Wrongchilde: Gold Blooded

Wrongchilde, the solo project of Kill Hannah frontman Mat Devine, is set to release Gold Blooded on August 19th.  The moniker Wrongchilde can be traced to a dream Devine had while still in high school.  A self release funded entirely by PledgeMusic, the album has already been generating a bit of buzz.  Fans can contribute to the cause and receive exclusive items like Gold Blooded pendant necklaces and a limited edition heart shaped vinyl. Devine, who is afraid of needles and blood (Also clowns, by the way, which are my personal nemeses.), pledges to donate a pint to the Red Cross for every 10 necklaces purchased. He promises to record the moment for posterity and the amusement of fans!

The album features some impressive guest vocals by artists like Morgan Kibby of M83 and White Sea, Sierra Kusterbeck of Versa and Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance.  Alain Whyte of Morrissey fame lends his talents on guitar.  Interestingly, Way performs a duet on the lead single "Falling in Love Will Kill You," which was originally intended for a female vocalist.  The unexpected combination of male vocals adds complexity to the guitar ballad.  The title track from the album, "Gold Blooded," is a good example of the bridge that Wrongchilde builds between dream pop and electro pop.  "Gold Blooded," according to Devine, is a phrase that represents the spirit of youth.  "Love is a Battlefield," the song Pat Benatar made famous, appears on the album in romanticized version with fluid vocals supplied by Morgan Kibby.  Fans still have a chance to get in on the limited Gold Blooded items on PledgeMusic and show their support for the project!

Volunteer Profile Elaine Shute

You can hear programmer Elaine Shute when she takes her turn at the helm on On the Wing on Monday's at WERU.  Elaine says she wanted to be a DJ ever since she could remember but was too introverted as a kid to imagine being on the air. Instead she became an art major, envying the kids running the college radio station. She describes subbing for On the Wing and eventually getting her own show as fulfilling a dream.

Elaine chronicles fostering her love of music while growing up in Southern Maine "before it was the cool place it is now." "In those pre-Internet days, in a rural state, you had to work hard to be aware of music that was not on Casey Kasem’s American Top 40. I remember being able to pick up a Boston station, WMEX- FM, at night and hearing great rock music that had not yet made it up to Maine."  

Elaine says she developed a lifelong habit of reading voraciously about rock, biking down to the local bookstore to pick up the latest issue of CREEM magazine when she was a teenager and these days grabbing a copy of Mojo magazine, which Elaine considers "the most intelligent writing currently available about rock."

1. Favorite genre of music? We listen happily to nearly every genre in our household, although neither my husband, my teenage son or I have ever developed a taste for country music. Rock of all sorts is definitely the default genre at our house.
2. What was the first LP or CD you bought? Rod Stewart's Every Picture Tells a Story on vinyl. Boy, how the mighty have fallen.
3. Where have you traveled?  Favorite destination? I’m a complete Anglophile. I have been to the U.K. three times and someday might just not come back. It’s the music, movies, humor, accents, scenery, everything! I feel utterly at home in Scotland, my favorite place in the entire world.
4. Favorite movie? To Kill a Mockingbird Never has there been a more perfect adaptation of a book to the screen with child actors so thoroughly believable, and a sweetly melancholy score by Elmer Bernstein so beautiful as to make you weep. My perspective on movies is similar to WERU DJ Jay Peterson’s perspective on music: Yes, there are still great films being made, but the best ones all came out prior to 1965.
5. Favorite holiday and why? Halloween. It comes at my favorite time of year, appeals to my love for Gothic drama and doesn’t require buying gifts for anyone!
6. What would people be surprised to know about you? I’m a distance runner. Probably only because of music. When I got my first Walkman (Yes, Walkman!), I discovered I could just about run forever if I had music pumped directly into my head. A little-known fact: It converts to adrenalin once it enters the body. I was ecstatic when the MP3 player came out. I can run even further now.
7. Any special talents? I can read the thought bubbles over my dogs’ heads. I know what they’re thinking at any given moment.
8. Best compliment ever received? When music is so important to you, there’s nothing better than hearing “I love your show." When people say that, I float on air!
9. Who has inspired you? My husband, whose exacting standards in everything he does, which I try to apply in my own life.
10. What makes you laugh? My pug. Or practically any dog. Nature’s noblest and funniest creatures.

Busker Ball VII on July 24th

Theo Eastwind

If you've visited an urban center and appreciated the unique talents of the street performers you encountered there, then you are already familiar with busking, a term used to describe the practice of performing in public for gratuities.  New York City is home to some of the best street performers around.  Described by The Village Voice as "New York's Own," Theo Eastwind has been a street musician since arriving in NYC from Vienna, Austria in 1995 with nothing more than an old guitar on his back.  He heard a man singing a cappella while walking through the subway and an idea took shape.  The future "King of the Buskers" was born.

Since then, Theo has become a strong advocate for performers working in the subway.  In an effort to give back to the community while showcasing some of New York's finest street musicians, Theo organized what is now a quarterly event called the Busker Ball.  On July 24th, National Busker Day, Theo will be among the performers for Busker Ball VII, which takes place at Spike Hill in Brooklyn Hill.  The talented line up also includes Ken Ruan, Emore Saylavee, "NYC Subway Girl" Cathy Grier, Gabriel Royal and Mr. Reed, some of whom will be performing at the Busker Ball for the first time.  The doors open at 7PM. The suggested donation is a mere $10 for what will surely be an evening of great entertainment and celebration!

I had the pleasure of chatting with Theo, Ken Ruan, Emore Saylavee, Cathy Grier and Mr. Reed on The Knix Mix.  To hear the Knix Mix interview in its entirety, check out this link!

Live Knix Mix Interview

For more information on Busker Ball VII, how to  and the artists who will be performing, please check out the websites below!
NYC Busker Ball

NYC Busker Ball on Facebook

Cathy Grier (photo credit Amel Chen)

The Knix Mix Interview with Ki:Theory

Ki:Theory (pronounced "key"), Virginia native Joel Burleson, is a gifted multi-instrumentalist, producer and recording artist.  And since someone is likely to ask, Joel explains that the name Ki:Theory came about from having lived abroad in Japan.  It's the Japanese equivalent of the Chinese word "chi," which - in simplified terms - means "energy."  Even if you don't yet know Ki:Theory by name, you have likely appreciated his artistry in one medium or another.  He has remixed tracks for artists as diverse as Kings of Leon, Queens of the Stone Age, UNKLE, Daft Punk and Ladytron, among others.  His original music has been featured on TV shows, commercials, films and video games.  His remix of Daft Punk's "The Son of Flynn" for Tron:  Legacy was featured on the official remix album, Tron:  Legacy R3CONF1GUR3D.  I mean, how cool is that?

I've been playing the 2 disc deluxe edition of Kitty Hawk, which dropped in April, on The Knix Mix since it arrived at the station. It's crazy good!  The album, which you can download on the Ki:Theory website, features 6 unreleased Ki:Theory tracks and some amazing remixes.  I was curious to interview the maestro behind the music, but what impressed me the most in chatting with Ki:Theory is that, despite his achievements, he is both genuine and modest.

Kitty Hawk is at times haunting and moody; at other times pounding and danceable. His rendition of "Stand by Me" is uniquely dark and moving. The vocals supplied by Maura Davis (of indie band Denali fame) add an engaging feminine energy to the tracks "I Wanna Run" and "Needles."  While Ki:Theory's origins are alt rock, there are electronic elements to his music, which stands out on banging tracks like the Break Science remix of "Kitty Hawk" and "Lay Our Body Down."  "Open Wound," both the original and the Odesza remix, and "Holiday Heart" are a couple of my personal favorite tracks off the album. 

The Ki:Theory mini tour in support of the album had just begun when The Knix Mix live interview took place, but as of this blog post, the tour has come to a noteworthy conclusion.  Ki:Theory played at Great Scott in Allston, Massachusetts on June 21st, so I hope local Knix Mix fans were able to make the trip!  I wish I'd been in the audience for his hometown appearance in Richmond, Virginia on June 28th at Strange Matter.  Maura Davis was scheduled to appear, and I imagine that had to be an epic event!  

There are official videos for "Stand by Me" and "Venin," which you can find in links below.  Give a listen to the complete Knix Mix interview with Ki:Theory here!  Find out answers to questions you didn't even know you had.  Like who would Ki:Theory choose, living or not, to sit down with for a meal and talk?  I know, but you'll have to listen to find out!

Ki:Theory Website

Ki:Theory on Facebook

Ki:Theory on YouTube

Ki:Theory on Twitter