JayeL Audio

So, yeah. Somehow, I was allowed to interview Chad from Dispatch and he was real cool to talk to and I appreciate the time he took. These guys are going to kill it on Saturday at the Hangout Main Stage at 5:15. Here is a excerpt of our discussion:

Circles Around The Sun is the new album and comes out later this Summer? What can fans expect on the album?
It’s not far off from the EP in sense and sound. Both the EP and album were produced by Peter Katis, who worked with Interpol and the National, in Bridgeport, CT. It has a few hallmarks in its sound, but it has one song thats hip-hop, some Americana and folk, but not much reggae or ska like we had done in the past. The timing just wasn’t there for those types of songs. The album has more banjo…it was fun to be in the studio. Like you said, the its been so long before the EP and this album so we’re kind of catching up on our studio time.

Head to Atlanta Music Guide for the full interview with Chad from Dispatch

This will be it for the interviews prior to the festival. I’m hoping to do a couple on site interviews and a recap after the festival. I’m pretty sure when I applied to write for AMG, I never thought I would have these opportunities, but know that I greatly appreciate all of them. Be sure to follow AMG on Twitter for all the action.

I would be lying if I said I knew Archnemesis‘ music before I saw the Hangout Music Festival line-up. However, I became a quick fan after listening to their first full album, People’s Radio. The duo’s debut is filled with electronic tracks that balance hip-hop, jazz and soul influences (and samples) along the way. Oh and its available for free download here.

I was lucky enough to interview Curt from Archnemesis as part of a preview for this week’s Hangout Music Fest. Here is an exerpt:

Electronic music is bigger than it has been the past two years at Hangout. There has always been an EDM element, but I feel like electronic music has exploded at festivals across the country. What do you think that can be attributed to?
Skrillex? (laughs) Winning 3 Grammy’s is huge for the EDM scene. Bassnectar is another who has done a really good job of creating community and building a scene over time. I feel like even more mainstream stuff too has hints of electronic music in it. Even in Britney Spears songs you hear some of the same sounds that we’re using and Derek is using or Skrillex is using. Rusko helped produced that song with Britney Spears. In a lot of popular music, the people overseeing that are smart enough to see whats going on. Even creating pop songs with electronic elements in it. If anything, I would say its the last form of music that hadn’t really become mainstream and exploded the way that rock, country, pop and metal and all these genres that have had their phases in time. Over the course of musical history, I feel like the electronic scene hasn’t really achieved the level of notoriety of all these other genres have. I just think its time.

Read the entire Archnemesis interview on Atlanta Music Guide and look out for more coverage of the festival next weekend. Be sure to see their set at 11:30 on Sat. on the XBox Stage.

One week to go until the 3rd annual Hangout Music Festival. Are you ready? Based on the great line-up last year and promises of overall improvement from organizers, expectations are high. Festival grounds are more expansive this year with the XBox Stage moving north and Beach Blvd. being part of the official site. More room should help alleviate last year’s overcrowding issues, especially since the 35,000 capacity limit hasn’t increased. Based on initial looks at the map, the much needed extra water stations and restrooms should help as well. Shuttles sound much improved with better service, more stops and possible artist appearances on buses. Personally, my group is about a mile closer to the festival, so I’m hoping for more flexibility if I feel the need to rest (yeah, right) and a nice walk home at the end of the night.

Now that the schedule has been released, festival maps have been scoured and checklists have been made, whats the game plan? Below is my plan of attack with not as many conflicts as I initially thought:

Fri
It would be nice if we arrived in time for Sleeper Agent, but Alabama Shakes will likely be the kickoff to the weekend.
12:15 – Sleeper Agent
1:15 – -Rebelution
2:15 – Alabama Shakes – Um, yes. In fact, I might even suggest skipping Rebelution for the Shakes
3:15 – Yelawolf – Trunk Muzik from Catfish Billy
4:30 – M. Ward vs. Dawes – a tough one, but I lean towards Dawes
5:45 – Chris Cornell vs. Paul Oakenfold – Since I doubt I’ll be in the tent much this weekend, I choose the EDM of Paul instead of reliving “Black Hole Sun” glory
7:00 – Wilco vs. Umphrey’s – Last time I saw Wilco, they were a bit sleepy. However that was 10 minutes after I watch Rage Against the Machine. A good friend loves Umphrey’s live and I tend to trust his judgement.
8:30 – Jack White – Yeaaahhhhhhhhhh, I like this fella and Blunderbuss exceeded my expectations.

Sat
11:30 – Givers vs. Archnemisis – A tough call. I’ve been listening to People’s Radio a lot lately, but I’d also like to give Givers another shot
No one is a must from 12:30 – 2:15, so we could get lunch or go for a dip in the ocean!
12:15 – Devil Makes Three
1:15 – Julian Marley
2:15 – Heartless Bastards
3:15 – Gary Clark Jr. – “Bright lights big city goin thru my head…” hell.yes.
4:15 – Dr. Dog vs. Gogol Bordello- Don’t really have a preference here. I’ve heard rave reviews of Gogol Bordello’s live show, even if I don’t love their album material.
5:15 – Dispatch vs. Kaskade – Toss up. Maybe start with Dispatch and maybe catch some Kaskade dance party?
7:00 – Flogging Molly – yup.
9:00 – RHCP – double yup.

Sun
11:45 – Lumineers – A crappy time slot, but I’m a fan.
12:30 – Delta Spriit – Yes.
1:45 – Young the Giant – Missed them at Music Midtown last year and their ATL stop this year. I’m due.
2:45 – Michael Franti – The only artist thats been at Hangout all three years. This will be the year I see him.
3:45 – Steve Winwood vs. Cage – no preference
5:00 – Ed Sharpe vs. Skrillex – Ed Sharpe, maybe end of Skrillex?
6:30 – G. Love
8:00 – DMB

Be on the lookout at Atlanta Music Guide’s page and Twitter as I’ll be covering the festival all weekend.

What: Counter.Point Festival
When: Sept. 27th-29th
Where: Bouckaert Farm, Fairburn, GA
Who: Line-up includes Bassnectar, Avicii, Skrillex, Pretty Lights, Steve Angello, M83, Crystal Castles, Big Boi, Big Gigantic, Wale, Ghostland Observatory, A-Trak, Atmosphere, Reptar, Treasure Fingers and more.
Tickets: On sale Friday, May 11th here. $165 Advanced GA 3day pass, $185 Regular GA 3day pass + $15 for camping. Various artists, like Pretty Lights are having pre-sales now.
Tell Me More: Set to take place on the historic grounds of the former Echo Project festival, Counter.Point met and exceeded line-up expectations if you are an EDM fan. C3 and MCP Presents came together to get some of the biggest names in dance music and the event already looks to be very impressive in its first year. Thats what you get when you put the makers of Lolla and Camp Bisco together I suppose. Aside from Tiesto, who else could headline a EDM fest like Bassnectar, Skrillex, Pretty Lights and Avicii? Even the budding electronic acts/DJs like Archnemesis, Gramatik, Big Gigantic, Beats Antique, Paper Diamond and Com Truise round out a strong undercard for the niche festival. Organizers even managed to diversify with indie and hip-hop acts. On the indie front, Crystal Castles, Toro Y Moi, Polica, Washed Out and Reptar should make the most of guitars in a sea of turntables and synthesizers. The hip-hop portion of Counter.Point may seem light, but Big Boi, Wale, Theophilus London, Atmosphere, Mr. MFN Xquire will fit right in. I would imagine A-Trak would dabble in hip-hop remixes as well.

Whether the goal was to create the biggest EDM fest in the Southeast or offer counter programming to Music Midtown, I’d say organizers have an early success on their hands. In an already crowded business, first year fests have it the toughest, but C3/MCP shouldn’t have trouble. While I’m already invested in Music Midtown, I would gladly check out a day, if one day passes are sold.

Special thanks to Atlanta Music Guide (see my post here) and 360 Media for allowing me to cover the Music Midtown announcement in person.
What: Music Midtown
When: Sept. 21st and 22nd
Where: Piedmont Park
Who: Friday: Foo Fighters, Van Hunt, TI, Joan Jett and The Blackhearts, The Avett Brothers and Saturday includes: Pearl Jam, Ludacris, Girl Talk, Florence and The Machine, Civil Twilight, LP, O’Brother
Tickets: $55 for 1 day, $100 for 2 days (plus fees), VIP also available. On sale at 10am Sat at Ticketmaster
Tell Me More: Well, the early rumors of Foos, PJ and Avetts were enticing, but I don’t think anyone expected all of this. I thoroughly enjoyed The Black Keys, Walk the Moon and The Postelles, but this year’s 2 day event is quite the step up. Organizers requested a permit for 120,000 attendees, so Live Nation knows this should be a huge draw to Piedmont Park. Pearl Jam hasn’t been to ATL in a while and Foo Fighters have been tearing down festival stages left and right since the release of Wasting Light. Avetts will know doubt reach Mumford levels of fame by the time their new album drops this summer and Florence couldn’t be much bigger than she is right now. Those asking for hip-hop finally got hometown heroes Luda and T.I. and Girl Talk should bring his typical dance fest (still not sick of that). I’ll begin my research on Van Hunt, O’Brother, LP and Civil Twilight asap. Three more acts will be announced for Saturday slots in the coming months. Without any overlapping sets decisions of holding spots might still need to be made depending on your show watching preference. Theoretically, you should be able to see every act you want though.

Its also quite refreshing to see a festival avoid the tired, drawn out process of posting a date, then a line-up, then a daily schedule, then set times. I get it, you need to build buzz via social media up until the day of the festival and sometimes contracts for some artists take longer than others, but with the amount of fests out there, the whole process gets tiresome.

Thoughts on Music Midtown 2012? Will you be in attendance? Did I mention I live next to Piedmont Park?

So while I wasn’t overly enthused with the initial line-up for this edition of Hangout:
A) I must have been in the minority, since 3day passes sold out lightning quick
B) Additions organizers have made are pretty much what I hoped for (Big Gigantic on Thursday was like a kick in the nuts though…)
C) The rumors of Kid Cudi and Avicii are certainly great (if they happen)
D) Its still a great fest with considerably smaller crowds at 35,000 max
E) ITS ON THE BEACH

Similar to last year, I could use some assistance in selecting songs for artists that I don’t know, or know well enough to decide on a decent song or two to include. Comment below:
String Cheese Incident
Dispatch
G Love & the Special Sauce
Kaskade
M Ward
Shpongle
Hey Rosetta!
Julian Marley
Rebeloution
Archnemesis
Big Freedia
Mavis Staples
Allen Stone
Tribal Seeds
Jamie Bergeron
Paul Oakenfold
…and for shits, Logan feel free to leave your favorite Steve Winwood and Randy Newman joints. They might make the cut.

P.S. – If you enjoy combing message boards and reading everything possible about the festival before attending, check out these fine resources.
Hangout Proboards
Interview with AJ Niland (founder of Huka Entertainment)
CoS Hangout Music Fest page – duh

Like I mentioned previously, you can’t really compare Hangout and Bonnaroo for many reasons (history, farm vs. beach, 4 day vs. 3 day, tent vs. condo, etc)….but if you were Bonnaroo did a damn good job of showing why they are the king of festivals on this side of the country. Headliners featuring some of the biggest bands of the last twenty years? Check. Legendary jam band? Check. Nostalgic reunion band? Top indie acts? Check. Hip Hop of the past, present and future? Check. Electronic acts for late night fun? Check. One of the top comedians right now? Check. All of those things and the list isn’t even complete yet.

2012 Bonnaroo Line-up
•RADIOHEAD •RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS •PHISH •THE BEACH BOYS (BRIAN WILSON, MIKE LOVE, AL JARDINE, BRUCE JOHNSTON AND DAVID MARKS) •BON IVER •THE AVETT BROTHERS •THE SHINS •FOSTER THE PEOPLE •SKRILLEX •AZIZ ANSARI •DISPATCH •FEIST •THE ROOTS •ALICE COOPER •SUPERJAM •BLACK STAR THE WORD (JOHN MEDESKI, ROBERT RANDOLPH AND NORTH MISSISSIPPI ALLSTARS) •LUDACRIS •BEN FOLDS FIVE •FLOGGING MOLLY SPECTRUM ROAD (CINDY BLACKMAN SANTANA, JACK BRUCE, JOHN MEDESKI, AND VERNON REID) •MAC MILLER •CHILDISH GAMBINO •MAJOR LAZER •TUNE-YARDS •AFROCUBISM •FLYING LOTUS •UMPHREY’S MCGEE •LITTLE DRAGON •ST. VINCENT •CITY AND COLOUR •THE CIVIL WARS •YOUNG THE GIANT •TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB •PUNCH BROTHERS •NEEDTOBREATHE •FITZ & THE TANTRUMS •BAD BRAINS •YELAWOLF •DAWES •BATTLES •DANNY BROWN •THE BLACK LIPS •SBTRKT •PHANTOGRAM •KENDRICK LAMAR •CHARLES BRADLEY AND HIS EXTRAORDINAIRES •THE KOOKS •THE JOY FORMIDABLE •THE ANTLERS •KATHLEEN EDWARDS •MIMOSA •KURT VILE & THE VIOLATORS •ALABAMA SHAKES •DAS RACIST •DELTA SPIRIT •GARY CLARK JR. •IVAN NEVILLE’S DUMPSTAPHUNK •LAURA MARLING •TRAMPLED BY TURTLES •MOGWAI •THE WAR ON DRUGS •BEN HOWARD •GROUPLOVE BLIND PILOT •ALO •THE DEVIL MAKES THREE •WHITE DENIM •EMA •HERE WE GO MAGIC •K-FLAY •THE LONELY FOREST •MARIACHI EL BRONX •BIG FREEDIA •DALE EARNHARDT JR. JR. •THE SOUL REBELS KVELERTAK •SOJA •STEVEN BERNSTEIN’S MTO PLAYS SLY •BIG GIGANTIC •SARAH JAROSZ ORGONE •DARONDO •FRUIT BATS •MOON TAXI

Tickets are on sale this Saturday and General Admission is $234.50+fees.
And for those keeping track at home, I realize 9 out of my 29 guesses for Hangout are performing at Bonnaroo. Thank you.

No preamble, lets just get to my own breakdown of the 2012 Hangout Music Fest initial line-up:

Yay
Jack White
Red Hot Chili Peppers (*added 2/8)
Alabama Shakes
Gary Clark Jr
Wilco
Dr. Dog
The Devil Makes Three
Flogging Molly
Michael Franti & Spearhead
Mac Miller
Dispatch
Young the Giant
G. Love & the Special Sauce
M. Ward
Futurebirds
Paul Oakenhold
Steve Winwood (haha)
Dawes
Paper Diamond
Rich Aucoin

Meh
Dave Matthews Band
Cage the Elephant
The Flaming Lips – Performing Dark Side Of The Moon
Skrillex
Randy Newman
STS9
Yelawolf
Chris Cornell
Zed’s Dead

Nay
Switchfoot
Gogol Bordello
Coheed and Cambria

?
String Cheese Incident
Mavis Staples
Allen Stone
Tribal Seeds
Jamie Bergeron
The Lumineers
Julian Marley
Rebeloution
Archnemesis
Big Freedia
Sleeper Agent
Shpongle
Hey Rosetta!

So that was interesting, eh? That makes my grand total of correct guesses….2. I wondered last week what angle organizers would take: jam band-centric? more electronic artists? a spice of indie? At first glance, I would say they went with…I have no idea. A little bit of everything? I didn’t expect a lot on the hip-hop front, but Hangout’s selection of only white rappers every year is a bit disheartening. Plenty of artists that I need a 101 on (SCI I’ve been hearing about for years, but haven’t checked out yet), a few I could do without and a lot that are fine, but I’m not in love with. I would assume that the next headliner to be announced is either Eddie Vedder or Red Hot Chili Peppers, but after the initial announcement, who really knows. This initial wave of acts certainly didn’t wow me. The acts in the “yay” section are great (Alabama Shakes, Gary Clark Jr, Dawes and Wilco in particular). I’m hoping a lot of contracts just aren’t finalized yet, because there seem to be a lot of gaps so far. Obviously, Bonnaroo doesn’t have the beach, proximity to a pool or the 35K attendance cap, but the line-up rumors already seem like more of a win.

Thoughts?

Hangout Music Fest is doing what they and most festivals do when it comes to line-up announcements: make you wait. I have faith organizers will top the past two years in creating a sun filled beach weekend with great artists all weekend, but it is a tad excruciating. Especially since I’m already committed (basically) with a ticket and reserved beach condo (on the beach, btw).

So what should I do until the line-up announcement? Probably make a wish list. Here is what I sent fellow HOF veteran Brian P as my predictions for the 3rd Annual Hangout Music Fest:
The Black Keys
The Beach Boys
Pearl Jam
Big Gigantic
Pretty Lights
Mumford & Sons
Big Boi
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Childish Gambino
Fitz and the Tantrums
Rodrigo y Gabriela
Avett Brothers
Passion Pit
RJD2
Girl Talk
Edward Sharpe
Railroad Earth
Trombone Shorty
Janelle Monae
Tom Petty
Givers
Gary Clark Jr
Gomez
Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr
Jessica Lea Mayfield
Carolina Chocolate Drops
Alabama Shakes
Primus
Walk the Moon

Obviously, there will be more acts than I guessed, but any thoughts? Comments? My list is a tad on the indie side, so its certainly more of a wish list than actual expectations, but I can dream right? In fact, Hangout hasn’t really dove into hip-hop acts (AT ALL), so Big Boi and/or Childish Gambino are essentially a pipedream. The rumor I heard about Dave Matthews Band seems logical, but time will tell.

Based on the past 2 years of line-up release dates, I’m betting next Friday, February 3rd will be the day. Leave your guesses in the comments!

Only 1 day until Music Midtown! The most beautiful thing about this festival is that fact is that there isn’t a single tough decision since all bands play at separate times. The toughest choice of the day will be if I need to leave Young the Giant early to get a good spot for the Black Keys. Festival organizers are expecting 60,000 in Piedmont Park and the weather is looking like a gorgeous 81 degrees. Mix in an early rooftop party and I’d say a perfect weekend is on tap.

Walk the Moon is taking Mona’s place so I revised the mixtape. Download and comment below. I for one and most looking forward to the Keys (obviously), Band of Skulls, The Joy Formidable and the Postelles. What about you?

JayeL Audio Presents…MUSIC MIDTOWN 2K11 – DOWNLOAD (.rar)
1. Coldplay – Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall
2. Coldplay – Lost!
3. Coldplay – God Put A Smile Upon Your Face (live)
4. Coldplay – Strawberry Swing
5. Coldplay – Violet Hill
6. The Black Keys – Chop and Change
7. The Black Keys – I Got Mine
8. The Black Keys – Strange Desire
9. The Black Keys – She’s Long Gone
10. Cage the Elephant – Shake Me Down
11. Cage the Elephant – Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked
12. Cage the Elephant – Around My Head
13. The Joy Formidable – Whirring
14. The Joy Formidable – Austere
15. The Joy Formidable – A Heavy Abacus
16. Young the Giant – St. Walker
17. Young the Giant – My Body
18. Band of Skulls – I Know What I Am
19. Band of Skulls – Friends
20. Band of Skulls – Light of the Morning
21. Manchester Orchestra – April Fool
22. Manchester Orchestra – Pensacola
23. The Constellations – Felicia
24. The Constellations – We’re Here To Save The Day
25. Walk the Moon – Anna Sun
26. Walk the Moon – Lisa Baby
27. The Postelles – White Night
28. The Postelles – 123 Stop