My story "Red Moon"

Hello, I'm happy to say Blood Lotus Literary Blog has published my story "Red Moon"! I like Blood Lotus very much and am honored that they chose my work.

Here is a link:

Blood Lotus

AUTUMN NEWS

Hey buddies;;;;;;;

I'm taking leave of this blog until 2015 because I need to focus on writing and music projects. I'm sure there will be some random posts.

Hit me up if you want in the meantime: amandarosehowland3@gmail.com or on Facebook

Remember: if you want to order a copy of the latest Adanna Literary Journal to check out my short story "Hunger Town", send me an email and I can get you the author's discount.

I have another story coming out soon, so look for updates!

Also, I will be collaborating again with my buddy Pauline Lombardo on September 29th at Now That's Class! Other acts include Law$uits and Magnetic West. 

Here is a link to the Facebook page:

SHOW

INTERVIEW WITH SKIN GRAFT, AKA WYATT HOWLAND

Wyatt Howland is from Northeast Ohio and has been working on making noise for the past twenty years. You can find his work here:

SKIN GRAFT

SKSK NOISE AND DRONE CLEVELAND OHIO

ARH: What are you working on now?

WBH: There are a few things that I am working on that I am very happy with. Fascist Insect and Skin Graft 'Workplace Violence' has a really classic badass appeal to it in my opinion, it always rules working with you and Mitch.  In the past year or so I have worked a lot with Andrew Kirschner on our duo Blackfire, and among other things we have in production a split with K2 [this is now available!], and a cassette titled 'Out of Fear'.  I just finished up a full-length solo recording titled 'Twins Decease' that is very sour and angry.  David Russell and I are about to release the first volume in a compilation series titled 'Ohio', the first volume is incredible.  Cory Rowell, aka Demonologists, and I are working on a full-length collaboration that has so far been both disgusting and menacing.  A split / collaboration with Scant is in its final stages, which is very desolate.  As you know, DPI has returned as an electronic trio and it has been very satisfying working on new material, which has been very dark and grimy.  Otherwise, there is future work planned that I am looking forward to when the time is right, with others that you know.

[note: Wyatt is my brother and long-time collaborator in Dead Peasant Insurance (DPI) as well as other projects.]

ARH: Wow - great stuff. We love working with you, too! You are involved in so many collaborations now, do you ever find it challenging to find time and energy for your solo stuff, or are you not that worried about it? Collaborations can open one's ear to new ideas, for sure.

 WBH: I am always running out of time and energy but always in the state of mind to plot and sketch out ideas mentally.  By the time I am able to record, I have a general map of where to go.

ARH: When and how did you get into performing? Feel free to discuss any influences and early experiences. 

WBH: I was 11 or 12 when I started going to see your bands play shows.  This was really exciting to me, teenagers putting on these hardcore shows with little to no adult supervision.  The DIY aspect of hardcore was very inspiring.  Growing up watching our father play in bands, the idea of playing in a band meant having a more professional attitude, trying to sound as good as possible and exercising talent and hard work.  Your bands sounded like shit and everyone had a bad attitude and hated each other.  I loved that. 

ARH: Ah yes, thank you--you are describing a quality and values that I'm proud to have maintained with integrity over the last twenty years.

 Since you’ve started performing, have you noticed repeating cycles in terms of style and energy of experimental music? How would you describe the current zeitgeist?

 What qualities excite you in performances of others? What takes you by surprise and keeps your interest in experimental music? 

WBH: I've definitely noticed a severe mutation in the music culture.  Things are much bigger in all ways than they were when we started, like a swelling cyst.  There are definitely parallels to what I've read about the original industrial music culture of the 1970s and the current underground electronic culture.

For me, the most important quality to music and live performance is conviction.  There are certain sounds and styles that I am attracted to: dark inhuman tones, unmusical textures.  The last performances I was startled by were Gerritt Wittmer and Shrive, and I couldn't tell you why honestly...  Generally speaking I am more excited by sets with no visual stimulus and don't like to watch people work.  I can appreciate all aspects of music when done well, but for me to take it seriously, rhythm and melody generally can fuck off.

ARH: Does language factor in your creative process?

WBH: It has more in the past.  I used to come up with a title and work around what I could do thematically with it.  Lately titles are more of an afterthought and hassle for me, because I have been moving in a more abstract and inhuman direction and am less language oriented than I used to be.  But techniques are always changing.

ARH: Do you feel performing is a mystical act and/or ritual? How would you describe the performing process in terms of mental, physical and emotional transformation?

WBH: Performance is generally confined to 'binge and purge' for me.  For example, I'll take in a bunch of other people's horseshit all day at work and then vomit it out through the p.a. system.  I generally play better if I'm in a rotten mood.  I don't have any rituals at the moment.  Sometimes I reflect on bad memories until I reach a high level of anxiety, but sometimes that’s not necessary. 

ARH: What do you think the future holds for you as an individual artist and experimental music generally? What is the relationship between local and global experimental music now?

WBH: The future of experimental music is looking pretty bad-ass.  Even if everyone involved decided to quit tomorrow, there are still way more albums then anyone could ever listen to in a lifetime, so fuck it.  And if that's not enough, make some more.  As for the relationship between local and global, at the moment there is one major setback, and that is the decline of the postal system, which is hurting the cassette culture that most of us have a fetish for.  Physical media and folk art are being pushed away, which to a degree is something that we'll have to adapt to.  On the other hand, the internet has opened the door wide open for people to travel and book tours easily as well as easily communicate with like minded people so the connections are getting tighter. 

Wyatt Howland: Skin Graft / SKSK / DPI / COPS / GLORIA / Blackfire / Jerk / Flagellants / The Family Chapter / The Nevari Butchers / Public Execution / DLX OTHRR / Apartment 213 / D.B. / Jesus Kills/Imbibers/Antichrist/Deadclub/ Stark Tech / Witchgraft / Plague Skin/Skin Plague / Cardiac Arrest / ruin / Killed in Prison / Tanked / Relentless Corpse / Black Baat / WH & Bryan Detrow / the Red Threat / 4DR / F.E. / XRAYOK / F.C.C. / Vulcan Death Trip / Shadows /  Emeralds&SG / Thee Scarcity of Tanks Undercuts Trasher Cloud / Iron Oxide / Frozen Inertia / Rasta Goat / E.E&SG/ the Hollow Trees / Skin/trade / Kyle Tremblay & WH / the Emblem of All American Rot / The Land of Buried Treasure / Rusted Tub / H.C.E. / SG&AC etc.

SHOW TONIGHT! AND PUBLICATION SOON~~

Hello Friends,

Fascist Insect will be playing with our new line-up as a three piece TONIGHT! (Friday, September 5) at Guide to Kulchur.

CHECK OUT THE FACEBOOK EVENT HERE

This marks a return to thrash/grindcore roots and return of drummer Pumpkin Mask! We will be opening up for Wild Gone Girls. Jason Rodriguez and others will be playing as well.

I'm honored to announce my story "Hunger Town" will be appearing in the upcoming issue of Adanna Literary Journal!

You can check them out here:

ADANNA LITERARY JOURNAL

Please email me for information about buying an issue at my author's 25% off discount: amandarosehowland3@gmail.com

Love,

Amanda

INTERVIEW WITH RICHARD RODRIGUEZ

Richard Rodriguez plays bass, guitar, drums and vocals. He is in Real Regular and has played in Lucha Eterna, Obnox, What A Waste, BxVx, Fascist Insect, Ghostbread, Paint Chips, Tuck Peenersen and his Weinermen, Burger Boys, and more. His label is Saucepan Records:

https://www.facebook.com/saucepanrecords?ref_type=bookmark

saucepanrecords.bandcamp.com

ARH: Hello, Richard! So, what are you working on this summer? Are there any upcoming shows you're excited about? I heard you're cooking at Class and you have a new label--what's going on with that stuff?

RR: This summer I'm doing more recording and releasing than actually playing out. It's not necessarily ideal, but that's just kinda how it's turning out. Today I actually got test presses for the Lucha Eterna 7" that I'm putting out on my label Saucepan Records. Coincidentally I also got the final copies of the Real Regular 12" today as well. I'm really excited about both releases and the response they have both been getting from everyone. I have a few other releases in the works as well. The Fat Vegan tape "Music To Eat Tofu To" is done and will be available soon. I also have a Bad Noids 7" and Mr. California 7" in the works as well so I'm keeping myself pretty busy. There's always a show I wanna see, but a few that have me really excited are Infest and the West Side Punk Connect Fest with Los Crudos. Both great shows showcasing the best in punk and hardcore. I'm losing my mind, I can't wait.

So, yeah, I also make food every Wednesday night at Now That's Class. I make pupusas, which are a traditional Salvadoran dish that's essentially a stuffed tortilla with beans, cheese, and minced pork. I change it up and add different meat options every week. It’s going great! People are coming out of the woodwork, sometimes just to eat my food and that means a lot because I honestly didn't know how well this would go when I first started back in January. Started out a little rough, but I know its gotten a lot better and I'll be adding other options (tamales, vegan options, etc.) real soon.

ARH: Wow, we'll have to come out and get some of your food! I love Now That's Class--there is no place like it. Are those two shows at Class? That's cool you're doing so much recording. Do you have a site or something where people can buy that stuff? 

I've also been recording more the last year after years of focusing on performing. I feel like recording and performing are totally different art forms. For me, they come from such different points of inspiration and require different compositional approaches. What do you think? I imagine for some genres recording and performing may be closer. As someone who's worked in different genres, do you find that to be true?

RR: Both shows are in fact at Now That's Class. I'm involved a lot more with that place these days its pretty cool. I’m still trying to set up the online store/mail order stuff. It’s a bit of a pain haha but it needs to be done a.s.a.p. because by mid August I will have a decent amount of releases ready to go.

I completely agree with recording and performing being two very different outputs. On the one hand you have a medium that can be done over and over again with many different layers to sound the way you want it to sound at home on someone's stereo. It can take hours to days on end. On the other hand is the performance that doesn't necessarily have to be anything like the record at all. When I was in Obnox we stripped down the blown out multi-drum layered psych rock recordings to fit a two-piece outfit when we played live. Then there are punk and hardcore bands/songs/records that try to stick as close to the recordings as possible. I think different genres have more wiggle room to experiment with that others have or choose to use. That said, I personally enjoy doing both and am always willing to experiment with a live setting and have no problem with steering away from what's expected.

ARH: When and how did you get into performing? Since you’ve started performing, have you noticed repeating cycles in terms of style and energy? How would you describe the current zeitgeist?

RR: First began performing about five or six years ago with What A Waste and Fascist Insect. Regardless of what anyone else may have thought of those bands at the time, I had a blast playing live almost every time. My only influences at the time were bands like Black Flag or The Ramones. Now, mind you, obviously nothing I was playing sounded ANYTHING like either of those two bands, but my point is that I wanted to play as simple and as aggressive as I could at the same time. That's still somewhat the formula for any band I still do to this day. It's totally a repeating cycle no matter what instrument I'm playing. Three chords on the guitar and no drum rolls/fills ever. Just meat and potatoes, it's what I enjoy and what I feel most comfortable playing. Not that I haven't ventured out of my comfort zone, but I just always come back. It just feels right.

ARH: I hear you. Anything else coming up you are excited about?

RR: Well since starting this interview the Real Regular LP has been released and people seem to be liking it a lot so that's pretty exciting haha. The new Lucha Eterna 7" will officially be out in two weeks and I have a couple of new projects that are about ready to perform in a seedy basement near you! I have since taken on new releases for Saucepan Records so I think 2015 is looking pretty bright for the label, I can't wait!