I can't think of a witty title. Sorry.

There have been SO MANY awesome releases by Michigan bands this summer, and I know about at least five more within the next month that are equally as awesome (MASON PROPER, OMG! FRIENDLY FOES, LOLZ!).

The mitten state ain't so bad! Way to go.

Enough of the cheerleading, let's get down to business:

This weekend, there are a shit ton of things you could and probably should do. Highlights: Dirtbombs tonight! Dally in the Ally AND The Silent Years' CD release show tomorrow!

If you are in Ypsilanti, go to the Elbow Room tonight. Wildcatting! Champions of Breakfast (playing ALL COVER TUNES!)! Maybe you can rough them up in the parking lot after their set (lolz).

Let me digress for a bit here...

We should be hearing about the supposed plea bargain for Kwame in a matter of minutes.

But let me get this off my chest: what the fuck is up with Sharon McPhail? Her last name should be spelled "McFAIL" because that is all she is (I know, I know, you've heard that joke before). She is a joke. She is treating these legal proceedings AS A JOKE. I saw her press conference last night after the hearing, and she was laughing at every response, answering questions indignantly like a teenager being accused of anything by her parents.

I did enjoy when Granholm pointed out that she was getting "far afield" from the topic at hand in her questioning (a tactic McFAIL employs frequently). Honestly, Kwame, you are a bigger dumbass than I once thought. Having McFAIL on your team? Not a smart choice. I hope you get kicked out of office AND jail time (even though McFAIL said that wasn't an option in her press conference last night*).

*and to that, I say this:

LOLbandz

Friday: Windy Weber...Amazing. Qualia...Also amazing.
Saturday: I was not supportive of the local music scene AT ALL.
Tonight: Not being supportive again. It's a holiday weekend, screw it.

This is the conversation I had Friday night with Jason Stollsteimer:

Jason: O hai Elle!
Elle: LOL Jason.
Jason: SRSLY?
Elle: No wai.
Jason: OMG!!!!11!
Elle: KTHXBAI!!!11!

...discuss.

This is not a blog, it's a motivational speaking tool.

Friday night, you can do one of these things:
-Go to the Lager House to see Qualia
-Go to the Crofoot to see Millions of Brazilians and Zoos of Berlin, among others
-Go to the Magic Stick to see Death Vessel

I don't want to limit you to just one if you can do more than one. I will be attempting to do two of the three things, as well as hit up two birthday parties. You can say I am crazy, but you can't say that I am not ambitious.

I hope my "strong desire to achieve something*" inspires you to do something this weekend besides sitting at home alone and watching "Saving Private Ryan" in dark (I'm looking your way, Norton).

The rest of the weekend is filled with a million (Brazilians) other shows. I know, I know, it is SUCH a hassle to hang out in a bar on a Saturday night, or a Sunday night. Speaking of Sunday night, if you have Monday off work like I do, I would suggest going to see Death Vessel at the Crofoot, in case you missed him on Friday because you decided to go to two birthday parties instead I totally meant to say Silver Jews at the Crofoot. AWESOME. Or you can karaoke at Northern Lights Lounge. Or you can go to another birthday party.

Happy birthday, everyone. Way to get older. And to everyone else whose birthdays weren't this week, you are still getting older, too.

*dictionary definition of "ambition"

Take a page out of the lolcat bible.

Mason Proper's vid for "Friendship" may or may not have been on Fuse.

Champions of Breakfast were doing a show with all cover songs on Saturday, but that has been cancelled and rescheduled for September 5th at the Elbow Room.

Brandon Wiard (Pretty Suite Media, Cerberus Records) has a new studio in Ypsilanti, last I heard.

Paul (The Looms, Sea Turtle Restoration Project) and friends (maybe?) have started a label. It's called Sonic Lullaby, named after the Sonic Lullaby Festival, which is run by Paul (and friends?) as well. Indian Guides. Kindle. STRP. Awesome.

That's really all the news I have.

But then again, I am living in a bubble. An "indie"-rock, self-induced bubble.

I'm sure there is something to report on the metal front. Anyone? How about the crust punk scene? No? Polka? Alt-country? Christian Rock? Are there any Christian rock bands in the area? How about Scientologist rock bands? Nothing?


Srsly, doodz, Tuesday's are a draaaag. Go read the bible, as translated into Lolcat-speak.

People don't need people, they need more bloggers.

May I take a moment to clear something up? I started Detroit Riot because I am serious about a lot of things. One of the things I am serious about is to not take yourself too seriously (that makes no logical sense). That being said, any comments I read about how horrible my blog is, or what a cunt I am, or how sophomoric my writing skills are, really don't bother me. It would be foolish of anyone to expect acceptance in a world like this. For future reference, here is my agenda (the reasons I started blogging):


If there was a way to make "meeting hot dudes" 69% while keeping "I need attention" at 80%, you bet your hot ass that I would have done that. But I vaguely remember my math teacher in high school telling me it is impossible for something to be over 100%.

I am here to give you the "Truth as Told by Elle, or Sometimes Just Interpreted By Elle." Nothing more, but sometimes, maybe less. Would you consider omitting the truth lying? Because I don't.

The Motor City *does* rock.

I was asked to start writing for MotorCityRocks.com.
This was very nerve-wracking. I love MCR.

There is a brief thing about Detroit Summer Smash at The CAID on it now. By me. Yay. It's not so great. But I was told MCR has a reputation for being nicer/more constructive than what I write in this blog. So, I toned it down. I was hoping I could bitch about it this weekend.

But really, there was nothing to bitch about. I know, that's so un-blogger-esque of me.

"Write more blogs, you bloggers!"--the singer from The Dead Bodies.

OK, dude. Will do. Keep on being awesome, OK?

What? Going on tour costs money?! omg.

Maybe you dudes should apply for the CAID grant. Just sayin'.

From a Hifi Handgrenades bulletin:
"Aug 21, 2008 1:40 PM
Subject:
fucking cancelled

update!

tour's been shortened, all else cancelled. this means every gig from sept 4th on, including US dates. there were also tours of australia and japan not up yet on the page, those are off the books as well.

why?

because it's too fucking expensive to tour. the way this UK tour was worked out, we would AT BEST break even being here (we didn't see a real breakdown of monies until we got here), which is not an option anymore. we paid out of our pockets for tickets here, all else... the numbers break down thus:

if we stay here and play through sept 29th, we will clear 50 pounds over costs, NOT INCLUDING FOOD. if we cut it short, we will hopefully have enough money to pay for baggage penalties on the airline (from bringing gear and merch over), and gas for the van back home from LA to Detroit (which will run just under 1000 bucks for gas alone). the exchange rate on US dollars killed us, cancelled shows in Germany with Alk3 further put us behind the eight ball, and the realization that no matter where you go in this world, playing music in a style that hit it's zenith 15 years ago, isn't gonna keep us afloat.

very sad, very shitty. blaming ourselves for any and all mistakes along the way. funny though, the sole intention of this band when we started was playing music in a style that reminded us of what we loved and were influenced by when we were kids just getting into the whole punk rock thing, every 6 weeks or so locally, for fun and friends. and that's where we're headed back to.
fuck fuck fuckity fuck,
john
HFHG"

As much as I feel for them, I laughed a little. John has been in how many bands now? He sounds so shocked to find out they weren't breaking even. I will give him this, I LOL'd when I read the part I highlighted. Shit, son. If the CAID grant falls through, you might have a career in blogging. Sorry, there is no money in blogging.

After this, I am never bringing up Will Yates again.*

I needed to get this over with. Will Yates: I mention him in about 2/3rd of my blog posts. Enough is enough. I decided it was time to just do an interview with him, so in the future, I won't have to mention him anymore because everything you need to know about him will be in this entry. *Unless he decides to start another band, or join another band, or writes a musical or something.

I caught him on Gchat and asked if wouldn't mind doing an interview. He agreed, but he had just thought of a song idea and needed to record it real quick. Damn. Of course he has a song idea. And of course he is just going to record it real quick. So, here is everything you need to know about Will Yates, sort of.

Will: ok here i am
Elle: hah! I will be right back, and have to take a call. It was my mom.
Elle: Sorry about that.
Will: no prob

Elle: So, what was the first instrument you picked up?
Will: Piano. I was banging on the family piano from a young age, and started lessons when I was 5.
Elle: How many other instruments would you say you are proficient at playing now?
Will: I would say I'm also proficient at the guitar and bass guitar.
Elle: I'd have to agree with that.
Will: heh
Elle: Although, I think I would say you are little more than just proficient at it.

Elle: Do you think you could estimate how many different bands you have been in/toured with/guested on albums for/etc?
Will: I've been a full-time member of 4 bands. My high-school band was called Superautomatic. Then I was in the Singles for about 4 years. Now I'm in the Pop Project and Zoos of Berlin.
Will: I'm playing guest keyboards in Javelins these days. I've done tours (longer than one or two dates) with The Singles and Javelins.
Will: I've guested on maybe 6 albums, only within the last year or two.
Elle: Impressive.
Will: As far as I can remember.
Elle: Hah!
Will: Ha, I'm not trying to show off.
Elle: I didn't think you were! Riiiiiiiiiight.

Elle: I must admit, one of my favorite songs off "Stars of Stage and Screen" is "Never Got the Breaks." You are a good songwriter. What are your influences?
Elle: Or "who" rather...
Will: Well, early on, the two big albums for me were Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream and Radiohead's OK Computer. Those heavily informed the first few years of my songwriting. But then I got into Sloan. Between the Bridges and Navy Blues had a huge effect on my songwriting; I started writing songs in that style. SRSLY? Smashing Pumpkins?
Will: When I joined The Pop Project in 2003, I was still heavy into Sloan, and I was very excited to be joining a band that had a sound similar to what I was writing and that would let me contribute some songs.
Will: The music for "Never Got The Breaks" was written in 2003 or 2004 and the lyrics were written in 2005. I haven't written something that sounds like that in a while.
Elle: How does the songwriting process work with a band like The Pop Project? Do you come in with a completed song, or just the main parts, and then go from there?
Will: There are three of us writing songs in The Pop Project. We pretty much bring in completed songs and teach them to the rest of the band. There's some editing that goes on; we might try new countermelodies, or a new tempo, or something like that. Of the three, I'd say that I try the hardest to get the band to play the song like it sounds in my head and not change anything. When I write songs in the future for the band, I'm going to try to leave more wiggle room, so it becomes more of a band effort.
Elle: But you are the best songwriter ever. They will just mess shit up. Kidding, dudes, you are awesome too.
Will: You seem to be taking a page from fivethreedialtone's interview style. ; )
Elle: Oh no you di'nt!
Elle: hah, yeah, actually he is my hero.
I was apparently drunk when I wrote this.
Will: No, they won't mess shit up. Everyone in The Pop Project is phenomenally talented, and from the point of view of the average listener, they'd probably rather listen to a song that everyone in the band had some input on. I think those songs end up being more interesting.
Will: There's always the danger of writing by committee, but I think that everyone in The Pop Project is zany enough, and we're generally on the same page about things, that we don't ever compromise ourselves into making boring choices for our songs.

Elle: What else do you do besides write amazing songs and play in awesome bands?
Will: I recently got a job booking the Elbow Room in Ypsilanti, as you know.
Elle: How is that going for you? It seems like a lucrative gig. I'm not trying to be smarmy, I really love the Elbow Room.
Will: Beyond spending a few hours a day on that, I try to focus all my time on advancing my career in music. The Elbow Room job is going well. I've never booked a venue before, so there's a steep learning curve. I feel like I'm still learning something important every day, and hopefully getting better at it. I would not call it an incredibly lucrative pursuit. It's helping me maintain my current lifestyle, but it's not enough to move out of my parents' house. Of course, to be fair, it shouldn't be, because it's not a full-time job.

Elle: Do you have any favorite local bands at the moment that you are not involved in?
Will: Well, I would say that Great Lakes Myth Society is probably my favorite. Their two albums, especially the first one, are pretty much the best albums I'm aware of from local musicians (other than the ones I had a hand in, of course, heh heh).
Elle: Niiiice.
Will: Come to think of it, I have a minor backing vocal part on the second GLMS album. Damn.
Elle: So that doesn't count. You have to think of another band that you like.
Will: Damn. HAHA
Elle: Come on! It can't be that hard!
Will: Haha, I'm trying to think of who my favorite is though.
Elle: Take your time.
I could have sworn ten minutes went by. He was probably trying to figure out which band he hasn't been in.
Will: I guess I'll have to say Deastro. One of his songs, though I don't know what it's called, is constantly stuck in my head. I really like The Word Play. I don't if that counts since we're on the same label and we're friends. I didn't play a note on their album though.
Oh, The Wordplay, *droooool*
Elle: It kind of counts.

Elle: How did the tour with Javelins go?
Will: I've done two tours with Javelins in the last few months. Those have been a lot of fun; they're basically vacations. I really like the Javelins dudes a lot personally, and I think the fact that I'm not in a band full-time with them means that I always can enjoy hanging out with them without worrying about business or feeling like we're spending too much time together.
Elle: That sounds like fun.
Will: The last tour we did was with the band Colour Revolt, so that was like double the fun hanging out with that many awesome dudes.
Elle: I am going to find a way to tour with them.
Will: You may have to bring your own car.
Elle: haha.
Will: The van's generally pretty full when we're riding in it.
Javelins are apparently fatties.


Elle: How did you feel about the photo comparison I did of you and Ian Curtis?
Will: A few people have noticed that before.
Elle: Oh, well then.
Elle: I am sure they didn't go as far as doing a photo comparison on their blog.
Elle: Or has that been done already too?
Will: One time, I thought up the word "guitarded", and I thought I was so clever, but now you can see that there are 63,400 Google hits for the word "guitarded".
Way to not answer my last question!
Elle: That's sad. You should have copyrighted that.
Will: Trademarked.
Will: Correcting people, something I do.
Elle: Damnit. DAMNIT!
Will: But don't necessarily feel good about.
Elle: It's ok, I do that as well. It's always refreshing to get corrected by someone else. I need to be taken down a peg or two sometimes.
Will: Haha, but you're the writer.
Elle: Whatevs. I am just a blogger. According to Deep Cutz Charlie, there is a HUGE difference. *shakes fist at Deep Cutz' "blog"
Will: Hmm. Maybe blogspot should make people read "The Elements of Style" before they can have an account.
Elle: That's probably a good idea.

Elle: What are your favorite pizza toppings? Hard-hitting journalism!
Will: pepperoni, onions and pineapple are my top three. If a pizza has one of those, it's off to a good start.
Elle: I am not a fan of pineapple on pizza. But I can respect your choice. NOT! that's sick.
Will: You know, I didn't used to think I was, and then (to get all scene for a second) Eric Stollsteimer gave me a slice of ham and pineapple at the Lager House once, and I was like "Whoa! This is good!"
Elle: Name dropping! Awesome! BONUS SCENE POINTS FOR NAMING A STOLLSTEIMER!
Will: Ha, the makings of a good blog post.

Elle: Where did you go to school? Did you go to college?
Will: I went to the Detroit Waldorf School for grade school, Cranbrook for high school and U of M for college.
Elle: What did you get your degree in?
Will: Philosophy!
Elle: Wow! I took some philosophy classes. We should talk sometime. About philosophy stuff.
Will: Oof.
That can't be good
Elle: I will probably just sit there and stare at you like I am confused, though.
Will: I was never very good at becoming an expert on any philosophers. I just think about right and wrong a lot.
Elle: How so? Examples?
Will: Well, in the news there are all kinds of stories about people hurting and killing each other. I think a lot about whether there are steps that can be taken to get people to cut this out, and what those steps might be.
Elle: I spend quite a bit of time thinking about that too.
Will: Hm, maybe everyone does.
Way to make me not feel stupid about saying something so completely obvious.
Elle: Probably.
Will: The thing about philosophy is that you keep ending up back at the most basic questions.
Elle: So true. *staring blankly at computer screen*
Will: But if you take the scientific approach, you have to give up being able to say that people "should" do this or "shouldn't" do that.
Will: The other option is religion, but I am not religious.
Elle: Would you consider yourself an atheist then?
Will: I say I'm an agnostic, because I don't spend any time advocating against the idea of a God. I think the universe is so insane and incomprehensible that even our concept of there being a "God" doesn't begin to explain it.
Elle: That's deep, sir. Whoa.
Will: Thanks.
Elle: You're welcome.
Will: A few years ago I read "The Fabric of the Cosmos" by Brian Greene, which is about the current state of how physics views the universe, and I came away thinking that a true understanding of the universe and why it's here and all that is way, way beyond our current grasp.
Elle: I think I've been a little too nice to you in this interview.
Elle: That's definitely not fivethreedialtone style.
Will: I did an interview with fivethreedialtone a while back; I don't recall him being particularly mean.
Elle: He is mean to me. Maybe it's just me, though.
Will: He does do leading questions to try to get you say bad things about others, though.
Duh, he's a blogger. And he is from Detroit.
Will: I'm sorry if he's mean to you.
Elle: It's ok... I'll be fine. *sobbing quietly*

Elle: What are your top three favorite albums of all-time? What about at the moment?
Will: I'd say for all time it's the albums I mentioned having an effect on my songwriting: Siamese Dream, OK Computer, and Between the Bridges. I got obsessed with each of those and they had a big effect on me. For the last few years, I'd say my favorites are Brian Wilson's Smile (the recent version), Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker ballet, and a Beatles album (let's say Sgt. Pepper's).

Elle: What do you love about Michigan?
Will: Well, I probably love Michigan because I grew up here, I'm used to the lifestyle, and a lot of my friends and some family are here. I enjoy going up north; much of the state is very pretty. I'm proud of the musical heritage here, and I hope to keep that going in some small way.

Elle: What do you hate about Michigan?
Will: I don't really hate anything about Michigan, but I wish that the state had more opportunities for the creative class. Economically, I think that should be part of the replacement for the decline of manufacturing, and I think it's a reason why several of my friends have left the state. I'm sorry that the national perception of Michigan is probably a negative one, with Michigan's poor economy and with Detroit's various troubles. I think that more boosting up needs to be done of schools like Wayne State and CCS, to make Detroit more of a viable option for young creative class types. Right now it's cool to move to Chicago or New York, and it's not very cool to move to Detroit, and I think an answer to that problem is part of the solution for bringing Michigan back. Also, the winters are a little long here.

Indeed, they are...

Everybodys Moving Out Of Michigan - Will Yates

Best Friends are leaving Michigan

Last night, I experienced the Homecoming/Going Away party*** for two very special dudes. These dudes are Best Friends. And they literally are best friends. They sing about being best friends, giving people hugs, recycling, and optimism, while maintaining a sharp punk sound. It ended with the biggest group hug I have ever been a part of in my entire life. And for that, I would like to thank Best Friends. Greg and Scott, you will be missed! Good luck in Philly, guys!

The Hadituptoheres opened for Best Friends. And someone opened for the Hadits, but I got there too late for that. Sorry.



***Apparently, they were on tour for 50+ days prior to this show, and this was their first night back in Michigan. They are leaving for Philadelphia in a few days. :-(