DEFIANT’S NEILL ACER SPEAKS BEER

This pertinent conversation took place February 12th, 2012 at Pearl River’s DEFIANT BREWERY.Acer, a veteran of the beer circuit, took an hour to explain his past, present and future. Let’s join in…

I got hooked on Belgian beers early on. Chimay Blue was probably the main reason to get into craft brewing. I recognized the beer I had made earlier from a medieval recipe was related – only Chimay was done very well. I love…

Born in the Deep South town of Adel near the same Okefenokee swamplands Country-rock legend Gram Parsons once perused, multifarious Georgian musician-producer Don Fleming joined the Air Force and spent time in Denver during the ’77 punk explosion, gaining access to the Ramones, Runaways, and Nerves. Now residing in Montclair with wife and kids, the ambitiously inquisitive music obsessive continuously expands rock’s plasmatic perimeters, keeping one foot in the resplendent past while digging deeper into its unrevealed future. Spending downtime…

Hailing from the expanding northerly Atlanta suburb of agricultural metropolis, Dunwoody, the Black Lips steadily ransack rock and roll’s past to reenergize the here and now. While attending grade school together, the three original members precipitously discovered the joy of music and have since embarked on an enduringly fruitful artistic journey back in time without ever lapsing into idle nostalgic vagrancy. A virtual democratic unit gathering son-of-a-preacher-man bassist Jared Swilley, harmonica-blowing guitarist Cole Alexander, and boisterous drummer Joe Bradley (plus…

It’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock and roll

High Voltage- AC/DC

The above adage rings true for many aspiring musicians. And the glorified metal stallions from Australia that coined it ought to know since it took ‘em six years, several albums, and the death of their original lead singer to finally breakout.

The same axiom holds true for AWOLNATION brainchild, Aaron Bruno, whose choppy path to aboveground approval has taken many perplexingly twisted turns. Stranger…

Growing up smack dab in England’s Bronze-aged industrial county of West Midlands, Sharks front man James Mattock devoured a steady diet of politically motivated and feverishly frolicking ‘70s punk as a tyke. And the righteously revelatory compositions he penned thereafter make it totally apparent. Though never one to go overboard with his political rhetoric and anti-government furor, Mattock nonetheless composes some of the most defiant rallying cries and rumbling fist-waving energizers the once great Britain now exports.

Taking their band…

Marking their latest unexpected comeback twenty years after their fourth studio album, the Feelies are like a cat with nine lives.

Originally from Haledon, the Velvet Underground-nurtured outfit, led by singer-guitarists Glenn Mercer and Bill Million, scored instant left-of-the-dial radio success with 1980’s soft rock masterstroke, Crazy Rhythms. Prefiguring the unaffected do-it-yourself lo-fi bedroom recordings that’d pop up in the early ‘90s, Mercer’s understated half-sung baritone, barely audible in the mix, juxtaposed delicately droned six-string dribbles and primal tribal…

A government by and for the people cannot perish unless profiteering government-sponsored corporate entities destroy the infrastructure, dissuade the entrepreneurial spirit, endanger the environment, puppeteer unsolicited foreign wars, or impose stringent rules handcuffing its own citizens. But take a look at what’s happened lately. Even the cheeriest forecasters must admit America’s in distress and these are dangerous times we live in.

That is, unless individuals take back the government, stop paying for Republicrat lobbyists, vote for responsible independents, and rescue…

In a fair world, seasoned Swedish trio, Peter Bjorn & John, would’ve been big pop stars. An eclectic combo fashioning engagingly melodic hook lines with a keen eye looking towards rock and roll’s glorious past, these versatile Scandinavians bounce between various familiar contemporary styles while stuck just outside stardom’s short and narrow reach. In spite of it all, they don’t really care all that much about worldwide takeover.

Of course, PB&J did experience a modicum of international fame when their…

Fertile Scottish combo, Mogwai, became a provocative ‘post-rock’ beacon in the mid-‘90s, extending upon the profound reverb-heavy shoegazing Jesus & Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine devised and the proverbial noise rock experimentalism Sonic Youth pillaged. Fronted by proficient guitarist Stuart Braithwaite, these artful punks established themselves as one of the most investigative post-grunge acts, marveling the coolest indie scenesters with frighteningly awesome distended live jams (captured best at Music Hall of Williamsburg for sensational 2010 Secret Moves disc).

Nearly…

FOREWORD: During 1999, I got to interview one of my favorite musical artists of all time. Paul Westerberg spent his youth leading a reckless band of fiery individuals whose recorded output is still being digested by indie rock denizens. When I got to speak to the legendary front man, he was already past his thirties and highly reflective of the past. Following this conversation, Westerberg continued to make worthy albums such as ‘02s Stereo and ‘03s Come Feel Me Treble,…

Shrewd Mexicali-influenced gypsy punks, DeVotchKa, came to the fore in the year 2000 when native New Yorker, Nick Urata, a soon-to-be pedigreed Chicago musician, left the cold Midwest confines to link up with fellow Chi-town deserter, ex-bassist Jon Ellison to form an early version of his exotic band in Denver. Though formative debut, SuperMelodrama, and its decent ’03 follow-up, Una Volta, were merely steppingstones, Urata’s apprenticing unit would receive better underground recognition for ‘04s How It Ends.

Good luck struck…

It took a high-spirited emigrating crew of youthful Australians to perfectly capture the ruggedly forceful post-Beatles rock period (1969-1973) without sounding dated, half-baked, or just plain generic in the 21^st century. Still in their developmental stage, Wolf People display all of the key ingredients necessary to recreate the glorious fertile past, yet they appreciatively avoid every convoluted pitfall tedious backdated retro styling incurs.

Leader Jack Sharp (guitar-vocals) and fellow wolves Joe Hollick (guitar), Daniel Davies (bass), and Tom Watt concoct…