California DIY musician Alex Kemp recently released a new EP, Rat D'Hôtel - Part I - Rat Walks into a Bar, with three more to follow. So, your resident quirky chick set out to find out about this project and what else Mr. Kemp was up to. You know what? He's witty and charming folks. Get the low-down on Alex Kemp below. And, there's an MP3 Grab at the end of the interview ... as if my brilliant interviewing skills aren't enough for you!
Quirky NY Chick (QNYC): First, things first, thanks for taking time to answ
er some questions.
Alex Kemp (AK): You're very welcome. It was hard to find time between consulting with BP on how to stop the oil spill and trying to talk Kim Jong Il back from the brink of war, but hey- anything for QNYC.
(QNYC): Fans may know you from your work with Small Factory and Chicago electro rock band Assassins; you also do sound design if I’m not mistaken. But, for those that may be unfamiliar with your work, tell us a little about yourself.
He's coming back! Yes, good people of Internet-land, Adam Taylor is making
his way back to the fair city of New York once again. This time, he'll be at the cozy LES venue The Living Room for an early set, 7PM, on Wednesday, June 30. He's bringing with him, his band. So, if you missed them earlier this month, you should remedy that and catch this show! They'll skiffle, they'll rock, they'll jazz, they'll pop and, they might even get funky on you. One thing that's guaranteed, they will be good. But, you'll only have my word to go by if you don't go see the show and experience it for yourselves!I'm personally hoping they'll do "Coffee" this time out ... just thought I'd put that out there!
adamtaylormusic.com
facebook.com/adamtaylormusic
myspace.com/adamtaylormusic
twitter.com/adamtaylormusic
Food Stamps: June 24 @ The Delancey, New York, NY
I was at The Delancey Thursday night. I walked in and the first act was stil
l on stage. All was well and good, the sounds I heard as I entered the room weren't bad. That's always a good thing! It seemed like a normal enough show until I looked up and saw a Trojan warrior. Yeah, you heard me! The band playing, the Food Stamps were on-stage doing their thing. But, on the floor in front of the stage was an older fella in platforms, g-string/cod-piece, Trojan helmet dancing around with a shield and spear. Seriously?! Yes, seriously. After being hit with a major case of WTF'ness and trying my damndest to get a decent shot of Trojan Man, I turned my attention to the duo on-stage. They were rather enjoyable. They have a record, Food Stamps EP. The record samples I listened to on iTunes don't do their live sound any justice.
www.myspace.com/foodstamps
Kimberly Nichole: June 18 @ Joe's Pub, New York, NY
This past Friday night, I made my way down to Joe's Pub to catch a performance by songstress Kimberly Nichole. Until earlier that week, I hadn't been in th
e know when it came to Nichole. Monday and Wednesday of that week, she helped UK band The Heavy kill it at The Bowery Ballroom. So, when I was hipped to who she was and that she had an upcoming show, I had to check it out!The pub was packed and there seemed to be a genuine buzz of excitement in the room. Nichole, whose tag line is "the puffy-haired tower of power," was introduced. Out she walked wearing a tutu with a matching hat. I thought to myself, "ah hell, we're in for something now!" Tower of power is an understatement. The lady is like a little stick of dynamite. She blew the roof off the joint. Not long into her eleven song set I was wondering why I was just now finding out about this woman!She sang her butt off all the while striking dramatic poses and contorting her body to the rhythms of the music. Nichole is a big star on a small stage. She was one part diva, one part down-to-Earth girl next door, mixed with a good dash of cheekiness playfully lifting her tutu to show off her granny panties.Not being in the know about Nichole, of course I wasn't familiar with her songs. That didn't matter. You didn't need to know them to be drawn in and entertained. She did do 
three covers that I recognized, The White Stripes "Seven Nation Army" which frankly she does better than Jack White ever could. Michael Jackson's "Dirty Diana" had the audience up on their feet, dancing and cheering her on. It was an electric performance. She closed with her cover of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" which again had people on their feet. Other than her scorching version of "Dirty Diana" I was grabbed by "Crash & Burn" a song that can be found on her record YBJ Reloaded. Oh, the show by the way, was a re-release party for the record.Somebody slap some diva wings on her tutu because she put on a show that easily blows the current roster of diva's out of the water. I was blown away by her performance. I generally enjoy the shows I go to; but, once in a while there's a show that makes me say to myself, "I'm really glad I went." This was one of those shows.
More photos on Flickr, HERE.
Set List
- A Rage in Harlem
- Johnny Come Lately
- Seven Nation Army
- Little Girl New
- Peace of Mind
- Crash & Burn
- Dirty Diana
- Disconnected
- Fire
- The Yellow Brick Journey
- Crazy
www.myspace.com/KimberlyNicholeMusicwww.theYellowBrickJourney.com
Hot Seconds return to the Mercury Lounge stage on Thursday, July 1. So, head up, down, over or across to the LES and rock out with the boys. They've got some seriously heavy new songs that you're going to wanna check out or hear again as may be the case. Y'all know that's just days shy of Independence Day; start your partying a little early. Swing by and show 'em some love.
www.hotseconds.net
The Heavy: June 16 @ Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY
The Heavy played their second night at The Bowery Ballroom on Wednesday night. The show was sold out and NYC let it all hang out. I hadn't really intended on writing about this show. I wasn't wearing my blog mistress hat, I was wearing my, "this chick came to party hard" hat. I went in only armed with my pocket camera which was quickly abandoned after a handful of questionable shots!The evening kicked off with Mount Carmel from Ohio. I'd never heard of them but they played some seriously tight blues rock ... think Cream and original Fleetwood Mac. They were good, real good and got an excellent reception from the audience. The guy next to me commented that he thought they had blown away The Heavy before they even hit the stage. I told him, if Monday's show was anything to go by, not a chance!It seemed to take a while for The Heavy to come out after Mount Carmel left the stage. The incense were once again lit ... with the amount of smoke they caused it looked like every incense in NYC was being burned! As the band, Kelvin Swaby (vocals), Dan Taylor (guitar), Spencer Page (bass), Chris Ellul (drums) made their way on stage along with Myoshi and Kimberly (background vocals), Ian, Justin and Chris (horns ... think I got their names right) the audience started screaming.The first song in, it was apparent that this show was going to be a party. Monday's crowd was loud but Wednesday night the audience roar was deafening. The set was the same as Monday minus "Girl." The band seemed to be in really high spirits too. As the second song rolled around, the phrase "go hard or go home" sprang to mind. The Heavy went hard, damn did they go hard.The guy beside me amended his comment and decided that Mount Carmel, while good, didn't blow the The Heavy away. At some point, probably around the time they played "Sixteen," (maybe even before then) I lost my damn mind and was flailing around like a mad woman and continued to do so for the rest of the evening. Between the flailing and off-key singing, I feel pity for those who were around me! I was such a hot sweaty mess by the end of the show.The show ended with Swaby leaping from the stage to approximately the third row to hug and kiss a young lady, a friend perhaps? I could have gone for a few more songs. While the show was brilliant, it would have been nice to switch it up a bit more than one song for those of us who came out for both shows. The Heavy are a band you need to see live, seriously, you need to. And, what have I been telling you? I've been telling you they're bad-ass, hot stanky fun! Bad enough and stanky enough to make a girl lose her damn mind up in there. Yeah, they're that damn good! Can you kill a place twice? The Heavy certainly did. They tore it up in there y'all.
Set List:
- Short Change Hero
- What You Want Me To Do
- Big Bad Wolf
- Sixteen
- Cause For Alarm
- Coleen
- Love Like That
- In The Morning
- That Kind Of Man
- No Time
- Brukpockets Lament
- How You Like Me Now?
Encore:
- She Got To Go
- Oh No! Not You Again!
www.theheavy.co.uk
twitter.com/theheavy
www.myspace.com/theheavy73
www.myspace.com/mountcarmel1
er some questions.
