Belmont Banger – Movement Pre-Party

Movement weekend in Detroit! Our friends at the Belmont house are hosting a Movement Pre-party this Friday 5/24 (5180 Belmont, Hamtramck) featuring VVOLFGANG, Big Up Menace X, Greyhound, and more

Check out Synthology from the dude VVOLFGANG! 

New Big Up Menace X album is inzane. Check it! 

https://soundcloud.com/big_upmenace/raw-cuts-volume-1-a-sentimental-piece-dedicated-to-my-life

Other cool newer local techno/electro 

Julia Bondar: https://detund.bandcamp.com/album/in-my-neighbourhood

313 Acid Queen: https://313acidqueen.bandcamp.com/album/313-acid-queen

Pablo Ruiz: https://portagegaragesounds.bandcamp.com/album/bad-hombre

Shoutout – Sunday Night in Niko's Basement

Just heard about this cool local music show, good stuff

Interview with Dirt Room

INTERVIEW WITH...

DIRT ROOM

https://www.instagram.com/dirtroommusic/?hl=en

https://open.spotify.com/track/42pCMvFSWz8zZWO9MhgeDF?si=Q9FG6QxzSiyXbrWhB079l w

Dirt Room is a Detroit based experimental shoegaze punk band based out of Detroit. Brothers Simon and Sam Sprague started the band in 2016 in Lansing Michigan. When they moved down to Detroit, Patrick Norton, Pierre ​Papa-Merè, and Cameron Frank joined the band. Dirt Room has performed with the likes of ADULT., Krillin, and Period Bomb. 

Remove Records: What are some of your influences?
Dirt Room: We really enjoy The Residents, Deerhunter, Saint Hewitt, Steve Reich, Swans, Ricky Eat Acid, Standing on the Corner, The Books, Can, James Chance, and Os Mutantes. Man Ray is also pretty sweet.

Tell us about your new project.
We are releasing an album and a film. They both fall under the project title Summer Salts. Both the album and the film exist in the same story world and act as companions to one another. We felt that this project would be more complete with a strong visual component. Concepts/Themes that the album and film explore are drug use, diminishing relationships, death, the occult, time manipulation. Our sound has greatly evolved from the our singles EP that were recorded between 2016-2017. Our current sound relies heavily on the use of saturated textures, electronics, and acoustic instruments.

What are some of the challenges you have faced while working on Summer Salts/what has surprised you?
We are working with more people than ever before. Consistent and clear communication is inevitably the biggest battle when working with a large group. Although there are many people involved we often end up wearing multiple hats so it can be difficult to keep track of multiple departments. We’ve been surprised by how excited and interested in working on the project people have been when pitching it. Many members of the crew are people we just met on instagram. It’s been great being surrounded by so many talented and intelligent individuals on a regular basis.

Are there any new bands you’ve been getting into? 
Foodman, Eli Kezsler, Masayoshi Fujita

What are your biggest interests outside of music?
Screenwriting, art house film, Japanese/Korean cuisine, and urban exploring.

What are your thoughts about the DIY scene in Detroit?

It sometimes seems fragmented with little pockets of people in their own musical circles. We believe that there needs to be more community interaction between both musicians and visual artists. Although, I think it’s getting better. What we need are more spaces where people can come together and express themselves with any artform they are passionate about. We also need the members of the community to start stepping up to support one another. Whether it means going to shows, sharing others work, or even collaborating. The thing that gives a city a great community for artists is a culture of DIY.

Live in 2017

When do you plan on playing live shows again?
We will probably start booking shows this September to test the metal of the songs in a live setting before hitting the studio. We also would love to tour down south to visit friends in Baltimore and Philly, and potentially make our way all the way down to New Orleans.

Are there any bands that you would like to play with?
We really enjoy the music of Saajtak, Saint Hewitt, Teener, and Guerilla Toss. But we also really would love to play again with, Ape Not Kill Ape, Sojii, Teener, Period Bomb, Albert Bagman.

Interview with Zilched

INTERVIEW WITH...

ZILCHED

Photo by Estavon Hawley

https://www.instagram.com/zilchedmusic/

https://www.facebook.com/Zilchedmusic

https://zilcheddetroit.bandcamp.com/album/pulling-teeth-ep

https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCMxqvuFrsq51furQRRR8UIw

Zilched is a super cool noise pop band from Detroit who've been making a lot of noise around the city. Zilched puts on an excellent live show, and their stellar 2018 EP Pulling Teeth is out now on vinyl. We spoke with Guitarist/Vocalist Chloë Drallos about music, art, and what her band is working on next.

Remove Records: Tell us somethings about yourself and your project.

Zilched: My name is Chloë, I’m a Capricorn, a cat person and I like long walks on the beach. My project Zilched is made special just for you. With help from Nick Russo (Capricorn) and Elliot Thomas (Gemini)

What are some of your musical influences? And what are some non-musical influences?

Uhh where to start.. Pj Harvey is very special to me. As with Kim Gordon, Trent Reznor, Speedy Ortiz, it’s whoever I’m digging/listening to at the moment. I’ve been very deep into Tamaryn’s whole discography lately. I love how distinct each era of sound is with her, especially the newest album. It’s insane. I really think she’s one of the greats. 

Non-music wise, David Lynch is a pretty pivotal one for me. His whole universe tends to house me when I’m lost. (Music included) Also John Waters, Jutta Koether, Mike Kelly. All mediums all the time haha

What are your favorite venues?

Locally, I’d say Ghost Light in Hamtramck. Or the old Magic Stick.  We recently got to play Subterranean in Chicago which I was super stoked on since that’s been a favorite of mine for a bit. 

What advice would you give to someone just starting out in music/ art?

Go with your gut, be honest with your feelings and never compromise the things you care for. 

What messages or themes are you trying to convey through your music/art?

My biggest goal through art is honesty. I’m not gonna make anything I don’t believe in, even when things get embarrassing or uncomfortable. Hopefully I can convey to others that that’s ok. 

Or that it’s not.. lol. 

What are you working on next?

Might have an album written that may be taking shape shortly.. We also recorded a Velvet Underground cover, that we play occasionally, coming out soon this month. It’s a pretty good preview of where our sound has grown since the last release. 

How do you feel about the future of music/art? 

Stoked. 

Greyhound – Mushroom (Music Video)

New single "Mushroom" from Greyhound out on Remove Records. Full album damnable mask of kindliness available June 17th https://greyhound777.bandcamp.com/releases

Interview with Tink and the Lost Boys

INTERVIEW WITH...

TINK AND THE LOST BOYS

https://www.instagram.com/tinkandthelostboys/
https://www.facebook.com/tinkandthelostboys1/

https://open.spotify.com/artist/17kxTqz5JDWzJx34hJ6HKU

Tink and the Lost Boys are a rock band from Northville. They've got a 7 track album Wings that was released last year and you'll be able to catch one of their live shows over the summer. We caught up with lead guitarist Tristan Presley and got his thoughts on music and art.

Remove Records: Tell us somethings about yourself and your project. 

Tristan: In short, we are a group of people that took the phrase “let’s start a band” way to seriously. We craft tunes using bits and bobs from various genres, mostly stemming from alternative and garage rock. We are here to make noise and have a good time doin’ it.

What are some of your musical influences? And what are some non-musical influences? As a whole, we mostly take influence from the rock revival bands of the 2000s like The Black Keys, Arctic Monkeys, The Strokes, and of course, The White Stripes. Non-musically, I can really only speak for myself. One of my biggest influences in life was Alexander Calder. One time he showed up to his own exhibition with only a role of wire to make his sculptures out of. The curator of the gallery asks, “so, where’s all the artwork?”, and Calder pulls out the role of wire and says, “here it is”, make it all on the spot. That always keeps me going when I know I’m in a crunch.

What is your favorite venue? Our homebase is Harmony Hall in Novi. Acoustics are great, and lighting is amazing. Some of our favs that we hope to play one day are Trumbullplex, the Nice Place, UFO Factory, El Club and the Outer Limits Lounge.

What advice would you give to someone just starting out in music/ art? Do what you want to do. Make what you want to make. And don’t be afraid to share it with the world. There is someone out there that will enjoy what you do, whatever that may be. And, of course, don’t give up, obviously.

What messages or themes are you trying to convey through your music/art? The general vibe coming from our work is “let it out and let it rock”. Most of our lyrics are simple stories or thoughts we’ve had floating around in our minds, so we are really not trying to convey anything too deep. We just hope that our crazy sounds can please the ears of the community.

What are you working on next? We are currently working on a handful of singles and plan to release them very soon. Our newest is some good ol’ blues rock. We’re also putting together a crap load of shows for the summer months. There is also to be a line-up 'shift' in the near future.

What do you think about the future of music/art? We feel the future of art as a whole is very bright. Many, including ourselves, have found joy in art and we think that’s what attracts people to it. I mean, what else is there to say? It can only get better from here, right?

Tink and the Lost Boys (pictured left to right)

Erik Finger bassist

Tristan Presley lead guitarist

Jack Fulton lead vocals

Nick Fites drummer, backing vocals

Noah Mueller keys