A Sweaty Tuesday Night with Timber Timbre

Timber Timbre a group of multri instrumentalists and folk rockers, came through Denver’s own Globe Hall last Tuesday. Their name is a nod to early recordings which were done in an old timber cabin in Ontario, and there’s a certain spookiness to their music that absolutely pays tribute to that.
A sold out Globe Hall was filled to the brim with long haired hipsters and beards, enjoying the cinematic, grungy folk music in a nearly 110 degree setting. The sound was awesome, but the ventilation was not. Swaying fans, some very obviously on drugs that seemed a little much for what was happening, enjoyed themselves, but it was apparent that no one could stay in the furnace of a room for very long.

Taylor Kirk, Simon Trottier, Mathieu Charbonneau, and Mark (Bucky) Wheaton make up the band, each more than capable than most musicians I’ve witnessed, and working the crowd in an enchanting way. Their newest album, Sincerely, Future Pollution consists of rock and roll sounding grunge folk with spacey interludes that may seem out of place, but come together perfectly with Kirk’s sultry vocals and lyrics about the weight of the world and the experiences that come with it.

With this being the sixth album under their belt, we’ve seen an evolution in the bands sound, and as fans and listeners, we’re always looking forward to what comes next.

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

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)

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 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. 

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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. 

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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."

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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. 

For Overcoats, success stems from a telepathic connection

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

Shigeto Shakes Up Globe Hall

Shigeto (Photo Credit: Meesh Deyden)

Zach Saginaw, otherwise known as Shigeto, played Globe Hall on Wednesday night, promoting his newest album on Ghostly International, The New Monday. Extra special mention to opener Ela Minus, who was a pleasant surprise of experimental electronica, on a mixer set up that said, “Bright Music for Dark Times”; A perfect description of her sound, and the enticing night ahead.

The ever-evolving artist originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan is now based in Brooklyn, New York. He started out as a drummer in 2010 for School of Seven Bells, and over the years has done collaborations with Jazz trumpeter, Dave Douglas, as well as Hip-Hop artist, Zeelooperz. Each of these collabs is evident, as well as prominent, in Shigeto’s growth, because the styles of each collaborating artist are present in following projects. Early involvement in the Detroit music scene also has had an influence on Shigeto’s undeniably tight basslines.

 Shigeto is constantly exploring many genres, and doing so quite well. Ambient techno, melodic jazz, post dubstep, and hip-hop came together in a well put together solo show. Just when you start to begin questioning the soft, elusive “over air” sounds, a jazzy interlude would bring you back to what felt comfortable. Recording sounds live, mixing those in with his signature “container noises”, and playing the drum kit simultaneously, he was incredible to watch. Saginaw has a very expressive and enthusiast presence, which trickled into the crowd as the show picked up in pace, and made it hard not to dance along.

Slightly confused at the diversity of the crowd, I couldn’t figure out whether Globe Hall was filled with fans or just people trying to occupy their Wednesday night, but either way, everyone in the building seemed to enjoy the graceful journey of Shigeto’s evolving experiment of sound.

Words: Lina Skrzypczak Images: Meesh Deyden

Ultraversary Artist Spotlight: Oko Tygra

Friday night we will be graced by the lovely Oko Tygra. The dream-wave pop outfit have long been favorites of of ours for awhile and we are excited to have them join us in the festivities this year. Hand selected by us, this show is sure to be stellar. Join us, tickets on sale now.

Denver's OKO TYGRA is the dark and dreamy creation of intrepid Songwriter, Joshua Novak. After suffering an accident that left him with a life threatening head injury, Novak realized something had to change. Thus, OKO TYGRA came out of the rubble drawing inspiration from their affection for Slowdive and Cocteau Twins. In 2015, they released their Glass Jaw/Plasticine 7" on EggHunt Records. With those recordings, they received media praise from the likes of Impose Magazine, My Old Kentucky Blog, IHEARTCOMIX as well as charting on numerous radio stations like KEXP in Seattle. They have played SXSW, UMS in Denver and were accepted into CMJ in New York in 2014 & 2015, making them the only band to represent Denver in the 2014 showcase.

Most recently, the band was signed with LA based label, GREY MARKET, and were accepted into Treefort Music Fest in Boise (March 22-26). They are currently working on a full length with producer, Jorge Elbrecht (Ariel Pink, Tamaryn, Violens).

Ultraversary 7 Artist Spotlight: Yasi

We start our Ultraversary artist spotlight with one of our favorites this week. Yasi has slowly and quietly been making a name for herself here in Denver within the last year. Fresh off a EP that had us swooning, we are fortunate to have her performing for us during our three night celebration. Combining beauty and an incredible stage presence it won't be long before Yasi is making her mark in the world as a solo artist. Get your chance to check her out Friday, April 28th at Globe Hall, tickets available at Ultra5280.

As a treat she decided to drop a new track today for your listening pleasure. The track is a club bouncer with an ode to the Black Mamba himself check out "Knock Knock" below.