fun

8hands Video Of The Week: All Girl Summer Fun Band

alon — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 05:40:57 -0400

Well… this week pick wasn't such a hard choice for us. We just adore The All Girl Summer Fun Band, and after they were so sweet in the interview we did with them it was quite obvious we will pick them for our video of the week spot.

What does that mean? We uploaded the awesome "Car Trouble" music video to our YouTube profile, and now every 8hands user will get that video right into his desktop!

If you still haven't used 8hands and don't really know what it's all about, we urge you learn about 8hands here or just download it and get more recommended videos from us, among with ten million things that will make you online social life much better.

8hands Featured Interview: All Girl Summer Fun Band

Alice — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 05:28:58 -0400

We grabbed the three girly-girls of the All Girl Summer Fun Band for an interview, and then started to jump on a trampoline.

Summertime can be the worst. I swear to god, sometimes I think that the heat, the humidity, and the scorching sun are all here just to make sure we're ready for the lava in hell.

But there are some, not as pessimistic as me, who actually consider summer to be fun. Some people even prefer it over wintertime. I know, it sounds impossible, but I have proves! Meet the All Girl Summer Fun Band, a.k.a AGSFB. Kathy Foster (drums, bass, vocals), Jen Sbragia (guitar, vocals) and Kim Baxter (guitar, keyboards, drums, vocals) redefine the meaning of summer.

When listening to their all-girl-fun twee pop, you just have to love this hot season. Since summer is in its last days, I thought it would be a good idea to chat with the girls who turn summertime into a bearable period.

First of all, I have to ask, what have you been up to in the past two years? When are we gonna hear about a new AGSFB release?

Kim: "Well, we’ve all been pretty busy doing a lot of different things. I finished writing my thesis and got my master’s degree in Applied Linguistics, toured a bit with the band Viva Voce, and have been busy running my bag and t-shirt company Kissycake. But AGSFB has also been working this whole time. We have been recording the new album ourselves, so it’s taking a little longer than expected, but we are taking our time and making sure we get it exactly how we want. We are just about finished recording all of the songs and are hoping to release it in the near future".

Kathy: "I’ve spent most of the past year touring with my other band, The Thermals. I’ve been in and out of town so much, I don’t know whether I’m coming or going anymore. Luckily, Kim is extremely organized and motivated and helps me schedule writing and recording time with her and Jen. Because of her, we’ve managed to come up with 12 songs! I’m really happy with how they’re sounding and I’m excited to get this album done".

Jen: "I graduated with high honors from design school and am currently working full time as a graphic designer. I have taken up surfing, but I’m not very good yet. I am still making zines, the latest being 'Diary of a Heavy Metal Girl', and I do spray paint stencil art in my spare time".

Sounds fun. What was the last fun thing you guys did together?

Kim: "Working on this album together has been exhausting but a lot of fun. Kathy and I went swimming the other day, which was great, and I’m hoping I can go out surfing with Jen sometime soon. Oh, and Kathy and Jen took me out to dinner for my 30th birthday!"

Kathy: "And we’ve started getting pedicures together"!

Jen: "Kim had a raging party at her house recently, that was super fun. I also like just hanging out and getting burritos or Thai food together".

What do you think about the way music and internet integrates?

Kathy: "The internet is a phenomenal tool for spreading your music around the world. I think people are listening to more music than ever, which is great! The internet makes it so easy to listen to tons of music. On the industry side though, cd sales are decreasing and stores are closing. As far as downloading, I have bought a few songs online, but I still prefer to buy cds and vinyl. I like the packaging and graphics and three dimensions. I don’t really know what my stance is on illegal downloading because I don’t feel like it’s directly affected me yet. So far, it hasn’t bothered me. I just love that more and more people are hearing our music and sharing it. But I’m really curious to see what the music industry will be like in 5 years or 10 years".

What’s your use in social networks?

Kim: "AGSFB has a Myspace account. We included our music videos that are hosted on YouTube on our Myspace page. We also have a Flickr account for our photos. All of these new social networks are pretty amazing and it’s great being able to link them all up".

Apart from social network usage, do you use the internet to seek music online? If you do, tell us about one good artist you’ve found.

Kathy: "I never really search around online for new music. I mean, I’ll look for stuff I’ve heard about from friends or other bands, but more often I buy used cds and records. I’m always online, but mostly doing band stuff (or occasionally shoe shopping) and then I get to that point where I just can’t be online one more minute. But recently I was looking for something I heard in a little art gallery, unsuccessfully, and I ran into the Aquarius Records website. It’s a very cool record store in San Francisco with lots of hard-to-find genres and artists. I got sucked in because they write descriptions about everything and have clips you can listen to, and of course you can buy online".

Jen: "I like to get music on iTunes that I used to have on LPs when I was a teenager. So, lots of heavy metal lately".

Kim: "I never watched videos growing up because we didn’t have cable, so now I am spending a lot of time on YouTube catching up on all of the videos that I missed in the 80’s and 90’s. Lately I’ve been watching a lot of Dinosaur Jr. and Dead Milkmen music videos".

And besides downloads, what are you listening to these days? What’s your favorite 2007 album?

Kim: "These days I’ve been listening to Architecture in Helsinki, M83, Silversun Pickups, and a lot of 'This American Life' on NPR. My favorite 2007 releases were The Shins' 'Wincing the Night Away' and Life at These Speeds' 'To Your Health'."

Kathy: "The Thermals recently toured with The Cribs from England, and I’m in love with them! They just put out a new album called 'Men’s Needs, Women’s Needs, Whatever', so now they have three albums and I love them all. Also on that tour was another English band called Shrag. They just put out a 6 song ep-cd and I really love them too. Another fave for 2007 is Albert Hammond Jr’s, 'Yours to Keep'. Older stuff I’ve been listening to a lot is Teenage Fanclub's 'Bandwagonesque', The Hold Steady's “Separation Sunday” and Quix*O*Tic's 'Mortal Mirror'."

Jen: "People always assume that since I play music, I’m really in touch with what’s hot in music. Nothing could be further from the truth".

I think that a human with eight hands is also far from reality. What would you do if you had eight hands?

Jen: "I’d wear all my rings and bracelets at once".

Kim: "Sew, check e-mail, record music and make art all at once".

Kathy: "Yeah me too! I think I would explode from multi-tasking bliss! Oh shit, and I could also play drums and bass at the same time, an ongoing dream of mine. And I’d still have four hands left over! I could be my own band. Whoa, now I’m really going to explode".

8hands Featured Recommendation: The Go! Team

Goldi — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 10:23:36 -0400

Somewhere around 2003, on one of my visits to London, I noticed the most enthusiastic recommendation on Time-Out London, talking about this anonymous band from Brighton called The Go! Team. One of my favorite things on earth is discovering new music, so I've decided to go and check them out.

The small venue ("100 club" on Oxford Street) was pretty crowded but it didn't stop me from paving my way into the front stage. From this point on I just couldn't stop smiling. The six of them are spreading so much energy, good vibes, intelligent and amazing music. They are all multi-talented young and pretty musicians, which love to exchange instruments with each other during the show and having lots of fun on the stage. It was actually the first time I bought a CD and a t-shirt at the end of a show from a band I didn't really know who they are just about 2 hours before (By the way, the CD I bought was before Memphis industry signed them up, so it got no label logo on it what so ever…).
This show was definitely one of the best findings and surprises that happened to me in London.

On September 10th. 2007, almost 4 years later, The Go! Team will release their second album, "Proof of youth". Unfortunately, this time, I will have to buy the CD from my local record store (unless The Go! Team are planning a short visit to Tel-Aviv…). "Grid like a vice", the first single from the upcoming album sounds exactly as if it was taken out from their debut album (which is very good news for me :-) ). I'm quite sure that The Go! Team will live up to my expectations. In the mean time I enjoy listening to the special mix they've uploaded to their Last.fm page and watch those two amazing videos they've just released.

Check them out. Go Team!

8hands duo of the week: Matt & Kim

alon — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 11:26:49 -0400

As if our interview with the all-about-the-good-times Matt & Kim wasn't enthusiastic enough, we decided that they truly deserve to be our favorite act of the week - we want every 8hands user in the world to dance to their tunes, so, just like any other chosen 8hands artist, we will upload their video, "5k", to our YouTube profile, and you will get it right into your desktop. That's how people should live their lives!

8hands Featured Interview: Matt & Kim

alon — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 10:27:35 -0400

Our octopus god demanded it, so we organized a chat with Kim from the happiest indie act EVER - the power-pop / new wave due, Matt & Kim.

Matt & Kim's party never stops. We've heard that line a billion times about a million different things, but when it comes to Matt & Kim, it's not just a cliché - it's the bloody truth.

Matt & Kim focus is on the important things in life: their song "It's a Fact" for example, deals with major issues: "yes yes yes / no no no" they shout. A couple of songs into the album, we get to their most known single, "Yea Yeah", where they solve that conflict - "yea yea yeah!" they scream over a lo-fi power pop beat. You gotta love them.

Our tiny purple octopus loves this sweet due - while he was dancing to the song "5k", he asked us if we could set up an interview with Kim - he thinks she's cute.

You have to scream out "Yea Yeah" when you see them - Matt & Kim

Why is it “Matt & Kim” and not “Kim & Matt”?

"I decided on this. It just sounds better. I also think written out it looks better.
At home with friends we are Kim & Matt. I am also the social one at home and matt is the quiet one".

Rrrr… I could have bet that he is the loud one. What have you been up to since the release of the album?

"We tour non stop. I think we have only been home for about 2 months in the last year. We were just here for a few weeks and it was nice. I mean we love touring but we also love Brooklyn. We leave in a few days to start another two months of touring but will be taking october to march off to write new songs!"

That's Great! But from what you have so far, which song is your favorite?

"This song called 'Fast Guitar'. It doesn't have any guitars in it... ha ha, just a clever name! We only play this song every now and then. It was one of the first songs we wrote".

I saw the video for "Yea Yeah". It's hilarious. But I wonder - From all the stuff that was thrown at you in the video, what was the worst?

"I guess the mixture of cream pie and pickles almost made us puke! Those two foods should never go together".

Well… our little octopus just LOVES a good cream pickles pie now and then. And speaking of 8hands, how would you describe your relationship with social networks?

"I can't imagine being a band with out this source. It makes it possible for everyone to hear your music. It also makes it possible for small bands to be heard with out having to rely on things like major labels. I think it is great! When we did our first tour we made it all the way to San Diego. Now I feel that in the US San Diego is the furthest point from home. Kids were singing along to our songs. Matt and I were stunned. It is all because of our MySpace and our website".

So I guess the online networks are more useful to you than the old-fashioned labels.

"I really think people don't need record labels anymore".

Yeah... that's Kim

Doesn't it bother you that a lot of fans will listen to your music online instead of buying the album?

"No way! We want everyone to hear it! I was once selling a kid a CD and his friend didn't have any money to buy one. I told him 'don't worry just burn it off your friend'. He was shocked. I think the more people know and like our music the better our shows will be".

And do you find new music online?

"Man I really love Lil' Mama's lip gloss song. We don't have cable so I use YouTube to check out artists videos. Everyone should go check out Lil' Mama.

Lil' Mama - Check Her Out

Ok - last question. What would you do if you had eight hands?

"Oh man, I would get so much more work done. That would be awesome. Once we were asked if we had a superpower what would it be... Matt decided that mine would be that I could work all the time. It is hard for me to sit still! Man, if Matt had 8 hands then he could just massage me all the time. That would be sweet too".