<![CDATA[The Amp - Publication]]>Tue, 30 Dec 2025 22:30:33 -0800Weebly<![CDATA[KSLU's Camp Guidebook: Fall 2025 Publication]]>Wed, 03 Dec 2025 23:33:25 GMThttps://theampkslu.weebly.com/publication/kslus-camp-guidebook-fall-2025-publication
Our KSLUers are missing those summer days of swimming in the lake and singing campfire songs. Although your publications director cannot personally relate to wanting to sleep on the cold earth, she is proud to present our zine this fine Fall semester: KSLU's Camp Guidebook!
]]><![CDATA[Marble teeth returns to the stu: talks TV, tunes, and tailbone]]>Fri, 27 Jun 2025 03:13:40 GMThttps://theampkslu.weebly.com/publication/marble-teeth-returns-to-the-stu-talks-tv-tunes-and-tailbone
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Ella Bullock and Caleb Jefson (Marble Teeth) talk shop in the KSLU Studio
Marble Teeth. You know him (or you don’t). You love him (or you just don’t know him yet). KSLUers may recognize him from a past interview, or our Spring Show in 2024, or on many a KSLU DJ’s playlists. I have been a fan of Marble Teeth since I saw him play at my very first house show in April 2023. His comfortable demeanor on stage, conversations and jokes with his listeners in between songs, and his tall frame seated next to an old TV set add to his appeal. 

For those new to the Teeth Head scene, the TV is not just for the vibes; it also serves as his pre-recorded band when he performs solo. His creativity doesn’t just come out in his songs. His stage presence and merch speak for themselves. He handmakes practically everything, and I myself have a few original MT items in my closet. 

I digress, this interview was so much fun. Do I know how to use a radio mic after 3 years in the studio? … No, actually. We’ll see if the audio recording ever makes it to the light of day because apparently speaking directly into the mic is very difficult for me. 

His new EP comes out on July 4th, and trust and believe I will be listening to it. Enjoy this interview while you wait!! :)

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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Caleb Jefson in the stu

Where does the "marble teeth" name come from?

I would put things in my mouth when I was a kid, like marbles or game pieces, just stuff from the “stuff drawer.” You could always find something in there, like tiny rubber bands and stuff. I don’t know, then I just thought of it one time, remembering putting a marble in your mouth and kind of rolling it against your teeth. 

What inspires you to make such personalized merch?

Yeah, the uncle story is just a little riff I use. I put these stories with the big blank stickers from the post office. You can get the free ones that say “to” and “from,” and I would type directly onto them with a typewriter. I’d be coming up with it in the moment. I’d have a beginning that I’d use every time, but they’re all different after that. I wish I could read every single one I ever made. Some of them were so random. There was a mass-produced version that I printed out, but there are some others where they’re all different. 

Some of the stickers fade away very quickly, but that’s just how time is. I didn’t even think about that adding to it. If you can only read part of it, then it’s like, “What in the world does that say?” You kind of fill in the gaps.

How has growing up with music in your family influenced you as a musician?

My dad’s side of my family was always pretty musical growing up, like my grandpa, his dad, etc. My dad’s dad was the oldest of 13 siblings, and they lived on a farm in Iowa. He had a lot of brothers, and they all sang quartet music together. My grandpa had three sons, so there were four of them, and they started singing quartet music at church and stuff. Then my dad had three sons, so we've done it a couple of times too. It's almost like a family tradition thing, for real. But yeah, he sang and played guitar when I was a kid, so that's probably my closest “at-home exposure” when I was a child. 

I still live in the same town as them, so I see them all the time. They come to gigs when it's at home, but yeah, they know I'm here… I think… I don't know. Usually, I tell them everywhere I'm going. They're supportive, definitely, as supportive as you can be. I think my mom definitely worries sometimes, for sure, just being out there all by myself sometimes, but it's fun. 

Maybe I'll bring them with me if they want to come. I can imagine, like a father-son type, some Jeff Tweedy stuff. He has a band with his son. It's funny going the other way around. It’s almost nepotism, where your dad is famous and he makes a band with you. Not that I’m famous, but it’s like anti-nepotism or yeah, generational. ​

What was your writing process for "air conditioning unit?"

That's an older song. I probably wrote that in 2018, driving around. That was kind of when I was starting to travel a little more and go out of town. I was also at the beginning of a relationship, so it's like going away from bae. That's the simplest breakdown of the lyrics I could probably do.

If you can dig around on bandcamp, there's a compilation for my friend’s water bill or something. There's “air conditioning unit,” bigger cut. We started doing it faster live, and then there was this different version of it. There's one recording of it; that's for the Teeth Heads. You could go seek it out. Maybe it'll come out for real someday. I don't know if we ever really played it like this with a full band. I played it once with a full band, I think, but it sounded different. That's fun, though; that's an oldie. That one hasn't come up in a while. ​

Are there any major differences between being on tour with the band and performing alone?

It's definitely just different, especially traveling. We all work jobs and stuff. It's not like I can just say, let's all go out for two weeks, and I can pay you all really well and stuff like that. But I can do that for myself, pretty much.

I don't know, I can get off work a little easier than it is for four people to get off work. And it's easier to fund when it's just one guy. Money is being split one way instead of divvying it up. That sounds selfish, but logistically, it just pays the bills. But then you don't get the playing with other people and having people to hang out with, traveling with the band. 

But it's also like, I could spend a long time not talking. Sometimes, if I have to, I'll just sit in the car all day and then pull up to the gig. That makes you really ready, sometimes, to be social with the random people there that you've maybe never met before, or some friends that you're looking forward to seeing. 

With the band, at the end of a car trip, we're all just delusional at that point, like, making jokes. We're all just nonstop talking pretty much, just because we like to hang out. I mean, really, no negatives about taking the band. It’s just hard to get everyone in the same place at the same time sometimes. I don't know if there are any downsides to solo either, other than it's fun to rock out with the crew. You don't get that alone. 

The band has gone through a few iterations. What does the newest version look like?

Shauna learned for the band, pretty much, which was actually the story for our last drummer, as well. Our last drummer Cole, lives in Chicago now, so that's why Shauna has been taking over the sticks. With Cole, it was over COVID, so he just really practiced up. And then Shauna is with us all the time anyway, because she does merch and is my girlfriend as well. It's been awesome. It's so fun. 

Then our new friend, Makayla, is a friend from home. We asked her to start playing bass, and it has been so much fun getting to know her and adding some new blood into the equation. And Jacob, who was on bass, is now playing violin and mandolin. That makes it a little more dynamic. If there’s a violin on a Marble Teeth song, it’s him playing it. I think there are two now that have some Jacob violin on there. I think he’s the only other on the “Terrible Incline” songs. My friend, JT, who was recording them played the tambourine I think, on one of them. Shauna also sings some harmonies, like on “utah” and the third verse of “top 10 times I’ve cried.” But other than that, I think I’ve played everything.

In “the canyon,” there’s one lyric that says,

​“It’s freedom of decision, this gift bestowed on me. I told myself my work’s worth more than debt and a degree.”

Could you talk a little bit about that lyric and deciding to perform as a profession?

This is like a passion project, almost. Every craft I've ever learned how to do, I'm finding a way to incorporate it under the Marble Teeth umbrella, rather than going to college for something, just to learn something, which would probably be good. Nothing against learning, but I didn't want to go to school for this; I would if I were going to do anything else. I would probably want to, or need to go to school for it, but not necessarily for music or music business or all the different degrees that you can do.

No hate on anybody that does do that, because it's great to get a foot in the door. And I was lucky to have some opportunities when I was younger, like before college. So I didn't feel like I didn’t know where to start, so I guess I’ll just go to college. I had a little bit of a start before then. 

I was going to go to community college anyway, pretty much. So the debt part is funny because I wouldn't have probably been in debt. It was very, very cheap. I pretty much was going for free. It's literally, like, minus $1,000 to go to Richland Community College in Decatur. They have a lot of great programs there. Maybe I'll go back someday, maybe get me on that free ride again if I ever come back. Don't forget me, Richland.

It's definitely fulfilling in a lot of ways. You can just see how trial and error of things pay off. I've played a lot of shows, honestly, over the past couple of years. You just learn how to do it a little better every time, in everything. Everything that goes into getting to the gig and having to kill some time beforehand, maybe. Like you get into town a little too early, and you got two hours before the people are going to be home to let you into their house. You got to just find something to do. I don’t know, I like all that. It was not conflicting at all, whether that was what I wanted to do more of. It was more just like, how do I make it pay for itself?

If you could talk to baby marble teeth, what would you want to tell him?

​Oh, man, so many things. Honestly, where would I start? It would depend on how much time I would have. If I knew I only had a little bit, I would freak out and probably not be able to think of anything for my younger self, because that would be a crazy situation to be in. 

But in this hypothetical situation, I don't know, I would say just don't put too many expectations on anything. Every time you're rolling something out, when you do it yourself, you think, “Alright, this is gonna be the one that blows up. Everyone's gonna love this one.” And if you feel that way super strongly, then even if some people love it, which is awesome, then you get pretty down on yourself. 

If you set your expectations to something like, if anyone listens to this and they reach out to me and talk about specific parts, then at least they’re analyzing it to the point that they’re enjoying it enough to think about it twice and relisten. That’s all I could ask for.

Just don't take yourself too seriously, because being at a gig where there are people who think they’re better than everybody else, that’s just the ick for sure. Yeah, that’s a terrible way to present yourself and to come off to everybody, and just like, shooting yourself in the foot, in terms of anybody wanting to book you. Yeah, don't make everything so intense, I don't know. Not that you shouldn't be passionate about your stuff, but yeah, let the people decide. To some extent, the public is the one who's going to be interpreting all of it. So don't think about how you're coming off to everybody. 

Does each place you perform in have a different vibe? have you met any interesting people at your shows?

I mean just different venues in general, it could be the same city, and playing down the street could be completely different. The circuit I’m kind of on, I’m not bringing out huge crowds anywhere. I’m more relying on the people at the venue or the bands I’m playing with, trusting that they have a few people who just come to all their stuff, or the venue is known for putting on pretty good shows, so people just come out when they know there’s a show.

There really are some interesting folks, yeah. It's like, every little place is its own little ecosystem. And you get to be a fly on the wall for the evening, and just see the dynamics between everybody and how it operates. I played this show in Detroit one time. This guy was hosting a gig in Detroit or Hamtramck, which is pretty much a suburb, I guess. And he had a coffin in the house that he had made for himself out of wood. He was letting everybody sign it and decorate it. And he was like, that'll be my coffin someday. 

He was like I need one. And real coffins are expensive. I don't know what the legality is on that. It was like plywood and boards, like two-by-fours. It was nice. I mean, he definitely did all sorts of projects like that before. It wasn't like he just threw it together. It was all tagged up and had stickers on it. I don't know if I put one on it or not. I hope he hasn't had to use it yet. ​
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Keira and Elaine exemplify this sitting down tradition (April 2023)

Can you talk a little more about the sitting down and listening tradition during your shows?

Sometimes, if the floor is clean and the vibe is right, or if there are a ton of people to the point where some people's vision might be impaired, it makes sense. There's also a visual aspect with the TV. With the band, you shouldn’t feel like you have to sit down. In the future, for the TV, don't feel like you have to either. But if people can’t see, that’s when I’ll be like, “Maybe you guys in the front here sit down.” 

Sometimes people will come up to me and be like, “I really liked that we were all sitting. It was cozy.” But I've had a couple of people be like, “I hated sitting on the ground. Like, why did you make us do that?” I was like, “You didn't have to. Thank you for doing it anyway.” But I feel that also, if I'm sitting just on the ground, like a wooden floor, for like, 25 minutes, my tailbone is barking. 

A note to the reader: We got a little off topic during the interview, talking about tailbones etc…

I was on a camping trip for the Eclipse last April, and we were in Southern Illinois on some rocks, a couple days in. I slipped because it was kind of rainy. I bashed my tailbone on this rock, and it hurt so bad. It's pretty healed now, honestly, but I was in for like, two weeks of just driving around after that, and I was bouncing from cheek to cheek because of the pain. 

Man, I'm just going to go off-script here. I showed up to this one show, and I was sitting on a pillow, and my buddy Eric was the contact; I thought I was going to be staying with him that night, so we were trying to work that out. And he saw my butt pillow, and I was explaining to him how my tailbone was hurting. And then later in the night, we were talking with one of the other bands or something, and he was like, “You can sleep on the couch or something. I'll make it really comfy because of your butt problem.” And yeah, I was just really embarrassed because he called it a butt problem. 

And I was like, “Now what does everyone think that is?” I don't feel the need to explain my butt problem to everyone, but it's not as serious as it sounds. It just hurts. There's a look into what my life is like, yeah, literally revealed. 

Sometimes songs can sound different when heard live vs. on a recording. What differences have you found between the two? ​

When I record it, I play it all myself. A lot of the time, I'll have the song on guitar first, pretty much. So I will record the guitar before I've ever played it on drums before, or like bass, or anything really.

I'm just making up the parts pretty much as I'm recording it. Not like hitting record and then making it up, I'll do like a million takes, generally. In the past, I’ve probably been a little too specific in translating it to other people’s parts. So with some of the newer ones, I wanted to simplify it down to like four chords and kind of country-fying a little bit.

It’s fun. I’ve gotten very into Bob Dylan and Elliot Smith, honestly. He has a few tracks where the song is acoustic, but when he was touring with a four-piece band pretty much, it rocked a little harder than the album version. So I mean, I’m almost doing the opposite of that with this one. But we’ve picked up the tempo on a couple of songs and we’re trying to reinvent some of older stuff from the catalogue and refreshing it with stuff I’d like to hear now.

Another note to the reader: He has fulfilled his promise at least once after we conducted this interview, and made a redux of “hair off the dog” called “power bill blues” (off his upcoming EP!!)

Anything you want to tease to our audience?

I have some new songs that we're doing with the band. Nothing is set in stone for sure. I've been listening to a lot of, like, the Smithsonian Folkways, or anthology of music. There are just hours and hours of recordings of people who just go to random people's houses and record them. It wasn't like signed artists and stuff, so they're pretty rough around the edges. I wanted to make some stuff that kind of sounds like that, but I'm recording some songs too that are a little more Hi-Fi, so I don't know. 

We'll get something acoustic someday. I am also about to make this tape, which is pretty much stealing your job. I don't even know if I should say this somewhere the record labels may hear me, but I want to get Spotify on my phone and then like record songs, and make a radio show. I’d play some songs, explain why I love them, and put it on a cassette, so it’d be like a mix tape with me in between songs, being like, here’s this one. Yeah, it’s like a radio show on tape, kind of, but yeah, it won’t be broadcast anywhere. I just got some supplies for that. I just need to sit down and do it. 

It's daunting. Starting something is always the hardest part. But once I get going, I'll think of too many songs to fit on there. Probably once I get to the end, I’ll wish I could fit more. The hardest part is the first one. A journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step.
]]><![CDATA[Amp: Spring 2025 Semesterly Publication]]>Sat, 26 Apr 2025 21:52:22 GMThttps://theampkslu.weebly.com/publication/amp-spring-2025-semesterly-publication
Continuing KSLU's tradition of producing a semesterly publication, we are proud to present the 4th Amp ZINE. Publications Director Ella Bullock and the greater Publications Committee have been working tirelessly to bring this idea to life. Check it out and leave your comments below!
]]><![CDATA[Eclectic Mayhem: Gaga’s New Album Track-by-Track]]>Mon, 24 Mar 2025 03:12:55 GMThttps://theampkslu.weebly.com/publication/eclectic-mayhem-gagas-new-album-track-by-trackPaige Bostic
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Lady Gaga’s 2025 album, Mayhem, dropped at 11 p.m. on March 7, following the release of singles Die With a Smile, Disease, and Abracadabra. The viral singles swept the internet into a frenzy over the return of the ‘classic Gaga sound’ we’ve come to associate with the albums of our younger days, namely The Fame and The Fame Monster. But Mayhem is not just a return to classic Gaga, rather it is exactly what it presents itself as: an electrifying mixture of her past styles and an ushering in of new. An explosion of dance-pop, electronica, and even a Joanne-style ballad, Mayhem is unequivocally Gaga. 
It’s not easy to decide where this album would be most at home. Some songs are for walking home in the rain, some belong in repurposed Berlin warehouses turned techno dance halls, others belong in David Bowie’s underground in Labyrinth (1985). The most prevailing musical style in this album is reminiscent of 1980s synth-pop served à la Gaga, with some breaks here and there for groovier or Gaga-er tracks. 
​
I went into this album hoping that Abracadabra would set the tone for an album with tracks similar to past hits like Scheiße, Judas, and Swine, but found myself surprised with the direction it took. For me, the album was an overall success, but I felt there were some places where Gaga was holding back. Her homages to artists like Madonna, David Bowie, and Prince were exciting for me, yet on those tracks, I felt like something was missing. However, there were plenty of tracks that I felt were authentic to the Lady herself, specifically to her Fame era, with some pepperings of other earlier albums in between.

Track-by-track Review

  1. Disease was an exciting albeit somewhat misleading entry into the album. A melodramatic dark-pop (almost Goth) affair that slithers in some religious overtones, Disease would be right at home with Bloody Mary and Judas. A song perfect for letting your eyes roll back into your head and contorting on the altar, Disease is a gritty promise of absolution. In this respect, I think it makes a fitting foil to the syrupy-sweet devotion of Paparazzi from Fame (2009), finally bringing the demon to the patient sacrificial lamb. 
  2. Abracadabra: Absolutely, unabashedly Gaga! Abracadabra’s spell is cast over hypnotic dance beats we’ve been sorely missing from Gaga, and continues Disease’s dance through the darkness. Her Gaga oo-na-na is reminiscent of her rah-rah-ah-ah-ahs of old. No notes, you’ve heard this song and enjoyed it. 
  3. Garden of Eden: The first unheard song on the album, Garden is a deliciously mythological dance track that reminds me of Babylon, one of my favorite tracks on Chromatica. The lyricism is endearingly Fame-esque, a straightforward siren’s call for boys who want a girlfriend for the weekend only. Enchantingly feminine, echoing, and danceable, Garden of Eden is a re-recording of one of Gaga’s earlier demos from the aughts, Private Audition, so it’s no wonder that there is a Fame feel to the track. 
  4. Perfect Celebrity: “Sit in the front row and watch the princess die” – an unrestrained celebration of Gaga’s skills as a vocalist, Perfect Celebrity is another techno-dance track reminiscent of G.U.Y. 's bass-heavy beat. Raw-feeling vocals and lugubrious lyrics make this track very appealing to lovers of ArtPOP. 
  5. Vanish into You: Possibly my favorite track on this album, Vanish mashes together a variety of artistic stylings of old into a positively electric celebration. Infused with a Bowie-style groove and glimmering with disco influence, this track is everything I wanted and more. It’s danceable, memorable, and somehow manages to maintain its ‘70s-’80s musical stylings with a contemporary feel. 
  6. Killah took a minute to grow on me – which makes no sense. I loved the Bowie-esque guitar, the ‘90s alternative beat. This sunny song is a little slower than the past few, but I found the lyricism to be a little lacking, especially considering the authentic emotion of songs like Perfect Celebrity. Gasaffelstein’s heavy backing beat and groovy guitar make this a fun song to walk down the street to, but heavy use of external influence makes this track stick out from the previous few’s return to original Gagaism. 
  7. Zombieboys is quite obviously the follow-up to Boys Boys Boys, another hearkening to The Fame, and that is really all I can say about it. The bridge has an enchantingly 70s feel, and some airy Madonna influence permeates the track. While I’m always excited to hear Gaga tell us to put our paws up in song, I felt that this song missed the opportunity to drop into a heavier, more danceable beat – perhaps the remixers will prove what I’m getting at. 
  8. Lovedrug made me wonder if we’d be hearing a song like Lovegame, but Gaga’s alto skims above a disco beat with techno flair. If you told me this song was on Chromatica, I’d believe you. A sweet beat and call for the recipient’s affections make this track a sister to Stupid Love. 
  9. How Bad Do U Want Me starts with a techno beat that I thought sounded like the underground theme in Mario games, and kicks off into a love song that sounds almost like Gaga’s interpretation of Taylor Swift (who should definitely cover this). The simplistic, easy-to-get-into beat is fun and listenable, but less heart-wrenchingly, grittily Gaga. 
  10. For fans of Alejandro, Don’t Call Tonight was the winner of the evening. This take on pushing away your lover has a funkier feeling than her predecessor, with an enchanting buildup to the bridge done in a vocoder, giving the song a feel Daft Punk usually delivers. In fact, the guitar has an almost Get Lucky feeling, although in this song, Gaga clearly has no intention of getting anything from anyone. 
  11. Shadow of a Man, or Gaga’s punchier take on Donna Summer, is a swirling trip down Disco Lane, with a beat as moveable as ABBA’s Voulez-Vous. Enjoyers of Gaga’s Scheiße will enjoy the message – woman, desperate to break free from the confining shadow of man, regardless of how dangerous it may be to come into the light.
  12. The Beast is another ‘80s-inspired melodrama, maybe more suited for the boudoir than the dancefloor. However wrenchingly slow-burning, the lyrics are a bit indulgent and the pattering ‘tick-tock’ of the beat made this track a little more forgettable for my personal taste. The Beast is, in my opinion, part of Mayhem’s ballad-heavy finale of three tracks. While Die With A Smile, which will be discussed later, was an undeniable smash, it is hard to live up to.
  13. For a more personal track, Blade of Grass quieted Mayhem’s characteristic disorder for a glimpse into Gaga’s relationship with fiance Michael Polansky, who proposed to her by wrapping a blade of grass around her finger. The battle finally ends, the chaos finally stills, and Gaga finds repose in love. A sweeping ballad for fans of Shallow and Joanne, Blade of Grass is a suitable transition to Die With A Smile. 
  14. ​Where Blade of Grass asserts that love quiets chaos, Die With A Smile asserts that it is only a brief period of sweet rest, one for which we are all the more grateful. I don’t have too much to say for this song, as you have undoubtedly heard it, but I think it is a fitting end to Mayhem. Rejecting the perhaps lofty vaulting of love by Blade of Grass, Die With a Smile takes on a matured idea; that while chaos reigns, two people find solace in each other. Die With a Smile is sweet, but tells us not to forget the single law of Mayhem: entropy reigns supreme. ​

Paige Bostic

An avid writer and a junior at SLU, Paige has been a part of KSLU publications for quite some time. As one of the most active members in Pub, she loves to combine her vast knowledge of music with her knack for creating and composing articles. Her radio show, Electric Mayhem, airs Tuesdays at 1 p.m.

]]><![CDATA[AMP: Fall 2024 Semesterly Publication]]>Thu, 05 Dec 2024 17:35:29 GMThttps://theampkslu.weebly.com/publication/amp-fall-2024-semesterly-publication
Continuing KSLU's tradition of producing a semesterly publication, we are proud to present the 3rd Amp ZINE. Publications Director Ella Bullock and the greater Publications Committee have been working tirelessly to bring this idea to life. Check it out and leave your comments below!
]]><![CDATA[Q&A WITH MARBLE TEETH]]>Sun, 17 Nov 2024 21:50:58 GMThttps://theampkslu.weebly.com/publication/qa-with-marble-teeth
A treasure of an interview finally comes to the surface. In Fall of 2023, Marble Teeth, a.k.a. Caleb Jefson, stepped into the KSLU studio to give us the deets on his origin story, the Marble Teeth brand, and his most recent project, "top 10 times i've cried."

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

How Did you get started in music? what's your background?

There's been music in my family. My dad, his brothers, and my grandpa did a four-part quartet, a Baptist/gospel kind of thing when I was growing up. So, I'd hear that. In terms of bands, just a generic story: starting to get into your own music right before high school and discovering stuff on the internet for yourself. I learned how to play most instruments by fiddling with them until I took some bass lessons in junior high that set me on the right path. Other than that, it's been figuring out what I can do along the way. I was in a band in high school, like a couple of groups around then. Marble Teeth probably started in 2016 or 2017. I started touring solo when everyone else in the other bands was too busy. Ever since then, it's kind of been all the chips in one pile with this project. It's just a little easier by yourself than trying to get four other dudes nailed down on a schedule all the time.

Does being from the Midwest influence your sound? Does it bring you closer your roots or shy away from a certain sound?

Early on, I did a lot of sleuthing over the internet because there weren't a lot of local stuff happening with kids my age. There were some bar bands from Decatur, sometimes a little older guys playing music, but there weren't a ton of people my age that seemed to be doing that. For all of high school, it was pretty much just the internet, Facebook groups, and forums, just meeting people over the internet.
I used to really dislike country music. I've grown to love it over the years. It's kind of hard to be in the Midwest, like there were a lot of corn towns. I was probably kind of a stick in the mud about it. This was when I was first discovering other music but I really like it now. You can find some good country around.

When you're making music, do you find it sounds like country?

I don't know if I've got anything yet that's super country. I don't know if I've even attempted that. Maybe there are a couple of folkier bits. I've got some acoustic songs coming out that are a little more country/blues kind of. The thing about country is that the songwriting is almost formulaic. It's like a math problem where there's a resolve at some point. That's what I really like when I hear a country song. It's because the writing is genius and I love the sound of it too, steel guitars and stuff like that.

What's the marble teeth song formula?

It usually starts with lyrics. I mean, it just depends on the song. Sometimes I'll have a guitar or a part I've just been playing for a while and then trying to think of stuff. It typically starts out with a couple lyrics that just come into my mind and I can't stop thinking about them or almost make up a chant. I get the rhythm down first, and I fit stuff in after that. 
I'm not a crazy musician by any means. I don't feel like I can use guitar parts or things like that to convey emotion. I love layering all that stuff in and it definitely adds to it. But yeah, lyrics and the structure around the song is usually how it gets started, especially not having a band where I'd bring something to them, and then we're all kind of writing our own parts. It's an acoustic song and then I record a "scratch take" of it. Then I start adding stuff over the top, when it comes to production. 
I've been trying to write a little more recently, with the country thing where a song is about one topic. I feel like there are some Marble Teeth songs, like on "Park" especially that are all over the place and about a million different things. It comes together cohesively, I think. I've been trying an exercise where I write and I know what the song's about before I start it. Sometimes I wouldn't do that. Then the next verse is about something different, just jamming stuff in. "love aquatic" is one where I had the idea first and then I tried to write the song about this or themed it in a certain way. That's kind of new, maybe you'll hear some new ones that are more that way. But before, it definitely was thinking of a couple lyrics and then building out around that. 

What does the production side of making your music look like?

Usually, everything that's on a recording you listen to, I played. My friend Jacob has done some violin on a couple of songs. I think that's about it. I'm not really technically advanced enough to figure out samples and all that stuff. Or even like MIDI instruments, it's usually the sound in the room. I'm making a real sound at some point and then some of it's a little manipulated.

Marble Teeth has a very unique performance style. Could you explain what your live performances look like?

What is being referenced is in the absence of a band. Sometimes on tour, I've got a TV with a built-in DVD player. I've put in all the backing tracks. I mix all my own stuff or record it at least. I've got all the stems. So I'll make a separate mix where I cut out the guitar and the vocals, so it's like drums and bass and a keyboard or a shaker or something. I'll put that on a DVD with a little visual; I just rip them all off YouTube pretty much. You can listen to some songs and kind of imagine what it should be. The Veggie Tales one is about the Bible, which is another song where I had the idea first. That was probably one of the first ones I wrote where I was like, I'm going to try and write about this situation. And that one's called "joshua 2 (rahab)." But yeah, the TV is the band usually.  
I've got two guys that will fill out for a little three-piece band we do sometimes. But the TV is very easy to take on tour, in terms of feeding it and finding it a place to sleep and everything. It's not too picky, usually very reliable, and never gotten too drunk before a gig. 

You played at schubas in Chicago recently. What was that like?

Schubas is probably the biggest venue I've played in. I had never been there before. Well, Shauna had sent out some emails after we went to an MJ Lenderman show at Lincoln Hall in July. I had never been there either, but that place was awesome.  
After that, I decided I wanted to play at a venue. Shauna had sent out some well-worded emails to a couple different places. 
It turns out, someone I had a mutual friend with is working as the booking intern at Schubas. So they sent me an email about a free series they do once in a while. There were some other Chicago locals on it and Marble Teeth was like the headliner. It was a really sweet, amazing experience. The sound was awesome; the room was really cool. I was imagining something really, really big in my mind. I was super nervous, honestly. But when we got there it was amazing. Everyone there was super nice. 
It feels good. For the majority of the project, every show I've played I've pretty much booked myself. I've gotten the ball rolling on it, other than local stuff that people ask me to be on as a local. In terms of booking tours and stuff, I'm boots on the ground doing that and sending all the messages. I could maybe count on two hands the amount of times that a venue not an hour tops away from me has reached out and started the ball rolling on a show. So that's an amazing feeling. I feel blessed, I guess. 
It was a big room, we definitely didn't fill it up. Playing to 50 people in a house is like you can't see the back of everybody; they're out in the hallway and there's a line for the bathroom. But it was awesome. The crowd was great. Lots of homies showed up that I hadn't seen in a while. Some people surprised me about coming out, some good, old friends. There were people wearing Marble Teeth shirts, like old ones from a couple years ago. It was amazing. We actually got some video and audio of that one too.

Do you have a favorite performance memory?

I'd have to ponder on that a little bit. I definitely prefer house shows over a venue, especially if I'm playing the TV set. I've played a couple of venues with that and it's even harder than winning over a crowd with a band. It's hard enough to get people to interact, I just want to chat and stuff sometimes. The TV works a lot better in a room with 20 people rather than a giant hall with 200 people. Those are usually the shows I'm trying to get the band on the schedule and texting everybody. 
One of the first times I played as Marble Teeth in St. Louis, I had just found the band The Public on Instagram, just by looking at St. Louis hashtags and stuff. I don't even know how they came up, but they were super nice. They set up a show at someone's house and I think that was probably the first Marble Teeth St. Louis show. 
View this profile on Instagram

The Public (@thepublicstl) • Instagram photos and videos

This has been a spot I want to hit every time, pretty much ever since then. I met probably 50 people at that show and at least the next couple of times I came through, I didn't have to worry about finding a gig. Everyone was so receptive to hearing my stuff, being really supportive and buying merch. I love St. Louis, all my house show experiences here have been amazing. The people are really what make it. I don't think I've had one that's just so bad that it was even notably bad in my mind.   
Usually a house is much more comfortable in terms of touring solo. Also I'm showing up all by myself. I've learned you got to talk to some people or you're not going to talk to anyone all night. They might come up to you after you play or something but yeah, I love just being able to roll up and make small talk. I love chatting and stuff like that, asking people about what they do and what the town is like, maybe if I haven't really been there before. 

What does a typical "tour day" look like for you?  

I kind of figure it out ahead of time, try and find a place to stay every night. Or if you're playing a house, it's usually easy to just crash. I love hanging in people's houses and sometimes people are sweet and make you breakfast or coffee or something like that. If there are Goodwill Bins in the town that I'm playing, I'm definitely there. That's the routine. I love St. Louis for that reason too.  
I try to make the drives pretty short too. In the Midwest it's easy, they're out east. You can drive two hours and be in another relatively large city. Two or three, four to five hours is good. This weekend we're doing Oklahoma to St. Louis so that'll be a full drive day. I like going to parks in the towns I'm going to. If the weather is nice, I like to walk around for a bit.
It's hard being solo. I have been a little more on a reading kick recently. I try to read, but if you have to drive, you can't really read, so I listen to podcasts and a lot of music on the road. 

Who are you listening to right now?

Probably so many people, but this is such a hard question to answer on the spot. Bob Dylan is always a fallback. Michael Hurley is a kind of folk singer. He has an album called "Have Moicy!" and every song is just really, really great. It's the same kind of deal where there are some great concepts for a song. That's what has been really exciting me recently. You listen to a song and you kind of feel like you could have written it almost. It's like, wow, that's so simple. You just have to get the idea to start out with, it's like getting a template and just imagining it. Sometimes you can just picture the whole song before you.

Do you ever get lonely when you're traveling alone?

Sometimes, for sure. Especially after you meet a ton of people the night before and you think, wow, we're all like such great friends. This is awesome. Then they go home and first you gotta go to bed. Sometimes you feel like you're coming down from the rush of meeting a lot of new people. Sometimes it takes a bit to get to sleep. 
I really don't mind it too much. I like listening to music in the car. With a ton of people sometimes it's nice to all be talking, but sometimes I really want to just listen to something. And if everyone's talking over it, it ruins the magic a little bit.  
There are definitely some times where I get to the gig and I think, wow, I've probably spoken like three sentences out loud today just because there's not really anyone that's out here. It's never been so bad that I'm asking, what am I going to do and I'm going crazy.

Do you have any hobbies or passions? Any that influence or inspire your sound style or lyrics?

Hobbies are hard because music is all encompassing sometimes. When you're doing it yourself it's very freeing, in terms of I don't really have to wait on other people or a label. I've never really had a label or people to wait on. I do all the merch myself, like all the Marble Teeth merch that's being sold is usually handmade by me to some extent. I've ordered a couple runs of tapes or like a couple shirts every once in a while but usually everything's kind of handmade by me. That's a whole other side of it, where screen printing is a hobby that kind of bleeds into music also.  
I don't know, I mean everything you do affects what you're writing to some extent. I watch a lot of YouTube videos. Honestly, I like documentaries and video essay type stuff. I've always been ready to go down a rabbit hole of discovering a new artist or thing in history or something, and being obsessed with it for a couple weeks. 

Do you think making and selling your own merch lends to the marble teeth image?

I think it helps to stick in people's minds a little bit but you have got to be creative or do something outside the box, rather than having a t-shirt hanging up on the wall. I see a halfhearted attempt too many times. When people don't really care, I guess there's no shame in that. 
I work at a sports store and I make jerseys there all day, pretty much. I've kind of learned my way around designing and things like that, so that's a passion and a hobby of mine on its own. It's nice that it lines up and I have a project to sell things for, rather than just trying to start a clothing brand or something, which I'm not super keen on. But I definitely enjoy doing all of that and it's nice to have a product outside of the shirts that I feel like I'm selling in terms of the music. It's all promo for the music. I can just chalk it up to that, I guess.  
People comment and say they could tell how much care I'd put in, or the effort in general. I'm not just like, showing up last second and playing these songs I have. This is something I spend a lot of time doing, honestly, working on different facets of it, zines and stuff that was kind of a new thing I branched out into recently.
I just want to try my hand at making things, it's fun to make something and have someone enjoy it like, especially with the thrifted ones. I've bought so many shirts at thrift stores, I just forget about some of them and then I'll see someone wearing it. People can pick out what they want. You get a little more variety than a white or black t-shirt, ones with print already on them. It's just fun and I love thrifting, so I buy one thing for myself and one thing for the shop. 

Is there anything you can tell us about those upcoming projects? 

I've got a record that I'm pretty much done with. I took a master track with me on a camping trip I went on and listened to that a couple times. I made some notes on things I needed to fix when I got home. So no real time frame on that but as soon as I can, there'll be a new Marble Teeth record called "top 10 times i've cried" (note from the future: he dropped the album and it's awesome). There's that one and I've got an acoustic, bluesy one in my mind. I'm already projecting past this thing that I'm supposed to be finishing too.
This will probably be the rocky one then I'll have a little more quiet wintertime songs coming out at some point. But that's just iron in the fire at this point. "top 10 times i've cried" will be the end of October.
Send an email at marblemail333@gmail.com and you'll get some updates. I send hidden tracks and live sets and stuff on there sometimes. But sooner rather than later I'll have the new record wrapped up. And I'm really stoked on those. 
There's a couple songs that I've been sitting on for a while that didn't feel like they fit on "8 MORE" that I kept working on a little bit. So there are some old ones and then some newer songs. The track list kept kind of changing. You write a new song and take an old one off or move a different one to the back or something like that. So I'm really excited to have them out. It's been a work in progress. This year's been busy for various reasons.  
I'm ready to have them out and move forward to the next thing. When you're doing all your own stuff, it's easy to stress about all the small stuff, getting the mix right and everything. I try not to kill myself over the small stuff like that just because a lot of records I like sound pretty bad. Sometimes the mix isn't going to be what sells it to someone if they're going to like it. I hope the songs will just resonate and they're not picking apart my master. 

Do you have any closing remarks?

Thank you all for having me. It seems like an amazing program. I would love to log in and listen to some of the streams sometimes. I liked the mix that was going on before I got in here. Yeah, shout out to St. Louis. I really love this city. We'll be back as soon as possible.

Authors

Interviewed by Sophie Trad and Elaine Lohse
Q&A edited by Ella Bullock

]]><![CDATA[Matt Slocum (sixpence none the richer) | KSLU INTERVIEW]]>Thu, 24 Oct 2024 20:10:55 GMThttps://theampkslu.weebly.com/publication/matt-slocum-sixpence-none-the-richer-kslu-interview

interview transcript

Ella Bullock (EB):
Hi, Matt. This is Ella.

Matt Slocum (MS):
How are you?

EB:
I'm good. How are you?

MS:
I'm doing well. Nice to meet you.

EB:
Nice to meet you too. I know you're very busy and you're on tour, so thank you for having the time to speak with me today.

MS:
Of course.

EB:
You've been on the road for about two weeks now, right? So how does it feel being back on the road?

MS (00:31):
Well, we're actually having a lot of fun so far. Shows have been great. We're all playing great, having fun. We've had really good turnouts and a few sellouts, and I'm sure we're going to hit a wall or hit the proverbial wall at some point. And as you do, I think we're doing 50 cities in two months, so it's not a whole lot of time off and we're just trying to stay healthy. But so far, so good. It's going well.
EB:
That's good. How do you avoid burnout, especially with all of those shows in such a short time?

MS (01:18):
Well, I think we're going to be learning that in real time again. Leigh has a close friend, friends who does a lot of tour managing, I think for big acts like Depeche Mode and Neil Young, and his advice was drink water, eat salads, and sleep a lot. So I think we're just trying to stay hydrated and eat well and get some good rest, but yeah. Yeah,

EB:
That's good. And you've been doing this for a while, and how does it feel being on this tour compared to what you've done in the past with Sixpence?

MS (02:13):
That's a good question. It has been a long time since we've done sort of a long extended tour like this. But I think back then it definitely felt like we were trying to prove something as everybody's doing, just trying to make a name for yourself and establish a good reputation. And just connect with fans. That's probably still the same, but I think we've definitely noticed kind of a bit of a generational jump with the crowds.

We've been seeing a lot of young people come out along with the older fans that saw us 20 plus years ago, and that's kind of an extra special layer to kind of feel like your music is connecting with a whole new generation and they're coming out on a consistent basis. So yeah, I don't know. I'd like to say that we feel older and wiser, and that's a good feeling. I don't know if that's actually true, but yeah, I don't know. We just kind of feel more comfortable and thankful that the music has stood the test of time and the music ends up kind of playing itself in a way, which that's a good feeling.

EB:
Yeah. I actually, I can speak from experience. Me and quite a few people on my college campus listen and include your songs on our playlist and everything. And you spoke a little bit about this before, but can you delve a little deeper into your thoughts on the different generations listening to your music?

MS (04:25):
Yeah, I mean, my frame of reference personally is I have two teenage daughters, 16 and 13, so I kind of see pop music through their eyes, and they introduced me to a lot of new music, which is really cool. It's really cool to have that perspective. But when they started showing me, "Hey dad, Sabrina Carpenter covered y'alls song the other night at a concert," and then I'm kind of instantly cool and have cred with all her buddies. So that's kind of the perspective I've seen.

And also, not only the Sabrina Carpenter thing, but there's been stuff with Taylor Swift talking about it being the first song she learned to play on guitar or Lisa from Blackpink sort of. So there's just a lot of things happening that are huge, the pop culture fabric, which I think is reaching that new generation. But what's cool is they're actually engaging with our music on a deeper level and coming to shows and things. So yeah, it's great.

EB:
Yeah, amazing. Yeah, I talked to my sister actually, and I think I gained a little bit of street cred talking to you because she loves Taylor Swift, and she was talking about how Taylor Swift had actually listened to your music and that was the first song she played. So yeah, I can speak from experience talking about my generation in particular. You talked a little bit about the different music and how it reaches your audience. So you've written quite a few songs for Sixpence, correct?

MS:
Yeah. Yeah. I think Leigh and I have kind of done the majority of the writing. Yeah.

EB:
Can you talk a little bit about your process and what it means to have people who are listening to what you're writing?

MS (07:08):
Yeah. The process has been, well, I should start off by saying, I don't know if you are familiar with this book that Rick Rubin released fairly recently. I think it's the creative… I forget what the title is, but it's essentially the creative thoughts on the creative process. And that book's been important for a lot of people because it helps kind of articulate the process because for Leigh and I, it's always been a bit of a mystery that we've been able to work so well together for such a long period of time in a way that she is comfortable interpreting lyrics that I have written.

It just doesn't seem like it would work, but it does. So I think our process has really been coming together and just sort of, "Here's a lyrical idea. Does this resonate with you? Same with the musical idea. How does that resonate?" Sometimes I'll bring a verse and a chorus and Leigh will flush out another few verses or vice versa. Sometimes she'll bring lyrics, I'll write music to her lyrics or yeah, it's just kind of all across the board. 

MS (08:54):
But really at the end of the day, I think we view it as just sort of a gift to keep notebooks and just sort of receive what comes to you or what strikes you, document how you're perceiving and interpreting things throughout your day. And then somehow that kind of finds its way into songs. So I know that's a bit vague, but I like the mystery of it.

​And to further answer your question about knowing that people will listen to it, it's almost like The Listener is the final completion of the song, because some songs, the mystery of it, you could be creating a song, you don't even quite know what it's about, but it feels important and it needs to be heard. And then the listeners almost sort of receive it and interpret it in a way that sort of gives you the meaning of it, if that makes sense. So to know you have someone there at the end, whether friends or strangers, that sort of help you understand your own work is pretty amazing. And that can be for anybody that could be 20 listeners or 20,000 listeners. It's just the point that you have someone on the other end to help you with that process is pretty amazing.
You could be creating a song, [and] you don't even quite know what it's about, but it feels important and it needs to be heard.
​EB:
Right. Yeah. I actually listened to an old interview I think of Leigh's, and it was right when Kiss Me was blowing up and she was talking about how I think the producers chose that song to be the single off of your album. And I think she said that if it were you guys who decided which single off of the album, it might not have been Kiss Me. So how has your few favorite songs that you've made and performed differed from the songs that you found out that your audiences like,

MS (11:34):
Yeah, that's a good example. Because I think mean that particular song is not really fully representative of our whole catalog, and especially when that record was being made, we were sort of in a dark place and there wasn't a whole lot of things that were happening that were upbeat surrounding the making of that particular record. And so our vision was probably clouded, and we didn't really think that this just doesn't really represent us, is what we felt.

But luckily, again, you have someone who can sort of interpret like, well, I think this song will really connect you guys on a massive scale, which it did. And I think that even though it's not fully representative of what we do, it's just opened so many doors and allowed us to keep doing this on many different levels financially, just connecting, being able to go tour all over the world because of that particular hit. And so, yeah, again, it's like the artist doesn't always know best or they can be pretty myopic and have blinders on about things. So just furthers your point. The listeners and the outside people can sometimes help you along in ways that don't seem right. But that was a huge decision that has sort of affected us forever, really. So we're thankful for that.

EB:
Yeah, and you talked a little bit about how that record in particular had opened a lot of doors for you. Where has being a musician and being in Sixpence taken you and where has some of the more important and more memory establishing come from? Where has being a musician taken you around the world?

MS (14:13):
Yeah, man, travel is probably one of the biggest. Just getting to tour all over Europe and Asia and I mean, we couldn't even get to all the places we wanted to go to. But, so yeah, opening the doors of travel, but also we've really gotten to work and as musicians, we've gotten to work in some of the best studios in the world with some of the best producers and engineers in the world. And just to meet a lot of our heroes and play.

And I mean, for example, on this tour, well, Leigh and I grew up in this little town called New Braunfels, and there's a pretty iconic dance hall in this area called Gruene. It's one of the oldest operating dance halls in the country. And we grew up in the shadow of that and had always dreamed of just being accepted by that community and playing there one day. And we just played there a few nights ago and had a complete sold out show. And in the eyes of our hometown, I mean, just to see friends and family see us come full circle.

And I don't know, you feel so proud that you were able to achieve even that goal. So yeah, it, it's just brought us a lot of joy and a lot of credibility and it continues to do so, which is amazing because we're not young anymore, but people are still wanting to hear what we're doing. So I don't know, I guess at the end of the day, the best thing it gives us is purpose and connection, but to be able to see the world because of music, it's a special thing.

EB:
Yeah, I can only imagine. So you talked a little bit about working with Leigh for a while and how the two of you come from the same town. What has it been like working with her since you guys were young, and how has that sort of, I don't know, evolved over time?

MS (17:15):
Yeah, that's another great question. I think we made our first record together when I was 19 and she was 16. And I mean, we didn't know what we were doing. I think we learned how to be writers and artists and the business together. We kind of grew up together in the business, and certainly pros and cons of that. We made a lot of mistakes, but even the mistakes bond you as well.

So I think we've kind of been bonded together just by all the getting knocked around by the business, but also watching each other grow as musicians and watching Leigh grow as a singer and to just watch someone over decades is amazing. And I think I have seen Leigh evolve as a writer, which I think when we started this, she was not really even interested in writing songs. And she's become just a fantastic songwriter and has a great catalog of solo material to present that. And to watch her singing, continue to mature and get better consistently, where I think she's singing better than she ever has.

MS (19:12):
So yeah, I mean, somehow we've luckily kept it all together. I think most stories would've ended a long time ago, but we somehow have this bond from when we were young and growing up and learning it together, and which just reflects in the music and our friendship and how we continue to do this.

​So kind of a rambling answer, but it's kind of like it's discovering your musical partner extremely early and having a lot of time to figure it out. Because there's a lot of twists and turns and a lot of challenges and a lot of obstacles, and we've just kept doing it. But I'm just proud of her evolution. It's really amazing to see the impact she's made on this, even new generation of pop singers. It is really mind blowing.
It's like discovering your musical partner extremely early and having a lot of time to figure it out.
EB:
For sure. That was a beautiful answer.

MS:
Okay, good

EB:
No, it was good. It was good. About your new ep, Rosemary Hill, I watched the music video and it depicts the two of you as children, no?

MS:
Yeah.

EB:
Could you talk a little bit about the music video and the song in general?

MS (21:02):
Yeah, we sort of call that video historical fiction because we definitely embellished, it's not meant to be on the nose of our childhood, but it just sort of took on a life of its own and definitely wanted to sort of immortalize where we did grow up, but the whole opening scene where I sort of ride my bike to her house and give her a cassette of some music, that actually happened. That was me kind of hearing her sing in town and then writing some songs and putting 'em on a cassette and driving it over to her parents' place and handed it off. That actually happened, but we never rode bikes around together.

We've got probably four years age difference between us, and at that age, you're not hanging out with, like the 15 year old's not hanging out with the 11 year olds. So that's kind of like, that's the fictional part of it, but that's just what the narrative ended up being in the video, and it's really special. I think it illustrates the spirit of how the band came together more than being totally on the nose.

EB:
That's always how it goes, I feel in production. It's always a little bit embellished.

MS:
Exactly. Yeah.

EB:
Yeah, for sure… There's one more question that I had more out of just curiosity, but I've wondered how the modern music industry has changed since you first started the whole process like recording and touring, and how have you noticed that, if you have?

MS (23:40):
Oh yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think Leigh would probably, I think we'd both have similar answers, but different answers as well in how we're processing that and perceiving that. But I think the big one seems to be the social media component. We didn't have that at all when we were starting out and when we were hitting it, that just didn't exist.

So that level of access to just people and the way that, that's just such a huge part of connecting with fans and promoting music and bands these days is certainly something that is extremely different. Also, just how music is made. I mean, I think we were sort of on the tail-end of working in very expensive big studios. Now anybody can make music anywhere.

MS (25:01):
And also just I think the way we were sort of on the tail end of radio, commercial radio, how that sort of dominated and things were not as splintered. I mean now it just seems like you can access anything at any time in any format and go down any rabbit hole you want to go down. And that's very much different for us as well, which is very cool because I love so many different types of music. I know Leigh does too. It's amazing to have that at your fingertips.

It also can be a bit overwhelming when you think how much music is out there. You just feel like a drop in the ocean, and it seems like much more difficult for bands to break because of that, or everyone's just looking for their niche of what they do and having smaller fan bases that really endorse what they do, and that's success.

​But I was going to say too, I mean, I'm showing my age. I remember when everybody was driving down to the record store to buy the new U2 record or something, and it was a bigger collective experience. Now it seems like people don't get that as much. For my kids, Taylor Swift seems to be their massive collective experience. But yeah, it seems that the amount of music and the access to it, that has been a big change too.

EB:
Yeah, for sure. Do you have any recommendations for anyone trying to break into the industry right now?

MS (27:20):
I don't know. It's like I'll hear, my daughter will introduce me to some band. She kind of introduced me to this band called Cigarettes After Sex recently, which is kind of this real, I don't know if you've heard it 

EB:
I have. 

MS (27:42):
Very kind of dream pop. Yeah, it's really cool stuff, really vibey. I love it. I mean, I grew up listening to Slowdive and a lot of shoegazing stuff, and I just loved it, but I had no idea, they’re doing stadium tours now. So it's kind of like, I'm sure they just kind of did their thing. They did what they wanted to do and it blew up. So I know it sounds pretty trite and cliche, but you got to just do what you love and hope it connects. I wouldn't try to play the game and try to anticipate what people want. Just do what you love. I think people will find you.

EB:
Yeah, for sure. Well, that sort of wraps up the questions that I had. Is there anything else that you'd like to mention? I know that you have a few performances before St. Louis, but you have your City Winery performance on October 26th in St. Louis. Is there anything you'd like to say about the performance or anything for anyone listening to or reading along this interview once it publishes?

MS (29:15):
Yeah, I guess, I mean, I'll just kind of point towards or highlight a couple of releases that will be in the process of coming out before St. Louis, but Leigh actually has some new music that's sort of coming out as the tour's progressing. But she did a duet with Roland Orzabal from Tears for Fears, beautiful song that she wrote, and he came in and sang. That's worth looking into. And that is part of a project that I think is coming out Spring of 2025, but they're leaking some music as this tour goes on, so keep an eye out for that. My daughter is actually singing on one of the songs on that record, so I have a proud dad moment on that.

MS (30:26):
And then we actually have, for Record Store Day or Black Friday Record Store Day. We did a Christmas record back in 2008, and it's being rereleased on vinyl with two new songs for Record Store Day. But they're releasing a song from that project on October 25th. And so we'll probably most likely either debut it at the St. Louis City Winery show or the show before that. But either way, that'll be kind of a fresh addition to the set and it may be a bit early for Christmas, but everything just seems early. Everything is just early. 

EB:
It's going fast, I think. 

MS:
Yeah. Yeah. So you'll hear some, St. Louis will be hearing some new additions to the set around that particular project, which will be nice.

EB:
Amazing. Yeah. Well, some of the KSLU people will be coming to the St. Louis show, and I'm excited to hear all about it. Thank you so much for having the time and making the time to interview with me, and I hope that you have a great rest of your day.

MS:
Thank you, you too. Yeah, thanks for the great questions and I appreciate it.

EB:
Thank you so much. Have a good day.

MS:
Okay, you too. Bye.

EB:
Bye.

Ella Bullock

As KSLU's 2024-25 Publications Director, Ella strives to put The Amp on the map (first at SLU, then we take on the world). She channels her passion for music into interviews and writing for KSLU. She hopes you enjoy what she's been working on, because she's enjoyed doing it.

]]><![CDATA[The Monster Mash: a Brief Retrospective]]>Thu, 17 Oct 2024 15:56:08 GMThttps://theampkslu.weebly.com/publication/the-monster-mash-a-brief-retrospective
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​By Paige Bostic
Boris sent me.

October: a month of pumpkin spice, turning leaves, scary movies, scarier presidential debates, and freaks coming out at night. It is also the month I find myself repeatedly returning to a song none other than the Monster Mash (as it’s a graveyard smash). As I continue through my college career, I too know what it is like to be working in the lab late one night, and to yearn to one day see my monster from his slab begin to rise. The song is a seasonal staple for some and a parasitic pest for others. No matter how one feels about this kitschy cult classic, its history is a fun jaunt into the crypt of the 1960s pop culture scene in which the song rests. 
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Before we reanimate the song’s various cultural references, a quick history of the song is necessary. The creation of this song by singer/actor Bobby Pickett was urged on by his friend Lenny Capizzi, who thought that Frankenstein’s monster deserved a dance craze after hearing Pickett’s impression of the creature. The smash hit was developed by Pickett and a band credited as the Crypt-Kickers. Among the Crypt-Kickers are songwriter Gary Paxton of the one-hit-wonder Hollywood Argyles and drummer Mel Taylor of the surf-rock band The Ventures. Together, Pickett and the band sought to incite a craze: a spooky, not-quite-rock-and-roll dance trend for horror fans looking for a novel celebration of the characters they grew up loving. 

The song’s narrator is the mad scientist, Boris, voiced by Pickett, who, as mentioned before, could do a pretty good silly voice. This was not just an arbitrary impression, but a pretty admirable imitation of actor Boris Karloff. Karloff portrayed Frankenstein’s monster in 1931, in the classic appearance for which we imagine the creature: the moaning, groaning monster-man with bolts jutting out of his neck. Pickett also does a quick Dracula impression, in the voice of horror icon Bela Lugosi asking whatever happened to his Transylvania Twist. The guests of the party, from the Monster, to Wolfman, to the aforementioned Dracula (and his son), were not always just classic monsters, but the characters from the classic Universal movies which thrust them into the American cultural spotlight during the producers’ childhoods. Nostalgia was the name of the game for this song. The monsters come together to mash (to do the Monster Mash), capitalizing on the dance crazes of the ‘50s and ‘60s, in response to the Mashed Potato and the earlier Twist. In fact, The Original Monster Mash album (1962) includes the Transylvania Twist, and another dance, the Werewolf Watusi, would emerge later in 1964. The entire album, while not quite hitting the same as the eponymous mash, maintains the spooky, not-doo-wop-but-not-rock feel of dance music in the early ‘60s.
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When you throw nostalgia, zany impressions, and dance trends into the novelty song cauldron, you get an incredibly potent one-hit-wonder, and what a wonder the Mash is. Even today, over 60 years later, the song’s popularity spikes each October, raking in about a million dollars per year. It’s been covered by popular bands such as Misfits and even by horror icon Vincent Price. The song also got its own truly odd movie in 1995, creatively titled Monster Mash, starring Pickett, Candace Cameron Bure from Full House, and Ian Bohen from Teen Wolf. The song is, undeniably, a zombie that emerges from the graveyard every year to sit on the Billboard chart until returning to its tomb on November 1st. Even Pickett, in the guise of Boris, admits his guilt in his song Rabian The Fiendage Idol:

“I never expected this of you, Drac,
Looks like everyone wants to get in on the act,
Since I’ve had a hit record and made all this bread,
I’ve become the Dick Clark for all the undead”

    Admittedly, the song itself is not great, but does a hilarious fang-in-cheek criticism of the new rock-n-roll sound, sung by a gravelly-voiced bad-boy werewolf who is terrible at writing his own lyrics. Unfortunately, no song of Pickett’s will ever hit as deeply as the Monster Mash. With that being said, in spite of all the objective criticism I can lob at the song, its history, and its cash-grabbing tendency, I cannot deny that every year, it gives my electrodes a jolt. In a world where Christmas gets dozens upon dozens of songs that anyone who has worked retail shudders to think about, I appreciate that the Monster Mash popularized the Halloween novelty music genre to hold the line against the ever-earlying arrival of holiday cheer. To you, the living, I invite you to keep doing the graveyard smash – you’ll catch on in a flash.
]]><![CDATA[Amp: Spring 2024 Semesterly Publication]]>Sun, 08 Sep 2024 21:15:43 GMThttps://theampkslu.weebly.com/publication/amp-spring-2024-semesterly-publication
KSLU's Publication Committee historically produces semesterly publications to show our fellow KSLUers and fans what we've been up to throughout the semester. Publications Director Lucy Radocha, Apprentice Ella Bullock, and Brand Director Elaine Lohse are proud to present KSLU's second ZINE!!! Check it out and leave your comments below!
]]><![CDATA[I’m Graduating College: My Semesters Defined By A Song With Minimal Explanation]]>Fri, 19 Apr 2024 18:39:46 GMThttps://theampkslu.weebly.com/publication/im-graduating-college-my-semesters-defined-by-a-song-with-minimal-explanationBy Lucy radocha
I remember my life better not by how I felt, what I said or the things that happened, but rather, by the way it sounded, by the song I was humming in that moment or by the music playing on the drive home from that day. Every sweet, sour, sappy, serendipitous memory from my experiences in college can be tied to a song and every song I've ever loved or hated or screamed or hummed can be tied to a person, place or moment.

​Fall 2020
"Flow" - Cage The Elephant
I remember seeing the beautiful, dying leaves in Forest Park for the first time. This song was playing in the car while that happened.

Spring 2021
"Bizarre Love Triangle" - New Order
This song was on my playlist from this semester twice. I think that says enough.

Fall 2021
"Send My Love (To Your New Lover)" - Adele
Oh, the drama of being young.

Spring 2022
"Lost Track" - HAIM
I always wished I loved HAIM more than I did…

Fall 2022
"Human Shape" - Mindchatter
I remember someone special at the time asked for my favorite song. This is what I sent.

Spring 2023
"Warm Winds" - SZA
I wondered why no one else talked about this song back then. I wonder if there really was no one talking about it. (The song I really should have put is "Swish Swish" by Katy Perry.)

Fall 2023
"just like heaven" - The Lumineers
I always tried (but I never tried hard enough) to learn how to play this on the piano.

Spring 2024
"List Of People (To Try And Forget About)" - Tame Impala
A dear friend sent me this. Now this song is dear too.

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