The Dead Weather’s Sea of Cowards Out Tomorrow

Sea of Cowards is not a neat little package of an album. In fact it seems to be pulling at the threads left by The Dead Weather’s debut album Horehound, but this only makes it that much more appealing. Jack White and his second super group manage to take their mad scientist approach to blues-rock a step further in this album. Sea of Cowards doesn’t house radio hits or sentimental sing-a-longs, but it manages to contain a shit ton of attitude, frustration and unedited in your face rock’n’roll.

Alison Mosshart (VV of The Kills) sounds more at home in this album. “The Difference Between Us” fits her like a black leather fingerless glove. She then pushes the boundaries with no apologies in “Gasoline.” Mosshart and White share the floor each respectfully out for blood.

Not to be over looked is Queens of the Stone Age’s own, Dean Fertita (also toured with The Raconteurs) who’s guitar and keyboards set the tone for the albums ménage-a-trois of pop, blues and psycadellic rock.

This is definitely the darkest and most raw of White’s recent projects. For some it may feel unfinished and self-indulgent. To others it will feel honest, dirty and daring. It all depends on if  you like your music shaken or stirred.

Sea of Cowards will be released tomorrow (May 11, 2010).

The Dead Weather’s Sea of Cowards

I am so excited for this album! Listen free to Sea of Cowards today only (April 30th). It’s streamming all day click here to listen.

Hometown Hero Kurt Vile.

So Nataly and I are a little sadistic (as you know) and we sent out our brand spankin new writer, Dan Newman to a show at The Barbary. A show of two bands he had never heard of in his entire life. A hardcore show none the less. We told him to cover the show, get an interview and take some photos. What better way to get the young ones started? He did it all. Yay Dan!

When I showed up to see Kurt Vile and Fucked Up at The Barbary, I didn’t know what to expect. I was approached by HEFF and jumped at the opportunity. This was my first assignment and I was a bit nervous. I slowly filtered into the club along with the crowd from the sidewalk. I made nervous chatter with a random person in front of me, trying desperately not to look as if I just heard the names “Kurt Vile” and “Fucked Up” yesterday. I sat shyly in the back, doodling in my notebook, waiting for the show to start or for the oddly uncomfortable bench I was sitting on to swallow me whole. However, before that could happen, Kurt began tuning his guitars and I pushed my way front and center to get a better look.

You know how some people seem to have an aura around them? Kurt Vile is one of those people. Although not much taller than me, he seemed to loom like a giant over the crowd, his face rarely peeking out from a thick, messy mane of hair. A gruff, throaty voice checked the mic a few times, not quite content with the echo and reverb. Suddenly satisfied, Kurt began finger-picking his twelve string guitar, and his raspy voice cut through the notes like a ray of sun through fog; in this case audible but lingering. Sadly, I never got a chance to obtain a set list, so I can’t share with you what song he opened with, or closed with, but I can tell you that for about an hour, Kurt Vile wore his heart on his sleeve and shared it with a lackadaisical but interested crowd. His songs were drenched in a bucket of blues, poured into our ears and hung out to dry before our eyes. Everyone seemed to be enjoying it, but there wasn’t much movement, which was to be expected based on the mellow, almost melancholy, mood. The untrained eye would wonder if the audience was bored, but it was quite the contrary. I was lucky enough at the end of his performance to steal a quick picture of that ever-elusive face, which seems always to be hidden behind that lion mane of brown hair.

After Kurt left the audience mellowed and happily sedated, Fucked Up dosed us with some musical-cocaine. I had prepared myself to be dodging fists and reckless moshers, and was wondering how I was going to constantly be on my guard while absorbing the show at the same time. All of that prepping was in vain, though. I didn’t have to dodge a single fist or reckless mosher. Actually, I can sum up the entire Fucked Up set in one word… Unity. The crowd and the band were united, and it was beautiful. Damian Abraham, the lead singer, interacted with the crowd, cracked jokes and barreled through the crowd during one song. He was eager to share a story before each song, which gave me the nostalgic tingling of hairs standing up on my arms. This was music with purpose, these were audio samples of their every day struggles, not just songs thrown together in a few days for a label contract or some cliché emotional bandwagon. There were so many sing-alongs (they just never get old,) that I lost count, at least one per song. Damian was kind enough to tell the crowd the lyrics beforehand so they could participate if they didn’t know them (like me.) He even ended up on the bar for part of the set. A highlight of the performance was the crowd participation during “Crusades”. My camera phone sucks in the dark, but Damian was a great sport and took a picture with me. One lyric kept returning to me during the show, from “Pit of Equality” by Ten Yard Fight: “WE’RE ALL FRIENDS IN THE PIT TONIGHT”.

I was also fortunate enough to get five minutes with Kurt, despite the fact that the bar opened and I didn’t have an ID. I figured my baby face was going to be a problem, but the door guy was real cool about letting me stick around for a few minutes even though he clearly wanted me to go for fear of his job. Thanks, Kurt, and thank you random-door-guy.

Philadelphia sounds excited to have you back in town. How do you feel to be back?

I feel good…I’ve been on tour this time around with just my buddy Rob, who’s keeping me company. We were born on the same day, and we’re both kind of…wild people…so we’re a little tired. It’s good to be back, even just for a day.But yeah its nice to come home in the middle of the tour as opposed to coming home at the end. Today I slept until about 4, we played Baltimore last night and I just drove straight home, man. Woke up in my own bed.

Nice, that must have felt good.

Yup, felt real good.

I read that you were recently signed to Matador records, which was your first choice anyway. What are your new goals?

My goals I guess are relatively the same. I got all the business out of the way, at least for now, so it’s just keep moving forward and putting stuff out. You know we’re about to start on a new record, just keep doing it you know?

What direction do you see your new music going? Psyche stuff like “Blackberry Song”, or more rocking like “Monkey”?

Yeah, I mean there’s always pyschedelic undertones. I don’t see it going too far-out. Yeah, if you like “Blackberry Song”, going in that acoustic direction for the next record, sort of. You know, flesh it out a little, bring in the band. For the next record I don’t really have any like “Freak Trains” or “Hunchbacks”. Just kind of the prettier stuff, I’m going to see how far we can take that for the next record, you know? Just flesh out the pretty shit. Start with the acoustic shit and just take it out there.

Did you ever find that Neil Young album you’ve been coveting?

Yeah I did! I got three copies of that thanks to that interview, but nobody ever got me The Seeds record though. I’m waiting for somebody to find me the Seeds’ “Web of Sound”.

Maybe someone will read this and hook you up with it.

Yeah hopefully, but so far, no dice.

Can you describe the process of writing on the road as opposed to home?

Well, you’d imagine, and I’d imagine, that before I got so busy, that you write as you go…but maybe in Europe, or in a real nice place, and your feeling inspired, you’ll write a little bit. But usually the writing happens once you get home, and you let the set grow as you go on tour. But you know, they are both essential to inspiration. What I’ve found as that, especially lately, on tour you’re busy with a lot of things, and then when you get home, time is still…you start strumming out new tunes and stuff like that.

Which came first, the guitar or the lyric?

Uh that varies. I get that a lot, it varies. I guess a lot of times with guitar your just strumming, and some weird shit will just come out, one line and you just work around it. But other times, at least when I used to work a day job, I’d think up these weird lyrics. So really it depends. Or you’ll listen to a song on the radio and think of certain lyrics that are kinda far out, and you put it in a song you’ve been working on. But really, it varies.

Well I appreciate you taking the time out to talk with me…is there anyone you’d like to give a shout out to?

Sure, its no problem. Uh yeah, I’d like to give a shout out to Fucked Up, who’s standing right next to me.

BY DANIEL NEWMAN

Happy Hollows Haunt The Rock Scene

I am a major sucker for bad-ass chicks with guitars. Happy Hollows, a three piece LA band, just happens to have one. Sarah Negahdari has an airy, haunting voice. It reminds me of being cozy in an oversized flannel, listening to Belly in the 1990’s. Similarly to Tanya Donelly, Negahdari’s voice transforms from an angel one minute to a melodic banshee the next. While Negahdari sings her heart out in their full-length album Spells, she rips you from track to track with some pro guitar sounds.

At times the tracks on Spells are noisy. You have to brace for a choppy voyage with Happy Hollows. The song “Tambourine” turns form Deerhoof to 7 Year Bitch, in a matter of minutes. But if you’re up for the ride it’s a trip worth taking.

Their catchiest tune “High Wire” has already made it to your TV selling you Samsung cell phones. If you have read me before you know how much that gives me a stomachache, but I’m willing to forgive because “High Wire” is the star of the album. “We Will Find You” adds a girly touch, cute and creepy, it fits Negahdari’s voice perfectly. Another standout track “Death to Vivek Kemp” could just as well be a completely stripped down Karen O hidden track. Spells as a whole has a very naked quality to it. There is no glam or pretensions.

Tracks like “Delorean” and “A Man, A Plan, A Canal” cut the album up, adding a different feel with bassist Charlie Mahoney taking led vocals. It makes for an interesting bump in the road, but the album could live with out it.

Currently, Happy Hollows are the talk of the town in L.A. As painful as it can be for West coast rockers to test the East coast waters, I think we can make room for some California sounds that don’t evoke sunsets, surfboards and hallucinogens.

What you really take away from this album is that their live performance could make or break them. Rumors have it that seeing Happy Hollows live is the real payoff. It’s said that Negahdari, Mahoney and drummer Chris Hernandez refuse to take it down a notch while on stage. I’m dying to see for myself. A tough,wispy, rocker chick with guitar in hand, shoving her songs around the stage with two talented men behind her is the stuff dreams are made of (my dreams at least.)

Happy Hollows takes the stage at North Star Bar March 4.

What’s Going on?

Philadelphia has an amazing amount of fantastic live shows coming our way in the next couple of months. Scroll down to find a comprehensive list of our favorite event calendars for around the area.

We wanted to highlight some notable shows coming up.

Kurt Vile and The Violators Philadelphia’s favorite long haired lo-fi experimentalists are playing Wednesday, February 17 at

TheBarbary with Fucked Up: hardcore punk at it’s best.

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Mission of Burma may be old but they are still ridiculously good and pretty much historical figures when it comes to rock as we know it.  Mission of Burma should be on everyone’s bucket list. They will be at The Church Thursday, February 18 with Sleeper Agent.

St. Vincent will be bringing her painfully pretty songs to a seated sanctuary show at The Church Thursday, February 25 with Wildbirds and Peacedrums who also put on a spectacular show.

We are all about Surfer Blood right now! They will be playing The Barbary Monday, March 1. They bring their warm weather, 1990’s pop sounds to our cold, modern, Philadelphia ears.

Rouge Wave will be putting on a seated Sanctuary show at The Church Thursday, March 4, full of harmony, melodies, and choruses to sing to. It’s goose pimple music.

Our muse, namesake  and favorite showmen ever, Man Man, are doing a long overdue hometown Philadelphia show. Oh how we’ve missed them. No more crossing state lines for our fix! They will be debuting new songs galore at the their Troc show on March 5.

Henry Rollins?! Yep, really Henry Rollins is coming to the Sanctuary Thursday, March 11. Sounds nuts but it’s true. The Church is just one of many stops he is making on his Frequent Flyer Tour.

The Ruby Suns invoke big sunglasses, psychedelic swirls, and songs like “Let the Sunshine In“. Check out their 6-piece band at Kung Fu Necktie with Toro Y Moi and Power Animal, Philly’s own experimental wonders on Thursday, March 25.

The xx is sold out and we don’t have tickets and I am pretty much too mad to even comment on this one. If your going and want to do a review or interview for us, e-mail me at andrea@hipsterseatforfree.com The show is at The Church Monday, March 29. We will probably be there begging for tickets.

Fanfarlo is the kind of indie pop that can take over. It sticks around a while and the pay off is more then instant grat. The show is Wednesday, March 31 at The Church. I am guessing this one will sell out.

The forefathers of indie rock Nada Surf will be playing at The Church Thursday April 1. If you haven’t been paying attention since the 90’s, it’s time to see just how much perfection these guys put out this decade.

The Thermals will be giving us an excuse to jump around like madwomen in what is sure to be a sweaty packed Church on Thursday, April 15.

Check out other event calendars here:

• R5 Productions Event Calendar
• The Electric Factory
• Kung Fu Nectie
• Johnny Brenda’s
• Y-Rock
• Tritone
• The Trocadero
• World Cafe Live
• Phrequency

Los Campesinos! Still Annoyed and Articulate

Los Campesinos! release their third album, Romance is Boring. In fact it may be, but this album is not. The six-piece indie-pop band from Wales proves that it’s been growing up, and not in the bad “mom jeans way,” but in the “starting to master their talent way.” The production value this time around is noticeably pumped up making the slightly off-kilter sound easier to trust. Do not fret, the 15-track album still has Los Campesinos! fingerprints smudged all over. It is still stuffed to the brim with whiney back-alley-honesty through Gareth Campesinos! incredibly, wordy, english-major-gone-awol lyrics. Lyrics that live only to ponder, lousy sex, drinking induced vomiting, corpses, godlessness and soccer. Only a writer like Gareth could take themes that tend to induce images of, sweaty, half drunk 20-somethings, scratching their balls and spin it into beautifully unpredictable sentences that make you want to study their structure.

Some songs are melodic and sing-a-long approved like, “The Sea is a Good Place to Think About the Future.” Others like, “Medias Res,” are glorious noise taking you out of your comfort zone and forcing you to contemplate such things as death and vomit from vodka.

If you like feeling smart and well read while rocking the hell out to your indie-pop picks, then adding Romance is Boring to the line-up is a must.

“If You’re Right, You’ll Agree:” A Few Fashion Tips.

Ok Hipsters its time to have a talk. The whole point and saving grace of being a “hipster” is that you have good taste in alternative art. You are supposed to be naturally drawn to what is a-typical. You are supposed to have an eye for things that may not be obviously appealing to others. You find beauty in unlikely places. This of course should include style and fashion. Now, I am not the fashion police by any means whatsoever. I have made my mistakes, by the dozens. Just ask Nataly, she has an opinion on just about everything I’ve ever worn (although most of the time she is wrong.) However, lately I have noticed that in “the scene,” some of you are making some pretty bad choices and they’re spreading  faster than the swine flu.  Some of the accoutrements that I have seen out and about just look fucking dumb.

Now there are some pieces that others out there may have a problem with. A lot of people bitch about Skinny Jeans. That’s just silly. Skinny Jeans are hot. What looks hotter than jeans that are painted on to your ass? Nothing. Another favorite to complain about among the haters, are high wasted skirts. Please, its adorable, girly and retro. Go for it. I say yes. See, I am not a hater. I’m just trying to stop you from looking like a total idiot.

If you really know what you are doing and feel you can pull of the feathers-in-hair thing, keep them to a minimum, one or two at the most. Also it would be preferable if the feathers you chose were actually pleasant looking and not like they came from a crow with Avian Flu.

Now a case where less isn’t more: Mens shirts as dresses. If you do this right, it’s a go. However, a lot of you out there apparently don’t own mirrors because, you are wearing shirts so short that, I can see your bloomers. I know that a lot of you think the shorter the dress the sexier, right? But can’t you see, if your wearing a shirt that is not covering your ass, then you simply look like you forgot your pants. Do you really want to be walking around in a shirt and shoes? This looks like your drunk or stupid.

Last but definitely not least, why are you guys trying to kill flannel?  Flannel has had its place in alternative culture for decades. From hippies to grungies, flannel is part of our roots, it’s deep with history. Now every time I go to Kung Fu or Johnny Brenda’s it looks like Paul Bunyan threw-up in there. Perhaps we could have like a raffle system to determine who can wear flannel on what day? Maybe it’s too late for flannel. Maybe we just can’t wear it for a while. Should we do it cold-turkey? I don’t know, I am open to suggestions. For now I know I can’t go near the stuff without feeling like I’m putting on a uniform.

That’s all I got for now. Ok that’s not true, there is more. But I will stop here to make sure that you really let these suggestions sink in. Think about our reputation. Popular culture hates us. I’m cool with that, because mostly it’s just envy. Who doesn’t like being envied. But lets not give them fuel for the fire. Going out with a birds nest on our heads is never gonna work in our favor.

The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir: I like almost all of it so much.

Most of The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir’s new album … and the Horse You Rode In On, is a wonderfully hilarious tribute to the 80’s British post-punk scene. The first eight tracks had me laughing, rocking-out and writing a fabulous review in my head. If you love The Cure and The Clash (and who doesn’t?), you will totally dig where this album is headed. Songs like “One Night Stand,” could have come directly from London Calling. Scotland’s lead singer Elia Einhorn croons with the same, dark, drippy, painful style of Robert Smith, but the lyrics are worlds away. They are not complicated or deep, just blunt, honest immature and funny. Lyrics like, “I hope that you catch syphilis and die alone” and “Thoughts of him on top, then you on top refuse stop,” make you laugh, especially when they are sung so beautifully with throaty soul, coming straight from the gut. However, all of a sudden the album takes a strange turn.

The track. “Sixteen Is To Young,” is a beautiful “slow song” sung by Mary Ralph with a perfectly pretty voice. You are forced to take it seriously. I really enjoyed the track. I found the unexpected change in sound and tone refreshing and imagined that we would return to the punkier sound that had come before. But the next song was very similar, a duet this time. In fact the next three tracks also veered off the original path that I had been so looking forward to traveling. Now don’t start angrily commenting yet. I am all for variety on an album. The more a band can do, the more moods and emotions it can pull from you the better. But you can’t deny that a huge part of creating a successful album is taking all the wonderful sounds you have created and working them into a cohesive piece. Take the above mentioned London Calling; that is an epic album. It combines, rock, pop, blues, punk and even reggae. The difference is you never forget that you are listening to The Clash. It’s a story. You cant wait to hear what happens next. I would have enjoyed every single song on …and the Horse You Rode In On, had they been on different albums.

…and the Horse You Rode In On, regains its composure in the last three songs. I liked the beginning and end so much that I can forgive the mushy center. It is worth the trip. However, a truly great album should never force you to take the good with the bad.

**** The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir were involved in a serious car accident on September 24th on their way to play a show. We wish them a full recovery and hope that they are able to get back to doing what they do. For more information on the accident and what you can do to help click here.

Girls: Image Isn’t Everything.

When the California lo-fi band, Girls, took the stage last night at Kung Fu Necktie, I was a little concerned. The motley crew looked like it would rather be anywhere else but at that exact place at that exact time. Christopher Owens was a mousey little guy who looked terrified at the thought of playing for the obviously indifferent audience. Not at all what I had expected of the free thinking, drug consuming, cult surviving, writing wizard  that is Owens. I wondered how this band would hold up in front of this testy Philadelphia audience.

However, Owens and his band were quick to win me over. It took a few songs to warm up but soon Owens was wearing his heart on his sleeve and bearing his soul for all to see. It wasn’t an extremely eventful show and the rest of the band seemed to want to fade into the background, but they played beautifully and backed up Owens as he shared the “sad song in his sweet heart.”

They covered most of the aptly named Album, literally breaking my heart when they performed “Hellhole Ratrace” and “Lauren Marie.” I would have loved to hear “Big Bad Mean Mother Fucker.” That seemed like an obvious choice for a live show to me, but it wouldn’t have fit the mood or the zombie like crowd.

I am glad I went. It wasn’t a bad time. However, listening to Album laying in the sun with your eyes closed feeling melancholy is a much more rewarding experience.

Also, listen, watch, and read album review for Girls, here.

The Honus Honus Interview: Swept Off My Feet Like A Fish.

We love Man Man. It’s obvious, we’ve stuffed it down your throat even more than Victor Victor Band. We are such big fans that Sister and I, between the two of us, have seen them in five different states in slightly over a year.

In their own way they started our unhealthy obsession with local and indie music. If you get the joke in the name of our Web site then you know that the music and experience of Man Man plays a huge part in what we do here at HEFF.

So when the opportunity to sit down with frontman Honus Honus presented it’s self we were psyched! We packed the car with vegan snacks, tempted Nataly’s crappy car radio to make it the 3.5 hour trip, and headed south into rainy, dark traffic on I-95, all to catch up with them at the 9:30 Club in Washington D.C. (Okay, okay, we were going anyway, duh! But, getting to talk with them was an extra “rad” experience.)

I sat down between sets to speak with Honus Honus. We grilled him a little about their long absence from Philly, and his feelings on relationships. We covered a wide and strange array of topics like, death, parenthood, skydiving and his inspirations. We had to stop a few times for the bands to play, so a few questions went unanswered, but don’t fret whether you like it or not, you will be hearing a lot more from Man Man on our little site.

HEFF:How come we haven’t seen you guys in Philly for quite a while?

HH: I don’t know. It’s like we haven’t been avoiding Philly we just for some reason or another haven’t played Philly. It’s almost been a year.

HEFF: Your R5 relationship is still good and strong?

HH: Yeah that’s still good. (Slight hesitation and laugh). No, no it’s good. There really hasn’t been a reason why we haven’t played Philly…. We all feel really lousy about it. We don’t sleep well.

HEFF: I don’t think we have seen you in state since last Halloween.

HH: Well I mean we don’t like playing Philly all the time anyway because we don’t want to wear out or welcome but a year is kind of ludicrous. We kind of feel at this point that we need more new songs, or a new record before we have the right to play Philly again anyway, so thats on us.

HEFF: So Chris (Drummer Pow Pow aka Christopher Powel) said you did have some new songs.

HH: Yeah we are going to play a couple tonight.

HEFF: Tell me about them.

HH: They’re new.(laughs)

HEFF: Is there an album behind it?

HH: Oh I mean thats why we haven’t been touring very much. We’ve just been trying to write a new record. I keep telling myself it’s the hardest one to write. What a bitch. But then I think back and they were all pretty terrible to write. So we are kind of in the thick of it.

HEFF: What’s your writing process? You all have a certain sound that you bring to it. So how do you do that? Does one person write?

HH: It’s like group therapy, a lot of putting out family fires.

HEFF: How did you guys find each other?

HH: Through Match.com(laughs)…. He [Pow] was always my favorite Philly drummer, so when my first drummer bounced, I got someone else and then I got Pow.

HEFF: Your fans are either die hard or “I can’t listen to that crazy clown music”.

HH: (Laughs)Clown music?? Wow that’s cool.

HEFF: Why do you think your music can draw so many people and turn so many people off?

HH: I dig it, you know? I like eliciting some response. I’d rather it be an extreme one than a middling one where some one just bops their head. I’d rather people just go ape-shit with happiness or just be completely reviled. I like that we can piss people off its great.

HEFF: Who are your fans?

HH: I think, anyone who the child isn’t dead in them. You know? Someone who is at least open. I mean I feel like your either into it or your not. I feel like I am the same way personally so it works for the music too.

HEFF: Are your love songs about hope or about heartbreak?

HH: Hope that heartbreak doesn’t happen again. But being open to it possibly happening again. I don’t know both.

HEFF: Do you believe in painless love?

HH: I wish. I mean I haven’t been in a relationship in years now. It’s worth trying… I don’t know.

HEFF: So when you write about love, not having been in a relationship recently, are you pulling from the past?

HH: Well I mean I wasn’t able to write songs for like about a year or so, just because I just didn’t feel like I had anything. I didn’t want to go to the well basically.

We take a break to watch Opening Band Who Shot Hollywood play.

HEFF: How do you go from being Ryan to Honus? I mean you are so quiet and nice right now?

HH: (Mischievous laugh)Ahh. Its funny, I went to go to the Dirty Projectors show the other day but just to catch their sound check, because i wanted to watch the Phillies game and one of the girls in the band (we played a couple shows with them) she walked by me a couple times and we finally got to talk and she said she didn’t recognize me cause she was used to seeing my legs. Maybe thats what it is?

HEFF: What do you want to be doing when your 64?

HH: I want to be dead!

HEFF: Dead by 64?

HH: We are all dead by 2012! … I hope I have something figured out by 64.

HEFF: What is it that your trying to figure out?

HH: My shit.

HEFF: Do you want to be playing music? Do you want to be settled down?

HH: I don’t know. I’d hope that the “shit show” that’s my personal life, I hope that it settles down a little bit, yeah. I’ll probably just be a little more mellow.

HEFF: Are you happy?

HH: Are YOU happy?

HEFF: Most of the time.

HH: Yeah? What’s the secret?

HEFF: Honestly… for me it’s my kid.

HH: Well than yeah, its not your life anymore…. that’s the last thing I need to have is a fucking kid (laughs)…. it would be terrible if i had a kid.

HEFF: Would it? Why?

HH: Nah it would just be bad.

HEFF: Your kid could be so creative and crazy and fun.

HH: My kid would be a mess or he’d just grow up to be really conservative.

HEFF: There you go that would probably be it.

HH:… generally how that happens.

HEFF: Back to the music. What are you listening to?

HH: I’ve been listening to a lot of early R&B. My friend got me into this record Tarheel Slim and Little Annie. It’s really cool like early Sixties R&B. I am a sucker for R&B and Do-woop

HEFF: Yeah it’s obvious.

HH: ( laughs)Yeah. I did a cover of Cry To Me by Solomon Burke. A friend of mine (Charlyne Yi) she was in our Rabbit Habits video. She remade a scene of Dirty Dancing with that actor Channing Tatum… They reenacted the sexy, sultry dancing. They couldn’t get the rights to that Solomon Burke song so she had me cover that song and it was painful. Solomon Burke is like 400 pounds, 90 grandchildren, full of soul. I mean I have some soul but my soul is broken and fucked. So it took two days to record my vocals for it. And the first day I made it like 3 hours and I had to leave and go to bed at 5 o’clock at night. I was like I don’t know how to do this. I can’t do this. But I figured it out. I don’t know where that story came form.

HEFF: How did you get together with Charlyne? How did she get involved in your videos and opening for you?

HH: A friend of a friend, and then we just clicked. She’s pretty fearless she’s got some big balls on her. When we first stared hanging out we went skydiving together that was a lot of fun.

HEFF: Oh shit, how was that? Was that your first time?

HH: Yeah for both of us. It was probably our last time, well I want to go again.

HEFF: I always said when I’m 84

HH: (laughs)Yeah when your 84?… It’s gonna be written into my will, [that] I want my mom to go skydiving with my ashes.

HEFF: And spread them?

HH: Ah huh ..I’m going to give people pieces of my ashes to do something with. Like my one friend Angry Mike, I want him to have my ashes and go snorkeling in the Bahamas you know and spread um in the water, he can’t swim so that would be awesome. And my moms like, “If i jump out of a plane i’ll have a heart attack.” I’m like, “At least your dying with me.”

HEFF: How did you conceptualize, was this your musical sound that comes through in Man Man?

HH: It’s kind of my answer all the time but its the truth: I couldn’t afford therapy and this is how i get my shit out of my system. But its ironic because it just got to the point where if I didn’t have this I would just be….

Then they called him for set time!!!

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