“I totally wiped out for you, St Louis!” : Loufest Day 1

By: Nathan Moore, Titus Andronicus and Broken Social Scene Photos By: Gale Whitehead

Flashback, 9 months:  I’m at a watch party for the Texas – Nebraska football game.  See my old summer camp counselor across the room.  Go say hi.  Turns out it’s not my old camp counselor, but a cool guy nonetheless. We get to talking and get to this point of the conversation:

Brian: Yeah, I’m going to put on an ACL in St Louis (ACL = the Austin City Limits music festival, a massive annual bash with headliners like Bob Dylan, Pearl Jam and Coldplay) next year.

Me (out loud): Yeah, sounds awesome.

Me (inside): Yeah, and I’m going to put on an Al Sharpton rally in Ladue. Shit, I’ve said some really out there things at a bar in my day, but at least they were believable.

Flash forward, today:  Brian Cohen, LouFest principle organizer, pulled it off.  Forest Park has been converted into a St. Louis music lover’s mini-paradise.  Everything is here:  a stage for kid’s music, a climbing wall, a dozen of St Louis’s finest restauarants, selling cheap food (aka the “Nosh Pit”), an EcoVillage featuring environmental groups, a market for local businesses, a Euclid Records festival store, a graffiti wall, friendly volunteers, beer tents, a VIP lounge, a jumbotron, and, oh yeah, two massive stages ready to host the best in local and national talent for two blissful summer days.

My day started with a scramble to find a pen (top notch journalist here) which ended with Debbie at Fun in the Sun, a local sunglasses merchant set up in the market.   Debbie’s been selling sunglasses at local events for years, and she claims that she can tell from the event what style of glasses will sell. So, I ask her: “what’s going to sell at LouFest?”  ”Well,” she says, “what type of people are coming?” “Skinny white people,” I respond.  Without hesitation – “Aviators.”  I didn’t question her judgement.

An energetic crowd of around 100 braved the midday heat to check out the first band in LouFest history, local group  the Bottle Rockets.  The band responded with a pitch-perfect set of southern rock, country and rockabilly, kicking things off with a rousing version of “Lucky Break.”  The band was clearly piqued to be the first band in Loufest history; lead singer Brian Henneman remarked “I’ve been up since sic in the morning getting ready for this.”  As the crowd continued to slowly grow throughout the hour, the band kicked out fine versions of several songs from their latest record, Lean Forward, including “Way It Used to Be” and “The Long Way,” which started everyone’s day off right.

The best thing about music festivals is stumbling onto a brand new, kick ass band that you’ve never heard of before.  Saturday’s was Stephaniesid, a three-piece from Asheville, North Carolina, playing their first-ever show in St. Louis.  Stephanie Morgan, the lead singer, was already turning lots of heads during soundcheck with her ethereal, powerful Bjork-meets-Alanis Morissette voice. From the breathy vocals and slinky grooves of “Hey Hey Hey” to the more rock-y “Mission from God,” the show was not a disappointment.  The band had the crowd won over early and kept them along for the ride; breaking out the Stevie Nicks-esque scarf for the aptly-titled “Warm People” sealed the deal.  Needless to say Stephaniesid has about 2200% more fans in St Louis today than they did yesterday. Afterwards, Morgan told Eleven, “We’re honored to play at the first LouFest of many – I hope it explodes!”

Titus Andronicus (above)

Ever have have a bad stomach bug?  Can’t keep anything down and you don’t want to do anything but lay in your bed, throw up and watch Jerry Springer?  That ever happen to you on your way to play a show in front of a few hundred people?  No?  Well, then you’ve had a better day than Ben Nichols of Lucero.  The band opened with (perhaps trying to convince themselves) “Can’t Feel a Thing;” I think the virus may have made Nichols’s voice even more ragged and heartfelt.  The man was obviously struggling, exclaiming after the first song, not quite convincingly, “One song down; no puking, I feel great!”  The band trooped through a few more (kick ass) songs, directly under the mid-afternoon sun.  After forty minutes and a hell of a rendition of, appropriately enough, “Drink ‘Till We’re Gone,” Nichols was done, explaining “I’ve got a date with an IV.”  I caught up with him backstage later, still sporting the bandage from the IV infusion, and all he wanted to do was apologize for not playing the full hour.  On behalf of the fans, shut the fuck up.  Like the guy who was standing next to me said, “that was some real rock and roll shit.”  Hopefully they’ll have a chance to play a full set at LouFest next year.

Broken Social Scene (above)

At 8:30 PM, the main stage was converted to a small Canadian neighborhood when Toronto indie rock collective Broken Social Scene descended en masse.  A rotating cast of 15ish musicians lit up the beautiful St. Louis night with layers of melody, rhythm, brass and tons of energy.  Singer Kevin Drew was already off the stage and into the crowd by the ten minute mark, and the stretch of high energy “Texico Bitches,” “7/4 (Shoreline),” and “Fire Eye’d Boy” had the sizeable crowd moving.  A solid one hundred and ten minute show of new and old favorites  clearly impressed the audience, especially the weird yet awesome combination of Cyndi Lauper’s “Money Changes Everything” with BSS’s “Superconnected,” and the grooving finale featuring two members of the band Airborne Toxic Event.  By the time the ten minute encore “It’s all Gonna Break” was wrapping up, the crowd couldn’t have asked for anything more.

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Producer Tech Supreme (@techsupreme) has been in St. Louis hip-hop since he moved here at 16. Now, he ties the whole scene together with his innovative beats and community attitude.  He talks with Eleven about his work with The Force, the St. Louis scene, and the music business.  Check back soon for some exclusive Tech tracks, too.

How did you get started in music?

Tech Supreme:

My mother is a recording artist.  I grew up in New Jersey. I came [to St. Louis] when I was 16.  I was always around studio equipment and stuff like that. My mother was free with what I could listen to – I could listen to what ever I want[ed], like Slick Rick.  It was a musically liberal household.  Then I came to St. Louis and my cousin was a piano player and he got me into making music…it started with rapping.  Just [because] being such a rap fan as a kid, [I] started rapping, moved to St Louis, came to U[niversity] City High School and hooked up with some guys who wanted to be from New York – I was from North New Jersey – so we started rapping together, me and Young Thunder and some other guys.  We needed beats, and I had been playing with it, so I decided to start doing beats for us. And then that first year, I fell in love with it completely and decided that’s what I want to do full time – I don’t want to rap. I wanted to be the guy behind the scenes, making the music and making everything happen.  I’ve been doing it since then, but there’s always a time period before you can consider yourself a professional, that you’re honing your skill.  You’re never really a professional till you start releasing your projects to a mass amount of people you don’t know.  It’s probably only been six or seven year[s] that I’ve been doing that.

How has the internet changed the way smaller and independent artists operate?

TS:

I think the way bands are right now, you really can’t expect people to buy music, because there’s so much music that’s free.  And you can gain someone’s trust from giving someone something free that’s quality, and then you can make your music from doing shows and selling merchandise, and maybe down the line when you get an album in stores you can make money off of that.  I think that’s the way it’s going with independent artists now; you’re going to have to give more first and not expect money back.

Has that made the quality of music better or worse?

TS:

I think it’s made it better.  I think people got burnt out for all those years of people selling you a CD and you listen to it and it’s horrible. Once the internet hit and people figured out how to get good music for free, people said why should I buy it?  I still believe that if it’s good enough, people will pay for it.  What I’m trying to do is build a fan base; I want people to hear it.  Then maybe when the situation’s right I’ll sell it.  We’re in it for the love of music, not the love of money.  And I’m pretty sure that any independent, underground artist will tell you the same thing.  If you’re in it for the money it’ll show in the music.

Tell us about the Force, the collective you’re involved with.

TS:

The Force is a collective of like minded individuals that no matter what they do, try to be the best.  If you’re a blogger, poet, singer, dancer, rapper, just do it to the best of your ability and be as creative as possible.  It really started with Black Spade…we’ve all been knowin’ each other for years.  We’ve all been on our own paths to music dreams.  The way Black Spade is, he’s so giving.  If he had an opportunity to shine he’d want everyone else that’s dope to shine too.  So he’d pull up Rockwell Knuckles, Tef Poe, Corey Black on stage with him.  The Live at the Levee show where he opened for Lupe Fiasco and gave part of his set to Rocky, Tef and Corey Black was the turning point where we saw that we could be unified.  Once we realized how effective it was, the energy of it, it just organically grew where more and more people were looking for us and it just became this force, this movement, and that’s where the name came from.

So, what’s in store for the future?

TS:

There’s definitely going to be a Force album.  The dope thing about the Force is everyone’s still their own engine.  We all push everyone else’s stuff. We all support each others projects. We all lend each other a hand.  We all work together.

The Force has the slogan “Everybody wins.”  The fuck does that mean?

TS:

Everybody wins, you know…everybody wins!  That’s basically…it’s very self explanatory. As a unit, we all win.  And as a listener you win because you’re here enjoying it.  Everybody’s smiling. Everybody’s having a good time. Everybody’s winning.  And if you’re not smiling, you better make sure you do something to win.  We’re gonna work together so that everyone can win.  Everyone has their own movement but it seems like together the popularity and attention has definitely increased.  Everybody’s kinda winnin’  right now.  You have Tef on the radio…when was the last time you had a St Louis hip-hop act getting spins in the club, on the radio?  Same with Rockwell Knuckles, and it’s spreading outside St Louis too, like a good virus.

How do you go about making beats and selecting artists for each beat?

TS:

First I look for a sound or a melody or a chord progression; I look for something that I like then build around it.  I usually have an idea of who I want on it, but I let people go through music themselves too.  With “Showstealers,” I knew it was Tef all the way.  I wrote that hook too, because I knew Tef is too complex to come up with that.  I try to make it as fun and organic as possible.

What equipment do you use for making beats?

TS:

First generation Rolling Phantom.  I felt the MPC was limited because of storage, so I use computer programs like Fruity Loops.  I have a 1000 drums at the tip of my finger now.

What music outside of St. Louis are you listening to these days?

TS:

Big Sean, Drake – even though other people hate on Drake, he makes incredible hip-hop music.  And he brings more fans to hip-hop, so when Drake wins, everybody wins; Currensy, Dom Kennedy, Yelawolf [are others].  When I went to SXSW this year I got put on a lot of new music…After the Smoke, Chip tha Ripper, Gudda Gudda.

What other St. Louis hip hop artists should people be checking for outside the Force?

TS:

I like Scrips ‘N Screwz; they do good quality hip-hop.  I like Illphonics…that’s a hard question.  Hip-hop is such a broad thing.  Shorty the Prince is hip-hop.  People try to break it down to much; hip-hop is the umbrella.  Rap is part of hip-hop, it’s just something you do. I think there’s hip hop all over the place.  Murphy Lee is hip-hop.

What are a few key Force tracks that people who don’t know ya’lls music should listen to first?

TS:

“And They St. Louis” by Corey Black, it’s a great ode to St. Louis.  Anything Rockwell Knuckles, “Messages…,” which is some of the most aggressive and thought provoking rapping you’ll hear.  Anything Teresa Jenee, even though it’s not hip-hop. It’s good music period.  Of course I’m gonna say Tef Poe – “Church” is a great record that’s been getting a lot of attention, which is great because usually the last track on the record doesn’t get much attention.

What do you think is missing from the St. Louis hip-hop scene?

TS:

I think we’re on our way – I don’t think anything is missing.  It’s a thing here to complain about St. Louis hip-hop, but I don’t complain.  I don’t have haters; I have people with opinions, but if you’re not stopping me from opportunities or from eating, then you’re not hating on me.  We do shows and we do good turnouts.  We drop a CD and it gets good attention.  So I can’t say anything is missing.  They’re ready for good music. We just have to give it to ‘em.

A lot of people think that to make it big, you’ve got to leave St. Louis.  Do you agree?

TS:

Without the support of your home, no one respects you.  Your biggest fan base is going to be your home first.  Drake had to have Toronto first before he went anywhere else.  Lil’ Wayne had New Orleans first before went anywhere else.  I don’t think you can be successful in music without having firm roots where you’re from.  To leave St. Louis is a choice, but I feel like if I went to New York now, knowing I have St.  Louis behind me would give me more confidence and power when I go into these meetings or hand DJs my music.  You have to get your home first, no matter where you’re from.

Finally, why should people listen to the Force?
TS:

It’s good fucking music.  That’s it.  Everybody wins.

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Photo by Ryan Dornfeld. More on Flickr

For the last few years, every halfway decent hippie I know has tried to convince me that Galactic, the New Orleans birthed jam/funk/rock band is the second coming of Jesus, Buddha and Timothy Leary all in one.  So it was with high expectations that I headed to the Pageant last week to see the band touring on the strength of their new album Ya-Ka-May along with openers Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe.

Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe was scheduled to play at 8 and started at 8:02 (!), to a suprisingly full and energized auditorium.  I’d like to send my appreciation out to the sound guy for the show; if you’ve been to the Pageant before, you know how sick the sound system is – and Thursday night, it was mixed damn near perfectly with crystal clear sounds befitting the amazing musicians in Tiny Universe.  The band played a nice mix of electric jazz/funk/soul with a definite 80s vibe.  Highlights included a long, moody take on Denson’s original “The Answer,” a grooving cover of the recently-departed Teddy Pendgrass’s “Love TKO,” and even a short version of Outkast’s “SpottieOtieDopaliscious.”  Denson was on top of his game wailing on the sax and soulful lead vocals – he even had people going crazy for a flute solo.  I haven’t seen that since middle school.  Stephanie G., Carbondale’s preeminent Denson fan, reported: “It was a great show because he played a lot of stuff off of his old album; sexy, neo-soul, R & B slower songs.  Karl Denson should have been the headliner, no question.  He is the best of the best!”

As for Galactic: damn, do they have some rhythm.  There may not have been a white band that can groove this well since the Allman Brothers.  They take the classic New Orleans funk and brass sound and make it heavy as shit with organ, bass, and drums; and, of course, let the horns blow, motherfucker, blow.  No bullshit subtlety here – saxaphonist Ben Ellman and guest trombonist Corey Henry of Rebirth Brass Band were at max volume the whole night, while the rhythm section produced a extra thick and hypnotyzing groove that was blowing minds (judging by the smell, there was some help) .  The band mixed long instrumental jams with some well known covers – and lots and lots of energy. Members of Denson’s band came out to help for two songs as well. The guy in front of me was dancing like a 4 year old, the guy next to me did the robot for two hours, and the guy behind me fell asleep after one song.  That’s what the audience response was: if you could lock in to their New Orleans via Detroit monster groove, it was a hell of a time; otherwise, forget it.

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Another year, another Christmas, another shitty gift from your uncle (who knew strip clubs sold gift certificates?).  Time to upgrade and get something nice for yourself to keep your mind off the cold weather outside.  My suggestion – take a trip to the South Side of Chicago circa 1976 with Light: On the South Side, the new photography book and music compilation of the from the collectors at the Numero Group label.  The slick 132-page hard cover book features the beautiful black and white photos by Michael Abramson, who worked the black Chicago music clubs like Pepper’s Lounge and Perv’s House from 1975-1977, along with an essay from Nick Hornsby (High Fidelity).  Light also features Pepper’s Jukebox, an 18-track CD that recreates an hour’s worth of tunes from the club. The music is outrageously good – Hornsby writes it exhibits “not only the past, but also the present and the future of American black music culture, all mixed together” – and Pepper’s showcases blues, funk and soul, often all in the same song.  Some highlights – “It’s a Dream” by Little Ed somehow perfectly captures the feeling you get after getting really high on really bad weed; the grooving, hypnotic “California Lady” from James Kind gets in your head and doesn’t leave; Arelean Brown flaunts her body with the should-be-classic line “I’m built like an outhouse / with not a brick out of place” on “I’m a Streaker;” and Hugh Hawkins’s “Bring It Down Front” is a shit-hot funky number that might kill someone with heart problems.  Get some unfiltered menthol cigarettes, cheap bourbon, Original Pimp Oil and Light: On the South Side, and start the decade off right.

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The fine funky fellows (and ladies) of Daptone Records are back with this 23 track compilation featuring some of their best-known tracks of the last 6 years alongside rare tracks scavenged from various 7″ singles and smaller releases.

Lee Fields and Sugarman & Co. – Stand Up

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

The label is best known for its flagship artist, the Dapkings, and their work with Amy Winehouse and Sharon Jones, but it also fields a number of other fine rhythm-based artists like Antibalas, the Budos Brothers, and Lee Fields, all of whom are featured on this disc. Some argue that the Daptone sound is too derivative of the classic Stax and Motown work – that they copy rather than update the sound. To that, I say- who gives a shit? That music was good, and so is this! Just try to listen to “Stand Up” by Lee Fields and sit still. Blast “Make the Road by Walking” from the Menahan Street Band and I guarantee you’ll feel 120% more badass. A single Charles Bradley track has more emotion than a whole hour of modern R&B (along with the best recession lyric I’ve heard to date – “This world is going up in flames / and nobody wanna take the blame / don’t tell me how to live my life / when you never felt the pain”). Until James Brown and Otis Redding finally team up for that duet disc, this is the finest funk and soul around.

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