First up was Xray Eyeballs, a Brooklyn group fronted by the wildest little Asian dude i have seen on stage maybe ever. (I don't know if I've ever seen an Asian dude on stage, now that I think about it. and I am thinking about it hard. I am probably forgetting someone obvious and amazing. Someone leave a comment with another artist or band with an Asian lead that i have probably seen that will make me feel stupid for forgetting. Does the lead guy from Deftones count? He is only halfsies.) It was a Tuesday night at Slim's, none of us were really expecting a major crowd; there were mostly locals who would most likely be at Slim's anyway, and bands watching the other bands; this is where we came in. And I gotta tell you guys that came in late, you actually missed a hell of a show. I don't want to get hung up on looks or races or whatever, but this band was a total Benetton ad, I loved it! Adorable Pilipino front man, tall Slavic goddess bass player girl (dear god i love a girl bassist) and a gangsta ass Hispanic dude rocking a synth that i swear looked like he wandered in from Compton... I would have never picked out these people to be in the same band and if i did i would never have guessed the kind of music that came from them... it was fantastic! somewhere between early Sonic Youth, Screamo power pop, clean cut synth rock - all with the lead (OJ) going flipping WILD! This is my truest love; bands that play for the music, not for the size of the crowd. XRay Eyeballs could have been just having rehearsals, but we got to watch; they were having some serious fun and sounding incredible in the process. I later got to talk to them a bit (they were touring their way down to SXSW) and developed mini-crushes on every single person in the van. I wish them the very best of luck and I'll definitely be seeing you guys again!
John Brodeur; our headliner, although for some damn reason we went on last? I really still don't understand how this lineup happened. But John Brodeur is the main guy. When Jayseph told me who we were playing with, I of course went online and hit up sites and sounds; I liked what i heard, of course. Jay kept mentioning "he reminds me of Matthew Sweet" (which, by the way, is an awesome person to compare anyone to.) John is from New York, has a pretty solid rep and okay, man, he is totally cute. like, blush-inducing-anywhere-within-my-vicinity-cute. He took the stage alone, which was not surprising, but i wasn't expecting it really. and as a musician surrounded by bleeps and bloops and electronics, I was really super impressed with the myriad of pedals and toys surrounding his feet on stage. and then he began to play and i swooned. no fair to be that gorgeous and to have that voice and that level of talent! biggest mindblower of the night was the live sampling he did as the last song, something i have dreamed about a little. i may have should have talked to him about well, HOW THE EFF DID YOU DO THAT? but t this point, it was time to scramble and get going on final preps.
Ladies and Gentlemen, introducing: THE CLINK.
it went down like this: Jay's girlfriend runs in, fresh from Mardi Gras Party, throws big red (!!) beads around my neck and hands me a shot of something magical and alcohol-y. And hey here's something they never tell you; When you are in the band, they give you FREE BEER. After i found this out, i almost cried a little. I made Jay pinky swear with me that we would do this forever and get really famous so we never had to pay for beer again (isn't that the only reason anyone is in a band? I am kidding, btw. i think.) So I'm not going to say "hey we were so good and this is what we sounded like"... i don't know how to do that to myself. What I will say is that my god we had fun. SO MUCH FUN. and Whatever we actually sounded like to the crowd, I know that from where we stood, it was a blast. I could point out every time my computer glitched or i missed a cue or a note, but i later decided since it was really the first time we played out, no one knew what to expect anyway, so HA HA IT WAS PERFECT AND WE NEVER MESSED UP.
Roo has written me a letter:
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Karla,
So, in the hours since your first show as The Clinks I have taken some time to think about how to write this review. I cannot write it in the same way I would write a normal review because I will be biased in your favor no matter what if I am speaking to the deep, dark chasm of the interwebs. I refuse to be biased in any way, so I have to write you a personal letter in a constructive criticism vein to be posted, or not posted, on your blog as a review. You're incredibly important to me, and I am very proud of you for moving forward with this musical endeavor, but you need open and honest feedback so you can continue to grow and improve. What you choose to do with this is up to you.
Before I get too far into this I want to just make the basic statements: 1) I enjoyed the show very much, and 2) I am so very happy for you that you've found this outlet.
Let me start off by clarifying how I understand The Clinks so you know where I am coming from. It seems that Jay, who is extremely talented, has been in a several different bands, including The New Euphemisms. It seems that TNE never really played too many shows in a row with the same line-up. It seems that he is finally letting go of that and moving forward with something new with you, but that in the time being you two are playing several of their old songs while you build up your own set lists. For this reason it is natural that Jay would play the role of the front man at the show. They were mainly, after all, his songs.
Now, if I were to comment on the dynamic between you two I would have to say that the two of you need to work really hard on writing new materiel so that your stage presence is balanced much more than it was at this show. Jay basically dominated the entire set. Again, that was apt to a point due to the situation as I understand it, but it was almost too much. He has an AMAZING voice, is obviously a talented musician and has a breadth of musical knowledge verging on rock-dork-supreme. BUT he still came on really strong and the presentation was such that he was often "the show" and you were tucked off to the side. He seemed to myself and several other people in the audience (read: our friends) that you were not given an opportunity to shine. Of course he has more experience than you at performing and making music in general and he is intimately familiar with the set list you were playing. I understand why he was the focus of the night, but at one point in particular it seemed like that took over and he stopped playing for the enjoyment of the audience.
In between songs:
Jay: "Is the guitar too loud?"
Audience members: "Yes, it's too loud."
Jay: "Whatever, let's go..."
*music starts*
Now, the audience didn't stop enjoying themselves. I don't mean to imply that, but it was something akin to a DJ playing only obscure music despite the fact that people are standing around wanting to dance. There is a fine line between jamming out hard and being too cocky to listen to feedback your audience is giving you that could greatly improve your show. That being said, the sound at Slim's has always sucked and will always suck, so it may have been unavoidable.
Also, I really like Jay from what I know of him. He has a pretty stellar personality and I am glad he showcases that on stage. You two just need some balance and to watch your volume on certain instruments/mics.
My point in telling you this is to encourage you to make a strong effort to evolve into a band that plays songs you have written together or new songs you have written separately for The Clinks specifically. Do not allow this to be The New Euphemisms II. Make this new. Decide now that you will create a catalogue of songs you can perform together. Within a few weeks/months you should stop playing TNE material all together, otherwise there is no was to escape the imbalance.
Now, a few things about you. You were having fun. That showed BIG TIME! That is my favorite part of every band I enjoy live...that they are enjoying themselves. Just last night I was discussing with Jonny Tunnell and Sarah Fuller that the reason I love watching The Big Picture play is because they are having their own little party on stage and the joy they create as a band is infectious. Your happiness was that way. Of course I could sense your nerves, but I'm me and you're you and we can read one another pretty well.
To be honest, I was curious to hear you sing. It had been years since I heard you belt something out, and I didn't know what to expect. In reality, there are a lot of differences between now and back then and I didn't know what might have changed. Luckily for us all, you still have a beautiful voice. You'll want to work on your comfort with a microphone, but that's just something that takes a few attempts to really get down. At times you were too far away from the mic and it became difficult to hear you. Make sure you're within the right distance and at the right angle to be picked up properly. Also, your keyboard was way too loud. I know you knew this and that's why you decided to play it very minimally. That was really smart of you and improved the set dramatically, however I would have loved to hear you play more. Next time just be assertive and ask the sound guy to fix it. That's his job.
Have I mentioned you were really cute? I loved your look. It has little to do with the music, but I know it's important to you to present yourself well. You achieved that.
All in all I had a great time at your show. I loved your sound and where you're headed musically appeals to me a lot. Your beats were sick. Jay's musicality and technical ability on guitar is strong. I really think I enjoyed it separately from "watching my bestie play a show" and that makes me really excited to know what you'll come up with next.
I love you, and I hope this is helpful.
-Roo
I really want to say thanks once again to all my friends for their support and for coming out. We are in a little transition at the moment (literally, jay is moving house and i am setting up the [electro] practice space in my house) and recording is imminent. stay tuned!
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