Indie Sounds NY & Austin

Kalu, Nakia Could Use Some Help

Two well known - and very talented - Austin artists are looking to raise money to fund their next recording project.  Help them out if you can and keep the great music coming.

Kalu James:

Kickstarter Project

Nakia:

PledgeMusic Project

Pete's Weekend Picks: The Eastern Sea, Il Abanico

For Austin:



The Eastern Sea are performing at the W Hotel (in the Record Room bar) as part of the Living Room Live series, put on by The Sessions.  It's on Memorial Day, 9pm.  Wild Child gets things going.

For NYC:



Columbia to NYC transplants Il Abanico are at Rockwood 1 tonight at 10pm.

Five Minutes with David Pulkingham

Alejandro Escovedo used to call him the Sensitive Boy - more than the lead guitarist in his band, but his right hand man in many ways.  Now, David Pulkingham is branching out on his own, singing his own songs, and of course playing the guitar, better than just about anyone.  Indie Sounds got the scoop on the solo move and what's next.



Indie Sounds: After quite a few years playing with Alejandro Escovedo, you've decided to do your own thing.  That's a pretty big move, so why did you make it?

David Pulkingham: I first played with Alejandro in 2000.  My first gig with him was a taping of Austin City Limits.  For the last seven years, I have been on just about every gig he has played ... up until last month.

Pete's Weekend Picks: Sara Overall, Kaiser Cartel

For Austin:



Sara Overall is at Club 606 on Saturday at midnight.  New tunes and new arrangements, she says.

For NYC:


Photo by Anthony Byrd

Kaiser Cartel play their final (?) gig tonight at Rockwood 2, 8pm.  Courtney is moving to Michigan.

Ruby Jane Video For "Wake Up"

From Ruby Jane's upcoming album - Celebrity (empire of emptiness) - due June 19th. More on Austin's Ruby Jane here.

Five Minutes with Emily Wolfe

Emily Wolfe dropped me an email a few weeks back - "You don't know me but ..." - to say she has a new record that I might like to hear.  It took just 10 seconds listening to the attached song Lion Heart to determine that indeed I might.  That track promptly made it on to the latest Harris Radio podcast and I've been spinning the entire album on my iPod repeatedly ever since.  It's just that good.  Indie Sounds caught up with Emily - who just graduated St. Edwards University - to find out more about the album, how it got recorded, and where she's playing out around town.  You'll wanna know that for sure.


Photo by Hannah Hagar

Indie Sounds: So you just released your debut album - called Director's Notes.  What's in the name?

Emily Wolfe: The title of the record is derived from a monologue in the Shakespeare play As You Like It ...

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.

When I started writing, I was going through a really painful relationship fall out that lasted for several months.  I didn’t expect any of the songs I was writing to turn into a full album; I just wrote because it was cathartic.  But during the time I kind of felt like I was playing the seven parts that Shakespeare mentions - the infant, the school boy, the lover, the soldier, justice, the judge, and the old man ... but in relation to the seven stages of grief.  There were times when I felt like someone else was directing my life, or like I didn’t have any say in the way things were going to play out.  So, to me, the songs on the record are just notes that I took about my life in between scenes.  They’re notes about what happened, what I wanted to happen, and what I thought the ending would look like.

Pete's Weekend Picks: Ukemi, NLX

For Austin:



Ukemi kick off a night at Flipnotics on Saturday at 8pm.  Anam Mila and Annabella follow.

For NYC:


Photo by Ruthie

NLX is performing at 8.30pm tonight at Caffe Vivaldi.  New songs ahead of recording in July.

Five Minutes with Paul Oveisi of ZirZamin

Since departing Austin for NYC last year, Paul Oveisi has been a busy man - running music for Hill Country BBQ's expanding empire, and now opening his own intimate space in Manhattan's Greenwich Village, dubbed ZirZamin.  Indie Sounds got the scoop on the new venue, what Paul thinks about the NYC music scene, and whether Austin is still in his future.



Indie Sounds: So, you have a new venue - in NYC - called ZirZamin.  For starters, what does ZirZamin mean?

Paul Oveisi: It means "underground" in Farsi.  I went back and forth on this a lot.  I really, really wanted to call the club ZirZamin but a lot of folks said it was too ethnic or too tough to pronounce.  After awhile, I just decided to go with my gut.  I couldn't stop thinking about the word.  It means more than literally "underground" but reflects the attitude musicians have in Iran, where the government prohibits music and artists literally have to find hidden spaces to work on their craft.

The Soldier Thread Videos For "Pretty Bones" and "No Parachute"

Pretty Bones ...



No Parachute ...



More on The Soldier Thread here.

Pete's Weekend Picks: Grace London, Suzanna Choffel

For Austin:



Grace London is at the Pecan Street Festival, Trinity Stage, Sunday at noon.

For NYC:



Suzanna Choffel is at new venue ZirZamin, debuting her NYC band tonight, around midnight.