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Issue #55

Issue #55 - November/December 2015 - EL VY

Nov 13, 2015

Under the Radar is excited to announce the full details of the November/December 2015 issue, which is available digitally now (via the magazine apps Zinio and Readly), has shipped out to subscribers and stores and will be on all newsstands soon. It will also soon be available digitally via Under the Radar‘s app, as well as Readbug and Kindle. The issue features EL VY (Matt Berninger of The National and Brent Knopf of Menomena and Ramona Falls) on the cover. Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Claudia Wells, and Bob Gale discuss the 30th anniversary of Back to the Future. We talk to Bruce Campbell about the new TV series Ash vs Evil Dead. The issue also includes interviews with Martin Courtney of Real Estate, Neon Indian, Kurt Vile, Julia Holter, Chris Walla (ex-Death Cab for Cutie), Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, Youth Lagoon, Nicolas Godin of Air, The Dears, Chris Baio of Vampire Weekend, Here We Go Magic, U.S. Girls, Gwenno, and more.

COVER STORY

The issue features an in-depth 8-page cover story on EL VY. In the 5,800-word article Matt Berninger of The National and Brent Knopf of Menomena and Ramona Falls discuss how they came together and formed EL VY, the challenges of side-projects, and how they recorded their debut album together, Return to the Moon. Berninger also discusses the early days of The National and fatherhood and Knopf talks about why he left Menomena. Koury Angelo photographed EL VY for the cover exclusively for Under the Radar in Los Angeles, CA and Mike Hilleary wrote the cover story.

“When [my daughter] sees me onstage…it’s not a performance to her. That’s just daddy being weird.” - Matt Berninger of EL VY

“I think at one point we did say we wanted it to sound less thick and less dense than The National…. I remember Matt said something like, ‘It should feel like you’re walking from a smoky bar into a greenhouse atrium.’” - Brent Knopf of EL VY

DETECTION

The front-of-book Detection section features interviews with: Baio (of Vampire Weekend, on his solo album), Martin Courtney (of Real Estate, on his solo album), The Dears, Girls Names, Nicolas Godin (of Air, on his solo album), John Grant, Here We Go Magic, Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, Neon Indian, Chris Walla (formerly of Death Cab for Cutie, on his solo album), and Youth Lagoon. Actor Bruce Campbell discusses the new TV series Ash vs Evil Dead.

“I played soccer from the time I was maybe seven to 18. And by play, I mean sat on the bench, because I was terrible.” - Chris Baio

“I didn’t start writing these songs-lyrically especially-until after I found out I was going to be a dad and then became a dad.” - Martin Courtney

“We’ll never have a Janis Joplin again. We’ll never have a not visually perfect, asymmetrical celebrity that’s also a super talented artist.” - Natalia Yanchak of The Dears

“I just wanted to show to my children that all their video game music on all their consoles were coming from Bach.” - Nicolas Godin

“Americans don’t want to believe in global warming and we’d rather build walls up and down our coasts rather than dealing with the issue.” - John Grant

“There’s an obsession with our own demise, and we don’t seem willing to change the things that are causing harm to ourselves and our planet.” - Luke Temple of Here We Go Magic

“I couldn’t write Edie’s lyrics. I just couldn’t. They’re coming from such a strange place.” - Steve Martin

“In some ways [this album is] like After Hours meets Airplane!. A screwball comedy about someone’s nighttime misadventures in New York City.” - Alan Palomo of Neon Indian

“I was really dissatisfied with where the Death Cab stuff had gotten to when I quit as producer, and that’s why I quit.” - Chris Walla

“I’m the kind of person who, if I’m not touring, I feel like I’m doing something wrong.” - Trevor Powers of Youth Lagoon

“The TV series will be a little bit different from the movies, because why imitate?... You’ll still get the car, the chainsaw, the book, the axe, the boomstick.” - Bruce Campbell of Ash vs Evil Dead

MAIN FEATURES

Our main features section includes a Retro article on Back to the Future, in which actors Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, and Claudia Wells, and co-creator/co-writer/producer Bob Gale discuss the 30th anniversary of the iconic film and how 2015 is the year Marty McFly comes to the future in Back to the Future Part II. The section also includes interviews with Julia Holter and Kurt Vile on their new albums.

“John Cusack was someone we had come in to read for Marty. He had problems with the ending and he wasn’t shy about voicing them.” - Bob Gale, co-creator of Back to the Future

“I thought that I should get back to my roots and what I was all about, which was being a stage actor. I had made my decision to do that, and I looked very hard at the film script for Back to the Future and I threw it away.” - Christopher Lloyd of Back to the Future

“It’s a perfect movie. Somehow and in some way, every single aspect came together for perfection.” - Claudia Wells of Back to the Future

“I think of my last record as like you’re on a stage singing to a bunch of people, and this record is more like you’re in a room singing to one person.” - Julia Holter

“I’ve been successful since I conveniently got fired from my day job and was signed by Matador the next day.” - Kurt Vile

PLEASED TO MEET YOU

Our Pleased to Meet You new bands section highlights four exciting new artists: Car Seat Headrest, Gwenno (formerly of The Pipettes), Salad Boys, and U.S. Girls.

“I didn’t have a ton of offers, so it wasn’t a hard decision [to sign to Matador].” - Will Toledo of Car Seat Headrest

“I think there’s a lot to be said about being on the periphery of capitalism and the mainstream, and I think Wales gives me that.” - Gwenno Saunders

“I try not to plan things because it usually doesn’t work.” - Joe Sampson of Salad Boys

“The lyrics are about suicide, the unfairness of family. And, in my mind, that’s connected to the terrible haircuts you get as a child from your parents.” - Meg Remy of U.S. Girls

THE END

For our regular last page feature, The End, we ask a different artist the same set of questions about endings and death. Richard Hawley is this issue’s participant.

“[I’d like to be reincarnated as] a very old guitar, owned and loved by many.” - Richard Hawley

REVIEWS

Over 85 CDs, films, TV shows, books, and comic books are reviewed in the issue, including reviews of releases by:

!!!
Animal Collective
Ólafur Arnalds and Nils Fraham
Lou Barlow
Baroness
Beach House
Big Grams
Alex Bleeker and the Freaks
Car Seat Headrest
Chad Valley
The Chills
CHVRCHES
Martin Courtney
Miley Cyrus
Darkstar
The Dead Weather
The Dears
Deerhunter
Lana Del Rey
Deradoorian
Dungen
Editors
EL VY
Empress Of
Craig Finn
Robert Forster
Dave Gahan and Soulsavers
Girl Band
Nicolas Godin
John Grant
Gwenno
Glenn Hansard
Richard Hawley
HeCTA
Here We Go Magic
Jean-Michel Jarre
Carly Rae Jepsen
JR JR
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard
The Libertines
Majical Cloudz
Maritime
Neon Indian
New Order
Joanna Newsom
Okkervil River
Oneohtrix Point Never
Parquet Courts
Protomartyr
Salad Boys
SEXWITCH
Silversun Pickups
Small Black
Soldiers of Fortune
Tamaryn
The Twilight Sad
Kurt Vile
Wavves
World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die
Yo La Tengo
Younghusband

DIGITAL SAMPLER

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

Ólafur Arnalds and Nils Fraham
Chad Valley
Cheatahs
Club 8
Martin Courtney
The Dears
Editors
EL VY
Girls Names
Nicolas Godin
John Grant
Gwenno
Richard Hawley
Here We Go Magic
Julia Holter
Neon Indian
Ought
Ride
Shopping
Silicon
The Velvet Underground
Chris Walla
Young Galaxy
Younghusband
Zombi

DIGITAL MAGAZINE

The digital version of the issue (available via iTunes, Zinio, Readly, Readbug, and Kindle and for iPads, iPhones, Macs, and PCs) also features an extra article on Younghusband not found in the print magazine. Plus there are bonus Q&As with Neon Indian and Chris Walla.

“I wouldn’t call myself a careerist.” - Euan Hinshelwood of Younghusband

“I happen to live across the street from a factory, and they’re making all sort of insane industrial noises. I’m surprised I didn’t write a [harder] record, listening to jackhammers 24 hours a day.” - Alan Palomo of Neon Indian

“Sometimes in the depth of sadness, there’s a real hope in there.” - Chris Walla

Click here to buy the print version of the issue.

Click here to subscribe to the print version of Under the Radar.

Click here to buy the digital version of the issue (via iTunes and for iPads, iPhones, Android devices, Macs, and PCs).

Click here to subscribe to the digital version of Under the Radar (via iTunes and for iPads, iPhones, Android devices, Macs, and PCs).

Click here for a list of U.S. stores that carry Under the Radar.

Interviews
Baio
Car Seat Headrest
Chris Walla on Leaving Death Cab For Cutie and His Latest Solo Album, “Tape Loops”
Chris Walla on Moving to Norway and Life After Death Cab For Cutie
EL VY - The Under the Radar Cover Story
Gwenno on Her Debut Solo Album, “Y Dydd Olaf”
Here We Go Magic
John Grant
Julia Holter
Kurt Vile
Martin Courtney
Neon Indian - Alan Palomo on “VEGA INTL. Night School”
Neon Indian - Alan Palomo on Acting, Scoring, and “VEGA INTL. Night School”
Nicolas Godin of Air on His Debut Solo Album, “Contrepoint”
Salad Boys
Steve Martin & Edie Brickell
The Dears
The End: Richard Hawley on Endings and Death
U.S. Girls
Younghusband
Youth Lagoon

 

Reviews
Best Blues
Black Sheep Boy (10th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)
Dark Knight III: The Master Race #1
Foam Island
Grey Tickles, Black Pressure
Harmlessness
Magnetic Bodies/Maps of Bones
Nowhere25
Our Expanding Universe
Purple
The Expanse
The Wannabe
Youth