A-Sides with Jon Chattman: A Music Site Minus The PretensionInformal. Exclusive. Not the Same Broken Record.

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  • Aug
    30th    A-Sides with Jon Chattman: Dispatch Gets The Band Back Together

    A lot happened in the world of music back in 1996. Sammy Hager left Van Halen. Alternative rock was king. Tupac Shakur was killed, and people – yes you – did the “Macarena.” Somewhere in the middle of all that, Dispatch carved its own niche with their rootsy, folksy, dare-we-say-poppy rock flavor (that’s a lot of adjectives) with their debut album Silent Steeples that year. But, the trio of Chad Stokes, Pete Francis, and Brad Corrigan arguably became infamous for their live performances which always generated swarms of fans. After unprecedented success, the indie act called it quits following the 2000 release of Who Are We Living For? to make music on their own. Thankfully after roughly a decade away, they’ve gotten the band back together and just released Circles Around The Sun. Four days before the album dropped and landed at Number 24 on the Billboard 200 Album Charts (their highest entry ever), the band filmed an A-Sides session at the Music Conservatory of Westchester in White Plains, NY. Showing little – what wrestlers refer to as – “ring rust,” Dispatch didn’t miss a beat and bursted with more energy than a six-year-old boy after a dozen Red Bulls. Case in point: before the session began, the trio – led by Carrigan – reinterpreted their title track as an operatic masterpiece. To explain it wouldn’t do it justice, but let’s just say costumes were warranted and the performance – equipped with Carrigan acting out the song lyrics – could’ve [...]

  • Aug
    29th    A-Sides Interview: Cool ‘Kids’ Blondfire Set to Make ‘Waves’

    Photo/Describe the Fawna My sister and I thought we were pretty creative as kids. We always loved to draw characters we respectively created together, and filmed satirical videos on our extremely large camcorder (it was seriously the size of Minnesota compared to today’s HDs). We’d also put on shows for our family starring our respective Cabbage Patch Kids. Yes, I had several and am not ashamed to admit — although clearly I should be. As we grew older, my sister and I went our separate ways, and each did our own thing. Most siblings tend to do that (unless you’re, for example, a Carpenter), but not the Los Angeles-based duo of Bruce and Erica Driscoll who make up Blondfire. “We’ve been fiddling around on instruments since we were born,” Bruce Driscoll said. Elaborating on the sibs’ musical exploration, he added,

  • Aug
    21st    Slam Donahue Catches Bugs

    Slam Donahue are a quirky Brooklyn act led by singer/guitarist David Otto and bassist Thomas Sommerville, and last week, they came to the Music Conservatory to film a session on a rather ho-hum hump day. The band, who are fittingly on Cantora Records who have killer tripsters MGMT on their roster, didn’t perform for students but did serenade a few fruit flies fittingly during their performance of ultra-catchy “Bug in the Sun” off their EP Hemlock Tea which dropped today. Watch and listen, and enjoy the chat that follows the song. Namaste. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx5sFqY-ye4&w=560&h=315] “Bug in the Sun” [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75Aw3PlefSc&w=560&h=315] SD Interview The Hemlock Tea EP was released today. About A-Sides with Jon Chattman Jon Chattman’s music series features artists (established or not) from all genres performing a track, and discussing what it means to them. This informal series focuses on the artist making art in a low-threatening, extremely informal (sometimes humorous) way. No bells, no whistles — just the music performed in a random, low-key setting followed by an unrehearsed chat. In an industry where everything often gets overblown and over manufactured, I’m hoping this is refreshing. www.slamdonahue.com http://bit.ly/HemlockTea_iTunes

  • Aug
    21st    A-Sides Presents: Westchester’s First Annual Pop Goes the Culture

    Westchester County, NY (August 21, 2012) – On Friday, November 2, Westchester will take a trip down memory lane with its first annual Pop Goes the Culture variety show, for which it is now seeking sponsors. Presented by A-Sides with Jon Chattman, in association with The Digital Arts Experience, Pop Goes the Culture is an evening of “pop-stalgia” filled with meaningful performances and meaningless — but well-intentioned — awards. Held at the White Plains Performing Arts Center in White Plains, the event promises to be a wildly entertaining and unforgettable night of comedy, music, and more. Emceed by popular White Plains-based comedian Carlos A. Hernandez, Pop Goes the Culture recognizes the best and brightest in 80s and 90s pop culture history as it relates to Westchester. Wrestling legend Jimmy ‘Superfly’ Snuka, whose autobiography Superfly will be published by Triumph this December and was co-written by Chattman, will receive the Lifetime Achievement of Pop Culture Award, while 80s Icon Slim Goodbody will be honored with the Body of Work Lifetime Achievement Award. Other honorees include TV icons The Magic Garden’s Paula and Carole, as well as ‘30 Rock’ actor Grizz Chapman. A fifth honoree will be announced at Comedy: Plains and Simple at White Plains Performing Arts Center on September 7. “Alec Baldwin always gets nominated for (and wins) Emmys. Meryl Streep can have her Oscars. How many Grammy’s does Adele have? Seriously, the same heavyweights are always honored. It’s time to celebrate beloved treasures that – for years- have gotten [...]

  • Aug
    20th    A Master Class with Anchor & Braille

    Anberlin front man Stephen Christian realizes the term “side project” can have some negative connotations to it. Is he just messing around with some other musicians? Is he going to leave Anberlin? Those questions, which I made up but perhaps you were thinking, are the reason he’s dubbed his “other” band Anchor & Braille as a “passion project.” During an A-Sides taping filmed in front of students of the Music Conservatory of Westchester’s Rock & Jazz Summer Program, the rocker explained that A&B allows him to return to his roots as a musician: days when he’d play piano or strum his guitar to music he’d just written. In other words, Anberlin can continue to sell-out arenas with large-and-in-charge tracks like “Feel Good Drag” while A&B can play more intimate venues with stripped down slow burners. That’s exactly what’s happening. This summer, Christian played a bunch of intimate dates with Anchor & Braille, who just released their second album “The Quiet Life,” while he finished up the new Anberlin album (due this fall) in the studio. A&B, by the way, originally started as a solo project for Christian in 2008. Following the release of “Felt” in 2009, he was looking to step it up a notch for A&B’s sophomore effort so he added friend, producer, and fellow musician Micah Tawlks to the band, and they recorded the album together in Nashville with Civil Twilight keyboardist Kevin Dailey serving as co-producer and engineer. Christian and Tawlks performed three tracks on A-Sides, spoke [...]

  • Aug
    13th    A-Sides Live To Honor Jimmy Snuka

    [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iu2yqFLyG4&w=560&h=315] Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka is among the honorees at the first ever Westchester County Pop Goes the Culture Variety and Awards Show – Nov. 2, 2012 at the White Plains Performing Arts Center (wppac.com). Presented by A-Sides with Jon Chattman and the Digital Arts Experience (asidesmusic.com, thedae.com).

  • Aug
    7th    Go West with PK & Head East with The Ugly Club

    “The Lost Boys” is one of my favorite movies ever. The 1987 vampire flick blows “Twilight” out of the water on every level and comes equipped with the best soundtrack ever. Don’t agree? I suggest you listen to the sax solo in Tim Cappello’s “I Still Believe.” Man, that song gets me. Anyway, I’m not here to try and convince you to enjoy that Haim/Feldman teen angst horror classic or its brilliant soundtrack. Today, I’m talking about a different “Lost Boys” and while it has absolutely nothing to do with the opening lines of this post, it is stellar in a very non-Frogg Brothers way. The California-based indie rock act PK just released their new EP called “The Lost Boys Session,” and it’s a wonderful cross between vintage Killers and The Gaslight Anthem. Check that – frontman Travis Hawley has his own style, and attention ladies – is a Superman doppleganger. Joined by Matt DePauw (Guitar), Mikel Van Kranenburg (Bass), and Nick Fotinakes (Guitar), it wouldn’t surprise me if this post serves as a tipping point for the well-received band. Rolling Stone magazine has already singled them out as one of its top 16 Unsigned Artists in the US based off their debut album “The Roaring.” Three of the five members stopped in for an A-Sides late last month, and performed two tracks and took part in an interview. Watch the footage filmed at the Music Conservatory of Westchester in White Plains, NY below, and love me for it later. [...]

  • A-Sides Live! Events

    10.26 Alice Ripley at White Plains Performing Arts Center (WPPAC) wppac.com
    11.2 Pop Goes the Culture Awards and Variety Show at WPPAC
    12.14 Acoustic Christmas Show (visit asideslive on Facebook for details)
    1.25.13 Come as You Were - 90s Salute Show at The DAE (details on FB)
    3.14.13 Comedy at the DAE (TBD)
    3.29.13 Punk at the DAE (TBD)
    4.26 Singer/Songwriter Night at the DAE (TBD)
    5.16 Comedy at the DAE (TBD)
    5.23 Chatt B-Day Show at the DAE (TBD)

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