AWOLNATION brought the heat to Rock the Block this past Saturday night, both figuratively and literally. The light show was an epileptic’s worst nightmare and an amp caught fire during the nearly hour long set.

The night’s closer, “Knights of Shame,” was a highlight. Aaron Bruno (the Awol of the nation) positioned himself on drums and brought a rock meets hip hop meets dance electronic groove to the song. The crowd ate it up. It became a sea of iPhones, everyone wanting to capture the moment. The song lasts a modest 15 minutes and it leaves you wanting more. If you missed the show, too bad. Make sure to catch it next time.

And here’s a taste of what you missed, the end of their 15-minute long epic “Knights of Shame.”

Check them out on the Fall Harvest Tour.

www: Official / Facebook / Twitter

While taking time from their rigorous schedule and recording sessions, Rob Whited and Eric Koch, members of buzz band Most Thieves, shared with us stories about their whole hearted determination, team work collaboration, and most importantly friendship that builds ideas into accomplishments. While sitting at Starkbucks and sharing stories, laughs, and listening to blenders we got to know how Most Thieves came to be…

Elle Vie: What’s the story behind Most thieves?

Eric: Here is the story; most of us have known each other for a very long time. Rob and I, I can’t really trace back to when we met but it’s been years and years. I really believe that I was about 19 years old. Back in December, I was meeting my girlfriend; at the Beat Coffee Shop we were meeting downtown to meet some of my closest friends (Crowd of Small Adventures). So as I am waiting in the coffee shop, Bobby who I hadn’t seen for a long time, walks in, and I said, “Bobby, what are you doing here?” and shortly after Rob and Steve walked in. So we all sat down and started drinking coffee and talking. About an hour later Rob looks over at me and asks me “who are you playing with?” I said that Sam and I talked about maybe starting something, and he asks “who’s your drummer?” And I said that we don’t have one. He said, “yes you do. Who’s your bass player?” And I said we don’t have one… and he looks over at Steve and say’s “let’s get him, he’s really good”. I looked over at Bobby and said “can we take Bobby too?” (laughs)

Rob: See how childish we are (laughs).

Eric: So that was exciting. These are guys who I have known forever, that I respect, who are phenomenal musicians. Rob is then texting me saying, “lets make this happen” and three days later we are in a room, with the band… so that’s how it all started. And a month later we were recording.

EV: I heard Most Thieves are about eight months old. How did you make this band grow so fast?

Eric: It was a chemical reaction when the five got in the room!

Rob: Very special and delicate equation to make it work. It’s really rare to find and make it collectively move very fast, especially when you go from having a four member band to a five member band. Things can potentially go wrong or right, so now we are working with five very diverse people, to form something very unique.

EV: Why did you guys decide to start this band now?

Eric: It’s a question we have been dying to ask the universe ourselves; I had actually given up on bands. I started writing a book. I spent a long time trying to find people who are like-minded and who want to do the kind of music I really want to do and that itself is a very tricky thing, especially with my taste. I grew up on a lot of different bands. I was playing classical music in school, listening to country western at my grandparents house, listening to punk with my sister, listening to Led Zeppelin with my dad, I had different sounds around me. To find a group of people that not only understood the mixture of it, but also understood how to do it, and could understand my odd vocabulary about it that isn’t technical in any sense.

[Rob makes to leave as he has a prior engagement to attend]

Eric: You have to go?

Rob: Yes, but you guys are in good hands.

EV: So are you [Eric] the songwriter? Or is it a contribution of everyone?

Eric: Well everything is done to a level, by the time it comes in. Usually there are lyrics and a structure of melodies; the arrangements are usually there. There’s been parts where I come in and I think it’s going one way and we can go to replacing the entire parts with the guys.

EV: What would you say your style of music is?

Eric: We just gotta like it! We never look at somebody else and say “we have to do that.” I can just pick up an instrument and I’ll be messing with it, and I can just start playing and hear something that will start to take shape. It just needs to catch my interest. Usually, I am always working on a melody, and sometimes a line will come up, and I will write it down.

EV: What inspires you?

Eric: Everything… A lot of things. I love all sorts of stuff; history, science. I know way more about Physics than I should probably admit in an interview about a rock band (laughs). I love learning things! I don’t necessarily think about what I’m writing sometimes, it can seem very plotted and sometimes it is, but not necessarily.

EV: How did you guys come up with the band name?

Eric: I basically stole a band (laughs). It’s Thieves for the appropriate reason (laughs). That’s actually why it was chosen. It was a joke band that was going to be started between my girlfriend and I. We have this game that we play, we would be talking through a conversation somebody will say a phrase and the other will say that’s the band name, it just becomes this joke, and we do it all the time.

EV: Do you guys have a name for your album?

Eric: There is a couple kind of floating around… it just depends on the turn it takes while we are working on it. The leader at this point is Unnecessary Maps. It came out of a conversation/joke. We were walking into our rehearsal space in town that we had used multiple times in a row, we were rehearing every single day, and one day I walk in and I look up on the board and Rob had drawn where everyone should stand with our names, and it’s exactly where we stood every single time, and I look over at him, and I go “what’s with the unnecessary map?” (laughs).

EV: So you’re not originally from Vegas?

Eric: Steve, our bass player grew up here; Bobby was born and raised in Texas; Sam’s from Louisiana, Rob and I are from California. I moved here when I was a teenager. I went to high school here. Went to Chaparral High school.

EV:  You guys were the first local band to play at the Cosmopolitan. How did you guys land that gig?

Eric: Serendipity! (laughs) A friend of ours, Jeremy Bates, manages a band called Transfer, and he got Transfer into Book & Stage. Cosmo really liked Transfer so they called Jeremy and asked him who else should we book. He told them to listen to us Most Thieves and told them to check us out on YouTube. They called Jeremy back saying they really liked us and they wanted to book us. Finally, they asked Jeremy so what’s their story? And he told them “they’re a Vegas band.” But he would not tell them that before they listen to us because there’s a stigma to the term “local band.” This was really good by the way [the interview]. This is fun! Interviews are best when they are conversations.

EV: Yes I agree!

Eric: Thanks guys!

EV: Thank you for your time!

The band recently ended a stint on the road with Big Talk. Check their sites for future tours and updates on their upcoming album.

Official Site / Facebook / Twitter

Taylor Locke and Chris Price met up with Elle Vie for drinks before their show at the Artifice in Las Vegas to share some anecdotes and future projects that are in store for this excellent band.

Elle Vie: Thank you for meeting us! How are you doing?

Taylor: I’m doing good! I’m trying to pace myself because we are playing so late, and I’ve been informed that I deliver the goods when I’ve had a few less beverages…(laughs)

EV: What made you decide to take on this side project?

Taylor: I don’t like to say the phrase “side project” anymore because it has a lot of negative connotation people think that it’s something that is taken less seriously. And although I’ve been in Rooney longer and we are more established and well known; a lot of my energy and focus and time have gone into it The Roughs. We are going to start producing merchandise and make a third record soon. It’s only natural that creative people have multiple outlets. It seems like every musician I meet has more than one thing going on.

EV: What are the differences you have between the two bands you’re in?

Taylor: My position in The Roughs is a different job, then what I fulfill in Rooney. I wear a different hat, a different energy.

EV: How do you like your position in The Roughs?

Taylor: It’s equally challenging and rewarding because the guys in Rooney know what to expect from me and I know what to expect from them, we have a system.  In this band – The Roughs people are relying on me for certain things, which are different; especially in the early days where we don’t have a manager and we are not on a label. Organizationally, handling all the scheduling, booking, and in addition to that I am co-writing all the music with Chris. Also, for the live show talking to the audience trying to communicate the songs and sing the material is also challenging. I feel like every show we play I understand a little bit more of what I need to do to deliver to the best of my ability.

EV: What inspires you to write songs?

Taylor: Two things: other music; trying to create the same feeling that a certain songs give me without ripping off the song. Trying to capture the spirit or style of music that I enjoy, obviously without coming to close to it. On the lyric side just all the stuff that we all go through. Relationships, you’re happy, sad, you got a job, or you have a job you hate, you got a girlfriend you hate, you got a girl you love that’s not your girlfriend. All the things that are good (laughs).

EV: You mentioned that you have a couple of challenges. What has been your biggest challenge?

Taylor: Honestly, the realization that it can take a really long time to catch on and get popular. There are no expectations, we can pull into a show and there can be a one hundred people there or there can be eight people. There’s no minimal level versus a band that has been around for eleven years. We can play in a room with one person, and we still have to put on a good show. So just adjusting to the “newness” of it.

EV: Tell us about your touring experiences?

Taylor: We just did a really successful tour supporting a Canadian band Sloan. It was really great! It’s fun because there is no pressure. Music is really fun!

EV: What is the Album of the Year in your opinion?

Taylor: I hear the new Wilco is really good. I heard the first song on it and I thought it was great! Nels Cline was a guitar player I grew up seeing in Santa Monica. He played this improvised psychedelic jazz and he joined Wilco about two albums ago, and he has been taking the band over. Sloan, who we toured with have an album out called The Double Cross and I love it. It’s fantastic. Mike Viola put out a new record, he is a friend of mine and probably the best living songwriter, hands down period.

EV: Who would you like to collaborate with?

Taylor: There are two spots on our next album for outside collaborators. One by Mike Viola. Also, one of the members of Sloan, we also have some string players. It’s getting more collaborative!

EV: If you weren’t a musician what would you be?

Taylor: A magician! (laughs)

EV: What do you do to unwind?

Taylor: I’m a workout buff. I’m a gym rat (laughs).

EV: What’s your drink of choice?

Taylor: Whiskey, Bourbon, Wine. I vary to other drinks but I do like Whiskey and Wine a lot. Now what happens when you go back and forth between whiskey and wine is that other people start telling you what you did the previous night. So I am trying to settle down a little bit (laughs).

[Chris Price joins the conversation in the lobby]

EV: How are you doing tonight?

Chris: I’m pretty good!

EV: Tell us about the tour with Sloan?

Chris: It was great! We were out there for a few weeks with one of our favorite band, Sloan is a really awesome Canadian band. I feel like our group is a really good match with theirs. It was like a unified night, every night people were coming to see a specific thing so I thought that was really cool.

EV: Who are your musical influences?

Chris: I’m kind of all across the map… I grew up a record collector. I collected vinyl when I was little. I’m way into the 60′s-70′s rock music, The Beatles, The Stones, Zeppelin, The Kinks. But I’m also into the power pop music Raspberries. I love soul music. I love Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin. I’m big into Brazilian music. My dad is Cuban and a Latin record producer so I grew up around that scene. I’m from Miami originally.

EV: What inspires you to write?

Chris: Writing for me I do it a lot whether. I’m writing with Taylor or on my own… A lot of the time I feel like I don’t actually have the idea myself, I feel like I’m channeling something. I don’t know where it comes from, I don’t know why I have ideas — they come very easily. The well is full (laughs).

EV: In your opinion what is the album of the year?

Chris: So far my favorite record is the new Fleet Foxes record, also Mike Viola’s new album. I really liked the new Bon Iver record, and the new Wilco record pleasantly surprised me.

EV: Tell me a little bit about this new album?

Chris: I can’t tell you too much… but we’ve written the record pretty much entirely maybe one song left to write.  Both of our last two records were ten songs each, this one will be twelve songs I can tell you that, and it’s the best stuff we’ve written so far.

EV: When do you expect the new album to be released?

Chris: That is yet to be determined. We are in the middle of finishing a studio. We’ve been building a studio in Taylor’s house so as soon as that is done, we are hoping next month we will be going in and knocking it out. We record very quickly. The first record was recorded in ten days and the seconded record in fourteen days so it takes about two weeks to do a record, so we’ll see.

EV: Thank you for your time we are looking forward to seeing your show.

Chris: We look forward to playing!

Official Site / Facebook / Twitter

CAP ROC / photo by Oliver DeFilippo

Get your freshly squeezed glass of new music! CAP ROC is an indie electro pop duo from Los Angeles. Members Bert Selen and Martin Porter have both played music since they can remember, previously in a band together, so it’s no surprise they teamed up again. Fun and catchy are words to describe their first single “Stereo,” debut EP later this year. The band is making their single available for free (who doesn’t love that word?).

Download it, enjoy, and spread it around like butter to your friends and family… and strangers. Strangers like free stuff too.

Free Download: “Stereo” mp3

Official Site / Facebook / Twitter

The Euphoria Tour made a Las Vegas stop at Red Rocks Resort on Saturday, October 8. Pitbull began the night by walking out with a black meticulous suit, sporting dark shades like always and went into “Give Me Everything.” He said, “I went from a positive to a negative so Las Vegas give me everything tonight!” The crowd started cheering and singing along. As the song stopped, the stage lit up with images of Marc Anthony from their famous video “Rain Over Me” and he began to sing.

As the show progressed he sang the new hit single “Pause.” The crowd received the surprise of the vivacious moves and voice of Nayer while she took the stage with Pitbull. Nayer performed her hit single “Suavemente.” Pitbull ended his energizing set with “Culo,” pumping up the audience for Enrique.

The arena filled just as the main event that is Enrique Iglesias came on. In his usual casual clothing: a jacket, scarf and jeans, he greeted the concertgoers with his hit “Tonight (I’m Lovin’ You).” The crowd erupted in loud screams from excited fans, some crying and others singing along. The highlight of the night was when he picked two males from the audience and brought them on stage. He asked if they were a couple. They said no, but said that they were both gay. He gave them alcohol and continued on singing one of his favorite oldie songs, “Stand By Me.” He gave the microphone to of the males on the stage so he could sing.  It humored the fans as well as the performer and the two guys on stage. It felt like one giant party.

A few more songs from his set list consisted of “Bailamos,” “Cuando Me Enamoro,” and “Dirty Dancer.” He dedicated all the Spanish songs to his Spanish-speaking fans for following him for fifteen years. He explained that the English speaking fans ought to be thankful for the Spanish speaking fans, for if it weren’t for them he wouldn’t have become such a big success in the English speaking market. A humbling moment of the night.

Enrique electrically continued the night by singing “I Like It” as Pitbull joined him on stage. Momentarily ending the set. As the lights went off, everyone assumed that the concert had come to an end. Suddenly there was a spotlight on a smaller stage on the opposite end of the arena where Enrique appeared. He said on the mic “Security, this is Vegas. Let them through!” letting a mob of people rush to the stage to obtain a better glimpse of the singer. He picked a woman from the crowd and began to sing “Hero” directly to her. His gaze intensely on her the entire time.  Her reaction was one of bewilderment and euphoria (fitting enough); she kept her gaze on Enrique, all the while he sang and caressed her. The crowd was ecstatic and laughing at the woman’s reaction.

As the show came to and end a melody started in the background and Enrique said, “Please raise your hands and forgive us for all of our sins ’cause tonight I’m fucking you!” The crowd cheered and this time instead of saying, tonight I’m loving you – he sang “Tonight (I’m Fucking You).” He left the stage saying “See you soon.” The crowd remained in their spots while the screens aired his new video “I Like how It Feels.”
With all the fun activities and surprises The Ephoria Tour brought to the Las Vegas audience it’s a shame if you missed it. Here are the upcoming cities Enrique will be stopping to:

10/13 – San Antonio, TX
10/15 – El Paso, TX
10/16 – Laredo, TX
10/18 – Dallas, TX
10/20 – Atlanta, GA
10/21 – Orlando, FL
10/22 – Miami, FL
11/4 – Manhattan, NY 10/12- Houston, TX

Guest Correspondent Jazmin Gelista

Enrique Iglesias Site / Pitbull Site

Enjoy!

Mando Diao – “Dance With Somebody”

Elle Vie: So tell us about yourself?

Eli: Hi! My name is Eli James, I am a drummer, a musician, a programmer, a producer, a “compositionist”; I actually compose a lot of music and stuff like that.

EV: What is this tour your doing?

Eli: Right now I am on a US tour, and it’s ending at the Sunset Strip Music Festival in Los Angeles; and it started in Los Angeles as well. It’s wrapping around through Texas and Alabama, all the way to Massachusetts, then New York, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, down to Missouri, Oklahoma, Denver, and now we are in Vegas. And then we are going to Los Angeles, California where it all began!

EV: So you’re a solo artist?

Eli: I am a one man show. I am an entertainer. I am a drummer at heart, a musician, a programmer, and I am also a DJ and a front man. So you put  all that together and add a light show with one of the only LED custom drums kits in the world and I call that a blast!

EV: How long have you been drumming.

Eli: I have been drumming since I was 3 years old.

EV: You were in a band, right before you went solo. Tell us about that.

Eli: Actually I was in several bands. I was technically a solo artist. I always consider myself a solo artist, but I was in several bands, from Mission Seven to the Little Red Radio, to a of couple others, just the past, but now is now…

EV: Where are you originally from?

Eli: I am originally from Seattle, Washington, where my mom and dad had fun one night, 9 months later I popped out on November 18, 1982, I mean “1992″ (laughs).

EV: Who are your influences?

Eli: My musical influences is actually a good artist IAMX, Chris Corner, [but] also Freddie Mercury from Queen, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin. The Beatles are huge, even though everybody says the Beatles because one they are damn good, and two perfect freakin’ harmony and they were breaking the boundaries of any kind of music and made everything possible for us today. Metallica to Nine Inch Nails, to even Britney Spears.

EV: Is that [your influences] what you base your music on?

Eli: All my music I base it off my heart. I like to go in the studio and create something. I don’t like to just take, you know. I have influences but I don’t like to go and listen to an input and, you know, start something. What I am trying to say is it is more of a eclectic feel of music is kind off where I come from; it just comes more from my heart.

EV: Are you a songwriter?

Eli: I am a songwriter, I have originals too.

EV: What made you go solo?

Eli: It was actually an accident. My friend was having a birthday party and I told her that I would play. I told her about three days prior, and then I put this together for fun, then from the feedback and response and putting a song together in a day and performing it and what people liked about it, and the show and the lights and the drum kit — just everything just made me realize that this can be done a little bit easier and have a bigger impact with a great show. There are a lot of musicians that I respect and I know that there is a lot that goes into a band, but this is more of a modern one man band.

EV: what is your goal right now?

Eli: I just really just want to tour the world so that people can experience what I am doing and somehow, someway, I can inspire them to create their art in the world that can help other people and do kinda the same thing. Kinda the basis to help create a better place on this thing we call planet.

EV: Will you be releasing something soon?

Eli: I am in the studio. I am recording a lot. As far as the release goes, I would just say expect something in the future, not sure exactly when. I am working on something more epic in my words.

EV: How has your tour gone so far?

Eli: Ohh, my tour has been amazing. There are so many cool people out there in the US that I have visited. From San Antonio to people in Austin, Houston. Bermingham, Alabama is really really cool, it’s a late kinda night sort of place. Supposedly I went on around midnight, they were like, maybe you should have gone in at 4. I am like what?? New York was the best. It was packed like sardines, and they felt it and I felt it and we had a really good time. All of the shows have been like that. We are getting really great feedback.

EV: What is your biggest challenge right now?

Eli: That’s a good question. I’ve never been asked that… My biggest challenge is making a living off of it so I can afford what I want to do in life.

EV: What do you think of Vegas?

Eli: Vegas is trippy, it’s wonderful. It is inspiring, it is what it is… it just adds to the flavor of love…

EV: Favorite color?

Eli: My favorite color is blue..

EV: First childhood memory?

Eli: Coming out of my mom… I swear I saw my dad. He had a mustache at the time. I was not happy. It was in ’82. He had long curly hair, he had a mustache, he was this rocker dude, he said “Hi kiddo”… (laughs)

EV: If you had the opportunity to perform with any artist, who would you pick?

Eli: That’s a good one… Well because I like a lot of artists, I don’t really know, but let’s start off with IAMX.

EV: Any last words?

Eli: I’m super glad and honored to be doing this interview. Thank you! The sky’s not the limit, it’s the beginning. Here’s to prosperity to both parties. Remember, if you need to know who Eli James is come to my show!

EV: Thank you for you time!

Check out Eli on Facebook (/elijamesmusic) and on Twitter (@elijames).

Appearing at Artifice on Tuesday, October 4.

October 11, US Release

Sometimes, well a lot of the time really, it really gets my goat that the population as a whole will happily watch X-Factor, not just for the entertainment value, but then go out and buy the awful manufactured pap that is produced at the end of it. If any of the contestants had any real talent, then surely they’d be perfectly capable of getting a job in the West End without the hype given them by mass TV exposure. That is always supposing they are willing to put the work in and not just have fame and fortune handed to them on a plate. And we all allow it to happen. Instead of supporting talented, hardworking bands who are in it for the love of the music.

San Diego’s Transfer are a prime example of a band who have more talent in their little fingers than this years’ X-Factor winner will ever have, with even with thousands spent on coaching their sorry X-asses.

Transfer spent most of 2010 honing their skills at a series of small gigs in their hometown and at Austin’s SXSW music festival, before heading out on a US tour. Then they got a break from a friend, in the shape of Brandon Flowers of The Killers, who asked them to support his solo ‘Flamingo’ tour. They won over more fans at every show with their powerful, rock synth meets badass guitar sound. The beats are irresistible, and to see a whole roomful of people nodding along to a set of songs they’ve never heard before is quite something.

The album Future Selves itself is an instant hit on first listen, and yet it still manages to grow with each hearing. The opening track, “Losing Composure,” usually has me dancing around like a loon. It’s an instant grab, a sure-fire hit single: the shifts in gear in the music and the up-tempo beat (provided by Milton Keynes and Andy Ridley) are wildly uplifting. The lyrics sound like a pep talk, something I didn’t even notice until I listened to it when I was feeling down one day. Whatever your mood, it makes you smile.

“Take Your Medicine” begins by sounding like The Strokes if they were recording in the 1930s thanks to lead singer Matt Molarius’ inspired use of a vintage mic. If you like The Killers and The Strokes, this is the track for you. “Your Suspicion” arrives with a crashing intro leading into relapsing remitting waves evocative of the sometimes still, sometimes restless lake of the opening line, before giving way to “Like It Used To Be,” reminiscent of British 90s Indie Rock, but somehow you just can’t put your finger on what, because this is something new. “Get Some Rest” is the slow number of the piece, with interweaving harmonies and horns backing up powerful thrashy vocals. “Wake To Sleep” is the second obvious single on the album, dark, mysterious, with clashing chords and an insistent rhythm, a key change in just the right place and ending bravely in minor. “Enojado” is another mix of major and minor keys reminiscent of Suede, winners of the 2010 Xfm Inspiration Award for changing the direction of British music. “Like A Funeral” is a Simon & Garfunkel-like acoustic harmony, which is nothing short of beautiful, and an interesting juxtaposition on a powerful rock album. The band bring a San Diegan flavour to the track with the addition of Mariachi horns and maracas. It sounds like it shouldn’t work, but it does, it’s just perfect. For the penultimate track, it’s a return to the anthemic with “The Possum.” A great sounding track, the name confuses me hugely, but who cares when it sounds this good. “Deerskin” really shows off lead singer Molarius’ velvet voice to best effect, a nice showcase for him to round things off.

The whole album really ought to be a huge hit, it’s dark in the same vein as the Arctic Monkeys are dark, and yet there is an injection of hope about the whole thing, often found in American rock and lacking in British Indie, making it something just a little bit different from what you’ve experienced before.

Future Selves is out on general release on September 19 in UK (Mascot Records) and October 11 in USA (Cool Green Recordings).

The first single, “Take Your Medicine,” is due for US general release on October 3.

— Guest Contributor Caroline Gooch

transferband.com
facebook.com/transferband

Are you planning to attend next year? Any big panel guests you hope will appear?

List time: Your ideal SXSW showcase line up. Your imagination is your only limit. GO!

Rock ‘n Roll Wine hosts Tasting Room & Sound Bar every Friday inside M Resort’s Hostile Grape. Complimentary wine tasting from 6-8pm and a live musical performance at 8pm and 10pm, this week Most Thieves. The best part? NO COVER!