Under the Radar Announces Fall 2017 Issue with Julien Baker on the Cover | Under the Radar Magazine Under the Radar | Music Blog for the Indie Music Magazine
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Issue #62

Issue #62 - Julien Baker

Oct 20, 2017

Under the Radar is excited to announce the full details of our Fall 2017 Issue, which is out now digitally via Under the Radar’s app and the magazine app Readly. The print version has shipped out to subscribers and stores and will be on all newsstands soon (as well as available soon digitally via the magazine app Zinio). The issue features Julien Baker on the cover.

The issue also features interviews with Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile, The Horrors, Wolf Alice, Jessie Ware, King Krule, TORRES, Wolf Parade, Phoebe Bridgers, Bully, Benjamin Clementine, Cults, Cut Copy, Deerhoof, Destroyer, Everything Everything, Emily Haines, Alex Lahey, Ted Leo, Protomartyr, Sparks, Stars, Moses Sumney, Tricky, Yumi Zouma, and more.

COVER STORY

(Julien Baker photographed by Crackerfarm in Nashville, TN)

Julien Baker

For our in-depth 5,300-word cover story article, writer Matt Fink spoke in-depth to Julien Baker about the critically acclaimed singer/songwriter’s much anticipated sophomore album, Turn Out the Lights.

Sprained Ankle, the debut album by the 22-year-old Memphis native, became one of the most-acclaimed debuts of 2015 when it was rereleased by indie label 6131. In the two years since she has played bigger and bigger sold out shows, was interviewed by major media outlets such as The New York Times and The Washington Post, and was courted by almost every notable indie record label, eventually signing with Matador.

As Matt Fink writes: “She has told her story many times by this point-about how she grew up gay in the South, how she struggled with addiction as a teen, how she learned her chops in Memphis’ Smith7 punk scene-but she still replies to questions as if she’s doing so for the first time. With Turn Out the Lights, her dazzling sophomore release, Baker has a lot more to talk about. Broadening her sonic and thematic palette to include colors and sentiments only hinted at on Sprained Ankle, Baker has proven herself to be the rare songwriter who can craft simple arrangements that sound expansive, using expansive sentiments that feel intimate.”

Crackerfarm photographed Baker for the cover exclusively for Under the Radar in Nashville.

“I’d rather stay in this world and try to identify the beautiful and meaningful and worthy things that already exist instead of writing this world off as suffering that has to be endured until it gets better.” - Julien Baker

“A lot of questions that I ended up answering on the last record were all about pain, and hopefully this record can be about pain, too, but also about healing.” - Julien Baker

“I didn’t want to think, ‘Am I going to hell? Is there a God that is going to send me to hell for being gay?’” - Julien Baker

DETECTION

(TORRES photographed by Shervin Lainez in New York, NY)

The front-of-book Detection section features interviews with various musicians, actors, and directors. We talk to Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile about their new collaborative album. Jessie Ware takes part in our Self-Portrait section, sending us a self-portrait photo and providing a list of personal things her fans may not know about her. Ted Leo takes part in our Protest section, speaking out against mansplaining and sexism. We talk to actress/screenwriter/director Noël Wells about her debut feature film as a director, Mr. Roosevelt. Sean Baker discusses directing his critically acclaimed new film The Florida Project. We interview writer Alex Segura and artist Joe Eisma about their new comic book series The Archies, in which the fictional band (featuring Archie, Jughead, Veronica, Betty, and Reggie) interact with real bands, including CHVRCHES.

The Detection section also includes interviews with the following artists about their latest albums: Bully, Benjamin Clementine, Cults, Cut Copy, Deerhoof, Destroyer, Baxter Dury, Everything Everything, King Krule, Loney dear, Protomartyr, Sparks, Stars, TORRES, Tricky, Wolf Parade, and Yumi Zouma.

“[Making this album] was the perfect amount of tears and fun.” - Courtney Barnett

“It was never a forced thing. It was never like, ‘Okay, what’s the next line here? This is your line.’ It was never like that. Then it probably would have been tragic.” - Kurt Vile

“I absolutely get anxiety nightmares in the middle of the night.” - Alicia Bognanno of Bully

“I’m 28-years old and I’m still sometimes traumatized from when I was a boy getting bullied.” - Benjamin Clementine

“We lived for three or four years traveling [on tour], and then you get home and it’s depressing. You don’t really have that many friends where you live. It’s a strange feeling.” - Madeline Follin of Cults

“You could work on something forever because there’s no such thing as perfect. You keep working toward something that doesn’t exist. Having too many options is too stifling.” - Dan Whitford of Cut Copy

“Would Deerhoof have made this record if it weren’t for all of the negative chaos of the past year? I’d say maybe not.” - Greg Saunier of Deerhoof

“It’s kind of a capitalistic free-for-all out there. You can take and grab from all eras. You’d have to do a straight-up rockabilly act to be considered nostalgic these days.” - Ban Bejar of Destroyer

“Whatever ego I have, it makes me want to talk about my music and not my [famous] dad all the time.” - Baxter Dury

“It feels like we are at the end of some kind of age and a new one is about to begin, and in the meantime lots of awful things are popping up.” - Jonathan Higgs of Everything Everything

“I was frustrated for many years, so frustrated, especially with my own writing. I wasn’t happy with anything. I never really had an idea of what I wanted [the album] to sound like.” - Archy Marshall of King Krule

“The Paul Ryan agenda…will devastate the most vulnerable levels of our society.” - Ted Leo

“I’ve basically lost a lot of partners in what I was doing, and I had to reinvent a few things to get to a good level. So it’s been a strange time. I’ve probably learned quite a few things.” - Emil Svanängen of Loney dear

“I’ll wake up in a cold sweat. It’d be like, ‘Holy shit I’m the lead singer of a band.’ It will frighten me.” - Joe Casey of Protomartyr

“In pop music, we don’t feel like we are slumming it. This is the kind of music that we really love.” - Ron Mael of Sparks

“We had a talent for writing songs that maybe told you how shitty life was and then also reminded you that it’s better than the alternative.” - Torquil Campbell of Stars

“It’s an absurdist mentality really, choosing joy despite not having any idea why we’re here or what we’re doing here, how we got here, where we’re going when we die, if we’re going anywhere, all of those questions.” - Mackenzie Scott of TORRES

“Björk did say to me once, ‘Never take a singing lesson.’ She said it was because I have weird [timing] and melodies. It makes my voice stand out because there isn’t anything like it.” - Tricky

“I’m an impatient person-I hate waiting for people. I burn stuff when I cook. And don’t come to a festival with me because I won’t wait for you to go to the toilet.” - Jessie Ware

“What’s always been a defining component of us is that we’re just friends arguing over what sounds cool and what doesn’t. The difference now is that the arguments don’t descend into toxic masculinity.” - Dan Boeckner of Wolf Parade

“The goal is to not just be guys who are just being dudes, in another indie rock band, not being particularly groundbreaking.” - Christie Simpson of Yumi Zouma

“The response [from bands] was amazing. And only got better when we announced the first band, CHVRCHES. People want to be in a comic book, who knew?” - Alex Segura, writer of The Archies

“We’re living in Rotten Tomatoes world. I’m looking at that frickin’ number, I feel like I’m a betting man looking at the stats…it’s just dumb.” - Sean Baker, director of The Florida Project

“[My character] Emily is similar to me, but more impish and combative.” - Noël Wells, writer/director/star of Mr. Roosevelt

MAIN FEATURES

(The Horrors photographed by James Loveday in London, U.K.)

Our main features section includes in-depth interviews with The Horrors and Wolf Alice. Both British artists have released critically acclaimed new albums and we did exclusive photo-shoots with each band.

“We’d made four records. We did pretty well. We’d been a band for 10 years. We could have easily quit and been happy with what we achieved.” - Faris Badwan of The Horrors

“Sometimes you want the Hollywood ending [in a song] and I have the power to do that.” - Ellie Rowsell of Wolf Alice

PLEASED TO MEET YOU

(Moses Sumney photographed by Ray Lego in New York, NY)

Our Pleased to Meet You new bands section highlights these exciting new artists: Phoebe Bridgers, Alex Lahey, Madeline Kenney, and Moses Sumney.

“When I was a teenager, my mom would wait outside of gigs [I was playing] to drive me home before I could drive.” - Phoebe Bridgers

“Only 5% of the sounds you hear are created-produced or engineered-by women.” - Madeline Kenney

“I am convinced that I am a good person and that I am worthy of my own time. If other people don’t think so, that’s totally fine.” - Alex Lahey

“What if there is not love out there for everybody? Can you deal with that?” - Moses Sumney

THE END

For our regular last page feature, The End, we ask a different artist the same set of questions about endings and death. Emily Haines is this issue’s participant. The Metric singer has released her second solo album as Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton.

“All the essential electronics and appliances in the house stopped working the moment [my dad] passed-the dishwasher, the turntable, the stereo amp. Makes you think about life force and energy and electricity.” - Emily Haines

REVIEWS

Over 50 albums, films, and comic books are reviewed in the issue, including reviews of releases by:

A. Savage
Julien Baker
Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile
The Barr Brothers
John Carpenter
Chloé
Benjamin Clementine
The Clientele
Colleen
Cut Copy
Destroyer
Baxter Dury
Fits
Liam Gallagher
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Hiss Golden Messenger
The Horrors
The Killers
King Krule
Alex Lahey
Lindstrøm
Loney dear
Lost Horizons
John Maus
Metz
Mister Heavenly
Kele Okereke
Angel Olsen
Robert Plant
Protomartyr
Lee Ranaldo
Rostam
Shamir
St. Vincent
Stars
Moses Sumney
TORRES
Tricky
The Weather Station
Weaves
Widowspeak
Wolf Alice
Wolf Parade
The World is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die
Yumi Zouma

DIGITAL SAMPLER

Each issue comes with a digital sampler that is a free download and includes up to 33 MP3s. This issue’s digital sampler includes tracks by:

Air Traffic Controller
A. Savage
Phoebe Bridgers
Bully
The Clientele
Cults
Curse of Lono
Deerhoof
Destroyer
The Dream Syndicate
Baxter Dury
Essential Machine
Faith Healer
Floorian
Grooms
Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton
Juliana Hatfield
Hiss Golden Messenger
The Horrors
Hot Collars
Madeline Kenney
Alex Lahey
Ted Leo
Lindstrøm
Loney dear
Lost Horizons
Mister Heavenly
The Sh-Booms
Shout Out Louds
Sine Cura
Sink In
Stars
Widowspeak
Wolf Parade
Yumi Zouma

DIGITAL MAGAZINE

The digital version of the issue (available via iTunes, Zinio, Readly, and Kindle and for iPads, iPhones, Macs, and PCs) also features extra interviews not found in the print magazine. We talk to Dean Wareham of Luna about the band’s return after a decade away. Stars’ Amy Millan takes part in our new Just the Fax feature, where we faxed her questions and she handwrote the answers. Downtown Boys’ Victoria Ruiz and Joey La Neve DeFrancesco are interviewed by Ruiz’s mother, Lupe Aguinaga, in our new Parental Guidance feature where musicians are interviewed by their parents. We also talk to Iron & Wine and Chad VanGaalen about their latest albums. Finally, there is a 5,000-word bonus Q&A interview with Julien Baker, containing portions of her interview not found in the print magazine cover story.

“Hopefully I’ll continue getting to talk about those things: both being a queer person and [having] my faith and how that fits into the tumultuous political sphere.” - Julien Baker

“When you’re a kid and you’re experiencing all of these emotions and negative things are happening in your personal life, you start to lose perspective on how your problems will ever get solved or how you’ll ever deal with the sadness that you feel.” - Julien Baker

“I thought I’d be in a DIY band and work my real job so I could have the pleasure and the joy of playing to 20 people in a living room. And I was like, ‘You know what? If that’s the most that comes of it, I’m okay with that.’” - Julien Baker

“Would it be amazing to play enormous venues every single night and sell out huge arenas? Maybe. Maybe that’s in the cards for me, and maybe it’s not. I think probably not.” - Julien Baker

“For a couple of years I would use my sick days for touring, or I would not tell anyone that I was in this band. And now it’s like I can’t even do that. Right now, at one of my other jobs, my boss is actually a Downtown Boys fan.” - Victoria Ruiz of Downtown Boys

“I don’t think I would have been able to write these songs as a 20-year-old. They’re not exactly written for 40-year-olds, but someone in their middle age will have a different perspective of what I’m saying, having been beaten by fate so many times but also seeing hope around the corner which makes you reach for it.” - Sam Beam of Iron & Wine

“When bands reform, something in me resists listening to their comeback albums.” - Dean Wareham of Luna

“Science fiction is such a wild abstract version of what has been and what will be. I fell in love with it as a kid and I haven’t lost my love for it either.” - Chad VanGaalen

BONUS DIGITAL REVIEWS

The digital version of the magazine also includes extra reviews not found in the print version, including albums by the following:

Tony Allen
Arcade Fire
Beck
Black Grape
The Blow
Cage the Elephant
Childhood
Cold Specks
Daphni
Lana Del Rey
Deradoorian
The Districts
Flotation Toy Warning
Foo Fighters
The Fresh & Onlys
Ghostpoet
Ben Gibbard
Noah Gundersen
Kesha
LCD Soundsystem
Ted Leo
Brianna Marela
Midnight Sister
Mount Kimbie
The Mynabirds
Open Mike Eagle
Pere Ubu
Queens of the Stone Age
Sløtface
Wild Cub

(Note: The print version of the magazine features an interview with Ducktails, aka Matt Mondanile. The interview was conducted, the article was written, and the issue was printed all before seven women came forward to accuse him of sexual misconduct. Hence the article does not address these allegations. Furthermore, had these allegations come to light prior to us going to press with the issue we would have killed the article and cut it from the print issue, but it was too late to do so. We were able to remove the article from the digital version of the issue.)

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News
Everything Everything on “A Fever Dream”
Interviews
“The Archies” - Alex Segura and Joe Eisma on the New Comic Book Series
Alex Lahey
Baxter Dury on “Prince of Tears”
Benjamin Clementine on “I Tell a Fly”
Bully on “Losing”
Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile on “Lotta Sea Lice”
Cults on “Offering”
Cut Copy on “Haiku From Zero”
Deerhoof on “Mountain Moves”
Destroyer on “ken”
Everything Everything on “A Fever Dream”
Julien Baker - The Under the Radar Cover Story
Julien Baker - The Under the Radar Cover Story - Bonus Q&A
Just the Fax: Stars
King Krule on “The Ooz”
Loney dear on “Loney dear”
Luna - The Full Interviews with Dean Wareham and Sean Eden
Madeline Kenney
Moses Sumney
Noël Wells on “Mr. Roosevelt”
Phoebe Bridgers
Protest: Ted Leo
Protomartyr on “Relatives in Descent”
Sean Baker on Directing: The Florida Project
Self-Portrait: Jessie Ware
Sparks on “Hippopotamus”
Stars on “There Is No Love In Fluorescent Light”
TORRES on “Three Futures”
The End: Emily Haines on Endings and Death
The Horrors on “V”
Tricky on “ununiform”
Wolf Alice on “Visions of a Life”
Wolf Parade on “Cry Cry Cry”
Wolf Parade on Reuniting and “Cry Cry Cry” - The Full Interview
Yumi Zouma on “Willowbank”

 

Reviews
A flame my love, a frequency
All Belief is Paradise
Baking with Kafka
Batwoman Vol. 1: The Many Arms of Death
Blade of the Immortal
Demon Volume 4
Endless Revisions
Mr. Roosevelt
Ojalá
Paper Girls Book One
Phases
Prince of Tears
Revelations
Screen Memories
The Queen is Dead (Deluxe Edition)
Turn Out the Lights