No Silence!

No introduction needed on this one.

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No Silence Zine!: Parrot Flies seems to be more experimental than your last few releases. What caused this decision to change your sound slightly? I mean the Algernon feel is still there, but it’s very much so a different album, I can see the progression there. It rules, by the way.

Joe Reinhart: Thanks! Its different because its a different band. SKOC had a another drummer and guitarist. Truth be told, stylistically there is little to no thought put into anything until we pick up our instruments. Next, we just do what comes naturally.


NS: You have your own studio, how’s that going? What are your rates? What bands have you been recording as of late?

JR: I feel very lucky to be able to wake up(usually later in the day) and help people make their music into something tangible. Really an interesting concept to create something where there was once nothing. Its a good feeling. I charge $20hr which is not a lot of money. But for people in bands it is, so i never really keep an eye on the clock. It’s not about that, its about having a great end product. I would like to take this time to scream from the Mountain Tops about 2 records i just got back from Mastering. Ape Up!’s new LP “Kemosabe” on Count Your Lucky Stars and Hop Alongs’s “Get Yourself Disowned” will be on our own Hot Green Records. Its cool to have been apart of making these extraordinary records with such talented friends.


NS: What’s Algernon up to these days? Any new songs being recorded? Any plans to tour soon? The Midwest misses you.

JR: Everyone is kinda doing their own thing right now. Tank is going back to school and just finished a great new 7” with his other band The Stable Boys. Peter and myself, in addition to running the studio and our new record label, play in Mike Bell And The Movies who also have a new 7” coming out. Algernon has some cool shows/fests that im very excited to play. Not playing makes my all antsy pantsy.

NS: How’d you guys all meet?

JR: I met Peter on the bus because he was listening to Pinkerton super loud on his headphones and Tank through various bands in the same scene. We all played together in different bands and when Nick Tazza left Algernon there was only one person we had in mind. Tank.


NS: Where the FUCK did the name come from?

JR: Algernon Cadwallader was a prominent politial figure in the town we grew up in Yardley, PA. The Cadwalladers actually bought the land from William Penn. Its a funky name that we were sure people would forget and have trouble pronouncing. Perfect. Also at some time, peter was playing in like 50 bands and mentioned that if we used that name he would make Algernon Cadwallader his main priority. Having a band with out a name didnt make it feel like anything real yet, so Algernon Cadwallader was born.


NS: Do your recording and musical influences differ?

JR: Barely. Musically when argue about a part or something it is always for the best. As far as recording is concerned, Peter and Tank push me to do my best and trust me with that end of things just like i trust peter with artwork or something business related. When it comes to putting the ipod on the van(R.I.P.) we all groove to the same kick.

NS: Favorite Beatle?

JR: This is probably the topic we aregue the most about as a band. Since im doing the interview, its John.


NS: What do you want to have achieved with Algernon when all is said and done?

JR: At this point, our dumb little band has far exceeded any expectations i have ever had. Anything on top of the already miraculous things that have happened to us the last 6 years would be icing on the cake. And I don’t take a second of it for granted

NS: Favorite city to play? Favorite venue?

JR: Favorite venue is probably 924 Gilman Street. Just playing there was a long time dream come true, but on top of that, we had an amazing show with 1994!, Snowing, Joyce fucking Manor, and a ton wild kids. Favorite city to play. Philly.

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You’ve all heard Algernon, no bandcamp needed. Check them out when they play near you, though. They put on one of the best live shows I’ve ever seen.

Kyle Luck is a visionary. Dude is so smart and talented, I’m honored to have been friends with him since preschool.  Check out this interview and then go listen to him afterwards.

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No Silence Zine!: So the Exploration was sort of defunct for a while there. What happened there? Why did you decide to restart doing it?

Kyle Luck: Well, I guess I realized that a few people were still listening. Which I thought was really strange. I feel like, for the first time, there are actually people who want to hear more. And frankly, I miss making music. 

NS: Are you writing right now? What’s your next release going to be?

KL: Well, actually my next release will be a split with Jack (Sailor Heart). I’ve been taking forever trying to write some acoustic stuff for that and will probably finish up recording in the next few days. As far as The Exploration, I haven’t written much, yet. I’d like to do more but college drains your time and I don’t have an electric up here in Grand Rapids. I’m planning on writing a few new songs, though. I’m also going to go back and re-record some of the older stuff. I’d really like to put out a legit full length as something to look back on and be proud of, but I don’t know if that’s feasible or if that will happen.

NS: The Exploration is a story of sorts, correct? Some sort of concept project. Tell us a little bit about what the story is.

KL: That’s right. All of the lyrics and songs are part of a greater science-fiction(ish) narrative. The story is about a boy tentatively named Drew who’s father was drafted into the military for a world war. He never really has a father growing up and resents that fact pretty intensely. There’s also a lot that goes on between his father   and mother, Lily. So “Somewhere in the Middle,” for instance, is about missing Lily from the perspective Drew’s dad (whose name I have forgotten). It’s been a while since I’ve worked on the story but I do hope to continue weaving it into the music.

NS: That seriously rules. What inspired you to make this project a concept? Knowing you personally, I know you’re all about doing things differently.

KL: I’m not entirely sure, to be honest. It was good for a few reasons. One, I could write about things that were incredibly personal and still keep it anonymous. I also really suck at metaphors so this made writing easier for me. Recently, the concept of narrative has become even more dear to me for a lot of reasons. So, while I was never really intentional about telling that story, it ended up working out. If anything, I expect the new stuff will revolve even more around the story. I definitely want to bring more attention to it, because I feel like it helps to set the music apart as a deeper work of art. It also enhances the listening experience and offers an additional method of engagement. When I find out people don’t know about it, I get kind of bummed ‘cause while it should be appreciated simply as music it was totally meant to be a puzzle, too.

NS: This is a one man band. Do you plan on playing shows in the future? If you do, will it be just you or will you have other people take up instruments and stuff?

KL: I’d love to play some shows over the summer. I really like the idea of having permanent members but last time that happened it just fizzled out into Willower (which, although fun, didn’t last). Understandably, people don’t like just playing parts that I wrote. So, if I could manage to find a solid group of people who understood the vision I have for the music and were committed to that, I would be totally down for making it a full band.

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Check out kyle on bandcamp: www.theexploration.bandcamp.com

and add him on facebook! yert!

I Facebook interviewed Nicholas Tazza. He rules. Check out this interview or die.

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No Silence Zine!: What’s going on with Ape Up! at the moment? Anything cool?

Nicholas Tazza: Fuck yea! We have an LP coming out on Count Your Lucky Stars Records in March and we just recorded a new EP with Joe over at Headroom Studios about a month ago. That will be coming out on some sort of 7” at some point. We are also heading over to Europe in May to drink a lot of beer!

NS: Joe from Algernon?

NT: Yuppers. Joegernon.

NS: How was it working with him?

NT: It is always amazing. He has a way of recording my drums that makes me sound better than I actually am. He also brings the party. So it is usually one hour of recording, and 30 hours of doing other things.

NS: You also worked with Joe for a few years, seeing as you were the original drummer to Algernon Cadwallader, right? How was it being in Algernon?

NT: Joe has actually recorded every project I have been a part of since 2005 now that I think about it. Playing in Algernon was always a lot of fun. The best part about it was playing with my friends. Algernon was pretty much a normal band back then.

NS: But seeing as they’ve blown up since you quit the band, do you regret leaving?

NT: Never. Bands to me have always been about friendships. We are all still very close. I am actually going to call Joe in a bit and tell him he sucks. If I never would have left Algernon then I never would have formed the most epic band ever, Ape Up! 

NS: Ape Up! does rule. You’re touring Europe, are you going alone?

NT: We are touring with our buds in Prawn. Mayhem will ensue.

NS: I toured with Prawn when I was in Merchant Ships. They’re the best dudes, ever. Well, okay. Are you planning on signing to any labels soon to release your new EP?

NT: MERCHANT SHIPS RULED.

NS: Fuck you die. Answer the question.

NT: We have no idea what is happening with the new EP yet. We spoke to Joe about maybe Hot Green Records putting it out. So that might happen. We are not really stressing about it. We just want people to hear the songs. We are super proud of them.

NS: Tight. Well thanks for letting me interview you dude!

NT: No probz.

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All you Europeans, check out Ape Up! on their upcoming tour. Everyone else, check out Ape Up! here: www.apeup.bandcamp.com

This one man band is currently changing my life. Reminded me of what group vocals are. If you haven’t heard this project, it’s of dire importance to check it out pronto. Here’s the bandcamp link, I’ll be posting it at the end of the interview too. www.girlfriends.bandcamp.com

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No Silence Zine!: My friend and I are having a dispute as to whether or not you’ve started playing with a full band or if you’re still doing a one man band. Care to let us in?

Jerry Joiner: I’m glad you brought this up, I’m sure it must be confusing. For this past summer tour, I was pretty desperately looking for something to make me like music again. I wasn’t interested in playing my old songs anymore, didn’t have a good idea on how I wanted to tackle new songs and didn’t feel satisfaction being at home. So, when Duck. Little Brother, Duck! mentioned going on tour I kind of wedged myself in and ended up going with them. When it came closer to the time we were supposed to leave, I was set on the idea that I didn’t want to play by myself all tour, so I got two friends (Reid Stubblefield and David Plell) to help play new songs. I didn’t really have new songs but I figured it would push me to write new stuff. It sort of did, but all at the last minute. We wrote all five songs we played on tour in three days, so I can’t say I’m particularly proud of any of them (though a couple are pretty good, I feel). To answer your question, that setup was temporary. That’s not to say I wont try something similar in the future, but for now I’m continuing mostly by myself; by myself meaning without a full band, though I will never say I don’t draw on and use ideas that others have helped me develop.

NS: What inspired you to start doing this project?

JJ: I was tired of not doing anything. So, I took out a lot of student loans, bought an amp, electric guitar, drum set and pedals and then it just sort of happened. I found out my delay pedal had a loop function and the first thing I played was the song “New Computers”. That’s really about it. From there I realized I wanted to do more and moved to Portland.

NS: It’s been a while since you’ve released anything. Are you writing for anything right now?

John Galm of Snowing/Street Smart Cyclist fame facebook chatted an interview with me about a day in the life of John, how he’s playing guitar in a new project, and the fact that he failed at sports as a child. Just kidding about that last thing. John Galm is awesome, so read this interview and check out his new project when it comes out!

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No Silence Zine!: What influenced you to start writing music? (Bands, events, etc.)

John Galm: Well, my parents wanted all the galm children to have some sort of extra curricular activity to do. they didn’t want us being bums after school, essentially, so joey played baseball and jill played soccer, and I tried basketball for a few years but really didn’t enjoy it (looking back, I wish I could’ve tried hockey, but my parents were definitely too big of worriers to ever let that happen). I think my parents sensed my frustration and suggested guitar lessons. my dad had an acoustic, so they signed me up for lessons and I really loved it. even from the beginning, though, I always had a hard time staying interested learning other people songs. I started writing before I even knew how to play. and I was really into weezer at the time. it was right before the green album came out and they just broke their six year hiatus, and I was completely enamored by how completely cool they were. I would sit on weezer.com and watch live videos for hours and just dream of being that cool. yeah, I mean, just from loving weezer, I knew that I wanted to be in a band.  I didn’t really care about becoming some sort of virtuoso on the guitar.  I just wanted to get people together and play, which I did pretty much immediately after I learned how to play guitar.  all of those bands were really bad, and all of them covered weezer.

NS: Your first band, Audio Recording Club, was reminiscent of Fall Out Boy and other pop punk bands. What band/bands influenced your switch to the emo genre?

JG: it wasn’t so much bands as it was people.  I was already into the promise ring and cap’n jazz and mineral and all the jade tree stuff when ARC was playing.  jon  and dave geeting had started street smart cyclist and written “hoods up” before they started looking for new members.  ross ended up playing guitar and they asked if I wanted to sing.  I kind of just got roped into it by being friends with the guys.

NS: Street Smart Cyclist had so much hype going for it, as you can tell by the amount of people that drove countless hours to see you during your reunion shows, why not continue doing that? Same with Snowing, why not continue doing what has brought you so much success as a musician?

JG: I mean, bands break up. there’s a variety of reasons for that. neither ssc nor snowing made sense to continue doing on a personal level, so to keep on going just because it was successful would have been disingenuous. 

NS: Tell us a little bit about new projects you’re doing.

JG: I’ve got one new project in the works, but we’re trying to keep it low key for the moment since we are still in the inception stages.  it is exciting though.  one cool thing is that I am finally playing guitar in a band again, which really changes the dynamic of how I approach songwriting.  the songs so far sound vastly different than snowing.  I actually took a break from finishing up my teaching certification to get this band together, so I’m hoping within the next few months we’re doing some cool things.

NS: Describe a day in the life of John Galm.

JG: lately, it’s been pretty bland.  wake up, drink coffee, trudge through another twenty pages of “Gravity’s Rainbow,” eat a peanut butter sandwich, play some nhl 12, work if I’m scheduled, hang out.  I’m kind of in a transition period right now where I’m just working a lot and biding my time until I move closer to my new musical project.  I don’t really go out much.  occasionally I’ll get dinner with some friends.

NS: How do you feel about your scene, on the East Coast? The people, the bands, the venues, etc. etc. What do you think should be done differently, if anything at all?

JG: I like it out east.  there is a general toughness in the vibe of its cities and towns that I feel comes across in the people.  everyone is moody.  people are struggling.  it’s nice.  a lot of the bands seem to do whatever they want and care little about what other people are doing, which is great.  it makes for interesting bands.  there are always great houses and venues out east, too.  I generally enjoy it quite a bit. I’m speaking strictly the tri-state area, though.  I have no clue what goes on north of connecticut.

NS: Tell us a funny story about being on the road.

JG: one time, in columbus, I watched chris diehm throw up mid sentence.  another time, at a house in cleveland, a kid was showing off his taser after the show and another guy offered to get shot in the ass with it.  so the guy pulls down his pants and this other guy starts tasing him, but the batteries were low and it wasn’t doing anything.  the poor kid with the taser looked so bummed, so we got everyone to chant “your butt sucks,” turning the tables and making everyone happy.

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John Galm rules, I don’t care what anyone has to say about him (not that I’ve heard anything negative, just sayin’), and his new band is undoubtedly going to rule. Check it out, keep up with him and his projects, he’s the fucking man.

Now, along with sweet written interviews, we will be posting VIDEO FOOTAGE of both interviews and bands playing acoustic versions of their songs! The first two sessions are me, Nick, from Park Jefferson doing an original and a cover of a Tigers Jaw song. check them out here!

www.nosilencezine.tumblr.com/nosilencesessions

The scene in Indianapolis is undoubtedly thriving. The shows are all passionate, intense, family get-togethers. It’s time some of these bands get recognition for being awesome. Check out this interview, quick.

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No Silence Zine: First off, state your name and what you do in Indian City Weather.

Tyler Bayne: My name is Tyler and I play drums and percussion in Indian City Weather.

NS: Alright, Indianapolis has some really great bands coming out of it now, ie. deadghost. and Pessoa. As well as your band. The scene there is also really thriving right now. Going to a show there is always a fucking amazing experience. How does it feel to be a part of such a great, thriving scene?

TB: As far as being a part of the Indianapolis scene is concerned, Indian City Weather is pretty young. We played our first show maybe a year and a half ago. In the past year and a half, I’ve seen a new level of acceptance grow among showgoers that I never saw before I was in a band. We’ve played shows with straight up rap artists, other indie hip/hop groups, hardcore, emo bands, etc. It seems now that the focus has sort of shifted towards more creative music as opposed to a few years ago when the scene was dominated by heavy bands, kids are more keen to check out something completely different than they’re used to. Personally, as far as a show that really changed my perception of the scene in Indianapolis were the few shows we played with our good buddies in Venable (RIP) They played pretty much straight up melodic metalcore, but they were really close friends of ours, so we hopped on shows with them, albeit a tad reluctantly. We were afraid that we’d be eaten alive by fans who were ready for really heavy music. We received our best reception at these shows. The energy of a hardcore show mixed with the accepting attitude of a more open minded crowd led to us playing some of our best shows with Venable.

NS: Very true. And the reason why I like your band is because you went where no other bands were going and mixed in the whole hip hop genre to your music. Very cool. Can you tell us a little bit about why you decided to do so?

TB: The hip-hop aspect of our band was not really deliberate. Niqolas, the primary lyricist and emcee and I went to high school together and both shared a love of REAL hip-hop. Sage Francis, Saul Williams, The Roots, etc. And eventually we met the two guitarists in the band, Joe and Jonah and worked on rough bedroom tracks (that nobody will ever hear) that started the blending of the genres We really had no idea what genres we were blending. And because we start writing songs with more of an emphasis on the hip-hop side of things, it’s left us open to explore multiple different genres without it being contrived. After all, conventional hip-hop is sample based music, with music being sampled from pretty much every genre. We lucked out. We can pretty much integrate any genre of music we’re into and somehow it just works.

NS: That fucking rules. What does the future hold for Indian City Weather?

TB: Well as of right now, this very second, I’m working on building a cyber grassroots movement to get us on this Super Bowl show with The Roots and Jane’s Addiction. It’s a contest held through Rolling Stone magazine and it’s voter based, so I’m pooling all of my resources and trying to move us up, vote wise, so we can play with a band that’s been extremely inspirational to us from the start. But long term, we’re going to rock it until the wheels fall off. We’ve had a really good year, considering we released a 4 song E.P over a year ago and people are still coming out to shows to hear pretty much the same songs. We decided not too long ago to take a break from playing shows and start shedding on all of this new material we’re sitting on. We’ve got damn near a full length albums worth of material that just needs shifted around a tweaked. But yeah, I’d say 2012 will see another E.P from Indian City Weather, if not an E.P and a full length album. We’re also planning on getting out of Indianapolis quite a bit once we have our new material solid enough to share with people. I sometimes feel like we’re saturating the Indianapolis market with our music. We play tons of shows and from a business stand point, that can sometimes be a bad thing. I think our gameplan at this point is to fall off the map for a hot second and come back in the spring time with new material and then start hitting up other states.

NS: Where did you get the name, Indian City Weather?

TB: To me, it’s just a reference to our city, Indianapolis, and how unpredictable the weather can be. Real Hoosiers are used to it and there’s that old joke, ‘If you don’t like the weather in Indianapolis, wait a minute, it’ll change’. So to me, it was just something that paid homage to where we’re from and included a tiny piece of Indianapolis that every from here can identify with. Sometimes when people ask, we’re like ‘Well, Indian City means Indianapolis, and the weather here sucks. And so do we.

NS: Other than deadghost. and PESSOA, are there any of your friends’ bands that you’d like for people to go check out?

TB: God, yes. It’s All Happening, Don’t Call It A Comeback, Caelume, Gamma Pulse, This Is Me, Stone Throats, etc

NS: Well thanks for letting me interview you!

TB: No problem, dude.

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Check out Indian City Weather here: www.indiancityweather.bandcamp.com

as well as other amazing bands from the Indy scene here: www.pessoa.bandcamp and here: www.deadghost.bandcamp.com

I threw this interview together in about ten minutes. Hopefully we’ll have another interview with Greg soon after the big LP is released. Here’s little tidbits about his personal life to last you until then. (Did you know: Greg Horbal started the Twinkle Daddies term?)

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No Silence!: You’re probably the most hard working musician in our scene, based on conversations we’ve had in the past. Do you have any tips or anything for musicians wanting to do something with their music?

Greg Horbal: Thanks! The best tip that I can offer is just to put your time in. Some bands get everything handed to them without much effort, but most work really hard to get there. It’s funny to think about how long I’ve gone from knowing nothing to probably knowing way too much about everything. Just go into everything with an open mind and some hard work. Things might work out, they might not, but as long are you’re having fun it’s all worth it.

NS: How does it feel being in such successful bands, starting with My Heart to Joy and going into The world Is.?

GH: I don’t like to think that all of the things that My Heart to Joy or the World is… are going to fall under a blanket term like “success”. There are certinly things that went well for both bands, but there’s always room for improvement in everything you do. I think it’s important to always be looking for whatever your personal definition of success is, but never to be content. You can always do better, write a better song, play a better set; you can always be a better person. Being content makes things stale. Success on one day should be your failure the next. 

NS: What do you like to do when you’re not playing music?

GH: Really not much. I work as an engineer right now for the state of Connecticut. It’s a 40-hour-a-week gig. It’s weird being an adult. When I come home I spend a lot of time booking tours for a few bands as Hope This Helps Booking. Right now I’m really only working with Xerxes, Code Orange Kids and Daylight, but I think a few more will be with me in a month or two. It’s still weird to me to have a free night—I have felt that way forever. It’s funny, I was just talking to my girlfriend last night about how much of a one-track mind I have, and I seriously spend so little time doing anything else. 

NS: What does the future hold for The World is a A Beautiful Place and I am No Longer Afraid to Die?

GH: We’ve been writing for an LP and a few other smaller releases ever since we finished our split with Deer Leap. I’m really excited. We still have a lot of work to do but I’m really happy with all the songs we have demo’d out at this point. Besides that I think we’re going to be doing an extensive midwest tour in late March and will hopefully be going to Europe in July with a band I really, really respect. Can’t talk about that yet though. 

NS: What got you started playing music?

GH: My childhood friend Ethan taught me to play the bass guitar so we could start a band together. We spent all of high school playing in this really bad pop punk band called London Classics. I think what kept me in it though was the sense of adventure. Although we mostly played in Connecticut, we spent every weekend away from home, in these different towns meeting different people because of our band. It was a ton of fun and I loved it more then anything. When we went to college that band kinda fell apart and I took a lot of the things I learned and applied them to My Heart to Joy when I was asked to play second guitar. 

Ethan and I actually play together now in a band called Summit that doesn’t do much often. We had an EP called Small Talk that I love but i don’t think too many people actually heard. (http://summitfromct.bandcamp.com/)

NS: My mom wants to know, if you were a donut, what kind of donut would you be?

GH:Boston Cream, DUH.

NS: What are your views on “straight edge”?

GH: Most people my age give up the straight edge term, but I’ve held on to it. I like using the term, I think it kept me out of a lot of dumb shit when I was younger and I’m continue to live happy and focsued without having to turn to drugs to have fun. Chris Teti and I have been X’ing up way more often at shows because we have the mentality of 12 year olds.

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Check out the world is…on bandcamp here: www.theworldis.bandcamp.com