Auto Erotic Asphixiation, Glastonbury, Mocha Frappuchino A La Comode, And Ehter-Huffing Hippies: The Ttotals Interview In Its Totality...Or, Carlito's Way Or The Highway, Derrida Does Number Two!

Marty and Brian are the Ttotal package...

Look, I'm well aware that I am ramming Nashville down your readerly throats. But Ttotals is different. This duo from Music City make some of the best drone-rock and ambient headspace music anywhere in the country. AND! More people need to know about them! PLUS! They love Carlito's Way and question the authenticity and substance of the Black Eyed Peas. This is a band that brings a torrent of  No Wave fury! Imagine the Velvet Underground mixing drugs with Spaceman 3 and then jamming the morning after. So kick back and relax, get a nice glass of sweet tea and learn a little something about a band that is both entertaining and committed to "peeling faces off" with their brand of "country".


WDS- So, for those that don’t know of Ttotals, give a bit of a background on how this band got off the ground? You know the “stats”…

Brian- Marty and myself played in the Heathern Haints together. We were a sort of a lo-fi, ghost rider and ether-huffing trio. Our hippie little brother, Tim, left the “Haints” in late ‘09 for his family back in Virginia. When Tim left we were sort of stuck and had to find a way to keep a band going. We had a few unfinished songs lying around. And eventually some of those became the 4 songs on the 12”.

Marty- Tim was, and is, a dirty little hippie. When we were a trio I played a Casio through a bunch of guitar effects pedals. I never huffed ether intentionally.

WDS- Why the choice to keep it a duo with guitar and drums as opposed to bringing in a bass player? What does that bring to the band’s sound?

Marty- My dad played bass expertly in a ton of bands for years, and then he started playing guitar, with marginal results. I’ve always said that his difficulties with the guitar prove that counting to six is much harder than counting to four.

Brian- Yeah, we did try to find a bass player early on, but no one seemed to be a good fit or be into what we were trying to do. We felt like we could accomplish more as a duo than by adding more members. So, at that point we had been playing, like, 3 years together. And who wants to come in and try to mix it up with two dudes that know how to play and be smartasses with each other.

WDS- Ttotals doesn’t sound like anybody I’ve heard come out of Nashville. You are definitely not in the country scene and really don’t share too much in common with the more “garage-y” bands I’ve heard on Infinity Cat (i.e: JEFF the Brotherhood, Natural Child, Pujol…etc.). How would you describe the band’s sound and what scene or bands to you guys feel you connect with?

Brian- Well, we are a little bit older than a lot of those guys. And we tend to lean a bit toward being lone guns. Not to say we don’t get along with any of them, but we run in a different crowd. We would totally play with any of the Infinity Cat roster. We feel we could play with just about anyone and do. It is not about being part of any one scene. It is about doing and making things happen and having a bigger picture mind set. We play the “Outer Blues”. Take that as a description.

Marty- How dare you. I thought we were playing country?

WDS- When I hear Ttotals and the one time I saw you play in SF at the Hemlock Tavern, I was reminded of early SST bands. Particularly, early Sonic Youth, SWANS, and some of the more “arty” No Wave bands out of NYC in the early 80’s. Who were some of your musical influences? What bands would people be surprised to know you enjoy listening to?

Brian- We dropped the ball on getting with you right after our Hemlock show. Marty and I grew up listening to all those great SST bands: Husker Du, Black Flag and the like. It is a part of our history, for me particularly Sonic Youth, and comes out naturally. We are both into bands like Dead C and Pussy Galore. We are of course way into English bands like Spacemen 3 and Comet Gain. We also can’t forget about The Strapping Fieldhands as well. Oh, and The Oblivions. We pretty much, I feel, wear our influences on our sleeves. But I hope we make it our own. Speaking of SST Have you ever read “Rock and the Pop Narcotic” by former SST guy Joe Carducci? If any of you all have not read it. You need to get it. Very much I think a recommended read.

Marty- Did you know originally Coil was supposed to do the soundtrack for Hellraiser?  Pretty cool, huh?

WDS- How do you get that HEAVY sound on record? Could you talk about how the record was recorded and what you use on stage to bring the DRONE to life in front of an audience?

Sun Ra...

Brian- Early on we used a secret weapon called “the Peav”. This was a guitar tuned in a drone chord (it was more of a baritone strung guitar tuned to an open unison tuning) and plugged into different effect pedals and set to feedback and drone the entire show. It was an unyielding beast and would make people cry. We wanted something to take up space sonically in the songs. Now Marty has samples that he manipulates with effects and a foot-controller. We recorded the 12” over at Battle Tapes, which is run by our friend Jeremy Ferguson. I started to use 2 different guitar amps around this time as well. One is a clean guitar signal. Just plugged straight into the amp. The other amp is my dirty signal. All sorts of effects and fuzz go through there. So, we have all those guitar tones and a more controllable, sustainable drone. So, yeah, that is pretty much how we get our sound. We also used this huge bass cabinet for the clean guitar parts on the recording. Which gives nice bottom end to everything. At first, we were out to prove something. Just speaking for myself. I had to get comfortable with being a duo, so we kind of set out to rip people apart and peel some skulls back. Which we were all like, “We play Rock music! Don’t like it, tough.” Now, I’m really more into seeing what all we can do as a duo making music and not just here is the Rock. We can definitely Rock.

Marty- While we were making the record I kept getting calls from this guy I know who was trying to get off rock cocaine, and he had this penchant for “rescuing” prostitutes.  Total Taxi Driver situation, minus the mohawk and murder. I told him he should focus on getting himself well first, but he just couldn’t help himself. It made me sad, but what are you gonna do? Anyway, compression and EQ were a big part of that pounding sound.  We also re-mixed pretty dramatically for vinyl.

WDS- I know you have some Summer tours planned, mostly on the East Coast, what are the challenges touring bands face out there on the road (besides the high price of gas)? Any good road stories?

Brian- We do have our “DooDoobucks” we stop at while we are on the road. That is what we call a Starbucks to take shit in. You know, because they are usually cleaner than a gas station and also stocked with toilet paper. Everyone has always been nice and very accommodating to us. We’ve been extremely lucky. I do have a story from back in the day before I got hooked-up with Marty. A very nice guy let my old band crash at his place for a night. He woke us up, dressed only in his tighty-whiteys, in the wee hours of the morning to videotape him masturbating with a plastic shopping bag over his head. I’m not kidding. We declined and at first light ran for the door.

Marty- I met my lovely girlfriend on tour this last summer.  We knew about each other on the internet from doing videos (I did the music on a Quizno’s ad with punk rock cats!), and thought it would be good to meet each other out of professional courtesy. I kept telling Brian the whole way out that I wasn’t gonna hit on her, ‘coz I’m a “professional” ‘n stuff, but when we met, she attacked me, and I have very poor impulse control. Now we live together in Nashville and she tells me to do things and I do them.

WDS- What would people be surprised to know about a band like Ttotals? Outside of music, what are you guys into?

Brian- I like baseball. How about those Giants? I don’t know about you, but I do fear Brian Wilson’s beard. A bit of baseball/music trivia; Do you know where Yo La Tengo got their name? Hint: It’s from a former NY Met outfielder. I helped record Lambchop’s Nixon. I also geeked-out on Pete Kember when he played in Nashville. I was very nervous, so I think it made him nervous. He hasn’t been back since.

That's why they sound so alien in Music City?

Marty- Xbox 360.  My gamertag is “wht lt wht ht”, and I will destroy your ass at Battlefield: BC 2, or any Call of Duty. Look me up, and your ass will be destroyed. By me.

WDS- If you could put together any bill with bands (together now or from the past) for Ttotals to play with (any genre), what would that bill look like and where would the show be held?

Marty- Jay Z, Os Mutantes, and Prince, with showings of Purple Rain, Scarface and Carlito’s Way in between bands. Is this a good place to mention how much I dislike the Black Eyed Peas? ‘Coz I really dislike them. I’m not even sure why; they just rub me the wrong way. It’s like they’re trying too hard or something.

Brian- Okay, I will try to narrow it down. Velvet Underground, The Pastels, Spacemen 3 doing all 13^th Floor Elevator covers, like a 20 minute version of “Roller Coaster” or something, Times New Viking and us. It would either be at Royal Albert Hall or the Fillmore.

WDS- What do you have coming up on the horizon? Projects, records, collaborations?

Brian- We have a cassette coming out on No Kings. Our friend Lee Noble runs that little cassette label out in L.A. It is from our live in-store at Grady’s Record Refuge. Expect that one mid-summer. It will be out just in time for our first outing east, Washington D.C. and back.

Marty- A martial arts/hot guitar licks instructional video, for one thing. Don’t listen to Brian; I’ve been to D.C. My mom took me there when I graduated high school, and I had a girlfriend that moved out there I visited, so “first outing east?” I don’t think so. I’ve been to New York before too, so there. I wanna go to London. I wanna play at Glastonbury, too, ‘coz my girlfriend’s English and she says Stonehenge is really cool. I got a thing about crowds, though, and apparently there’s like a shit ton of people there(Glastonbury, not Stonehenge), so I’m not sure if we’re doing that yet. Maybe if they brought me in a helicopter so I wouldn’t have to deal with the crowds.

Brian- Jeez. I was talking as a band. Also do you think we are Led Zeppelin or something? Oh, hopefully we will be headed to NYC in early fall.

WDS- What’s the story behind the name and the spelling?

Brian- We wanted something different and easy to recognize. It was really a typo that stuck.

Marty- Well, it used to be when you “Googled” ttotals, you’d see all this math stuff about the “nth term” ‘n shit, but apparently now there’s some jazz about our band, so my story about the name won’t work. Stupid Google.

WDS- Where would you like to see the band in 5 years?

Brian- 5 more records under our belt and all of ‘em out on Siltbreeze (Tom, Hint - Hint). Several more tours, including a European and having fun doing it all.

Marty- Glastonbury via helicopter.

 Ridiculous But Necessary Questions

What is your favorite cheese?  

Brian- Wensleydale, because of Wallace and Gromit

Marty- nacho

EVOL or Daydream Nation? 

Brian- Don’t make me pick between “Tom Violence” or “Eric’s Trip”.
Marty- Nice try.  Everyone knows the correct answer is Dial “M” for Motherfucker.

Taylor Swift or Miranda Lambert? 

Brian- I guess I have to go with Taylor Swift. We are from the same home town.

Marty- My girlfriend says I can’t sleep with either, or both.

Nietzsche or Kant? 

Brian- Marty you were the philosophy major at Rhodes.

Marty- I knew a guy who walked in on Derrida taking a dump.

A month in the van with anyone (your pick)?  

Brian- Zack Galifianakis, Even though I think Due Date is one of the worst movies ever made.

Marty- I would like a month in the van inside another van, so I could ride while I ride, son.

Brian- Damn! I forgot about that one.

Album Review: Caitlin Rose Is On Her Own Side Now And It's Impossible Not To Take Her Side...

Own Side Now, out in the states 3/15/11

In the snark infested world of the blogosphere the approach du jour seems to be, build it up in order to tear it down. “What Duvet Said…” has always held as its unstated mission a commitment to championing artists we feel deserving of praise or mention, while leaving the snark and vitriol to other blogs - figuring acts of omission speak just as loudly and take up less blogspace. Okay, maybe the occasional barb or societal jab, but by and large bringing our readers the best and brightest as determined by, well, us. This is not to say some aren’t better and brighter and all matters “art” are of equal value and shouldn’t be dissected with a critical eye. However, we believe Finnish composer Jean Sibelius said it best, “Pay no attention to what the critics say. A statue has never been erected in honor of a critic.” So with that as our mantra let’s engage in some criticism!

Caitlin Rose’s first full-length release, Own Side Now, will be out tomorrow March 15^th on Theory 8 Records, after already being available in Europe since August of last year. The twenty-three year old Nashville based singer-songwriter has been receiving largely raves for both her album and performances across the pond. Now, she will begin to tackle the more genre obsessed, box-placing American “critirati”. For an artist like Rose, simply classifying her as a “country artist” shortchanges her range as a songwriter and performer. It would be a travesty to label such a phenomenal talent and close her off from audiences that have an aversion to country music. Rose too seems aware of this, when in her song “New York”, she states; “So Tennessee, when I get home/You just better leave me alone/Don’t try to claim me as your own/I’m not the girl I used to be.” Other reviews often site Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn as musical touchstones or kindred spirits. Sure Own Side Now is steeped in country music’s rich traditions, but like contemporary and fellow Nashvillian Tristen’s recent release Charlatans at the Garden Gate, this is not your mama’s country or even you meemama’s. It’s something unique to this generation of Nashville musicians that have one foot on the Opry stage and the other wherever the hell it feels like stepping!

Rose’s voice is strong and powerful which makes a song like title track, “Own Side Now” sound like a declaration of finally finding inner-strength and not just another empty promise made from an empty bed. The songs on this album are perfectly instrumented, keeping the focus on the essential elements: lyrics and voice. There are some occasional strings and brushed drums match the tempo of windshield wipers on a long drive to or away from a broken love. “For The Rabbits” conjures the 50’s with its staccato guitar and swelling backups on the chorus. When Rose sings, “So fall back into my absent arms/Fall back into routine disaster/Habit's the only place that you call home”, it could very well soon be directed to Rose herself. Soon she will be finding herself the absent one. Constant touring lends itself to habits, rituals, and experiences that are impossible to share with those outside this bubble. Success further insulates you from connecting with the “simpler life” chronicled in many artists’ earlier material. Already, we see the strains of realizing dreams on Own Side Now starting to surface, as opposed to the dreams themselves chronicled on Dead Flowers. It will be interesting to witness this young artist coming to terms with her life through song - which is Rose’s gift - as the foundation for her experiences continues to shift away from the familiar and into more surreal setting of music industry success.

Guitarist Jeremy Fetzer joins Caitlin Rose at 2010 ACL Festival in Austin, TX

The song that most encapsulates Caitlin Rose’s ability to mesh lyrical acuity with hooks that already seem timeless is in “Shanghai Cigarettes”. Unlike many of Music City’s more manufactured superstars, who will remain nameless, Rose comes off as the genuine article and it becomes hard to separate her from the characters in her songs. That is what makes the heartaches more intense and the triumphs more inspirational. When she describes love as “useless” in “Spare Me” we know she doesn’t mean it. The undercurrent of a woman coming into her own and the darkened realizations that go along with that growth permeate Own Side Now. Nowhere on this record is that sentiment better captured than on “Things Change”, where there is a singular pride emerging out of the murk of the orchestral musical backing. There truly is something occurring on this album that goes beyond simply a collection of songs. We witness an artist making a statement about who she is now and who she’d like to be one day. Sometimes the message is masked in bravado, sometimes it’s left bare and exposed but it’s always authentic and compelling. Do yourself a favor and buy Caitlin Rose’s Own Side Now. Go home, put it on, and in the words of Paul Westewrberg, “knock it back with something, sweet and strong.” That’s Caitlin Rose in a nutshell.

"What Duvet Said...About Music" Supplement to the LATEST Podcast Featuring Daniel Pujol...

Ani't no party like a Nashville party...Daniel Pujol caged in.

Like a cat to cat nip Robert "Bob" Duvet can't stay away from Nashville, TN especially when the bands playing on Music City's periphery are this talented and FUN! The "What Duvet Said...About Music" podcast features an interview with Nashville's Daniel Pujol and his band Pujol is like a shot of adrenaline right to the heart. Hear an interview filled with insights into what it means to be a human being and how records made of wax are still very necessary! If that won't snap you out of roboting through your day then up your dose with Natural Child, D. Watusi, JEFF the Brotherhood and So Jazzy! I've said it before and I'll say it again-right now in fact-Nashville's Dead is one of the best blogs in the country and reading it will improve your muscle mass and might have the same impact on your brain as eating fish (totally unverifiable)! So if you think this city is a musical one trick pony, then you've never been around horses-or the track for that matter. Because Robert "Bob" Duvet is a betting man at heart and his heart is telling him to continue to evangelize about these amazing, committed, and earnest musicians. This city cranks out bands that RAWK and are sure to be ROLLING off your tongues in the near future! Below is some Eye Candy for the sweet toothed and remember who loves ya baby!

Some links worth checking into:

Battletapes Recording Studio in Nashville. Tristen's Charlatans at the Garden Gate was recorded there and you know how much we love that one! Look for a release for Pujol recorded there in the near future.

Nashville Cream and We Own This Town are two more great blogs from and about Nashville.

Tristen, Nashville, and Unsolicited Advice From Robert "Bob" Duvet...PLUS, A WHOLE LOT OF EYE CANDY

As promised in this week's "What Duvet Said...About Music" Issue 18: "The Nashville Episode", we have links to all the topics discussed.  And, below is some "Eye Candy" to go along with "the BEST programmed music podcast on the internet".

Tristen's Charlatans at the Garden Gate

Our guest this week was Nashville singer-songwriter Tristen, who just celebrated the release of her first full-length album, Charlatans at the Garden Gate.  The album can be purchased here through American Myth Recordings.  The album's song-cycle is diverse and eclectic, while remaining true the this artist's unique vision.  We strongly recommend this record and be sure to look for Tristen who will be on tour throughout the remainder of 2011.  Below is some video taken with my trusty FlipCam, unedited, from her first ever performance in San Francisco.  The song was introduced as a "new song" so I am not sure of the title.  The set showcased leaner and more stripped down versions of the songs off her album.  Her band, The Ringers, were representative of the top-notch musicianship Nashville is known for.  None of the rich harmonies and compelling arrangements were sacrificed, but it was interesting to hear the songs delivered in more straight-ahead fashion.  Tristen is definitely not a "country" artist and much of the music played in the podcast illustrates how diverse a music scene "Music City" encompasses.

Many people ask me how I discover the new and emerging acts from various music scenes around the country and world?  Here are a few very good sources to keep tabs on what is going on in Nashville, TN currently.  I love to monitor the various weeklies in cities across the country and for Nashville it is, The Nashville Scene.  Another great source are the blogs and I came across two very good ones in researching this podcast, Nashville's Dead and The Vinyl District.  Still another source is local record labels from the town you are interested in, in this case Infinity Cat Recordings has an amazing stable of bands.  This label is home to JEFF the Brotherhood, Natural Child, Heavy Cream, and Daniel Pujol, to name a few.  Still another source, the links for the bands MySpace or Bandcamp sites will have other bands that they are friends with listed or flyers for upcoming shows.  Finally, check out the calendars for the clubs in town and see you is playing.  The Mercy Lounge and The Exit Inn are two standbys in Nashville.  The final finally, read these posts by yours truly: "Caitlin Does New York..."  and "These Bulls Are Heading...".  These are some of the various "rabbit holes" at your disposal to keep you in the loop of music scenes you might be interested in.  Enough with the tutorial!!  Below is some "Eye Candy" to sweeten your musical teeth!

These Bulls Are Heading Straight Into Your iPods and a Town Near You: Nashville's Run With Bulls, Minus The BULLSH*T!!

Nashville, Tennessee is a town known for music but often a very specific type of music.  Think overly quaffed and bedazzled, Nudie-suited and booted, and don't even get me started about "New Country".  Well, I'm here to tell ya, there is a rich and vibrant underground in Music City that is every bit as rich and diverse as any other music capital in the country.  One shining example is Nashville's Run With Bulls.  This power trio comprised of Brad Sample (vocals/guitar), Chris James (bass), and Philip Turner (drums) make a very exciting and polished racket!  The band combines well-crafted songwriting with excellent musicianship to create a sound that is uniquely familiar.  Blurring the line of what Southern Rock, Country, Blues, and Pop can sound like when handled by hungry, talented, and honest musicians.  Below is my interview with RWB's Brad Sample.  I recently met the band at the Austin City Limits Festival, where their barn-burning mid-afternoon set compelled me to want to know more about these Southern gentlemen.  They couldn't have been nicer and I truly hope they make it to the West Coast soon! 

So give us bit of background on the band. How long have you all been together?

Other bands you were involved in, how you all met, etc.?

We have been playing together for about three years. Chris and I (our bass player) have been playing together for about four.  I was doing a solo thing at that time and needed a bass player for gigs that I had coming up in a few days.  A friend suggested Chris, I said no, he told him to come try out anyway. I was pretty pissed when he showed up at rehearsal because I was just planning on writing and getting some arrangements down with the drummer, but he sounded killer, knew the stuff, played the gigs the very next day, and we've been making music together ever since.  We found Philip a similar way.  We were hard up for a drummer, and I ended up running into him at a church.  I asked him who he liked, he said a few bands, I said "you're hired, can you practice tomorrow and play two gigs this weekend"  Ha!  He came to practice, and honestly Chris and I were planning on just using him for those two gigs and firing him, but he was SO good that we couldn't.  We really started digging the three piece thing and when we singed with our management company in '09' and we came up with the name.  I played in tons of other bands before this one, so did Chris and Philip.  We still do a good bit of gun slinging on our own when we have free time.

What were some early influences? Are there bands out there that you think, “That’s the kind of career I want.”

Early influences for me would have to be bands like The Black Crowes, Joe Cocker, Buddy Miller (who is my favorite artist and guitar player ever) Stevie Wonder, Steve Winwood, Nirvana, The Police, Oasis, Tom Waits, RadioHead.  Stuff like that.   As far as a career I would love to model?  I'd have to say somebody like Jackson Brown.  He got to write and play for EVERYBODY! He had a great career of his own, I mean, the guy was a superstar. And he still tours thirty five years later.  I think that would be pretty great and I think the boys would dig something like that as well.

Run With Bulls...photo by Alyssa Dawson

How would you describe the band’s sound?

We like to call it Nashville Rock.  I think it falls in the new wave of southern rock pretty well with bands like The Kings of Leon, Parlor Mob, Jet, stuff like that.  There is a good bit of just throw down, good time jamming.  But I feel like we try and bring a bit of thought to it as well.  You know.  We try to not always just bang on stuff and yell really loud.  Ha! 

How are the songs written?  Is there one songwriter or is it more collaborative?

Lately we've been trying to write as much of the stuff together as we can.  Someone will have an idea for a groove, and we'll build on that.  Songs like "Shake This" and "Arrhythmia Shuffle" were written that way.  Now obviously songs like "Break My Heart" and "Follow the Light" are a little more of a story so it's hard to get a flow going with three mouths shooting out ideas.  So stuff like that is usually written by one just one member.

What are some of the things or themes that inspire a song?

I think most anything can inspire a song.  Girls and heartbreak usually seem to be good fodder for a tune!  But we also like to write about what we see around us.  I think something that hits us really hard lately is the numbness, mediocrity and complacency that seams to be choking our generation.  It's pretty loud to us so we write a lot about that.

I hear names like Jason and the Scorchers and Kings of Leon mentioned when describing you guys…. How do you feel about those comparisons?

I think we're all pretty flattered for the most part.  Jason and the Scorchers...Great band!  Kings of Leon...Great band!  Doesn't bother me in the least.  I will say though, that I think a lot of those comparisons come, first of all because we're from Nashville, and second because we have guitar solo's in our music.  Which really doesn't happen that often anymore.  I don't necessarily think that we "sound" a ton like those bands, but we sure don't mind being in their company.

What is the Nashville scene like for bands like Run With Bulls who seem to be operating outside of the “traditional Music City” machine?

It good and bad.  It's good because when you have people that hear you and then find out you are a band from Nashville they go "MAN!  I can't believe that you all sound like that!  I thought only country came out of Nashville."  It's also good because their are SO many amazing players in this town, you have to get your chops up quick to stay alive.  It's bad sometimes because the business side of the city, very often, has no idea what to do with you.  At almost every gig in Nashville we hear from some executive "HOLY CRAP!!!  That's the best thing I've ever heard!"  And to that we say "Great, what do you think you can do with it?" and they respond "Ooooo... Well I'll have to check with our marketing team and see if they think they'll have time to mess with a rock act right now...You know we just signed another big boobed blond chick who can't sing worth a shit, but is hot as hell and people don't seem to mind that when she opens her mouth it sounds like cows incubating and giving birth to an alien race that is going to take over the world...Ya so she's taking up a lot of our resources...But! We'll be sure to keep you on our radar and give you a call in a couple weeks."  It's been a couple of weeks for a long time for us...Ha!  But we're making headway and I know we're all glad for, and proud to be from Nashville Tennessee. 

Tell me a bit about your recorded work? What label, who produced it, was there a sound in mind or record that guided the recording process?

The record we have out now is our first project.  We did it with the faithful and amazing backing of our management company R&D Management.  They really gave us all the freedom we could have ever asked for.  We got a travel studio rig, found a couple spaces around town we, first of all, could get into and use, and second, really liked the sound of.  Most of the songs we're cut in our friend Jay Woodard's barn.  We fondly call it "Woodard's Woodshed Studios".  A good few we also cut in our friend Katy Branson's house in East Nashville.  We call it the "Branson Mansion".  The record was self produced, and as far as sounds or a sonic footprint goes, we really wanted it to feel like a good Run With Bulls show.  We wanted it to be full of energy and grit, but also knew we could not put out some crap live recordings and call it good.  I wanted it to feel like you were standing in our rehearsal space feeling the sweat come flying off foreheads, seeing the blood on the guitar strings, feeling the sweetness of the brokenhearted, and wanting to call every one of your friends and say "GET THE HELL OVER HERE RIGHT NOW!!!"  So we set out to track as much of it live as we could while still getting really great sounds.  The records I was constantly referring my ears to were Nevermind by Nirvana, Ghost in the Machine by the Police, Pablo Honey, by RadioHead, and Californication by The Red Hot Chili Peppers.  I wanted to make sure we were filling it out with just the three instruments, and I really think we got there.  The record is trashy, but smooth, aggressive, but really sweet in some places, and I think all around pleasing to the ear.

Live you guys really put on a fiery show, how has the road and touring affected the bands sound?

Fiery Indeed...

Ha!  Thanks first of all.  Live is where we live.  We love playing.  We play as much as we can... We play early shows, we play late shows, we play three shows a night, we play covers that we have to make up the words to because drunk people will not stop yelling them out.  We just really love to play.  That said I think the sound has kind of developed itself because live is our priority.  We try and make sure that anything you would ever hear on a RWB recording would be warmly and accurately represented at a live show.

Any plans on touring the West Coast?

We'd love to and there is always a "plan" but funding and promo has to fall into play.  I think we're going to hit a few spots on the West Coast next year.

Where would you like to see Run With Bulls be in the next couple of years?

Ruling the world.

Who is a typical Run With Bulls fan?

I think the typical RWB fan is someone that really loves music.  I know that sounds silly but that's the only consistency I can come up with.  We played a gig this weekend a a kid who was wearing a Nirvana shirt and looked like he was thirteen came up to us and said "Man!  I love you guys.  I heard you on the radio five months ago and have been waiting and waiting for you all to play a show that I could get into around here!"  At that very same show we had a guy who had to have been sixty come up and said "Thank you all so much for playing Rock and Roll!  I really miss hearing that stuff" Haha!  It was great. 

If you guys could work with anyone who would they, he or she be?

I'd love to work with Ethan Johns. I'm a huge fan.  Actually heard some of his first works in Tumbling Ground a little record by a guy named Kevin Prosch recorded in the early nineties. But I really love what he does with rooms and instruments.  Love that first Kings Of Leon record he did and the early Ryan Adams stuff is killer too.  Obviously it would be really neat to work with somebody like Rick Ruben or something just because he's so hugely talented and awesome. 

Who is singing harmony on the song “Follow the Light”?

That would be the beautiful and talented Miss Natalie Prass.  Everyone really should check her stuff out.  It will blow your mind.  She's a good friend and one of our favorite artist around town.

Anything you want our readers to know about Run With Bulls they may not know?

Ya, look out!

Duvet puts Brad Sample through "The Wringer" for these Ridiculous but Necessary Questions”

What is your favorite cheese?  Irish salted monk cheddar 

REO Speedwagon or Journey?  Oh geese...Journey...Duh! 

Beverley Hills 90210 or Gossip Girl?  Hmmm?  I'm going to have to go with Gossip Girls...That blond chick...Woa...

Taylor Swift or Miranda Lambert?  Ooooo, that's tough...I'm going to have to say....Taylor... because she's the reason for the tear drops on my guitar.

A month in the van with anyone (your pick)?  C.S. Lewis I think....Or Jimi Hendrix!  Damn I can't pick.

Run With Bulls EP Brand New Tongue Available on Amazon.com