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Pickwick play in the Constellation Room in Santa Ana Jan. 11
Photo by: Kyle Johnson

Seattle indie rock band, Pickwick, embarks upon a west coast tour in January with a stop at The Constellation Room on Jan. 11.

The six-member group is known for their DIY approach of making and distributing their own 7-inch singles known as the “Myth” series. In 2013 they continued this tradition with their self-released debut album, “Can’t Talk Medicine”.

Setting up shop in their living room, the bands own multi-instrumentalist Kory Kruckenberg (who won a Grammy in 2010 for Best Engineered Classical Album) served as engineer.

The 13 tracks include three re-recorded and fully realized cuts from their popular “Myths” series and a collaboration with Sharon Van Etten on the lead single “Lady Luck”, a Richard Swift cover (who also collaborated on the album).

“A cool thing about this record,” says Kruckenberg, “this house has made its way onto the record. We’ve tried to include the quirks of living here.”

Guitarist Michael Parker wryly spins the situation differently saying, “Our record doesn’t sound like a lot of other records because it was recorded in this living room.”

Front man and lyricist, Galen Disston’s gospel growl is supported with harmonies by Parker, and keyboardist Cassady Lillstrom. Rounding out the group are bassist, Garrett Parker and drummer, Alex Westcoat.

Disston prefers listeners delve into their own imagination with his words instead of providing a literal history of every lyric.

Yet he does state that “Can’t Talk Medicine” mines themes of mental illness. “It’s about art making you go crazy,” he reveals.

Seattle indie-rock comes to the south west

“We idolize and value that insanity when it’s in the name of art.”

The refrain in “Window Sill” speaks of planning a defiant suicide while crowd favorite; “Hacienda Motel” recounts a risqué homicide.

Musical influences and a preference for mystery can be traced to the band’s own voracious interest in music that’s mired in obscurity. Music such as reissues from Designer Records, the seminal output of the Black Ark, Robert Pete Williams, Alan Lomax, The Walkmen, The Sonics, and Abner Jay are among the diverse list of names referred to with reverence in the living room.

2013 saw Pickwick headline a US tour, appear at SXSW, and receive festival invites. Kick off 2014 with them in an intimate setting at the Constellation Room.

The Heavy grooves the Constellation Room August 6
Photo by: Andrew de Francesco

The Heavy are going to do their best to tear things down and get everybody involved when they play for the first time in Orange County at The Constellation Room on Aug. 6.

Their runaway hit, “How You Like Me Now”, still seems to be everywhere even though it came out on the 2009 album, “The House That Dirt Built”.

Interest in that song was a sort of turning point for the band and led to the David Letterman performance among other things. Letterman was so impressed with the band’s music and stage presence that he asked the group for an encore, which had never been done before.

“I don’t think any of us had a clue it had never been done before. I think not really being American, and not realizing the full scale of how important the Letterman show is was a bit lost on us the first time we did it,” drummer Chris Ellul explains. “It was all a surprise and it was also a surprise to find out how great a thing that was at the time. It’s probably for the best, really. Otherwise we would have been so nervous that we would have ruined it!”

The Heavy has a unique style of music that is difficult to pin down as it combines funk, rock, blues, and soul.

“Whenever I describe it it always sounds so wrong and so terrible but it does work,” Ellul said.

The band was originally started by Kelvin Swaby, vocals and Dan Taylor, guitar with Spencer Page, bass and Ellul joining later.

“The intention was always to do something old but make it sound new,” explained Ellul. “It was blues and rock and roll and then taking it and treating it like hip hop. Mixing stuff from the ‘50’s, ‘60’s, ‘70’s and bring it up to the now. That’s how it started really.”

They listened to just about anyone – Tom Waits, Muddy Waters, The Sonics – while discovering their own sound.

“The Glorious Dead” is the latest album from the band and features the funky single, “What Makes a Good Man?”.

“New Orleans, big band, voodoo, the vibes from down there” inspired the title, Ellul said. “It just seemed like ‘the Glorious Dead’ made the most sense. Like a lot of things we do, it ties in with the films that inspire us. It felt like a great name for it.”

The album was self-produced with the band doing the entire recording and producing.

“The only thing we went to someone else for was for the more elaborate horn and string arrangements. We went to work with Gabe Roth from the Dap Kings. He contributed some of the lines, some of the horn parts,” Ellul elaborates. “And then because we’ve know Paul Corkett (The Cure, Placebo, The Chameleons producer) for a long, long time it seemed to make sense to work with him. He knows what we do. He just sort of took it, mixed it and presented it. We are all quite involved and Paul is very diplomatic and good assessing where to take it.”

They might approach the next album slightly differently.

“We usually start with a demo and then build it up but a lot of the original elements from that demo will be kept,” Ellul said. “I think we may want to do something a little outside our box. You know, try writing the whole album out of rehearsals and working a tune that way. Hopefully work with a producer from start to finish to sort of get their input on the whole record and the whole process, which we’ve never done before. It’s always been a bedroom thing, or you know, essentially it’s just the four of us.”

There are a lot of shows on the horizon, including festivals over the summer to keep the band busy.

“Then I think it’s time to take a minute, take a couple months off and then start writing again for the next record. It’s how it is. It’s pretty much a never ending cycle,” Ellul laughs. “You write, you record, you finish your record, you promote that record. Then when that cycle is done you write another one, record another one and promote another one and it goes on and on like that until we make it as successful as it can be.”

Swaby’s impressive high-energy performance accompanied with heavy-guitar and a mash up of funk, rock, soul, and r&b music is an experience not to be missed!

Maximo Park headlines the Troubadour May 16

Maximo Park is Newcastle’s angular pop quintet that includes Paul Smith (vocalist), Tom English (drummer), Duncan Lloyd (guitarist), Archie Tiku (bassist), and Lukas Wooller (keyboardist). The group will be headlining The Troubadour on May 16.

The four of them formed their group initially as an avant rock band. They recently completed their debut album with the help of producer Paul Epworth who has also worked with Babyshambles and Bloc Party. Maximo Park was also featured at Texas’ huge music festival South by Southwest.

The OC Concert Guide had the opportunity to interview Maximo Park regarding their origin, working with Epworth and what they’re most excited about in the next coming months.

OCCG: How did you come up with Maximo Park? What’s the significance of it and how did you guys meet?
MP: We met at University in Newcastle, but I only joined the band after we had finished our studies. I had been playing in an instrumental band with my friends and because there were no vocals I used to move around a lot on stage to grab the audiences attention. The guys in Maximo Park thought that I would make a good front men but I didn’t know if I could sing or not! It didn’t take long for us to find out that we gelled as a group and the songs we were writing inspired us to write even more. Our ethos was to write emotionally-driven pop music with an edge to it, which we still believe in to this day, although the methods we use to get to that endpoint have evolved and changed over five records.

OCCG: What was it like working with producer Paul Epworth?
MP: We’ve been very lucky to work with some of the best producers out there and Paul is clearly one of those people, having gone on to great, worldwide success. When we made our first record with Paul we felt like he was a kindred spirit; young and intense with a great ear for a song. He also has the ability to achieve very unique sounds in the studio without those sonics getting in the way of the song or the bands inherent personality. The really great producers are always facilitators.

OCCG: Who are your main musical influences?
MP: We could be here for some time! We are a very democratic band and between the five of us we have quite eclectic tastes that feed into the music you hear on our records. For example, Lukas listens to a lot of techno or other types of dance music, which feed into our keyboard sounds. On the latest album I think you can hear things like Fever Ray or The Blue Nile or even The Associates. Dunc our guitar player likes a lot of punky stuff such as The Wipers but he also came up with the music for a song called Brain Cells, which he wrote on a new Moog synthesizer. It just goes to show that inspiration can come from anywhere. Personally, my lyrics can be inspired by film directors like Mark Cousins or by novelists like Don DeLillo, Alan Warner, Roberto Bolaño or Lydia Davis. There is definitely a literary stamp on the lyrics for this particular album, which is not necessarily overt except on a song like Her Name Was Audre, a song directly inspired by a documentary about Audre Lorde the poet.

OCCG: What do you want your listeners to gain out of your fifth LP, “Too Much Information?”
MP: I’d like people to listen to it and take it on its own terms but if people have heard our other music I would also like them to hear the evolution of the band and feel like each time we make a record it’s a fresh approach. This is our most diverse album and I’d like to think there was something for everyone on there. It feels like there is a lot more space in the music and we recorded the album ourselves in the northeast of England giving us extra time to develop the sound. There are certain nocturnal themes on the album, which I’d like to think people could relate to and connect with.

OCCG: How would you compare and contrast music in the US from music in England? How do the pop cultures differ?
MP: I would say they are broadly similar in terms of trends – a situation brought about by the homogenisation of western culture, if that’s not too ridiculous thing to say! There are more connections than ever thanks to social media and the Internet. Since the US is much bigger I think it is harder to create a buzz about a smaller band, which obviously impacts on touring as well. So many of our band’s influences come from America so it’s really difficult for me to say too much about the differences – even our album was mixed in New York by Nicolas Vernhes who has worked with Dirty Projectors and Deerhunter amongst other fantastic US bands.

OCCG: What’s your personal favorite track from your latest album and why?
MP: My personal favorite is Drinking Martinis possibly because it is the most emotional and romantic song on the record. The music has a grand sweep to it that matches the lyric of the song in a way that reminds me of bands like The National.

OCCG: What do you hope to achieve in your music career a year from today?
MP: I hope I’m still making music! I feel incredibly lucky that this is my so-called job and long may it continue.

OCCG: Who would you guys want to collaborate with if you could collaborate with anyone?
MP: I would love to do a duet with Chan Marshall from Cat Power because I think she has one of the great modern day soul voices (even though she is associated with alternative rock culture).

OCCG: What are you most looking forward to at your show on May 16 at Troubadour in LA?
MP: I’m looking forward to playing in front of a lively audience and busting some rock moves! The Troubadour is a great venue that we have played a few times before and it has a lot of history to live up to, which is the kind of challenge that I like.

OCCG: Where in the world would you guys want to perform if you could pick?
MP: The Hollywood Bowl, playing to a sold-out venue with everyone singing our songs back to us.