Interview – Alex Kelly

Posted by Sam in Other, Portfolio      1 comment

Jun
12

US based singer-songwriter Alex Kelly releases her first full length studio album, Orange Circle this month. I caught up with her recently to find out how things are going and what her plans are for the future. Read the interview below.

Interview

Orange Circle is your first full length studio album, since going solo. Excited?

Yes! It’s a wild ride.

2. Has the road to Orange Circle’s release been a smooth one, or has it been tough?

It’s been a bit of both. Even at times of extreme frustration, I enjoy finding the answers, I enjoy my process.

3. Who are your main influences? How far can they be heard on Orange Circle?

During vocal practices, I sing songs from my real book. I purposely made references to that music when it came to the vocal styling of Orange Circle. You can really hear it in Splendor Solis.

4. What’s your creative source? Where do you get your inspiration from?

I find inspiration mostly in nature. There is an underlying intelligence in nature that keeps me in a state of wonder. Sometimes I just listen to birds sing, sometimes I stare at trees.

5. Can we expect to be seeing you in Europe any time soon?

I certainly hope so. With any luck we will be there by the end of the year (hint hint).

6. Any other outlets than music?

Many.  Too many. I like to cook, hula-hoop, write poetry, and grow watermelons (just to name a few things).

7. What’s next? Any plans for after the release?

We want to do a tour in Europe, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed. We have a few music videos in the works and of course, more shows in NYC. Check out calendar at alexkellymusic.com for future dates.

Since Monroe – Lost Generation EP Review

Posted by Sam in Other, Portfolio      1 comment

Apr
2

Birmingham indie rockers Since Monroe burst onto the scene a year after their formation with their debut EP, Lost Generation, a great release with plenty of catchy, rock hooks and a carefree attitude that’s sure to get plenty of people sitting up and taking notice. Formed in March 2011, Since Monroe have gone from formation to acclamation in an impressively short space of time. Lost Generation is released to the public on March 26^th 2012.

As an EP, it has plenty of variety and changes in sound between songs, and plenty of energy that’s sure to get fans rocking along. It’s a very good release, especially considering that it went from concept to fully recorded reality in the space of a year. It’s an ambitious and rock-orientated release that has the potential to bring the fans back into the more rocky aspects of the indie genre, which has become increasingly stagnated in the last few years. It’s a breath of fresh air into the genre that’s sure to get the band success.

It’s produced extremely well. Musically, the vocals fit over the music style perfectly, and the sounds of the instruments begin as they mean to go on, plunging the listener from the first notes of DJ into hefty, dirty sounding guitar riffs and, over the top, the uplifting almost shouted-yet-somehow-sung vocals add relief from the instrumental onslaught. The bass sounds growly and hefty and adds excellent depth to the songs. Completely, with all the aspects together, it sounds like very carefree rock n’ roll, music for the sake of making very fun music, and gets the head bopping up and down appreciatively from the offset. The album then slows down slightly, giving the listener more to think about and more proverbial ‘meat’ to sink their listening-teeth into. Lost Generation is a complete triumph of a song, and the cheeky claps on Satellites bring a smile to the face.

Limitations – it might get a bit repetitive as time goes on. Whilst DJ  plunges the listener straight into Since Monroe’s style at the deep end, it does tend to then only have the options of either carrying on with the audio-onslaught, which gets a tad tedious after a while, or slowing down and becoming less interesting, and Since Monroe seem to have opted for both when putting this album together. Whilst the rest of the songs on the EP are very good, they don’t change from the first one nearly enough and yet also get slower at the same time, which can make listening to it a bit ‘samey’. The technique of starting quickly at-the-deep-end would work better with a full length album, because there would be more opportunity to chop and change sounds, slow down and speed up again, but with a short EP this doesn’t work as effectively. The best suggestion here is just to change the order of the songs to make it more of a wild ride for the listener.

On the other hand, the other songs definitely show the band’s maturity. They’re all very well written, performed, recorded, mixed and produced. Since Monroe are packed full of songwriting talent and this album definitely has the potential to herald in a new generation of indie-rock, one that’s sure to take the music industry by storm. They’re definitely a band to watch out for, and a sound that’s certain to become trademark. Excellent. 7.5/10.