Afropunk Fest!



Das Racist! (courtesy of my phone)

 Hi fellow Rockinglicious readers, it's been a long time since I have written and let me just say things are happening again. This past Saturday and onward has been hectic with school, work and all sorts of things. However, I still look forward to writing stuff for you guys.

The reason why I say Saturday in the beginning is because this past weekend was the Afropunk festival. I myself didn't even know at the time until later on in the afternoon when a friend texted me "yo, come down to the Afropunk festival" (!!!). Once I got out of work, I set myself on the mission to primp, polish, and prepare because I was not going to let it slip out of my fingers. Once I headed out the door I was determined. I ran through some mishaps but eventually I got there and found the stage in which Das Racist was going to play.

Now, I never mentioned them, but now I will explain: Das Rascist is this epic (in my opinion) rap group that started out in Brooklyn and are now gaining quite a momentum. Their lyrics usually include references to stuff you learn in college or maybe high school (if your classes are that "high up" in enrichment) and give their own, dare I say, poetic twists. I love the fact that they bring something different than their usual "I smoke that and hit that and ride that and yadayada I am the biggest dog in town" (ok, came out corny so don't count for me to know how to rap). Either way, even if I am a rock girl at heart I still have my few fave rappers and Das Racist is one of them (will be writing a blog post on them soon).

Back to the festival......

The festival didn't end until 11 pm even though they said 9 pm on their flyer. There was a lot of technical difficulties with some of the machinery on stage but no worries it went on. And let me tell you about the awesomeness of this festival: there was a whole skateboarding and bike tricks going on the side that was just awesome. This went on for the whole day. In-cre-di-ble.

Not only that, while Das Rascist was playing there was a whole moshpit I had to take part. HAD TO. It was awesome. People crowd surfing and pushing and dancing. Eventually with all the moshing I got close enough to the stage. I did lose my glasses at some point with all the moshing. I gave up on that once I realized that it was 1.too dark to find them 2. there were people walking around making it harder to find and 3. Erykah Badu was on the green stage and I couldn't miss it. SO ....I headed across to the green stage without glasses (oh well). Took a while for her to come up and sing but it was worth it. At the end it was Miss Janelle Monae, but for personal reasons I ditch that and headed home. It was the best night ever! Oh and I hope you noticed: I never mentioned paying a ticket stub because yes, IT WAS FREE! So......

Lesson of the story is: if you are in NYC area;
DON'T MISS THE AFROPUNK FESTIVAL!


Til Next Blog post,
Miss Bobo


(Note: if you want to check out more pictures on this festival click on this link.)

Watch out! It's a Ssssnake!

ssssnake

album cover

As life is blasting through this summer, I have been stuck on a few tracks of some albums. One in particular is Hostile Takeover by ssssnake (exactly how its pronounced too).  I saw this guy live at Spike Hill a few weeks ago and got connected with his album, Hostile Takeover, which include the tracks he performed.
"Wolf and the Bear", "Under the Snow," and "Slow" have been stuck on me and have been 4-starred on my iTunes library.

Ssssnake is a "hip-hop, funk, and gospel-inflected soul project" managed, produced. and performed by Noah Tabakin, a man all the way from Chicago.

While on stage, he tends to not only sing but include the audience in his performances. Seeing him at Spike Hill up and close, I saw he will dance and move around while performing. I think he knows his tracks are irresistibly danceable (sorry Webster Dictionary) so he dances to them too while involving some humor. He of course, encourages dancing from his audience and includes any brave souls who do in his performances. Right now he is on a tour from Ohio to all the way in Austin. (Right now he is on his way to atlanta).

On his website you can play the tracks and buy them at whatever price you want if you really dig this album. However, I suggest at least a dollar or more because this guy really puts himself in his music.

If you want to find out more of this guy you can check his website: http://ssssnake.com/


Til Next Blogpost,
Miss Bobo

Pop! Comes out the Random Mystery Box

a random Music Box

(Random title WOOT!) Hope everyone had some awesome holidays. Today, as a holiday gift I decided to post an interview with someone very special. I wrote a post about her a month ago with a link of one of her many songs called "Casimira."...so with an awkward drum roll here is the interview: (*drum rolls while the box is being opened slowly*)

1. If you could make a music box what would it consist of?

What a fun thought! Hmm..I would like my music box to be an intricate and elegant wooden contraption, with telescoping sections and cut-outs that would slowly spin and make various designs as music [is being] played.

It would also gently levitate somehow, maybe with some sort of candle-powered lantern apparatus attached to the top- or have that be one setting/option, and a slow-fading, color-changing LED display be another.

There's so much music I adore that it would have to play a different song each time I wound it up, preferably songs by my friends and tour-mates ("Seething Sun" by Bekah Kelso, "Got To Fly" by Marian Call, "This Cocoon" by Ginger Doss, "Amazon Warrior Princess" by Big Bad Gina, "Must Be the Moon" by Amy Steinberg, "Thirteen" by Vixy & Tony, "Medusa" by Heather Dale, "Secret Portal" by Scott Huckabay, "Kudzu" by Trillian Green, "The Mushroom Song" by Tricky Pixie)...and occasionally something random, like the "Ghostbusters" song by Ray Parker, Jr. It would be impossible to break, and it would have a lifetime warranty.  :)

2. Do you have any tattoos and if so what do they mean to you?

I currently have one tattoo, with lots of plans for more in the future. My tattoo is a small, tribal Grim Reaper, done in black ink who sits between my shoulder blades on my back.I got the tattoo when I had just turned eighteen. Later that year at my college, a Slavic classmate of mine asked me about it. When I told him the tattoo's story, he told me that in the folklore and fairy tales he was raised on, the personification of Death was always female. I liked his story so much that I then decided that the Death pictured in my tattoo was female as well.When people ask me about it, I tell them that she is watching my back for me.




3. You have done a handful of concerts. What is one memorable moment of them?

((laugh!!)) Lots of interesting things have happened at my various concerts over the years as a result of so many people falling in love with the song "Alligator in the House", written by my cellist Betsy Tinney and embellished by me.

The first time that song [was performed it] caused something interesting at LunaCon 2005 in NY/NJ. A fan of mine who happens to be a historical social dance teacher, performed a tango with her dance partner, across the back of the stage, both of them wearing bright green tango dresses and mirror-covered plush Alligator hats!

They hadn't warned me before the show that they were going to do this. [Nevertheless], I thought it was great! This type of fan participation has continued with "Alligator in the House" and has expanded to include my pirate songs (The Wendy Trilogy), "The Truth About Ninjas" (look it up on YouTube; it's worth it), and "Salad of Doom", which Betsy also helped to write.

4. A few of Rockinglicious' readers personally commented that they liked "Casimira", what was the inspiration or story behind it?



the book behind "Casimira"

Wow, thank you! The song "Casimira" was inspired by the character of the same name in Catherynne M. Valente's novel, Palimpsest. The Casimira of the book, like the Casimira of the song, is someone not to be taken lightly. She is effectively the queen of a land of dreams, and she can be rough when she doesn't get her way.
The song was directly inspired by a conversation that Casimira has with another character in the shadows of a very strange opera house, about how so many people try to get to the land of Palimpsest and so many fail, the same way every time, leading to despair and even suicide.

Casimira has seen this happen so many times that it bores her- she even admits to laughing at it. She has a sort of predatory affection for this other character, a young woman from California named November, and I hoped to evoke that in the song. "Casimira" is definitely my Nine Inch Nails moment, and I am very happy with it.


5. Describe a day in the life of S. J. Tucker.
Usually it goes something like this:  

wake up between 8-10am, put on comfortable clothing, do Qi Gong/Pilates/yoga or play outside if possible (usually with my hula hoop) for a few minutes, breakfast, shower, deal with a few tasks online that keep the business end of my music-business going: (booking shows, contacting friends and fans, answering interview questions, boosting the signal about upcoming concerts on Twitter, Facebook, etc.)

take a walk or practice hoop, staff, or poi if time and if weather permits; eat lunch, and then ideally get ready to drive to my next concert or rehearsal.

By nightfall, I'm putting on my show clothes and makeup, tuning my guitar, checking all of my cables, and starting sound check. I'm visiting with fans and concert-goers, and I'm giving the best show that I can give.
My head [then] usually hits the pillow between Midnight and 2am, depending on whether I have a concert the next day or lots of traveling to do--getting enough sleep is a must for any performer. At the moment, this routine is mostly relaxed, since I'm off the road right now visiting family and gathering strength for my February-November 2012 tours. I'm getting a lot of recording done and getting a lot of rest.


6. Werewolf or vampire?
I see your land-dwellers and raise you this:  Selkie or Mermaid?


7. Your website lists "mythpunk" as one of the genres for your music. What is mythpunk?
Mythpunk is a genre that started with speculative fiction and fairytales that get radically retold by modern authors- like my friend, the aforementioned Catherynne M. Valente, who coined the term. I extend Mythpunk to music with story-songs (what folk music is sometimes known for); for example, my trinity of tunes about Peter Pan's Wendy staying behind in Neverland to become a very successful pirate captain.


taken from the mythpunk link

Mythpunk to me is about gorgeous word-craft and not being afraid, as a writer or composer, to take a story that's been around forever, and breathe new life into it, however weird your methods may be.  Read more about Mythpunk here:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Mythpunk



8. There are a few videos of you doing spoken word. Can you give Rockinglicious a piece?

I'd love to!  Here's a link to my favorite new spoken word piece:
http://tinyurl.com/cun4ph9. 


9. And last but not least, what is your New Years resolution?
In 2012, I will remember to take time off when I need it, to do what makes me happy whenever possible. I will act in the name of love, good music, and creativity, and I will make other people happy without wearing myself too thin. I will release a new album, if not two, and I will figure out a good balance between time on the road,time to record, and time to rest.


(*closes box slowly*) Hope you all digged the dandy mystery gift (not so mystery now) because for Rockinglicious' New Year's Resolutions for 2012, random mystery interviews are on the list. Another note, if you guys are interested in getting more information on tour dates and other awesome stuff on S.J. Tucker, you can check her out at her facebook, her blog, or even better check out her download page at this website: http://music.sjtucker.com/.

taken from Contemporary Art Blog by Micci Cohan

P.S. If you like this awesome random picture of an array of mixed tapes, you should definitely check out the rest of the blog from where it came from: http://www.miccicohan.net/blog/



thanks for reading everyone,
Miss Bobo