Q&A
-
Q&A: OONA’s Oona Garthwaite on her band’s origins and her musical upbringing
Oona Garthwaite and OONA, courtesy. We chatted with with Oona Garthwaite about her new project OONA, with Dave Tweedie before their show at Rickshaw Stop on May 17. Your song “Metropolis” was just played on So You Think You Can Dance, and it wasn’t even your first one to…
-
LL Cool J on ‘Accidental’ controversies and writing the perfect love jam
LL Cool J, courtesy. Last week I interviewed rapper-actor-Grammy host LL Cool J. The big issue swirling around him lately has been the controversy over “Accidental Racist,” the song he recorded with country singer Brad Paisley. I briefly go into that in my story. But since space is at…
-
Q&A: The Avett Brothers on the decline of Americana
The Avett Brothers, courtesy. The Avett Brothers may get bumped up to headline the opening night of BottleRock Napa Valley on Thursday, following Furthur’s cancelation. Yesterday I chatted with Seth Avett about his band, the Americana movement (Is it on the decline? He thinks it might be) and how…
-
Q&A: BRMC’s Robert Levon Been on his fear of playing his dad’s songs
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, courtesy: James Minchin. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club has a sold-out show coming up at the Fillmore on April 22, but it was a different performance I was more interested in. Robert Levon Been is stepping in his late-father Michael Been’s shoes and joining his father’s bandmates…
-
Interview: Music and water bring San Cisco to San Francisco
San Cisco, courtesy. Jordi Davieson has known Scarlett Stevens since he was a toddler. Their parents are friends and they grew up together in the coastal town of Fremantle, Australia – just south of Perth on the country’s west coast. “There’s a photo of Scarlett and me and I’m…
-
SF Sketchfest Q&A: Did Oscar from “The Office” make your dental crown?
Oscar Nunez as Oscar Martinez on “The Office.” Courtesy: Photo: Mitchell Haaseth/NBC. Oscar Nunez plays an accountant on NBC’s “The Office,” but in real life, he almost ended up a dentist technician. He was unemployed, and a cousin owned a dental laboratory. His mother, a retired dentist, pushed him…
-
Duran Duran bassist’s autobiography: for “people that have never played the Oakland Coliseum – on drugs.”
Duran Duran performs at Outside Lands in Golden gate Park on Aug. 5, 2016. Che Holts/STAFF. The members of Duran Duran are in a good place right now. Infighting, drug and sex addiction, and disappointing album sales previously derailed one of the biggest acts to come out of the…
-
Interview: Macklemore is rocking fresh beats and vintage style
Macklemore performs at BottleRock Napa Valley in Napa on May 26, 2017. Alessio Neri/STAFF. Ben “Macklemore” Haggerty doesn’t like to spend $50 on a T-shirt. That much is clear upon listening to “Thrift Shop,” a four-minute ode to the joys of finding a bargain that’s on the Seattle hip-hop…
-
Q&A: Torquil Campbell of Montreal pop band Stars loves the Fillmore, fatherhood and SF
Torquil Campbell (center) and Stars, courtesy. Torquil Campbell of Stars says his band is both beautiful and deadly. “We cover things in flowers. We make them beautiful and pretty, and if you swallow them, you might get poisoned,” he said. “And that’s kind of what the point of the…
-
Interview: Australia’s The Presets reemerge with first album in four years
The Presets, courtesy. Four years have lapsed since Australian electronic dance duo The Presets last released a record. In the time since 2008’s Apocalypso went three-times platinum in their native land, both drummer-keyboardist Kim Moyes and singer-keyboardist Julian Hamilton became fathers. Understandably, the two now have less time to…
