How was this past Saturday?
Nipperishi: Packed and sweaty. Like they all are. And fun. Sweaty fun.

What were some cuts that you spun? Do you pre-arrange your sets?
I went with Contours “Baby Hit and Run” and Connie Clark’s “My Sugar Baby.” Let’s see, I also played a ballad, “I Love You More” by Lee Williams and the Cymbals.

I kinda put my choices in order. For an hour set, that’s 25 to 30 sides. I always assume I will be buzzed when I spin so the pre-arranging helps give some structure and is good for pacing. I like to dance when I DJ. I’d rather not have to get too bogged down with digging through the crate looking for what to play.

Y’all put baby powder on the dance floor to enhance dancing movement. What kind of baby powder works best?
Any talcum powder works. I try to get the non-scented, but sometimes that’s hard to find. We go through one of those giant bottles every time. That floor needs to be good and slick. For proper, traditional Northern Soul dancing, there needs to be room. The dancing is more a shuffle, more a left to right, less of an up and down. I recently went dancing in Chicago on a painted cement floor and my knees still hurt.

Speaking of space, Emerald City Soul Club seems to fill Lo-Fi to capacity. Have you all thought of moving to a bigger space? To have more left to right?
We do fill that place up and it would be nice to have some more room. But at this point, I can neither confirm nor deny any statement about moving.

But you can confirm the fact that the 1964 Gloria Jones version of “Tainted Love” is better than the 1981 Soft Cell version, right?
Yes, I can confirm that.

Wild Orchid Children play tonight at the Comet as part of Noise for the Needy with Strong Killings, the Heavy Hearts, and the Fucking Eagles.

Martin Jarmick spoke about making the Wild Orchid video:

How was the filming? How much did you script out before hand?
Martin: Shooting this piece was great. We had a lot of freedom since we weren’t obligated to anything or anyone. We just created. On most shooting days, it was just Mike Ragen (co-producer) and I. We would light it, rehearse it, shoot it, then find things in “between the lines” and shoot those. Some of the scenes were planned, and some sprouted during production. Like when I heard that a building was being demolished in Georgetown, I thought, “Wild Orchid Children,” and we ran down and rolled camera.

Talk about the deer. How did Kirk feel about singing to the deer?
In every line of lyrics and bar of their music, there are loads of ideas packed in. So I wanted the video to go with that – a montage of textures, forms and irony. But it had to be playful and the band are all sports. I’m sure when Kirk showed up to do his scenes that day, he didn’t expect to be yelling at a deer head for two hours. But he did. He did because he’s a sport. I think it helped that I know them from all the video work with Kay Kay and his Weathered Underground. I have been pointing a camera in their faces for about two years now.

What is your favorite shot in the video?
I love the slug shot. I can not believe that a spider was crawling on the slug while Mike was shooting it. The cinema gods were hard at work on this video.

What do you think about when you play?
Harris: Mostly I think of the ocean and running water.

But what about all your scary artwork and the gore? You don’t think about war?
Yeah, you’d think I would be thinking about battle scenes and that sort of thing, but no, I mostly think about water. The backdrop during "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" makes us look like we’re playing on the back of a ship and there are creaking ship noises, so it’s easy for me to get lost in the oceanic motif. You know the Zeppelin song “The Ocean”? That’s about the crowd.

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever thought about while you were playing?
Butterscotch candy. At a show in Los Angeles a few years back, I had a butterscotch cough drop in my mouth. For some reason, maybe it was the cold medicine, I imagined the crowd was a bunch of butterscotch candies.

Watch them nervously gab and sip champagne. Grab your own bottle and every time Scarlett plays with her hair, take a drink!

When interviewing Ben Gibbard for this week's Sasquatch guide, I asked him about the new single "I Will Possess Your Heart," which is probably the creepiest song the band has released to date. It's not autobiographical, he says (thank goodness), but he did worry that putting a song like that out into the world would backfire.

So there's been a lot of press leading up to the release of Narrow Stairs, interviews hinting that it's more experimental, a different vibe, than any other Death Cab record, and then you release this eight-and-a-half-minute single, "I Will Possess Your Heart," which is a really great but really eerie song.

Yeah, it kind of is. I'll be the first to admit that I was a little self-conscious about putting a song like that into the world. I was talking to a friend about the authority singers have to sing certain types of songs—when Bruce Springsteen writes a song about small-town America or whatever, it's believable even though Bruce Springsteen is a multimillionaire who hasn't had to keep a day job since 1974. If I write a song like that, it comes off as posturing. So with "I Will Possess Your Heart," I wanted it to come off as being creepy. I have dark moments just like everyone else, but people think of me differently. I worried people may not accept a song with such a creepy, menacing sentiment from me.

Or would you worry that the opposite became true and that they would believe it, therefore thinking you were creepy?

I wouldn't necessarily mind being perceived as creepy by some people.

Read the interview, as it appeared in the paper, here. While we're on the subject, I also wanted to share a tidbit that didn't make it in to print, where he addresses the new crop of fans and the reluctance to play old material (no matter how much you might beg).

As you wrote in that essay you penned for Paste, you were one of the last bands to come along before the internet explosion. You had some time to hone in on what you wanted to do as a band and experiment a little bit in the early years. So it’s coming full circle, now you’re on a major label and you can still do that (ex: a nine minute single). I think it just goes to show you did it right.

Well thanks for saying that. I think every band has to make decisions that are based in the context in which they’re currently existing. I’m very happy with how we’ve been able to build over the years, and we’ve been very fortunate that every record has done better than the one before it. It’s been reinvigorating throughout the years to have new people come to the band every album. It’s weird that Plans, being our fifth record, is our first record for half a million people. That’s wild!

Are you finding that kids are going back into the back catalog at all? Are you privy to any of that information?

The only feedback I get is when we’re playing shows. I think we can dig into “the hits” from each record. Even though "Photobooth" was on an EP people know "Photobooth" because of the internet. But if we dip into "Fake Frowns" from the first record people look at each other and shrug.

Crickets.

Yeah, exactly. So we try to make an effort to span the catalog as much as possible but there's always the guy who says “Dude, I wish you’d play more from Something About Airplanes!” Yeah, I know you do, but the other 4,900 people do not feel the same way. It’s a bummer to me that we can’t spend six hours playing every record but it’s impossible…

Is it? Would you want to play a six-hour show of songs you wrote in 1998? Is it really a bummer, Ben?

(Laughs) It’s really not, but I was talking to one of our road guys today when I got to the hotel and he was commenting that he read some review about the set we played in London and someone was super pissed that we only played one song from We Have the Facts. I get it, I like that record too, but we’re not dipping into "No Joy in Mudville" when we have a newer song that fits that same mood and it’s going to keep the crowd with us for more of the show. We can’t do it.”

So don't expect "Fake Frowns" or "No Joy in Mudville" at Sasquatch, okay? Don't even ask for it.

And for the record, I did ask him for Jim from The Office's phone number (they're supposedly buddies), but he declined, recognizing that Jim from The Office might not appreciate that very much. See? A perfect gentleman. Not a creep at all.

Death Cab for Cutie play Sasquatch! Mainstage Sunday at 7:15 pm. Illustration by Kathryn Rathke.

What gave you the idea to do these activity coloring books?
Aye Jay: My inspiration was coloring with my son Cohen, who was two at the time. I had a thought like, "Why is there no coloring book that reflects the interests of the people in my age group?" I've been a fan of gangsta rap from the first time I heard it, in maybe 1988(?). It seemed like it would be a funny idea folks would like. I then spent the next couple of weeks making lists of inclusions and doing the drawings, went to the local copy shop and had one hundred copies made. I remember thinking there was no way I was going to be able to get rid of all one hundred. I was wrong.

After the book did well as a zine, it was published as an expanded version. I got to thinking about other types of music I like that I could make books out of. From there, I crafted a long term plan of several books in my head. I made Indie Rock Connect the Dots as the low key follow up, and a couple of years later linked up with ECW Press to make the Heavy Metal Fun Time Activity Book.

There's been tons of positive response to the books. There's been some negative feedback as well. Can you talk about that?
Getting positvie feedback from the people in the books I look up to is so rewarding. I’ve been surprised. The other side of that is the negative response due to people thinking the Gangsta book is socially irresponsible. That’s a huge bummer, as it was intended to be silly. I was never thinking about the political ramifications. Several chain stores have dropped the Gangsta book due to pressure from family based groups. Topshop in the UK dropped it and Urban Outfitters here in the states did too.

What are some of your favorite pages from the books?
Ice Cube and Suge Knight from the Gangsta book for the drawings, the Spinal Tap maze in the Metal book for the concepts, and Steve Albini's foreword from the Indie book, cause it's so well written and took over a year to get! Working with Andrew W.K. was cool too.

What's next? Will there be any new activity books coming out in the future?
Yes. I just signed on with ECW for two more activity books. They are genres you know and love. But I gotta keep them a surprise for now. Get your crayons ready though.

There was King Cobra friction last week. Words exchanged. Disagreement and name calling arose. Shoulders had chips on them. A source was finally cited. (Pictured to the right: Owner Che Sabado as the Flintstone Godfather, Bamm-Bamm Rubble.)

Friday night, a meet up was arranged. I was to talk face to face with booker Jason Rothman, owner Che Sabado, and Bobcat, the club’s web designer / DJ / wrestler. Apprehensive and alone, I entered the club.

Once inside, a cold Pabst beverage was placed in my hand and the threesome said there was something they wanted to show me – in the back alley. “What could be in the back alley?” I thought.

In the alley, the henchman Bobcat put me in a headlock, and I was shown the Fruity Pebbles. “You made a big mistake,” Rothman sneered. Sabado slowly and meticulously opened the box.

I pled, “Not the Fruity Pebbles, ANYTHING BUT THE FRUITY PEBBLES. Please, I’ll never not cite you again.”

Then they showed me to the upper level of the club where more cereal awaited, with milk this time. It was delicious. Rothman said, “Fruity Pebbles is fortified with vitamins and minerals. It’s a fun, wholesome, and tasty way to start your day.”

After the cereal fun, we talked about numbers and operating costs of the club. “King Cobra has nothing to hide,” they said. “We want to be known as a place that’s good to bands.”

Lastly, we bro’d down, cried into our beers, and buried hatchets. Face to face there was love. On stage, the Femurs and No-Fi Soul Rebellion had killer sets. King Cobra is a great club.

(Pictures taken by Matt Harvey)

Los Angeles: Flava Flav was sitting in a Mercedes with the top down on a Santa Monica street. I was there to meet him for an interview and get him to tell me a dream. (I’m into dreams.) You could smell Flav’s splif a block and half away. A log sized, log flume of a joint. Flav is filming in Canada and was home for a couple days. From his car, he was staring at a giant mural on the side of a building. He never took his eyes from it:

Mr. Flavor, do you remember your dreams?
Flav: I like this wall, yo. I come here when I can. I like to construct it in my head. You gotta augment shit, you know?

Can you tell me the real reason you wear clocks?
Damn G, hit me with that. The real reason ain’t real haha. The real reason is stupid. But it stuck. (Lifts up his sleeve and flashes a diamond wristwatch.) Can you say sponsors?

He laughed a spitting laugh from deep in his throat, then he told me his dream.

When he finished, I got out the car, and shut the door gingerly. The engine had been running the whole time. I thanked him and he was away. He took a right onto Santa Monica Blvd, looked back, and yelled, “Augment, yo! Flava-FLAAAV!!”

Sonic Boom Records’ Jason Hughes breaks it down:

Jason, what is this Record Store Day?
Jason: Record Store Day is a great reminder of the importance of independent neighborhood record stores and businesses in general. We've tried to make it more about the music community by donating money from cupcake sales (graciously provided by another great independent business, Cupcake Royale) and from our new record slip mats directly to the Vera Project. Additionally, we are donating 10% of our sales to Music4life.

What is Music4life?
Music4Life provides funding for instruments and music programs in Seattle Public Schools. Hopefully, folks can feel good about buying music or cupcakes from us on Saturday. There will be a bunch of great in-stores as well.

Here’s a previous clip of Jason in his Ballard cave office talking about what music sells when. Back in Black is a summer seller:

Barfly, congratulations. I would like to present you with your steak knife and your KFC Biscuit. You are now President of the Stranger for a day.

Any words?
Barfly: I just want to congratulate my opponents for making me work for the win. I want to thank Puma, Xymogenetics for the exoskeleton, my team of therapists for the long hours huddled around the coffee pot, prepping my ego for a soul crushing defeat that never materialized and my spiritual mentor, Jan Michael Vincent who taught me that only losers quit and only quitters lose. You've never steered me wrong, Champ. I want to dedicate this victory to everyone who cleared their browsers' cache and cookies repeatedly so they could vote again and again and again. Finally I want Slats to know that I voted for him in every round. Usually twice.

Special thanks to Gatsby, Fridge, and The Proof. That's not me in Drillbit Taylor.

In the words of Kanye West, "Gimme my shit!"

This victory has reinvigorated my lust for life. Now I'm goin' to rehab.

Jeff Newton
aka Barfly

There's another side to Alicia Keys: conspiracy theorist. The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter tells Blender magazine: "`Gangsta rap' was a ploy to convince black people to kill each other. `Gangsta rap' didn't exist."

Keys, 27, said she's read several Black Panther autobiographies and wears a gold AK-47 pendant around her neck "to symbolize strength, power and killing 'em dead," according to an interview in the magazine's May issue, on newsstands Tuesday.

Another of her theories: That the bicoastal feud between slain rappers Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. was fueled "by the government and the media, to stop another great black leader from existing."

She also said she hopes to start writing more political songs in the future. Read more here.

Blush Photo is a one-woman operation run by talented local photographer Kristen Truax. Her work has been featured in GQ, The Stranger, The Sound, and Alternative Press, to name a few, and she's done ad work for T-Mobile and Toyota. She's also available to shoot your wedding or party.

You no doubt know the name already because Blush Photo is also a regular contributor to the Stranger's Flickr Pool and her work has been featured a number of times on Line Out as the Flickr Photo of the Day. She's shot some of your favorite photos of some of your favorite local and national rock stars and party people, and with her growing business, she's becoming a camera-wielding rockstar herself.

For many months, Blush Photo has been the house photographer at Neumo's, and tonight she's displaying the best of what she's seen through the lens via Blush Photo's Music Photo Show.

I asked Truax few questions about what Blush Photo is, what to expect from tonight's show, and how she manages to make people look so damn sexy.

My keen detective skills (read: MySpace) have taught me your real name is Kristen Truax. Is Blush Photo all you? Or is it a photographer collective?
I don't think many people realize that Blush Photo is a one person operation, which is good. I intentionally promote Blush apart from 'Kristen Truax'. My plan is to become a collective of kick-ass photographers under a beautiful pink and black Blush umbrella...it would be amazing.

Sometimes people can have an adverse reaction to getting a camera pointed in their direction, but all your photos not only make people look sexy, but the subjects also look happy and confident--it's unreal. How do you manage to capture that best side of people? Do you even know?
Thank you so much for recognizing this in my imagery. I do believe there is something outstanding and special about each of my subjects. Sometimes its my simple philosophy that we are all a part of something great together- making up what is happening in Seattle at this time. Although we are all coming and going- I have an amazing representation of the life here. It's like Studio 54- to me. I go out with the goal of achieving the best I can do, and capturing the absolute best in everyone. I hate to sound like a dip- but I am emotionally connected with each of my subjects. It's truly a wonderful feeling, and I believe that is the difference between a picture and something worth hanging on the wall for all to admire.

What is it you love about shooting live music (assuming you do, in fact, love shooting live music).
Shooting live is a challenge for me. I am so grateful for Neumo's giving me this amazing opportunity to flex my existing skills and to build more where I lack.

The first concert I ever shot was Harvey Danger at Endfest 2000. I was 18 years old, still living with my mom, and attending school at the Art Institute. I had a pretty good idea of what I was doing at the time, and thought I would be able to make some kind of living doing it. Of course, this was all film. I would blow through rolls and rolls of film. It was some of the best fun I ever had.

However, nowadays the fact that I can't control the lighting or meet my subject is a huge hindrance when shooting live. When St. Vincent played at Neumo's, I begged to have some face time with Annie. It just wasn't possible due to a strict photo policy. Even a couple of snap shots in Neumo's basement has made for gorgeous portraiture--such as my 10 minute Dyme Def session prior to their performance in February.

Any great stories about funny things people have done to get you to take their photo? I know you have to have a few... some people are attention whores.
Honestly, a lot of the stuff I shoot would be happening whether or not I was I there to capture it. It's kinda like the saying: If a tree were to fall in the forest, and no one was there to hear it, does it make a sound? Of course it would, it's a tree falling. It's a shame to think of all the outrageous stuff that goes on and no one is there to document it. Seattle has so many wonderful people who make it up, attention whores no doubt, but whether or not there is a camera involved, I think all that crazy shit would still be happening.

How long have you been a house photographer at Nuemo's? Also, who are some of the artists/musicians featured in the photos you'll be showing?
I met Jason at a mutual friends wedding last summer. It must have been magical because I have been shooting for Neumo's ever since. I have so much appreciation and respect for Jason as a person because he truly appreciates art, photography, and the time I spend doing what I love. We started up a Neumo's flickr page (flickr.com/photos/neumos) and he invited me to hang my work.

I had a terrible time narrowing my shots down to a 15 piece show, but eventually I selected shots from Leslie & The LY's, Mountain Goats, Ben Kweller, some rad crowd shots (as seen on the flier), etc. My hope is that everyone will buy up all the pictures. I decided to price the mounted 12x18 pieces on the cheaps to get them out into the world, onto people's walls, and into people's hearts. Awwwwww....

I'm sure this is a loaded question with the possibility of 100 answers, but do you have a favorite shot? Or three?
It'd be easier for me to call out my favorite photographer, than a favorite image, but one of my favorite photographs of all time is the Annie Leibovitz piece of John Lennon and Yoko Ono at their New York home. This image is my favorite for countless reasons, and was created just hours before the end of John Lennon's life. I actually had an opportunity to photograph Annie Leibovitz when I was a younger 20-something. She then gave me her new photo book at the time (American Music) and told me to "Keep On-". I cried a little bit. Hopefully she didn't notice.

As far as my own work goes, I have a few faves. I have a great story behind this shot:

It involves Jacob, his french horn, forgetting it, leaving a wallet in the middle of nowhere, and eating sandwiches during a 3 hour car ride. It was quite the adventure!

To see Blush Photo's work, head to Neumo's tonight (the photo show is in the mezzanine). It's free, there will be drink specials, and if you're lucky, Blush Photo will capture you on film (or memory card) and make you look super hot like everyone always does in her pictures.

Rolling Stone.com's blog posted a video interview with Perez Hilton, who was rumored to be in the midst of starting his own label with Warner Brothers.

Apparently, the deal isn't done yet. He says: "Even if it doesn't happen with Warner Brothers I'm just gonna start my own label. Screw the major label system, I'm just gonna do it myself."

And if he had his own label, what would he do?

"I would definitely practically give away music but not really. I would slash iTunes prices. Instead of paying $10 for an album, make it five. Kids can get it for free so you have to give them more incentive to buy it. Give them the album plus, you gotta have the DVD, the extra stuff, the bonuses and remixes. Just make it a really appealing package that you can't pass up for five dollars."

In the interview he also talks about Britney ("she can suck my dick"), Amy Winehouse ("I'm really sad for Amy), and Paul McCartney, who's apparently a fan.

Brent and I spoke. Euro-pay phone to cellular device:

Where was your first show? Please tell me you wore Rodeo attire on the plane again.
Brent: First show was in Goor, Belgium. A posh little spot with a stage, a fancy lighting rig, and about 9 people. Small crowd, but spirited. The outfits? Always. Rodeo attire, always. We took the stage almost exactly 24 hours after waking up the previous morning.

Did people show up in Western outfits?
Yeah, two women arrived in full on Western get-up, dressed identically, and line danced in unison. A few other people wore cowboy outfits. Man, I so appreciate the effort. I walked up to an older gal wearing a cowboy hat and a fringe suede jacket after the set and said, “Hi, there!” She said, “I am a drug addict.”

Has anyone tried to steal your hat yet?
No, but during our first set of the night, a drunk woman took a diver and fell in front of the stage. She totally busted her ass and somehow, managed to keep her beer glass perfect level without spilling a drop. During our break between sets, she yelled, “Hello America!” and showed us her tits. The privilege of being a cowboy, I guess.