Josh Fix Speaks – Interview pt. 2

Here, as promised, is the continuation of a conversation I had with Josh Fix a few weeks ago…

If you squint, it's almost like I'm holding my arms around a giant 'fro.

I’ll be in SF this weekend. Tell me about your favorite restaurant.

Izzy’s Steak and Chops! Enough said.

Powerpop artists are notorious (not saying that’s a bad thing) for wearing their influences on their sleeves. Some of your songs from “Free at Last” trigger an immediate “influences” response in me. Tell me what you think…

“Whiskey & Speed” — Brian May guitar choirs

Guilty as charged.  But let me explain: it’s not that easy to get the sound like that. So, I’m really proud that I got some of them to come out that way. The key actually lies in getting a rather small and shitty sound out of each individual guitar, so that only together do they conjoin into a megarrific “guitarmy.”  Same with the vocals- It’s a counterintuitive process, but sometimes less really is more.  I think all the guitars for that song were done in my closet, and then “flown-in” during the main mixing sessions.  Damn, I love computers sometimes!

Josh Fix Speaks – Interview Pt. 1

The more I listen to “Free at Last,” Josh Fix’s recent powerpop opus, the more I think it’s probably the best album I’ve heard all year. But man can’t live on liner notes alone — I needed to know more.

So I asked.

Give me "pensive."

Hey, Josh! On my iPod, you are sandwiched directly between Jools Holland and Journey. Care to comment?

Well… simply BEING on someone’s iPod is awesome in and of itself, no matter whom you’re sandwiched between! But your question prompted me to check where on MY iPod I was: between Johnny Cash and… Journey (and I didn’t even know I HAD Journey on my iPod, haha!)! If you do it by album, “Free At Last” is between “Franz Ferdinand” and “Fresh” by Sly And The Family Stone. Either way, pretty cool. Jools Holland is a badass, by the way.

Answer: International Pop Overthrow

Question: What is something I would like to attend once before I shuffle off this mortal coil?

For those who aren’t down with IPO, it’s:

• similar to SXSW (except not stuck in one geographic location)
• a festival devoted to music, not film or other pop culture segments
• fixated obsessively (not unlike your faithful blogger) on powerpop bands, newbies and vets alike

Josh Fix, my latest powerpop obsession.

Josh Fix. Oh, man.

This goes back to my musings on one-man-bands… I’m just in awe of these guys who can pull off everything with aplomb. I first heard about Josh when he released his EP “Steinway the Hard Way” a while back (2004?) — but I didn’t buy it (dumb-ass). Now it’s OOP, of course.

Live and learn.

Jesus, as I sit here I’m listening to it on his site and I’m wondering why I don’t yet own it… let’s rectify that, shall we?

So I see a mention of him here and there… his new album drops, and NPR makes one of his tunes “Song of the Day” back in July. And then a friend shoots me an email about his video on YouTube. Sweet Christ, this is good. Like a slushy, sugary blend of Elton John, Spirit, Jellyfish, Ben Folds, Owsley, and lots and lots of Queen (the latter part of “Jethro” just oozes that swaggering Mercury/May/Taylor vocal arrangement, and “Whiskey and Speed” ends with a May-esque layered guitar mini-symphony coda). What more could this blogger want? Umm.. the bass chair in his band?  OK, asking too much, I realize.

Free at Last

Jason Falkner News! [updated]

What’s up, Falknerds? Back on March 13, I mentioned that Jason’s second edition of Beatles covers-in-lullaby-format was coming soon. Well, I noticed today in my Amazon recommendations, “Bedtime with the Beatles Part Two” is due to be released on June 17!

Obscure Pop Artist Watch — KC Bowman

I’m in San Francisco for work a bunch of years ago (late ’90s). I went into a much-too-hip-for-me CD shop near Union Square, and I heard some terrific Beatle-y pop playing on the store’s sound system. I was hooked on KC Bowman immediately.

Roger Manning Jr. Update!

Roger Manning Jr.’s new CD, Catnip Dynamite, has been released (in Japan, where it’s already the 19th, I suppose)! Because there’s no U.S. distributor, the price is about where it was for “Pure Imagination” (about $26). I can’t believe no American label will take Roger on. It’s available at CDJapan. Let’s see… 7.2 gallons of gas (San Diego prices) or the new album…

Update (April 4, 2008) — Just ordered it… I’ll review/comment/snark once it arrives!

Jason Falkner News!

Rumor has it that Jason has completed recording a “vol. 2” of “Bedtime with the Beatles,” his lullaby-esque instrumental collection of Fab covers.

Free Music from Not Lame!

I truly could be none more excited. If you’re a powerpop fan, you know and love the Not Lamers.

A happy mix of distributor and label, Not Lame hunts down the the prime examples of my favorite genre for their catalog, making them available to incredibly dorky fans like myself.

And now they’ve done the unpossible. They’ve become even cooler by offering free music to people just like me. And you, too. But mostly me.

Powerpop News!

Good news, powerpop fans — Roger Manning Jr. has a new album ready to drop on March 19. For those who don’t know RMJr., he’s a fantastic keyboardist, singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. If you’ve heard any Jellyfish (the alpha and omega of modern powerpop, IMO), you know his work.