the411

Mixing mathematics and sound was Delia Derbyshire's goal. This petite Englishwoman with librarian looks and otherworldly auditory abilities achieved her goal.  A true musical genius, Delia, "The Sculptress of Sound", was the brains and the loop master of the original Dr Who theme while working at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.  She was not given a co-composer credit the  BBC  bureaucracy, which then preferred to keep the members of the workshop anonymous. The sounds she crafted in the"60s could be fresh now in 2018. She created the theme while working at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop As a studio assistant Once told 'The recording studio is no place for a woman.'  She still persevered despite the lack of encouragement.  She was not even given credit for the theme. Her ability to manipulate sounds was her niche. Growing up in the war torn city of Coventry, England, she relayed that the war sounds outside her family's flat stayed with her. Being abl...

Cinematic, ascending piano playing and a classically operatic trained voice makes the artist, Monique Angele, a rising star. Her latest EP Alive is ripe with cathartic lyrics and cascading sounds. She pens anthem like songs such"Forever Strong", "Hold On" and "I Want a World". These tracks bubble with enthusiasm and gusto. I especially enjoyed "Rare Girl' it's nod to being your own best self, quirks and all. If you looking for a classy chanteuse, look no further. She will fill your auditory senses up with feathery piano and buoyant voice. Monique graciously agreed to answer a few questions for me. Hi Tina, Thanks so much for the interview! Please see my answers below: Tell me about your impetus to create and your creative process?   I get inspired to write music from my own personal life experiences and also world events. I usually write my songs organically - the song process comes from a thinking from a ...

Tiny Hueman Needs To Crash On Your Couch: The Interview You can’t throw a rock in the suburbs of Philly these days without hitting a member of a good band. As a matter of fact, one of those rocks could hit one of the members of  Tiny Hueman. The rock might hit Dustin Miller on guitar or Richie Hollahan on lead vox and guitar, Kevin Miller on drums or Vinny Vaccaro on guitar or Richie Tavers on bass. They hail from Doylestown, PA (home of Pink), close enough to Philly to be a Philly band. Hollahan says that people think the people in Philly are mean, “but they are really great and very receptive!” The city has been kind to Tiny Hueman as they have played to packed shows and they’ve moved on up to selling out shows in the gilded venues of Brooklyn. The band’s cryptic-sounding name, as explain by Miller, is actually a play on words. They collectively decided to leave in the extra vowel, since “‘hue’ means color so that is why we kept the extra vowel and added the ‘man’, man....

The Kurt Factor: Jealous Of The Birds & Courtney Barnett 2018 is a proving to be a stellar year for female artists and musicians. I am particularly moved by two of the innovative ladies with stellar records out this year, one whom is an Australian you may know well and the other an Irish spellbinder you should get to know well, both of whom thrive under the long shadow of St. Cobain. First off Courtney Barnett  who I find to be one of the most humble artists around despite her incredible guitar shredding skills and wordsmith abilities. I have talked to others who don’t feel her allure and I suppose she is an acquired taste. Hailing from Australia, she has put out 2 solo albums and a collaboration with the wonderful, again acquired taste, Kurt Vile. They sort of look similar with their hooded eyes and lots of thick and wavy brunette hair.  Lot of SeaLice  was a perfect collaboration. Their songs, like “Over Everything”, felt like 2 besties just jamming wi...

What happens when you combine a law school student who married a Quaker couple in his free time and someone who shakes his head at technology and social media? You get a damn fine band that is on the verge of a break out. Flying high on the release of their latest single, Rhett Tierney and Andrew Napoli of the Philly based band Looseleaf are true music men. The passion they have for bringing their music fueled by 60s harmonizing, blues, rock, and reggae is tangible. I had a chat with them and the energy they exude in their live performances came through loud and clear on the phone. The chemistry between these Fender loving guys (Tierney favors his black Strat and Napoli rocks it on his jazz bass) is obvious.  Their tight friendship began in middle school. Now slipping into their ripe old 20s they have been playing their style of laid back, bluesy, funky sounding music playing for over 10 years. Kyle Sparkman “Kyle with the Style’ lends his rad skills as guitaris...

The Harmonizing Goth Soul Of Hestina The art of harmonizing is no easy feat. Sisters can do it. Brothers too. But the ones who are simply friends with a symbiotic union that flow together? Well that’s just supernatural right there. And now we can add the soulful, harmonic, and bluesy Hestina to a best of harmonizers list. Kimberly Vice and Michele Ausman are the sirens that make up Hestina. Packed with powerful voices and a lone ukulele, Hestina kicks up a storm when they play live, sparking in all directions. The name “Hestina” refers to a species of black butterlies found in South East Asia that are referred to as “the siren of butterflies”. As a matter of fact, Sirens was the bands former moniker. They posted this on the social media ether, which really does give insight into their dynamic: Did y’all know why our name is Hestina? Or even what it means? It is a genus of black winged butterfly, native from Asia.. often referred to as Siren in the Himalayas. Both o...

Long Hair Don’t Care: Chopping It Up With Manchino Man, chino! These are some good old fashioned hard hustling rockers looking make enough noise to be noticed, and we had a casual chat about stopping it all when the muse visits, the end off the era of rock star Gods, ice cream falling on Floyd’s new pants, and tips for keeping long hair as a dude. Manchino, from the piney wilds of Alabama, relocated to the slightly more on-the-map Eugene, Oregon. They moved their belongings out to the Pacific Northwest two years ago after finding one other in Alabama after meeting up at a Battle of the Bands. The Men of Chino consist of: Drew Rachel – Vocals Jeff Blackmon – Drums Kris Pourchot – Bass Randall Broome – Guitar From the start this hard driving four piece mixed together “dessert rock and other cool shit.” Emerging on the Alabama music scene in 2013, they graced the slightly elevated stages of smaller venues and the low bills of a few festivals, working up a stage presence ...