ALEATORY #25: Lands & Peoples

Lands & Peoples are downright scary.

No, they're not going to scare away children during Halloween, but in listening to the debut release by this trio -- consisting of multi-instrumentalists Caleb Moore, Amanda Willis, and Beau Cole -- it is damn-near frightening how fully formed the band sounds on just their first EP. Though it's easy to spot the group's influences, it proves rather difficult to pin down the Lands & Peoples "sound". Emotional without being self-indulgent, this is lo-fi indie rock with a distinct modern twist, beautifully textured but never once coming across as overlabored (check out their MySpace to hear what makes them so unique). With their eponymous EP just out and a full-length album due shortly, there is no better time than to hit up the band with one of Globecat's trademark Aleatories (and if that isn't enough, Lands & Peoples have the distinction of being our 25th). Without further ado, Lands & Peoples ...

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1. Favorite word?

January.

2. Favorite board game?

Monopoly (Amanda=Car, Beau=Boot, Caleb=Thimble)

3. Favorite key to write in?

Probably A minor, or G.

4. Favorite person to have worked with?

The Secret Mountains, we just finished the first leg of our tour with them ... sooooooo much fun!

5. Favorite piece of equipment?

Fender Prosonic coupled with an Electro-Harmonix Reverb Pedal, woohoo!

6. Favorite visual artist?/Favorite work of visual art?

Tie between Gustav Klimt and Nicholas Gurewitch (of PBF comics).

18. Favorite pick-up line?

"Is your father a lumberjack? No? Oh ... OK ... um ... well ... 'wood' you go out with me?"

28. What instrument would you most like to learn to play?

Upright Bass, we all agree.

31. Other than musician, what career would you most enjoy?

Caleb: Record company scout or producer.
Amanda: Chef.
Beau: Actor, wait is that stupid, uh, Chef, that was a good answer.

32. Best thing you learned this week/month?

Tours are fun and hard and bathing in a lake, while fun, isn't ACTUALLY that clean. Also iPhones are REAL helpful.

42. What's an image that haunts you to this day?

That scene in The Shining where the hot woman turns into the old lady, OH MY GOD that scene is creepy.

45. What's the best lie you've ever told?

We've never been good at lying.

56. Have you ever considered writing or producing for other artists?

Yes. Baltimore's a place that allows all types of artists to collaborate in the craziest of ways ... and there are so many artists, not just musicians, that we LOVE in Baltimore, so I think if the opportunity ever came up, we [would] jump on it.

58. Least rock star thing you've ever done?

Watching Twilight with Caleb's mom.

72. A few years ago, Beck gave an interview for SPIN in which he lamented the glut of reality TV shows and blogs about musicians, wanting to know less details about their life because he felt they were more mysterious that way (he liked to envision Devo as living in a crazed art-deco pyramid when he was young, instead of just some guys in a tour bus). Do you feel that there's a lack of mystique out there for musicians in today's YouTube age? Do you feel your band carries any mystique?

These days, it is possible to be in complete, honest, and direct communication with people who listen to your music and pay attention to that sort of thing. But, at the same time, you don't have to, you don't have to answer every interview, you don't have to have a blog, or be on Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, etc. I think that a band can use those things as tools to communicate whatever, even outright lie if they want, manifest their own "mystique." But I don't think anyone can deny that "the Internet" with all it's sites and blogs and viral explosions has given SO many artists exposure that they otherwise would never have gotten, that's the important thing ... and it's a good thing, for the most part.

74. Better to burn out or to fade away?

Burn Out.

76. Dream collaboration?

Working with Beach House, co-produced by Chris Taylor and Jon Brion.

77. What was the hardest part about recording your current release?

Well, we recorded and mixed everything by ourselves in our homes. Knowing you're not a professional yet wanting it to be perfect ... letting stuff go was really hard.

89. You just died. I'm sorry. Fortunately, your will states that you want very specific music to be played at your funeral. What did you choose?

1) Will Smith--Gettin' Jiggy With It
2) Men Without Hats--Safety Dance
3) Weird Al--Fat
4) Biggy--Big Poppa

90. Sexiest thing about you?

Amanda: "My big heart."
Beau & Caleb about Amanda: "Her legs."
Caleb: "My large nostrils."
Beau: "My unibrow."

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Visit Lands & People's official website here.

ALEATORY #24: Jeepster

What happens when a trio of alt-rock outsiders that formed in San Francisco wind up getting signed to a French record label prior to releasing their recorded-in-a-Lake-Tahoe-cabin debut? Why, you get Jeepster, of course.

The band -- consisting of singer Jonah Wells, drummer Justin Goings, and guitarist Kyle Marcelli -- just barely released their first album, What If All the Rebels Died?, and it sounds like the distillation of all the 90s alt-rock giants you can think of through a lo-fi aesthetic. It's impossible not to hear the spirit of the Smashing Pumpkins surge through tracks like "Sweet 1:23" or the Radiohead-by-way-of-Harvey-Danger keyboard waltz that is "Fiction Fiction". Though tracks like "Ex Oh" perfectly capture that sense of pre-millennial Modern Rock nostalgia that is so tragically lacking on the airwaves these days, the group still proudly exists in the present, coming soon to a town near you but not before each member participated in Globecat's 24th Aleatory, revealing that not only can the group teach you how to smurf, but also that you should avoid playing at Days Inn Motels and that you should be afraid of "The Man" ...

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19. Favorite foreign film?

KYLE: Alejandro Joradowskys Fando y Lis; before Jeepster, I wanted to name my next band Tarr after the fictional city portrayed in it.
JUSTIN: A woman is a woman.
JONAH: Brazil.

22. Favorite vice?

KYLE: Cigarettes, they're fast, relatively inexpensive, and they don't subdue, damage nor hinder human interaction. If anything, they're a catalyst to human interaction, which on a good day, I support.
JUSTIN: Jamming.
JONAH: Soft drugs.

27. Favorite chord/chord progression?

KYLE: The ones invented by myself that don't have names, and the ones that don't have names made by other musicians.
JUSTIN: I play drums...
JONAH: Chord/chord? ...progression? ...favorite?

32. Best thing you learned this week/month?

KYLE: I learned about the sanctity of life, the various depths of love, and how relavent I feel my art is. It's been a busy month.
JUSTIN: Don't do drugs.
JONAH: "...Gods favorite color is purple."

33. What's something you could teach anyone in an hour or less?

KYLE: How to dance, how to tie a shoe, how to negate the obvious, how to point out the obvious, how to forgive, how to forget.
JUSTIN: Don't do drugs.
JONAH: How to smurf.

38. What is your family like?

KYLE: Very important, very practical, very logical, very loyal, and vey supportive.
JUSTIN: I love them.
JONAH: R e l i g i o u s.

43. What's the road ahead look like?

KYLE: Imagine the road as a collection of variables co-dependent on other varaibels, and that this road has never been driven before. It looks very strange in a very endearing way.
JUSTIN: Worldwide.
JONAH: Worldwide Travel.

45. What's the best lie you've ever told?

KYLE: It wouldn't be a good lie if I acknowledged the truth.
JUSTIN: Nothing good.
JONAH: I can't remember any I'm proud of.

47. Biggest fear?

KYLE: Flying, this is a new fear, one only relavent after a realization of the science behind an airplane.
JUSTIN: The man.
JONAH: Loneliness, though I think I'm finally getting over that one too.

48. Biggest moment of triumph?

KYLE: In the midst of it.
JUSTIN: So far, finishing What If All the Rebels Died?
JONAH: Boogie @ Midnight.

52. At what point did you realize that music was going to be your full-time occupation?

KYLE: It's not an occupation. When you realize it's an occupation, it's not art, and you've lost focus from why you started making music.
JUSTIN: When I was born.
JONAH: I've been high my whole life.

55. You're curating a festival. If you could choose any two bands to open for you, who would they be? To open?

KYLE: Warren Ellis from the Bad Seeds doing a solo effected violin set, followed by some smooth dancey fun band like the Whitest Boy Alive or Phoenix.
JUSTIN: The Walkmen, Dr. Dog
JONAH: Ratatat and The Flaming Lips.

56. Have you ever considered writing or producing for other artists?

KYLE: Everyday, I will be as soon as Nate Pendry gets out of jail and Sham Ulrich learns to compose his drunken piano banters into incredibly complex pop songs.
JUSTIN: Occasionaly.
JONAH: And how.

59. Worst venue you've ever played?

KYLE: The Casbar in Santa Rosa, it's a venue inside of a Days Inn Motel, but feels like a skating ring.
JUSTIN: Cafe Coda.
JONAH: Those are some big shoes to fill!

61. What's the best advice you could give to a young, upstart band?

KYLE: Realize the difference between a record and a live show, but keep in mind it all coincides to a listener.
JUSTIN: Quit everything in your life that takes time away from the group.
JONAH: Practice/jam/record.

70. What is a personal belief you hold that you would fight for to the death?

KYLE: Love.
JUSTIN: J E S U S
JONAH: Only love.

79. Best concert you've ever been to?

KYLE: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds two nights in a row at the Warfield in San Francisco. Those guys are over fifty and have more energy than most bands I see in their twenties.
JUSTIN: Tie between Radiohead and the Mars Volta at Coachella.
JONAH: Deerhoof @ UC Davis a few years ago.

85. What's the biggest mistake you've made that you inadvertently learned a great lesson from?

KYLE: I don't feel that if I've learned a valuable lesson that the actions that caused it were actually mistakes.
JUSTIN: Not drinking enough water.
JONAH: I've made many mistakes but have no regrets.

87. Ultimately, you will want to be remembered as …

KYLE: A sea shell in a sea of shells that encompass the most beautiful mosaic of culture and art the world has ever seen.
JUSTIN: "That dude can jam."
JONAH: A lover.

90. Sexiest thing about you?

KYLE: My winning personality obviously.
JUSTIN: Probably my tunes...
JONAH: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

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Visit Jeepster's official MySpace.

ALEATORY #13: Pale Young Gentlemen

This is a first.

Here at Globecat, we receive e-mails all the time -- be it publicists, readers like you, or even band members themsleves: we happily sift through all of these, but something was quite different when Pale Young Gentlemen drummer Matt Reisenauer contacted us, eagerly discussing the second disc from his band's album Black Forest (Tra La La). We followed up on the lead, and soon found Black Forest to be a tragically beautiful album of indie-folk done right: dramatic without being theatrical, touching without being self-serving. Ripe with cellos, acoustic guitars, and singer Mike Reisenauer's pointed vocals, this is the kind of disc that will sound just as good five years from now as it will when you pick it up later this month. Yes, this is the first time we've featured an artist who has contacted us instead of the other way around, but, really, this is the first band to contact us who genuinely deserves to be on our Aleatory wall. Mike R. takes this opportunity to gladly discuss re-recording radio interviews, the big spoiler he knows about wolf packs, and how Rufus Wainwright gave one of the worst concerts he ever saw ...

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20. Favorite new band?

Our old bass player (Andy Brawner) left the band to work on his own stuff. He released an album called "A Sun Goes Down" as Time Since Western that is amazing.

27. Favorite chord/chord progression?

Any half-diminished chord. Most chords/chord progression have a lot of baggage- they're hard to make your own- but these things add a lot of nuance, I think, so ended up using them a lot on the new record.

30. How many languages do you speak?

One and a half. For some reason, I remember a lot of the Spanish I learned in middle and high school. Or at least I think I remember it. Or at least nobody I knows more than I do and feels alright correcting me.

32. Best thing you learned this week/month?

I saw a thing on PBS about the origin of dogs and how they split from wolves. I won't ruin it for you, but a nicely done show.

36. Lyrics first or music first?

Same time. Back and forth. Like two young boys trying to outrun each other.

39. What's something you could probably beat anyone you know at?

I'm really good at trying to be funny.

40. What was your best/worst subject in school?

Who cares?

42. What's an image that haunts you to this day?

Once I saw a dog get hit by a car as I was pumping gas, a springer- spaniel, I think. It was very dramatic from start to finish.

44. Something you've heard, know is false, but wish were true with all your heart?

That people still listen to entire albums. I wish we were limited to 8-track players sometimes. Make everyone listen to the whole side at least.

45. What's the best lie you've ever told?

My brother and I used to be clowns with my dad. We'd perform skits and tricks on the street. This is totally true. Anyway, fooling another person with a magic trick has to be the most pleasant, guilt-free lie possible.

48. Biggest moment of triumph?

I think I'm still waiting for this one...

57. Most rock star thing you've ever done?

When I was six, my mother told me to take my little garbage can up to my room. I paused and said "No you". My mom reacted in such a way that has prevented any more rock star moments.

60. What's the worst show you've ever played? What would you have done different?

Once we played a show as a three-piece that was all-the-way embarrassing. Christ, we really should have rehearsed. I still regret it.

63. Band/artist you're secretly envious of?

Anybody that's actually making a living at this.

68. Favorite interview you've ever been a part of (aside from this one, obviously)?

We did an interview once for a local radio station that was being taped for a later airing, but the interviewer forgot to press record for the first 40 mins. of it. It's not a terrible thing to lose 40 minutes, but it is weird to re-answer the same questions and try to seem genuine. We ended up with a big inside joke we couldn't share with the audience.

69. There's got to be one: who has been your craziest fan?

We had a fan in Chicago once that wanted to pay us a hundred bucks to play "Clap Your Hands" again. We didn't do it, but maybe we should have.

84. Most disappointing concert you ever attended?

I once saw Rufus Wainwright at the Barrymore Theater. I think I remember wanting him to shut up and play the songs. The whole thing seemed kinda cheesy or something.

87. Ultimately, you will want to be remembered as …

Somebody's dad who wrote some nice songs.

96. The one thing that no one knows about you (yet)?

I am a fantastic cook and I'm really great at driving cars.

97. Your label wants to do a music video for a song off your album, and have inexplicably procured $1,000,000 as a budget, then decide that you'd best direct the visual accompaniment to your own music. What song do you choose, and what will your video look like?

I'd keep the money, split it with my band, and have my dad shoot it for free. I'd probably want to do "Kettle Drum" or "She's All Mine, I Think" because I've always pictured those songs taking place on my dad's property in rural Wisconsin.

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Visit the Pale Young Gentlemen's website.

ALEATORY #8: Titles

... and in step the indie-rockers. With a laid-back style the mixes both backwoods rock drawl with indie quirkiness, guitarist Brad Amorosio began working as Titles after his previous Connecticut college rock act bailed out. Soon, with the help of drummer John Miller, a fleshed-out sound emerged, and as of later this year, a new album as well. Brad sits down with Globecat to take part in its eigth Aleatory ...

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1. Favorite word?

I don't know. [Editor's Note: That's actually three words.]

5. Favorite piece of equipment?

1960 Gretsch Clipper.

14. Favorite sound?

Lightsabers.

26. Favorite badass?

Daniel Day-Lewis in Gangs of New York.

45. What's the best lie you've ever told?

Probably something on a job interview.

53. So far in your career, what's been your biggest regret?

No regrets.

54. So far in your career, what's been your proudest accomplishment?

Putting out our last record.

60. What's the worst show you've ever played? What would you have done different?

They are all OK. Even the worst ones have some value.

63. Band/artist you're secretly envious of?

It would be fun to float on the crowd in an inflatable bubble.

65. Ever see yourself penning the score/soundtrack to a TV show or film?

Not anytime soon.

76. Dream collaboration?

When is that Dangerhorse record coming out?

82. Current pop song that you would file under "guilty pleasure"?

I liked that Jessica Simpson song with the roller rink video ["A Public Affair"].

89. You just died. I'm sorry. Fortunately, your will states that you want very specific music to be played at your funeral. What did you choose?

"Hello Goodbye"

90. Sexiest thing about you?

Post nasal drip.

91. Which single album should be in everybody's home?

The first Huey Lewis and the News record.

97. Your label wants to do a music video for a song off your album, and have inexplicably procured $1,000,000 as a budget, then decide that you'd best direct the visual accompaniment to your own music. What song do you choose, and what will your video look like?

We'd probably do something with animatronic dinosaurs.

99. Licensing your music out to companies for TV ads: good or bad?

Depends what the ad is for. Car insurance? Hamburgers? Sure, what the hell.

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Visit Titles' website.

ALEATORY #4: Yelle

Yelle is not your typical female eletroclash-loving Parisian rapper. Then again, the phrase "female electroclash-loving Parisian rapper" doesn't get kicked around much these days. With an attitude that could out-sass Lily Allen and a fashion style that virtually defines "retro-chic", Yelle has proven herself a force to be messed with. Although the notion of a dance-pop chanteusse rapping entirely in French may seem uncommercial, Yelle's eye-popping, colorful, and flat-out crazy music videos have turned her into a YouTube sensation, logging tens of millions of hits (no joke) and truly breaking down any and all language barriers with her unique sense of fun. Labels notice these things, and earlier this year, Yelle's debut album, POP UP, got a digital release here in the U.S.

Yet during her schedule of touring, junkets, and making more delicious music video eye-candy, Yelle had time to take part in our fourth Aleatory, showing a love of dog snores, a dream of working with Dave Gahan, and having "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" played at her funeral ...

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1. Favorite word?

Putain (fuck).

3. Favorite key to write in?

Be alone.

4. Favorite person to have worked with?

GrandMarnier.

12. Favorite band when you were in high school?

Take That!

14. Favorite sound?

When my dog snores.

30. How many languages do you speak?

Just two: French and English.

31. Other than musician, what career would you most enjoy?

I would love to be a cook.

36. Lyrics first or music first?

It depends; no rules.

39. What's something you could probably beat anyone you know at?

Make grimace.

45. What's the best lie you've ever told?

I’m a bad liar but certainly something for miss[ing] school.

51. What are you currently obsessed with?

I always check if the door is closed 3 or 4 times before leaving my house.

72. A few years ago, Beck gave an interview for SPIN in which he lamented the glut of reality TV shows and blogs about musicians, wanting to know less details about their life because he felt they were more mysterious that way (he liked to envision Devo as living in a crazed art-deco pyramid when he was young, instead of just some guys in a tour bus). Do you feel that there's a lack of mystique out there for musicians in today's YouTube age? Do you feel your band carries any mystique?

I don’t know cause I think we must live in our generation and [be] OK with YouTube, MySpace, [and the] internet in general. But I think you can [have] mystique and have something mysterious around you; it’s not a problem. I come from Brittany and for Parisians, it’s bizarre ...

76. Dream collaboration?

Dave Gahan.

86. With Radiohead's In Rainbows release and Nine Inch Nails doing boffo business with his online releases, do you see yourself ever doing some alterative kind of release for any of your future projects?

Yes I think. Today [it] is complicated to be a musician and to live off your music but we can find solutions and stuff to change relations with the public.

89. You just died. I'm sorry. Fortunately, your will states that you want very specific music to be played at your funeral. What did you choose?

"Girls Just Want to Have Fun," Cyndi Lauper.

91. Which single album should be in everybody's home?

Mine!

92. Which venue are you dying to play but have not yet had the chance to?

I don’t know; maybe in a hot air balloon.

93. Longest show you ever played? What was different?

Maybe it was in Paris in May: [on] a special night, I had [to] sing with Alain Chamfort, a kind of french dandy, good producer, famous in 80’s cause he worked for Lio, and with Gainsbourg at the beginning of his career. It was very cool!

96. The one thing that no one knows about you (yet)?

Nothing.

99. Licensing your music out to companies for TV ads: good or bad?

Maybe bad cause I think TV is not the good way [to] make people love your music, but [through] live show[s], I think concerts are the key.

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Visit Yelle's website.