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The Road To AURA: Eric Gould of Pink Talking Fish March 1, 2016 01:26

The 7th Annual AURA Music & Arts Festival is right around the corner, taking place at The Spirit of Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Florida from Thursday, March 3rd to Saturday, March 5th.  As a part of our coverage of the festival, we are sitting down with a handful of this year's performers for a series of interviews called "The Road To AURA".  Next up is Eric Gould (bass) of Pink Talking Fish.

Interview by Jordan Kirkland: Live & Listen

Pink Talking Fish has quickly become one of the most innovative, exciting acts in the jam/festival scene, fusing together the catalogs of Pink Floyd, Talking Heads, and Phish. How and when did the idea for this band come to life?

Eric:  I formed Pink Talking Fish in the Fall of 2013. I had played some cover heavy shows over the past couple years and wanted to create something unique in the tribute genre. I picked 3 of my favorite bands that I thought would blend well together and wrote down a mock setlist so see what it would look like. Once it presented itself on paper, it was clear that this had to happen!

What’s great about this project is that it blurs the lines of tribute and originality. We utilize the songbooks of these three amazing acts as puzzle pieces to create something fresh for fans of this music.

Each of these three bands' catalogs are extremely diverse, with countless options that could be included in a set on any given night. How does the band go about putting the setlist together each night? How often do you guys learn and incorporate new material into the rotation?

Eric:  We are constantly learning new material and thinking of new concepts. We, as both musicians and fans, have a passion for pushing the envelope. We are always searching for new combinations and exploring material that will enhance the band.

I write the initial setlist draft and present it to the guys. We finalize it together as we run through the flow of the transitions. Our drummer, Zack Burwick, loves to challenge me on the setlists and make sure that we are keeping a solid variety show to show.

Even though the song order mostly comes from my initial setlists, how we transition is very much a group effort. Our guitarist, Dave Brunyak, is fantastic at coming up with innovative transition ideas. I wrote a setlist with a combination of "Stash" > "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" > "Psycho Killer" > "Stash", and Dave came up with a sweet idea to dissolve "Stash" over the “maybe so maybe not” vocals at the beginning of the jam into the introduction to Shine. It was awesome!

Watch Pink Talking Fish's entire set from Catskill Chill 2014 here:

This band's ability to weave in and out of each song is astounding. Have you guys developed certain patterns/tendencies with certain songs following another? Is there a specific focus on keeping your audience on their toes, wondering what could possibly come next?

Eric:  “What comes next?” is one of the best parts of Pink Talking Fish. We love executing a setlist and watching the audience reaction to how it unfolds. We have some combinations that have become staples like "Slippery People" > "Sand > "Slippery People", "Another Brick In The Wall"> "Life During Wartime" > "Another Brick In The Wall" and "You Enjoy Myself" > "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" > "You Enjoy Myself". We also love to sandwich songs in a Mikes Groove or in between Dogs.

For the most part though, we do our best to create new ideas. It’s important to us to make sure that each show is a different journey. We are performing “dream setlists” for ourselves and hope that it is the same thing for the audience. The last thing we want to have PTF become is stagnant for anyone. It is our responsibility to both honor the material and also present it in a way that offers a special experience for the audience. We take that very seriously. 

Over the years, Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park has become the home to many of the nation's most anticipated annual music festivals. What is it that differentiates Suwannee from other festival sites and makes it so special? Do you feel the atmosphere has a direct effect on this music?

Eric:  I’ve performed at Suwannee many times over the years, and it continues to be one of my favorite festival sites in the world. Obviously, the beauty of the trees, the weather, and the layout of the place is top notch. However, it’s the energy that gets me. There are certain places that have an incredible energy among the community, and Suwannee is high on that mountain. It enhances the music and it creates a sense of family through these incredible experiences.

Watch Pink Talking Fish perforrn "This Must Be The Place" > "Character Zero" here:

This year marks the 7th Annual AURA Music & Arts Festival. You have been a part of this scene for long enough to see many festivals come and go. What do you feel are some of the most important factors in establishing and growing a successful music festival?

Eric:  Community is the most important and AURA has that locked. Festivals are, first and foremost, about the people. With that involved, there is an effortless drive to work hard to make the logistics behind the festival as special as possible. Daryl and the other people behind the curtain of AURA have done an incredible job making that happen.

This year's lineup features a notably diverse variety of the festival scene's most exciting groups. What do you think this lineup says about the depth of this music scene in 2016?

Eric:  The beauty of the jam scene is that there is an open mind towards other genres. In my opinion, the best festival lineups that cater to the jam scene audience have some jamband staples but also provide different flavors from different scenes to heighten the quality of experience. AURA has always done well with this.

I love that Thievery Corporation did a Grateful Dead late night in Chicago last year for GD50. I think it turned a lot of the jam scene on to them, and it’s awesome that AURA has them as a headliner. The first time I saw them live was a Coachella years back when I played there with Particle, and they blew me away.

There is a surge of amazing original music out there right now. Some of it is not in the textbook jam scene realm. At Catskill Chill last year, the best band I saw was The Ballroom Thieves, and they are the polar opposite of a classic jamband. I was very thankful that they were incorporated into that festival. I look forward to finding a surprise like that at AURA this year.

Photo by Josh Brick Graphics


The Road To AURA: Chris Houser of The Werks February 29, 2016 12:51

Photo by Josh Timmermans: Noble Visions

The 7th Annual AURA Music & Arts Festival is right around the corner, taking place at The Spirit of Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Florida from Thursday, March 3rd to Saturday, March 5th.  As a part of our coverage of the festival, we are sitting down with a handful of this year's performers for a series of interviews called "The Road To AURA".  Next up it Chris Houser (guitar/vocals) of The Werks.

Interview by Jordan Kirkland: Live & Listen

As we progress into 2016, The Werks enters it's 11th year as a touring band.  The lineup has evolved over the years, but it's clear that the band's foundations have remained the same.  What stands out the most to you when reflecting over the past decade?

Chris:  Looking back on the past decade, I would have to say what has stood out most, to me personally, has been the will to survive. It hasn't been easy to keep doing what we do for so long. The road wears on our minds, bodies, and souls, as well as our interpersonal relationships with other band mates. I feel we've done what we've had to do at certain times and made sure to keep relationships good between former band members as well as current, although it may have taken some time to achieve in certain circumstances. As far as the music goes, I feel like we have always had a certain goal for achieving new heights through music. I just feel like we have kept getting better at it and have a more positive message as we go along.

This tour is obviously a bit different four you guys, as bassist Dino Dimitrouleas has taken an understandable step back to spend time with his family.  In the meantime, Jake Goldberg has stepped up to fill Dino's spot.  What is the band's history with Jake, and how has the transition been on the initial run of shows on this tour?
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Chris:  We've been friends with Jake for a while now, and he's actually sat in for Dino on numerous occasions when Dino was unavailable in the past, which has made this transition much much easier. Jake started as a fan, became a friend, and now he's filling in during one of the hardest times in the bands history. Jake has added a new groove to the band during these last few weeks, and it's been fun having his outlook musically added to what we already do. While still holding true to Dino and Chuck's originally recorded licks, he has not hesitated to add his own flavors to the jams which is new and fun for us to use a jumping off points in jams.
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Listen to "Drop" from The Werks' most recent album, Inside a Dream, here:

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Over the years, Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park has become the home to many of the nation's most anticipated annual music festivals.  What is it that differentiates Suwannee from other festival sites and makes it so special?  Do you feel the atmosphere has a direct effect on this music?
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Chris:  The vibe at Suwannee is unmatched, in my opinion, by any other site in the region. The Spanish moss hanging from the trees is what always gets me.  I don't know what it is about it, but it makes me feel like I've gone back in time (laughs). The grounds seem to promote a laid back simplistic vibe that encourages relaxation and care free bliss. That's how I feel when I'm on the amphitheater stage looking at the people and the trees; pure bliss and relaxation. It pours through the music and brings us to higher climaxes as we seem to have maybe just a little more confidence when surrounded by such feelings, sights, and faces.
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You guys are scheduled to headline the first night (Thursday 3/3) on the Amphitheater Stage.  How does this band go about determining the setlist for a major festival set vs. any other night on tour?
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Chris:  We usually go by the feeling we get when we arrive at a venue and go by what jumps out at us. Recently, we've been trying to make sure that we aren't playing the same songs we did in years prior. This year, with Jake, we planned ahead (which is very abnormal, haha). We hand picked this years set honoring suggestions from our tour manager (Kenny Holmes) and our lighting designer (Alex 'Herm' Schneider). This one's going to be really good.
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Photo by Josh Timmermans: Noble Visions

This year marks the 7th Annual AURA Music & Arts Festival.  You guys understand the amount of time and effort required to execute a festival of this magnitude as well as anyone, as The Werk Out proves.  What are some of the most important factors in establishing and growing a successful music festival?
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Chris:  I would have to say that two of the most important things would be first: knowing when to say "no" when planning the fest. "You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes well, you just might find, you get what you need".  There's a fine line between having what you need and losing your ass. Throwing a festival is scary in that sense, because if you over shoot it, you could be screwed. Number two is: knowing when to say "yes". This is the hardest one for me.  There are so many factors that go into throwing a fest: between staffing, equipment/production rental, the lineup, food, lodging, transportation, hospitality, vending, parking, etc.  It can make your head spin. We, and AURA as well, have been blessed by learning over the years and putting the right people in the right positions that are trusted and have our best interest in mind. We have become very good at deciding when it is time to say "yes", and when it is time to say "no".
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This year's lineup features a notably diverse variety of the festival scene's most exciting groups.  What do you think this lineup says about the depth of this music scene in 2016?
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Chris:  It's fantastic to see such a broad spectrum on this years lineup, from The Disco Biscuits to Holly Bowling, from ALO to our good friends Broccoli Samurai, from Snarky Puppy to Nunchuck, and Thievery to Mike Dillon.  Wow..that really just sunk in (laughs).  This is going to be off the hook man.  AURA is always a fest that The Werks looks forward to every time we are lucky enough to be said "yes" to.  AURA is wonderfully doing its part to make sure you get as broad a spectrum of today's best music on one bill. Our scene is so diverse right now, and it only helps out every other band and fan, because it opens all of our eyes to what's really out there and what you never knew you loved.
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Watch The Werks perform "Gameplan" at Catskill Chill 2015 here:
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Catch The Werks on tour in a city near you this Spring!
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The Road To AURA: Greg Ormont of Pigeons Playing Ping Pong February 25, 2016 10:22

 

Photo by Brady Cooling Photography

The 7th Annual AURA Music & Arts Festival is right around the corner, taking place at The Spirit of Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Florida from Thursday, March 3rd to Saturday, March 5th.  As a part of our coverage of the festival, we are sitting down with a handful of this year's performers for a series of interviews called "The Road To AURA."  First up is the always charismatic Greg Ormont (guitar/vocals) of Pigeons Playing Ping Pong.  

Interview by Jordan Kirkland: Live & Listen

Pigeons Playing Ping Pong has just finished up another highly successful year.  Your audience continues to grow, you're playing bigger venues, and the band is clearly in high demand on the festival circuit.  What has been this band's approach toward building this momentum, and how do you plan to continue on in 2016?

Greg: Well, you know, we continue to do the same things on our end, which is practicing every week when we can, while continuing to focus on having fun.  Our vibes seem to be resonating with more and more people and as we play larger venues.  But our "momentum" as you put it, is separate from what we experience daily.  We're just doing the same thing we've been doing since college, which is just getting together, working on creating a unique funky sound as a group, and trying to put a smile on everybody's face when we're playing live.  So we're just continuing to do what we love to do, and it seems to be moving nicely, in terms of us being able to play in bigger rooms,which just allows us make more people smile.


You've recently announced the release of the latest Pigeons' album, Pleasure, due out on Friday, April 1st. How does this album differ from Psychology, and what can your fans expect upon listening for the first time?

Greg:  Oh man... listening to Pleasure gives me a lot of... pleasure (chuckles). I'm so proud of this album.  I consider Pleasure to be our first "professional" studio recording in the truest sense of the word. We recorded at a phenomenal studio in Baltimore called Wright Way Studios and the experience was totally different than Psychology's recording process.  With Psychology, we recorded the album ourselves, albeit with some help from our sonically inclined friends, at an impressive home studio, but we didn't have any professional assistance from start to finish.  With Pleasure, we hired the owner of the studio to engineer the album, and his input and abilities eclipsed Psychology within seconds of the first recording session. Our fans can expect to hear our songs jump off the speakers with professional-grade sound quality. The album's overall flow rises and falls like the peaks and valleys of our live experience, and it's all mixed with precision.

Listen to Pigeons Playing Ping Pong's latest single "Live It Up":


The first single released from Pleasure, "Live It Up," is one which has been in rotation in the Pigeons catalog for a while now.  Have many of the remaining songs on this album been played live as well?

Greg:  At this point, all of them have been played at least once. We play so many shows that we don't really like holding back our material live, especially in this musical-ADD age.  So if we're working on a new song that we're liking, and we feel it's ready to play live, we play it.  That way, we can experience the live energy and see how the song actually plays with a live crowd. And typically, our songs will develop after a few performances. The thing is, you can get all the parts together in practice, but once you play it live, you find out what that song actually "is" and how it affects people.  Because, you know, music is communication, and when you create a song, it communicates one thing in practice, but when you expand that setting to an excited crowd in an exciting place, you end up with a different result. Just like delivering a speech to one person vs. 1,000, you're going to say things with different emphases based on your audience, setting and mood. Sometime we'll play a new song and it goes exactly as expected, and then other times, the jam section emits an emotion that is not what we planned for initially, just based off of the energy of a particular crowd. So we prefer to test our songs live and experience the feedback before laying it down for good in the studio. That way, we can embellish the parts that resonate with our fans. As a result, all of the songs off Pleasure have natural live energy injected into the studio versions.

Click here to pre-order your copy of Pigeons Playing Ping Pong's new abum, Pleasure.

Photo by Brady Cooling Photography

Over the years, Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park has become the home to many of the nation's most anticipated annual music festivals.  What is it that differentiates Suwannee from other festival sites and makes it so special?  Do you feel the atmosphere has a direct effect on this music?

Greg:  Oh definitely...everyone talks about The Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park the same.  The rumors are always true. Just like any major city that I've heard a lot of buzz about, such as Asheville, North Carolina, Burlington, Vermont, the entire state of Colorado...typically when hear great things about a place, you go there and feel the magic right away.  The same goes for Suwannee, for so many reasons, but primarily, it's like...imagine the perfect set up for a festival, with an awesome amphitheater stage where everyone can see the music amongst tropical trees, artists and fans are hanging together, there's swimming available, and it's warm....  And then, add like...I don't know...a sheet of Dr. Seuss' best acid in terms of aesthetics, with drooping Spanish moss hanging over picturesque ponds, with lit up swans floating in the water... Plus there's a mysterious and legendary black river with black water running through it...a common site for cliff jumpers... the intrigue never ends.

And then on top of all of that, you're in Florida in early March, so anyone who has travelled from outside of the Southeast like us is thrilled to be walking around in shorts and t-shirts in the middle of what should be snowy weather.

Plus, AURA does such a good job of booking up-and-coming bands, and they are the same bands we run into at different festivals and in clubs year round. All friends. So we're surrounded by amazing people who are also experiencing a happy break from the weather in a magical, almost nonsensical festival site. There's just too much beauty to explore. I still haven't experienced all of its amenities, and this will be my third time down there.

Watch Pigeons Playing Ping Pong perform "Julia" at AURA 2014 here:

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You guys are scheduled to play at 6:45-8PM on Saturday night at the Vibe Tent.  How does this band go about determining the setlist for a major festival set vs. any other night on tour?

Greg:  We love taking festivals from the daytime to the nighttime.  It is the best.  I mean, I love headlining and playing late night too, but it's really interesting to experience a sunset while you're playing.  You can literally see the crowd's mood change from daytime smiles to nighttime raging and you tailor your setlist to accentuate that experience.  That moment of nightfall is always great visually, but it's also a very unique musical experience that emits some serious natural energy.

And one thing that we focus on is putting on a different show every time.  We work hard to consistently brew up something special and new for our crowd, and continue to push ourselves to create new transitions, bust out new covers and teases and continue to keep it fresh. Plus, we have a ton of friends in the AURA family, so there's a good chance that we'll get some help from our musical friends. I wouldn't miss this one...


This year marks the 7th Annual AURA Music & Arts Festival.  You guys understand the amount of time and effort required to execute a successful weekend festival, as your 7th annual festival Domefest proves.  What are some of the most important factors in establishing and growing a successful music festival?

Greg: It's key to build a good team around you and delegate responsibility, because you simply can't run a festival by yourself.  Our guitarist Jeremy Schon and I can work every day for 6-12 months a year planning out every single detail of Domefest, but once the weekend is upon us, we couldn't pull it off without our team of go-getters. This year, we'll have around 40 staff and 60 volunteers, and no one can slack off for a second if we want to continue to put on the a smooth and epic event that people have grown to love. Fortunately, we're surrounded by an amazingly supportive community of people who give Domefest their all each year.

Click here to sign up to be a volunteer at Domefest 2016

Beyond that, we focus on fostering a fun and easy-going experience for our attendees and bands. Having toured the country for years, we know how important it is for bands to feel comfortable at festivals during the long summer. We model our festival after what we look for in hospitality as touring musicians, as well as festival attendees. Musicians and fans can enjoy some mountain air and new music side-by-side in a hassle-free environment, which our fans have grown to appreciate in the age of a million festivals. Domefest is a little more laid back and grassroots than most festivals these days. There isn't much separation between where the artists and fans camp and chill.  It's really free flowing, and I've felt similar vibes at AURA the past two years. Fans and bands seeing new music together. That's what it's all about.

Watch Pigeons Playing Ping Pong perform "F.U." at AURA 2014 here:

This year's lineup features a notably diverse variety of the festival scene's most exciting groups.  What do you think this lineup says about the depth of this music scene in 2016?

Greg:  AURA always books the best up-and-comers and top headliners in the jam scene. For years, I always noticed that their lineups were on the pulse and I wanted to be part of it. The lineup is always comprised of bands who are just down to have a good time, no prima donnas or anything like that.  Everyone just enjoys a winter vacation in Florida while getting their name out there.

I mean, from top to bottom, you have The Disco Biscuits, who have been having a good time since they started, and then every band who would be totally fine with having a career similar to The Disco Biscuits' in 10 years, with the exception of a few acts who are dominating their own paths, like multiple Grammy Award winning Snarky Puppy, the incredible songwriters of ALO, and then of course the globally successful Thievery Corporation. And I think AURA has hand-picked some of the best up-and-comers that will lead the future of the jam scene.  I'm talking about Turkuaz, The Main Squeeze, hopefully us, Aqueous...I think that every band on AURA's lineup deserves to be there and I can't wait to see them all lay it down in the swamp!

DomeFest will take place from May 19th - May 21st on Fort Royale Farm in Bedford, PA.  Tickets are currently $60, but prices will increase to $70 on Tuesday, March 1st.  This year's lineup features three nights of Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, as well as sets from Big Something, Aqueous, Broccoli Samurai, Mister F, and many more.  Click here to purchase your tickets today!