Written by Claude Walls

Based in Arizona, electro-rock artist Ehron VonAllen is in the Goth capital of the world. That is, of course, meant as sarcasm; the bitter sting of reality is that VonAllen is producing seductive synthesized gloom in a state better known for its long stretches of open desert and cactus. With several CDs to his credit, VonAllen is carving a name for himself in the independent scene, even covering post-punk classics from the Cure and Recoil.

Claude Walls: Your music probes the dark side of synth-pop and electronica yet it has a theatrical quality to it somewhat reminiscent of David Bowie. Having been to Arizona before, I don’t see this stylistic qualities common in that region. Are you embraced locally — or are you dismissed as a pretentious art fag?

Ehron VonAllen: My style comes from where I grew up and lived before. I just brought it with me
to this sinkhole Arizona. I’m not very popular locally. Probably more infamous. A lot of people in Phoenix know me but don’t really give me a chance when it comes to coming to shows and such. However, most bands have trouble succeeding here and end up being better off in other cities. Phoenix has a piss-poor music scene full of closed-minded rivet heads. I am shunned from mainstream radio here despite being played in most major cities before including various countries like Russia, Japan, and all over Europe.
As far as a pretentious art fag, well, I’m sure a lot of these people think that. But if being labeled  a pretentious art fag is the only way I can keep making this kind of music efficiently then so be it. Maybe if I littered myself with tattoos and bought a Hummer, I may fit in better in Phoenix.  Although I do have a very small loyal fan base here who buys my music for which I’m very appreciative.

Walls: Despite the shadowy contours of your songs, I don’t find your music depressing at all unlike Goth forefathers like Joy Division and the Sisters of Mercy. Would you consider yourself to be an optimist with a penchant for black?

VonAllen: Absolutely. I don’t really feel depressed or happy. More or less just neutral. I just write about what I see and feel. The music ends up coming out a little darker than  mainstream music but the lyrics are mostly positive. I write about real things that have happened to me or happened to someone I know or just anything going on in the world.

Walls: Many people listen to bands such as the Cure and Depeche Mode for emotional catharsis. What effect did they have on you growing up?
 
VonAllen: Quite a bit. For the longest time I put DM under a microscope focusing on every little note of the the music and the lyrics. When I was younger they really dictated how I acted, dressed and thought. It’s amazing how a band can influence a young person so much. As far as the Cure, their album Disintegration in in my top 10 albums of all time; however, I don’t like most of their music outside of that.

Walls: Do you move around a lot onstage during live performances?

VonAllen: As much as I can. I like to play a lot of instruments when I can on stage. That can take up a lot of my time on stage. But when I’m singing only, I move around as much as the stage I’m on will allow. I have been known to leave the stage a lot despite telling myself I won’t do that again before each show.

Walls: Too much of today’s electronic music lacks pop hooks and lyrics. How do you feel about those techno acts that are purely thump-thump-thump and no lyrical content? 


VonAllen: Like I said before, most of those bands are products of the Prodigy era. Despite Prodigy being a great band in my opinion, most bands that came after put out music with no originality or emotion. The majority of electronic acts out today are just the result of someone purchasing a synth and a computer and wanting to be a rock star. Now even the computer geeks can be cool, right? One reason that thump-thump music is so popular is because people don’t want to hear complicated music. They just want something that’s easy to keep up with, dance to, and can be played in the background without too much distraction. It seems most Americans turn their back on music with any feeling or emotion. They don’t even question why record labels are putting out such garbage. We live in a time where amateurs can win a contest and go on to be successful just because of a TV show. You no longer have to have something special to offer in order to be successful in the music business. And it is just that, a business, nothing more.

http://www.myspace.com/ehronvonallen

Reviewed by Kate Walden

Waxapples is on its way to the masses, a band with stylistic music syncopation give their songs an extra boost. They are an inspiration to those who are out to have fun; without a doubt, one may be merrier while
listening to Waxapples’ “Jackson.” The song “Fever” intriguingly creates a fun, fitting, free aura. There is an element of humanity in the song “China Doll,” a story told by the band that shows their grasp of
reality. Waxapples successfully captures the moment of their lyrics, spreading through a crowd of enthused listeners with the same boom boom bass, and the bang bang digga digga ding.

http://www.waxapples.com

Written by Claude Walls

It could be said that 99 Burning are one of the remaining dinosaurs. If that is so, an apt comparison would be with the T. Rex. 99 Burning channel the force and fury of early ’90s grunge, which was actually during the time that 99 Burning originally formed. Although not from Seattle (neither were Sonic Youth so don’t even go there), 99 Burning drank from the same poison that their Emerald City peers did. The biggest difference is that 99 Burning haven’t flamed off; in fact, with the release of the album and book Midnight in America, lead singer Don Eminizer is more on fire than ever.

Claude Walls: You’ve written a novel from which the album is based. What is the book about? Did it originate in your mind as a novel first before the CD?

Don Eminizer: The novel is based on non-fiction. It is about being abandoned. Lost. M.I.A. Wasted. The music and the book are symbiotic. The music is a soundtrack by 99 Burning that matches a story about what my early life was like, and what would have happened had I continued down that road. The CD came from effort by me and three other talented guys that know what it feels like to be abandoned. We think other people know how it feels to be abandoned, too.

Walls: You’re a veteran of the music industry, and everybody has road experiences to share. What were the worst for you?

Emiziner: The worst for me is not being on stage. I don’t care about the size of the audience or the circumstance. I just want to enjoy the music and tell everybody there how much I enjoy it. And how much life is a sham, so you might as well enjoy the show.

Walls: What does the name 99 Burning refer to?

Eminizer: The 99% of us that are being burned up by the 1% elite, the Bushes, et al. The powerful. We are burned and consumed by a tiny fraction of wealthy and powerful people and given the lesser of two evils to choose from. The winner of the lesser of two evils takes 1/4 of our labor (money) and spends it killing people in foreign lands. Most people are tired. I am. I want to burn down the paper that makes us all slaves and start over.

Walls: Your songwriting reminds me somewhat of Jim Morrison’s. Was he a key influence for you?

Eminizer: Yes. Moreso Nietzsche and Kerouac and Paine and Rand and Poe, but I think we have those influences in common, and I dug him too. He turned me onto many things. Like rebellion. Like dissension. that’s what rock & roll and this country was founded on. Like to get back to that please.

Walls: You used to be a wrestler. How far did you go with that? Why did you hang up the ropes?

Eminizer: Three years. Went far. Had a regional TV show on HTS (Comcast now), a national magazine column in Wrestling’s Main Event, and a national radio show called “Wrestling Spotlight” on the American Radio Networks in 86 markets nationwide. Won titles. Got laid. Made friends. Quit at 21. I realized it was like politics. It was fake and pre-arranged. It had perks, like girls and drugs and money, but I felt dirty doing it, and I quit. Not because of the wrestling, because I saw it as a symptom of the problems with society.

http://www.99burning.com

Death Cab for Cutie/Narrow Stairs

Reviewed by Edward Wallace

The last Death Cab For Cutie album, Plans, had great singles, and no stinkers, but the album was duller than the sum of its parts because there were too many slow ballads in a row. This time around, it’s safe for more skeptical music fans to call a cab. Narrow Stairs solves the pacing problem with a better tempo mix. The instruments stand out from the pulsating bass in “I Will Possess Your Heart” to the rollicking punk drums and feedback at the climax of “Bixby Canyon Ridge.” “No Sunlight” has bouncy keyboards. Only towards the middle do things mellow out.

The album version of “I Will Possess You Heart,” unlike the radio edit has a long build up before the vocals kick in, but those who stick around will be rewarded. Plans focused on love songs; its title described things which were hoped for. Stairs is more about obstacles and moving on in life.

Ben Gibbard’s singing is still quaint. But as always, Gibbard’s power is in his lyrics. Jason McGerr, the drummer, still kicks butt, and has the Scottish marching quality. The song “Cath…” is not a Bluebells cover, but it is an incredible drama about a woman trapped in a loveless relationship. “Bixby Canyon Bridge” is my initial favorite, telling of a pilgrimage to the place of a dead artist for inspiration. Only the finale “The Ice is Getting Thinner” seems cliche. But after the experimental journey of the other tracks, a rest is not unwelcome.

I’m ranking Stairs as my second favorite Death Cab album, behind The Photo Album (my sentimental first DCFC experience), and just ahead of Transatlanticism.

http://www.deathcabforcutie.com