IMSC Ep 33 - Song 1: "She Was the One That Got Away" by Gloom Balloon, plus Joe Lawler on Chad

For years I knew that there would be little overlap between the bands I interviewed for Juice/The Des Moines Register and the articles in Cityview. But one day I opened the weekly and saw a new music writer, and he had interviewed the same shitty pop singer I had.

This Chad Taylor asshole and I were going to have issues.

But when we eventually met in real life, I found that just like all assholes, he gets covered in a protective layer or three around the general public. If you don't focus on the asshole part, Chad is a pretty decent guy. The asshole is still there, but tucked away and forgotten, blending into a sea of similarly covered assholes.

I know Chad and I didn't always see eye to eye on Gloom Balloon, which I likened to the Plastic Ono Band to Poison Control Center's The Beatles, and Chad probably compared to "wet fart noises filtered through Chris Ford's trumpet." But I know he at least had an appreciation for "She Was the One That Got Away."

If this were our radio show, this is the point where Chad would start making silent jerk off motions, so let's just play the song.
- from Joe Lawler for this podcast
- Joe Lawler is the music writer for Cityview, Chad's old job, and the former music reporter for The Des Moines Register and Juice
- http://www.dmcityview.com/the-sound


"Your nervous breakdown doesn't deserve sound, but you want a soundtrack I got your back..."
- from the Gloom Balloon home page

"So what can you expect at a Gloom Balloon show? According to Fleming: grey hair, tight pants and two dudes that can drink a lot of cheap beer."
- from Abigail Thomas on the Little Village website

"...classic Gloom Balloon; bright and shiny, and fun and light, but full of a melancholy that is neither crushing nor even really all that tragic. Gloom Balloon deals in the melancholy of knowing that the 15-year-old version of yourself wouldn’t necessarily approve of how your life turned out but also knowing that the 15-year-old version of you is an idiot who had garbage opinions about almost everything. Plus, I love trumpets."
- from a Casey Erixon review on the DSMShows website

"Gloom Balloon is the Grand Canyon of the burgeoning Des Moines music scene."
- from another Casey Erixon piece on the DSMShows website

"Both performers can be entertaining, creative and engaging, but Gloom Balloon (officially just Fleming, joined on stage by Ford as a special guest) is something different. Both Ford and Fleming have always been part musician and part performance artist. The split’s usually around 60/40, which will vary on any given night. But Gloom Balloon crosses that line from 'I’m avant-garde' to 'you just paid to watch me mess around for half an hour.'"
- from Chad Taylor in Cityview

Lineup:
Pat Fleming
Christopher Ford

https://www.facebook.com/gloomballoon/photos/
a.276787152425302.51932.270779086359442/
758442857593060/?type=3&theater

Home page:
http://gloomballoon.com/

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/gloomballoon/

Bandcamp:
https://gloomballoon.bandcamp.com/

Chad's review of Pat Fleming’s All Flugelhorn Review:
http://www.dmcityview.com/sound-circuit/2014/03/26/horn-rock/

To download the podcast (right click and hit "Save as..."):

Labels: 2010s, 2013, Chad Taylor, Chad Taylor Dedication, Christopher Ford, Des Moines, Des Moines area, Ep 033, experimental, Gloom Balloon (band), Joe Lawler, Pat Fleming, pop music, She Was the One That Got Away (song)

Ep 20 - Extra 1: Joe Lawler on Jimi

Art by Drew Harden

Joe Lawler was, until recently, the music reporter for The Des Moines Register. He is also the co-host with Chad Taylor of the Critical Mass radio show on KFMG and a blogger of music, comics, and family life at Live Local Man.

"I feel like whenever I walk around the East Village I run into Jimi, and whenever I would stop into House of Bricks I would get drawn into a conversation with him. He's just a genuinely nice guy and it's impossible to walk away from encounter with him without a smile on your face. You're going to kick cancer's ass, man!"
- for this podcast/blog

Ep 20 - Extra 4: An interview with Jimi by Joe Lawler that I stole from Juice

See original article here - http://archive.dmjuice.com/birthday-bash/

Birthday bash

Published on May 13th, 2014 | by Joe Lawler

Jimi “Strychnine” Scribner is the kitchen manager at House of Bricks, 525 E. Grand Ave. Hold for Swank, The New Bodies, Wrestling with Wolves and others play the Jimi Strychnine Birthday show at 5 p.m. Saturday at House of Bricks.

Q: How long have you been working at House of Bricks?

Thirteen years. I started out on sound, but I was getting kind of burned out on that when they opened the kitchen. When I was in the military I got my chef degree and they asked me to run it. It worked out for both of us.

Q: Can you hear the music when you’re in the kitchen?

Yeah, I think I can probably hear better in the kitchen. There’s no outside noise or conversation; I’m just hearing the music. It’s pretty good. You can tell when a band is really on, and when they need to get back in the basement and practice more.

Q: What do you like to listen to?

I listen to a lot of oldies radio. When I close down at night, it’s Clutch. There’s something about Clutch that makes it go so much easier. Clutch or Motorhead.

IMSC Ep 17 - Extra 1: "Golddigger" by Murder Earth (Chad Taylor's dedication)

​

Chad Taylor is the pop culture critic for Cityview magazine, managing editor of the Band Bombshell website, occasional guest on Great Day on KCWI 23, and co-host with Joe Lawler of the Critical Mass radio show on KFMG...

"Matthew will do a fine job at the Register, I'm sure, and I look forward to working with him in the community. But for me, Joe was always something the Des Moines scene needed. Someone upbeat, generally positive, smart and competent. He's got his blog now, but we'll miss seeing him every day.

"And when I think of Joe, I think of Murder Earth's cover of Kanye's Golddigger. Because the are both beautiful creations."
- from Chad Taylor for this podcast

Lineup:
Ben Murphy - vocals
Tim Flor - guitar
Rick Stuber - bass
Jared Albertson - drums

​

Chad Taylor links...

Cityview:

http://www.dmcityview.com/sound-notes/

Band Bombshell:
http://bandbombshell.com/

Murder Earth links...

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/dsmme2013

Ep 17 - Song 4: "Pain" by La Strange

"The La Strange hatchet video. In 2011 I was doing a video interview with Brenton Dean of La Strange (now of Holy White Hounds) and midway through he pulled out a hatchet. Then we went into his yard and he spent way too long trying to throw that hatchet into a tree."
- from "Joe Lawler's 12 favorite music moments with Juice"

"La Strange was my solo project for a while. I made some demos in my basement using an 8 track recorder and a single microphone for the drums, guitar and vocal and just released them in an EP.

"One day Joe Lawler came over to interview the band and that day we became friends. I was aware of who Joe was because I had read so many of his articles in juice and he had interview so many bands i admired. By the time Joe got to my place (pretty early in the day as you can probably tell by the video) I had been drinking and hanging out with my drummer, Steven, for a while.

"When Joe got there I told him 'You know, you interview so many bands, I bet YOU have some shit to say.'  I busted out a camera and interview him back and we threw back some drinks. We had a great time.

"Joe is such a fun guy to be around because he is down for anything and you never feel judged when you're around him. Every band loves to be interview by Joe because he is comforting to be around. You never feel like you're on the chopping block when he's interviewing you.

"I was so flattered that he remembered that interview in his article hi-lighting his favorite moments from juice, because it also meant a lot to me. Joe is one of the most supportive and classy motherfuckers I have every met in my life."
- from Brenton Dean for this podcast/blog



Lineup:
Brenton Dean - vocals, instruments

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/La-Strange-137923359583253/

ReverbNation:
https://www.reverbnation.com/lastrange

Holy White Hounds home page:
http://holywhitehounds.com/

IMSC Ep 17 - Extra 2: "Disconnect the Dots" by Of Montreal (Amedeo Rossi's dedication)

Amedeo Rossi is the managing partner of The Vaudeville Mews, a partner in SA Presents which produces Nitefall on the River shows and manages the Simon Estes Amphitheater, and the project manager for the Des Moines Music Coalition and the annual 80/35 music festival...

"Joe Lawler was a rock for years. Big or small he always found great ways to cover artists and events."
- from Amedeo Rossi for this podcast/blog

Ep 17 - Song 6: "Fuck Joe Lawler" by $trick9 / Song 7: "Joe vs $trick9" by Joe Lawler

"My feud with $trick9. Early on in Juice I wrote a profile on the faux conservative rapper and things got meta when Nick Strickland's rap persona created a very NSFW diss track defending his right-wing credentials. If your Google-fu is strong you might find a video of me rapping my response. We've become friends, but since I have the last word: Nick Strickland sucks."
- from "Joe Lawler's 12 favorite music moments with Juice"


"It seems my hot rhymes have finally ended Joe Lawler's career. I always knew they would. I'm just surprised it took seven years."
- from $trick9 for this podcast/blog

Lineup:
Band Members - Nine, Duke, Justin, Jamie and Joe

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/trick9-20529062632/