Name: Tyler Kennedy
Band: United Youth
Important Links:
United Youth
Back To Back Store






Who is the biggest influence in your musical career?

um... that's tough to answer, but united youths biggest influences are a lot of 80's NYHC, and early 2000's hardcore.

What is the new year hopefully bringing you guys?

hopefully just playing a lot more shows, maybe a tour, and recording a 7" on back to back records.

What is your favorite part of playing shows?

My favorite part is just seeing people move around for our songs and singing along. Its awesome.

Do you any plan to be going on any tours?

we have a weekend coming up in April with tough luck from Richmond.

Can you tell us some more about untied youth playing united blood fest this year?

not really to much else to say just come out and support the fest.

Name:Kevin Duquette
Record Company:Topshelf
Important Links:
topshelf Records












Can you give us some background information about Topshelf Records?

Topshelf Records is and always has been 100% a labor of love. Seth and I started this from scratch in 2006 without a penny or a clue and have — we like to think — built it up into something of a legitimate operation. At the time of my writing this we have released 32 different albums.

We'll officially be five years old this month and it's certainly been a wild ride in getting here. Like any start up venture, we've had our share of ups and downs: shortcomings, disappointments, triumphs, etc. But that's all part of the process, I suppose... or, it's imperative for growth in my mind, at least. The label has provided both Seth and myself with some of the best experiences and life-long friendships of our lives and that is ultimately what fuels this whole thing for us, really. So, now we have a few more pennies and some semblance of a vague notion of what we're doing, haha.

What is your biggest influence in your career with owning a record company?

Sheesh. It's hard to pin it down to just *something*. We're conscious of what's come before us in staples like Merge, No Idea!, Polyvinyl, etc. (this list could get way out of hand) that simply stayed the course and put out (and continue to put out) fantastic records without ever compromising quality or chasing "the next big thing". That's important to us right down to our core.

At the same time though, ultimately, it comes down to our friends, colleagues and peers. I feel like we're in an incredibly exciting time in independent music where everyone is continually pushing the envelope and busting down barriers. It seems like every other day I'm reading about or congratulating someone I know for doing something great and everyone involved is benefiting from this. We're all collectively succeeding at doing what we love. That shit's contagious. What could be more influential than that?

What are your plans for future months with the bands?

We have a lot going on, and, while I can't disclose everything I can say right now I'm most excited for SXSW. That week is always so much fun and this year will be the first where Topshelf really has a strong presence down there so that will be exciting. We'll be pairing up with Count Your Lucky Stars Records in hosting an all day & evening label showcase and our bands will be playing shows in Austin throughout the week. Nearly our entire active roster will be in the city that week and it should really be a blast.

Can you tell us more about some of the upcoming tours and releases on the label?
Sure! Last year was our busiest yet and this year will definitely continue that trend. We have new releases lined up for Pianos Become The Teeth, We Were Skeletons, The Saddest Landscape, Big Kids, By Surprise, Coping, The Clippers, Miischa, Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) and a slew more that I can't really talk about just yet.

As far as tours go, pretty much our entire active roster will be on the road in the next few months with nearly everyone out in March for midwest and east coast jaunts to and from SXSW. Pianos Become The Teeth will be playing MacRock before gearing up for UK & Europe dates. Coping and The Clippers will both be on the road in April. You can always check for updated tour dates on our site: www.topshelf-records.com/tsr2/_pages/tour.php

Will you be repressing seasons in verse by My Heart To Joy and can you also tell us more about their record release show?
I'm going to assume you're speaking about vinyl here because it's now sold out in that format. It's actually a pretty common misconception that we released this album on vinyl when in actuality we really only pressed it on CD. So, unfortunately, we have no plans at this time to re-press this record in any format. But who knows. It's such a great record!

Their "Reasons To Be" record release show is something I'm seeing a lot of talk and growing anticipation for online — and justifiably so! It's got a killer line up with the likes of mainstays Transit and Pianos Become The teeth along with relative newcomers in Fugue and The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die. It's going to be an insane kind of euphoric night full of sing-alongs, friends and twinkle daddies. I can't wait. Ben Sears illustrated a flyer for it (which came out great and really embodies the zero-fucks-given My Heart To Joy mantra we've all come to expect and love). The event page, which has info for buying advance tickets and all of that stuff is here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=125508137514582

Name:Nate Almeida
Band:Convulsions
Important Links:
facebook
Convulsions







Who is the biggest influence in your musical career?

Most of my influence comes from Nas and Jay-Z, when I was growing up I never really watched many movies and television was hardly there to back it up, so hardcore is great for that.

What is your favorite part about playing shows?

We're all about PMA, nothing but that. Really stick to your roots or you'll end up like bands such as, Zipperline or Mashtron.

Do you any plan to be going on any tours?

We are planing on hitting up a full U.S. this summer, but we also bail on tours a lot. We would love to do as much as we can but were really not that interested in touring, you know...whats the point? Car rides are so boring especially when your drummers sleeps so much.

What was your inspiration for writing the song Callus Grase?

Mostly this title comes from this grill I used to cook on, her name was Liz. Sadly enough i am not with her anymore but the whole demo is out of control right now. Were planing on hooking up a few more Classus Grace's, Since that song did so great Record sales are not so,"through the rough" as of right now, so yeah that song Callus Grace.

Quick Fix Vegetarian Veggie Crumble Tacos

*this recipe is not vegan.
*Ingredients do contains dairy.

ingredients:

1 1/2 bag Morning Star Meal Starter Veggie Crumble
1 Packet McCormick Taco seasoning.
3/4 cup water.
Mexican or cheddar cheese. (Optional & can be adjusted by persons preference)

Put your veggie crumble in a large pan and add 2 or 3 splashes of water to it so it doesn't stick to the pan. Place the lid on your pan and let cook till fully heated but in the mean time preheat your oven to 350 degrees. When the veggie crumble is fully heated get you 3/4 cup of water and pour it into the veggie crumble along with you taco seasoning. Stir it on occasional until it thickens a bit (it should not be soupy but it will be a little when it thickens wet.) After your veggie crumble thickens up fill you taco shells and put on your cheese to accordingly to your own personal preference. Let the tacos heat in your oven for 5 minutes at 350 degrees.

Add some taco sauce, lettuce and our favorite cut black olives to your tacos,enjoy!