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Street Level

By Tom King

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Star child

Monday, May 5, 2008

In three years, Justin Roelofs has recorded two albums and set foot on stage exactly once, guesting with Ratatat in San Francisco. So, for fans of his music, his show this week in Lawrence is not to be missed. It will feature: an exhibition of paintings, a DJ set, guest stars from around the country, and that rarest of natural phenomena—a live performance by White Flight.

Roelofs has been on the road for the better part of four years—Hawaii, Mexico, Central and South America—living close to the bone, studying the Maya and their calendar, and working on his voice. "Sound," says Roelofs, "is a healing force."

He's come a long way from his Anniversary days, the band Roelofs formed after high school and which went on to make a splash in the global post-pop pond around the turn of the century. His 2006 solo debut, the eponymous "White Flight," has been called everything from "genius" to "crazy"—a beat-heavy, sample-rich fever dream of deep jungles, starships, ancient mysteries, and love—always love.

"White Ark," Roelofs' second solo offering, is nearly in the can, and features beats by Mike Stroud and Evan Mast of Ratatat. Roelofs recorded most of "White Ark" during a nine-day marathon alone in a cabin in the Adirondacks.

Street Level met up with Roelofs to talk about fresh beats, the vagabonding life, and using brain electrodes to find your joy.

The Burroughs guy

Monday, July 30, 2007

James Grauerholz is heir and executorof the estate of William S. Burroughs—maestro of the Beats, writer of “Naked Lunch,” international queer, academic junkie, wife-shooter, Harvard graduate, an undeniably American artist. Grauerholz lived 30 years with Burroughs. Street Level joins Grauerholz in a booth at Pachamama’s for a moseying reminiscence of Burroughs and the Beats. (Transcript of highlights from this podcast available here.)

It Is Well With My Soul

Monday, May 7, 2007

About a year and a half ago, Paul Mirecki made international news. Scourged by Christian fundamentalists for his derisive opinions of those lobbying for creationism in state science standards, and chastised by the University of Kansas for his incautious expression of those views, Mirecki resigned the chair of KU’s religious studies department. Soon after, Mirecki again made news, claiming to the press and the police that he had been pulled from his vehicle and beaten by fundamentalists. Photographs showed Mirecki with two black eyes. His alleged attackers remain unidentified. What does a globally renowned authority on world religions do when the going gets tough? He plugs in his guitar and rocks. Mirecki formed the Aqua Furs, enlisting producer and bassist Chubby Smith, along with drummer Mason Powell and vocalists Lindsay Ramirez and Steven Swinney (all of Lawrence band, Guse). Their aptly named debut album, “Psychedelic Aphrodite,” includes the song “Blues for Jesus,” in which Mirecki recites lyrics in Aramaic, Hebrew and Latin.

Street Level breaks cheeseburgers with Mirecki over a conversation about Jesus’ face, the politics of religious fundamentalism, and why it’s never too late to rock and roll.

Beaten, but not down

Monday, April 30, 2007

James Grauerholz is heir and executor of the estate of William S. Burroughs. A writer and formidable thinker in his own right, Grauerholz will likely be the definitive biographer of Burroughs' life. In November 2005, during an impromptu gathering in his backyard, Grauerholz was beaten unconscious by a young man he had never met before. Witnesses later told Grauerholz and the police that his assailant repeatedly referred to him as “a f*cking faggot.” As a result of the beating Grauerholz suffered brain trauma, broken facial bones and facial nerve damage. His assailant told police that Grauerholz sexually assaulted him. Neither party was arrested, and no charges have been filed since; last Tuesday, Grauerholz filed an official complaint with Lawrence Police Department. Street Level joins Grauerholz for a frank conversation about the experience...

This Is Not a Still Life

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

As a member of The Anniversary, Adrianne Verhoeven went directly from high school into the fast lane of rock and roll. The Anniversary toured the U.S., Europe and Japan, opening for the likes of Modest Mouse, Guided By Voices and Cheap Trick, before the band’s tumultuous dissolution in 2004.

Verhoeven—Dri, familiarly—is still a woman on the go. She graduates this year from KU with a degree in music education, with plans to spend the fall touring the nation with two bands: Lawrence’s country-tinged Fourth of July and the prog-folk Art In Manila—Verhoeven’s recent collaboration with Omaha-based songbird Orenda Fink (of Azure Ray). Early fall also marks Verhoeven’s solo debut on Lawrence’s Rangelife Records. Currently she’s playing shows with Coyote Bones.

Street Level joins Verhoeven in a noisy downtown coffeehouse for a chat about the slipperiness of fame, the march of time and doing the best that you can.

Marquee mama

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

From her beginnings as a KJHK DJ to her current status as one of the Midwest’s foremost concert promoters, Jacki Becker embodies the DIY ethos: work hard, make friends and have fun.

With a job description that runs the gamut from negotiating complex contracts to supplying Marilyn Manson with kitty litter, and a schedule that keeps her on the road for more than four months each year, Becker still finds time to bake carrot cakes for David Sedaris and cook midnight suppers for The Shins.

Street Level joins Becker on the Harbor Lights patio for a conversation about guns and music, the virtues of baked goods, and jerks like Weezer (Bonus: Rob Pope on Weezer).

Rose’s Rules of Order

Friday, March 23, 2007

Ed Rose’s production resume comprises a who’s who of local and regional rock bands: The Appleseed Cast, Butterglory, The Casket Lottery, Coalesce, Arthur Dodge, The Esoteric, The Get Up Kids, Kill Creek, Reggie and the Full Effect, Slackjaw, Stick, Ultimate Fakebook, Vitreous Humor and White Whale, to name a few.

Fifteen years have passed since Rose drew his first paycheck as a professional sound engineer in Los Angeles. Today, in partnership with former Get Up Kids Rob and Ryan Pope, Rose owns and operates Black Lodge Recording, formerly Red House, in Eudora. The Pope-Rose business consortium moved into downtown Lawrence earlier this year with the purchase of The Bourgeois Pig bar and coffeehouse.

Street Level joins Rose at The Pig for a frank conversation about pesky pirates, lazy kids, and the dying art of musicianship. This podcast includes a mix of highlights of Rose-produced tracks by American Analog Set, Arthur Dodge and the Horsefeathers, Thee Higher Burning Fire, Kill Creek, Limbeck, Stick, Matt Suggs and Vitreous Humor (a full track listing and more info here).

Under the Masque

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

You may know Arthur Dodge as the front man of the stalwart roots-rock unit The Horsefeathers. Or as horny Yuletide lounge maven, Slick Rhodes. Be it the occasional Tom Petty or Neil Young tribute, the ubiquitous benefit show, or an eight-hour, hundred song performance marathon, Dodge is a beloved fixture on the Lawrence music scene. For new latest release, “A Perfect Face”—ostensibly billed as a solo record, in stores Mar. 20—Dodge gives The Horsefeathers some time off and corrals an all-star line-up of local guest musicians to portray his latest musings on love, desire and the facts of life.

Street Level meets up with Dodge and keyboardist David Swenson on the patio of the Replay Lounge to talk about being and nothingness in Nashville, being an old fish in a small pond, and being only as pretty as you feel.

Stirring Up the Melting Pot

Tuesday, March 6, 2007

RedLefty calls their music swingin’ blues, which is the short way of saying roots- folk- dixieland- bluegrass- country- klezmer- ragtime- hoedown- swing- blues music

The six members of RedLefty—Jeff Williams (guitar), Dan Rempel (guitar, vocals), Chris Millspaugh (harmonica, trumpet), Nate Craft (trombone, vocals), Sean McCue (upright bass) and Tennyson LeMaster (percussion)—initially came together with the intention of making a blues band. What resulted was a unique melding of vintage American styles and genres designed to set toes a-tapping and get bodies to swinging on the dance floor.

Street Level dodges a pack of medium-sized watchdogs to crash a RedLefty practice session and get the poop on head tunes, the sartorial imperative and the notion that evolution is always an improvement.

The Honeymoon Continues

Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2007

Piercing screams leap from a tidy Victorian home in a quiet Lawrence neighborhood. Foul play? Tragedy? Little girls playing Barbie.

Things are getting back to normal for Katie Euliss (vocals, upright bass) and Mike West (vocals, banjo, and guitar) of Truckstop Honeymoon—as normal as the life of two global troubadours raising children on the road can be.

After Katrina destroyed their home and studio in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward, they moved to Wichita as guests of Split Lip Rayfield’s Kirk Rundstrom. From there it was a short hop to a new home in Lawrence. In less than a year, Euliss and West have built a new recording studio, recorded a new TSH album, and created a new family member due this summer.

Street Level sits down to tomato soup and grilled cheeses sandwiches in the TSH kitchen to talk with Euliss and West about the riches of friendship, the benefits of home schooling, and the hard-won joys of a life on tour.

Full archive for Street Level

Tonight

Film: "Hip Hop, Beyond Beats and Rhymes" :: A riveting examination of manhood, sexism, and homophobia in hip-hop culture. Director Byron Hurt conceived the documentary as a "loving critique" of a number of disturbing trends in the world of rap ... More info

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