FEATURED IN THIS ISSUE
1. THE PONY INTERVIEW WITH BRIAN VIGLIONE OF
THE DRESDEN DOLLS
2. PRIVATE BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN 'DEVILS & DUST' LISTENING EVENT
3. THURSDAY NIGHTS AT THE STONE PONY: LADIES NIGHT
4. CALENDAR OF EVENTS
This Week at The Stone Pony: The Wonder Stuff (Tuesday), The Dresden Dolls (Wednesday), The Jazz Mandolin Project (Friday), Project Object (Saturday), The Break Ultimate Band Competition (Sunday)
Saturday, April 16, Jersey Shore Blues Legend Billy Hector returns for the first time in over two years. Get ready for two sets of smokin' blues with a horn section.
New on the Stone Pony Calendar: The Break Contest Semi-Finals (May 14), Pinback (May 27)
THE DRESDEN DOLLS BRINGS BRECHTIAN PUNK CABARET TO THE JERSEY SHORE
Great bands tend to define the genre in which they perform. Often artists who attempt to break down genres and set out in bold new directions go under-appreciated except by a small cult following. The Dresden Dolls have achieved the difficult task of creating something new, refreshing and artistic that is completely accessible and draws in new fans with each live performance.
The duo of Amanda Palmer on vocals and piano, along with Brian Viglione on drums, met at Palmer's Halloween party and quickly bonded by Rock Love to begin performing around their Boston music scene, starting with local art galleries and moving to clubs and theatres as their buzz, and audience, grew. Building upon their strong musical and performing backgrounds, they began to get creative with a rock sound and a punk spirit to combine elements as diverse as free jazz and German cabaret (think Black Flag plays songs written by Fred Ebb for an off-Broadway show scored by John Coltrane). Their stage performance evolved into an intimate connection that draws in their audience as part of the experience. The release of two studio albums has brought the band's music to an even wider audience, performing a national TV appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live". Their singles "Girl Anachronism" and, most recently, "Coin-Operated Boy" have gained increasing airplay and added to the band's popularity.
After a series of shows throughout the month of April, including a gig here at The Stone Pony on Wednesday, April 6, the band will head out supporting the mostly sold-out Nine Inch Nails tour. Don't miss the opportunity see the Dresden Dolls around the intimate confines of the legendary Pony stage, which should prove to be the perfect atmosphere to experience their live show.
The Pony Newsletter interviewed Brian Viglione about the band's history and their recent successes. He also provided a great deal of insight into what makes the Dresden Dolls so unique and fascinating to watch. But first, let's find out what they think about going on tour with NIN.
The Stone Pony: The big news with the band these days is your spot touring with Nine Inch Nails starting in late April. Can you tell us how you found out that you were going to be participating in the tour and how you feel about it being just a few short weeks away?
Brian Viglione: We found out via email from our manager about the possibility of the tour a few months ago, but were told not to get our hopes up. Apparently, Trent had a very good feeling from what heard from us and got a lot positive feedback about our live show and decided he'd like to give us a shot. Then, the confirmation came though in early March and we have been cycling through feeling overwhelmed, excited, and as the next practical step as your band grows a little bigger and trying to remember that we still go out and do the best job we can, just like always. In short, we're freaking.
The Stone Pony: You formed the band only a week after meeting each other about five years ago. What were some of the things that you were involved in musically before Dresden Dolls and why do you think the two of you were drawn to collaborate so strongly and quickly?
BV: Amanda worked as a professional street performer and sort of all-purpose bohemian. Writing songs and performing solo shows at cafes and galleries. Doing all sorts of DIY street theater and slowly but surely trying to connect the right people to form a band with. I had played with several bands around the area I lived in New Hampshire in my late teens, played with a crust punk band in Arlington, MA for six months and then joined a group from Sommerville and moved down the Boston area to do that band full time. Both Amanda and I were feeling somewhat frustrated with the way things were panning out in those months leading up to the time we met. It was a great stroke of luck that we had a mutual friend who invited me to her Halloween party. I found my best friend that night and soon realized that we shared a lot of the same goals. We had both known since we were little that music was the path for us, and we groped along as best we could constructing the life we wanted to live. But when we met, it seemed as if all that we had worked for finally had the right outlet. There was years of feeling pent up from not having the right situation for our needs. Amanda had songs, but she wanted a band who could build on the unique character of her music. I had been in plenty of bands, but never a chance to put all my crazy influences to use and usually got bored playing just punk, or rock, or jazz. When we first played together, there was this very intuitive sense of where the other was coming from. It was a tremendous sense of relief for both of us. We had this burning desire to make music and we had just found another person who could not just "do the job", but pull things out of the other that you wouldn't normally expect. We call it Rock Love. We both feel so lucky to have found each other and there's not a day that goes by that we take that twist of fate for granted.
The Stone Pony: An important element of your live shows is the performance artists and other participants that create a salon party atmosphere. Does having all of that going on around you add to your experience of being on stage, or are you too absorbed in the performance to really notice? Are there any performance artists that really stand out in your mind as doing something you really didn't expect?
BV: We usually get to gawk at everything going on before we hit stage. Amanda will run around with the video camera and tape what's going on. Sometimes people do their acts on stage and we get to watch from the audience, and having that kind of energy at the show definitely adds to the spirit of the night for everybody. It's what people want to make it. If no one comes out to do performance, no problem. If everyone came to the shows dressed and doing bizarro shit, that's great too. That's [the] best element of the performers so far, we expect nothing, so having people take it where they want is always a surprise. We've had someone come as a cross-dressing Jesus, people give us gingerbread cookies they've [baked] in our likeness, whacked out burlesque/fetish/clowns who hand out gifts to the audience, people who perform sign language to our songs, all sorts of beautiful things. Thankfully people understand that it's not a freak show, just and invitation to express yourself to whatever degree you choose. We love these people.
The Stone Pony: You made your first nationally-televised appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" which helped bring your music to an even larger audience. Do you ever worry that your style wouldn't necessarily translate to a much larger audience, or are you are you ready and comfortable for the band to become bigger and more recognized?
BV: You can't let yourself worry about that kind of thing. Just do what comes natural, as best as you can and things will sort themselves out accordingly. If you choose to focus on pursuing fame, or molding your image to appeal to more people, you get locked onto a very dangerous cycle. As the band gains visibility, we'll have plenty of people who'll make fun of us, think we're trying to start some bullshit trend or who knows what. There's also lots of people that will just be glad we're doing this and hoping people have a good time with it. I often think about the repercussions of the messages we send. Observing a group's fan base is often a great way of ascertaining what is being fed into culture through that group. Check out the negative versus positive versus neutral messages or vibes a band sends out and how the crowd acts or thinks collectively. Is your crowd kicking the shit out of each other at your shows? Are they caught up in the drug scene at your gigs? Are they using it as a forum to spread political awareness? Are they dancing and making out with each other? None of these are right or wrong. People will seek any one of these outlets out on their own and all create them of their own will. But they take a lot of cues from the group who is bringing them together. It will be interesting to see how our actions manifest themselves over time through our audience.
The Stone Pony: In interviews, [you have] talked about how when you first started performing, the intention was to avoid any trappings that might distract from the music. Have you intentionally gotten away from that idea into something completely opposite, or do you feel that the music and theatrics are so closely intertwined that each one is necessary for the other?
BV: Neither is necessary for the other, but for us it comes down to "if you feel it, go with it". That's a basic principle that we've always gone with. As soon as we realized that it actually felt MORE natural to put on some make up and costume, it became something that was an added tool, not a distraction. And, just for the record, in the early days we weren't hardline about wearing our army shorts and black t-shirts. We'd dress up here and there and play around with different ideas, but the bowler and stripey tights had continuity that just felt right to us, so we went with it.
The Stone Pony: Many fans at your shows wear elaborate costumes themselves and really become a part of the evening. Do you have any suggestions for fans coming to the shows who want to get the full Dresden Dolls experience about the best places to find really cool things to wear?
BV: Scour your attics and tool sheds. Stretch your imaginations about what you could string up to your body and have a party with your friends surrounding that project. But, most importantly, what getting the "full Dresden Dolls experience" isn't about what you wear, it's about feeling comfortable with yourself, whatever you look like. Come in your jeans if it makes you feel good. Just remember that we're all there to be open to the experience.
The Stone Pony: Your website has a large section devoted to fan art and clearly you bring out a great creative spirit and energy in your fans. Is it intimidating to know that you can have such a strong effect on people and having to live up to that expectation or you do find that you get something back in terms of creative energy?
BV: It's not intimidating, it's inspiring. I was really thankful for all the artists who made me hungry to create when I was young, so to be able to to provide that for people feels incredible because ... you remember how much you appreciated it when you were on the other side. In a day and age where schools' music, theater, and arts programs are being cut left and right, and pop culture is for the most part wallowing in its own inaneness, we need to get as many people generating creative output as possible. Sometimes people just need a gentle reminder to flex their creative muscles. It's an important element of being human.
The Stone Pony: You recently did a European Tour, including a show in your namesake city in Germany. Was that experience something special, and did you find that fans there reacted to the band somehow differently than what you experienced other places you played?
BV: No, people all over have responded with same kind of feedback. The major differences really show between small towns and big cities. And even that's not that drastic a difference. sometimes the kids out out in the country are a little quicker to start dancing, but not always.
The Stone Pony: The latest "Dresden Dolls Diary" entry on your website gives a litany about why the band is not rock and roll. Can you turn that around to end this interview and tell us what you think the Dresden Dolls are, and what you would like to become?
BV: If I had to pick one aspect to relate us to being rock'n'roll, I guess it would be that we don't give a f-ck if people don't like us. We [do] what we do because we love it. The most powerful element of rock music is that is inspires rebellion through freedom it brings. If we can make people realize that they should live what they're passionate about, then we're doing our job as rock stars.
Now at AsburyPark.net:
Painting raffle helps food bank: Bruce
Springsteen is among many who helped create a painting which will be raffled
off to benefit the Community FoodBank of New Jersey. The painting was
created under the guidance of artist Kelly Sullivan with the help of
hundreds of Springsteen fans.
On Tuesday, April 5th, you have four chances to get passes to attend a special PRIVATE Bruce Springsteen 'Devils & Dust' listening event at 7:00 pm that night at The Stone Pony. The Sony Music van will be visiting the following locations throughout the day on Tuesday, playing just a few songs from the new album and giving away passes to our event. Catch up with the van in any of these four locations and the Sony team will hook you up with a pass. Get there early because passes are very limited. And if you can't make it to any of these locations, you have one more shot at hearing the album and seeing clips from the DVD side of this DualDisc release: At 9:00 pm, we'll be opening the doors to the public for the Wonder Stuff show. Before the band goes on, we will do another listening and viewing session so that nobody's left out.
Here are the details:
Tuesday, April 5th
Best Buy in The Garden State Plaza: 10:30 am -
11:30 am
Garden State Plaza; Rte 17, Paramus, NJ 07652
Tower Paramus: 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
809 Route 17, Paramus, NJ 07652
Vintage Vinyl: 3 pm-4 pm
51 Lafayette Rd., Fords, NJ 08863
Jack's: 5 pm-6 pm
35 Broad St., Red Bank, NJ 07701
THURSDAY NIGHTS AT THE STONE PONY: LADIES NIGHT
The hottest Thursday night continues with LADIES NIGHT at The Stone Pony.
The best in house, hip hop, reggae and trance with DJ John Farruggio. 18 for girls, 21 for guys. ID a must! Doors open at 9 pm. Dress to impress. $1 Miller Lite & MGD drafts all night. Beat the Clock Heineken bottles starting at $1.
Come see for yourself why Thursday nights are the hottest with Ladies Night at the Pony!
