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Flying Dog

Inside 200 East: Seaknuckle

Yesterday, we premiered our video of Old Indian practicing their compilation song, “Tri-Denim,” at the 200 East Art Haus. Today, we premiere this video of Seaknuckle practicing in their allotted space with the song “Bad Move.”

Now, the idea behind this was to get the bands to perform the songs that will appear on our compilation, set to be released in conjunction with Flying Dog, as part of a giveaway at this weekend’s Frederick Fall Festival. Naturally, the guys in Seaknuckle said they didn’t know as much, and they didn’t alert us to the fact that this wasn’t the song on the compilation until after the filming was done.

Of course.

But, we love them anyway, and you should really check out this video. And then you should really drop by the event on Saturday. And then you should really have some fun. Doors are at four. These guys should hit the stage around five. Oh, the excitement. As always, a huge thank you goes out to the always-great Graham Cullen and Sylvia Carignan for helping get it done.

October 7, 2015 0 comment

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Inside 200 East: Old Indian

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With the Frederick Fall Fest on Saturday, we wanted to do something different to help spread the word. So. For those who might not already know, there is a cadre of local bands who use rooms in the 200 East Art Haus to practice. Of those bands, three of them will be performing Saturday afternoon as part of the Fall Fest. One of those bands performing? Old Indian.

Thus, it went down like this: We brought our crack video team to the band’s specific rehearsal room (which you can already see they tricked out themselves) to record the song that will be featured on the Flying Dog/Frederick Playlist compilation set to be released at the event Saturday. The name of the song? “Tri-Denim.” Remember: The only way to get a free copy of the compilation is to come to the festival on Saturday, and with 15 tracks from 15 different local artists on it, we can promise that there will be at least something you’ll enjoy.

For now, though, check out Old Indian as we crashed one of their recent practices to record them performing “Tri-Denim.” As always, a huge thank you goes out to the always-great Graham Cullen and Sylvia Carignan for helping get it done. We hope to see you Saturday!

October 6, 2015 0 comment

Videos & Photos

Video Of The Day: Heavy Lights’ ‘Wurli’

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As you can imagine, this entire week will be devoted to Saturday’s first-ever Frederick Fall Fest. Among the bands performing? Heavy Lights. The event will be in conjunction with Flying Dog, so what better way to remind everyone of everything than to post this video of the band performing at Flying Dog Brewery last summer as they opened for Real Estate? Our thoughts, too. We’ll be back in a few hours with some goodies regarding this weekend’s event. You’re excited, right?

October 6, 2015 0 comment

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Do You Want A Free CD? Of Course You Do.

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Well, you’ve heard about this Frederick Fall Fest thing, right? Saturday, October 10. The 200 East Art Haus. J Roddy Walston And The Business. Seaknuckle. Heavy Lights. Old Indian. A slew of DJs on the inside. Live rock and roll on the outside. An art gallery. A recording studio. Food. Beer. Awesomeness. Got it? Good.

So, it’s with great pleasure and excitement that we can finally announce this …

Along with your ticket to the festival, you’ll receive a free compilation CD. What’s the significance of the free compilation CD? Over the last few months, we’ve set up a pop-up recording studio in the 200 East Art Haus. We’ve been lucky enough to receive the equipment on loan and donation from some pretty great people and studios around town. The great Ryan Nicholson rounded up the gear. The great Derek Salazar has been working as an engineer/producer on the performances. Because of that, we’ll pause for a video of Heavy Lights performing at our super-secret Frederick Playlist Presents … location. Ryan looks so nice:

Anyway, the rules were simple: You had to come in and record the song at the warehouse. It had to be a song you had never recorded before. You also had to do it in a timely fashion – we wanted to make sure everything was done in time to get these out in conjunction with the fall festival. The wonderfully fantastic people at Flying Dog Brewery offered to foot the bill for the project, as well as work on the art for the CD, which we are SUPER excited about.

As for the artists scheduled to appear on the record. Check it out:

Heavy Lights
Old Indian
Cheshi
Seaknuckle
Elizabeth Silard
Silent Old Mtns.
Time Columns
Big Hoax
New God
J Berd
The Plate Scrapers
Kabob-O-Taj
Retro/Ricole Barnes
Greg Bender
Katie Powderly

These are subject to change, of course, if the world burns down or something catastrophic happens (like CD reproduction businesses decide to stop reproducing CDs – hello, 2015!). But, as it stands now, that’s what we’re looking at. Oct. 10. Frederick Fall Fest Compilation Vol. 1. Free of cost. The point, as you can imagine, is to try and showcase as many local original acts as we can and get those artists’ music into the hands of as many people as possible. We fully realize that we didn’t get to all the local artists, but that doesn’t mean we won’t approach the ones we missed for a volume 2 (fingers crossed that we eventually can make a volume 2). We sincerely apologize for those who missed out, but time constraints and approximately 5,000 other things got in the way. We’ll make it up to you. Promise.

For now, though, be sure to make plans to come out to the 200 East Art Haus on October 10, and pick yourself up a free CD. Tickets are on sale. It will be historic (or something like that). A huge, wet sloppy kiss thank-you goes out to Mr. Salazar, Mr. Nicholson and all of the people over at Flying Dog. Those guys and gals are the best.

August 24, 2015 0 comment

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The Weekend Playlist: 08/20/15

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Goodness, gracious. We told you this might be a hectic week of announcements and goodies and we weren’t kidding. In case you missed it, we announced the worst-kept secret in Frederick yesterday when we formally released the details on the Frederick Fall Fest set for Saturday, October 10, at the 200 East Art Haus. J Roddy Walston & The Business. Seaknuckle. Heavy Lights. Old Indian. Are you as excited as we are? We hope so. But we still have a a couple months until we make it there, so for now, let’s concentrate on the next three days. Of Montreal is headlining a night of fun at Flying Dog with Old Indian and Mothers. We spoke with Kevin earlier this week about the show, and he had a lot of interesting things to say. We’ll be there, handing out koozies and the like. You know where else we’ll be? Big Cork Vineyards on Saturday night for the first-ever Jazz In The Vines installment featuring Jeff Cosgrove and Matthew Gillich. So, between wine and beer, we feel like we have this weekend covered, no? Elsewhere, Cafe Nola is hosting its first Frederick Folk Fest starting tonight and it goes on for the next three days. There’s a ton of great stuff going on there, so you really ought to swing by that if you get the chance. The FUNomenon will host Trace Adkins and Jamie Lynn Spears at the Fairgrounds on Saturday, and that’s a great cause with a pair of uber-known names, so if you dig yourself some country music, don’t be shy and check that out. The rain is going to keep Alive@Five away for this week, so here is our sad face. But all is not lost. Because finally, we here at Frederick Playlist get to come full circle: The last Movie Night On The Creek for 2015 is going down tomorrow night and it features “Interstellar.” The opening music? It will be Pete Goodwin’s band, 3:AM. If you remember, the very first artist to play our very first Movie Night installment was, indeed, Pete Goodwin (before Todd C. Walker). The video above came from that afternoon, and this time around, he’ll be bringing his full band to entertain you, and you, and you, and you, and you. It’s free and it begins at 7 p.m. You’ll come grab a koozie or three, right? Maybe? We’re asking nicely. For now, though, settle in for some of the doggiest of summer’s dog days. One more August weekend after this and then … whoa, it seems like the summer flew by, doesn’t it? We’ll be here, there and everywhere over the next three days, so forget the back-to-school-blues and come celebrate the season as it begins to wind down. We’ll bet you a spin of the wheel that you won’t regret it.

THURSDAY

Who: Frank & Bob
Where: Ayse Meze Lounge
When: 6 p.m.

Who: Open Mic, hosted by Tomy Wright
Where: Beans In The Belfry
When: 7 p.m.

Who: Cheshi, Skeleton Twins, The Harmaleighs
Where: Cafe Nola
When: 10 p.m.

Who: Open Mic
Where: Bushwallers
When: Sign-up begins at 9 p.m.; play begins at 10 p.m.

Who: Jazz Jam
Where: The Main Cup
When: 7:30 p.m.

Who: Freddie Long
Where: The Blue Side
When: 7 p.m.

FRIDAY

Who: Bendt Fendyr
Where: Elk Run Winery
When: 6 p.m.

Who: Joe Murray
Where: Ayse Meze Lounge
When: 6 p.m.

Who: Jimi Cupino Project
Where: Beans In The Belfry
When: 6 p.m.

Who: Freddie Long
Where: The Furnace
When: 8:30 p.m.

Who: Piranhas
Where: Champion Billiards
When: 9 p.m.

Who: Harlen Simple
Where: Bushwallers
When: 10 p.m.

Who: Tiny Timbers, Megan Jean and the KFB
Where: Cafe Nola
When: 10 p.m.

Who: Karlie Bartholomew
Where: The Frederick Coffee Company
When: 8 p.m.

Who: Exit 0
Where: Linganore Winecellars
When: 6 p.m.

Who: 3:AM
Where: Carroll Creek
When: 7 p.m.

SATURDAY

Who: Of Montreal, Mothers, Old Indian
Where: Flying Dog Brewery
When: 5 p.m.

Who: Jeff Cosgrove Trio, Matthew Gillich Trio
Where: Big Cork Vineyards
When: 6 p.m.

Who: Dave Weiner
Where: Elk Run Winery
When: 3 p.m.

Who: Max Honn, Stephen Darnell, Siobhan McMahon
Where: Beans In The Belfry
When: 7 p.m.

Who: Lost Highway
Where: The Furnace
When: 8:30 p.m.

Who: Fuzzy Match
Where: Champion Billiards
When: 9 p.m.

Who: Drunk Naked Pirates
Where: Olde Towne Tavern
When: 10 p.m.

Who: Rew Smith Band
Where: Bushwallers
When: 10 p.m.

Who: Skribe, Katie Powderly and the Unconditional Lovers
Where: Cafe Nola
When: 10 p.m.

Who: Scrub Pine
Where: The Frederick Coffee Company
When: 8 p.m.

Who: Dave Weiner, Bob Kaas
Where: Elk Run Winery
When: 3 p.m.

Who: Safe Harbor
Where: Red Shedman Farm Brewery
When: 4 p.m.

Who: Trace Adkins, Jamie Lynn Spears
Where: The Frederick Fairgrounds
When: 4 p.m.

August 20, 2015 0 comment

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A Q&A With Of Montreal

written by contributor

For the second time in three summers, Of Montreal will be performing on the front lawn of Flying Dog Brewery, this time on Saturday, with Mothers and Old Indian filling out the bill. A few months removed from the release of “Aureate Gloom” this past March, we recently caught up with the band’s leader, Kevin Barnes, via phone to talk about the show in Frederick, how personal his latest album was to record, and how he’s currently working on two separate followups to his most recent breakup-fueled set.

First of all, congratulations on the upcoming tour, because it seems like you guys are going out for quite a while from here on out.

Yeah, we’re going to be busy until basically Thanksgiving.

You guys are coming to Frederick and I know that you were here a couple years ago. Do you remember anything about coming to Flying Dog before? Did you like it?

Oh, yeah. It was great. It was nice because I remember it was a sunny day and we were parked outside the brewery all day long. We were just kind of hanging out in the sun and checking out the beer. We had a really enjoyable day, so we’re excited to go back.

Do you have a favorite Flying Dog beer?

To be honest, I’m not much of a beer drinker, so it’s not really my area of expertise.

With this new record, I read that it was a really hard time for you personally when you recorded it. Have you come out on the other side? How are you feeling these days?

Everything was so very raw at that point. The separation from my wife was pretty new and the songs were sort of representative of that state of mind. But now things have sort of mellowed out and pieces have fallen where they were to fall. I’ve started moving forward, so I’m definitely feeling more positive.

Did you find therapy in music during that?

Oh yeah. Definitely. I think the music and creative process has been consistently really helpful in that way. That’s why I tend to write about things that other people might shy away from because it seems like maybe sharing too much. But for me, it’s important that if I need to get over certain things, I kind of need to write about them. I need to be able to get it off my chest and move forward from it. So it can be a little bit strange, a year later singing some of the songs that at the time were very powerful and important personal statements. After some time has gone by and you’ve gotten over it and resolved the issue, it feels weird sometimes to sing a song that was coming from a place of turmoil and uncertainty.

Do you think this might have been the most personal record you’ve ever done?

It’s definitely up there. Because pretty much every song was a diary entry, pulling directly from my personal life and personal experiences at that time. I wanted it to be this instant karma situation, where I would write it, I would record it and release it as quickly as possible and not second guess it and not overanalyze everything. Just let it be in the moment and encapsulate this period of my life and move forward from it and not think about it. To be honest, I haven’t gone back and listened to the record in many, many months, so I guess it served it purpose and helped me get over that.

Will it be hard to play the songs on tour, then?

Some of them, we just won’t play because they just … I don’t know. I just don’t have enough distance yet to really sing with any sort of protection. It would just be like bringing something up that maybe hasn’t healed enough, so I just have to leave some of them alone for a while. Most of them, maybe they’re universal enough that I can sing them and not feel like I’m being transformed to someplace really dark.

On a lighter note, I also read that at some point, someone called you a “21st Century analog of David Bowie.” That’s pretty high praise. I wanted to get your thoughts on that categorization.

Of course, it’s flattering and he’s someone I look up to and admire. I’ve listened to his records for many, many, many years and take a lot of inspiration from him. So it’s definitely flattering, but I don’t think it’s true because he’s a one-of-a-kind figure. So in a lot of ways, a lot of people could be described that way. A lot of artists are touched by what he did and influenced by what he did. He’s so groundbreaking and such an important cultural figure on so many levels. In a way, I feel like there’s so many of us that are his children.

Do you have anything in store for this trek that you haven’t done before live?

Yeah, it’s going to be a slightly different situation because we have slightly different personnel now. For this tour, we’re going to be a four-piece, so it will be a little bit leaner. Which I think will be cool in a way because it sort of lends itself to doing things that could be a little bit more intimate. When you have so many people on stage, and it sort of feels like a circus all the time, it’s harder to get down to the core of some things. That’s not to say it won’t be a circus — we still have three performance artists and we have a big video production and theatrical stuff and costume changes and all that stuff. So, it will still be a weird, unconventional rock and roll circus sort of thing, but at the same time, it will be slightly different from the way we’ve arranged songs in the past.

This takes you until November and kind of through the rest of the year. What do you see ahead of this tour after that? Do you have plans for another record any time soon? Another tour?

Yeah, we’re pretty deep into a new record. We’ve recorded pretty much all the songs and now we’re just adding overdubs and getting different people involved. Right now, we have some recording dates booked in late September to try and get things a little more finished. Our goal is to finish everything by the end of the year. I kind of have two records going on right now. The one record is almost done, and the other record is kind of starting … no, it’s really about halfway through (laughs). There’s a lot going on.

August 20, 2015 0 comment

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Introducing The Frederick Fall Fest

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At the inaugural Frederick Fall Festival, everything that you see and hear – from music to art, beer to food – will be from Frederick.

Flying Dog Brewery and Frederick Playlist announced plans today to bring the largest showcase of Frederick-based musicians, artists and vendors to the city’s historic downtown on Saturday, October 10. Internationally-acclaimed J. Roddy Walston and the Business (guitarist Billy Gordon is from Frederick) will perform with opening sets by Heavy Lights, Old Indian and Seaknuckle.

“At Flying Dog, we live and breath local creativity – from the beers we craft to the artists who inspire us,” Flying Dog CMO Ben Savage said. “If there was ever a time to truly establish Frederick as a destination and epicenter of creativity, it is now.”

The grounds of 200 East Art Haus will accommodate thousands looking to revel in Frederick’s finest. In addition to the bands on the outdoor stage, Frederick-based DJs will spin alongside a showcase of local art and tours of the recording studio, with equipment donated by local studios, inside of the Art Haus. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Frederick Arts Council.

“There are a slew of incredibly talented local artists who call Frederick home,” Colin McGuire, founder of Frederick Playlist, said. “This festival is designed to put them front and center, and not require you to drive to surrounding cities to be exposed to them.”

The Frederick Fall Festival will also play host to the release of a compilation album featuring new, original songs by a dozen Frederick-based bands all recorded at the Art Haus studio over the past six months.

Tickets to the Frederick Fall Festival are $25 and available now via MissionTix.com/FrederickFallFest. The show is 18 and older. 200 Art Haus is located at 200 East Patrick Street in Frederick and gates will open at 4 pm.

August 19, 2015 0 comment

Videos & Photos

Photo Of The Day: Surfer Blood

written by contributor

Let’s start the week with a shot from Saturday’s Flying Dog concert featuring Surfer Blood, Sun Club and People’s Blues Of Richmond. The people you see here? That’s Surfer Blood. We gave away about 48,138 tickets to 200 East shows coming up, so that was super fun. That’s what introducing The Wheel O’ Playlist will do. Thanks so much to everyone who stopped by to say hello. There’s only one more of these left for this summer. Can you believe it’s almost August? Photo by Sam Yu.

July 20, 2015 0 comment

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The Weekend Playlist: 07/16/15

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So. It’s Thursday. Already. And that means another Weekend Playlist. This time around, we have a whole ton of things going on in and around Frederick that ought to cool you off as the summer sun shines down on our balding heads. First and foremost, Surfer Blood, Sun Club and People’s Blues Of Richmond will be bringing their indie/garage/awesome-rock to Flying Dog Brewery Saturday night. We’ll be there, giving away tickets, beer koozies and, most likely, kisses. We’ll also be introducing some bands and enjoying the fabulousness that is Flying Dog beer (shouts to Sarah Chek and Dan Velez for winning free tickets!). Also notable this weekend (and as we announced on stage last Saturday at the Seaknuckle show at 200 E. Patrick St.): Tomorrow is Nelson Mandela Day and there’s going to be a concert in the park commemorating as much. A ton of great local talent will be on display, including, though not limited to, Old Indian, Seaknuckle and Katie Powderly. Also, as a bonus: Sister Sledge! The lead singer from Squirrel Nut Zippers (remember them?!) will be in Shepherdstown tomorrow night and doesn’t that just sound like 10 tons of great! Guys In Thin Ties will be Alive-in at Five-in through Carroll Creek tonight. There is the usual slate of open mics scheduled to go down this evening, with the added fun at Beans In The Belfry for the once-a-month event hosted by Tomy “One M” Wright (writing that still never gets old). Israel Creek Duo will make an appearance at JoJo’s for a rare Thursday night treat tonight as well. The positive reggae vibes from FeelFree (mon!) will splash themselves all up over Cafe Nola tomorrow night. And then, of course, there is Monkey Clap, which kind of sounds like either a disease or a really fun night. We hope to see you over on Flying Dog’s frown lawn Saturday night. We’ll have a nice little announcement next week regarding some fun stuff happening downtown, so you’ll want to meet us back here, same place, same time, right? Let’s hope so. Happy Middle-Of-July, friends. It’s a beautiful day.

THURSDAY

Who: Alive @ Five Featuring Guys In Thin Ties
Where: Carroll Creek
When: 5 p.m.

Who: Monocacy Jazz Quartet
Where: Ayse Meze Lounge
When: 5 p.m.

Who: Open Mic hosted by Tomy Wright
Where: Beans In The Belfry
When: 7 p.m.

Who: Jazz Jam
Where: The Main Cup
When: 7 p.m.

Who: Open Mic Night
Where: The Blue Sky Bar And Grill
When: 8 p.m.

Who: Open Mic
Where: Bushwallers
When: Sign-up begins at 9 p.m.; play begins at 10 p.m.

Who: Israel Creek Duo
Where: JoJo’s Tap House
When: 8 p.m.

FRIDAY

Who: Mitch Morrill
Where: Ayse Meze Lounge
When: 5 p.m.

Who: Virginia Clemm, The Averist, The New Reign, Burn n’ Bleed
Where: Cafe 611
When: 7 p.m.

Who: Jimi Cupino Project
Where: Beans In The Belfry
When: 7 p.m.

Who: Lost Highway Honky Tonk Band
Where: Cactus Flats
When: 8:30 p.m.

Who: C-9
Where: The Main Cup
When: 8:30 p.m.

Who: The Nightcrawlers Band
Where: Hard Times Cafe
When: 9 p.m.

Who: As If
Where: Champion Billiards
When: 9 p.m.

Who: No Better Than U
Where: The Blue Sky Bar And Grill
When: 9 p.m.

Who: Dan McGuire Band
Where: Bushwallers
When: 10 p.m.

Who: FeelFree
Where: Cafe Nola
When: 9:30 p.m.

Who: Tom Maxwell From Squirrel Nut Zippers
Where: The Opera House, Shepherdstown
When: 9 p.m.

Who: Sister Sledge’s Kathy Sledge, Rashid Lanie, Sharon Katz and the Peace Train, Cheick Hamala Diabate, Katie Powderly & the Unconditional Lovers, Old Indian, Seaknuckle
Where: Baker Park
When: 4 p.m.

SATURDAY

Who: Surfer Blood, Sun Club, People’s Blues Of Richmond
Where: Flying Dog Brewery
When: 6 p.m.

Who: Brian Christopher, DeWayne Alston
Where: Cafe 611
When: 8 p.m.

Who: Don Annonio
Where: Beans In The Belfry
When: 7 p.m.

Who: Jah Works
Where: Champion Billiards
When: 8 p.m.

Who: Deluxe
Where: The Furnace Bar And Grill
When: 8 p.m.

Who: Hard Swimmin’ Fish
Where: The Main Cup
When: 8:30 p.m.

Who: Liz Springer
Where: Hard Times Cafe
When: 9 p.m.

Who: Steel Rose
Where: The Blue Sky Bar And Grill
When: 9 p.m.

Who: Broken Rocker
Where: Bushwallers
When: 10 p.m.

Who: Monkey Clap
Where: Olde Towne Tavern
When: 10 p.m.

Who: Laney Jones & The Spirits
Where: Cafe Nola
When: 9:30 p.m.

Who: Cavern, B&O Railroad, BailJack, Faith In Jane
Where: Guido’s Speakeasy
When: 8 p.m.

Who: Mind’s Eye, Foghound, King Bison, Rhin
Where: The Jefferson Patriotic Club
When: 8 p.m.

July 16, 2015 0 comment

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A Q&A With Surfer Blood

written by contributor

For the second show in Flying Dog’s Summer Sessions concert series, the brewery is hosting three bands: People’s Blues Of Richmond, Sun Club and Surfer Blood. We spoke with members of each of the bands — the first two via email and the headliner via phone — over the past couple weeks to talk about their upcoming trip to Frederick, what’s in store for Saturday’s show and, of course, what they think of Flying Dog beer. As always, we’ll be at Flying Dog this Saturday, supporting the fine people at Flying Dog and these fine bands (notice the brand new playlist on the right) by giving away koozies, setting up a table, and giving away tickets. Come say hi. Today, we speak with John Paul Pitts of Surfer Blood.

Congratulations on the latest record, “1000 Palms.” You wrote it without a record deal in hand? I didn’t know that. Is that true?

That is true. For the record before this, we were on a major label, which is a deal we signed pretty soon after our first record came out. And we went through that whole major label process, which is the opposite of everything we had done up until that point. Our label sank lots and lots of money into that record, and it didn’t really sell as well as they were thinking, so they dropped us. In December 2013, a few days before Christmas. It didn’t really come as much of a surprise to us. So, we decided we were going to get together and just record the first 10 songs we came up with to keep it really simple and pure. We figured it would be better to just make a record ourselves and see what happened afterward.

How did that influence the writing? Did it have a positive impact on the creation of the album?

I think it did, yeah. I think it’s always better when you don’t have lots and lots of people weighing in on the creative process. We made our first record before anyone even knew who our band was, so we thought it would be good to do something like that again.

I’ve been catching up on your music videos all day, and I’m interested to know your opinion on music videos these days. You guys have some really good ones, and the thing about that is, there’s no real MTV, no real mainstream outlet for music videos anymore. What kind of importance do you think those type of promotional tools have in today’s musical climate?

That’s a good question. I feel like the days of the big single and the big video are kind of behind us. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing because when I sit down and write a song, I never say to myself, “This is going to be the big single, this is going to be the only song that anyone ever knows off this record.” That’s never been my mentality. And I’ve always thought that music videos should be a low-pressure situation that’s just fun for everyone. We’ve made one music video with a decent budget and it turned out really good, but putting that kind of pressure on a situation isn’t … I mean, considering how it’s not 20 years ago, at the very least, it should be just something that’s very enjoyable and feels good.

You guys broke out in 2009 and 2010. You did CMJ in 2009 and 2010 at South By Southwest. Another change in the past five to 10 years is in those music discovery festivals like South By Southwest. I know a lot of people have become annoyed at how corporate those events have become — do you agree with that? Do you think those kinds of outlets and festivals and events have the same kind of impact they once did?

I don’t really know. I’m not an A&R person, and I can’t imagine what it would be like to be an A&R person, but it does seem like every year there has to be a breakout band at South By Southwest and CMJ. Like, “Who are we going to pick this year to be the one.” That being said, I can never say thank you enough to both of those. We went to CMJ in 2009, and people were starting to figure out who we were, but by the time we left, we were on the front page of the arts section in the New York Times. That was pretty much the biggest thing that ever happened to me at that point. We still go and play South By Southwest, but we usually only play three or four shows for our fans who are there. I don’t know what it’s like in 2015, being the band playing 12, 13 shows, in the way we were trying to get someone to pay attention to you.

You guys opened for the Pixies and I read that there’s an interesting story about how you guys got on that tour. Can you tell that story?

I like to think that this is the story. It’s never been confirmed, but we’ve never been shy about the fact that we’re a big fan of that band and they’ve been a big influence on us. We did a cover of their song “Gigantic” for an Internet-type session for The AV Club and when that came out, we had just submitted to be support on a tour with them. Pretty soon after the video came out, we found out that we got the tour, that we were going to do it. So, I like to think that maybe that sort of pushed it over the edge.

That’s gotta be like a dream come true.

Yeah. Yeah, it was a dream come true in a lot of ways. Getting to watch that set every night. Just the honor of opening for them. I watched that set every night and never got tired of it.

Now, you guys are coming here to play at Flying Dog Brewery, so I have to ask if you’ve ever tried Flying Dog beer.

I have.

Do you have a favorite?

The only one I’ve ever tried is Raging Bitch, and I remember really liking it.

I also saw that the night before the show here, you’re going to be at Dogfish. So, not to put you on the spot, but is there one you like more than the other?

(Laughs.) Oh, I’m not going to say. I’m going to plead the fifth on that one. But this will be fun. It’s always exciting because people who make beer are usually really passionate about it and are usually not shy about talking your ear off about it. And of all the things in the world to listen to someone talk about, that’s one of the … to me, that’s really cool and interesting.

July 16, 2015 0 comment

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