PUNK77-Have any of you played SXSW before?
TOM-No this is everyone's first time playing...but this is my 3rd
year attending the fest...
PUNK77-So do you see it as Business or Pleasure?
TOM-I see it a bit as both, but definitely leaning more towards
pleasure. For my band, Imaginary Icons, it's definitely about getting
more exposure in the underground (and maybe above ground) scene.
But, it is also a great excuse to see lots of friends I've made over
the years through going to Fests (SXSW, Horizontal Action Blackout
in Chicago, Dot Dash Fest, etc).
NATE-I see it mostly as pleasure, like Tom said, it's great just to
catch up with friends from areas normally too far away to visit
easily.
TED–Yeah, SXSW is mostly just a good chance to see the other bands,
eat migas, and look for bats under the Congress Avenue Bridge.
PUNK77-Is it difficult to play to what in theory can be a bunch of
music industry suits?
TOM-Where? I don't see them at our shows! Haha! Nah, not a problem.
Occasionally, bigger bands in our scene draw some outside
attention, but its not like a room full of A&R folks, at least not
the shows I go to during the fest.
PUNK77-I know you've all played in other bands, including Tie Reds
who I thought were excellent. But how long have Imaginary Icons been
in existence?
TOM-We started late summer of 2005.So about a year and a half.
NATE-Thanks for the Tie Reds shout out, that band was great
fun. Between the Tie Reds and Icons I also played in The Dissimilars
from San Diego, CA. Each a different sounding band.
BEN-I still do occasional shows with my other band
MHz
from Ypsilanti, Michigan. We try to play
Michigan and NYC at least once a year.
PUNK77-You count
Swell Maps and
The Desperate Bicycles amongst your
influences. That's got to be pretty unique in the States!
TOM-Well, not really. I think UK d.i.y. punk etc is pretty big, it
seems to have had a sort of resurgence in popularity in the last few
years too. Swell Maps have always been a favorite of mine and I first
heard them in 1987 when the CD comp came out. I was very into Sonic
Youth (Sister LP) at the time and I stumbled onto Swell Maps through
their mention
and Thurston's liner notes on that CD comp, always loved it; but then
their stuff has always been pretty easy to find, Mute reissues etc.
With Desperate Bicycles, I actually got their music from someone in
the States who has long touted them (Dan Selzer, Acute Records).
BEN-I grew up listening to Swell Maps, but have only started
listening to Desperate Bicycles within the last few years. I think
they and The Homosexuals have recently become fairly popular within
the US punk scene. |
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NATE-Thanks to the Icons, this whole new world of music has been
newly introduced to me, but I would say outside of the garage/rock
scene, Swell Maps and bands like Desperate Bicycles are lesser known
in the states.
PUNK77-You also quote Messthetics as being important to you and
there does seem to be an upsurge of interest recently in an art form
that I thought had been long forgotten.
TOM-Well, in the States at least you can certainly thank Dan Selzer
(see above) with spreading the word on Desperate Bicycles, Fire
Engines, The Prefects and Nightingales. And Chuck Warner released
the Messthetics comps on his Hyped To Death label over
here. That has been in the last few years, so I think people started
to search out more obscure, truly d.i.y. stuff from the UK, as well
as the States, Europe, etc. There's also the infamous 100 Best D.I.Y.
singles from Johan Kugelberg, so that's all influenced both indie-hipster
dance-punk stuff, as well as underground, Killed By Death 70s punk
bands.
NATE-Well spoken Tom.
TED–The Messthetics comps were so great – you know in a way like
Nuggets and such.. you’re familiar with a few bands and then it just
opens up the whole history and satisfies your craving for more great
music in the same vein.
PUNK77-Some of the press I've read about you mentions The
Homosexuals and I thinks it’s plain to see that you've listened to
them.
TOM-Yes, definitely fans. It’s an honour to be compared for sure.
Such a unique band.
TED–The Homosexuals are so good that when I finally I heard them I
couldn’t believe that they had remained below the radar for so
long. I got to see them in Brooklyn a few summers ago after a day
hiking in the Catskills – to me that was the perfect day!
NATE-Of all the stuff the Icons
introduced me to, The Homosexuals stand out. I can't get
enough of their sound PUNK77-Have any of you ever listened to A.T.V. You ought to as I see
more of them in you than many other bands
ATV at the Roxy 1977 - Picture Erica Echenberg |
TOM-Yep, Ted even suggested covering Action Time Vision. Great
band. I always thought it was cool how they were really into Gong,
Captain Beefheart, Can, Krautrock,
Hawkwind, along with all the
current punk, dub and reggae of the time, cause that's my influences
too. It doesn't have to be JUST three chords. I saw ATV come to NYC
and it was SUCH a blast. It was Mark Perry and (I think) the
original drummer, plus Tony Barber (Buzzcocks) and it was so much
fun. They played all the old stuff and they just had a blast
playing.
BEN-A.T.V. are definitely a conscious influence on our band. The
Fall are also heavily referenced in a lot of our songs. |
PUNK77-Your debut single "Eye-Cons" came out last year and I have to
say that if it had been released on an English independent label in
1977 it would now be regarded as a classic of its genre. And "Statue
Man" is just as good!
BEN-Wow, that’s a nice compliment. Thanks! I think the name Eye-Cons
was on the table for our band name before we decided on imaginary
icons. I liked the name enough so I wrote a song based on this title.
It turned out to be an anti-religion song complete with a silly
made-up one word chorus (“imagary”: a conglomeration of imaginary
and imagery). Still have the same opinion about this song? Ha!
NATE-Thanks! As for "Statue Man", it was a song I wrote originally
for
The Dissimilars. It appears on Out
of Order Records, "Jimmy's Room"
E.P. (www.outoforderrecords.com). Since we all contribute to writing I
brought that to the table when starting with the Icons and we did it
so well, it stuck.
PUNK77-When's your next single out.
TOM-It should be out as soon as this hits the web. We got the vinyl
in and are waiting on the sleeves, we silk-screened a few
limited-edition sleeves for SXSW. Its on Plastic Idol Records a great
punk, rock n roll label in California. Our first single is on a new NYC label, Daggerman Records, doing great
stuff too (DC Snipers, Live Fast Die…).
PUNK77-Tom,it seems you’re something of an iconic
figure on the New York punk scene in recent years,
you're a hard working man! Tell us something about
Dot Dash.
TOM-Well, coincidentally I started Dot Dash after
seeing Nate's band (Tie Reds). It was summer of
2002 and they were playing an art event. Great band,
loads of fun but no one was really watching them or
dancing. So I thought to myself, I'll book a show
and have folks come who would dig the music and the rest
just kinda progressed to booking/supporting local NYC
bands and then bringing national bands to NYC, then
booking tours for bands and promoting, etc.
NATE-It's an honour to be connected with the start of
Dot Dash. Tom works so hard and even sacrifices his
home so bands can sleep. Some of my best memories
have been the product of his determination to bring
great bands and experiences to the busiest city in the
world.
PUNK77-You've run the Dot Dash festival for the past
four years.
TOM-Yes, I decided on the anniversary of the first show (July 27,
2002)that I would do an annual fest with the bands I love. I modelled
it after other US fests (Garageshock, Cavestomp) and started to add a
headliner that would be a reunion of a band very important to the
current punk, garage, rock n roll scene. I've put on The Kids (Belgium
70s punk), The Weirdos, Teengenerate (90s Japanese garage punk band)
and others. I also try to put on current bands that are important to
the scene nationally, Spits, Tyrades, Black Lips, Little Killers
have all played the fest.
PUNK77-Rocket From the Tombs played last year. How did you pull that
one off?
TOM-Rocket got back together in the early 2000s and it was a big
deal to many folks. It was supposed to be a one-off for the Los
Angeles A.T.P fest and then they decided to do a few more shows, I
caught one of the NYC shows on that tour and was just blown away.
I'd always been a fan, so I got in touch and asked if they wanted to
come back to NYC for my fest and we worked it out from there. |
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PUNK77-Incredibly important band. Can they still cut it live?
TOM-YES! Great live show. Richard Lloyd (Television) has now joined
as an official member to fill in the Peter Laughner role. And it was
just great to hear the original 30 Seconds Over Tokyo, Sonic
Reducer, Life Stinks, Frustration etc. Such a thrill.
NATE-It was great to see. For me, seeing all those influential
musicians on one stage was amazing.
PUNK77-One of my favourite American bands The Dicks, also played...
TOM-They were awesome too. They started with "It's from the Heart"
and just had this power on stage. They were really into it, genuine
guys that were just excited to play and have fans remember the
music. They were perfect for the Dot Dash fest!
NATE-When they came out with "It's from the Heart" a big smile hit
my face. They were great.
PUNK77-Are you running a festival this year? Lined up anyone yet?
TOM-I am fairly certain I'll do it. To be honest I'm getting a little
burnt out on it, and it's always TONS of work, with either breaking
even or losing a little money. But I do love doing it, so we'll see.
It's likely I'll move this year's fest to the fall, rather than
summer. Everyone bitches about how hot NYC is in the summer (wimps!). As
far as the line up, one band that
I almost got two years in a row was The Boys. I would have LOVED
LOVED LOVED to have them, but it just always seems to complicated or
expensive. I'm working on others though.
| BEN-Tom was also trying to get Kleenex/Liliput to do a reunion. That
would be great to see them live...they’re one of my favourite bands.
I actually e-mailed Marlene Marder to order her book and asked her
if they would consider playing again. She didn’t sound like she was
into reunions though. |
 |
PUNK77-You told me last week that you'd seen Nightingales in New
York and were very impressed; their album was probably the most
highly praised last year on the Punk77 forum.
TOM-Yeah, they were amazing live. I mean talk about a tight fuckin
band! Three of the Icons were at the show and we were all equally
amazed with the performance. So inspiring, such a high energy
band, and very intricate dense music. Robert Lloyd is the best
front man too. I wish more in the US knew about them, Dan Selzer has
been a big champion stateside along with Terre T (WFMU DJ @ wfmu.org).
TED–Nightingales was one of the best shows I’ve seen in a long time.
BEN-I saw them play both NYC shows and I couldn’t get enough. They
are such a great band live and in the studio, past and present! Out Of
True is just as good as their 80s stuff which is often a rarity when
bands from your past put out new recordings.
PUNK77-What can you recommend to us Brits? You mentioned Jay Reatard
to me. What else should we look out for?
TOM-Yeah, the Jay Reatard record (Blood Visions) is quite amazing, my
favourite of 2006,it's on In the Red Records, VERY Adverts, Wire,
Wipers, tight tense music, i saw him play 3 times @ SXSW. I would also
recommend Black Lips. A long time favourite of mine who are getting
some well-deserved buzz, kinda like a basement d.i.y. band mixed with
the best of the back-woods, psych-punk of The Seeds,13TH Floor
Elevators, damaged drug haze music...and quite the tunesmiths!
Ha ha, sorry I'm rambling. I think one of the best American bands
right now is Human Eye, definitely the kind of waked out, prog/psych
influenced punk band that Mark Perry would have adored back in the
day! Also into Tyvek a very cool Detroit band that has a 70s Rough
Trade vibe, simple bizarre poppy punk songs, maybe a little
Television Personalities thing going on, I also hear Jonathan
Richman. Tyvek is gonna get a nice buzz going I think. I like Cheveu a
lot, art-damaged punk from France. And then there's this new band on
MySpace, a d.i.y. one man band called
Blank Dogs, very cool, into
Joy Division, Tubeway Army, etc....actually
just go to
Dot Dash MySpace page and all the top friends you should
check out! Spider, DC Snipers and others.
TED–I like Anteenagers M.C. from France and Soiled Mattress & the
Springs. Clone Defects (with Timmy Vulgar from Human Eye) were
fantastic. Excepter has a good Throbbing Gristle type thing going on.
BEN-Awesome Color are a great psych band. I play synth on one of
their songs from their debut album on the Ecstatic Peace label. I
like Tyvek and Human Eye a lot as well.
NATE-Well they covered it all. But I can't ignore a mention of The
Spits, although nothing new out for a while, I still listen
constantly. Another record I can't stop spinning is the ever-catchy
Sneaky Pinks.
.........so their you go, an insight into what I genuinely feel are
a band with a great deal to offer, check them out, I guarantee you
won't regret it. Mad Daddy
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