Sweatstock Mania
We concluded this month with various special celebrations on April 22nd with Sweatstock. Sweat Records’s 7th annual party to celebrate the birthday of one of the last record stores in the world. All of this along with the 5th Record Store Day, which is celebrated everywhere there is a love/passion for those 17” round vintage vinyl discs, and just music in general.
Sweat opened its doors on Sunday at 1pm, skies were gray and the clouds couldn’t decide what to make of the day, but the show went on. It drizzled, it stopped, it drizzled again… Locals and vinyl fans were gathering and rambling around the block, inside and outside the store, enjoying delicious Ginger Lemonades or buying a record to commemorate the day. Adjacent to Sweat, Churchill’s lent their stage and also hosted some of the live music acts for the day.
We experienced some of the best acts in Miami amongst them Krisp, Afrobeta, The State Of, and Deaf Poets. We food truck hopped, battled the rain, and shook hands with the greatest Punk Rock legend on earth—Iggy Pop.
See link (here!) for photos of the Sweat marathon, get to know your local bands better, Sweat owner Lolo (Lauren Reskin) and enjoy some words we were able to get from The Stooges member.
IGGY POP
The punk rock legend just stood amongst the audience with his arms closed and a small smirk watching the bands play… just like a regular guy who enjoys good music. The State Of, quickly improvised a birthday anthem and sang it to Iggy Pop on his 65th birthday. His smirk grew into a bigger smile, and everyone just couldn’t resist empathizing even more with the idol. He soon walked towards then tent and sat down against a table to greet and be photographed by his fans.
As he was finishing up, we caught him smiling (again)… we exchanged looks, and asked him for a couple of minutes for a quick chat. Between the loud music, the rain, and my accent, I just prayed for him to say yes—and he did. He walked me down to a tent to find another spot to sit and chat. He then kindly greeted me and started the conversation! We had a short amount of time to come up with the questions, but we managed to ask him a couple of things about his music taste. –One more thing to cross down in our bucket list!
WFK: What’s your current music obsession?
Iggy Pop: When I listen to music for pleasure it’s usually Dancehall, or Cumbia, or Musica Peruana, or Colombian. I have a lot of Colombian stuff I don’t even know… what’s his name… the old man…Duran (Iggy sings). And Boleros! But American music (more like) blues, and jazz, and country from about 20’s up to about 97’, after that [he makes killing sign with his hand and a face of dislike]…
What where you listening to when you were a kid?
You hear whatever your parents listen to, so I was hearing Frank Sinatra. I loved it!
What was the first record you ever bought?
Johnny and the Hurricanes, it was for $1.00 at a pharmacy. -Johnny and The Hurricanes is a 1957 rock and roll band from Ohio
Lauren Reskin (lolo)
WFK: If there’s one thing you have to tell the world today, what would it be?
lolo: Music is very important , it’s important to almost every person on earth and it’s not going anywhere.
Why music, what fascinates you about it?
It’s a universal language. Melody is something that connects to your brain unto your heart and soul, and every person I’ve every met has some sort of music that’s important for/to them. This day is a celebration for all the music that is important to everyone.
Why the attachment to Vinyl?
Vinyl is a great format, it’s the original format, and (to expose the vinyl culture to) all the people that grew up with mostly digital formats. It’s a way of kinda rebelling against that (digital format) to embrace something that’s physical, tactile, sensual, and that’s more alluring than a file. A file is nothing (does not exist in space as mass). A file is an e-mail, but a record is a (physical) piece of art, a piece of wax, beautiful! And there are so many things to appreciate about it… [Like for example the sound quality].
What went through your mind when the rain seemed like it was not going stop!
(Sings) Rain, rain, go away, come again ANY OTHER FUCKING DAY!
What was the last record your purchase?
I only took one album from the Record Store Day exclusives this year and that was Lullaby versions of the Smiths.
Arboles Libres
Nacho, Eddie Moreno, Anthony Genovese.
WFK: What music did you grow up with?
Nacho: First bands I started listening to: Black Sabbath, The Doors.
How did you get introduced to that?
My neighbor, he was a metal player.
How has that influenced your music?
In everything! It was the first (kind of) music I listened to. I feel that no matter what happens those are the bands you’ll always remember. That’s the sound I’ve always created, it goes back to that era the 60s, 70s….
Favorite Bands: Old time Lioness, and Black Sabbath
Last vinyl? Last album I bought, The Allman Brothers.
The album you’d like someone to give you for a special occasion? The Allman Brothers
What do you find in music you can’t find any place else? It’s just something I can really identify (with), it makes me feel normal, and it’s something I can relate to. It’s being part of something that influences my life.
Jesse Jackson
http://www.myspace.com/jessejackson
WFK: How do you feel before performing, do you experience something different every time?
Jesse Jackson: I don’t, I feel equally nervous.
What do you do to get rid of it?
I don’t! I wait!
The first artist you were listening to was…
My very first music memories were with Billy Idol. I grew up in Italy —we had the sounds of Billy Idol, Blondie (etc.). My next phase of musical input was Chris Ledoux, a country music singer, and then came Miles Davis when I was 12 or so.
Where do your influences come from…
My mother played music, she is a singer song writer. Actually, that was my first musical memory. I’ve been listening to her all my life, she plays the piano.
Do you have records?
I actually don’t have any records or CDs. I just have an i-pod and that’s how I listen to music now.
Jesse Jackson will be releasing her self titled album this May 19th at The Vagabond.
The State Of
www.thestateof.com
Steph Taylor, Nabedi Osorio
WFK: When you were a little girl, what were you listening too?
Nabedi Osorio: Wow, it was a Chi-Lites 8” record, that song that goes [she sings], “Have you seen her, tell me how you seen her…” That was my favorite record actually, and I had a little toy record player. I also remember my brother having “2 Live Crew” and I would watch them putting in the turning table and they kinda scratched it, so when they were not around, I’ll put in on the turning table and scratch it, pretending I was a DJ. I was 5 years old.
Besides your brother, who else influenced you in your music path?
My brothers and my cousins. My cousins lived right next door to me, we all grew up very close (to each other), we were all (like) brothers and sisters. We had a group of twenty kids in the neighborhood, different age groups and we all introduced each other to different music…
What was the hook to pursue music then?
My grandfather, he was a jazz musician, and would always play different styles of music, and I developed an ear for music. It was something that was always around. That gave me the impulse to go in that direction.
Still have vinyl?
Yes, I have a Elvis Presley Vinyl, Pat Benatar, Tito Puente, just bought a Matthew Dear, I got a Diplo one, and I got one which is a Bootylicious two-record pack and it has 2Live Crew and old school Uncle Luc stuff like that –jus to represent Miami…
Deaf Poets
Sean Wouters, Nicolas Espinosa.
What did you grew up listening too?
Sean Wouters: Al Green, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin. My parents played that, they were really into old pop and disco music, and my sister –thank god- my sister she’s a big fan of Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin. My first concert was the Rolling Stones at the American Airlines Arena like six years ago.
Where does your music roots come from?
Sean: I guess Deaf Poets was more like a jam band, and this is my first time being the lead singer and the guitar player and experimenting writing songs. Him (Nicolas) and I were developing into this jam band and then just caught one. It was very blues-y, punk—it was really fast and fun, and very young. Now we finally matured and grew with our sound.
Why the name Deaf Poets”?
Nicolas: One time we were jamming and thought about what name to give our band and then played our first show. At the time, I was working at Urban Outfitters and (I would wear ) a shirt that said Dead Poets Association, I asked Sean what he thought about it, “Dead” was just too dark and we suggested Deaf, and just stuck (onto it) from there.
Releasing “This Pain” 7” Vinyl by Sweat Records on June 2nd, 2012
Afrobeta
Cuci Amador, Tony Smurphio
What do you know about Record Store Day?
Record Store day is an amazing concept, I read an article recently about who came up with it. It’s just to keep faith and alive on music, music culture, and collecting music as an art. It’s something that is so much part of your identity— everyone remembers the first music they listen to.
What were you listening to when young?
The first, tape, and it was a cassette, I asked my mom to buy for me was Deaf Leopard Hysteria—and it was amazing—that album is still in my arms. Big fan. My first CD was Smashing Pumpkins.
What about Vinyl?
My mom has the most amazing vinyl collection and I kept it. She has a tone of vinyl records, a Led Zeppelin album, Stevie Wonder, and a lot of vintage disco Latin stuff. Really crazy stuff, but (I would say) definitely The Beatles had a big influence on me. Salt & Pepper had its lyrics in the back and I would sing along –it was just amazing.
Afrobeta is now celebrating their new mix released “Wig Party”
