Each week, Rocks Off arbitrarily appoints one lucky local performer or group "Artist of the Week," bestowing upon them all the fame and grandeur such a lofty title implies. Know a band or artist that isn't awful? Email their particulars to [email protected].
A dream from the other night:
This guy, this massive monster of a human, was running up the side of a mountain. As he crushed his way to the top, he came across a cobragator (king cobra + alligator). The cobragator demanded the massive monster of a human pay a penance to pass. The human, let's call him Warrior Dave, said, "Oh, I'll pay alright... WITH YOUR LIFE!"
And then he leapt at the cobragator, grabbed him by the throat, then ripped his abdomen in two. As the cobragator laid there bleeding to death, Warrior Dave looked up to the sky. He shouted, "IS THAT ALL YOU HAVE FOR ME, FATHER?!", then fell to his knees.
We woke up in a fret. "What the fuck was going on?", we thought. Then we noticed: While we were asleep, an EP from punk-rock duo Female Demand had cycled on. So, duh, now they're the Artist of the Week. Sometimes we call the plays here, sometimes God does. You know how that goes.
Rocks Off: Tell everyone everything they need to know about Female Demand in exactly six words.
Female Demand: All you need is rock, man.
RO: We listened to "Eat Who I Eat" about five times in a row and really just wanted to fuck all kinds of shit up. If a kid had been near us, we would've picked it up and thrown it, of this we're certain. We guess that's not really a question. Whatever. Sorry.
FD: Oh, it's quite alright. A lot of people always say that our music induces a sort of primal urge to destroy or "fuck all kinds of shit up," as you have put it. For the record, that was one of the most difficult songs that we've recorded so far. Not because of the technicality of the song, but because of the recording process.
It was just one of those beasts that needed to be conquered but fought back. I guess you feel our angst in the song when you hear it because we were so done with going over it again and again.
RO: Oh, speaking of, can you explain what happened with SXSW? So are you guys not playing there? And if not, are you planning on burning everything down?
FD: Well, simply put, we got rejected. Like most up-and-coming artists that work really hard on their craft, we're a little too familiar with the feeling of being rejected [especially from SXSW]. From our perspective, it's all a money game. The highest bidder gets dibs on really good showcases and what have you. And it's really sad when you're dealing with a festival that supposedly offers up-and-coming artists a chance to have exposure to industry people that may potentially have a real chance [of] going somewhere with their craft and make a difference artistically.
It's a huge disappointment that hundreds of really talented groups and individuals get over looked by these organizers [for SXSW] and are snubbed because another promoter or record company has way more money to pay for a private official event for SXSW.
We may or may not head up to Austin for that week of madness. I mean, it's the same shit every year. There's a clusterfuck of bands and industry people that are fluttering all over Austin just seeing what to get into next before they head to 'Fader Fort' or some random party.
I feel that the counterculture of SXSW is way more of a better outlet to go if you are in that category of people that had the brains to not spend over $500 for a music pass. It's all a money game and that's not what art and music is about. But that's a whole other subject. Oh, and we have no intention of committing arson.