On an ordinary night last year in the middle of a freezing Twin Cities winter, I had the pleasure of being unexpectedly blown away by an amazing live performance from Reckless Ones. Hailing from “right down the block” as the singer put it, the group proceeded to play on of the most solid and entertaining sets I’d seen all year, complete with upright bass twirls, behind the back guitar solos and an avalanche of stand-up drum-kit heroics. Embracing both the stylish look and down-and-dirty work ethic of the classic 50’s Rock’n’Roll …

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“Nothing can take away what happened to us, but we are survivors.”

These words begin to describe only a minute part of an even larger saga of war, fear, regret and wounds that time may never heal. Doan Hoang relives painful events in her family’s past with her new documentary film Oh, Saigon. The lens cap is removed as her family reveals shocking truths and opinions about their last minute escape from Vietnam. Under the shadow of war, Hoang’s family falls to pieces.

Hoang’s method of filming is simple. With camera in hand, she and her …

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[an interview i did with the drummer of against me! was published in a february '08 issue of the wake. because the internet is really cool and you can write long things without having to worry about paper and space, here's an uncut transcript of that interview.]

Transcript of my 1/31/08 (approximately 4:30 PM) phone conversation with Warren Oaks, drummer of Against Me!

He is a very nice dude with a very nice beard and was very nice to me.

Warren: Hello?

Deniz: Hey, I’m glad I caught you.

W: Yeah, I’m actually in the middle of bowling right now, how’s it going?

D: It’s going …

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Unfortunately, my interview with Toki Wright yielded far more points of interest than my 500 word limit would allow. Not wanting to just lose all the great things we talked about, I decided to post the rest of the interview here. Enjoy!

Toki Wright on Obama:

“[The economic crisis] has always been there in the urban community, and now its an issue for the entire country to have to deal with. Food shortages, the prison system, violence… Unless these conversations happen, unless we work together …

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Sitting down with Mike Michel from the Bill Mike Band, I knew I was interviewing a blessing to worlds both musical and otherwise. In fact, it isn’t difficult to know Mike after seeing Bill Mike Band shows. The band’s recent Truce CD release show at the Cedar beautifully testifies to why. The energy with which Mike (guitar, gizmos), Chris (bass), and Steve (drums) played their unusual musical creations, clearly improvising some of the individual particulars according to each musician’s spontaneous emotional whim, forced hapless listeners into a prison of musical engagement for a few hours. Listeners couldn’t complain: although they …

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When I ran into Military Special for this interview, they were in the midst of an argument over aesthetic. Short songs versus false endings? Are the beats to be hard and heavy or do they just come off as sad bastard music? How much minor key is too much? “I wanted this song like a drunken anthem,” said guitarist Peter Blomgren, “but [keyboardist] Danell wants it to be a serious happy song with a melody,”. The band bandied back and forth their ideas over …

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One of the most common questions I hear when I talk about zines is “what the fuck are zines?’’ They’re not necessarily books, comics, magazines or pamphlets, but they draw influence from those already defined forms of print media and expand upon them. Zines are small, usually independently produced publications held together by staples, glue and devotion. Unlike contract authors, who have their titles sitting on the shelves of Borders thanks to the sales and marketing divisions of their publishing companies, zine artists draw heavily from the Do-It-Yourself mentality of punks and take on the roles of author, editor, producer, …

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Brother Ali made a stop at Coffman’s Whole Music Club last night as part of the Making Music Series, a monthly event where artists come to discuss their craft in front of a live audience. Ali talked at great length about his process of writing and recording music, his connections with Atmosphere and Rhymesayers, his childhood and early influences, his belief in Islam, and his views on the racial politics of hip-hop culture. Host JG Everest (of Lateduster fame) sat down with the man, but wound up not saying too much, as the rapper began to dominate …

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Beatrix*JAR are couple Bianca Pettis (Beatrix) and Jacob Aaron Roske (JAR), and together they create innovative soundscapes using assorted tampered-with electronics, a technique known as circuit-bending. Any battery-powered, sound-producing device is fair game, and Beatrix*JAR utilize quite the impressive array of drum machines, keyboards, children’s toys, and other non-traditional instruments to play music they describe pretty accurately as “fuzzy sound collage”. On top of performing their music live, the couple also holds circuit-bending workshops in which they teach the art …

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U.S. Senate candidate Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer

While most Minnesotans have stuck comedian Al Franken in their minds as the next Minnesota DFL Senate candidate, St. Thomas peace studies professor Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer is still vying for the party’s upcoming June nomination. Despite barely being mentioned in the local media, Nelson-Pallmeyer surpassed Mike Ceresi in the race and is slowly but surely winning over the most liberal sectors of the DFL. After looking into his campaign, I found out that Nelson-Pallmeyer is a more progressive, less elite …

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College freshmen tend to bring something familiar along with them to campus, to keep in touch with their roots. Some people bring favorite movies or a warm pair of slippers. Travis Lee brought hip-hop. In the 1980s, the University of Minnesota was an important place in the Twin Cities’ budding hip-hop scene for Lee and others.

In 1981, the young Brooklyn native moved to Minnesota to attend his first year of college at the U of M. But it was more than a large metropolis he …

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Twin sisters Tegan and Sara stopped at the Pantages Theater on Nov. 30, amidst an extensive tour of the United States. During a stop in Carrboro, North Carolina, Sara took time out from her busy schedule to discuss everything from Death Cab for Cutie’s Chris Walla to National Public Radio. The duo has been touring in support of their great new album, The Con. If you happen to hit up Australia this December, you can catch the girls down under. Otherwise this is as close as you’re going to get.

The Wake: So you guys are currently in Carrboro, North Carolina. …

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Despite touring perpetually throughout their musical career, Against Me! still managed to release a critically acclaimed punk album last year, one that was nominated for several album of the year awards. New Wave, the band’s sixth release in their decade long career, has inspired a slew of new tour dates across the country, including a show at the Target Center with The Foo Fighters on February 27th. The Wake’s own Deniz Rudin caught up with Warren Oakes, Against Me!’s drummer, for an interview:

Warren Oakes: Hello?

The Wake: Hey, I’m …

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