RSS

One week into JEFF The Brotherhood's 2012 North American tour with The Kills, Twee Time's Stephanie Dee had the chance to chat on the phone with guitarist Jake Orrall about his new gear, the Infinity Cat label's Canadian connection, and what's going on with the band since signing to Warner Bros. Records. Below is the audio from the full interview or, if you prefer, a transcript of the highlights.

Audio for the interview engineered by Lachlan Fletcher, produced and edited by Stephanie Dee.

Stephanie: You have an LP of rarities you just released on Infinity Cat. Can you tell us about Brotherhood of Light?
Jake Orrall: Yes, kind of older stuff that's out-of-print... the more kinda cosmic side of JEFF The Brotherhood, I guess.
S: The cover of Brotherhood of Light has some symbols of the zodiac, Hebrew letters, the Star of David, the moon and the sun. I'm wondering where that concept for the cover came up?
J: The cover is actually from an old astrology pamphlet from a secret society called the Brotherhood of Light.
S: Oh wow! Is a secret society and mystical symbols something you're interested in?
J: Yeah, absolutely. Kind of a hobby, I guess.
S: Can you tell us a little bit about that book?
J: I found it in just an old pile of junk, and it's just kind of full of numbers, algorithms and stuff. It doesn't make any sense to me; none of it makes sense at all, actually. It's pretty weird, but it’s interesting.
S: I'm going to talk a little bit about Infinity Cat.
J: Yes.
S: You have two Canadian bands on that label, there's Uncle Bad Touch, and Peach Kelli Pop from Ottawa.
J: It's pretty much exclusively Canada and Nashville [laughs] on the label, dunno why.
S: How did you get in contact with Uncle Bad Touch and Allie Hanlon from Peach Kelli Pop?
J: Uhh, Allie, we played a show with her other band White Wires [Allie is on drums], who we are also big fans of, and we had a copy the Peach Kelli Pop record... and I listened to it with some friends and went, "This is awesome... where do I get it? I don't know, I don't think you can get it. I think it's just in Canada you can get it really." So, then I was like, oh let's just ask them if they wanted to put it out on record 'cause it's awesome, and so we did. And then Uncle Bad Touch, it was actually kind of a similar thing. We played with them, and became friends with them, and started doing shows together and stuff, and they had an LP and it hadn't been released in the US. So, that's kind of how it started.
S: Do you have any plans to collaborate with them musically?
J: Yeah, we actually almost recorded with Uncle Bad Touch, like a big collaboration thing the last time we were in town, but we didn't have time. We don't really have any real hard plans for that kind of stuff...
S: I’ve spoken to Allie from Peach Kelli Pop a couple of times, and she's a really good drummer as well as playing the ukulele and the guitar.
J: Yeah.
S: And I'm wondering if, because of that interest in drumming, did she have any sort of friendship, or love connection with Jamin?
J: [laughs] You'd have to ask them.
S: You know, you [only] play the top three-strings on your guitar.
J: Yeah.
S: Have you always played that way?
J: No, I used to have two, and only two, then I added one after the second album.
S: Wow, I'm really curious, how exactly do you get such a huge sound out of just three strings?
J: Well, I have a really, really nice pickup in my guitar, that was built by a guy named [inaudible] in Nashville; a very talented pickup builder. But even before I had that uhh, I think it sounds a lot better now, but I use a Big Muff distortion pedal. Umm, and it’s an old Russian one, it’s not like a new one. And I play through a bass amp and a guitar amp, and I just EQ instead the bass amp is really, really bass-y, and the guitar amp is really treble-y, and then I just; when they mix together they make up for all the lost sound of not having a bass… A really big amp… Yeah, and I also got this custom made amplifier cabinet, speaker cabinet, which I got the day before this tour, and they’re really cool. I’ll have them at the show, in Montreal. I’m really excited about it, they sound really good.
S: Yeah, I can’t wait to hear it, and I read that some of your gear was stolen last year in Nashville, so be sure to keep an eye on your stuff when you’re here in Montreal.
J: I will. It’s pretty hard to sell, if they do get stolen. [laughs] I got some of my stuff back from a pawn shop when I got broken into last time, but the guitar wasn't there and the pawn guy was like, "No it only had three strings on it; I didn't want that piece of junk"... It’s missing three strings, so he’s like “I can’t do anything with this”. So the guy didn't buy it from them [the thieves], so I guess they probably just threw it away.
S: The saying goes, opportunity comes disguised in the form of misfortune, and you got a pretty wicked guitar out of it.
J: Yeah... I really didn't care when I got my new guitar that my old one had been stolen. [laughs]
S: I also saw your post on Twitter that you guys were in the studio recording a few weeks ago.
J: Yeah, just basically recording another album, and I think it's the best one we've ever done.
S: I can’t wait to hear it! Can we expect to a new single soon?
J: I dunno, we have to mix it when we get back from this tour, so we'll see.
S: Will this album be released on Infinity Cat? Because there's some buzz about you and Jamin being signed to Warner Bros. Records last year.
J: Yeah, we just signed with Warner Bros., and this album will come out Warner Bros. slash Infinity Cat kind of thing.
S: Has the dynamic of the band, and how you run things at Infinity Cat, changed since being signed to Warner? Do you still feel independent…
J: We have a lot more freedom because of the resources we have access to. While before our record label basically consisted, you know, of me and... being on tour all day, and my dad and some interns at home mailing out packages. Now we have, you know, all these departments and all these people working for us. We come up with an idea, and we can send it to Warner Bros. and they get it done. And it's really been awesome so far; it really opened up a lot of new opportunities for us. And we also work harder and be a more professional band. But it's kinda like, it's almost like we just got like promoted at our job, and our job is like playing music, you know? It's fucking awesome…
S: I’ve always felt that, you can have the biggest bass amp, or the biggest guitar amp, or any pedal that you want; but for me I felt that your music really came from the soul, and it spoke to me for sure. And everyone I know who, like when I convinced my friends “Please stay at the VICE party to see JEFF”, and they’re like, “I’m so glad that I stayed”.
J: That’s awesome.
S: I wanted to thank you guys so much for sharing you music. I know, umm… some people think you’re a pretty new band, or didn’t hear much about JEFF, and you guys have been around since 2001.
J: Yeah, it's hard to get your name out there, you know. It really helps when people bring their friends to shows, and make them stay out ‘til the end, so thanks for that.

So the final weekend of Igloofest has passed. The previous weekend saw the festival achieve its first sold out night, and the trend continued, most notably with Igloofest achieving sold out status hours before the doors opened for the closing night. I guess having names like Marcel Dettmann and Ben Klock, Green Velvet, Maya Jane Cole and Diplo was enough of a good reason for fans to come and brave the elements. Although the elements came in a mixed bag of snow, rain and cold temperatures, it did not dampen any spirits.

The weekend started off with a bang. Diplo, Black Tiger Sex Machine and Nautiluss got the party started on Thursday. Nautiluss, for those who may not know, was the DJ half of the late Thunderheist. Ever since their break up, he signed a record deal with Tiga’s label, Turbo Recordings. His set effortlessly went through different styles from downtempo, techno and dubstep all without breaking a sweat. He got the crowd warmed up for what was ahead. If you’re a die-hard fan and follower of the local Montréal electronic scene, like I am, you may have seen or heard of the Black Tiger Sex Machine once in the past year. The trio, composed of Foxed Up, Marx Menace and Wolfcall, have been making quite a name for themselves with numerous Kannibalen nights (Kannibalen Records is the name of the label they created) at Le Belmont and other jammed packed nights in and around the city. Thursday night's performance at Igloofest was a coming out of sorts to a broader audience. The boys did not miss their opportunity to impress; with awesome beats  and the cool masks they had on, a mix between a futuristic Deadmau5 mask and a Daft Punk helment, they conquered the main stage. As mush as BTSM killed it during their set, the best was yet to come. Philly’s finest (and the coolest dude ever), Diplo, leveled the place, literally. Bringing his signature high intensity, jump-up style, he made all 9000+ plus fans go crazy. Playing a string of mainstream electro hits and a lot of moombahthon made the quays of the old port feels like a summer destination.

Sadly, I missed Friday; I was really looking forward to seeing legendary Chicago House DJ, Green Velvet , and up and coming DJ/Producer Maya Jane Coles. Saturday, though, was THE night to be at Igloofest. 10200 fans figured that out, all of them there to see legendary Berlin producers Ben Klock and Marcel Dettmann perform a four hour set on the festival’s closing night. The visionary sounds of Dettmann combined with the nostalgic and groove techno beats of Klock created one of the most memorable nights at Igloofest in recent years. Both when through the various electronic sounds from techno, tech-house, deep house and hard techno, splitting the four hours in small rotating sets between both DJs.

All good things must end, and, as this year’s edition comes to a close, one can only look forward to next year’s edition. If the success of this year is any indication, more goodies are to come; we just have to look at the amazing line up of the past nine days.

Big thanks to the wonderful staff at Igloofest who made all of my request possible. This fun and friendly gang of individuals have made Igloofest the festival it has become.

-MNJIVR hosts AutoBeat every Tuesday from 10-11pm

Read by Shaun Malley

Produced by Erica Bridgeman

Stories written by Chris Hanna, Danny Aubry and Judy-Ann Mitchell-Turgeon

NHL:

The focus in the NHL this past weekend revolved solely around the NHL’s All-Star Weekend, which took place in Ottawa this year. The festivities began with the All-Star fantasy draft, a new concept in its second year that calls for two team captains to select their teams from a pool of selected players, forming two teams that will go against each other in the Skills Competition and the actual All-Star game. This year’s captains included hometown hero Daniel Alfredson in perhaps his swan song season as the captain of the Ottawa Senators. Zdeno Chara, captain of the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Boston Bruins, and former Senator, captained the other team. Chara won the right to pick first and selected Red Wings superstar dangler Pavel Datsyuk. A lot of intrigue accompanies the guy who gets picked last in the All-Star Draft, and this year Logan Couture got the honors of being the last man standing, taking home a brand new Honda as his consolation prize.

The Skills Competition on Saturday night featured its typical antics, notably from Patrick Kane, Corey Perry, and Habs’ goaltender Carey Price. Take a look for yourself:

Kane here

Perry here

Price here

The actual game on Sunday afternoon ended in a 12-9 victory for Team Chara, with New York Rangers' Marian Gaborik winning MVP on the strength of his three goals.

NFL:

The NFL also got its own All-Star festivities going this weekend, or began Super Bowl Week, depending on how you want to look at it. The AFC beat out the NFC 59-41 in a game where literally no defense is played. Highlighting the event was the spectacular performance by Miami Dolphins wide receiver Brandon Marshall, who reeled in six passes for 176 yards and a Pro Bowl record four touchdowns, handily taking home the MVP award and a new car that he said he would give to his mother, which begs the question: one of the highest paid wide receivers in the NFL had to wait to win a free car to give to his own mother? Let’s just hope he’s adding to her collection and not only starting it now.

As I wrote last week, it’s time for Super Bowl predictions!

Eli Manning.

Say what you want about the greatness of Tom Brady; there’s no denying what he’s done over his career. And by beating the Giants on Sunday, not only would he kill a demon that has been lurking in his head since 2007 (when the Giants ruined the Patriots perfect season by beating them in the Super Bowl), Brady would also solidify his already legendary name in the annals of football history for the rest of eternity.

But again, someone stands in his way: Eli Manning. ELIte Manning. The Giants team that beat the Patriots had an average Manning at QB, barely doing enough to get the team by. The Manning that confronts the Patriots this Sunday is so much more. He is confident, determined, and on fire. He is smart, accurate, and clutch. He is the real deal, and he’s going to beat Tom Brady once again.

Oh, and let’s not forget the vicious, merciless pass rush that the Giants will be sending Brady’s way all game… let’s just say he’ll be eating a lot of turf.

Final score: Giants 30, Patriots 24

Tennis:

The Australian Open came to a resounding conclusion this weekend as a new #1 was crowned on the women’s side, while the current King of the Court continued his reign on the men’s side. Victoria Azarenka defeated -no, annihilated- Maria Sharapova 6-3, 6-0 in 1 hour, 22 minutes on Saturday night, while Novak Djokovic took down Rafael Nadal in an epic battle that was the longest Grand Slam singles final in the history of professional tennis Sunday, winning 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-5 after 5 hours, 53 minutes to claim his third Australian Open title.

Other news and notes:

Baseball: All-Star slugger Prince Fielder finally decided on his next team, signing a 9-year, $214 million dollar deal with the Detroit Tigers, returning to his father’s old stomping grounds (his dad, Cecil Fielder, was a star in his own right for the Tigers).

Soccer: Canada’s women’s national team with be representing the country at the 2012 London Olympic Games after qualifying during a victory against Mexico over the weekend.

-Andrew Maggio runs a dedicated Habs blog, check it out here