Welcome to our weekly show recommendation column RSVP HERE – your source for the best NYC shows and interviews with some of our favorite local live bands.
Providence, Rhode Island rockers GYMSHORTS join Dune Rats on a couple dates of their tour, including this Tuesday 11/12 at Rough Trade. Frontwoman Sarah Greenwell formed GYMSHORTS with guitarist Devin Demers in 2012. They’ve been heavily touring ever since, bringing their stoner punk goodness to the world. We chatted with Sarah about how they spend their time on tour and the best ways to spend your extra daylight savings hour…
AF: How do you pass the time in the van on tour?
SG: We play the coolest game ever!! It’s called “cows on my side!” Basically you just yell out when you see cows! And when you see a cemetery you say “ghost cows.” It gets super competitive and we’ve made some new rules along the way but it’s pretty much the best tour game I’m pretty sure.
AF: What’s your favorite city/venue to play in?
SG: I love playing anywhere in California – it’s so fun! And Fort Wayne! The Brass Rail rules!! Honestly, I love playing in New York too. We played in Bangkok back in May too which was very sick!
AF: Daylight savings just happened last weekend, what did ya’ll do with your extra hour?
SG: This question is the best!! We actually have a song about daylight savings and how it’s so cool cause you get an extra hour of hours!! I think I was probably sleeping this daylight savings but there was one daylight savings where we were driving overnight from Detroit to Chicago and there is a time change of one hour and then also it was daylight savings so it was like 2 am for 3 hrs or something crazy like that! It was wacky as hell! That was a good daylight savings!
RSVP HERE for GYMSHORTS with Dune Rats, and Sonny Hall @ Rough Trade Tuesday 11/12! 18+ / $15
Here we are again! As the new year approaches, it’s time to look back and take stock of the albums and singles that defined this moment in music history. 2018 was an eclectic year, to say the least, and there are a lot of new names on the list: Tirzah, Snail Mail, Soccer Mommy, Noname, King Princess, and Kali Uchis all had phenomenal debuts this year, not to mention the inimitable Cardi B, who made good on the promise of last year’s smash hit “Bodak Yellow” with Invasion of Privacy in April. There were established artists who still managed to surprise us, whether in the form of unearthed Prince demos, The Arctic Monkeys’ loungey sci-fi concept album, Tim Hecker introducing us to ancient Japanese court music, Dev Hynes making his most personal Blood Orange record yet, or Lil Wayne finally dropping Tha Carter V. And then there are those artists who fall somewhere in between, their ascendant careers a thrill to watch as 2018 saw them finally hit their stride. US Girls. Yves Tumor. serpentwithfeet. And perhaps most spectacularly, Mitski and Janelle Monáe.
As each of our writers (and editors, too) created their own mini-lists, those were two names that kept cropping up, and there’s no doubt you’ve seen them on just about every year-end list on the interwebs. If there’s any chance you haven’t heard Be The Cowboy or Dirty Computer, by all means, fire up that Spotify Premium post haste. But the recommendations here are as diverse as our writers themselves, so we hope you’ll take time to explore some of the lesser-known, hardly hyped artists we’ve highlighted, too – and keep your eyes peeled for more year-end coverage as we cruise in to 2019.
EDITOR LISTS
Marianne White (Executive Director)
Top 10 Albums:
1) boygenuis – boygenius
2) Soccer Mommy – Clean
3) Nenah Cherry – Broken Politics
4) Mitski – Be the Cowboy
5) serpentwithfeet – soil
6) CupcakKE – Ephorize
7) Blood Orange – Negro Swan
8) Autechre – NTS Sessions 1-4
9) Snail Mail – Lush
10) Cardi B – Invasion of Privacy Top 5 Singles:
1) Let’s Eat Grandma – “Hot Pink”
2) Jon Hopkins – “Emerald Rush”
3) The Internet – “Look What You Started”
4) Cardi B, Bad Bunny, J Balvin – “I Like It”
5) boygenius – “Bite The Hand”
Lindsey Rhoades (Editor-in-Chief)
Top 10 Albums:
1) Low – Double Negative
2) US Girls – In A Poem Unlimited
3) Madeline Kenney – Perfect Shapes
4) Yves Tumor – Safe In The Hands of Love
5) DJ Koze – Knock Knock
6) Caroline Rose – Loner
7) Tim Hecker – Konoyo
8) Virginia Wing – Ecstatic Arrow
9) Frigs – Basic Behaviour
10) bedbug – i’ll count to heaven in years without seasons Top 10 Singles:
1) Janelle Monáe – “Make Me Feel”
2) Loma – “Black Willow”
3) The Breeders – “All Nerve”
4) SOPHIE – “Is It Cold In The Water?”
5) Jonathan Wilson – “Loving You”
6) Empath – “The Eye”
7) Sibile Attar – “Paloma”
8) Jono Ma & Dreems – “Can’t Stop My Dreaming (Of You)”
9) Shopping – “Discover”
10) Ed Schrader’s Music Beat – “Dunce”
Mandy Brownholtz (Social Media)
Top 5 Albums:
1) Miserable – Lover Boy/Dog Days
2) Snail Mail – Lush
3) Mitski – Be The Cowboy
4) Teyana Taylor – K.T.S.E.
5) Janelle Monáe – Dirty Computer Top 3 Singles:
1) Nothing – “Blue Line Baby”
2) Hinds – “The Club”
3) Mitski – “Nobody”
Lauren Zambri (Events)
Top 5 Albums:
1) Amen Dunes – Freedom
2) US Girls – In A Poem Unlimited
3) Beach House – 7
4) Iceage – Beyondless
5) Tirzah – Devotion Top 5 Singles:
1) Jenny Hval – “Spells”
2) US Girls – “Velvet 4 Sale”
3) Yves Tumor – “Licking An Orchid”
4) Amen Dunes – “Believe”
5) Low – “Always Trying to Work it Out”
Top 5 Albums:
1) Alice Ivy – I’m Dreaming
2) Sudan Archives – Sink
3) Marlon Williams – Make Way For Love
4) Earth Girl Helen Brown – Venus
5) Rüfüs Du Sol – Solace Top 3 Singles:
1) Rhye – “Taste”
2) Alice Ivy – “Chasing Stars”
3) Sudan Archives – “Nont For Sale”
Top 5 Albums:
1) DRINKS – Hippo Lite
2) Shannon & the Clams – Onion
3) Lost Boy ? – Paranoid Fiction
4) Prince – Piano & a Microphone 1983
5) Sloppy Jane – Willow Top 3 Singles:
1) Public Practice – “Fate/Glory”
2) The Nude Party – “Chevrolet Van”
3) Big Bliss – “Surface”
Top 10 Releases Out of the Brooklyn DIY Scene (in Chronological Order):
1) THICK — Would You Rather? (Self-Released)
2) BODEGA — Endless Scroll (What’s Your Rupture?)
3) Baked — II (Exploding In Sound)
4) Pecas — After Dark (Broken Circles)
5) Big Bliss – At Middle Distance (Exit Stencil Recordings)
6) Kevin Hairs — Freak In The Streets (GP Stripes)
7) PILL – Soft Hell (Mexican Summer)
8) Stove – ‘s Favorite Friend (Exploding In Sound)
9) Lost Boy ? – Paranoid Fiction (Little Dickman Records/ Rich Moms)
10) Janet LaBelle – I Only See You (Loantaka Records)
Top 5 Albums:
1) The Arctic Monkeys – Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
2) The 1975 – A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships
3) Charles Bradley – Black Velvet
4) Brandi Carlile – By The Way, I Forgive You
5) Jack White – Boarding House Reach Top 3 Singles:
1) The Raconteurs – “Now That You’re Gone”
2) Mac Miller – “2009”
3) Dead Naked Hippies – “Rare”
Top 5 Albums:
1) Cardi B – Invasion of Privacy
2) Lil Wayne – Tha Carter V
3) J. Cole – KOD
4) Preme – Light of Day
5) Jazz Cartier – Fleurever Top 3 Singles:
1) Lil Wayne feat. Reginae Carter – “Famous”
2) Cardi B – “Thru Your Phone”
3) J. Cole – “Brackets”
Desdemona Dallas
Top 5 Albums:
1) Noname – Room 25
2) Flatbush Zombies – Vacation In Hell
3) Mountain Man – Magic Ship
4) Lucy Dacus – Historian
5) Nao – Saturn Top 3 Singles:
1) Janelle Monáe – “Make Me Feel”
2) Twin Shadow – “Saturdays”
3) Sudan Archives – “Nont For Sale”
Erin Rose O’Brien
Top 5 Albums:
1) Mitski — Be The Cowboy
2) Antarctigo Vespucci — Love in the Time of E-mail
3) Car Seat Headrest — Twin Fantasy
4) Soccer Mommy — Clean
5) Janelle Monáe — Dirty Computer Top 3 Singles:
1) Bad Moves — “Cool Generator”
2) The Beths — “Future Me Hates Me”
3) Miya Folick — “Stop Talking”
Ysabella Monton
Top 5 Albums:
1) Mitski – Be The Cowboy
2) Janelle Monáe – Dirty Computer
3) Brockhampton – Iridescence
4) Soccer Mommy – Clean
5) Cardi B – Invasion of Privacy Top 3 Singles:
1) King Princess – “1950”
2) Childish Gambino – “This is America”
3) Pusha T – “If You Know You Know”
Davey Jones, the prolific mastermind behind experimental bedroom pop project Lost Boy ?, put out my favorite new summer jam this week! Listening to “96” after scrolling through too many friends’ family vacation photos and recovering from an ice cream binge stomach ache succeeded in making me feel less like an apathetic beach sloth. Its “I’ve only got time for love” hook lies on top of a Violent Femmes-y bass line and bright acoustic guitar, immediately sticking in my sun-fried brain and turning it into a more hopeful warm place. Thanks Davey!
Lost Boy ?’s next NYC show is July 29th at Riis Park Beach Bazaar with THICK, Big Huge & Gobbin Jr. RSVP here.
Check out the rest of our Track of the Week playlist below…
Ryan Foster is an awesome shredder and an affable goofball. I was able to spend nearly a month on the road with him and he was constantly cracking jokes and breaking ice. But one of the few things he takes very seriously is his role as a cat dad. I have seen Ryan rip the guitar for Lost Boy ? and Toons, but recently, he took the forefront as singer/songwriter as well in his project Warm Body. I was interested in how Ryan’s feline friend, a Persian named Romeo, contributed to his musical side.
AF: Happy belated birthday! Did you do anything with your feline friend to celebrate? Do you know what Romeo’s birthday is/what sign he is?
RF: Thank you! Actually I was fortunate to be awoken by Romeo on my birthday, as on most days, by him first resting on my chest and purring loudly and then walking up onto my head and purring loudly. That’s sort of his M.O., and it’s become my alarm clock for the past year! I love that we are in sync, or maybe my habits inform his. His birthday is June 11, 2009, so that makes him a frisky little Gemini.
AF: Tell us a little about your projectWarm Body. How did it start, and where did you meet the other members?
RF: Warm Body was conceived because I wanted to record my own fully-formed songs with a singular vision. I’d always found it difficult expressing my own creative ideas to others as they came to me, but always sensed strongly that they were valid and often times even the best ideas being presented in a group setting. While I wanted to focus on keeping the songs singular and establish a sound of my own, I was always still keen on collaboration and that shows from some of the recordings; eventually that turned into full on recruitment, and I was so blessed to capture the attention of Philip, Rick and Milli, whom I’ve known for years – all in tangential ways. In fact, this technically came together because I asked Philip to track saxophone on a new song and one thing led to another. Those boys are not only amazing players technically, but they’re literally the perfect people for this band and the furthest from the types that would phone it in; nobody in Warm Body lets their ego dominate the assembly. It feels really good.
AF: What is your instrumental background? When did you start playing guitar and singing, and are there other instruments in your regular repertoire?
RF: I started learning passable versions of well-known riffs on guitar at around 12; it wasn’t under much guidance. It wasn’t until my friends wanted to take things to the next level that I felt motivated, which is to say they wanted to play the talent show. I just wanted girls to notice me, basically. Singing came much later and doing both at the same time is still a work in progress. I’m convinced that all of my musical abilities fall in the category of ‘fake it til you make it’, but with that said I’m always one to pluck a bass and dabble in synth and with drum machines.
AF: You have an adorable Persian cat named Romeo. Did you choose him or did he choose you?
RF: Thank you so much! As a matter of fact I am certain that Ro chose me; he literally found me and shadowed me.
RF: Our story started when I was doing contractual electrical work inside of this big house in Great Neck on Long Island. Romeo was that family’s cat for many years, having been adopted and cared for by them, and he caught me off guard one day as I was flipping circuit breakers in the laundry room there. I didn’t even know they had a cat; the house was a maze and there were big dogs too. By all accounts it seemed as if he was largely ignored or sort of just not appreciated the way I felt he ought to be, but anyway, he saw me and I saw him and it literally just clicked. This cat would yearn for my attention and keep me company all day in this house while I did this and that. I would become sad to leave him when work was over. Finally I guess the stars aligned because the family saw our love wouldn’t be denied, and I was able to take him home with me for good! I was given all his documents and his food and bowls and all that, and I couldn’t believe there was no heavy heart about it, but I got him.
AF: What was your inspiration in adopting a cat? Are you new to being a cat owner, or did you have cats growing up?
RF: I’ve always had cats and dogs around, so it’s very natural to see a place for them wherever I end up. I love their company, and Romeo made it very easy by wanting to be around me and by being so adorable. I honestly never gave adoption much thought but I told myself after meeting him that I’d adopt this 8 year old cat in a heartbeat and thats ultimately what I did.
AF: Romeo stars in some of your music videos – would you like to share some of them with us?
RF: To date Ro has been the subject of only one of my videos – “KOOL” – but I do think his inspiration carries on in all that I do. The video is about him rescuing my friend John’s stranded pet turtle Rambo and the bromance that follows. I shot the whole thing on my iPhone and it was just a blast.
AF: In what ways does Romeo inspire your creativity?
RF: Ro likes just being around me, even if it means he’s just found a new spot to nap by me. I’ve had a few cats, both boys and girls, and I know that not all cats truly warm up to their owners. Romeo actually likes me, and I think by virtue of his being so friendly and easygoing makes him endearing to me and watching him do his thing is like getting lost in a song. He’s just like most of the things that would inspire me really.
AF: Do you have a specific songwriting method or is every song written in a different way?
RF: It usually starts when I have the desire or time to express a feeling, or just the opportunity to play around with a musical idea. Being both armed with an instrument and receptive to a moment that may or not ever come is the next step, but that’s not assured, and it’s even accidental sometimes too. Lately I find I really enjoy experimenting with loops and samples. Switching it up yields the most interesting results, but not necessarily the best songs I’ve written. Since my music is quite personal to me, I feel silly trying to put something so intangible into words.
[/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”]Ryan playing a Warm Body set at The Footlight (Photo Credit: Natalie Kirch)
AF: Tell us about your recent release on GP Stripes.
RF: It was funny being asked to put a tape of my music out in 2017, but it was humbling to be asked to put out a tape on a label I respect. Jordan, Nick, Davey, they’re all just good people and inspiring to be around, so it was a no-brainer. I had this feeling like they really care and would very likely put their hearts and souls into the process of making it and with any luck promoting the piss out of it. That tape is actually the first ‘official’ physical Warm Body release though, and I’m proud of the songs. It’s just the first two EP’s: 8 songs in a continuous flow. Sort of power pop, a little bit of 90’s rock, a bit psychedelic too.
[/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”]Romeo repping the Warm Body tapes released on GP Stripes
AF: If Romeo was an actor, what film would he star in (other than the obvious Romeo and Juliet)?
RF: I tend towards comedy and I find him funny sometimes, so part of me would really like to sub him in for the little weird alien called Mac from Mac & Me, and have him get into all those crazy situations and dance-offs in McDonald’s and pop up with a funny face out of nowhere at random times like when the kid in the wheelchair rolls down a hill and goes off the cliff into a ravine. But really, who are we kidding? He looks like an Ewok, so clearly he’s gotta go to Endor for Return Of The Jedi.
AF: You mentioned to me the other night that Romeo would not have many positive things to say about Trump. How has Romeo been a comfort to you during this current political climate?
RF: I find that, to me, Romeo is the impossible in these times: he’s this fluffy cute creature who makes everyone smile and reminds me of the simple wonders of life. I don’t know if he’s ever even killed a bird, so I guess he’s pretty innocent too. He also likes me, which I’m certain that our president does not!
AF: What is the first word that comes to mind when you think of Romeo?
RF: CHIB.
AF: You have played in several other bands over the years in addition to your project Warm Body. Can you talk a little about those projects and how they formed, and the difference in the songwriting process between leading a project with your own songs and collaborating with others to write songs?
RF: I could likely write a book about that subject! I came up just playing guitar and seeing that as a way to channel my feelings, and I had always written songs, but they were primordial at best. I was better at just knowing what a song needed from its guitar parts, and in that way I suppose it was collaborative. So I was never a songwriter per se until I had Warm Body; I diligently just tried to serve the songs and make them all as special as I could. It’s easy to start a band and it’s like a marriage if it’s good, I think. You wanna make it work and you get what you give. I’ve been adept at balancing as many as three bands at once and with writing it’s never the same experience from one to the other; it’s down to the very distinct clash of personalities at hand as much as the talent on board. Same token, it’s also a matter of some bands just being a dedicated vehicle of their central songwriter; basically a formula you stick with because it works. It takes time to form a chemistry with a group of people, and that’s really the secret to writing with others, otherwise it seems it’s like one person does all that and you play off that person. I write songs frequently but I’ve worked with some people who write and record their songs completely at a breakneck pace. Davey Jones – whom I play in Lost Boy? with – has always worked that way, and it floors me. Seeing that kind of workflow with a consistent quality to the output was one of the factors that made me start doing it for myself as well.
[/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”]Ryan rocking out with Lost Boy ? at the Pine Box (Photo Credit: Natalie Kirch)
AF: Where can we catch your next live sets?
RF: You can catch me playing guitar in Lost Boy? at Elsewhere in Brooklyn on 5/24 – we are playing with Thick & GymShorts and that is going to be a blast.
Warm Body has only one show on our calendar currently – at Ghost House in New Paltz on 5/26 – but keep your senses peeled for the dates we will be announcing soon!
AF: Any big plans in music for the rest of 2018?
RF: Currently we are wrapping up recording for a new 7″ but it’s still a bit soon to give you a release date. Behind the scenes there are a lot of new songs demo’d and I’d like to get them out into the world this year as well.
AF: What is Romeo’s favorite pastime?
[/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”]Romeo trying to steal some of Dad’s food (Photo Credit: Ryan Foster)
RF: Ro is like a little kid that needs and enjoys lots of playing around, which typically involves either the laser pointer or waving a ribbon around in the air for him to catch. That might actually be a draw, because he also likes lingering while I eat. This cat will eat anything I put in front of him, and if I won’t, he steals! Don’t leave any bacon unattended.
Origin stories: they’re typically how I kick off these off, some pseudo-enticing meetcute in the heart of the scene. A half-drunken beg for an interview, an impromptu striptease, a deep side-eye at Two Boots Williamsburg. A chat in front of Little Sunnyville Gutterway Footskips Stadium. A bite from a radioactive spider. I mentally collect these origin stories, and yet I cannot remember meeting Davey Jones. Instead it feels like Davey’s been the perennial maypole at the center of our scene, linked to everyone. Lost Boy ?, as you damn well know, is a staple.
Incidentally, I played the everliving fuck out of my creamsicle copy of Goose Wazoo last October, savoring the trillions of clever pop culture references, floating in legitimate lo-fi heaven. Recently, Davey’s really inking and coloring the sound; the most recent Silent Barn iteration of the band is fleshed out by Jeremy Aquilino on bass, Adam Reich on guitar, and Charlotte Kahn on drums (and everyone else on air guitar).
But today it’s just the two of us, because Davey is fam, and with fam, you message them late on Friday like, “Dude, I was serious about having you as my October column, plz let’s hang out tomorrow.”
Anyway, I love a good Saturday morning adventure. Stay tuned.
The Scene: “We’re going to find Davey…and I don’t think that should be hard…because he is approximately…9 feet tall…give or take,” I mumble into my second iPhone, weaving around stacks of post-punk standards.
It’s the Brooklyn Flea Record Fair and in between quick flips of vinyls (hmm, do I need to throw down $10 for the Rock N’ Roll High School soundtrack?) I’m struggling to find Davey. But oh! There he is, and after salutations, he digs out his finds. The objective was Massive Attack, which he found for the decidedly NOPE price of $55.
“But I got Mosquito which is kind of an odd record,” he says showcasing the distressed pastel pink album cover. “It has Jad Fair of Half Japanese, and Steve Shelley, the drummer of Sonic Youth. The vocal, I think, is supposed to sound like a mosquito.”
“Like literally, like a buzzing noise?”
“They have a weird effect on Jad’s voice the entire record,” he says before showcasing the rest of his finds: a bizarro double Cure re-issue, Richard Hell and the Voidoids, and two cassettes. (“One for Nick, one for me.”)
We decide to go into the anxiety-inducing crowd of Smorgasburg and diverge to get our food; he’s gonna get the vegetable pancakes and word is the mozzarella sticks are hella good.
But like Rock N Roll High School, we confirm they’re not $10 good.
12:46 “You gotta get in on this,” Davey says, offering his plate of Okonomiyaki.
“Oh, I’m gonna get in on this.” I say, forking a sizable, quick-to-crumble bite. We’re in line about to grab beer and a table, a slow rendition of “Feel It Still” soundtracking our orders. There’s chit-chat about the Sharkmuffin girls (Nat is his GF, Tara is my Russell Hammond, you may know them from this website and just about everywhere else) and how they’re finally gonna be home after touring all year. Then I ask Davey how he wants to wrap up his 2017.
“I’m thinking maybe I’ll work on one animation specifically, and put it to song. It’s been kinda on my list of things to do. And I’ve been working on this character for a while.”
“THAT’D BE SO COOL, like a Lost Boy ? music video that you’d animate yourself?”
“I actually have like two characters, so I think they might both appear. I gotta figure out what the body would be for the bird with the spikey hair.” I demand receipts for these characters and he graciously provides them:
I squint at his iPhone screen. “So what are their personalities? This one seems sad…”
“Nosey’s like, obviously a nosey-body,” he explains. “And Bosey’s the kind of character that gets into trouble. Probably drinks too much.”
“Well, that’s why he has the stubble,” I confirm.
“He has stubble and a red nose, and Nosey’s probably always checking in on Bosey and knows too much about what’s going on in his life.”
“He knows all of his secrets.”
“And that’s why Bosey’s kind of depressed.”
“Because he’s an alcoholic and his friend knows that he’s trash,” I confirm, now fairly certain Bosey is my spirit animal. “You know what I love about animation in general? You have to convey certain personality traits but you also have to simplify it since it’s a simpler form of art. Which I think in some ways is more difficult; you either have to exaggerate it or have a good signifier, like a red nose or something.”
He nods. “You can get a personality just by looking at the character, right. You can get it just by the smirk or by the eyebrows. Maybe the mischievousness of even like…”
“…their posture,” we finish together.
1:02 “What was your favorite ride at Disney World?” I ask, and I kid you fucking not, Davey’s face lights up at this as if we’re literally next in line for Star Tours.
“Oh, oh, the Aerosmith ride! Yeah, I loved that ride, ’cause it was so fast, I think I went on that one three times.”
I am very certain that Natalie is a saint because you could not convince me to go on that once, let alone three times.
“That one and the Tower of Terror,” he continues. “I think that was my favorite place to go in Disney. That whole park, it’s more themed for adults. It kinda looks like you’re in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and there’s alcohol.”
“And there’s alcohol, which is the best part,” I agree, remembering distinctly when my mom bought me a $12 strawberry marg there so I would stop complaining about being in Florida.
Apparently the couple managed to hit up all the rides except the Toy Story shoot-out game and Splash Mountain, tragically closed at the time. It’ll be the first stop for next time though, for sure.
“Are you hot?” Davey asks suddenly. “I feel like you’re in the sun pretty hard.”
“Um, I’m okay,” I say, developing all sort of weird tanlines.
1:27 Favorite Disney character though, go!
“It’s kind of hard not to say Mickey Mouse just because I love him so much,” Davey says, and remembering his Mickey costume at Little Skips last Halloween, I’m not surprised.
“He’s so classic though,” I feel this feel really hard because Brooklyn Year One was spent wearing a lot of red, white, and Mickey ears.
“It’s also just because Mickey was so innovative for future characters in a lot of other cartoons that aren’t even Disney.”
“He was like a template.”
“It’s not even that Mickey Mouse was the first cartoon, but he was just a perfectly crafted character,” Davey explains. “Now, from my understanding, Walt Disney did not totally create Mickey Mouse, I believe it was one of his good friends that designed Mickey Mouse. But even so, the character and his personality is so well developed, and so influential to Felix and even Popeye. Without Mickey Mouse you wouldn’t have great animation.” He pauses. “Mickey and Minnie Mouse, really,” he clarifies (#equality).
1:32 Btw some point around here we chit-chat of typical Saturday afternoon: propaganda cartoons, the utter terror of this administration, and whether people at their core are more good than evil. And we talk about Halloween costumes—him and Nat are going to “keep rocking the mouse theme” and go as Pinky and the Brain. I’m probably gonna be 1995 Gwen Stefani on this album cover.
“And I’m considered hiring, legit hiring some of my musician ex-lovers to be the three blurry guys in the background,” I explain.
“You should get together a No Doubt cover band of your ex-lovers and call it Tragic Kingdom,” Davey says.
We burst into a fit laughter as I die inside (only a little).
Anyway, I’d love to tell you more about that, but…
1:56 “Goddammit, we might need to hang out more because my phone just overheated and died.”
Luckily, Davey and I are both yearning for ice cream and figure it might be a good plan to antagonize our friends at the Van Leeuwen trucks.
We skim through a sidewalk sale where a man is unloading all of his music. I, someone who hates music entirely, chastise this guy for getting rid of all his Siouxsie & the Banshees impulse buys. Davey, ever a consummate music collector, reluctantly picks up another handful of cassettes, including a last minute Tears For Fears album.
“It’s funny because I was looking for that exact Tears for Fears album, and I didn’t even notice it, I just went back and double-checked.”
“There’s like, few greater joys than finding something in a different way then you’d expect it.”
We say hi to Zach (of Darkwing) at the Bedford hub, before hitting up Nick Rogers (of Holy Tunics and like one episode of Girls), and Lisa Mayer (of…all of our hearts) by Transmitter Park. There is a graphic design expo, so we hit that up before parting ways. The day, regardless of the tech heatstroke and the fact that everyone’s out of summer berry crumble, has been fruitful AF.
In one day we’re centralized in literal and figurative festivals of art, music, friendship and $10 motz sticks (I stroll by the Intimacy Expo on my way home but, mmm, hard pass). I love it: it’s like Brooklyn on steroids. And it feels right that I’d have this mini-adventure with Davey, even though, and now it’s nagging on me, I don’t remember when I met him.
But I guess that’s fine. That’s how it is with ubiquitous characters, particularly ones that define a culture in a few brilliantly simple strokes. You don’t remember being introduced to your big brother. You don’t remember the first time you saw Mickey Mouse.
You’re just grateful that you both co-exist in this weird, wonderful world.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
Ticket Giveaways
Each week Audiofemme gives away a set of tickets to our featured shows in NYC! Scroll down to enter for the following shindigs.
