BJ Rochinich (Ancient Shores/ Keep - guitar)
1. What are your top five albums that were released in 2013? (In order 1-5)
- NAAM -Vow
- Rosetta -The Anaesthete
- Cult of Luna -Vertikal
- True Widow - Circumambulation
- Queens of the Stone Age - ...Like Clockwork
2. What band did you discover in 2013 (can be a brand new band or an older band) that had an impact on your life? What made them significant?
Hawkwind.
I tried over the years to listen to them but was far from a dedicated listener or anything. The track "Seven by Seven" on Space Ritual Vol. 2 is specifically the song that pulled me further in Hawkwind's direction. A live album that presented most of their Doremi Fasol Latido record and some new material, it's a wild listen given the idea behind not only the live production but the use of the aforementioned record. Incorporating new songs into such a set is pretty interesting considering how critical the Doremi Fasol Latido material and idea was to their live presentation at the time. I think when a band like Hawkind throws new material into a set where they are playing an entire other record, the listener is going to see, hear, and feel something great. I like the feel of "Seven by Seven;" it captures a lot of what makes that record unique in the live sense as translated from a studio record.
3. How will you remember 2013? (In terms of music)
Satisfying/educational.
I enjoyed the new Queens of the Stone Age record, and saw them for the first time which was great. I saw Young Widows for the first time, who also played a great set. What I enjoyed about both shows was the set list. Both bands put a lot of effort into the set list and getting it to the point where it felt good to them, grooved well, and created a mood of its own apart from any record.
I enjoyed getting into the side work from some of my favorite artists.
Ryan (Coliseum) and Evan (Young Wids) Patterson host separate shows on ARTxFM, for example.
Rollins continues to have many things going on but I especially enjoy his show on KCRW. Listening to him goes back to the "Harmony in my Head" days. Every episode is solid and it seems like I pick up a new band every week.
Scott Evans, who plays guitar in Kowloon Walled City, is an engineer at Anti Sleep, and writes for Tape Op which my best friend Jeff King (who is now an up-and-coming audio engineer) introduced me to years ago. The bass player in Kowloon, Ian Miller, co-hosts a baseball podcast with Riley Breck of Thrice, and writes as well.
Ancient Shores was fortunate enough to play with KWC and Zozobra in April 2013. We played with KWC in Pittsburgh a few years ago. Playing shows with that groupe of dudes was AMAZING. We did not want it to end. Ever. Two bands we all listen to and 8 personable, caring people. Often times when those of us in Ancient Shores talk to someone who says something complimentary about us (Joel and I are the worst about this), we just want to thank them, give them free merch, and tell them to go listen to Cursed/Black Flag/Botch/a ton of other bands we feel like we owe one hundred references when someone compliments us! So when we get to play with Kowloon and Zozobra, whom we consider bands in that echelon, it's fuckin overdrive for us.
This year in music made me happy to be growing up/getting older. I would not appreciate the experiences without some years logged dealing with difficult people or working hard to get to points where we can play shows with great bands. Seeing bands release their third, fourth, fifth,etc record is exciting!. I am sincerely stoked when bands are able to do that because I know how satisfying it is and how much work goes into writing records later in a band existence. The effort people put in touring a lot or releasing another record is great. Becoming aware of projects outside of a band that artists are involved in just pushes me stay up a little later or get up earlier and keep working myself.
4. What can we look forward to from you in 2014?
Ancient Shores has a digital release due out with artwork by Ryan Patterson (Coliseum) featuring 2 new songs that were mixed by Kevin Bernsten at Developing Nations and mixed by James Plotkin.
Keep will continue to write and see what happens after that.
5. What records are you looking forward to most in 2014?
- Definitely the next Trap Them record
- Maybe a new Ufomammut record if they are doing that
6. There is a lot of debate over streaming sites and royalties, namely with Spotify. What is your stance on the economic policies behind the current streaming services? Do you have a preferred one?
I use spotify and I pay the premium monthly rate.
Artists seem to benefit but could probably benefit more if only a part of an album was offered. For vinyl collectors this would mean buying the full record at a show, from a band website, or from the label. At the same time, if we independently offer those missing songs on our bandcamp for sale, then maybe only digital sales go up but not sales of hard copies.
In terms of royalties, the exposure is enough for a band in our position. I think for bands that rely on their income from playing music, then offering parts of a record is the best thing to do. Providing some kind of motivation (ticket discounts if you can reach agreements with venues or exclusive content in the future) for listeners to buy individual digital releases or tracks (this is where income could but certainly is not guaranteed add up), or for fans to buy vinyls or other hard copies should be a goal, even if you fall short.
Dom (A389) absolutely works as hard as any person can. He promotes, organizes shows, takes the time to put people in touch with each other, updates websites, manages his inventory, operates his mailing system, takes on new distribution, etc and manages to do so consistently. He is amazing. He never complains, he just keeps working.
For large operations, if the marketing or ideas departments don't want to do their jobs then cut back on them. Bands write records and play shows. There is only so much a band can do. There are people specialized in fields of marketing, promoting, tour packaging, etc who every day who want to make money and further their careers. Let's utilize that ambition. If there are people in those positions who are blocking the ascension of more capable individuals, then changes need made. Ultimately, where there is one problem with economic successes of being in a band or running a label, there are likely problems elsewhere as well. Let's work together to fix that and come up with a good model.
