Tell us about how you met and how logs started.
Alex and I have known each other for a long time, I grew up in New Mexico as well and have been seeing Kidcrash play since I was 16. I moved to Olympia to attend TESC a year after Alex did, and we ended up living together in this shack called the Witch House at the beginning of my second year of school. Prior to that I was crashing on the couch at my friend Anton’s house, where Michael lived. Michael and I started jamming in September of ’06 probably as a two-piece in his basement. Alex played with us for the first time in December I think, and Logs was born. I had been bugging Alex to start a band with me for awhile at that point. We had the songs but he really ironed them out and made them what they are. Anton actually was our singer for our first two shows, but then moved away. He did the artwork for our demo tape, as a matter of fact.

So you’re both guitar players, how did Alex end up on bass? Also, wasn’t he playing out of guitar equipment, was that by choice or necessity?
True, I can’t recall exactly why Alex wanted to play bass, but I think he was excited about it and decided that it felt right. And yeah, his setup consisted of a Line 6 guitar head that he had for awhile but never used and this giant 8×10 behringer cab that he somehow bought new for $200. Sounds hilarious but it actually sounded awesome. He got this nasty rumbly sound from that Line 6 head that was perfect. It wasn’t exactly out of necessity, although Alex didn’t own a bass head. I never had a guitar head, or a cab though. Always borrowed stuff. To this day I have never owned a guitar cab, and only have had my own head for the past two years or so (Alex built it) if any of the many people that I have borrowed cabs/heads/guitars from are reading this, many thanks.

I’ve read that you recorded the demo/ST 7″ about a month after you started playing.
I think it was more like two months, but yeah, we recorded it pretty quickly after we started. I didn’t think anyone would care, but we sent the tracks to Denovali/Purepainsugar since they were releasing the Kidcrash-Jokes LP and they liked the songs and offered to put out the 7″.

At this point how active were you?
Those first few months we mostly just played at our house where we threw alot of shows. We played one show at at the old K Records warehouse during this art show but some lady got really mad and screamed at us and literally pulled the plug. I think she said “This is not what this is about!!!” She never clarified what it was about, though. Maybe our punkest moment? We had a 9 minute set, or however long the 7″ is, because those were the only songs we had written up to that point. I think we played at least half a dozen shows as such, which seems seems silly (awesome?) in retrospect.

What was Kidcrash up to around this time?
Kidcrash had recorded Jokes the prior summer, and I remember Alex mixing it at our house quite a bit. John and Kevin were living in New Mexico at the time so the band wasn’t really active.

When did Michael quit/Adam join?
Michael quit in the summer because he was moving back to Santa Rosa. Alex and I were back in New Mexico for a bit and we played a couple shows in Santa Fe and ABQ with our friend Rob who played in (among many others) a very cool band called The City is The Tower and now plays in Constants, I believe. Later on in the summer Alex met Adam on the Kidcrash tour in Portland and mentioned that Logs was looking for a drummer. He said that we really liked Shotmaker and The Red Scare and Adam said that the Red Scare was one of his favorite bands and that he played drums, so that worked out. We ended up driving from Olympia to Portland every weekend for awhile to play music (write Hogz) which was awesome because we were really burnt on how small and suffocating Olympia can be, so it was fun to escape to Portland at the end of the week, and through Adam we met a bunch of really fantastic people.

So how did writing Hogz differ from the first 4 songs?
Writing Hogz was more of a creative process because I was familiar with how Alex writes music and how he structures parts and transitions, so I kept that in my mind when writing the riffs for Hogz. I really learned alot early on from playing with Alex because he has a very intuitive approach to writing music and he is never at a loss for ideas. I think the songs on the 7″ are cool but they sound very linear, whereas Hogz has a bunch of different styles going on that manage to remain cohesive, to an extent.

It seemed like you played around with time signatures more on the new songs. I think the 7″ is mostly in 4, while Hogz has (if I counted correctly) some parts in 9, 10, & 11.
Haha, this makes us sound like a math rock band! I think one thing that we generally tried to do was start with really simple yet driving riffs, and twist them around a bit to make them weird. I think that sums up our band to a certain extent.

When did you record Hogz?
Hogz was recorded in March of 2008 in Portland, in the basement that we practiced in.

Around this time were you playing often?
We were practicing alot, playing shows every now and then. I think our main goal at the time was to write an album and record it, since I was planning on studying abroad the following year. We played a really cool show in Victoria, BC, we totally sucked but the people there liked us anyway, and we had a totally great time exploring grave yards with a friend that we met there. We played a show at tube in downtown PDX with Science of Yabra, who was incredible. Our last show was in Olympia with Stranger’s Gift, which was Vern from Unwound’s band at the time. There was a video of our set which has since disappeared (Ed.- video below), but it was cool because at one point Vern told Alex to turn up the vocals (we usually had our vocals buried quite low in the mix) and in the video you can see him initially fending off the request and then relenting mid-sentence, because you know, if Vern from Unwound wants to hear the vocals better, than he should get to. But yeah, all in in 2 or so years of being a band we maybe played a dozen shows, total. We were usually a pretty sloppy band, as well. But we played at least a couple of shows where I remember being satisfied.

When did you leave to study in Istanbul? Was Alex abroad around this time also?
I left in September of ’08 to study abroad for a year in Istanbul. It was my last year of undergrad. As a matter of fact I returned and am currently there working on my MA. Alex was living in Olympia at the time, learning to build tube amps.

When you were in Istanbul you were part of another band right?
Yeah, we were called Taratarama. You might appreciate how we formed actually, Alex and I went to Istanbul in 2007, shortly after we recorded the Logs 7″. Prior to leaving, this kid Onur from Istanbul had coincidentally emailed us and said he liked our music. We ended up meeting in Istanbul and hanging out several times. When I returned a year and a half later for school, I wrote Onur (who has been playing in bands in Istanbul for awhile) and told him that we should start a band. So he found a rhythm section and we had our first practice like 5 days after I moved there in September of 2008.

What was it like practicing/recording/playing shows in Istanbul?
It was awesome. We played like half a dozen shows in 9 months and recorded a 10 song demo in a couple hours that sounds pretty ok for how little time/money we had spent on it. The scene in Istanbul rules. Even though the city is insanely gigantic there aren’t a ton of DIY bands so there are lots of mixed bills and lots of people into tons of different kinds of music. That said, I used to take a bus and a ferry (an hr and a half commute) to get to the studio to practice. In Istanbul, as you can imagine, there are no basements, just apt buildings in close proximity to one another, so you have to practice in studios that charge by the hour and have gear. (The gear usually sucks, too) Definitely made me appreciate living in Oly or PDX where all I had to do to practice was walk down to my basement.

When you came back did you intend to pick logs back up or did you want to make a clean start with wild guess?
When we came back we decided that we wanted to do something new. Alex quickly realized that he didn’t want to play bass anymore, so we tried with two guitars and drums but it sounded pretty bad and I had never played bass before really but thought it would be fun. Alex also didn’t want to sing, so I ended up doing all of the vocals.

How was the transition to bass for you?
It was fine, and as a matter of fact there are a lot of parts in Logs where the guitar and drums are holding down the rhythm and the bass is off on some intricate, heady path, so I was used to playing with a drummer in that sense. I had always wanted to play bass secretly, so I was happy about it because I also remember having difficulty writing guitar parts at that time, anyway.

Did switching to bass change how you were writing new songs?
Yeah it did totally, since in Logs I generally wrote the riffs and then took them to Alex, whereas in WG he wrote all the parts and then showed them to us. The WG songs are more “rock” in my opinion. I blame this partially on Alex learning to build tube amps and listening to lots of classic rock in the process. We of course also were listening to lots of Convocation and Hot Snakes so that probably added to it as well. Also, Alex is a much better guitar player than I am, so the music is a bit more technical, for lack of a better term.

How did Jared come to start playing drums in Wild Guess?
Alex was living with Jared, who has the headiest most geared out basement imaginable. I think one day we just decided to jam down there, with both Alex and I on guitar, and it kind of went from there.

About how many shows did Wild Guess play?
Around 10? One in Seattle, one in Oly, and the rest in Portland.

When will the Wild Guess recordings be released?
This summer! Our good friend Antoine, who plays drums in the most excellent Aussitot Mort, (and used to in Amanda Woodward) started a label and will release both of our recordings on a 12″ sometime in the summer, hopefully.

Is Wild Guess done?
I can’t imagine when Alex, Jared and I will be living in the same place again, but I won’t say we’re done. I’m actually gonna hang out with those guys this summer, since I plan on being in Portland for a week or two. In theory I would love to spend two or three days doing nothing but writing a couple of songs and recording them, but that probably won’t be possible, given our penchant for being extremely slow and drawn out with our projects.

So there was about a 4 year gap between when hogz was recorded and when it was released…what happened?
There were a few issues, one was that there was this clicking sound captured on one of the tom tracks, that we didn’t notice until after we finished. So Adam had to record that one drum over again track by track, if I remember correctly. The mixing process was also long and complicated, to say the least. The record could have been released a year ago but there were other complications with the Wild Guess artwork that the label didn’t like. The records were supposed to be released together but that didn’t happen due to the rejected WG art so that somehow pushed back Hogz another year. I am so happy that it has finally been released, you have NO idea. It was this albatross on my back that I just wanted to see finished.

Any other bands you are/were a part of?
Jared and I had a band in Portland with our friend Mike called Crush Hour. I sang and played guitar. I wanted it to be shoegaze at first but then it morphed into something totally different. We did a 6 song recording right before I moved to Istanbul. It will be mastered/available soon, I hope! I’m also singing and playing guitar in a band in Istanbul right now called Foton Kuşağı, it kind of has a Dinosaur Jr/Pavement thing going on. We’re gonna record a full-length this summer.

When will the next Paul/Alex band be starting?
Good question! No idea, but I think/hope it will happen again. Playing music with Alex has been one of the most enjoyable things I’ve ever done so I cherish the idea of WG happening again, or us starting another band.

The Silence of Fall was a 4 piece hardcore band from Livonia Mi, a Detroit suburb. They were comprised of 3/4 of the similar Livonia band Hamilton. And for the most part they picked up right where Hamilton left off. This short lived band only (as far as I know) recorded 5 songs. The first 3 songs ended up on a tape, “Kegglers” was released on an Elkion Records comp, and the 5th song never saw a formal release. If I had to guess I’d say these guys probably only played a dozen or so shows, some of which my old band played. Sound wise, they have a lot in common with Hamilton; Sorta that late 90′s full blast hardcore. I know they got compared to Botch and Coalesce back in the day, but those bands farted around too much trying to be “mathy” or “tech” as they called it back in the day. Hamilton and The Silence of Fall didn’t really mess around with that, instead they just sorta plowed through songs. The new non-Hamilton member of Silence of Fall came from a pop-punk band, so with Silence, they added singing and some more ‘emo-y’ quiet parts that Hamilton eschewed for more straight forward songs. One of the things I liked most about this band is that they always sounded HUGE. Another thing about this band (and Hamilton) was that there always seemed to be underlying tension between some of the band members. In way I’m sure that worked to their advantage, but ultimately their guitar player/screamer either quit or was kicked out. They then added one of the guitar players and the drummer (on vox) from Malakhai but only played a show or two with this lineup breaking up shortly after.

http://www.mediafire.com/?wynd2k5ylwg

The Trans Megetti are one of those bands that I was always aware of, but never really took the time to listen to them while they were active. They had split 7′s with Frodus and Quixote, both of whom I am, and had been a fan of at the time of the releases. So I should have gotten into them years ago but never did. It wasn’t until I got their fantastic “Steal The Jet Keys” LP for free a couple years ago did I really sit down and listen to them.

Hailing from New Jersey, The Trans Megetti often get compared to At the Drive-In. Honestly I don’t hear any similarities. If I had to put a description on them I’d say they fall somewhere in the neighborhood of fast paced Reis/Froberg influenced punk/post-hardcore/rock. For the most part their songs are all pretty similar, not that this really a bad thing.

I think I prefer their first LP “Steal The Jet Keys” over this one. If I were to have caught them live I’d want them to play those songs. But, “Fading Left to Completely On’s” strong point is that it feels more like an “album”. Songs like “Gina”, “On the Monday”, “Late September”, and “Following” sorta break Trans Megetti’s mold and give the album a nice bit a variety.

Since this is still in print I’m going to refrain from posting a DL link.

Here’s the album opener:

This 7″ is available through Clue #2 Records for $5.50 shipped to the states. I can’t remember the last $5 7″ I got, let alone one shipped from Canada.

Logs – Hogz on vinyl.

Metz – Full Length. Last time I heard they were going to release a 7″ and a full length. I haven’t heard much about the 7″ but they just posted on their site the mixing for the LP is nearly done. I can’t wait for this, I got to see them twice in 2011 and they were amazing.

Regents – Full Length. They also just posted that they finished recording their follow up to their ST 7″.

Wild Guess – Their two eps released on one LP.

Codeine – Reissues. As much as I love White Birch I haven’t found it for any less than $50. While its worth it, I can’t justify paying that much. I’ve read that each release will be reissued as a 2xLP, with b-sides, live tracks, demos. At first I was pretty bummed they went that route, but if it means I can pay a reasonable rate to finally own their stuff I’m fine with it. As long as they keep the original LP intact as one record and add the other BS to the second LP. Not sure if I’ll pick up the whole box set or just grab them one by one.

Drowning with our Anchors - You can never go home again and their split with maladie still get played frequently. I thought this band was all but broken up, but I heard they are writing and recording a new full length that will hopefully come out sometime in 2012.

Shoppers/Panzram - split - Lots of people really loved Shoppers ‘Silver Year’. I’m looking forward to hearing how they progress.

Loma Prieta – IV. New full length. I’m really enjoying the new direction loma took with life/less, can’t wait to hear the new one.

black congress? – Last I heard they were going to release an LP on the new am-rep(?) label.

Night Birds - I just read that these guys are losing their guitarist but before he splits they are going to write and record a new full length this winter. I’m guessing that will probably be out before the end of the year then. Can’t wait.

10. Kidcrash – Naps

The new 4 song 12″ from kidcrash was another departure from the previous album’s sound. Which seems to be a pattern I haven’t quite caught onto yet. While I was disappointed Snacks didn’t sound like Jokes, I came to really like Snacks for what it was. I had the same reaction to Naps, bummed it didn’t sound more like Snacks. I hear they started working on a new album, I look forward to wishing it sounded more like Naps and then eventually really liking it.

09. Big’n – Spare the Horses

Wait its 2011 and theres a new release from big’n? I love how the songs sound like they were written/recorded when big’n was active.

08. Pygmy Lush – Old Friends

I think I was a bit disappointed by this release, but the fact that it still made my top 10 says something about it. I love the beginning and the end of this album, but the middle just sorta tanks for me. They could have dropped a song or two from the middle and still had a great record. The problem is, that when I try to isolate which song I’d get rid of, I can’t. I think I need to listen to the actual record of this more so I can get a better feel for both sides instead of listening to it on my ipod.

07. 12XU – Les Grandes Marées

I had heard 12XU before 2011 but I wasn’t a fan. I remember checking out a couple songs off their single series release and not really caring for them. But, I had been listening to Baton Rouge so much this year I thought I’d give them another shot. I don’t know if its the songs or the recording quality, but Les Grandes Marées struck a chord with me and I’ve been spinning it regularly ever since.

06. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues

Yep. Well I fully acknowledge this as being the odd man out on this top 10, but fuck it. My wife loves this band and this is hands down her favorite album of 2011, so by proxy I listened to this record quite a bit, possibly more than any other new release this year. It’s a great album.

05. Night Birds – The other side of darkness

I was a fan of Night Birds before this release but this LP really cemented my love for them. I don’t really listen to these type of bands, but whatever they are doing, they are doing it right. This album brings out so many memories of troma movies, USA Up all Night, and thrasher magazine, I can’t help but play it over and over.

04. Cloud Mouth – Keep Well

I was bummed to hear these guys called it a day in 2011, but Keep Well is a great swan song. While last year’s LP only had 6 songs, in comparison these 4 feel like an EP; it’s short and to the point. I was lucky enough to see them just before they broke up and I remember them playing at least 3 of these songs. They opened with ‘Quiet’ and, at the time, I didn’t really care for it, though at this point its my favorite song on the EP.

03. Regents – ST 7″

I’m not sure that this doesn’t belong at #1 on this list, but I’m putting here (for now). When I first heard ex-frodus, -sleepytime trio, and -exploder guys were getting together to release a 7″ and play some shows I was more than skeptical. How often will a group of ex-members get together and release anything remotely on par with their previous bands? People get older, tastes change, shit happens; We all know this whether or not we’re willing to acknowledge it. But we’d be lying to ourselves if we didn’t really wish they’d take all the good parts of the previous bands and just whip them up into a new version of the old stuff. Somehow Regents did just that. These 4 songs sound like they were written in 1999 straight out of Richmond/DC. I hear their full length is pretty much done and it is definitely one of my most anticipated releases of 2012.

Tie for #1. Baton Rouge – Contrepied, Contretemps 7″

Woah, if this is how this band is progressing, then I can’t wait to hear what is next. The LP is a perfect mix of upbeat and laid back songs. I expected these two songs to be the latter, boy was I wrong. Both of these songs are ragers and I have been listening to them non stop since this was released.

Tie for #1. Baton Rouge – Fragments d’eux mêmes

This album caught me by surprise. I stumbled upon a preview of this album in the first part of the year. I remember them being compared to twelve hour turn and unwound, so my interest was definitely piqued. Initially I was disappointed the momentum of the first half of the LP slows as it settles into the slower 2nd half, but after a couple listens I was fully onboard. Excellent release I can’t wait for new material from them.

Honorable Mention

Kim Phuc – I’ve only listened to it twice. This is really really good.

shores – I love Coup de Grace, but To Volstead is a different bag altogether. I haven’t spent much time with it yet, so it didn’t make it into the top 10. Their new song on the CTO split is really good too. I’ve heard their 3rd album (which is already finished) is more along the lines of Coup de Grace.

Damages/Book of Caverns – If this song is any indication of their new full length, it will be near the top of my 2012 list.

New Brutalism – Personal Record.
These songs were recorded over 2 years ago for a surprise wedding gift for the guy that runs ABC Document records. Because this recording would require a 2xLP, pressing it on vinyl has been held up, but they’ve finally released the songs on bandcamp to download in an effort to drum up some cash for the pressing. I’ve been listening to some of the songs since they were posted on their myspace page over two years ago. When I saw them they played a nice mix of these songs and songs off of ‘Actual Record’. Go buy the mp3s of these songs, I want this thing on vinyl. I didn’t post this in the top 10 because its just the mp3s. Since this hasn’t been pressed yet I didn’t think it should count, but on the other hand there are two releases on my top 10 that I don’t own yet either. Whenever this thing gets released it will definitely be near the top of my list.

Wild Guess – Two EPS
Post-Logs. I was more than bummed when I heard logs had called it a day, but the fact that these guys slay certainly helps. They released two 4 song eps digitally. Rumor has it that they are looking for a label to put both eps out as an LP. The new songs are more varied than the older songs. I kinda wish they’d mix them together and make an ‘album’, which I think they could pull off. But I’m guessing that due to the different recording sessions they’ll keep the two eps separate.

Logs – Hogz
So this was recorded in March of 2008. Leaked in late 2010. Hopefully released in 2012.

Ever half-watch a band, only to later have them turn out to be one of your favorite bands? Yeah that’s the plan for me. They contacted me for their tour during the summer of 2000 and sent this 7″. I was thankfully able to book them a show with a band I was filing in for at the time. I remember really liking them and thought they put on a great show, but I was an idiot and mainly listened to bands that were more interested in flailing around on the floor than playing their instruments. dumb. A couple years ago I pulled this 7″ out and was surprised at how good it was. Two songs on this 7″, while both hold their own, I tend to prefer the A-side’s ‘Ante the Essay’.

One of the guys from the plan later went on to be in North of America, which if you are familiar with will sorta clue you into what the plan sounds like. Though if you ever wanted your North of America a bit noisier and less refined, then the plan will perfectly fit that need. I’m sure they were described as being angular. A rather generic adjective that, at the time, was commonplace for bands falling into that not really indie not really screamy-emo sound that would more likely fit in with dischord’s catalogue than witching hour’s.

http://www.mediafire.com/?zwqdizztlgj

Sidekick Kato – Des Plaines 7″
Prior to the fantastic ‘First Class Chump’ LP, Sidekick kato released this 3 song 7″. The first two songs are a bit faster/more straight forward than most of the songs on the LP. The B-side features ‘Elephant Shoes’, a song that more resembles the direction they were headed for their full length. Thankfully ‘Elephant Shoes’ was re-recorded for ‘First Class Chump’ as it is one of the high points on the LP. I think my only complaint is that the guitar sounds like it was recorded inside of a tin can. The fourth ‘song’ is quite the trainwreck.

http://www.mediafire.com/?4mhv2mtz2wl

I was first introduced to Sidekick Kato in 1996 when I saw them in Grand Rapids at the Reptile House w/Apocalypse Hoboken. I was mostly listening to crappy epitaph punk at the time, so seeing a band like Sidekick Kato play that ‘mid 90′s quiet/loud emo’ live was quite memorable. They put on such a great show I don’t even remember AH’s set. Thankfully a friend bought this CD and I was able to dub a cassette, which I quickly wore through.

As a drummer, one of the reasons why I love this album so much is because of the drums’ sound. Bands from this era never seem to get the drums right. On First Class Chump they are pretty high in the mix esp. the snare and cymbals, which just cut through perfectly and sound huge. I remember when I saw them the drummer was just wailing on his kit. Coming from seeing bands where the drummer was playing so fast that their sticks barely came off the hi-hat or drummers trying to play lame bullshit fills, to seeing this guy just beat the shit out of his kit absolutely floored me. After seeing them, I played along with this album so much on my kit, it undoubtedly influenced my style of drumming.

I saw them again a couple years later when ‘I think I’m in Love’ was released and I wasn’t crazy about their set. None of the energy was there, and if I remember correctly, they lost a guitar player and the singer played a 2nd bass. Recently I’ve warmed up to ‘I think I’m in Love’ but however many years later ‘First Class Chump’ still holds up and is my favorite of theirs.

http://www.mediafire.com/?zhkz3qiydnt

Shotmaker / Mr. Nobody – Split Tape:
I’ve been a fan of shotmaker for well over a decade they are easily one of my favorite bands. Earlier this summer I came across an auction for the Shotmaker/Mr. Nobody split on ebay. I was pretty surprised to see it as it is the one release of theirs I’ve never encountered before. What surprised me even more was the 4 songs(*) that don’t appear on the discography CD. I watched the auction with the intent of putting a pretty big bid on this, and lucked out scoring it for $6.76!

The shotmaker songs are probably some of the first they ever recorded. If you compare them to their other releases around ’93/’94-ish, these sound less like the bass driven hardcore you expect from a shotmaker song and are faster and more straight forward.

http://www.mediafire.com/?jz9j8lbeq5qfwgx

Shotmaker  - Passer By*
Shotmaker  - The Number Zero*
Shotmaker  - Newest Chant*
Shotmaker  - Pick It Up*
Shotmaker  - Slow Down
Shotmaker  - The Name Of
Shotmaker  - Trough
Mr. Nobody - S.O.B (Sea Of Blue)
Mr. Nobody - Johnny's Nightmare
Mr. Nobody - Linda's Nightmare
Mr. Nobody - Drop It
Mr. Nobody - Je Regret
Mr. Nobody - Eager Lindsay
Mr. Nobody - Big Ugly Man In Your Mouth
Mr. Nobody - Fucking On The Backs Of The Dead
Mr. Nobody - Listen