So Saturday night turned out to be an interesting run, double booking two things and hoping to catch both without hassle. The first took me to the Rose Wagner where Plan-B was holding their SLAM 2011 event. Awesome show I might add, highly entertaining, I suggesting getting in next year. I also ran into a bunch of writers from various publications to drink some wine after, including our own Bill Frost and the lovely Mrs. Frost. It's interesting seeing Bill in a setting that didn't include pitchers of beer and the latest experimental band using a hacksaw as a violin bow on a Stratocaster. ...And then I remembered, oh shit, I have a show to get to!

--- Just a quick jaunt down the road at The Woodshed was a benefit concert for downtown recording studio Midnight Records, who came out of the winter with no issues only to have their roof break a leak and cause water damage. So the Utah Arts Alliance threw together a quick show to help them out along with fellow Midnight musicians to bring in support. Opening up were new comers YYBS, followed by our great friends in Merit Badge, and closing out the evening (to a small brawl no less) were Max Pain & The Groovies. The only fight, I might add, I've ever seen at The Woodshed. We chatted with the first and last, and took over 150 photos of the evening for you to check out in this gallery here.

YYBS (Taylor Clark, Tres Wilson, Craig Murray and Sean Smith)

http://www.facebook.com/youngyetbrilliantsleuths

Gavin: Hey guys, first off, tell us a little about yourselves.

Tres: We're a group of friends originally from Park City. We are planning on releasing two EP's this summer and playing shows often.

Gavin: What got you interested in music, and who were some of your favorite acts and musical influences growing up?

Tres: We've all been playing music since elementary school. But school doesn't offer the same experience as playing your own songs with your best friends. We grew up with Pinback, Splint, The Seeds, Zach Hill, Listener, Elliott Smith.

Gavin: How did you all get together to form YYBS, and what's the story behind the name?

Tres: Taylor and I have been playing under YYBS for a few years. YYBS stands for Young Yet Brilliant Sleuths, but now that we're playing with our friends Sean and Craig we've been trying to drop that name, 'cause it's old, and takes too long to say. Even though now people still ask what YYBS stands for.

Gavin: What was it like for you four to come together and hammer out your indie kind of sound?

Tres: It's all about playing music with people your close to and letting it become all you want to do. But we use a socket wrench.
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Gavin: Being relatively new as a group, how has it been for you playing around the state and hearing the crowd reactions to you?

Tres: It's game a lot, and a headache. But we feel Salt Lake City is on the brink of being a major hotspot for independent musicians and we're excited to be part of it. Our first show, in 2009 when we opened for Youth Group, we we're asked for a CD after playing together for two weeks, that was funny... But we still don't have a CD.

Gavin: You have some demo songs online right now, what plans in the works for recording an album or an EP?

Tres: We started recording in November but our engineer has since then fallen out of touch. We plan on releasing it soon. We're recording with our good friend Cal Cruz at Midnight Studios this month though also.
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Gavin: Have you given any thought to touring out-of-state or sticking to home for now?

Tres: We still wanna build a tight fanbase in Salt Lake City... But we're not gonna wait for touring to get handed to us.

Gavin: Moving onto state-wide stuff, what are your thoughts on the local music scene, both good and bad?

Tres: With the skills the musicians in this town have, we're blown away that there isn't more genre diversity. Also, we think KRCL is doing a really great job promoting new local music.
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Gavin: Is there anything you believe could be done to make it more prominent?

Tres: Salt Lake City needs to have more festivals, like the Crucial Fest in June.

Gavin: Not including yourselves, who are your favorite acts in the scene right now?

Tres: Loom, Form Of Rocket's ghost, Sayde Price, Muscle Hawk, The Lionelle and Spell Talk.
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Gavin: What's your opinion on the current airplay on community radio and how its affects local musicians?

Tres: I don't listen to anything but KRCL. The radio has so much shit on it today, if not KRCL I'd rather just listen to Dianne Rehm.

Gavin: What do you think of file sharing these days, both as musicians and a music lovers?

Craig & Sean: As long as people enjoy the music, profit doesn't matter.

Tres: I agree, but wish people still valued possessing a CD or album, it was more of a connection with the musicians.
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Gavin: What can we expect from you guys over the rest of this year?

Tres: Only time will tell, we just wanna be ambitions and play music that people can enjoy with us while we build a niche in Salt Lake City.

Gavin: Is there anything you'd like to plug or promote?

Tres: No more dolphin slaughtering in Japan.


Max Pain & The Groovies (Shane Preece, David Johnson, Dallin Smith, Tcoy Coughlin and Jake Brimley)
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http://www.myspace.com/maxpainandthegroovies

***For this interview, the band chose to answer as a group***

Gavin: Hey guys! First off, tell us a little about yourselves.

MP&TG: We are a rock n roll band from Salt Lake City Utah we've been playing for a year and a half and have loved every second of it.

Gavin: What first got you each interested in music, and who were some of your favorite acts and musical influences growing up?

MP&TG: All of us grew up listening to music out the womb but skateboarding brought us all together. We all have such a wide range of musical interests and tastes I think our diversity helps keep us interested to see what music we come up with.
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Gavin: How did you all get together to form MP&TG?

MP&TG: We all have known each other for years and went to school together. We have always skated and jammed together and then we came up on a duplex. We started jamming in our friend Tavish's haunted bedroom and developed an unsatisfiable thirst for Sonny Brook. Through the course of living there we came up with a ton of jams and wanted to get outside the bedroom. “Rapid Fire Tollbooth” was formed with just drums and guitar, a little instrumental side project that just kept growing. Then we came up on a house and completely lost our minds. Max Pain & The Groovies was formed in the basement of 1034 South 1300 East in yet another bedroom.

Gavin: What was it like for you each finding your sound together and putting a new spin on the late-'60s groove?

MP&TG: All of our music tastes are so diverse it really shows in our music. Us being such a good friends makes it really easy to collaborate and create what comes naturally to all of us. I enjoy the fact that when we make music it is what comes to us and we don't structure it into any genre leaving no limitations.
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Gavin: Rather than hit the clubs for a while, you jumped right into playing festivals like Salty Streets and Uncle Uncanny's. What made you go right for bigger audiences than just playing club gigs?

MP&TG: We were helped out by a lot of great people, Rick Gerber at Uncle Uncannys got us on there and we have received a lot of help from veteran local bands getting on other gigs.

Gavin: Late last year you released the EP album Five To Groove. What was it like recording that album, and what issues did you have to deal with along the way?

MP&TG: It was one of the funnest things we have ever done as a band. Kent and Cal at Midnight Records were great at helping us out. It was easy having someone record us who knew what sound we were looking for. We recorded it live to capture the energy and spent about two months mixing and tweaking.
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Gavin: What did you think of the reception and attention the album got when it finally came out?

MP&TG: Our CD release show was better then any of us could have asked for. We teamed up and did a dual CD release with Spell Talk and over 200 people came and supported us in a little run down shack we rented out. We were pleased to see great reviews in slug and good mentions in City Weekly, it is great to see people support local music we feel so fortunate to be apart of it.

Gavin: Are there any plans in the works to record another EP or a full-length album?

MP&TG: Yeah, we are right now recording our second EP at Midinght Records and hope to have it released by summer. We're putting a mix of some of our older unrecorded songs with some brand spankin' new juans. We are really excited seeing how it is coming together.
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Gavin: Down the road are you thinking of taking the group on tour, or sticking to home for now?

MP&TG: We came up on a van for $300 and in four months went on three tours to Vegas, Denver and southern California. One of our greatest achievements is seeing the van make it right next to the Mexican border. We have such a good time on the road and have met great people every spot. We plan on going on at least two more tours before the year is over, right now we're setting up for the Northwest.

Gavin: Going state-wide, what are your thoughts on the local music scene, both good and bad?

MP&TG: We have some good luck and bad luck going state wide for sure. Salt Lake City will always be home, Ogden definitely knows how to party. Fuck St. George cops, but we love the people. We have been to St. George a few times and the music scene down there is very strong with a big help from The GoGo 37 Gallery. Although due to some recent legal complications down south we are laying a bit low right now.
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Gavin: Is there anything you believe could be done to make it more prominent?

MP&TG: There are so many good local acts right now and its just a matter of getting people to hear it.

Gavin: Not including yourselves, who are your favorite acts in the scene right now?

MP&TG: There are so many to list so I hope we don't leave any out but Spell Talk, Red Dog Revival, Dark Seas, Fox Van Cleef, Dirty Blonde, Merit Badge, Small Town Sinners, Holy Water Buffalo, The Plastic Furs, Killbot, Ulysses, and Tony Holiday. These guys are all our good friends and we feel we are on the same page of musical intentions.
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Gavin: What's your opinion on the current airplay on community radio and how its affects local musicians?

MP&TG: Bad Brad and Circus Brown have helped us out immensely and they definitely are killin' it. We want to see public radio stay strong and the community support it as much as possible. KRCL alone introduces a ton of local acts to the community. So therefore we all benefit from community radio.

Gavin: What do you think of file sharing these days, both as musicians and a music lovers?

MP&TG: Lars from Metallica sucks.
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Gavin: What can we expect from you guys over the rest of this year?

MP&TG: Our goal by the end of this year is to have two new albums released, two more tours and continue to play local shows.

Gavin: Is there anything you'd like to promote or plug?

MP&TG: On May 25th we're opening for Radio Moscow at The Urban Lounge. Keep your ears open for our CD release date because its coming.

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