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Gnarfel.com radio was on the front page of the pall times in Oswego today!

http://www.palltimes.com/articles/2010/08/03/news/doc4c58a23f10d44506420379.txt

Hey guys, check out the new site! You can login with Facebook too to post comments on the blog!

July 10th was the 6th annual Outer Space Show at The Barn. Gnarfel.com would like to send a big happy birthday to Glenn Prior, owner of The Barn, who’s birthday was July 11th. The performers included opera singer Stephen Lavonier, Seth Faergolzia, Teaching Robots Fear, Adam Hadm, and Yanqui Blue Gunz Revival.

While at the show I met The Nuclear City Collective. The Nuclear City Collective is a peaceful anarchist collective. Their goal is to build communities and create sustainable living, along with do it yourself projects. They distribute books from local, national, and international authors. The group is non profit, so any money gained is put back into the organization. Every aspect of the organization is volunteer, as well. So, if you guys come to the barn you should check them out and support local lesser known authors! Their website is www.myspace.com/nuclearcitycollective.

Stephen Lavonier: Stephen is originally from Oswego, New York, but he now resides in New York City. While being a professional opera singer, this was Stephen’s first time singing in a non traditional manner such as The Barn. Stephen sang Knights in White Satin with the help of his brother, Mark Lavonier, who also happens to be the percussionist for Atom Hadm. Stephen sings opera in New York City on a regular basis, though on this particular night his performance was a bit more impromptu, deciding that night that he would sing. But that’s what we like to see, right? A little bit of randomness isn’t such a bad thing in the artistic world.

Teaching Robots Fear: Teaching Robots Fear is composed of Jennifer Kennedy, Michael Kennedy, Marky, and John. A main influence of theirs is Yes!, and their band myspace is www.myspace.com/teachingrobotsfear. As their myspace states, they’re not teachers, they’re not robots, and they’re not afraid.

Seth Faergolzia: Seth has been playing since 1994, with his first band that was called Cleveland Funktribe, which he describes as “weird music”. Seth is a one man band who doesn’t use looping, and refers to his genre as Freak Folk. A main influence of his is John Ludington (who is from Syracuse, but now lives on the West Coast), Jeffrey Lewis, Animal Collective, Deerhoof, and Iron and Wine. Seth’s music is very folk like, obviously, but he uses a lot of key shifts to spice up his sound. You can check out his music at www.dufus.tv and www.sonicbids.com/dufus.epk.

Atom Hadm: Atom Hadm has been playing together since November 2007 and is composed of producer and drummer Mark Lavonier, synth and sample ornamentalist Glenn Prior, guitar and bass player David DePasquale, and singer Tina Ruth. Their influences include Portisehead, The Doors, and Denali. Atom Hadm is slated to have a new album released in a couple months, with just about every aspect of making it being done at The Barn itself. Currently, the upcoming album is untitled. Atom Hadm has had a long history playing at the barn, with the owner of The Barn, Glenn, being in the band as well. The band likes to include videos into their concerts for the added visual effect. Their music is very creative, and has a lot of experimental ambient and progressive charactersistics. When asked what genre they would like to call themselves, I was shown a white board with the word, “PrePostApocolypticNeoClassicalDarkWave”. While the term is a bit long, don’t let it confuse you; these guys rock. You can check them out at www.atomhadm.com.

Yanqui Blue Gunz Revival: Last time at the barn I interviewed Emil from Yanqui. This time, however, I got to speak with Matty G, a new member of the band. This particular night was only their 4th show with their current setlist. Matty adds that the band is a non profit band more or less, and tells me that their ultimate goal is to make a living playing music day to day living with just what they need. Prior to joining the band, Matty had been a solo artist. Matty is now a vocalist for the band and guitarist. Their influences include Frank Zappa, Allison Krause, Eric B and Rakim, and No Worries.

Saturday June 12th was a night no one in the Fulton area should have missed. The Barn, a local venue located at county route 45 in Fulton, (which is quite literally a big, red barn) hosted a bumping concert with five local area bands. While the fact that it’s a barn may throw some of you off, let me explain that this is no ordinary barn. The interior of the barn is decorated literally in every corner with some form of art, creating an atmosphere that many a young artist can find to be cozy and inspirational. The people who run The Barn were kind enough to let me interview the bands for Gnarfel, and while I tried my best, I did miss one of the five bands playing that night. I also took some pictures, but you’ll have to excuse the blurriness. My camera is by no means amazing.

Yanqui Blue Guns Revival:

(Emil from The Yanqui Blue Guns Revival)

The Yanqui Blue Guns Revival were formed by two young gentlemen in Cuba. Emil Christmann and Geoff Freedom, both SUNY Oswego students, traveled to the island nation in the Fall of 2005 for a semester. Emil and Geoff were both fortunate enough to arrive just as hurricane Katrina was making its slow and dire march towards the coast of lower America (an interesting side note that Emil pointed out to me during our interview was that Fidel Castro had actually offered to send 1,000 of Cuba’s best doctors to America to help with Katrina’s aftermath, but for whatever reason, Emil added, we declined the offer). Emil and Geoff came back to our local area after their semester ended in Cuba. With their genre undefined, Emil tells me that the best term to describe the Yanqui Blue Jeans’ genre is rock and roll. Some of their influences include Frank Zappa, Allison Kraus, Eric B and Rakim. As Emil added at the end of our interview, mint chocolate chip and chocolate chip cookie dough is his favorite ice cream combination.

The Genuine Imitations:

The Genuine Imitations were formed by “G.I” Dave, Harry “Katz”, and Kyle, who are all from around the greater NYC area. With their high energy songs, they rocked their set while Dave danced wildly and entertained the crowd. I’m told by the band that part of their musical philosophy is that they don’t like to play songs that are too long; they’d much rather get their point across in a shorter frame of time. They use love and political imagery as big inspirations in writing their music. Their influences include Minute Men and The Dead Kennedy’s, and their new album is a bit more “soulful”, even adding a bit of rap into the fray. The Genuine Imitations are going on tour and playing in Chicago, Ohio, and Michigan for their Western U.S tour this summer. In the winter, they plan on touring in the southern U.S. You can check them out at www.myspace.com/genuineimitations.

Triglactagon:

“Triglactagon” in Thai means “space man trio”, and with their “pyscho-surf econotech” sound, the name surely fits. Triglactagon’s show was intense; the songs they played were of a more progressive nature, with heavy emphasis on tough instrumentals. The band consists of Jeremiah, Evan, and Shane, who are all from Hilton, Rochester. These three guys have been playing together for 15 years, and their influences include Minute Men, Dead Milkmen, Link Wray, Lethargy, and Frank Zappa. Their non-band hobbies include going on skate missions and running from the police.  Triglactagon is part of a music label named Nightmare Music, and they’ll be playing at the Live Free music festival in Rochester. You can check them out at www.myspace.com/triglactagon.

Auld Lang Syne:

(Joe from Auld Lang Syne)

Auld Lang Syne was formed in Rochester in 2008. The band consists of Jim, Mike, Kathy, Daniel, and Joe. Their sound is passionate and soulful, striving for the conveying of emotion rather than a quick musical sale. For this interview, I was able to talk to their bassist, Joe. Their main musical influence is the vast entirety of everything that makes American music American, from jazz to classic rock. As Joe told me, what Auld Lang Syne does is very similiar to what Glenn’s Barn is all about; no one is making money. It’s all about creativity, and keeping the art form moving forward. You can check them out at www.myspace.com/auldlangsyneband.