Rostam: Air Max 95s, Counting Persians, and What Makes a Great Show

February 19, 2018

What makes a great show? Is there a rubric?

Written & photographed by Meesh Deyden

Something special must be happening when a concert photographer wants to put down her camera and be fully present at a show. About 4 songs in to Vampire Weekend alum, producer extraordinaire, Discovery co-vocalist Rostam's set at Globe Hall, I found myself retiring my shutterbug perspective for a bask-in-the-glory-of-all-that-is-holy mode of showgoing.

Rostam & his string quartet (photographed by Meesh Deyden)

You can tell when a show is gonna be dope even before it starts-- there are indicators. Fans shout and cheer before the performer even takes stage. Greetings amongst attendees range from blissful silent nods to full on sparks of nascent friendship. The house is packed, and no one's too drunk or too sober. It's good vibes all around. Globe Hall had all that goin Friday night, and then came the string quartet.

Rostam's touring band is composed of a bongoes-focused percussionist and a MF string quartet. So here we are post-opener Joy Again, and here comes a MF string quartet. Now, if you know Globe Hall, you know the venue feels an awful lot like a high school auditorium with its linoleum floor and collapsed faux-wood tables lined somewhere out of the way. Take that image, add four men with their violins ready, music stands positioned just so, and you've got what looks to be the start of the most handsome high school recital ever.

This, all before any music begins.

Rostam backstage (photographed by Meesh Deyden)

Rostam first played the last song off his Half-Light album, a reprise of his hit "Don't Let It Get to You," followed directly by the album's first track, "Sumer," creating an extended crescendo reflective of his conductor-like approach to structuring his live performances. This approach was also evident when he expertly guided the audience in singing the beat for "Rudy." We weren't on time, so, being the producer/conductor he is, kindly advised us to start over and he'd "lead [us] back in."

Belting along seamlessly now, and almost as sweetly as Rostam's electro-modified vocals, fans bobbed and jived to the singer who seemed to smile with every lyric.

Mid way through the set, Rostam, who is of Iranian heritage, posed a query for the snugly packed crowd, "How many Persians in the audience?" Denver, though white af, still boasted 1, with the dude exclaiming, "I'm the only one!" to a now giggling audience. Rostam, touring much of the mid-west recently, responded that "in Minneapolis there was one, but she was my cousin." And while this interaction may seem insignificant, lighthearted engagement between performer and audience about race & ethnicity in America in 2018 is pretty damn spectacular.

Now if all this isn't already the makings of a good show, Rostam has to go and play his harmonica, repeatedly caress his mic stand, call for the lights to dim for a song that heralds "everyone of us has felt the lights go down," and bring an encore that showed us B side material (a cover of Nick Drake's 1971 Pink Moon) and a "brand fucking new song" that'll surely grace the charts with its lusty lyric "we are sweating with no clothes on."

So yea, I put down my camera. I noted his slick Air Max 95s, dutifully appreciated them like my editor in chief taught me, and I enjoyed the show.

You can stay updated with Rostam's latest here.

We Were Carried Away As Passion Pit Dropped By Denver Monday Night

January 25, 2018

Michael Angelakos of Passion Pit (Photographed by Meesh Deyden)

Monday night we dashed over to Colfax and caught indie-electronica band, Passion Pit at the Ogden. After what felt like forever, or just in time to drink a couple beers, the foursome finally waved their way onstage and started us off with crowd favorite, 'Sleepy Head.' Lead singer Michael Angelakos' voice is unequivocally as high pitched as you would expect and his preppy style resembled an even shaggier Jim Halpert on stage.

We had never seen The Ogden that on fire before, figuratively speaking of course. After the initial set was done the boys took off backstage for about 1 minute. During that time the crowd roared and stomped so mighty that the powerful force of the crowd made the floors vibrate. They returned with their most-favored crowd pleaser, 'Carried Away.' If you didn't catch them in Denver this week you may regret it in the near future. Angelakos' announced in July that he's been struggling with his career in the commercialized music industry. In early 2017 in an interview with Pitchfork Angelakos discussed launching the Wishart Group. The organization provides special services to artists such as legal help, education and health care. He may have to break away from his artistry to give his full consideration and attention to Wishart. Cheers to your future no matter what it may be, Mr. Angelakos and thank you for a killer show!

Credit: https://pitchfork.com/news/passion-pits-michael-angelakos-not-done-with-music-but-says-the-industry-nearly-killed-him

For Overcoats, success stems from a telepathic connection

December 9, 2017

It’s an hour before set time and the inseparable duo that make up New York based band Overcoats is getting ready in the Airstream green room in the back of Denver’s Globe Hall. Hana has discovered she has mistakenly put on JJ’s red boots instead of her pair of red boots.

Overcoats L: JJ Mitchell R: Hana Elion (Photo Cred: Meesh Deyden)

“I was wondering why they felt so weird,” Hana says, so they switch pairs. From the 10 minutes I’ve spent with them so far, their shoe size may be one of the few distinguishable differences between this formidable twosome.

JJ and Hana met their freshmen year at Wesleyan University, and have been moving as a unit ever since. They started singing in an acapella group, and after winning battle of the bands together, began making their own music. “I promise I’ll hold on / ’til I’m the last one standin' / ’til all that’s left is one,” and here on their first song penned, they linger, “little memory.” There, in the lingering in-between harmony, is where they’ve led & let us in to the heart of their friendship.

“We got each other the same gift at the airport one time. Rose scented perfume" they told Jon Hart of Kansas City's 90.9 back in October. Even in their songwriting they share an almost telepathic connection. Talking about their creative process when they jetted off to Ireland post graduation, JJ tells in the same interview, "When we came back with what we had come up with [for the 2nd verse of 'Nighttime Hunger'], it was almost word for word exactly the same."

Special s/o to Overcoats drummer, Joao, for hooking it up w/the double iPhone lighting here (Photo Cred: Meesh Deyden)

In a performance for Audiotree earlier this year, Hana said, "Our friendship is foundational to what we do because we're discussing things like heartbreak, relationships with our parents-- it's pretty intense, vulnerable stuff, & to have that trust and loving foundation there is really important and makes it easy and healing for us to share our experiences with each other and write about them together." Listening to first lines from tracks like "23" and "Walk On" on their first full length album, YOUNG, you immediately get a sense that these two dive deep and true from the get out, a motif that runs through the whole record.

Complemented by the production stylings of Nicolas Vernes (Dirty Projectors, Daughter) and Autre Ne Veut, YOUNG waves from dance-party rawness, drum-machine centric-- "Leave the Light On"-- to western bell crooner-- "Mother"-- without any sort of confusion. It's no wonder they've racked up accolades like making the list for one of Billboard's Best Albums of 2017 So Far, securing a spot on NPR's Fave New Artists of 2017, to most recently selling out New York City's Bowery Ballroom in November.

When I asked them what they wanted to achieve heading into 2018, these big-dreaming-make-it-happen babes didn't miss a beat. "We need to make a list," JJ asserts. "We aimed too low, maybe," Hana clarifies, showing their unbridled ambition and faith in their creative work together. "Tiny Desk was a dream. Bowery Ballroom was a dream. SNL is one for me, opening for Coldplay," Hana checks off. "Bonnaroo, Glastonbury... Our goals are festival oriented."

Overcoats performing at Globe Hall (Photo Cred: Meesh Deyden)

They're also gunning for more creative autonomy. "We really wanna be in charge with what’s going on creatively," Hana says about their experience co-directing their latest music video, "I Don't Believe In Us." "We were planning the video while on tour and we decided we wanted to write the treatment ourselves."

"We were insane though," JJ points out. "Everybody kept telling us you should probably choose between a giant flower wall and smoke bombs cause it’s kinduv a lot to pay for both and execute both & we were like 'Na Na Na Na Na Na Na- we want it all.'" So they got 'em both and did the damn thing. Executing your vision as emerging women artists in the music industry can come with its own particular struggles, something Overcoats spoke about explicitly in our interview.

"It’s really nice to see [...] so many women headlining shows & winning Grammys, and also carrying with that a political message," JJ explains. "I really appreciate that and it makes me more comfortable being in this profession. [But] there are still a lot of incidents where so much of the sexism in the music industry is [...] covert."

Hana continues, "It's not specifically men saying ‘sleep with me to get to the top’ it’s more like I’m carrying my amp on stage and a guy says to me ‘Aren’t you gonna sweat too much.' It’s little stuff like that." It's also something else to different women in the industry, a reality Overcoats recognizes and shouts out during performances of their song "The Fog."

"The future is intersectional feminism," JJ improvs between the "freedom is when I'm without you" chorus. "That common ground, that thing where women are coming together and having empathy and understanding each other, that's a real inclusivity," Hana shares. "It’s important to stress what that inclusivity means to us, because inclusivity gets used and it doesn’t actually include everyone." From finding that common experience in their writing process to collaborating with fellow women creatives, Overcoats is "working every day to hold other women up."

JJ: It is often easier to hate other women, it’s easier to judge them.

Hana: — and we’ve been on the other side of that.

JJ: Yes, yes we have. We’re guilty of talking shit about other women just because society teaches us that that’s our enemy, that’s who we have to beat to get the the top. We’ve been, unfortunately, talked shit about, and neither feels good, really. Understanding what other female musicians go through, and what other female creatives go through, and beyond that, what any women go through [is what] we strive to do. I think [that] has been the challenge and the most rewarding thing.

It's about 20 minutes before Overcoats is to take the stage, and I find myself thinking the same thing over and over- "I feel like I'm getting ready for a night out with my girls," I tell them. "You are!" And it's with that affirmation I realize these two will make it to the top, not by pushing anyone out, but by letting them in.

Words & Images by Meesh Deyden

Whitney Sheds an Indie Light Upon Denver

December 5, 2017

Chicago based band, Whitney, was born when a band called Smith Westerns broke up in 2014, and Julian Ehrlich and Max Kakacek took each of their strong suits and whipped them into a new band: Indie, country, pop hybrid, Whitney. Ehrlich, former drummer of Unknown Mortal Orchestra, has a unique voice that is showcased in his role as front man. Placed at the center of the stage, this made for a kind of unconventional set up, but it added to the ingenuity of a band where the drummer sings lead vocals. Kakacek is a guitar wizard, and brings his knowledge forth to create the other half of the writing duo that has won hearts of hipsters everywhere. Since releasing Light Upon the Lake in June 2016, Whitney toured nearly nonstop, Denver being one of many cities wielding multiple nights.

Malcolm Brown, the happy piano man of Whitney (Photo Cred: Meesh Deyden)

Although Ehrlich mentioned he had somewhat of a sinus infection while gracing Denver’s Bluebird Theater with their presence, he tried hard to fight back, and it was apparent in his performance. Ehrlich even said, “Performing feels natural,” despite the unfortunate condition of his sinuses. The slightly whiny sound quality to his voice may be off putting to some, but it has a realness that came off especially well live, sick or not. The band’s simple, catchy, and emotional lyrics cover typical topics like love and loss, but range in sound, keeping something reminiscent sounding, new and fresh.

Julian Ehrlich  (Photo Cred: Meesh Deyden) — Julian Ehrlich (Photo Cred: Meesh Deyden)

“No Woman” is the hit, and slowed down slightly was a perfect encore. Imaginative covers of Neil Young, Dolly Parton, and Bob Dylan songs showed the bands ability to do something away from their genre, while also bringing forth some of their inspiration for the audience to interact directly with. “No Matter Where We Go” got everyone in the crowd swaying and thinking about driving around during the summer nights with their honey, and I wouldn’t say that there was a dull moment at Sunday night’s sold out show.

Words: Lina Skrzypczak Images: Meesh Deyden

Angus & Julia Stone: Not your average singer-songwriter duo

November 26, 2017

Angus & Julia Stone at Englewood's Gothic Theater (Photo Cred: Meesh Deyden)

You probably know this Aussie sibling duo from tracks like "Big Jet Plane" or "Mango Tree," but have you listened to their new album yet? Benefitting from legendary producer Ruck Rubin's guidance, their fourth studio album, Snow, released in mid September, shines prismatic with upbeat tracks like "Who Do You Think You Are" and "Chateau." A departure from their pearly, minimalist solo endeavors over the past few years, Snow showcases what magic can happen when you let go and try something new.

Oh, and their show at the Gothic? A surprising kaleidoscope of headboppin not-just-your-00s-acoustic emphemera, dutifully attended by the Mile High's highest concentration of publicly affectionate couples I've seen in years. Though you could hear my phone drop during opener Luke Sital Singh's penultimate track-- sorry, guys-- I was pleasantly surprised by how not bored I was for a singer-songwriter show.

So, if you're like me and try to avoid the depressive sonic sop that can muck an already hellish 2017, don't fear the latest tunes from our siblings from down undah. Add "Cellar Door" to the playlist ya listen to when you're trying not to fall on your ass walking your dog around Wash Park. And try out their title track "Snow," right when that caffeine starts to hit your weekday morn.

Words & Images by Meesh Deyden

L.A. Witch Casts a Spell on Denver

November 18, 2017

LA Witch at Lost Lake (Photo Cred: Meesh Deyden)

The 3 ladies of L.A. Witch definitely cast a spell over Lost Lake on Thursday night. Sade Sanchez on guitar and vocals, Irita Pai on bass, and Ellie English on drums, each has their own signature style, head of hair, and attitude to match. Together they create hazy, reverby, garage rock magic. A jumble of vintage tees, animal print, Doc Martens, and leather, the image L.A. witch has is totally awesome, and seamlessly goes with their sound. Their Facebook description states, “This isn’t music for the masses; it’s music for the miscreants, burnout, down-and-out dreamers, and obsessive historians.”

The trio just put out a self-titled album this year, and it’s full of dreamy guitar, powerful drumming, and pretty ominous lyrics. Sanchez’s voice is sultry and seductive, and takes you down a rabbit hole of classic surf, garage rock, psychedelia and rockabilly flare. Starting with You Love Nothing and ending with Get Lost, the gals played the entirety of their album in addition to a new song. They also gave an encore, which fan Laina Sydney mentioned is becoming rare as encores are seemingly “over”. A pleasant surprise indeed, as I’ve noticed that trend as well. Lame! #encoresmatter

Lost Lake was packed and also the perfect venue to see these rocker babes up close and personal. The sound was good and the lighting simple, the instruments highlighted beautifully along with the exceptional musicians behind them. I can’t wait to see what they have in store for us in the future!