Lifestyle Of Wigs - Live (EP)
ARTIST.....: Lifestyle Of Wigs
TITLE......: Live (EP)
LABEL......: Self-Released
URL........: www.lifestyleofwigs.com
RIP DATE...: Jun-01-2006
STORE DATE.: Sep-09-2005
GENRE......: Indie
QUALITY....: VBR / 44.1Hz / Joint-Stereo
SIZE.......: 33,3 MB
Track Listing:
01 - Triptic 04:06
02 - Press Release 02:39
03 - Hands Heads Bodies 03:46
04 - You Are A Rocketship 02:34
05 - Stars 03:29
06 - Pipes 04:53
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21:27 min
Release Notes:
Lifestyle of Wigs was born in Boston, raised in Minneapolis and
currently resides (largely) in San Francisco. Just be thankful Max
Edwards (songwriter/vocalist/guitarist) stayed in one place long
enough to record LoW's debut album - a collection of riotous
power-trio guitar rock sure to please fans of Built to Spill and
Dinosaur Jr. - in the first place.
"The band started back when I was living in Boston for a while,"
recalls Edwards, 30, speaking via telephone from his new residence
in San Francisco.
"I hadn't done music really in years and a friend had a digital 8
-track that I borrowed and just started tinkering around on as a
fun project. I began demoing songs just sitting in a room by
myself. Then I eventually moved back to Minneapolis where I knew
people with studios and got a little more serious about wanting to
record some of my ideas. I had been friends with Rich Mattson [of
Ol' Yeller] for years and he was nice enough to let me go in and
work on the weekends, do like two six-hour days and little weekend
projects. It was at that point that I realized, 'Wow I would
actually like to play some of these songs out.'"
Eventually joining forces with drummer Ryan Lovan and bassist
Taras Ostroushko, soon Edwards' bedroom musings had expanded into
a moody rock assault. With a highly expressive braying twang equal
parts Jay Farrar and Mountain Goats singer Jonathan Darnielle,
Edward's elliptical lyrics fit perfectly with Lifestyle's
expansive sound. Gigging with regularity at local haunts like the
Turf Club over the last couple of years, LoW impressed me with the
threesome's ability to fill the room with sound - a feat countless
trios fail to perform.
"I've been tinkering a lot with open tunings on the guitar with my
songwriting in this band," explains Edwards of Lifestyle's
voluminous vibe. "I get a pretty full sound with that approach.
Also, we try to interact with the bass player as if it's a
guitarist, treating it more like a lead melodic instrument than
just something in the background."
Whether plowing through gutsy rockers ("Stars") or plucking
placidly angular numbers ("Pipes"), Edwards shows off some
stunning guitar chops throughout his band's nine song yet-to-be-
released debut. Couple Edwards' skills with some nifty time
signature changes from his band and it's obvious Lifestyle of Wigs
are technically skilled. Unlike other groups who know their way
around a crafty chord change though, LoW never veer off into
overly indulgent and jammy terrain. Lifestyle mix visceral rock
punch with nuanced musical complexity in such a way that neither
side gets the short end of the stick.
"I don't think about the technical aspects of the music at all,"
claims Edwards. "I'm a completely self-taught guitar player; I
don't sit around in my room playing scales. The time signature
shifts you hear in the finished songs are there because they came
out of my acoustic guitar at home that way when the song came to
me. We don't have a chart in the practice space where we try to
jam incongruous parts together. I've seen tons of bands that are
trying to bang in as many notes as they can into the songs and
that's always pretty horrible. We've never intended to do anything
like that."
With Edwards recently relocated to California (and new S.F.-based
bass player Christian Adams taking over for Ostroushko) it remains
to be seen what the future holds for Lifestyle of Wigs. The
record, tentatively titled Theatre of Magic, is in the can and
those lucky enough to have their grubby little hands on it know
the group is on to something special, but Edwards is currently
waiting to put the disc out until he can find proper funding and
distribution for it. In the meantime, the band is releasing a
limited edition live EP. Featuring five performances of cuts from
their upcoming album, plus the compelling semi-dirge "Hands Heads
and Bodies," the tracks are delivered with that ragged unrefined
energy that can only come through on live recordings. Recorded at
the Turf Club, it makes for a mighty fine appetizer in
anticipation of Lifestyle's pending main course studio album.
"I really want to follow through on this project," claims Edwards
when pressed for details on how he sees Lifestyle of Wigs'
complicated band geography working out (drummer Ryan Lovan still
lives in Minneapolis). "That's a big reason we're doing this live
EP release and I'm flying back into town just to play two shows.
There are too many good bands that sort of die on the vine and I'm
not going to let that happen with this, the band is still one of
the most important things in my life. We've put in too much work
to turn our backs on it now. I'm sure that Ryan will be coming out
to San Francisco and playing some shows, we'll see what we can get
going out here as well. I've got a ton of new songs I want to work
on with the guys. It's just a matter of figuring out the creative
process now between different cities, which is something we
haven't dealt with before. We've played together for a couple of
years and it's gotten to the point where we don't even have to
really think about it - it's just such a natural and rewarding
thing. It would pretty much be impossible for me to walk away
from." (pulsetc.com)
LoW are:
Ryan Lovan - drums
Taras Ostroushko - bass
Max Edwards - guitars, vocals
This EP recorded by Adam Loavenbruck at
The Turf Club, St. Paul, MN (www.turfclub.net)