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For the full interview of Will Francis, visit my personal blog site SheaLynch[RAW]

I recently interviewed Will Francis, a fellow artistic cadet flying the airwaves of entrepreneurship and ex-MySpace UK editor from 2007-2010.

At MySpace, Francis was responsible for managed the “day-to-day flow of content from users and large publishers.” He also represented MySpace externally in the forms of holding press briefings and presentation of new Myspace Music product. He also hosted live video webchats with celebrities such as Justin Bieber and Ricky Gervais.

We discussed the culture of MySpace and how the uprising of Facebook is destroying web creativity and mobility, a depressing site to say the least. As a Facebook “h8ter” myself, there was much to reminisce about past time Internet shenanigans. Starts such as Kiki Kannibal and Matthew Lush wouldn’t be possible without the help of MySpace.

Listed below is a message to communication students from Will Francis:

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For full e-mail transcript, visit my personal blog page, Shea Lynch [RAW]!

I recently interviewed Zac Pennington of Parenthetical Girls and now ex-member of Xiu Xiu about his upcoming album releases and life with Parenthetical.

Parenthetical Girls is a pop group from Portland, Oregon, and consists of Amber W. Smith, Jherek Bischoff, Paul Alcott, and Zac Pennington.

“I know what a C chord is now. I can also usually identify 5/4 time. These are but a few of the leaps and strides I’ve made over the past year with regard to my musicianship. Non-musicianship is something that I maybe used to romanticize, but I’ve long since past that. It now mostly embarrassing,” said Pennington when asked about the band description of “relative non-musician.”

Parenthetical is currently struggling to finish the final chapter of the Privilege EP series “in a way that seems suitable to the amount we’ve spent on the whole project thus far.” The band plans to release the five part 12″ EP series as a box set, extremely limited.

Pennington also runs his own label which the Privilege series will be released on: Slender Means Society.

“Slender Means Society was formerly a vanity label that I ran alone for some years, which at one point helped to release music by Owen Pallett, Grouper, The Blow, The Dead Science, and Lucky Dragons, among others. It’s recently become simply a clearing house for Parenthetical Girls wares. It occasionally breaks even,” said Pennington.

Pennington, when playing with Xiu Xiu at The Haunt, “had a very pleasant time.”

“Ithaca was one of the few places on that trip that I happened to have friends to visit with. Plus, I’m told the BBQ was exceptional,” said Pennington.

Below is the song The Privilege on the album Privilege: Sympathy For Spastics. This video was also co-directed by Pennington.

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Before the gothic glam of modern Marilyn Manson lived a young teen rocking the Florida club scenes. Marilyn Manson and the Spooky Kids was the first Manson group to shock audiences. Their use of plastic sheets to cover the stage, theatric props, and tons of nudity set the way for the Anarchist Superstar. Below is from one of Manson’s first recorded albums Portrait of an American Family.

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Blow! 7 inch on sale now! (Photo taken by Shea Lynch)

I recently interviewed George Johann of Angry Mom Records in The Commons about their least publicized franchise: the record labels Angry Mom Records and Angry Mom Tapes.

“The label was started to try and help out the local bands that I thought were good and could use the extra exposure. Started up 2009 and run [out of] the store by me although 95 percent of sales are by the bands on tour,” said Johann.

They currently have three releases on vinyl: Elsa & the Awesome Awesomes, Blow!, and Why the Wires- Telegraph Flats LP. In edition to producing music on vinyl, they also produce on cassette tape and offer MP3 downloads.

“Starting in 2012, I’m starting Angry Mom Tapes as a full on thing. [I will be] able to get out 8 to 10 cassette releases for the same price as vinyl. Also some more vinyl with some more local bands that I’ve been working with over the last few years. Hopefully the reissue projects will start: First a totally unreleased 7″ from an upstate hardcore band recorded in 1983 and even more exciting, a totally unreleased LP from 1980 by no wave band Sick Dick & the Volkswagons,” said Johann.

All three present releases are available at their store: Angry Mom Records, 115 The Commons (607) 319-4953.

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“This generation will solve global warming, cure cancer, and fix social security. These 4 kids won’t” starts off each episode of the shockingly entertaining yet awkward Hulu exclusive: 2/8 Life.

The show chronicles the life of a girl named Angela and her three roommates struggling to find identity in the “new generation”. Angela starts a blog site and quickly finds out she has nothing important to say.

The short plots of each episode are almost painful to watch but there is an element of comedy that keeps me glued. It’s like MADtv with an even smaller production budget; it’s underground young adult media. Check it out on Hulu for free!

You’re getting a TubeTuesday early! I’m sorry I missed last week. Follow me on Twitter!! Follow @SheaLynch1

Melt Banana graced The Haunt with its magical sound diarrhea, the kind you don’t want to wipe from your face. October 23, 2011.

Consisting of vocalist Yako and guitarist Agata, Melt Banana is a noise punk band from Japan. Yako’s chirpy vocals put a unique spin on their music. The drums and bass were crisp against the obtuse guitar sounds, as if the strings were rusty and all music was in a state of youthful decay.

Summoning the toughest of moshers, Melt Banana kept the crowd at a level of intense energy throughout the night. Check out Melt Banana below and on their website.

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Bubba Crumrine, of the local Ithaca alternative band Mouth To Mouth To Mouth, sat down with me to answer some questions. It’s Dashboard Confessional meets Dinosaur Jr. and their first recorded EP is on sale now at Angry Mom Records (115 The Commons).

Mouth To Mouth To Mouth is composed of Corey Fox Mahaney on guitar & vocals, Bubba Crumrine on bass & vocals, Gabe Millman on drums, and Peter Pillardy on guitar. Members have also been in a lengthy list of other Ithaca bands including Makeshift, Genital Holograms, BRIAN!, Fight A Scary Dog, and several others.

Shea: Describe working at Pyramid Sound Studios. Is this your first recorded EP? Are there other hidden Mouth To Mouth To Mouth tracks?

Bubba: Working with Phil Abbott at Pyramid was such a great experience. We’d only been playing together for three to four months when we set the date to record but right off the bat we all knew this was a project we wanted document properly. Phil was incredibly thorough and helped us get the tone and vibe we were aiming for.  He was just the right mix of pushing us for our best, making recording/mix suggestions, and being a good listener to our interests. He recorded, mixed, and mastered the whole thing and we’re very pleased. Sometimes there’s three different melodies going on at the same time plus Gabe’s intricate work behind the kit that could have easily been muddied or parts could have gotten lost in the wrong hands.

So far, those four tracks on the EP are the only ones with proper recordings, however two additional pieces (performed back in August) have video clips up on the Ithaca Underground YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/IthacaUnderground

Shea: What is the main theme or message in your work?

Bubba: To make complex, melodic music that’s enjoyable to listen to without sacrificing technical prowess nor needing abide by conventional songwriting. We play music we’d enjoy listening to.  There’s not much more specifics to that. If a piece needs vocals, it gets them. If a piece needs to have a bit more personal, emotional involvement or social commentary, we’ll include it. Each piece is sort of assessed on its own and allowed to grow. Then we feed it what it needs.

Shea: What venues have you played?

Bubba: Locally, we’ve played The Haunt twice (for Big Day In and the Beach Parade farewell/my birthday show), The Space @ GreenStar, Community School of Music & Arts (for the Ithaca Underground stage of Ithaca Festival), plus Blot Spot and Pajama / Kazama (aka Bazooka / Bazooka) both in Binghamton, the Cortland Youth Center, and the Flying Squirrel Community Center opening for the Cattle Drums/Dan Drake tour date in Rochester.

Shea: What does MTMTM’s future hold?

Bubba: We all consider this to be one of our core projects, though we’re on a bit of a break at the moment. Corey’s going to the School of Arts Institute in Chicago while Peter, Gabe, and I are all still here in Ithaca with other projects (namely BRIAN! and the newly formed Phorke).  We aim to record our new tracks “Mouth Parade” and “That Felt Weird Coming Out of My Mouth” in late December and play a good chunk of shows.

Shea: Finally, what contact information would you like to give to the community?

Bubba: For booking, the best way to reach out is to contact me, Bubba, via contact@ithacaunderground.com, but make sure you include our band name (or at least MTMTM) in the subject. It’s the same address I use to book for Ithaca Underground so, the inbox can get a bit tricky at times. Our music can be easily found, listened to, and downloaded via our bandcamp page http://mouthtomouthtomouth.bandcamp.com and we welcome folks to find us on Facebook and MySpace (hello…? anyone still here?) if they’re into that.

I am obsessed with Cy Twombly (1928-2011). His paintings portray the violence in everyone’s flowered hearts, or at least that’s the way I see them. His seemingly simplistic paintings not only entice your childhood imaginations but ejaculate all over your nice pants-suit and redefine what you call “art”. Below, John Squire, artist and lead guitarist of The Stone Roses, describes Quattro Stagioni, his favorite Twombly collection.

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Did you know that The Black Eyed Peas used to be gangster rap? Well at least half of them were; rappers will.i.am (known as Will 1X back in the day) and apl.de.ap formed a group in the early 90s called Atban Klann. They debuted on rapper Eazy-E’s EP 5150: Home 4 tha Sick on the song “Merry Muthaphuckkin’ Xmas” and were signed to Eazy-E’s Ruthless Records in 1992. Atban Klann soon disbanded after the death of Easy-E; will.i.am and apl.de.ap met up with Taboo and formed The Black Eyed Peas in the mid-90s. Early Black Eyed Peas sounds reminiscent of their gangster rap past, but nothing can beat the raw beats of 90s underground starter rappers Atban Klann! Listen to their first single released “Puddles of H2O” below.

Chocolate at the Chapel Event

The LGBT Center at Ithaca College is celebrating its 10th anniversary with special events, October 13th through the 16th.

One important event leading up to the celebrations was Chocolate in the Chapel on October 5th, a social gathering of the LGBT Community and the various religious groups on campus at Muller Chapel.

“We’re fortunate on our campus to have wonderful chaplains and chaplain staff who are very committed to reaching out to LGBT students and all of our students overall,” said Lis Mauer, program director for the LGBT Center, on the religious communities acceptance.

“It’s also very important to know that religious communities and LGBT communities are not separate groups, we have many LGBT students who are also people of faith and part of religious congregations on campus or downtown,” said Maurer.

There were about 200 guests that attended Chocolate at the Chapel, both from the LGBT community and religious allies.

Hot chocolate and apple cider were served to get us all in the fall spirit and many chocolate goodies peppered the tables in Muller Chapel. It was a great way to mingle amongst fellow LGBT “members” and allies.

Here is a complete list of the activities forwarded to me by Lis Maurer:

Thursday October 13, 7 pm
Our Tenth Annual National Coming Out Day Speaker,
Janet Green ‘78
“Intersex: What Is It, and Why Should You Care?”
The event will take place at the First Unitarian Society of Ithaca, 306 North Aurora Street, Ithaca, NY (the corner of Aurora and Buffalo Streets in downtown Ithaca).  Thanks to our event co-sponsors, the First Unitarian Society of Ithaca, the Ithaca LGBT Task Force, and Out for Health.

Friday October 14, 8:30 pm
LGBT and Allied Class Reunion event
A toast to LGBT and Allied IC alumni, and to the 10th anniversary of the LGBT Center. Catch up with classmates and toast your reunion. A signature cocktail and mocktail have been created especially to celebrate our 10th anniversary, too.  Cash bar. ZaZa’s Cucina Restaurant, 622 Cascadilla St. Ithaca. Special thanks to your alumni event host Marc Wigler ‘87.

Saturday October 15, 9:30 am (race begins at 10 am)
5K run on campus with Lis and Habitat for Humanity
Butterfield Stadium
We’re Out for Good – The LGBT Center program director will run the Habidash 5K on campus, and invites all LGBT and Allied students, alumni, and members of the campus community to join in – come be a part of a fun run for a great cause! (Registration and fee for the run is required through IC’s Habitat for Humanity, register on-site the morning of the race).  Please join us – run along with us, walk, or cheer us on from the sidelines of the race, as we LGBTA folks do something good to give back to the community.  Special thanks to LGBTA Alumni from the Classes of 2007 and 2008 for challenging Lis to this run, and to IC Habitat for Humanity for their enthusiastic response to our participation.

Saturday October 15, 2 pm in Clark Lounge, Campus Center
LGBTA@IC Throughout the Years – a featured panel discussion with LGBTA alumni spanning five decades at IC, and leaders of current LGBTA themed student organizations.  Our panelists: Ralph Siciliano ‘72, Janet Green ‘78, Marc Wigler ‘87, Shelley Facente ‘02, Genevieve Labe ‘09.

Saturday October 15, 3:30 p.m.
LGBT Center Open House
Center for LGBT Education, Outreach & Services
lower level, Hammond Health Center, Room B-14

Sunday, October 16, 9 am – 11 am
Informal farewell gathering for LGBT and Allied alumni. Coffee/breakfast is on your own, but the company will be fabulous!  One more chance to say goodbye for another year.   Collegetown Bagels downtown location, 203 N. Aurora Street, Ithaca.

Any questions? Contact program director Lis Maurer at lmaurer@ithaca.edu.

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