*Editor’s note: Stephanie sent me some stuff to run before the Sentient Bean shows this weekend, but I was too busy throwing a frisbee around to post and edit. So, with the help of photos from Hanna Toler, we’ve retrofitted it to be a post show review, even though Stephanie wasn’t actually there. I was there, however, and it was great!   – Pat

words by Stephanie Augello
photos by Stephanie Augello and Hanna Toller
video by Pat Longstreth

Greetings from the tundra.  This latest musical update is brought to you from beautiful Long Island, New York.

Dear devoted readers, on Friday, January 28th,  The Sentient Bean brought you one helluva show.  From the hills of North Georgia arrived Oryx & Crake (Atlanta), Venice is Sinking (Athens) and Richard Parsons (Decatur).  I’m sure that many of you had been familiar with the first two bands before that night; however, we are pleased to be able to better acquaint you with Richard Parsons.

Design by Eva Reitzel

Who is This Masked Man?

Based in Decatur, GA, Parsons’ influences are derived from Southern, Classic and Indie Rock.  RichardParsonsMusic.com also states that he is particularly inspired by “Jack Daniels on  the Rocks, Sweet Melodies and Harmonies, Righteous Chord Changes, Dry Red Wine, The Warmth of Vinyl.”  He applies this humor and sentiment to his songs, and frequently travels to Los Angeles, CA to play at venues such as Tangier and the Silverlake Lounge.  His meanderings have brought him to obscure locations throughout the world, where he developed a fondness for diving “in the ocean with the sea creatures.”  Though a rambler, Parsons is not one to regularly uproot, and often encourages his friends to move to locales that he would love to “visit regularly.”

Richard Parsons’ musical career is not solely centered on performing under his given name.  He is also the melodic underwriter of a concept known as Luna Versus You.  The association began when he was asked to create a song for a then work in progress cartoon by Brad McGinty.  After writing an upbeat score, something he had been previously unaccustomed to doing, Parsons laid down his working method, which involved not censoring himself, and not “dragging the process out beyond one day, two at the most.”  Feeling rather satisfied, he ended up writing a whole album’s worth of songs, and even coerced Brad into making a video for one of under the agreement that the former could still be the later’s “cartoon whore.”  The pair are still working together.  Third floor Montgomery Hall dwellers rejoice, for, in this docile, intelligent musician, you have a true friend of the animator.

When We Last Left Our Heroes…

NewYorkisBoring ran two separate notices on Oryx & Crake this past November.  Since then, the band has experienced quite a number of leaps up the ladder of success.  On January 15th, the band served as the opening act for Sean Lennon’s band The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger during a performance at popular Atlanta venue, The Earl.  That’s definitely a show that I would’ve loved to attend; however, living in New York makes it quite hard to jettison down to Georgia for a one-night affair.  So, like most of you, I had to settle for taking a look through some pictures from I’mABearEtc.com.  Recently, they were also written up in Paste Magazine, and I highly doubt that such amazing exposure for this band will stop there.  Photographer Hanna Toler was on hand this weekend, and caught some shots of their Friday performance, as well as the somewhat impromptu show the band organized with Richard Parson’s for Saturday.

(side note from Pat: Lady Lazarus also gave a great performance that night. Look for her at Tantra on Saturday for the General O release party, and Sunday at Lulu’s)

On Wednesday, January 26th, Oryx & Crake also conducted a day long shoot for a video to their song Open Your Eyes.  It seems that their innovation does not lie in their musical tracks alone.  Run by Atlanta-based company, The Chronicle,  the production involved “cast members” playing voyeur with themselves during each one’s 9PM-5PM work day.  I was lucky enough to be able to participate in this production, because, unlike this live performance didn’t require the purchase of a plane ticket.   Basically, you set up your webcam, and played a game of business as usual while being watched by an all-seeing technological eye while going through your everyday working motions.  No two players were physically interacting with one another throughout the day; however coordinators Jamie Allen and Tom Bell saw to it that that wouldn’t hinder communication, collaboration and interaction.  They set up a system via the internet, where all of us could talk to them and each other via email, Facebook and Twitter.  Sounds ambitious?  Yes.  It worked.  It worked really well.  It was also a lot of fun.  So, when masterminds Jamie Allen and Tom Bell finish up Open Your Eyes, look for me.

Venice is Rising

Venice is Sinking should consider renaming themselves “Savannah’s Darlings.”  Every time they come to town, the place goes wild.  I am also firmly convinced that songstress Karolyn Troupe is the dream girl of every male SCAD undergrad.  Troupe might just be the human incarnation of Wonder Woman.  She is not only an accomplished viola player, songwriter and vocalist, she is also a biochemist and world traveler, and cameo actor.  She recently did a stint in music video director Jason Miller’s production for Of Montreal‘s Famine Affair.  Karolyn Troupe’s seventh wind picks up with her most recent developing endeavor, powerkompany.  Troupe was gracious enough to provide me with a bit of information about this project.

She and Packway Handle Band member Andrew Heaton have combined forces to create powerkompany, and “compose bittersweet lullabies about everything from love, to death, to sex, to heartbreak, to philosophy and science.”  As far as song structure can be described, many of the melodies begin with ukulele and guitar, because the duo seem to always have those instruments on hand.  They then shift their improvisation to the studio, where Karolyn lays down the rhythm and Andrew fine tunes the production.  Always experimenting with multiple versions of their songs, Heaton and Troupe have been amazed at how many directions they’ve been able to go in.  The sounds of powerkompany have been compared to Coco Rosie and Goldfrapp, and have been heavily inspired by outfits such as Radiohead, The Paris Sisters and the Handsome Family.

They are currently finishing up their initial recordings, and expanding their social network.  The duo has been discussing collaboration with videographers, as a means of furthering the success of powerkompany through visual media.  States Troupe, “We want to play with the divide between complexity and simplicity, with harmony and invention.  In particular, we want to invent new ways of escaping the mundane.  In December, Eva Reitzel (your friendly neighborhood poster designer) and I took a little road trip to Athens, where I had the chance to capture some photos of Troupe and Heaton hard at work in their batcave.

Deep in the Heart of Texas

This spring, Venice is Sinking will once again play the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.  They have had wonderful experiences there in the past, and Troupe feels that, “When I’m there, there’s no other place I’d rather be . . . But the point that made it feel so magical was when Daniel (Lawson) and I took a taxi back to where we were staying.  When we got into the cab, the driver asked if we liked ‘Johnny Money. “  Genuinely confused, Lawson and Troupe kept up the good graces when the cabbie rolled down the car windows, and started playing Johnny Cash’s Folsom Prison Blues.  “It was pure joy to fly by all of the people in the streets, with the warm wind whipping through the car.”

In addition to providing the members of Venice with beautiful memories, SXSW has also called for them to work their butts off.  One their second visit, they played no fewer than six shows, one of which was a television performance.  This year, they are hoping to casually meander their way to Texas, playing a few stops on the way.  Modest in her successes, Karolyn believes that “It’s always an honor to be an official artist at South by Southwest, and to get treated like a rockstar for at least a week.”  This year, she hopes that Andrew will be able to join them for a few days, so that they preview some of powerkompany’s tunes at parties, or even in the streets.  That sounds like an incredible experience.