Remembering our beloved Allister today, one full year after we lost him. He was so much more than a cat to us those 12 years; he was our constant companion, he was our unrelenting champion, he was our spirit animal and he’ll be in our hearts forever.
Love you, buddy.
Soaking in the bizarreness of the Salton Sea today, an accidental, below sea level, receding saline rift lake full of dead fish and saturated with a pretty awful smell. It’s a truly strange place, but kind of beautiful too if you look at it the right way
We’d briefly mentioned last week that we were in the midst of an exciting new packaging project. After this weekend’s “Evening in the City of Gold” event honoring Pulitzer-Prize-winning food writer, Jonathan Gold, which served as a kind of soft launch for us, we can finally talk about the project.
The event and fundraiser was put on by the International Association of Culinary Professionals and The Culinary Trust as part of IACP 2016 and it featured, among other things, food from a few of Jonathan Gold’s favorite Los Angeles chefs. One such chef, Chef Minh Phan of porridge + puffs, approached us a little while ago about collaborating with her on the design, packaging, and rolling out of a line of vegan savory jams + sauces we’ve dubbed PINCH by porridge + puffs. Things are very much in the early development stages, but we wanted to share our first designs for the packaging, which will surely evolve as this project does.
See them (and try them) for yourself at the coming events we have planned with Minh, first at a fundraiser for Los Angeles non-profit Food Forward later this month, then at a demo at one of our favorite places in LA, the Hollywood Farmers Market, and finally at the Brooklyn-born, newly LA-based (like us) Smorgasburg. You can find details on all these events and appearances on p+p’s events page.
More soon on all of this!
Last night, we got the opportunity to attend a really wonderful panel discussion at UCLA titled Compassionate Connections: The Intersections of Feminism and Animal Rights. As the name suggests, the speakers addressed issues of feminism and animal rights and how they’re related. The concept of intersectionality, for anyone who doesn’t already know, is the basic belief that all forms of oppression—sexism, racism, ableism, speciesism…all of the isms—are related, so one such ism can’t effectively be addressed without taking into account the rest. We did an interview last year with the grassroots animal liberation organization Resistance Ecology where we go into more detail on this idea if you’re interested in reading it.
In short, the panel was deep and wildly inspiring, with each of the three panelists bringing their individual work, theory, and wealth of knowledge to the fore to the benefit of us all. The panelists were Jacqueline Adamescu of Project Intersect (who did the art on the program, above), Aph Ko of Black Vegans Rock + Aphro-ism, and lauren Ornelas of Food Empowerment Project, who we’ve actually been working with since 2007 or and our days in Brooklyn, but had never before met in person (we did their logo and site and do a lot of their print work). The whole thing was organized by a group a friend of ours recently started up, Intersectional Feminists for Animals, a group that “works to create and foster a safer, inclusive space for all who are women-identified and non-binary folks in animal rights.”
There was a taping that was done of the talk, which we’ll share as soon as it’s public, but we wanted to nonetheless shout out to all the people who made last night happen as it was truly magical. In the meantime, you can (and should) check out lauren’s TedX talk on the power of our food choices below.
We’ve been buried deep in an exciting new venture that can’t quite talk about yet—it’s set to debut at an event this weekend with any luck. But we can say it involves some packaging work, which segues nicely to our longtime admiration of Los Angeles based chocolatier Comports. They don’t make Food Empowerment’s Chocolate List (more about that at FEP’s site), but we’re fans of their unmistakable packaging, claimed by the not-so-shy company itself to be “the most beautiful and distinct packaging on any food worldwide.”
I mean. It is pretty great. We enjoy the old school Hollywood class of their dark chocolate + smoked sea salt bar, but, more commonly, the chocolates feature vibrant, bold, insanely colorful patterns and illustrations that are pretty impossible to walk by without checking out.
You can find Compartés at their Brentwood + Melrose shops—or boutiques, as they call them—and, for us, more locally at neighborhood favorite, Poketo. Not all their chocolates are animal product-free, but they’re good about noting when they are.
For anyone wondering, the palm tree covered California Love dark chocolate and pretzel bar is.
One of the standout tracks in the mixtape we put out last month was from Los Angeles band, TUFT. The band—formerly known as Hi Ho Silver Oh—is a trio made up of Casey Trela, Kevin Manwarren, and Roxy Radulescu (left to right above) that’s playing a release show for their debut full-length Look Look at Highland Park’s new venue The Hi Hat next Thursday night. We got a chance to preview the new album recently and honestly loved it, start to finish. TUFT plays sparkling, vocal- and melody-forward indie pop with orchestral undertones. So, right up our alley.
We got a chance to speak with the band’s founder and primary songwriter, Casey, in anticipation of the album release party about Listen to their lead single, “Stills,” below, check out on our favorites on our March mixtape, and check out their most recently released track, “Spools,” at the end of the interview.
raven + crow studio: So, not to diminish how much I like the new work, but I have to ask out of the gate—what’s the story behind the name change? Was it a legal conflict thing or did you all just crave some newness?
Casey Trela: We felt like our old band name created a context for people that didn’t match the music anymore. It’s not that we don’t love our old band name, it’s more that we grew apart. Bands change over time. It felt good to try something new, something more succinct.
And how did you get to TUFT as a new band name?
We had a running list that was mostly just for fun. There are so many bandnames, and so many mediums on which to claim your own (soundcloud, bandcamp, etc.). It was a puzzle to find one that clicked with all of us, wasn’t already taken, and was possible to easily pronounce and repeat to other people. Once I stopped trying hard to come up with a name, TUFT popped up. The definition is “a bunch or collection of something held or growing together at the base.” Everyone felt good about it.
It always reminds me of Bigwig from Watership Down. It is crazy though how the Internet impacts naming…anything, really, these days though. I know ya’ll are still on the road, but how was SXSW?
We only went for 3 days this year, which I think is the perfect amount of time. We only had 1 show in the shit (6th Street). We packed all of our SXSW craziness into that show—we toted gear a mile from where we were able to park, we pushed past drummers set up in the street and dancers dressed like ninja turtles, played our ambient/dynamic set sandwiched between a cover band and a hard rock band, had a quick laughing/crying breakdown, drank a Lone Star and got out. It was great. There’s lots of craziness, but most people are there because they love music in one way or another, and we got to play music for those people.
Yeah, despite the growing shade that’s thrown SXSW’s way every year, I’d say it’s still a great event. Any insane stories from Austin you can share?
Our last show was at a market where we played on their front porch. Rain started to pour down halfway through the set. Us and all the people there were under cover, so we were able to keep playing through the storm. It was a beautiful situation. I’d like to have a controlled rain storm at all shows.
Who wouldn’t? So your debut full-length as TUFT comes out next month with a release party at this new place, Hi-Hat. Our friends Moon Honey played there pretty recently and swore by it as the best new venue in LA. Are ya’ll psyched?
We are psyched, stoked, amped AND pumped.
Damn.
I’m excited for all the new mid-size venues opening up in LA in general. It feels like there’s more of a chance for bands that live in LA to play in LA. We live close to the Hi Hat. To have our album release in the neighborhood is a dream.
Totally agree with about the great venue scene in LA right now. It’s great, because we moved from New York recently and I feel like it was the exact opposite situation there when we left—every good venue shuttering, including ones that had been open since the beginning of independent music in New York. Back to you guys though, what’s got you most excited about the new material on the album?
We spent so much time with it in writing, recording, and mixing that the most exciting thing now is getting it out to people. We tried a lot of new arrangement things within our setup (drums, bass, guitar, vocals), and brought in a few outside elements (strings, horns, synth) to really get our vision through on record.
Nice. I know there was a pledge aspect to it too, but was that for the recording or touring or what?
We went to Pledge toward the end of the process in order to do a pre-sale of the record and to raise some gas money for the tour. This is the longest tour we’ve done (about 5 weeks). We booked it all ourselves, and are driving around in my minivan. Having some money raised made it feel a lot less daunting. Pledge also offered a way to make buying the album a rewarding experience. It’s easy nowadays to stream music and move on. We wanted to give the album the value we felt like it deserved, and give people who invested in it a showing of thanks.
What kind of response did you get to the crowd funding?
We first got a really nice response from people who already knew about us. They got the word going when the campaign started. Since then, we’ve gotten some international orders and new folks found us through the Pledge site. We’re currently at 175% of our original goal, for which we’re extremely thankful. It seems to be spreading to lots of new people.
That’s really great. Who did the art for your new album?
Roxy, who plays guitar and sings backup in TUFT, does all our artwork and graphics. She made the artwork with a paper cutout and layering technique. She’s a great graphic designer outside of the band as well (see: roxymakesthings on Etsy, and her tumblr blog: moviesincolor.com).
Okay, I was going to tell you how much we like the album design, but now I’m even more enamored with that raccoon pillow she makes. I think I need that. Who does what in the band, then? Do you all have pretty strict roles or do they bleed into each other?
Everything bleeds together. Songwriting-wise, I write the lyrics and skeleton arrangement, then Roxy and Kevin fill in with their parts. I tend to do most of the management and booking type stuff. We use the Slack app to figure out/delegate most plans. Everyone chips in when we’re coming up with ideas, or looking for shows and places to stay. Roxy does all the graphics. Kevin is sort of a renaissance man between all the categories and runs the Snapchat.
You all a musical publicity machine—well-done. Are you all native Angelenos or fellow transplants?
Kevin is the closest to native—he grew up in Claremont. Roxy was born in Romania, then moved to Montreal, then Rockford, IL. I was born in central NY, then moved to North Carolina before I transplanted to LA.
Right—I kind of love the Memento-esque bio Ben Axelrad wrote for you all. I assume it’s mostly flavor—you didn’t really pick up Kevin as a hitchhiker or meet Roxy in a truck stop…did you?
Memory can change the shape of a room; it can change the color of a car. And memories can be distorted. They’re just an interpretation, they’re not a record, and they’re irrelevant if you have the facts.
We’re 100% putting that in the pull quote. What brought everyone here in the first place then? Ambitions for the silver screen? Beach bumming? Tacos?
NC actually has pretty great Mexican food, some nice beach spots, and is the home of hit shows like Dawson’s Creek and One Tree Hill, so those were actually all covered. I moved with a big group of friends from college who were all getting into film or music. It was an adventure that popped up at the right time and has been challenging but rewarding. I think we all moved to LA because we had creative pursuits, and it’s a big gathering place for creative people.
Nicely put. So what do you love about LA then?
There are a lot of very driven people, which can be annoying, intimidating, or overwhelming at first. Once you find a good group of friends though, that drive becomes inspiring and helpful. The tacos and beach are definitely a bonus. If I were to move away, I would miss being able to find good food at all hours. The landscape is wild with surprisingly beautiful spots scattered around the city. It’s a nice place to live if you have the energy for it.
Hear, hear. Well thanks for your time, Casey.
If you’re in Southern California, catch TUFT’s record release next Thursday, April 7 at The Hi Hat and you can pre-order their album via their Pledge site. Seattle + Portland, the band’s playing your towns tonight and Friday, respectively, and they’re making their way down the coast for their homecoming next week; check their Facebook page for a full list of shows.
Band photo by Elli Papayanopoulos.
Back in 2012, when we were still based out of our Boerum Hill, Brooklyn design studio, we were commission by an acquaintance—Kristin Lajeunesse—to do some custom illustration work. The work involved a rebranding of her then company, Rose Pedals Vegan Weddings, which was an online resource for anyone wanting to plan a vegan wedding. The idea was that we’d create these personified animal brides, grooms, and fancied-up wedding attendees and then use those throughout the site and in its marketing; key amongst it—tees we were going to have made (see badass mouse bride shirt illustration, to the right).
As you’ve likely guessed from the past tense structure of this introduction, none of that ever came to fruition—we completed a total of five unique illustrations and, a little while later, Kristin stepped away from the business to pursue other work—she’s now a lifestyle coach and author and the company’s since passed hands and been rebranded Vegan Weddings HQ.
Though we’ve got no hard feelings about how things turned out, we were always a little sad the project was never fully realized, only because we were really proud of the work itself.
The illustrations were based on photo composites we created so as to establish a realistic foundation that we could then stylize and embellish from as we liked. We then hand-sketched over the composites, scanned these sketches, and brought them into Adobe Illustrator, where we re-sketched the hand-done lines using a pen + tablet so we ended up with crisp, resizable vector lines. For the shirts, we then used a similar technique to color in forms in layers behind the sketch layer, again, to end up with bold, solid forms; ones that could be resized without degradation and would translate to print well.
In the end though, we’re personally even more fond of the pieces that grew from this original work, which we made by taking the illustrations I (Troy) created, printing them on archival stock, and having Katie tone and bring them to life with hand-watercoloring. There’s something about the pairing of clean, sharp lines and corners of the computer-rendered work that plays so nicely off the organic, natural flow of watercolor in all its nuances.
These three pieces hang in our Los Angeles home now and make me happy every time I look at them. So all’s well that ends well, I’d say.
A little over a week ago, one of our favorite bands, The National, and their label, 4AD, finally announced details of a project they’ve all been talking about for a while now—Day of the Dead, a massive tribute to the Grateful Dead that marks the 20th album of original music the organization Red Hot has produced over the past 25 years to help raise awareness and money to fight HIV/AIDS and related health issues. The collection was curated by curated by Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National and singer Matt Berninger has been talking about the project since his press tour for the documentary his brother did, Mistaken for Strangers, in 2014. So it’s been on people’s radar for a while now, but we don’t think we’re alone in not until now understanding the scope of the project—the 5 CD, soon-to-be-announced LP box set, nearly 6 hour long collection features 60 bands doing their renditions of 59 Dead tracks. That’s nearly a workday’s worth of Ahoni, Wilco, Angel Olsen, Jim James, The Tallest Man on Earth, Local Natives, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, and, of course, The National, playing some of the most beloved songs of American country-folk-pop-Americana…to name a fraction of those involved.
We can’t imagine what it took to put this whole thing together, but we like what we’ve heard so far. Day of the Dead won’t hit store shelves/your download folder until May 20, but, you can pre-order it via 4AD now—t’s a mere $29.99 for all of that music and remember, it benefits the good work of Red Hot (the last collection the Dessners did for the organization, Dark Was The Night, has raised over $1.5 million for the organizations fighting AIDS to date).
One of our favorite tributes so far is The War on Drugs‘ version of “Touch of Grey”; you can listen to that below along with four other tracks that have been released to promote the collection by The National (they actually get four tracks across the collection), Phosphorescent + Jenny Lewis, Bruce Hornsby + DeYarmond Edison, and Melbourne’s darling of indie rock, Courtney Barnett. Full track list of Day of the Dead below the video streams. Find out more and pre-order the album in its various forms via the Day of the Dead web site.
Bonus related post over at our sister web journal, Forgotten Favorite—our write up on the Dead, Freaks and Geeks, and “Box of Rain”.
“Thunder” (Vol.1)
01. Touch of Grey – The War on Drugs
02. Sugaree – Phosphorescent, Jenny Lewis & Friends
03. Candyman – Jim James & Friends
04. Cassidy – Moses Sumney, Jenny Lewis & Friends
05. Black Muddy River – Bruce Hornsby and DeYarmond Edison
06. Loser – Ed Droste, Binki Shapiro & Friends
07. Peggy-O – The National
08. Box of Rain – Kurt Vile and the Violators (featuring J Mascis)
09. Rubin and Cherise – Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy & Friends
10. To Lay Me Down – Perfume Genius, Sharon Van Etten & Friends
11. New Speedway Boogie – Courtney Barnett
12. Friend of the Devil – Mumford & Sons
13. Uncle John’s Band – Lucius
14. Me and My Uncle – The Lone Bellow & Friends
15. Mountains of the Moon – Lee Ranaldo, Lisa Hannigan & Friends
16. Black Peter – Anohni and yMusic
17. Garcia Counterpoint – Bryce Dessner
18. Terrapin Station (Suite) – Daniel Rossen, Christopher Bear and The National (featuring Josh Kaufman, Conrad Doucette, So Percussion and Brooklyn Youth Chorus)
19. Attics of My Life – Angel Olsen
20. St. Stephen (live) – Wilco with Bob Weir
“Lightning” (Vol. 2)
01. If I Had the World to Give – Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy
02. Standing on the Moon – Phosphorescent & Friends
03. Cumberland Blues – Charles Bradley and Menahan Street Band
04. Ship of Fools – Tallest Man on Earth & Friends
05. Bird Song – Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy & Friends
06. Morning Dew – The National
07. Truckin’ – Marijuana Deathsquads
08. Dark Star – Cass McCombs, Joe Russo & Friends
09. Nightfall of Diamonds – Nightfall of Diamonds
10. Transitive Refraction Axis for John Oswald – Tim Hecker
11. Going Down The Road Feelin’ Bad – Lucinda Williams & Friends
12. Playing in the Band – Tunde Adebimpe, Lee Ranaldo & Friends
13. Stella Blue – Local Natives
14. Eyes of the World – Tal National
15. Help on the Way – Bela Fleck
16. Franklin’s Tower – Orchestra Baobab
17. Till the Morning Comes – Luluc with Xylouris White
18. Ripple – The Walkmen
19. Brokedown Palace – Richard Reed Parry with Caroline Shaw and Little Scream (featuring Garth Hudson)
“Sunshine” (Vol. 3)
01. Here Comes Sunshine – Real Estate
02. Shakedown Street – Unknown Mortal Orchestra
03. Brown-Eyed Women – Hiss Golden Messenger
04. Jack-A-Roe – This Is the Kit
05. High Time – Daniel Rossen and Christopher Bear
06. Dire Wolf – The Lone Bellow & Friends
07. Althea – Winston Marshall, Kodiak Blue and Shura
08. Clementine Jam – Orchestra Baobab
09. China Cat Sunflower -> I Know You Rider – Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
10. Easy Wind – Bill Callahan
11. Wharf Rat – Ira Kaplan & Friends
12. Estimated Prophet – The Rileys
13. Drums -> Space – Man Forever, So Percussion and Oneida
14. Cream Puff War – Fucked Up
15. Dark Star – The Flaming Lips
16. What’s Become of the Baby – s t a r g a z e
17. King Solomon’s Marbles – Vijay Iyer
18. Rosemary – Mina Tindle & Friends
19. And We Bid You Goodnight – Sam Amidon
20. I Know You Rider (live) – The National with Bob Weir
We’re not usually ones for country music…not usually, but true country—the stuff that continues to point back to the old time greats and doesn’t veer pop—that stuff sometimes gets us.
Case in point, Margo Price, out of (you guessed it) Nashville. She’s got that authentic country twang and deep, deep soul that she puts into her lyrics and that simply can’t be ignored in her utterly impressive voice. And he backing band is fucking tight.
Our friend Becky turned us on to herald we got a chance to catch her in the intimate setting of the hotel cafe—hard country in the heart of Hollywood. She’s blowing up a bit of late after a run at SXSW and it sounds like it’s some well-deserved success after years of rough times and struggle in the industry.
Price sat down with NPR’s David Greene while she was in town—you can hear that interview below, but first, check out her single “Hurtin’ (On the Bottle)”.
What we’re reading in the studio currently—a dystopian west coast future think-piece adventure + a favorite riot grill turned actress-comedian memoir. And two good examples of excellent book cover design.
