Vents Magazine

Vents Magazine debuts new single + video from Guitarmy of One, “Perry Mason Exoneration,” complete with a Q&A…

Punk roots thrasher Scott Helland (Deep Wound, Outpatients), is gearing up to release his new spy-themed, surf/noir LP, The Spy Detective Collective (due out March 26). Helland’s prolific songwriting has yielded him over 30 records since the ‘80s, ever since that fateful flyer fell into the hands of lo-fi heroes, J Mascis and Lou Barlow. No stranger to DIY venues and seedy dive-bars, Helland once had a gun pulled on him and his brother Vis, who went to settle up with the owner at the venerable punk rock club Electric Banana in Pittsburgh, ca. 1984. At the time, he was in Outpatients, opening up for Battalion of Saints. The hard-luck dues paid off later for Helland, who has since opened for many great rock bands, including Hüsker Dü, Black Flag w/ Henry Rollins, Cro-Mags, COC, 7 Seconds and more.

by Baby Robot Media

VENTS Magazine interviews Jerrold Ridenour of King Nobody, ahead of new EP, Space Cactus (out 12/18)

The gat-toothed, Mojave Desert cowboy and cinematographer, Jerrold Ridenour, who promenades as King Nobody, is poised to release two new singles, “Three Birds” and “Long and Dusty Road.” Both will appear on his forthcoming EP, Space Cactus, on which cult hero Kool Keith will make a guest appearance, adding novelty bars to zest Ridenour’s tin can talk-speaking and signature cigar box guitar. Chasing stories by way of the absurd, King Nobody seeks to allegorize and proselytize the ego by proxy of his characters, strapping in with a giant, howling harmonica that springs from a lo-fi well, nested in Americana and psych folk, with a vocal timbre akin to Damon Albarn and temperament abreast of Les Claypool.

by Baby Robot Media

Vents Magazine interviews folk artist James Houlahan about his new record, Ordinary Eye, and the deepening political & cultural rift in America that inspired it

In 2018, L.A. folk artist James Houlahan found himself on the road playing shows to a deeply divided America. Social and environmental issues had created rifts that stretched nationwide, so he began writing new material to reflect this. The resulting album, Ordinary Eye (out Nov. 20), doesn’t offer quick fixes to encroaching authoritarianism or the climate crisis, but it’s a heartfelt, often gorgeous mediation—the soundtrack to a world in tumult.

The record was produced by Fernando Perdomo (Jakob Dylan, Echo in the Canyon) and features drummer Danny Frankel (Lou Reed, Fiona Apple) as well as violinist Scarlet Rivera, who played the unforgettable fiddle parts on Bob Dylan’s 1976 album Desire, most memorably on “Hurricane.”

Vents had a chance to catch up with Houlahan who took some time to offer insights into the recording of the album, the writing process and the strange experiences that led to its creation.

by Baby Robot Media

Vents Magazine talks with Goliathan guitarist Kevin Cogill about unearthing the band’s earliest recordings for new archival album Artifact

Through their punishing and dreamy instrumentals, Goliathan tells stories as vast as geologic time itself. Tales of epic beginnings and inevitable ends, of the epochal crawl of continents, apocalyptic future landscapes and, perhaps most impactfully, of nature finally—and violently—reclaiming its rightful dominion over man.

The L.A-based instrumental doom/ post-rock outfit already had two releases under its belt—their 2017 debut, Awakens, and 2018 follow-up, Albion. And now they’ve unearthed some raw, primal, early recordings that date all the way back to ’06, documenting the band’s first and most primitive incarnation. An epic, three-song, 37-minute set—Artifact features “The Beast Has Awakened,” “If It Could Cry, We Would Surely Drown in Its Tears” and an early alternate version of “In the Path of the Giant, Technology Is Laid to Waste,” which also appears on the band’s debut EP, Awakens. In preparation for their release, the songs on Artifact were remixed by Toshi Kasai (Melvins, Red Sparowes, Helmet), and mastered by Gene Grimaldi (Failure, Fantômas). The set will be released digitally, and on limited-edition 10-inch vinyl Oct. 30., the vinyl featuring the first two tracks, with “Laid To Waste” available as a digital exclusive.

Vents recently had time to discuss the new archival release with Goliathan guitarist Kevin Cogill.

VENTS Magazine debuts NEW single from E.Z. Shakes, “We Want Answers,” and interviews frontman, Zach Seibert about new LP, The Spirit (via Pow Pow Sound)

Produced in-house by Furr, The Spirit marks E.Z. Shakes’ dreamiest, darkest, and most driving work to date. What began taking shape as an acoustic duo in 2017 — the year Seibert first teamed up with Hicks, looking to pair his own left-of-center country songwriting with Hick’s spacey pedal steel — has since turned into a cinematic band, its sound rooted in the stomp and swagger of five musicians who’ve all made unique marks upon the fertile music community of Columbia, South Carolina.

by Baby Robot Media

Vents Magazine premieres Americana duo Gypsy Outfit’s new single, “Musician’s Story”

gypsy outfit americana duo new single musician's story vents magazine

We are pleased to team up with Gypsy Outfit for the premiere of their new single “Musician’s Story,” a track that paints divergent pictures of life on the road, evoking a feeling of deep loneliness on an infinite and cosmic highway.

Kate Lovely (vocals) comments, “On the surface, it’s a fun little ditty. I think people will fall in love with the harmonies and the tune. But on a deeper level, I hope someone out there relates with the duality of loneliness and belonging that travel can bring. It’s a perspective. We were all on that wavelength in the studio, and I think that’s how it became our band fave—when you TRULY feel it, you PLAY like it—and it translated almost magically on the record.”

On the song, Brandon Maddox (vocals & guitar) adds, “Musicians Story” is a song about a misunderstood boy who finds peace and belonging in traveling, and I really relate to this character I created. A lifetime of road trips really was the inspiration behind it. We took a trip to Santa Rosa, New Mexico recently, slept in hammocks in the cold rain—the whole nine yards, and it really brought a new light to “skipping town and sleeping in my clothes.”