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Hiro Tanaka’s Kickstarter is up and running now! Check it out to get a copy of his awesome photo book and support the most super electric dude around.
Hiro’s got tons of great photos, including photos with members of The Lawrence Arms, Bomb The Music Industry, Sundowner, Toys That Kill, Cursive, Minus The Bear, Darkest Hour and Hard Girls.
Give Chris a follow. We love him.
SUNDOWNER performing the Lawrence Arms song, “Fireflies”
Credit to our good friend Eddie.
Hey, everybody in Canada. Here’s a nice deal that Chisel Records is doing for Asian Man vinyl…
Alkaline Trio S/T – LP
Broadways Broken Star – LP
Lawrence Arms Guided Tour of Chicago – LP
Slapstick S/T – 2xLP
Sundowner We Chase The Waves – LP
Holiday Deal
These titles all have something in common (other than being on the same record label). Let me know the commonality with your order and you will receive something extra. This should be pretty easy if you are fans of any of these acts.
This bundle will not be re-stocked after it sells out. However, you can still buy these titles individually.
Pick it up HERE.
My friend Joseph and I were lucky enough to interview Chris of Sundowner/The Lawrence Arms. This was at the Plea For Peace center in Stockton a couple of weeks ago.
This is the edited version. The full version where we discuss more We Chase The Waves, the other folks involved in Sundowner, old Lawrence Arms records, and Taylor Swift can be read here.
So, tell us about “We Chase the Waves”
Oh man. It took eight months to make it, at home basically, between my apartment and Neil’s apartment. We live very close to each other, and yeah. I don’t know, man, it was a different kind of project. The first record that I made, “Four One Five Two,” we made in the studio in two weeks, and it was very, sort of laid out and standard procedure. And I wrote this new record over a pretty long period of time, and once I had all the songs, Neil and I were like, “Yeah, you know, let’s not do it in the studio. Let’s just borrow some gear and try to set up a space, and just do it at home and take our time doing it.” And it was a way different kind of recording process and I think we both had fun making it. I think it turned out pretty good. As far as the songs on the record go, I think it sounds like it was meant to be an acoustic record, as opposed to the first album, which sounded like it could’ve been a rock album in some way. So we made it kind of renegade style, and hopefully that translates a little bit. And hopefully it still sounds good, too. You know, a little bit of both.
Do you approach songwriting any differently for Sundowner, as opposed to the Lawrence Arms?
Well, again, I think the first record, I was kind of gathering songs along the way. A lot of those songs pre-dated “Oh! Calcutta!” but they were songs I just didn’t feel were right. When the record came out, a lot of people asked me, “Were those just Lawrence Arms b-sides that you had laying around,” or whatever, and it’s like… well, not exactly. The first record was like a collection of stuff, gathered over time. And [for the new record], once I had a couple of songs, I was writing with actual direction. I really wrote this record specifically for this record.
Were you trying to separate yourself from the first record?
I don’t know if I wanted to separate myself from the first record, but I felt like the songs took a step forward, so we were trying to figure out how to show that with the production. There’s a lot more air and negative space on this record. The first record was super packed, front to back. It was like, every little moment we were trying to fill in along the way. This album is a lot more sparse.
About the song with the lap steel, that’s the baseball song [“Baseball’s Sad Lexicon”].
Yeah.
Where did you get the idea of making a song out of the poem?
You know man, it was totally just me sitting around one afternoon, just being a dork and reading about baseball… I’m a lifelong Cubs fan, and I had known the poem already, but I literally think I was reading about the history of the Chicago Cubs, and I just happened to be sitting around, playing guitar, and I wrote it as a joke, just because I was bored.
Where were you when you wrote most of the record? You talk a lot about the ocean and sea life and stuff like that. Did you spend time near the ocean?
I spent a lot of time in Hawaii over the past seven or eight years. My dad was born in San Francisco, but his father moved the family to Hawaii when my dad was about seven or eight, so he lived there for about ten or so years. So my family has spent a lot of time there and we have a lot of connections there. … I didn’t write any of these songs there, but so much of it has influenced my writing. I wrote a lot of the record in Chicago, at home. Places, where I’ve been, where I’ve traveled, for me, influences a lot of what I write about. So that’s where a lot of that ocean stuff and wave stuff comes from, from my time spent in Hawaii.
So on to some other stuff, what’s up with the tenth anniversary Lawrence Arms DVD?
I know that it’s closer than ever.
That just happened last October, right?
Yeah, we did that last October in Chicago, and it all got shot, and I know the guy who’s doing it is working really hard on it. It’s definitely in the works, and not far away.
How about “Four One Five Two” vinyl?
Also on it’s way. Red Scare is going to do it this fall, some time. I’m not entirely sure when, but Toby promised me that this fall, we’re doing “Four One Five Two” vinyl. So it’s definitely on its way. I’m stoked.
What else is going on with the Lawrence Arms?
At this time, we’re doing Riot Fest in Chicago, and we’re playing the show with Bad Religion, and I’m really stoked about that. That’s the main thing we really have going on right now, not a lot of touring or anything like that.
So I think that’s pretty much it. What do you have lined up in the next few months?
For the record, right now, I’m just doing a few shows here and there. It’s just tough to get out, balancing work and stuff. So I’m not doing any full touring, but I’m doing my best to try to get out and do shows here and there. We just did a big show in Chicago for the release and that went really well. This trip is part vacation and a few shows kind of thrown in. We’re going to San Francisco tomorrow, hopefully that’s great, and we’re playing in Santa Cruz, too. I’ve been looking really forward to it, and it’s fun to play the new songs, and just kind of see what happens. Taking it as it comes, a little, but no crazy tours planned right now.
Tonight is the last night of the small Sundowner ultra-super mini-tour of the Bay Area, here in Santa Cruz. The shows have been amazing so far, and the fun will continue into tonight.
Myself and my friend Paco were lucky enough to sit down with Chris at the Plea For Peace center and ask him a few questions. Topics of discussion included the new Sundowner album, some Lawrence Arms talk, and Taylor Swift. A transcription of that interview will be up in a day or two. If it sucks, I’m sorry. It was the first real sort of interview I’ve ever conducted. So there you go.
Come out to the Crepe Place tonight here in Santa Cruz. Mike Park is busy riding on his bike, but Jaake Margo will be there (I think). I’m sorry if we ruined your listening experience last night, Jaake. We were really drunk.
Hey guys! Hope you’re having an awesome weekend so far. No hangovers, lots of sunshine… Good stuff like that. Anyway, here is some news from the past week, just to catch up.
- OPEN FOR THE QUEERS CONTEST - We have made a change to THE QUEERS contest. Instead of requesting a RAMONES cover song, we’re just asking for a link to your music. We’ve partnered with PUNKNEWS.ORG and have a contest up through them, so I will simply send the link for the contest here:
http://punknews.org/article/39624. Please don’t forget to put WHICH DATES your band wishes to play! - AMR SUMMER PARKING LOT SHOW - There will not be one this year, as Mike has been busy taking care of his family and work. If you didn’t already know, for a couple of years now, Asian Man has been throwing DIY shows in the parking lot of the Oakland Coliseum. Totally free. Free hot dogs, free beer. It’s such a fun time. Unfortunately, we’re going to have to miss out this year!! Shoot.
- SMOKING POPES “GET FIRED” RE-ISSUE - Next week we will begin a pre-order for the SMOKING POPES-GET FIRED re-release. It will be similar to the SUNDOWNER/SKIBA deals, but this time we will only be offering up 75 packages. The package will include two 12 inches on Orange and Green see through vinyl. It will include the CD and a T-SHIRT. So yup.. set your calendar for next Wednesday as Im sure these will sell through immediately.
- EBAY: COMPLETE ASIAN MAN VINYL COLLECTION - A personal friend of Mike and ourselves has run into financial trouble. He is selling a complete collection of everything that Asian Man has ever put out on vinyl. Included are such original pressings and out of print records by Alkaline Trio, The B. Lee Band, Slapstick, The Broadways, and more! There are ever four test pressings of records that were never put into final production. Extremely rare stuff. Check it out HERE.
- HOUNDS AND HARLOTS - Former Wardogs vocalist Greg DeHoedt has a new band called Hounds and Harlots and he is releasing a charity 7 inch that will include a donation to plea for peace. They have started a kickstarter fundraiser to get started. You can find all the info. on the below link. Asian man will get an exclusive color for this release. Check it out HERE.
- ASIAN MAN RECORDS: VOL. 1 - So the response on the digital comp. that we put out some time ago was incredible. Thank you guys so much! Remember, it is still and always will be available to download HERE. Send it to your friends, burn it on a CD, record it to a cassette… Whatever you’re into. Look out for a second installment some time in the near future.
- REVIEWS, REVIEWS, REVIEWS - SUNDOWNER topped the Punknews users’ choice list for favorite records in August, and also saw awesome reviews from AbsolutePunk and Vital Reverb.
- TOUR DATES - The tour dates on the AMR website should be up to date! Check it out and see if any Asian Man bands will be in your area any time soon.
Whew. Anyway, as always, join us on Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace (if anyone still uses that). In other news, aside from the interns’ laptops breaking Mike’s internet connection all the time, everything is swell and dandy at AMR. I hope you guys are having an awesome morning and have a big weekend in front of you. I feel like I suck at writing these things. Oh well. Cheers.
ASIAN MAN RECORDS: VOL.1
We are really excited to put this up for you. We been working hard on it and we hope you like it as much as we do.
Pretty much this is a collection of all our favorite music (new and not so new) that has inspired us here at Asian Man Records. It’s great and crazy because this is what we are surrounded with.
Click on the picture for your free download, this one is on us.
Here the track listing:
1. TOGETHER ON THE GROUND - THE WILD
2. CAN I PAY MY RENT IN FUN? - BOMB THE MUSIC INDUSTRY
3. SLOW CAR CRASH - CLASSICS OF LOVE
4. HUNG UP - THE RIPTIDES
5. …BUT THEN SHE SMILES - THE APERS
6. NO GOOD EGGS - KEVIN SECONDS
7. COLD EMBRACE - NOISE BY NUMBERS
8. THE PRETTY ONE - LAURA STEVENSON AND THE CANS
9. AS THE CROW FLIES - SUNDOWNER
10. PAPER BAG (SPILLING) - JAAKE MARGO
11. S.O.S - SKIBA
12. BYE BYE BRAIN - KEPI GHOULIE
13. AIN’T EVERYTHING - MUGWUMPS
14. HOT LUNCH - MONKEY
15. MAX’S MANKINI - THE HOT TODDIES
16. LONG DAY - SMOKING POPES
17. OR DOES IT EXPLODE? - FOR.THE.WIN.
18. CREATIVE DESTRUCTION - THE MAX LEVINE ENSEMBLE
19. SENSE, SENSIBILITY - ANDREW JACKSON JIHAD
Leo Henderson approves.
