivan. The first album was mixed down between Erik and Denise's old house, the Fistolo Records headquarters, in Upper Darby, PA, as well as Griffin's old place in Morrisville, PA. Without either of their support and encouragement, this project would not exist, and I stand by that.house in Upper Darby, PA, as well. 

Also, the first time Tail Light Rebellion played out was at a folk festival in Quebec, called Fabuleux Festival International du Folk Sale, at the campsites, in 2013. This was due to the encouragement of Fred Simard (yes, the Legendary Fred Simard, off of Six Strings and Gasoline) - who not only bought my ticket to the festival, but encouraged me to bring my new one man band setup.

How would you describe your sound?

Folk with a rock and roll problem. Rustbelt Roots and soul. Whatever style moves me at the time. We have everything from funk and reggae to 50s and 60s rock and blues, appalacha, bluegrass, Klezmer, and Slavic, all sung with an Irish lilt because that's just how I learned to sing and started very Irish folk influenced. 

Who or what would you say are some of your biggest influences? 

The obvious: Mischief Brew(One intervew even went so far as to say I went Erik Petersen with my sound), World / Inferno Friendship Society, The Pogues, Billy Bragg Less obvious: .357 String Band / Joseph Huber / Derek W Dunn / Jake Orvis and the Broken Band, Steering Ships with Empty Bottles (S.S. WEB) New Model Army, Stan Rogers, Gaslight Anthem, Jason Isbell obscure: Alt Hip hop for DAYS, son. Spanning from POS, Dessa, and the rest of the Doomtree artists, Atmosphere, Dem Atlas, Prof, Brother Ali and the rest of the Rhymesayers artists 

You seem to frequently be busy touring. What are some of your favorite places you've ever visited on tour? Venue or otherwise. Or both. 

The Celt Pub in Idaho Falls, because it's always a wild dance party. Without fail. Twerking, bouncing around, you name it. Also, we almost always run into crews of forest fire fighters and believe you me, they know how to party. The Westport Saloon in Kansas City, because it's the best honkey tonk in America. People are always enthusiastic, and Travis Fields is honestly one of the best Venue owners I've met doing this. The Nakato in Mankato, Minnesota - I feel like we're playing a family gathering in the best way possible there. Our friend Kate's family lake house on Bob's Lake in Ontario - Kate is one of our favorite humans, and the ability for folks like us to actually decompress somewhere absolutely beautiful I will be forever grateful for. I miss the old East Coast punk scene, but it is long, long gone. Gentrification is the joykiller. 

What's the craziest story you have from playing a show? 

Jesus. I'm fortunate enough to live a less than boring life. I've had Erik (Petersen) hop up on stage with me to cover a Billy Brag's a New England, played the wild party that is World Inferno's Hallowmass, Basement shows where I've booted a White Supremist in the face while on stage, someone got railed on the pool table during our set, another time someone got railed on the couch. Hell, one time someone went through a window during a house show in Greenville, NC. One time in Tupalo someone started a bar fight and got his 250lb ass tazed and dragged out of the bar. If I thought about this any longer, charges might be filed. I am clearly avoiding any of the mischief that I've managed to get myself into, but catch me post show some time and you might get to hear some of the more ridiculous stories that don't need to be on the internet at this time. 

What else do you get into when you're not doing music? 

Spare time...? what's that? Huge gym rat, it's one of the only places I get to crawl into my headphones and enjoy it. Bicycling and hiking, with a side of writing in dive bars. 

What is planned for the immediate future for Tail Light Rebellion? 

New music or shows on the way? NEW ALBUM IN SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER. Just need to finish tracking vocals and lead guitar, and mix it down - already have the settings templated. In fact, I think I might put up a teaser track to share with a few folks. And then? Tour far and wide. we're already on a handful of festivals in 2020, looking to add more and more. Breaking into Canada more, hopefully Europe. No rest for the utterly passionate and dedicated. Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity to ramble.

So go check out the music now!

Interview With Chloe Grace Rose

Today I'm talking with the French underground musician Chloe Grace Rose, who is also behind the queer musicians record label Dead Moon Records. 

How long have you been doing music? What got you started?

Well, at this point I've been playing for about twelve years I'd say, I got my first guitar on christmas 2006 and quickly started making my own music, I recorded some solo stuff back in 2007 then a childhood friend joined on bass (which I actually taught him how to play) and my first band was born.

How do you describe your sound, and who or what are your biggest influences in your music?

That's a pretty difficult question honestly since I've got a few projects going on, when it comes to Crawl it's definitely influenced by 90s Swedish death metal bands like Entombed, my solo (Chloe Grace Rose) stuff is influenced by sludge bands like EyeHateGod and grindcore like Pig Destroyer along with some emo bands on the lyrical side, as for my folk music, it used to be heavily influenced by early Against Me! but has taken more of a turn towards The Mountain Goats in terms of style. Overall I'd say The Mountain Goats are probably one of my biggest influences accross all projects, John Darnielle is an incredible songwriter and lyricist.

What's the music scene like in your part of the world? 

It's mostly teenagers playing Nirvana and pop punk covers in this region, it's pretty hard to find musicians for anything, I've tried a few times, it seems like nobody even knows what folk punk is aside from one band that were opening at a show where I played once.

Other than music, what are some things that you really get into?

I am really HUGE into music but other than that and the whole label stuff I guess I usually like to unwind by playing video games, reading has become pretty difficult these days and I've got a huge backlog, mostly dystopian fiction because let's be honest we already live there.

Tell me about Dead Moon Records. What's the story with that?

Originally, I burned a few CDs of my first band Dead Moon Rising and figured it would make a cool label name (yeah real original right there), ten years later I thought to myself, well I know all these queer artists who don't have any label or promotion, and I'm a queer artist, so maybe I should just start a label to increase their exposure, because I believe minorities need representation, and a lot of people were on board, I didn't plan to be specific to one genre but it turns out almost everyone is a folk punk artist. It's a lot of work to try to keep everything balanced, upload new artists, keep the hype up, I'm really bad at this one actually. I got asked about physical releases, that's an extra cost to take into account since I'm not taking any cut from Bandcamp and only 10% off Spotify, but I think we might try.

Who are some artists on that label people should be keeping their eye on? Any expected new releases?

Quitter Talk and Queen Deer are both recording new albums, Foxmud just released her debut, and I think Sama intends to re-record some of her material. We may have a couple of new artists coming soon too.

What about upcoming projects of yours that you want people to look forward to?

Right now I'm working on a stripped-down, lo-fi acoustic tribute to The Mountain Goats, it'll be free, so there's that, it'll be followed by some original material later, I've also got a solo album that's mostly written since April but on hold at the moment and some other projects on the backburner that I'm not ready to announce just yet. I try to focus on one thing at a time right now.

Go check out the music now!

HappyHappy- Zozobra (album review)

The Non-stop energy behind “Zozobra” seems almost a way of life for HappyHappy, having recently released their debut album on Ribfest Records. This honesty holds true from the start with a never ending stream of poetic imagery in tracks like “Mouthwash” and “Jesus Christ” that are constantly riding a serious line of introspection and depression, broken up perfectly by hooks and moments of self parody that feel much like an exhilaratingly bipolar dance that will make you want to laugh and cry and then laugh again. There is a credo that says everything is better with horns and HappyHappy knows how to take advantage of it from the start with “Overreaction” as well as “UV Blue” while still maintaining its pace with more synth driven ballads like “NPR Loves the Postal Service” so be ready for a choir of ska-punk cynicism singing to you all of the tiny thoughts and feelings from the back of your mind. You will never stop randomly yelling “With Cream Cheese!” afterwards and each line is a whole new direction full of relatable circumstances and references to video games and other pop culture that causes anyone within earshot to do a double take time and time again; Not to mention the power-synth break down in “Brave Little Toaster” possibly the legendary apex of the album, setting the tone perfectly for “Amoeba” and “Panic Attack” in a subtler second half. There is a line in “Jesse & Kristen” that compares itself to the likes of The Mountain Goats, but this doesn’t pay enough credit to a record that stands on its own, ending with the title track “Zozobra” an epic medley conclusion that feels more like a therapy session for the many demons released along the way.

https://www.facebook.com/happyhappytheband/

https://www.facebook.com/RibFestRecords/

http://ribfestrecords.bandcamp.com/album/zozobra

Colin Carroll

While spending most of the time either writing and playing music in Owls And Other Animals, or in the studio at Sleepy Owl Records, Colin also occasionally has opinions and writes them down.

www.OwlsAndOtherAnimals.bandcamp.com

www.facebook.com/SleepyOwlRecords

www.facebook.com/OwlsAndOtherAnimals

www.OwlsAndOtherAnimals.com

Interview with Tim Bo of One Man Left

Today I want to highlight an incredible musician that makes what could be described as "anti-fascist riot songs". Tim Bo's music could easily be the soundtrack to the revolution. Formerly of String Bo String Duo, Tim now continues on with his solo project Bo String Solo/One Man Left.

How would you describe your music for people who are not familiar with it, and who or what are your major influences?

I play an eclectic mix of acoustic music that doesn't fit neatly into a single genre. I have influences from many genres..Early grunge..Alice in chains.. Soundgarden.. Mud Honey...the fusion jazz grooves of Miles Davis, John Mclaughlin, and Billy Cobham,.. the newgrass styles of Bela Fleck, Sam Bush, and David Grisman.. and also, prog and prog metal like King Crimson and Between The Buried And Me..But my roots are firmly planted in Punk and thrash metal. Somewhere between my love of Jazz, Bluegrass Prog, Punk, and Metal, Combined with anti-establishment/communist/anarchist lyrics is where One Man Left falls.

String Bo String Duo had quite a growing following before the scandal with Geo. I had actually recommended one of my friends check you out and he was familiar with SBSD, but didn't know what had happened. Do you care to talk about that for anyone that missed it?

Geoff turned out to be a serial abuser who raped multiple women that I know of.. as soon as this became apparent he had to be removed. TBH we were much too easy on him.. but the women effected wished to remain anonymous..so even if we called the police(I do not believe in calling police), nothing could have been done without them going public. So I personally outed him..And removed him from my music and my life. I still own the rights to the music which was written solely by myself.. as well as the original social media pages, which have been renamed.

What have you been up to since?

Since then I started a new project.. which is essentially the same thing, but without him, under the name One Man Left.

I started re-recording the videos for the songs I liked best..Many of which are available on Youtube, FB and Patreon. I'm currently recording a series of concept EP's containing old and new songs. Each EP will be fully or loosely based on a sigular theme.

What can you tell people about your upcoming concept EP? You've mentioned it being a folk punk/prog rock fusion? Would you like to talk about your decisions? When should people expect to look for it?

the first of the Ep's is essentially a folk punk record, recorded in the format of a prog rock concept album.. all the songs share the same root chord.. it can and is meant to be listened too as a single piece of music, even though it's 5 songs. it is all political and runs along the theme of riots and revolution. It will be titled Rally. Riot. Revolt. and it should be available for free or name your price within the month.

Do you have anything else going on right now?

I'm also recording new videos, and starting work on the second concept Ep... it's only 3 songs and each will be more stripped down and less "prog" more straight forward folk punk.

What about your life outside of music?

My life outside of music is difficult.. I have a family of 5, I'm physically disabled, and I've struggled with mental illness my entire life.

it's hard to fully summarize..

my disability started with a bulging/degenerative disc at the beggining of 2018, but after a failed surgery I'm in even worse shape. I waiting on a spinal fusion surgery.

I have a wife of 10 years and 3 kids. I love them all deeply.

What about your offer to help musicians passing thru your area to stop in and record, and how should people contact you for that?

well.. that's not necessarily and open offer to anyone.. but anyone is welcome to contact the One Man Left page to inquire about it!

I'm offering Free or Cheap recording for musicians passing through.. but, obviously a vetting process will need to take place before I bring people in to my house with my kids and a thousand dollars worth of gear collected over the course of 7 years . .

So anyone interested in recording here would need to contact the One Man Left page

Make sure you're looking out for the new EP this month!

Murder Person For Hire - I Thought I'd Be Dead By Now (album review)

I trust you as much as I trust anyone who doesn’t listen to this album. The debut release from Murder Person For Hire is the perfect blend of sarcasm, satire and emotional turmoil, leading the listener on a journey akin to a stage musical of life in a counterculture world of anarchy and underground house shows. It causes one to reminisce longingly of every DIY venue ever patroned, while at the same time reevaluate every situation that came out of them; Instilling the idea that, looking back, maybe everyone didn’t think and feel the way you might have thought they did at the time..

The story begins with “fishing” an epic intro that can only be heard, and “theme song” which introduces us to our main character, followed by “3edgy5me” which all seem to mark a commentary on the proverbial modern decent into the so-called folk punk scene. “Glass Body” and “Knife.mkv” take us to the next stage of turmoil for the protagonist as social pressure and confusion start to take hold, which then comes to its peak in “Get In The Fucking Robot, Shinji” a sarcastic take on giving up and giving in.

Things begin to turn around for our hero in the second act as they lash back out with tracks like “Chaotic Gender Neutral” and “Wish” that feel more personal and relatable. Then the finale stays true to the contrary nature of the story so far and takes shape in “Break All of My Fingers” followed by the paradoxical ballad “I Trust You” that leaves us with the feeling that things might never be too great for our hero, but maybe at least they are a little better off than when they started..

www.mp4h.bancamp.com

www.facebook.com/nonopersonforhire

Album reviewed by

Colin Carroll

While spending most of the time either writing and playing music in Owls And Other Animals, or in the studio at Sleepy Owl Records, Colin also occasionally has opinions and writes them down.

www.OwlsAndOtherAnimals.bandcamp.com

www.facebook.com/SleepyOwlRecords

www.facebook.com/OwlsAndOtherAnimals

www.OwlsAndOtherAnimals.com

Interview with Podunk Parliament

Today's interview is with Podunk Parliament, quite the active group with members also behind Liber-DIY Records and Just D.I.Y. Booking and Promotions.

How did Podunk Parliament come together? 

Dalton: I moved to Dallas in 2015 from Albuquerque NM. I did have much or know anyone besides my mom here. I had a guitar so I picked it up. Something I hadn't done in a long time. I started playing in my room like everyone does. Covering AJJ and Pat the Bunny songs. I went to Buzz Brews off Lemmon Ave for an Open Mic to try and preform some. They had actually stopped doing it since they lost their Host. I took over as the Host for their open mic nights every Tuesday. I play there for almost a year. And started writting my own stuff. I was posting on Twitter and someone invited me to a show at LiberDIY in Denton. I went! I met Cub. And I played a few songs he liked me and my music. And asked me what I called myself. I really didn't have a name for myself yet. I had joked with a friend back home when we were drunk and said I should call myself Podunk Parliament. So when I was asked that's what came to mind 1st. And that's where it all started.

How would you describe your music? 

Dalton: We usually tell people we play political acoustic punk rock hah. We dont like the term folk punk all that much, but if the shoe fits!! Its mostly politically driven, but when I started the project my main goal was to help anyone who felt alone in the world to not feel so alone anymore.

Who what are some of your biggest influences? 

Dalton: For me what influences our music is our friends. I'm also inspired by cartoons, like kid shows, current political struggle, and my mental health.

Jacob: Influences is a tough one, there’s a lot

What is the story behind Liber-DIY Records?

Jacob: LiberDIY Records I originally started to put out my own music but it kinda escalated amongst the people I knew needing online distro and promotion, so I got into that on top of my recording engineering training and here we are. 

What are some hot artists involved that people should check out? Or upcoming events or releases? 

Jacob: Podunk Parliament is definitely top of the list, we’ve got a new full-length coming out real soon, as well as a record from suburban wildlife this spring, and hopefully a shooting Tsars record this summer

What about Just D.I.Y. booking and promotions? 

Mike: Just diy basically started when this band from Florida called Clem McGilicutty and the Burnouts asked me about helping them find a show here in Dallas and i just kind of kept booking shows. About a year into it I met Dalton and Cub. I booked them as a duo a handfull of times. I was so blown away by the lyrical content of the songs I asked to play bass for them. So we built the gutbucket and the rest is history so to speak.

Got anything in the works that Podunk Parliament fans should look forward to?

Dalton: Podunk has a new album coming out very soon. Another full length called Nothing Left. This will have drums which will be new that Cub has been doing and all recorded at LiberDIY

Go check out the music now!

Interview: Princess Possum

Today's interview is with Princess Possum, whose album Songs of A Depressed Anarchist was recently reviewed on Musically Dependent by Colin Carroll of Owls and Other Animals.

What should people who aren't familiar with your music know, and how would you describe your sound? 

Well I guess my solo princess possum stuff would be considered folk punk. I sing sad or angry songs straight from my heart raw and untouched touching on subjects of depression,  alcoholism, anarchy, being poor, breakups and my overwhelming amount of gender dysphoria. I like to call it sad possum core ha! 

Who or what would you say some of your biggest influences are? 

My two biggest influences in my music is Days N Daze and Mischief Brew. The fast pace chords and scream style of Days N Daze is a big part of my music and so is the Mischief Brew style song writing. Combined with my own whatever it is I do. 

You had mentioned to me in a message that you're a writer and poet. Do you have any works out that you'd like people to know about? 

Yea I am more of a writer than a musician. Which is why my friend Matt Pless (interview with Matt Pless) is a big influence on me too since we’re both poet musicians. I look up to him heavily and had the pleasure of playing a show with him this past December. I unfortunately do not have my poetry book out yet but when it comes out it will be over 100 poems throughout the last 3 years titled “a timid arrangement of Blasphemy” hopefully it’ll be typed out by this year so stay tuned for that! 

What about your other hobbies outside of music? 

Well one of my favorite things to do use to be skateboarding. I unfortunately had a bad skateboarding accident this past August that almost killed me and left me hospitalized for a week with a brain bleed and skull fracture.  I want to skate again but I got to wait awhile. But I do also enjoy visual art as well and do commission paintings and pencil sketches. And font work for my bands and different ones! 

What is it like juggling responsibilities for your solo project with the bands you play in, Burnt Toast and Fetus Pizza? 

Well Burnt Toast and my solo stuff is the most active. We are about 50/50 on how it’s equaled out. Fetus Pizza doesn’t play as much but my friends that play in that band have another band that’s way more active called Duck Butter that Burnt Toast is about to release a split ep with. So juggling the 3 projects isn’t too too difficult but trying to juggle adult stresses like working almost full time while very active is. Especially in my strive to be sober.  Sobriety has not been successful so far but 6 months clean off drugs is a win in my book! 

I saw you were recently picked up by Sleepy Owl Records? Can you talk about that some? 

Yeah! Sleepy Owl Records is ran by an amazing person, my friend Colin Carroll. He plays in a band with his wife and my other good friend Dana Carroll. They were formed in Huntsville, Alabama, and now live in Chicago. They are amazing people and I recommend their music and their record label. They do a lot for the underground scene! Colin is also the one that did the artwork for my first Princess Possum album out on Bandcamp Songs of A Depressed Anarchist. I’m very honored to be apart of that label now ! 

What should people know about the next album you got coming out, and when should people expect to look for it? 

This next album coming out is gonna be a little different than my last, but only because it’s gonna be layered over. So I’ll be doing the guitar and vocals all with bass, washboard, banjo, ukulele, harmonica, and tambourines all played by me mixed in all the tracks! Which is why this album is taking a lot longer to get done. My friend Dillon Sizemore is the one recording for me and he’s doing amazing. It’s also gonna feature some of my poetry! The skelton of the album will go... Poem. 6 tracks Poem 6tracks Poem I’m really excited to put this one out. It is called Road Kill, and the artwork was done by my friend Thomas OConner who also designed burnt toast’s toaster head logo. 

What about the bands you play in? What's in store for their foreseeable future? 

Burnt Toast is going on tour in April! We will have our split ep out with Duck Butter and a full length out before the summer. We are playing with Punk With A Camera in May! And also playing Midwest Punk Fest in Illinois in June! And we will hopefully be playing a benefit show with out friends in Days N Daze in the summer as well. We are wanting to go on another tour in July but haven’t finalized anything yet. And for my solo stuff me and Tail Light Rebellion are trying to do a two week tour in August so I’m hoping that works out I love those cats! And Fetus Pizza should have its full length out this year as well. Gonna be a fun busy year and excited for the experiences and for what’s to come after !

Also see the album review for Songs of A Depressed Anarchist or just skip straight to the music and check it out for yourself!