Kissing Cousins play the Satellite Lounge in Silverlake Dec. 29

All girl rock group, Kissing Cousins, is taking over LA with a residency at The Satellite in Silverlake with a final show on Dec. 29. These girls are celebrating 10 years as a band and what better way to celebrate than to release a new EP?

In With Them is their newest EP, which is as intimate as their sound comes for the band since most of their recordings were done live. The OC Concert Guide caught up with the girls of Kissing Cousins to talk about their tour and new album!

OCCG: How did you guys come together and what’s the story behind your band name?
KC: Kissing Cousins were formed after founding member Heather Bray Heywood and Beth Zeigler met in a correctional facility for wayward girls. The band name is a nod to our shared love of Elvis “the King” Presley.

OCCG: In your 10 years of being together, what has been a memorable moment for you as a band?
KC: Every moment we spend together is unforgettable. We are musical soulmates. With that being said, what a thrill to hear ourselves on American Horror Story.

OCCG: How would you describe your music to someone who has never heard you guys before?
KC: Black Sabbath with vaginas.

OCCG: What are some of your musical influences as a band and individually?
KC: The Pixies, Sonic Youth, the White Stripes and Elvis Presley.

OCCG: How was it like working with Richard Swift of The Black Keys and The Shins?
KC: Richard is a wonderful man and a king among producers.

OCCG: Where has been your favorite place to tour?
KC: As Dorothy said in the Wizard of Oz, “There’s no place like home.” Los Angeles has our hearts.

OCCG: Are you guys excited to hold residency at The Satellite in Los Angeles?
KC: The Satellite has been one of our favorite venues in L.A. since before its name change. We’re so honored to entertain Silver Lake every Monday night.

OCCG: Also, your new EP was there something different in recording ‘In With Them’ than any of your other albums?

KC: The bulk of these recordings were done live, with all of us playing in one room at the same time. Also, the producer/engineer is married to our bass player, so that created a real sense of intimacy that may have been lacking with other some of our other producers who weren’t sleeping with band members.

Molotov plays the Observatory Dec. 7

Motolov is, Tito Fuentes, Miky Huidobro, Paco Ayala and Randy Ebright – a Grammy award winning alternative rock band from Mexico! The boys of Motolov are ready to bring their music to The Observatory in Santa Ana on Dec. 7.

Bands such as Cypress Hill and the Beastie Boys inspire their music, which is just as rock with their own Mexican-flavor to it. Their “Agua Maldita Navidad Tour” is promoting their newest record “Agua Maldita.”

The OCCG recently caught up with Randy from Motolov earlier this month and chatted about how they were formed at what’s next for the band.

OCCG: How did Molotov form?
Randy: Molotov formed in 1995 with Tito Fuentes, Micky Huidobro and 2 other members for the sole purpose of National Battle of the bands, which Molotov won… The other 2 members left shortly after and Randy Ebright and Paco Ayala joined on late 1995.

OCCG: How would you guys describe your music to someone who has never heard it?
Randy: It could be described as an alternative rock band with hip-hop influences. All of us are multi instrumentalist, composers and vocalists.

OCCG: You guys have been in the music scene for a while now, what keeps you motivated to keep writing and recording?
Randy: Inertia!! The love of music and the hate for desks and calculators.

OCCG: What was the main inspiration behind ‘Agua Maldita’?
Randy: As an all Molotov records… Everyday life… In all its forms.

OCCG: How was it like working with RUN-DMC?
Randy: A dream come true… A life lesson..A breath of fresh air… inspirational.

OCCG: Who are some of your musical influences, individually and as a group?
Randy: As a group: Sabbath, Zeppelin, Beatles, Public Enemy, Cypress Hill and the Beastie Boys.

OCCG: How excited are you about this upcoming tour – especially playing here in Santa Ana?
Randy: Can’t wait… Always have great crowds!!!

OCCG: What is your favorite song(s) to perform live?
Randy: Fuga… Uhu… Matate tete, Blame Me.

OCCG: What’s next for Molotov?
Randy: We are now free from our record company.. We will be releasing a lot of material, and very often!!!!

Magnets and Ghosts play Slide Bar Nov. 18

Magnets and Ghosts are Ryan Potesta and Dean Roland, and alternative rock duo who met in Boston. This duo has taken inspiration from bands such as Radiohead and Elbow to make their own sound unique. They play Nov. 18 at the Slidebar in Fullerton.

OC Concert Guide recently caught up with Roland of Magnets and Ghosts to talk about how these bandmates met and future plans for the group.

OCCG: How did you guys become a duo? What brought you two to make awesome music?
Dean: We first met when Ryan was going to Berklee in Boston. We worked on a project together. We quickly realized we had similar taste in music and that was the beginning of the musical connection

OCCG: Who are some of your biggest influences individually and as a duo?
Dean: I was a child of the 80’s so I was into a lot of early 80’s music like U2, INXS, The Cure, REM etc…As a duo our musical taste range from jazz and classical to really whatever but we truly connected on a handful of bands like Elbow, Doves and Radiohead.

OCCG: How would you describe your music to someone who has never heard of you?
Dean: It’s always been difficult for me to be objective about the music we create, but we strive to create music that first and foremost has space. Then it can range from a spacious melodic vibe to more of an in your face rock driven vibe.

OCCG: What inspired you guys to come back after three years for your newest EP?
Dean: It really wasn’t a decision to come back. We had been writing and recording since the release of Mass. However, we did want to take the approach of having most of the songs written first. We wanted more of a live/band sound this time around.. So playing live was essential to make that happen. And we’re also not afraid of taking our time to get the music to place where we feel great about it.

OCCG: What are some of your favorite songs to perform live?
Dean: Each show has its own life. Favorite songs to play can change, but I do enjoy playing some of the more anthemic piano songs like Here to Save Me or Hold on. Then some nights it can be completely therapeutic to play a song like Drug Money and purge some frustrations.

OCCG: Are you guys excited to be playing in Fullerton?
Dean: We’re super excited to play Fullerton. It’s our first time! We’re still breaking in some of the new songs live and that can be a scary and exciting at the same time. So we’re definitely looking forward to the show.

French Horn Rebellion plays at the Satellite Oct. 31

The Next Jack Swing duo, French Horn Rebellion are set to perform at The Satellite on Oct. 31 co-heading tour with Zak Waters and their new EP, Swing Into It is set for release on Nov. 4.

French Horn Rebellion consists of brothers Robert and David Perlick-Molinari. They started up after Robert, who was a French horn major, visited brother David in New York and after working on music together they decided to form a band.

“We’ve been doing the band now for 5 years and I’d say the first 3 years were obstacle after obstacle, and in the last year and a half we’ve really been able to release music at a good pace and work with people we love,” says Robert on coming over obstacles along the way.

Robert named MGMT as their main influence for starting the band after having worked for them back in 2005, “That was when I realized I didn’t need to play guitar to be in a band, I can play synth’s and make dance beats and do all kinds of stuff.”

The brothers of French Horn Rebellion are always trying to push boundaries with their style of music, which is what led to their creation of the new genre, Next Jack Swing, which is a mix between New Jack Swing and New Disco.

Since the end of 2012 they have been releasing EP after EP, their newest one was released March 25th of this year, Swing Into It which features HAERTS. “All the songs have their own journey that they go on from when they start…some songs take months to fully release, ” says Robert.

They have announced a 24-city tour for their new EP and Robert revealed that they’re favorite song to perform on stage is a cover of Don’t You Want Me by The Human League, “That’s when people kinda et crazy and they’ll stay crazy throughout the show because it gets people out of their seats ‘cause they know the song,” says Robert.

Cymbals Eat Guitars play two shows at The Roxy Sept. 27 and 28

Cymbals Eat Guitars is an indie rock band from New York started by Joseph D’Agostino with friends Andrew, Brian and Matthew. They are playing two shows opening for legendary Indie artist Bob Mould at The Roxy on Sept. 27 and 28.

Their new album, LOSE, is mostly inspired by the loss of their longtime friend and music collaborator Benjamin High – and their desire to make good records. Bands like Blur and the Stone Roses also really inspired the band to include instruments such as trumpets and cymbals and some cool vocal additions to the new album. Don’t miss them perform songs off of their new album later this year!

OCCG recently caught up with Cymbals Eat Guitars and talked about their new album LOSE.

OCCG: How did Cymbals Eat Guitars come about?
CEC: Joe started the band as a studio project about six years ago and Andrew, Brian, and I came later at various stages. Andy is still the “new guy”, though we’ve been friends for years, he only started playing with us last year.

OCCG: For starters I’m terribly sorry for your loss of Ben – other than him being a huge inspiration for the album, is there anything else that really inspired your album LOSE?
CEC: We just wanted to make a really good rock record. Not too cerebral, fun to play, fun to watch us play, and veer towards writing pop songs without “going for it” in a garish way. We’re very excited because the record is precisely what we said we wanted to do before we had really started writing songs.

OCCG: Who are some of your biggest influences individually and as a group all together?
CEC: We were really into Britpop while writing LOSE. Blur, the Stone Roses, that kind of stuff. Some of us have been fans of those bands since high school but recently it seemed to kind if bubble up and become really appealing again.

OCCG: Other than cymbals being an obvious instrument you guys use in your music, is there other fun instruments you guys used while recording this album?
CEC: Darby from Antlers came through and did some trumpet stuff last minute when our hired trumpeter had to cancel. Some of the stuff that sounds like synths or Theremin is actually people singing through pedals and amps. A bunch of friends came by and did cool heavily-effected vocal parts.

OCCG: Individually what is your favorite song of the new album LOSE, that you can’t wait for everyone to hear?
CEC: I think Laramie is going to go over well, particularly with people who might think we’ve changed our sound a whole lot based on the first few singles.

OCCG: You guys are playing a couple of LA shows later on this year, how excited are you for playing The Roxy?
CEC: I know very little about the Roxy beyond name recognition, but it’s fun to tell people we’re playing there. I think even if people don’t know what it is, it sounds like an impressive place to be playing. “The Roxy.” You tell east coast people you’re playing the Roxy, it generally establishes a sense that you’re “killing it out there.” Feels pretty good.

MONEY plays the Echo in LA Sept. 9
Photo by: Julien Bourgeois

MONEY are Jamie Lee, Charlie Cocksedge, Billy Byron, and Scott Beaman, a 4-piece band who describes their music as poetic and atmospheric. Their music videos receive great praise and their love for music is clearly shown with their tracks. They will be touring the US for the first time next month hitting The Echo in LA on Sept. 9.

They have their debut, The Shadow Of Heaven, has a range of music styles from ballads to more upbeat tracks – they describe their album as “a look at modern man and arrive at a poetic denomination of where he is at this point in history. And by that I mean the everyday man.” They have musical influences such as Phillip Glass and Daniel Johnston who all share their love for the art of music, which is something MONEY shows.

OCCG recently caught up with MONEY to talk about their debut album and inspirations for their videos and tracks.

OCCG: What’s the inspiration behind the band’s name? — What brought you guys together to form a group?
Money: Drunkenness, love, art are all attempts to destroy materiality. I think that an artist creates something out of a place where materiality does not exist but is always ashamed of him/herself when that artwork is forced to exist in the world where it inevitably becomes material. That is why we called the band MONEY because we cannot help being the one thing that we wish not to be. If we were to understand the true value of a great work of art we would go mad I think. Perhaps all artists who work to becoming a public entity through their art are guilty of this hypocrisy: knowing that the performance of their art is at odds with the unworldly urge to create it. I like the men in bars who sing into their gin glasses.

Manchester is a place where materiality is not present – it seems to exist outside of time and I always say that people in Manchester are all symbolically dead. It is a physical realization of the underworld. It is hopeless, drunk, has a direct and boisterous intellect and language.

OCCG: Your videos receive such great praise — Is coming up with video concepts a harder thing to think of or easier since you already know the song in the video?
Money: Coming up with ideas for a video is always very easy. Sound and image are always linked together – whenever you listen to music it is always accompanied by an image or experience: you are being shouted at by your girlfriend/you have herpes for the first time etc. I think it must be very painful to hear a piece of music in the dark because you are being deprived of one of its essential limbs.

OCCG: How would you describe your music/sound?
Money: Atmospheric, poetic, aggressive, ethereal, joyous, melancholy… All creations of art are acts of desperation.

OCCG: What/who are some of the band’s influences whether its individual influences or all together as a group?
Money: Individually we each have many and varied influences, from Philip Glass to Daniel Johnston, but collectively we like popular music that in some way subverts its heritage. The hymn is the great ancestor of the pop song – they are catchy so that the sentiment can be remembered and they are sung in congregation and they both are acts of praise towards cultural tropes of the day: today; love for instance. But there aren’t any love songs on this record really.

OCCG: Tell me more about your debut album — what were some of the inspirations behind the album?
Money: Lyrically I wanted to make a record that tried to look at modern man and arrive at a poetic denomination of where he is at this point in history. And by that I mean the everyday man. The man on the street which I am fascinated with. I am always more interested in an everyday person who expresses something profound than an academic or someone who is educated. It seemed to me that modern man has created the assumption that he is superior to his own history; that he is some kind of God by comparison to his past while at the same time being told that he is nothing. It is his challenge to find meaning in this void; to discover its beauty, to discern Heaven from Hell when they are found lying at every point simultaneously, to make meaning out of this impossible loneliness and yet still retain his capacity for human dreams. Our album is about the reasons why we fall in love, the reasons why we drink, the reasons why we sleep – it’s all to slow time down a little bit. To lose all self-consciousness which then produces what we call Heaven. Writing music, or making art, drinking, falling in love are all attempts to create more time. To live more. And also a vehement attack against the finality of death and the cruelty of reality.

OCCG: Is there a certain city on your US tour you’re most excited to play? — Why?
Money: We’ve never been to America before so we’re excited to play everywhere really. We’re lucky to be seeing both east and west, but just like Europe and the U.K sometimes the smallest places are the best – we can’t tell until we get there I suppose…

Gooch Palms plays at Cafe Nela Aug. 29

Gooch Palms are a pop-punk-garage duo from New Castle, Australia – made up of singer/guitarist Leroy Macqueen and drummer/singer Kat Friend. They are legends in their hometown and are ready to hit the US with their catchy-as-hell music. The Gooch Palms are set to perform a set at the Café Nela in LA on Aug. 29.

They describe their music as caveman pop with different mixed styles. “It’s a bloody mixed bag,” states the duo. They have huge influences such as The Ramones, KISS, The Stooges and many others – they are ready to take their music out of Australia and electrify the world, which they definitely will. They are already a household name in their home country. Plus their minimal stage set-up is really attracting their audience.

OCCG recently caught up with The Gooch Palms to talk about their upcoming tour and the start of their duo.

OCCG: How did the both of you meet and create The Gooch Palms or “Da Goochies” as they say in Australia?
Kat: We met the way most people used to meet back before the world of Internet dating, at a bar while we were really drunk. We’ve been a couple for many years but only started playing together as a band a few years ago.

Leroy: I wanted to start a band but no one was really working out. A friend of ours had left a couple of drums laying around the house so I made Kat start bashing on them (The Gories were my main influence there). I always intended on getting a full band but we started getting gigs and people really liked the minimal set up so we just left it and it seems to be working for us!

OCCG: How would you describe your music to someone who has never heard of you guys? – Is there a song of yours you’d recommend someone to listen to first?
Lo-fi shit-pop. If we were a good band we’d be a pop band, but it’s a shittier version of pop. Sometimes bordering on punk. Or maybe primitive pop? Caveman pop! Some songs are doo-woppy. Indie punk. It’s a bloody mixed bag mate!
All our songs are a bit different from each other but all sound like us. I would recommend listening to ALL OF THEM!

OCCG: Who are some of your musical influences individually and as a duo?
Kat: We both pretty much like the same things music wise. The Ramones, The Stooges, GG Allin’s poppier stuff. Actually, anything that is catchy and has a killer hook. That may be some obscure power pop song from the 70’s or Ke$ha. If it’s catchy, we like it!

Leroy: My dad is friends with the drummer from XTC (he lives in Newcastle, Australia for some reason) so I grew up listening to them. So they’ve been a big influence on me. Them and Devo are great. The Ramones are no 1 though, or KISS! The Gories are a huge influence; they’ve given us the courage to be as minimal as we are. Like Kat said, pop music is our guilty pleasure too! But Aussie bands like The Victims, The Scientists, Radio Birdman, The Saints, The Sunnyboys, Midnight Oil and The Loved Ones are all big influences.

OCCG: What are people’s initial responses when they hear your music for the first time?
Kat: People seem to really like it. We’ve been told our songs are earworms that get stuck in your head. That’s what we wanna hear! The reaction to SEEING us live for the first time however is always amusing. Dropped jaws, covered eyes, laughing, smiling are what we often see looking back at us from the stage. People don’t usually know what they are even looking at but by a few songs in they’re down with what we’re doing!

OCCG: How excited are you guys to be going on tour here in the states?
Kat: REALLY EXCITED!!! We cannot wait! We’ve played with a lot of great American bands in Australia and are really looking forward to finally coming over there and playing to new audiences. It’s been a dream of ours to tour the States. Nothing quite beats living out your dreams!

OCCG: Is there a certain city on the tour you guys are most excited about?
Kat: We’re equally as excited about every city. We’ve been to the US on holidays before so we’re excited to visit the cities we haven’t been before and excited about returning to the one’s we have! We’re playing a run of shows with Real Numbers from Minneapolis. That will be fun, we played with them here in Australia and they are great guys.

OCCG: What are your favorite songs to perform live?
Leroy: Well here in Aus there are a few songs that the crowd knows every word and they sing so loud it doesn’t matter if my mic stand gets knocked over as everyone is screaming the words at the top of their lungs. They are my fav to perform live. I also like singing the ballads like Don’t Cry and You.
Kat: Yep, crowd singing songs win. It’s crazy!

Ex-Cult plays The Smell in LA Aug. 8

Five-person Punk band, Ex-Cult, consists of Alec McIntyre, Natalie Hoffmann, Michael Peery, JB Horrell, and Chris Shaw. They are hitting the road this summer to share their Southern punk sound with everyone, with Zig Zags. Ex-Cult will bring their unique punk sound to The Smell in LA on Aug 8.

Ex-Cult recently released their EP, Midnight Passenger and added a bit of “psychedelic slime” to their music, the EP was inspired mostly by their numerous tours and enjoy everything that comes with touring. They teased us a bit by announcing that they are recording a new EP! Inspired by bands such as Urban Waste and The Fall, they are all equally obsessed with their music and found their sound by touring constantly.

OC Concert Guide caught up with Ex-Cult and talked about their inspirations, tour life and sound.

OCCG: Is there a back-story or inspiration behind your bands name?
Ex-Cult: We put out two singles under the name Sex Cult before someone from New York City got mad and made us change the name because he ran something called Sex Cult Records. So…we dropped the S, becoming Ex-Cult. We’ve been thinking about dropping the E next and just being X-Cult. There are so many “Ex” bands now that it’s become annoying. Shout out to Sex Cult Records, if y’all wanna do a single, get in touch?

OCCG: Most of your music is inspired by being on the road, correct? What kind of things inspired you the most about life on the road?
Ex-Cult: Honestly, the whole experience of touring is inspiring. I love being in the car, seeing weird stuff on the way to the next city and joking around with the other members of the band. About a week into any tour shit gets pretty dumb, people start communicating in made-up languages, things become hilarious that normally wouldn’t be funny at all. But I find inspiration in that too, even if the inspiration comes from not knowing we could get so primitive.

It’s also interesting to me to see how the people who come out to our shows in different parts of the country live their lives. Going to new dive bars, making new friends, finding new records, eating weird food, it’s all part of an experience that I personally find second to none.

OCCG: How would you describe your band’s sound/music?
Ex-Cult: We are a Southern punk band made up of five people who are equally obsessed with music. In terms of our sound, we aren’t a garage band or a hardcore band, we are a punk band and that’s it.

OCCG: Being on the road so much, what’s something you miss the most about not being home?
Ex-Cult: I’d say I miss my Fiancé, my bathroom and my record collection in that order. There is a weird transition period after every tour where you are like, “wait… this is my apartment, all this shit is mine? What do I do with it?”

I don’t really miss Memphis to be honest. I’ve been involved in the punk scene here for over ten years and it’s nice to get away and not see the same weirdo’s in the bars by my apartment. Touring so much has changed my outlook on going out in the city where I live, lately I’ve just kind of felt like, “what’s the point? I think I’ll just sit here and listen to ten records by myself.”

OCCG: Individually and as a band, who are your biggest music influences?
Ex-Cult: The Fall, Can, Neu, Simply Saucer, Black Flag, The Dicks, Urban Waste, Swell Maps, CCR, Magazine

OCCG: What are some of your favorite songs to play live and why?
Ex-Cult: We don’t really play old songs that much anymore but I still really like playing “Knives on Both Sides” and “MPD” live, people seem to always call those out. “Mr. Fantasy” usually gets the crowd moving as well. As far as new songs go, I think “Lights Out Club” “Flickering Eyes” and “Venice Illusion” are my new favorite live songs.

When we started this band I never thought I would have people screaming the words back at me to all of our songs, that’s a pretty insane feeling. Especially because I used to be the kid in the front row swiping at the microphone.

OCCG: Is there a certain city on your upcoming tour with Total Abuse and Zig Zags that’s you’re stoked to play at?
Ex-Cult: We love playing the West Coast. Playing The Smell in LA was a blast last time, that’s got to be the hottest venue in America temperature wise. We love playing Austin, San Francisco, San Diego, Denver, and Eureka… really the whole West Coast kicks ass. We are playing a couple new places in California on this tour; I’m excited for that! I’ve also only seen Zig Zags once so I’m stoked to catch them every night for a week or so!

OCCG: Lastly, what’s next for Ex-Cult?
Ex-Cult: We are hitting the studio in July to record an EP with Doug Easley who recorded Midnight Passenger and the “Mister Fantasy” single. We haven’t announced who’s putting it out yet but it’s gonna rip your head off.