All Photos by Dan McMahon except the Holy Roller.

As we have said repeatedly on this website. RJD2 is headlining our 7-Year Anniversary at Skullys this Friday Feb 5th. Ticket info and line-up here

RJ is an old friend of mine, so in this informal interview we chopped it up about his brief graffiti career,walking the tracks near the Ohio State Fairgrounds, the passing of Howard Zinn, RJ’s new album The Colossus and his theme song for TV’s Mad Men.

I remember when I first heard your name in Hip Hop discussions around town, graff writers were like…thats RJD2 blah blah he is down with A-Team? A-Team had pieces at the convention center and CAP that hit you up… This question is more for the graffiti dorks but…?

so i moved to the bay area after dropping out of college. i had my records and turntables and stuff, and one of the dudes who i stayed with shortly was down with the a-team guys, this dude cliff. he was the only guy i knew in the city at a point, and then he left too. so the only people i knew in SF were cram, esa, this kid beaver who i cant remember what he wrote, but he would do these “god is love” pieces all over the city, and a few other guys. so they sorta inducted me in as the unofficial a-team dj or whatever. those were the only kids i knew in the city, really. so i’d hang with them, maybe go out a little here and there with em while they painted, but not too much. i later found out that esa had a columbus connection. and then cram moved to philly after i’d been here a while. small world, basically. and my friend cliff lived near and was friends with mike giant, and looked up to him-in 95 SF graff world, he was a really big deal, up there with twist and amaze and the like upper echelon of bay writers, so i met mike thru him. esa later moved to LA, and i think she was doing fine art or something. cram actually was doing public murals for a living for a long time. i guess mike giant got involved in tattoos, but i havent spoken to him in a loooooong time. but in short, all the a-team guys were just cool people, no ego shit, just real friendly folks.

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MP3:Kid Cudi, Kanye West, & Common-Make Her Say (Sammy_Bananas_Remix)

Sammy Banana’s is playing at Bristol Bar this Friday along with CJ Townsend, and DJ Dan from Paradise Garage. He puts out music on Fool’s Gold Records (A-trak, Kid Sister, Cool Kids etc). The New York Native dejays all-around the globe.

I met Sammy in the beginning of November. Dood booked Columbus’ CJ Townsend to play at Piano’s in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
I was in the city, hanging out with Pat, and Mike of the Blakroc movement.
We met CJ and Lil Franz up at Piano’s because it was CJ’s 21st bday. (if you know me, ask me about me getting really drunk and stomping on a grown man’s feet, and trying to run his pocket because I was confused of his intentions and didn’t like how he looked in general)

Sammy played classic New York rap half the time, and house the other half.
CJ and Sammy sampled Gucci Mane’s adlib “Burr” “Burr”,and would press a button that would repeatedly make this adlib audible at random intervals whenever they felt like it.
Regardless of what music they were playing.
Be it Golded Era Hip Hop, House, New Jack Swing, Electro or Fidget R+B.

Even though we were drunk in NYC, it felt like we were in Columbus.

Sammy really likes R+B and New Jack Swing. He is huge fan of the 90’s. So I figured I’d quiz him on his preferences.

In Living Color or SNL with Chris Rock?
In Living Color. I like the Fly Girls.

Living Single or Family Matters?
Neither.

Living Single was was the show that Friend’s appropriated for white people like Elvis and Family Matters had Urkel.
Definately didn’t watch Urkel.

Family Ties or Alf?
Alf. I’m fond of Aliens. I’m a a big XFIles fan.

Haha..perfect…Fresh Prince or Independence day
Independance Day is a good movie. But I’m going to go with Fresh Prince.

But Independence Day had aliens.
I said I like Indepedence Day. It is a good movie. But Fresh Prince captured the 90’s, Fresh Prince had juxtapositions that allowed for comedic events to transpire.
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I’ve written about my love of early ’90s sleaze metal band Spread Eagle before, including interviewing former bassist Rob DeLuca.

Spread Eagle singer Ray West just released his first solo album under the name All Pointz West (it’s the first thing he’s released – not counting a 3-song EP with the band Hostel, Inc. a year or two ago- in over 15 years) and it shies away from the early ’90s sound and goes for a much more contemporary metal sound.

Check out the interview I did with Ray over on AtomicNed.com.

Donewaiting presents Blitzen Trapper and Wye Oak at Skully’s on Tuesday, October 13. More info can be found here.

Before the interview begins, some obligatory praise for Wye Oak’s sophomore release, The Knot (listen to it, in full, at the end of the interview). Admittedly I was relatively unfamiliar with the duo (Jenn Wasner – guitars/vocals, Andy Stack – drums, keyboards) other than checking out a couple of MP3s from If Children that we posted last year on the site. That being said, within the first 5 minutes of The Knot, I emailed the duo’s publicist at Merge Records and said something to the effect of “Is it possible to fall in love with an entire CD before the second song has even ended? If so, I’ll drop to one knee and propose to Wye Oak on the spot.”

MP3: “Take It In”

The Knot opens with the spacey “Milk and Honey” – the subtle effects-pedal-drenched guitar hanging in the background (the guitar playing – and the song itself – remind me a lot of Ashland’s Bel Auburn). It’s the first – and last – song that Stack will provide lead vocals on on the CD. The rest of the CD works on the ebb and flow of slow to loud, loud to soft that bands that Wye Oak have compared to are so proficient in (Yo La Tengo, My Morning Jacket, The Spinanes). It’s a beautiful sounding, at times loud and chaotic, CD and, as mentioned before, one that knocked me out from the get-go.

A few weeks into a tour with Blitzen Trapper, I sent Wye Oak some questions via email hoping they’d have internet access somewhere along the way. They did and the following are Jenn’s answers to the questions I sent.

Have you found that touring with a band like Blitzen Trapper – a band with critical buzz – has led to a “fan” buzz? Have you been pleasently surprised with the attendance at shows so far on the tour or have you played to smaller crowds than expected?

The shows with BT have been so excellent! It’s always interesting to play to audiences that aren’t necessarily there to see you. It puts you in a position where you have to try to win people over, and that really provides a good bit of energy and excitement, especially when you’ve been playing shows for weeks and weeks. It’s always really satisfying when you can get a good response out of an audience that’s never heard your music before. (more…)

As a 12-year-old kid in Port Jefferson, New York, I distinctly remember Night Ranger’s Dawn Patrol being the first cassette I ever played air guitar to while standing in front of my bedroom mirror. Of course, it wasn’t actually an air guitar as I snuck my mom’s metal yardstick up to my room and pretended to be Brad Gillis while I made all sorts of rock star faces in the mirror.

25+ years later I had the distinct pleasure to speak with Night Ranger vocalist/bassist Jack Blades about the band’s history and their upcoming performance in Columbus with Journey. It was a dream – a dream that started back in 6th grade as you’ll hear during the interview – come true. And throughout the 20-minute interview, pay attention to how often Jack mentions the Schottenstein Center, Columbus, and calls me by name. This guy is a true profession and obviously had his talking points laid out in front of him prior to my calling.

MP3: Jack Blades of Night Ranger interview

Catch Night Ranger Wednesday night as they open for Journey at the Schott. Tickets run from $22 to $124.50.

MP3: The Low Anthem: Charlie Darwin

Sometime earlier this spring while we were standing around the Newport waiting for the Heartless Bastards to do their thing, conversation turned to debriefing on favorites from the recently-concluded SXSW festival. Shane mentioned Theodore. He was right. Duffy kinda couldn’t shut up about this band The Low Anthem that he’d seen like 80 times down there. And man, he was way right too. It’s coincidence that the two recommendations are similar in texture and tone, but after grabbing their two most recent albums I really gravitated to the beautiful Low Anthem recordings. They’ve continued to be staples in my stereo since, so I’m excited about their stop in Columbus on Friday at The Summit in support of a new record. Jeff Prystowsky from the band was nice enough to talk to for a bit and tell me a little about their story and recent doings, so more of both my thoughts and his after the jump.
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MP3: Wouldn’t Wanna Be Ya
MP3: Let Us Play Your Party

When I heard that Seattle’s The Spits are dropping a new LP – their fourth – on the 4th of July, I smiled… That smile was brought on by a couple of different reasons. One – I, like many others, thought there might never be a NEW Spits LP, since the band went on a hiatus due to some of it’s members moving to different cities and getting involved in other projects. Two – there is no more appropriate band to celebrate our great country’s birthday with then The Spits. Why? Because to this humble fan The Spits are what America is all about – taking back alleys, playing parties, drinking beers and being weird.

To those of you who are not in the know, The Spits play the most basic type of punk rock, reminiscent of the great Ramones with a splash of new wave and a whole lot of FUN! The perfect soundtrack for a killer party gone out of control. They bring it live as well. I’ve seen them play a show at our very own Bobo Street where those in attendance, myself included, would not let them of the stage until they played every song that was yelled out at them. So if you get a chance, shell out the dough at the door and never look back. Also make sure to pick up all four of their self-titled LP’s and a singles comp called 19 Million AC. You’ll thank me later!

The Spits were gracious enough to answer some questions for us via e-mail. Also they attached a killer track Wouldn’t Wanna Be Ya from the new album for us to enjoy (link above). So, here we go!

You and Sean are from Kalamazoo, MI originally. When and why did you guys re-locate to Seattle?

Sean and I had been traveling the country for a long time, separately and together, working as dishwashers and just seeking our fortune in general. When we landed in Seattle in the early nineties, the city had just the right combination of music, chicks, mountains and thrift stores. We knew we had found our new home.

When and how did the Spits start?

Well, Aleks, it was your classic “Boy meets girl, girl loves boy, boy goes to college for degree in 17th century French literature, boy drops out of college, girl leaves boy, boy hits girl, boy goes to jail for assault, boy gets out of jail and goes on 13-day vision quest with the Ayuhuasca shamans of the Amazon, boy starts band, band turns music world upside down and single-handedly rejuvenates punk genre, girl wants back with boy, boy sleeps with girl one more time and then sleeps with her sister in girl’s house and videotapes it, girl becomes murderous with rage, boy goes on long tours with band in Europe and U.S. to stay one step ahead of vengeful girl, boy blah, blah blah….” We’ve all been there. (more…)

MP3:Matt & Kim-Yea Yeah (Flosstradamus Remix Final)

Flosstradamus are playing at the Venue(Club Karma/Redzone) Saturday, June 20th along with DJ Detox, and CJ Townsend..

Flosstradamus are a deejay/remix duo from Chicago that has been doing it big for couple years now. They exist in the weird hybrid Electro/Juke whatever the fuck you call it world that has you playing Lollapalooza one day, and a small club date the next.

I spoke to half of them, J2k aka Young Josh aka Kid Sister’s brother on the phone when I was hanging out at the MilkBar a couple days ago. (J2K is the one with the Slingshot) J2k talked about their worst show, working with De La Soul, the backpack vs. hipster dynamic, and his love for midwest crowd.

what’s good with you?

J2K:Just played Los Angeles last night.

How was it ?

It was cool. The crowd was like 1200 people. It was a blast. It was fun.

Is that your usual turn-out on the West Coast?

It varies. We are playing at a club that holds 600 people in San Diego tonight.

What was your wackest deejay experience?

I wouldn’t say it was the wackest…We were at DJ AM’s club LAX. The people were not into it at all. It was a jiggy crowd. After about Ten minutes some girl told us we sucked. We got booted off the tables. Everyone hated us.

Did you still get paid?

Yeah. Of course. We went back 6 months later and killed it.

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(Duffy note: We’re really happy to have Aleks Shaulov, known to many as the guitarist for The Feelers, writing for donewaiting.com. Expect lots more punk rock coverage, obviously.)

MP3: Laguna Beach Rules
MP3: Bolder Than

I heard Vegetative State for the first time a few years ago, when they befriended my old band on Myspace. Immediately my cohorts and I thought that we’ve stumbled on to something awesome. Here were real teenagers, playing real teenage angst driven honest to gawd punk rock with no extra flab, kick, catch, or whatever else you could think of to make it “fresh” or “current”. Soon after, we asked them to play a show with us. A little bit later the label that my friends JG, Mindy and I were running put out their 1st EP. But before we did that, we had to have a meeting with some of their parents at the White Castle, to which we showed up hung over as fuck!!! They were around sixteen at the time and it was understood that parents know best. Since then they’ve smashed more guitars, shocked more innocent bystanders, broken up and re-started again more times then Ol’ Man Hank Rollins got laid.

The band is celebrating the release of their new album tonight at Carabar. Sick Thrills and Necropolis are also playing. Here’s all of the dirt and more as I sit down with the lead singer of VS, Andrew Wagner.

Where does the name come from?

AW: Originally we were called Kamikaze Motor Cult. I came up with that. I thought it was really cool, but we were really young at the time and we kind of thought it was stupid, because nobody liked us at the time, because we were playing at the wrong bars. So, then we changed our name to The Problems. We all knew it was a temporary name. This was all around the time the Terry Schaivo controversy was going on and so I had the bright idea that we’d name the band Vegetative State and have the whole “duuuuuuuh ” (drool) thing be the gag…that and abortion. (more…)

Show info: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit / Deer Tick perform at the Rumba Cafe on Friday, March 6. Tickets are $10 (advance) / $12 (at the door) and the show is 18 and over (under 21 pays a $2 surcharge).

(Jason is also playing SXSW)

Ex-Drive-By Trucker guitarist Jason Isbell and his band – The 400 Unit – released their self-titled album in mid-February . It’s Isbell’s second post-DBT release but the first where he’s put a name to the guys backing him up. And it’s with good reason that he gives credit where credit is due – the 400 Unit brings a consistency to Isbell’s sound, a consistency that was lacking (a bit) on his 2007 debut, Sirens of the Ditch. Don’t get me wrong, I loved that album and went so far as to call it one of 2007’s most “outstanding country-influenced rock albums” but it sounded exactly like what it was – a culmination of years worth of songs that had been brewing in Isbell’s head.

With less time to write, and more input and influence from his band, Isbell’s latest sounds like the fully realized vision of an accomplished Southern songwriter and contains some of Isbell’s strongest compositions to date (”Sunstroke,” “Good,” “No Choice in the Matter” and “The Last Song I Will Ever Write” are personal favorites).

MP3: Sunstroke

I sent Isbell some questions via his publicist a few weeks ago. Read the interview after the jump.

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It’s a big day for The Damnwells. At 9 a.m., the band will release it’s third full-length CD, One Last Century, exclusively through Paste Magazine’s website. Fans of the band’s first two releases will want to download the new CD for tracks like “55 Pictures”, “Bastards of Midnight” and “Down with the Ship” while those who just recently discovered the band due to their inclusion on the Chaos Theory soundtrack will undoubtedly fall in love with “Jesus Could Be Right”, “Closer”, and “WWXII”.

My personal favorite is “Like It Is”, which Alex first debuted in a YouTube video accompanied by his wife Angela on backing vocals. As you listen to it, just imagine the Dixie Chicks providing backing vocals, banjo, and violin.

MP3: “Like It Is”

On the eve of the virtual release, I gave Alex a call at his (temporary) home in Iowa where he is attending The University of Iowa’s Writers’ Workshop. The following is our close-to-40-minute conversation.

MP3: Interview with Alex Dezen

And in SXSW news, Alex revealed that The Damnwells will play an unofficial day party hosted by September Gurl, Organic Entertainment, and Ripple Entertainment on March 18 at Threadgills (South Store).  More info as we get it.

Now get to downloading One Last Century. (available after 9 a.m.)

When ex-Dipset member Chubby Baby left the C-O,  the rotound alleged drug kingpin left a large void in the hearts of Columbus.  Don’t get me wrong. People still fuck with the Dips. (Really looking forward to Cam’ron next video, “I Used to Get it in Ohio)

 But the Dipset presence was partially diminished by not  having a local lieutinant. This absence was soon filled by Atlanta Trap-star Gucci Mane. Gucci didn’t live in Columbus. But he came here so often it seemed like he did. Then, oops,Gucci Mane got locked up again. Gucci’s penchant for incarceration put the sentiment of our cities’  tall tee, fresh fade and  J’s crowd with his So Icey-bff Atlanta’s O.J. Da Juiceman.

I talked to O.J. on the phone yesterday about various things. We chopped it up about his new album the Other Side of the Trap, him getting shot 8 times, hustling with Gucci Mane, and Souljah Boy biting his adlibs.

Columbus loves you. Why do you think we fuck with you so hard. People love the Cuilinary Arts Mixtapes?

They see me working the skreets. I did 16 mixtapes. Skreet shit.  I did this independent. I’m from the skreets. The skreets feel my struggle.

So What’s the Other Side of the Trap?

It’s a skreet album. Before I was doing mixtapes. But this is me. 100 percent. I was in the skreets before. Now I am making rap money. The Other Side is rap money. This is letting them get to know me. I got another album in June.

Do you worry that now you are on a Major people are gonna get mad?

No cause the skreets saw me build this success. This is just a distribution deal. I been doing this in skreets since 1999. 16 Mixtapes. They happy to see me shine.

Is the album better than the mixtapes?

I had more time. I am a quick writer. More time made the album better.

You have a song the on the album called Batman. After you got shot 8 times in April, you compared yourself to Wolverine…

I was fucked up. They asked for a comment right after I got shot. So I made a joke about ‘I’m like Wolverine’. Shot on Sunday. Out the hospital on Wednesday. Show on Sunday.I just get stronger. It was a joke. I got shot on Sunday. Got out the hospital on Wednesday. Did a show on Saturday in Cincinnati.

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No use in reinventing the wheel. Two Cow Garage has gotten as much love on Donewaiting as just about any band short of Miranda Sound or Ted Leo so I’m not going to waste my time with a historical background or even a song-by-song analysis of the new record, Speaking in Cursive, the band’s first for what has quickly become one of my favorite labels, Suburban Home. What I will say – in way of an intro – is that just as with previous Two Cow CDs, it took me a few listens to really get into the songs, probably (no, not probably, DEFINITELY) because I have yet to hear these songs played live.  But after a few spins, the CD has really, really grown on me.

The Two Cow live experience – all the blood, sweat and tears – is as fine better than 99.9% of the other bands out there trying to make it by relentless touring. Even despite some potential line-up setbacks (read Deville’s cover story in the Alive), Two Cow soldiers on without letting it effect what they give back to the audience, regardless of size, hundreds of nights a year.

MP3: Brass Ring
MP3: Your Humble Narrator

Having just wrapped up a few weeks of tour dates, Two Cow Garage returns home for Saturday night’s Skully’s 7th Anniversary blowout where they’ll hit the stage at 9:20 (this show also serves as an official CD release party for Speaking in Cursive). Somewhere between Austin, Texas and Columbus, the fellas (Micah Schnabel, Shane Sweeney, Chris Flint, Andy Schell, and Cody Smith) answered questions I sent them via email about life on the road.

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Last time I wrote about Columbus rapper Envelope was a review of his release party. I put something out there that that might have sullied his image as the most likeable person in Columbus because it seemed more interesting than me repeating the press release SO..i figured he could answer any misconceptions that I may have created herre. I mean I never want to see a rapper take a dive like Greg Loughanis on my account. Just trying to keep it right. (more…)

My birthday was yesterday. I didn’t celebrate. My real present came Sunday night courtesy of Rob DeLuca, bassist for Sebastian Bach’s band, who hooked me up with killer seats for the Poison/Dokken/Sebastian Bach show at The Schott in Columbus. I’ve been a fan(atic) of DeLuca’s since his days slinging bass for Spread Eagle and though the band never blew up the way they should have, I still tell people about driving DeLuca and singer Ray West to a party in Akron after a Spread Eagle show at the Akron Agora in ‘90 or ‘91.

If you thinking about checking out one of the upcoming shows – there are still a month and a half of dates left – do yourself a HUGE favor and get your ass to the arena early to check out Baz and his band tear things up (here’s my review of the Columbus show).

After the jump … Rob DeLuca answers some questions I sent him via email on an off day on the tour.

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