Interview with This Century

Spring is known as being the time of birth, growth, and probably the best time of the year to release a brand spankin’ new EP. I received word that This Century was planning to release a new EP the first week in March, and I was able to catch up with Sean Silverman to see what’s going on with the band formerly known as Evident Earth. Altogether, Sean (guitar) and his brother Alex Silverman (bass), Joel Kanitz (vocals), and Ryan Gose (drums) have been playing together for about a year. With their latest addition, Van Ruskin (guitar), This Century is on the eve of releasing their second EP, “Look What We Made”

Unlike the ”2007 EP”, which was produced by Ryan Baker (RX Bandits, Sounds of Animals Fighting, Escape the Fate) in California, “Look What We Made” was produced by Matt Grabe (The Maine, Greeley Estates, Beyond the Citadel) locally. With this second EP came more time to work on creative subtleties like the addition of strings, a choir, and percussion. All of which were tricky to attain, but the band seemed to be up to the challenge.

“The moment for me personally,” says Sean,” when we were recording the choir in his [Matt Grabe] living room. I think THAT was the moment when I was like, ‘Yeah this is really cool.’ I can't believe we actually convinced people to come down, you know, ten kids to come and sit in a living room and sing choir parts for us. We taught them the parts, and Alex wrote them out. It was great! Then when we heard it on the recording, it was so cool... we shouldn't be able to have access to this.”

As far as song writing goes, it seems to be a collaborative effort, with each member of the band having equal opportunity in the song writing process. “Everybody working together, I think, makes the music more interesting and more mature sounding,” says Sean, ”Having an active interest in the band puts you at a different perspective when you’re performing it, recording it, everything... because then you feel like you've got more ownership of the music.”

Although the new track titled “It’s Not You It’s Me,” released early on the band’s Myspace, has obvious jazz influence, “You'll hear it even more so when you get to listen to the new EP” states Sean,” It's more apparent in some of the other songs. The whole movement of the band is jazz and funk. That’s the fusion of the stuff we are working on more now. I don't think it will necessarily stay there, but the jazz thing definitely will. It's a huge part of our lives and definitely a style we've been very influenced by the last couple of months.”

This second CD titled “Look What We Made” is set to release March 8th. Although This Century will be out of town for the release, Sean informed me that they wanted to pick a weekend in March where they could spend some time sending out orders. “I know everyone likes iTunes and is in love with digital media,” says Sean,”but every CD we did we made from hand. From top to bottom, from the cover to the CD itself, is every ounce of US doing it. We spray painted everything ourselves, we taped and stamped and numbered everything ourselves, so hopefully that will be motivation for people to purchase this CD.”

Although collecting CDs may be something of the past, This Century understands that some of us still hold these trinkets close to heart. “I think for us,” says Sean, “We understood people aren't going to buy tons of our CDs, but we feel that you lose something if you don't have something personal to physically give somebody. This was a way we could do something for the people who really desired it. Literally every single one has us involved in it; it's not a machine, it's what we want to give you because we think you will really enjoy it.”

While most members of the band are balancing school, work, and band practice, Sean assured me that it actually helps him better manage his time. While right now out of state shows have to go in accordance to school schedules, look out this summer. I think This Century has some plans up their collective sleeve.

Interview with The Stiletto Formal

The Stiletto Formal is no stranger to the Arizona music scene. With two CDs under their belt and word of a third buzzing around the online community, we had to get the scoop. AZoverload did some snooping and found out that The Stiletto Formal was indeed working on a new CD. Doing pre-production here in the valley, but the plan was to actually record in Los Angeles with Grammy winning engineer/producer Darrell Thorp, who is known for his work with such bands as Radiohead, Beck, and Outkast.

An exciting new CD and co-headlining the Sunset Music Festival Saturday, August 11th at the Venue in Scottsdale, it’s no surprise that our boys are incredibly busy. With a bit of good luck, vocalist Kyle Howard filled us in via email:

What's going on with you?

At this exact moment, I'm at bar working on lyrics. For some reason being in a social setting that you're not apart of helps the writing process. And I get to watch dudes get shut down by drunk girls every few seconds, maybe I'm a douche, but I find it fun.

We heard you are working on a new cd. What can we expect?

Its the darkest record we've written, but still manages to keep pace. There's alot more classic rock and blues influence in this record. It's very diverse, but we hope to keep it coherent. We're writing in some space for guest vocals, and I'm extremely excited to see how that turns out. With a full length there's a lot more space to make things diverse.

Where did you record it and who helped with production/mixing?

Demo'd with Darrell Thorpe for a bit, and we're planning on doing the full record with him, we just have to figure out some behind the scenes stuff before we can actually get going. We're starting pre-production with Cory Spotts in a few days.

Is there a tentative release date?

Every time I try to ballpark one something happens and I get yelled at. So to keep my fragile psyche intact, I'm gonna hold off on predictions.

Anyone have any strange habits in the studio?

I get pissy and kick everyone out half the time. I don't multi-task well, so six voices in my headphones doesn't really work out too well. Pat plays in his underwear half of the time. But he does that at shows, so I don't know if that qualifies. Ohh, Sunny does that too, not live though.

Any weird occurrences/stories (in relation to recording)?

When we were doing the demos out in California we sort of neglected the need for a place to stay, I guess we just thought we'd figure it out. By the end of the first day, we realized that we were kinda screwed and decided to sleep in the van, trailer, and parking lot in the middle of Beverly Hills. When the security guard came to work in the morning and saw Jimi asleep in one of the parking spaces with just a sleeping bag and a half empty bottle of Jim Beam, he didn't take it too well. We didn't want to ask Darrell for a place to stay cause we didn't want to put him out, but after he heard that story he insisted. That was really cool on his part, because it really wasn't part of the deal, and he's used to working with Beck and Radiohead who can afford places to sleep. Not broke kids who are in awe of the studio we had the privilege to record in.

What other local band/musicians are you listening to?

Dear and the Headlights, Lydia, Awake and Alert

What are some of your favorite venues in the valley?

Modified, I like playing the Marquee. We've only played one song at Venue of Scottsdale for an award show, but that was pretty legit.

Tell us a little about the Sunset Festival?

To be quite honest, I really don't know any more about it than I do with most shows. I'm excited to play the venue and the people putting it on are really cool. We'll be playing some stuff of the new record (some of which for the first time) so I'm really excited about that. The bill is very diverse, so I'm excited/curious to see the dynamic.

What can we expect from you in the next few months?

Ha, I wish I knew. We're going on tour this fall, but every thing's not entirely confirmed. We're gonna be finishing up the record, at least the writing end of it. To be honest we're hoping to finally wrap up some stuff that we've been juggling for the past year. It's nice to have the solid lineup and a goal. After a couple of unexpected blows with members and business, it's nice to have a solid point of direction. I know that's vague, but I hope it at least partially answered the question.

While patiently waiting for the tentatively titled cd, “Renaissance”, you can purchase The Stiletto Formal's Latest "This Is My Boomstick" online at Stinkweed, Smartpunk, and Interpunk. You can also pick up your copy locally at Hoodlums or Zia Records.

Be sure to check out The Stiletto Formal LIVE Saturday August 11th at the Venue in Scottsdale with Chronic Future, The Lymbic System, The Cover Up, Desole, It’s Like Love, Miature Tigers, Attack of the Giant Squid, Thousand Yard Stare, The Morning Kennedy Was Shot, Micah Bentley, JD Stooks, Matthew Reveles, I’ve Been to Deluth, and Back Ted N Ted.