THE KNITTS play The Hi Hat Feb. 15 photo: Hadas

The Knitts are a tightly-woven band of three brothers and two of their childhood buds. Their music, oscillating between genres like garage-rock and post-punk, with influences from Blur to Sabbath and beyond, is less close-knit, but just as wonderful. Catch them at The Hi Hat in Los Angeles on Feb. 15.

With a new EP, Simple Folk due out this week, and a full album later in the year, The Knitts are in the midst of a magical time for any band, a metastasis where excitement and exuberant innocence are still mostly intact. This was frontman Justin Volkens’ first phone-interview, not apparent in his thoughtful answers, but in his easy laugh, palpable passion for all things music, and a doting love for his band. It’s this essence The Knitts wanted to capture on record before they lose it.

“The album is mostly songs we wrote about four or five years ago. We have at least enough material to fill four records, but this is the one we really want out. I think you have to maintain an adolescence. That learning curve. Writing music without it being a job yet. There’s an innocence to it from when nobody else was involved.

“We didn’t want any songs to fall under the radar because we know they’re good and people do enjoy them. Even though we’re sick of playing them live already [laughs], we always try and remember that when we first wrote it, how good did we think that song was? And the album speaks to that. I mean, you have someone like Lorde who wrote an album where she’s talking about not knowing what a diamond looks like, and now she has to write a follow up record? What the hell is that going to be about?!”

Do they fit neatly in a genre-descriptive box? No. Have people asked them to change their name (which, across the Atlantic means head-lice)? Yes. At any point in the near future are they willing to kowtow to the big bad music suits? Definitely not.

“The more attention you get, the more people are invested and feel sort of entitled to the process. When someone comes in with three years of us already working the circuit and tries to get us to change things, it’s like, ‘No. This is the identity.’

“I’ve seen a lot of bands change their name. All of a sudden, the venues they want to play don’t remember who they are. Our name is fitting for us. My brother Charlie worked at The Knitting Factory for years before it closed down. We were the kids who hung out there, so The Knitts, it sort of stuck. Not everybody can start off as Mookie Blaylock and still get to turn into Pearl Jam.”

The band intrinsically has the mentality of the San Fernando Valley that bred them. Fittingly, The Knitts have created a place in the LA music scene as unique as their homebase. Their mercurial music says, “this is who we are, this is what we do, if the rest of you guys don’t like it, we’re here anyways.”

“We all grew up listening to ska and punk, you know that San Fernando Valley scene, but we also each come from different genres of rock music. There’s metal fans between Charlie and Brandon, Victor is really old-school 70’s rock like Zeppelin, Sabbath, so it’s a vast array where each of us sort of found our footing and we all bring different styles to the band.

“We try to approach each song in a different format or structure. It’s frowned upon by most record execs. We don’t do the typical verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus. It has to come organically. You try and allow the song to write itself, and if it doesn’t repeat that way, then so be it.”

This diversity keeps their music fresh, and is a testament to their studiousness. The Brit-rock slink of “Knives” sounds like it’s coming from a totally different band than the sunny fun of “Vamanos Mexico.”

“We’re music fans, we’re not just rock fans per se. I’ll listen to a hip-hop track and be like, ‘Ooh I like that structure,’ and I’ll try and incorporate that into what we’re doing. I just started listening to Os Mutantes, the Brazilian garage-rock band, and it’s like, ‘Oh dang! This is fantastic.’ We sort of study music as well as write it. We like to learn from it.”

This musical mixed bag can make live shows an interesting dilemma, but again, Volkens looks to the greats.

“The trickiest part for us about not really nailing down a genre is developing the set. Every now and then I like to watch Ziggy Stardust and Spiders From Mars, just to see how he (David Bowie) turns it into a performance instead of just a show. He can breakdown in the middle of the set and play “My Death” and then do like, a rock ’n roll instrumental next, so I’m looking to see, how is that so easily transitioned? We look at each show as a journey, and who wants to come along with it?”

As far as “making it” Volkens remains charmingly optimistic, citing LA as a land of competition, but also vast opportunity.

“There’s the negative part where there’s so many bands and it’s hard to get booked a certain night because there’s just no openings. But there’s also no shortage of people you could meet. You could meet anybody at any venue.

“We play The Sugar Mill in Reseda all the time. That’s like a Dave Grohl hotspot and Tenacious D warms up their set over there before they go out on tour.

“We always made sure to take any offer, even if that meant upsetting other venues. I still don’t think we’re allowed at The Troubadour because I think we owe them $800. They’re like, ‘Hey, sell these presale tickets’. So, we took ‘em and gave them all out for free [laughs].”

How very rock-n-roll.

The Knitts’ sophomore EP, Simple Folk arrives on store shelves on February 12 via Knitting Factory Records.

The Knitts Official | Facebook | Twitter

YEAR OF THE DRAGON play Hi-Fi Rockfest Sep. 26

Hitting the stage for the first Hi-Fi Rockfest in Long Beach is Year of the Dragon. The festival will take place at the Queen Mary Sep. 26.

“We’re most excited to be alive and kicking!” lead singer Dirty Walt said. “We are really excited to check out the great lineup with acts like the Dead Kennedys, Naked Raygun, Suicidal Tendencies and of course, Richie Ramone.”

Year of the Dragon made their appearance in the music scene in 2012, which also happened to be a Year of the Dragon. Coincidentally enough, they established their name due to two of the members also being born in a Dragon year.

“We try to keep our music as powerful and aggressive as we can, as a dragon would,” Walt said. “We also want to burn someone’s face off with our music.”

Since starting the band, Year of the Dragon has overcome their fair share of obstacles.

“The biggest obstacle with this band is that we all live in different places so getting together to practice is always a challenge,” Walt explained. “But, we get musically better everyday. We also have really good chemistry, and we have done quite a bit of writing together, so we always look forward to making more music together.”

Being in the music industry isn’t exactly the easiest, but Year of the Dragon has managed to find the motivation to keep them going.

“Seeing the guys in the room, I can feel the talent, inspiration and influence,” drummer Kerim Imes said. “Now is our chance to let all of that out. I’m excited when Walt comes up with something and as a band we do something special with it.”

According to the band, we can expect a lot of energy from their live show. Walt describes the band in three words as “red hot fire” and Kerim as “blunt force karma”. This is exactly what they want you to feel from their performance.

“It’s the legacy of the rock-n-roll business that keeps me going,” Walt said.

BABY IN VAIN play The Echo Aug. 11 photo: James Christopher

It’s been a rather exciting year for the members of Baby in Vain, the Danish band comprised of Benedicte Pierleoni (drums), Lola Hammerich (guitar / vocals) and Andrea Thuesen (guitar / vocals). First, their heavy as lead, gain saturated guitar and melodic melancholy harmonies had them in the studio recording their debut full-length album. Then their blues-rooted, sludgy sound earned the trio a second invite to play a series of cross-country shows with critically adored band, The Kills. The two-week tour will culminate with Baby in Vain headlining their own crowd-worthy gig at The Echo in Los Angeles on Aug. 11.

En route to their next stop in Cincinnati, Ohio, just a short three-day drive from LA in a crammed SUV, Hammerich explains how the second tour with The Kills came about; “We played four shows with them last October. The first time we somehow came into the pile of bands that they could choose from, and they chose us .So they just invited us to come again because I think they liked us, ha-ha!”

With the young median age of 20 years old, the ladies of Baby In Vain are making a name for themselves, and picking up momentum with their reinvigorated take on 90’s stoner rock and grunge, a genre normally dominated by the middle-aged men of yore. They may be a welcomed addition to the reemergence of noise rock that’s found its home in the LA music scene, but in Copenhagen the group remains a musical outlier.

“There’s a lot of different stuff, we’re not really a part of anything,” Hammerich said. “We have some friends who play, but it’s not like a scene. There’s a lot of hip-hop and a lot of R&B, Danish R&B kind of thing. And then there’s a lot of electronic. There’s a lot of rock, but not the kind of rock that we play, it’s more like punk.”

Inspired by albums from artists like Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age, Baby in Vain found their sound after their formation in 2010, and evolved to become the enigma of the Danish music scene that they are today. Tunes like 2012’s “Sweetheart Dreams” drip with dangerously ominous guitar riffs. Slow and steady vocals float atop like witches singing while stirring a black cauldron’s thick brew. The effect is hypnotic, to say the least.

Though heavy sounds permeate the group’s performances, their music tastes outside of the band remain eclectic, even lighthearted.

“We just listened to Neil Young and I wanted to find this song ‘Traveling Soldier’ by the Dixie Chicks, but I don’t have it,” Hammerich said when asked about their music choices on the road. “I want to listen to it. If I had it, it would have been the first song we put on because it seems perfect for this desert drive.”

Like their taste in road trip playlists, the band’s character is not defined by their heavy recordings either. Though in music videos and performances they can present a mean mug and sinister glare, it is only one dimension of their image. In reality, though serious about their music, they are three friends enjoying the opportunity of touring and playing together with goofy moments and bizarre anecdotes following their every move.

“We kind of just try to have fun, but I mean we’re also aggressive on stage,” Hammerich said. “It’s not like we put on some character for the stage. I just think it’s more interesting to make music that’s not, you know, just all happy. That’s at least the music I listen to myself, but that’s only one part of who we are as people. So we can have a laugh even though our music is serious, but also our music can be humorous. It’s not all dark.”

With new songs to be released on their upcoming album, Baby in Vain continues to see their sound evolve and mature. “Old recordings, I can’t stand,” Hammerich said. “Like the old releases of ours I never listen to because I don’t think it’s good enough. But the new stuff we’re doing is a lot better.

“It’ll be our first full-length. It was the first time we’ve had more than five days in the studio! So we’ve taken our time with making it right and also for the first time we are working with a producer who we feel is taking songs where they are supposed to go.”

As with most artists, Baby in Vain can be their own harshest critic, but if past singles are any indication of what is to come with their 2015 album, listeners are in for a treat…and hopefully another (longer) U.S. tour.

EVIL MARIA play International Pop Overthrow Festival at Fais Do Do on Jul 31

Local LA Band Evil Maria brings you the dark side of Indie/Pop. With their spellbinding vocals, mesmerizing guitars, synth pop keyboard, solid bass and killer drums, Evil Maria is sure to leave your ears pleased. They are set to hit the stage at Fais Do Do on Jul. 31 for the annual International Pop Overthrow (IPO) Music Festival.

IPO Festival features over 180 of the best pop bands around the world in 16 different cities. Evil Maria’s line-up consist of Evren Göknar (vocals / guitar), Mike Avenaim (drums), Zach Ingram (bass) and Kevin Roberts (keyboard / backing vocals).

Evil Maria stemmed from the solo career of frontman Evren Göknar, who released two solo albums in 1998 and 2000.

“Its easier to get people more interested in what you are doing when you already have an established sound, that’s how I found my band. You start jamming with people and you can create something cool,” Göknar said.

Göknar’s Turkish roots are captured in the Evil Maria sound and reflect in his writing as well. “It’s fun to find yourself writing in more chromatic tones from the Turkish cultures,” he said. “I like to write songs that engage people and paints a picture and adds emotion — for me a lot of that emotion and imagining comes from my culture. A good example is our song “Along the Way,” we translated that into Turkish.”

Evil Maria currently has two music videos in which you can capture their sense of dark humor. Göknar tells us a bit more about how artistic he got with Evil Maria’s Rabbit Run video. “The idea behind Rabbit Run was creating a scenario where the bunny was doing things he normally wouldn’t. He was drinking, he was driving, he wasn’t really present or involved. We have a perception of how we think a bunny should actually act. That all gets taken away. There was a lot of symbolism in it.”

Check out the video here: https://youtu.be/xkJhN8SHAmw

TALK IN TONGUES play Soda Bar Apr 30, Bootleg May 1, and Wayfarer May 2.

Talk In Tongues circles through So Cal in the midst of a massive U.S. tour, stopping at Soda Bar on Apr. 30, Bootleg on May 1 and Wayfarer on May 2 then the tour will travel north.

“We just got the van packed and we’re about to head off right now,” guitarist/singer Garrett Zeile said. “Cleveland is our first stop. We’ve never been to Cleveland before but I’m sure they all rock out there.”

The Los Angeles group hasn’t been together very long but have managed to play a good amount of live shows.

“We’re still a young band so we’ve played maybe 50 shows at most,” Zeile said. “I’ve loved playing live. Especially when you have a record that you’ve just worked on, it’s fun to figure out how to play it live.

“When you’re playing in front of a crowd it’s kind of a good confirmation of whether you’re doing it right. Or like, some songs don’t work live and sometimes you’re surprised at what works live.”

The quartet’s debut album, “Alone With A Friend”, on Fairfax Recordings was produced by Kevin Augunas (Cold War Kids, Edward Sharpe) and comes out May 19.

Zeile and the rest of the band, Waylon Rector (bass/vocals), McCoy Kirgo (guitar/vocals), Bryan De Leon (drums), and Cassandra Jensen (Keyboards), were all acquaintances but were aware of each other’s bands.

“We knew everyone was a really good player and did cool stuff,” Zeile mentioned. “So when we joined we just had this sort of mutual admiration for each other and the friendship came afterwards.”

Talk In Tongues recorded their first single “Still Don’t Seem To Care,” in Zeile’s home using the gear that he had over the course of a week or two. Once they put it out, they started talking to Fairfax Recordings.

“It’s funny because we had planned to make this EP, well, it’s not really an EP, but just start making really good recordings and putting stuff online,” Zeile explained. “We were all like, ‘you know, maybe in two years somebody will catch on or something’. And then it turned out like a week and a half later we were all ready getting hit up. We made up our minds that we wanted to go with Fairfax.

“Then all of a sudden we had access to Fairfax Studios which took over Sound City Studios about a year or two ago. The old Sound City, the classic recording studio where “Rumors” and “Nevermind” were made.

“It became really different, and fun, and interesting. It was also good hanging there because some of the pressure was taken off us and we were working with an awesome engineer.

“I think when you make an album if anyone tells you they made something they set out to do they’re probably lying because there’s just so much stuff that comes up in the middle where directions change and you have new ideas. You know we set out to do something and I think what we ended up with was as good or better than what we set out to do.

“It started to feel like we were in Abbey Road or something. We had the nicest studio available to us and we could treat it like it was our own. It was fantasy life!”

TALK IN TONGUES play Soda Bar Apr 30, Bootleg May 1, and Wayfarer May 2.

FLASHBACK HEART ATTACK Play The Viper Room April 2.

Flashback Heart Attack is the red-leather-wearing ‘80s new wave band that has been energizing crowds across Orange County for the last five years. Starting at the beginning of March 2015, the hard-hitting cover band from the O.C. started expanding its audience into L.A., with shows at the legendary Viper Room.

Notable not only for their high-energy and spot-on renditions of the biggest hits of the ‘80s, the band has been able to capture a cult following. Their regular performances at local clubs are always packed wall-to-wall. The fun loving bunch has also scored gigs like Tre Cool’s wedding and the Green Day holiday party, performing with Billie Joe Armstrong.

As a backing band they’ve played with Terri Nunn from Berlin, A Flock of Seagulls, Bow Wow Wow, Missing Persons, Dramarama, Linda Perry, Tommy Tutone, Naked Eyes – a “who’s who” of ‘80s artists. They also come with an endorsement from Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, who has personally recommended the band for gigs.

“It’s a really cool thing that these guys are interested in us,” says Don Bronze – whose real name is Jason, “these are musicians that have been around the world and seen a lot, so we appreciate their support.” The band’s appeal reaches both the casual fan of ‘80s pop and rock, as well as the actual ‘80s rockers whose songs they cover.

Special guest appearances are part of the norm for the men in red. And they’ve brought this element of their performance with them to the Viper Room residency. Their first gig at the beginning of March was hosted by famed radio DJ Richard Blade, known for his flashback programs on stations like KROQ. John Easdale from Dramarama sat in and sang his timeless rock hit “Anything Anything” with the band at their second Viper Room gig. You never really know who will show up at a Flashback Heart Attack gig, and that’s part of the fun.

As for branching out of Orange County and hitting the Sunset Strip, Flashback is bringing some new elements to the stage. From the potential for special guest-star appearances, to a selection of the more edgy rock anthems of the ‘80s, the band is gearing their performance for an L.A. audience.

“We’re going to play all of the big new wave hits that everyone wants to hear, but we’re going to throw in that L.A. wrinkle. We’re going to play songs from some of the early L.A. bands that got their start playing the Viper Room – a lot of bands came through there and we’re going to pay homage to that,” says Don Bronze, “We’re also going to play more of the metal stuff since it’s the Sunset Strip. We’re going to play some Motley Crue, Whitesnake and AC/DC, so the show will have a little more of a rough edge to it.”

Why has the band just now decided to make a move into the L.A. market? Though they have played many private and corporate gigs around L.A., they haven’t really done many club gigs. Don Bronze explains, “We wanted to make sure we were doing the right thing and getting all the bugs worked out while playing in Orange County. We wanted to do something at the Viper Room about two years ago, but we finally felt the time was right to get up there and play.”

Though Flashback Heart Attack is just now opening the door to the behemoth that is L.A., they actually have a lot of experience playing the region. It goes back to the time before they were an unabashed ‘80s cover band in red leather.

It all started sometime between 2007 and 2008 with a band called The Damn Automatics. An original alternative/punk/rock band formed by Jason (Don Bronze) and a couple members of what is now Flashback Heart Attack. “We put some songs together and did the whole thing up in L.A. and were courted by all the record labels,” says Jason.

“They [record labels] loved the songs – a lot of the songs are on movie soundtracks and stuff like that to this day. Just this last football season, one of our songs “Loser” was picked up by the NFL Network and ran the whole season,” says Jason of their original work. “It’s cool that our original music still has legs, but the industry being what it is now, we decided to go our own way and do it ourselves. So we decided to do the cover band thing and use it as a Trojan Horse to get attention.”

As to why the band stopped being The Damn Automatics and became Flashback Heart Attack, “It was probably because we were at a crossroads with the music industry,” says Jason, “If you didn’t have the right amount of plays on Myspace they [industry execs] thought differently of you. People in the industry were telling us how much they loved our songs, but no one was taking chances. That’s around the same time I had the idea of the red leather suits. That’s how we transitioned.”

You have to credit the guys for taking a creative approach to making it in today’s turbulent music industry. And it seems to be working given the crowds they attract, the private events they book and the rock ‘n roll top brass who join in the fun.

Flashback Heart Attack still has big goals as they continue to move forward in 2015. “We’re just going to keep going and doing our corporate gigs and private parties and club gigs, and eventually we’re looking to sneak our original stuff back in there. When that time comes we’ll have our package put together, where we’ve been able to bring a lot of people out to our shows and play good music, but also have the originals up our sleeve.”

Check out Flashback Heart Attack at the Viper Room Thurs., March 26 to catch all the ‘80s rock and new wave hits you love. You never know who will show up.

Doors open at 8 p.m.
The Viper Room is located at: 8852 West Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA 90069 http://www.viperroom.com/

To find out more and stay up to date, visit http://www.flashbackheartattack.com/