Circuit Sweet Interview, Feature

Valleyarm Digital Media Distribution Presents: Absolute USA Punk Rock Compilation Interview [Feature]

November 17, 2011

 

As mentioned during the next few weeks we will be promoting an upcoming Punk Compilation curated by Valleyarm Digital Media Distribution and the hard work of Matt Diewald- a man who is passionate about his musical taste. With many featured artists already recognised names here at Circuit Sweet; we will be bringing you closer to the release and closer to the bands with in-depth interviews and more. The compilation preview can be found NOW streaming on all of the featured Valleyarm compilation posts. Listen below.
Valleyarm Digital Media Distribution to Release Punk Rock Compilation
Globally November 29th, 2011
From the basements and living rooms of countless young people in America, punk rock has taken a surprising return to the underground of today’s independent music scene. Today’s punk boys and girls have stopped focusing on the commercial possibilities of punk music, so they can set their sights on what really matters: the music.
Combining a love for DIY-ethics with the accessibility of the internet, a new scene of kids were learning to play music and share it with their friends in the same way it had been done in the 1980s and 1990s. Bands and fans broke down barriers to form relationships both professional and personal. The goal to just have fun became increasingly attractive to those who were sick of a public that doted on rock stars.
Tracklisting
1. Banquets – Fireplug
2. Rooftops – Raft Easily
3. Snowing – I Think We’re in Minsk
4. Fugue – White Tiger of the West
5. You Blew It! – Hope It’s Not a Deposit Bottle!
6. Small Brown Bike – In Need of Everything
7. Jet Set Sail – The Definitive Guide to Jet Set Sail
8. Arrows – Surely Not? Afraid So
9. Monument – Goddamned Claw Machine
10. Leave Let Be – You Don’t Touch Me
11. Over Stars and Gutters – They Left a Note
12. Dowsing – …And That’s Why You Always Leave a Note
13. Empire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate) – Rally the Troops! Poke Holes In Their Defenses! Line Our Coffers with Their Coffins
14. Pessoa – Wellohwell
15. Duck, Little Brother, Duck! – Steve Jobs (All Is Fun Until Someone Gets Stabbed)
16. Prawn – Wesley’s Pipe Dreams
17. CSTVT – Cities & Memory

Starting our interview features began with opening band on the compilation, Banquets; you can revisit their interview here.

Continuing our in-depth look at the featured artists comes from our second interview with You Blew It!

You Blew It are a rad 4 piece signed to regularly featured Topshelf Records. Consisting of Timothy Flynn, Tanner Jones, Trevor O’Hare and David Fuentes- this compelling punk band started as a bedroom band in 2009 and have since released their first self release EP  featuring five living room recorded songs this followed by the band’s  remarkable release, “The Past In Present” courtesy of Good Friends Records, and after their signing to Topshelf earlier this year the band are set to release an LP. Make sure you download Orlando’s favourable four’s release which you can name your price and download via You Blew It’s Bandcamp.

We find out about the bands feelings towards the punk community they thrive in and continuing to stay relevant in the ever changing music industry..

  •  What is/are the best aspect(s) of the punk rock community today? What do you find to be the most annoying? 
The best aspect of arguably being a part of the punk rock community is exactly that. It’s a community. For the past year we’ve been e-mailing complete strangers that live hours and hours away, begging them to let us play their house, and by some miracle they always say yes.
 What’s awesome too, is that more often than not, they’ve gone out of their way to buy us tacos or bring home extra food from work. Although the most annoying part of the punk rock community has to be how judgmental it can feel sometimes. But I have a hard time even accepting that as a characteristic of the community mostly because I don’t think punk rock really has room for any asshole losers like that. They probably dress and act like they’re a part of the community my best friends and I call home, but really they’re just some no good jaded idiot putting themselves up on some pedestal, when really — as a community that’s built on having each other’s backs — punk rock INTRINSICALLY has no pedestals to step on…”. At least that’s the way I see it.
  •  Living in the same city that is home to Disney World, Universal Studios, and Sea World theme parks, how would you show people what Orlando, Florida is really like? Is there an active artist subculture in the area?
 Well AFTER Wizarding World of Harry Potter, we’d probably take them to a Go Rydell show. Mostly because the scene here in Orlando, much like the rest of Florida, is really tough. It’s mostly dominated by out of touch promoters and pay-to-play clubs. Most of the genuine, great art that comes out of this area still struggles to draw 20 kids to house shows. It’s getting better though. It really is. Pre-Fest shows get bigger and bigger here every year, and a ton more touring bands are coming through to play small bars and art galleries around this area. It’s just taken a ton of effort from us and some of our closest friends to get something genuine going in Florida again. Punk or not.
  •  How has You Blew It! attempted to stay on top of the way the music industry has changed in the last 10 years? How would you weigh in with the ease of accessibility vs. the difficulty in making music a full time job?
 Honestly, staying on top of the music industry is one of our last concerns. This started out as a hobby and it’s been that way ever since February 2009 when YBI started. We’re just a couple of kids singing about things that matter to us. If we make some gas money on it, great. If not, it’s fine. We see this as paying to do something we enjoy. We’d much rather have the music scene be easily accessible for kids like us to play shows than put it back in the hands of a few snotty promoters in it for cash. That’s worth way more to us.
  • Things can become tedious touring in vans around the country; what do you do to break up the monotony? What are you best/worst things about being on tour?
 To be honest with you, as a band, I don’t think we’ve ever really experienced the whole “TENSIONS RUN SO HIGH ON TOUR” cliché, I mean, sometimes we get hungry and we bicker about fast food or gas, but that’s about the extent of it. Boredom is a HUGE factor though. That much is absolutely true. We don’t really have any foolproof ways of chasing it off though. We mostly make fart jokes or watch movies until our laptops die I guess.
 The best part of tour is tour. I can’t describe to you the feeling of being 1,000 miles away from home and playing to a packed house in the middle of winter. That and the scenery. Our landscapes are very limited to water and grass here in Florida, so seeing the seasons on tour is one of our favorite things about it.

 The worst thing about tour is probably the night drives. No one wants to do them, but more often than not, they’re essential. Either that or tour aids. I always underestimate lack of sleep and vitamins, and by the 2nd week I’m face down in the back of the van drowning in vitamin C asking my mom what the best sinus decongestant is.


Interview Curated By Matt. Thanks to both Matt and You Blew It!


You can now Listen to the Compilation streaming below-
Absolute USA Punk Rock Compilation

Absolute USA Punk Rock is teeming with un-jaded, unbridled excitement from men and women who just want to create music together, and that’s what makes this release so refreshing. Veteran punks Small Brown Bike fit nicely next to younger bands like Pessoa, Banquets, Over Stars and Gutters, and Snowing. CSTVT, You Blew It, and Australia’s own Arrows re-invigorate the style while maintaining their own unique punk.
Get More from You Blew It!-
https://www.facebook.com/youblewitfl

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