Televandals

ARTIST: Televandals
LOCATION: United States
SONG TITLE: Dirty Lovers
GENRE: Electro Indie


WHAT I THOUGHT:
Yeah I like this.

It’s got a great 80s feel to it and as we all know; music cycles in approximately 20 year blocks LOL!

It is true though.

Anyway, how come there are only three band members on your photo collateral and four on your MySpace?! Eh?!

The sound is great. The guitar rake intro is right out of late eighties Manchester and then the tune switches over to a more New Romantic era theme and flicks between the two throughout.

There’s also a rather sneaky, yet brilliant West Coast US rock theme happening too, which reminds me of RHCP a little, but it’s the mix of these different ideas that makes for a great tune here.

It contains enough variation (which we love here) to keep me hooked in and there aren’t really any moments where I switch off.

It’s a bit Goth too, which might not go down too well, but fuck it.


REMINDS ME OF: Alarm, RATM, RHCP, Heaven 17, Teardrop Explodes, Waterboys, Happy Mondays, Stone Roses, ABC
SCORE: 9/10
IN A SENTENCE: It’s excellent and Living Atheist Music says so!
ATHEIST: Vad - Living Atheist

By Lily Jeong

A spring day in Boston deserves a lively sound like Televandals. While the Boston rock band set up for their on-air set at WERS, late-March sunshine heated the studio, and the band members grew excited to get their sound on the radio.

Despite a few technical difficulties during sound check, Televandals hit New England airwaves running with “Dirty Lovers,” an upbeat punky tune. Along with the vibrant drums and anchoring bass lines, Nico’s spitting vocals add an attacking quality to the song.

While listening to their first song and taking notes, I tried to boil down their sound to one phrase, but it was too hard. There is no single genre that could embrace this band. They have the danceable element of every genre. Their Myspace page defined them as “Indie/Electro/Punk,” but those three words were not enough to describe Televandals’ explosive spirit.

After warming the studio up with “Dirty Lovers,” Televandals began rocking out to“Arch Nemesis,” featuring roaring bass that shook the entire studio. J Restless’ melodic yet dreamy guitar contrasted with Ride-Out’s heavy drums, but Nick’s punky bass lines brought all the instruments together to complete a spicy dance tune. Televandals finished the set strong with “Good for Nothing,” which reminded me a lot of Talking Heads. Despite the heat in the studio from heavy lighting, band members moved and danced around with full energy and excitement. The song was a perfect example of their punk and new wave influences, and yet clearly displayed Televandals’ own taste and interpretation of the genre.

Such powerful vibe allowed the band to grow bigger than a local band. Televandals recently played at South By Southwest, has shows lined up in New York City, and has a full album coming out in a couple of months.

“… all these things happened so quickly,” said Nico listing all the highpoint of past a year with a huge smile on. “Who knows where we will end up if we keep up like this?”

Moreover, The Boston Phoenix nominated Televandals as The Best Rock Band of 2009. The band appreciates the attention and support, and only plans to strive harder. The Boston scene has been treating this electro-punk quartet with “open arms” as Ride-Out would describe, and with such enthusiasm and distinct sound, Televandals will always be welcomed not only in Boston but any place where people know how to dance. - 88.9 WERS music blog

Boston's post-punk darlings, Televandals, give us the scoop on SXSW.

SXSW Interview Questions:

1. Where did you play at SXSW?

We played The Bayou Lounge on Wednesday, March 18th as part of Platform One Entertainment's unofficial showcase. And then the following night we were invited back to play a headlining slot at the Bayou.

2. How did you get your SXSW gig?

Platform One Entertainment held a contest on their web site for the artists involved in their Campus Music Invasion campaign that allowed fans to vote for the band they felt most deserving to attend SXSW. The three bands with the most votes got a spot
in the showcase and we were one of them. We were invited to play our second gig by The Bayou Lounge itself. After seeing our Wednesday set the promoters invited us to headline the following night.

3. Is this your first time at SXSW?

Yes, and we promise that it won't be our last!

4. How important do you think it is to have an "official" showcase?

Official showcases are great for the networking opportunities and subsequent press. Being chosen by SXSW to play is a huge milestone for any band. That being said, festival attendees come to Austin to see great music regardless of the nature of the showcase. Plus, anyone can attend unofficial showcases. In that regard, unofficial
showcases can attract just as many people and give bands the opportunity to reach an even greater audience.

5. What do you hope to achieve by playing at SXSW?

The fact that we played during such a massive festival in another part of the country and gained increased exposure was perhaps our most important accomplishment. This is the farthest we've played from home to date, and being able to perform in Austin and win over a whole new crowd was in of itself quite an achievement. Playing
at SXSW has certainly helped us raise the stakes regarding what we can accomplish in the future. Besides, it's an amazing feeling to take part in an event of this magnitude. It made us feel like we belong.

6. How do you plan to use the conference to promote yourself?

First off, playing SXSW ended up getting us booking guarantees that will allow us to play Austin again in the near future. Aside from that, we'll be releasing some entertaining photo blogs and videos of the trip for our fans back home. So many people supported us and put us here in the first place that we want to give as much
back to them as we possibly can. Also, as a relatively new band, being able to say we've played SXSW has a way of legitimizing our efforts. It demonstrates that we've begun to establish ourselves and that there are no limits to what we can accomplish.

7. Were you able to catch any other shows?

We were able to check out a couple of official showcases while we were there. Le Castle Vania spun a killer DJ set and we got turned on to The Delta Fiasco, Woodhands, and The Golden Filter, who all gave incredible performances.

8. Do you think that Boston had a strong showing this year?

Yes, we saw several Boston bands here and were running into quite a few Boston acts on the street. Specifically, we were able to catch sets by The Motion Sick, Static of the Gods and To The Masquerade while we were there. Our city was represented quite well. - bostonbandcrush.com Music Blog

Sometimes the pill gets too polished. The look sharp mantra coats the night in sleekly inspired aesthetics, the Britpop soundtrack sparkles like a midday UK radio transmission and the dance lights of Great Scott shine in colorful cascades that belie these darkened times. Then a band like Televandals comes around the shadowy corner of Abott Square and makes us realize why we drunkenly dance into the a.m., why our jilted generation is bred on fierce rejection and why our daytime excuses flow like the wine we pour at night. Like a lightning storm in a Korg factory, this week’s live guest runs the Clash through the electronic grinder, perpetually building its Satistact-ian cause as a dent in Boston’s ever-exploding rock scene. Buoyed on the dance floor by Zak Broman of Roguewaves’ “Dirty Lovers” remix treatment and a firefight live attack at last month’s SXSW festival, Televandals bring the gritty rock n’ roll ruckus like few others. Like Paul Weller of the Jam once sang, “this is the modern world.” Tune in, drop out.

Crash yourself a preview of Televandals over at www.myspace.com/televandals. And as always, before and after the band resident pill DJs Ken and Michael V spin the best in Britpop, Modern Indie and Beyond. Look sharp; dancing cures. - The Pill Blog (www.thepillboston.com)

To those not already in the know, The Pill is one of the best dance night's in Boston taking place every Friday night at Great Scott in Allston, the music heart of the city.

It's the only place to hear the latest 'n greatest in UK Britpop, electro and indie dancepop, with not a Top 40 tune in sight. The mantra is look sharp, dance hard. The Pill is also the place to see Brit influenced local (and national) bands, many of whom first bonded over a Blur soundtrack at The Pill.

Tonight is a bit special though. DJ's Ken and Michael are celebrating another award (Best Dance night in the local mag The Phoenix) and the band I have come to see, Televandals, is celebrating a triumphant outing to SXSW, where playing their one booked show so well they were immediately asked to headline another at this years festival.

To define Televandals is difficult having a cross-genre sound but as they themselves describe it: (Televandals) "are a hybrid electro-punk outfit. Influenced by UK based indie music, modern electro dance and old school punk, all mixed together to create a sound that thwarts any established genre while having elements of all of them. Music that forces you to think, touches your soul, and makes you want to dance like hell".

Think Trash Fashion by way of The Clash and Franz Ferdinand.

This band ENTERTAINS from the get go, no issues of introvertion here. They simply produce an hour long high energy set that leaves the hard bitten scenester crowd screaming for more. J Restless on vocals and guitar and Nico on guitar and keys especially making full use of Great Scott's small stage. It immediately becomes very obvious why this band was such a hit at SXSW and as to why they should be on everyone's list to look out for this year.

It is a rare occasion for me these days, having seen so many shows over the years, to feel "blown away" by any band but it happened last Friday night at The Pill.

- Mick Murray
4.21.09
Original Article: http://spintrunk.labzero.net/report/vandals-invade-the-pill - SPIN Earth

The whole "alternative isn't alternative" anymore argument/joke is so tired that not even Gallagher will touch it (he'd rather smash watermelons, and rightfully so). So what do we make of a band like Televandals that takes the almost 30-year-old term "new wave" and somehow makes the wave sound new again? If you had no contingency plan for this occurence, it's time to make one up if Televandals' "Good For Nothing" is any sort of indication.

This song is a mishmash of sound, as if the hazy early musical memories of someone with extremely hip parents were somehow uploaded into the multitrack machine which consequently spat out "Good For Nothing" like an Everlasting Gobbstopper. This song has the shiny guitar jangle of The Violent Femmes, the anthemic fist-pumping of The Clash and a whole mess of other inputs and outputs from late-'70s/early-'80s FM radio.

While this song has the shiny, snazzy new-wave packaging, it still displays one of the hallmarks of a good song: it takes you somewhere. The piece has an overall arc, from the almost tentative early strains of guitar through the boisterous vocal presence to an ending which is nigh anthemic – almost every ear will find someone to hitch onto within the 4-minute-ish run of the inappropriately titled "Good For Nothing." - www.bostonbandcrush.com

Original Article: http://www.bostonmusicspotlight.com/article.php?id=1093


Each week, we take a look though our Sonicbids dropbox and let a band tell us about themselves. This week, get to know Televandals. You can catch them at the Paradise Rock Club on Tuesday, May 27

Band Name:
Televandals

Members:
J Restless - Guitar, Effects, Lead Vocals - Allston, MA
Nico - Lead Guitar, Synth, Loops & Effects, Backing Vocals - Allston, MA
Ride-Out - Drums, Beats, Backing Vocals - Boston, MA
Nick - Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals - Boston, MA

Releases:
Madison Avenue Reality EP, February 2008

Web site:
www.myspace.com/televandals


How did you form?
It's taken some time for Televandals to complete its lineup, but we are excited by the camaraderie and musical vision the four of us share. What is most remarkable about the band is the symmetry of the process through which we formed. J Restless and Nico first met in 2006 while simultaneously seeking to form a band predicated upon innovation and creating a dynamic new musical sound. After briefly playing under the Televandals name in early 2007 with other collaborators, the band had the good fortune to meet Ride-Out in the spring of that year. The new lineup debuted with interim bassist Michael Fine in August and, after a rather extensive search, adding Nick Post as the band's fourth permanent member at the beginning of 2008.

Who are some of your influences?
It may sound like a cliché, but we all bring such multifaceted influences to the table. Our music is inspired by everything from old school punk to synth-driven electronic dance music to 80s British dark-wave and countless others.

Some of the bands that have inspired us: The Clash, Radiohead, The Killers, Bloc Party, Muse, Massive Attack, Rancid, LCD Soundsystem, Kill Hannah, Squarepusher, The Knife, Kings of Leon, Blur, The Sounds

But instead of rehashing these influences, we've taken our respective inspirations and worked together to create music that is both original and dynamic.

Finish the sentence, someone would like your band if they like...
A sound that is epic, edgy, hypnotic and apocalyptic, and songs that force you to think, touch your soul and make you want to dance like hell.

If someone couldn't decide between going to an electro club or a punk show on a given night, they would be completely fulfilled coming to one of our shows.

What has your most memorable moment as a band been?
Perhaps our most memorable moment was the release of our debut E.P. "Madison Avenue Reality." We had spent an extensive period of time in the studio recording and arranging these four songs, all the while refusing to compromise regarding our artistic vision. Simultaneously, we were engaged in the process of designing album art, creating promotion strategies and doing everything necessary to get the E.P. ready for release. All the while performing live, writing new material and searching for an additional member of the band. You can't really appreciate the amount of work that goes into music until you've experienced it firsthand.

But the first time we heard the music after it was mastered made it all worthwhile. It was a vindication of all the hard work that not only makes it all worth it, but makes you energized to do it all over again. And again. That was the first of many memorable moments still to come for Televandals, but was still a seminal experience that we will never forget.

Walk us through your songwriting process...
There really is no one formula for songwriting in the band. Most of our songwriting derives from someone presenting a riff, beat, loop or other sonic idea that we will all work on collaboratively. Other times, someone will come in with part of a song (a verse, chorus, etc) and we will again collectively work to arrange the song and write additional parts. This dynamic has allowed us to bring our songwriting to a new level of intricacy and has inspired some radical new ideas both presently and for the future.

Who is the best musician in your band?
We all bring different strengths to Televandals that complement the diverse skills of the other members. There could never be a best musician in our band because every song is always a combination of all of our talents - the four of us bring out the best in each other. We believe true musicianship goes far beyond technical ability. While we all have musical talent, it is our collective passion and energy combined with each of our aforementioned strengths that allows us to work well together, create innovative and sonically challenging music, and translate all that into vibrant and exciting live performances. It's the very fact that each of us has unique skills that makes us different from almost every other band and essentially eliminates the concept of "frontman."

What is your favorite local venue?
Probably the Middle East Upstairs. We've played there twice and appreciate the intimacy that room allows us with the audience. The sound is very good and the club has quite a history as a spot for up and coming local acts. You feel like you belong onstage in that room Our second time playing there was a particularly dynamic show to a packed room - one of those performances where everything went perfectly and we seamlessly connected with the audience. We look forward to playing the Middle East again soon.

What separates you from other local bands?
Our innovation and our ability to synthesize so many divergent musical styles - especially the combination of guitar-driven rock, beat-laced dance and synth-inspired electro - into cohesive, ambitious and accessible songs that simultaneously sound original and familiar. In addition, our music incorporates a social insurgency with politically charged lyrics that confront societal inequities and controversial themes that demand that listeners think for themselves.

We also feature a very intense and explosive live show, to which we plan to add increased visual/audio-visual components in the coming months. Our shows capture the energy and passion of late 70s punk combined with the hypnotic dance/trance textures of modern electro-inspired styles.

What do you have coming up that people should know about?
We have the first installment of our incredible new dance night "Dissent." This will be a recurring event in New York and Boston that will feature the best up-and-coming rocktronica, electro, discopunk, darkwave, shoegaze, and synth-rock bands and DJs from throughout the Northeast. For the first time, there exists a vehicle for a new breed of music and performance - the "hybrid" acts that blur the lines between live and electronic music to produce one incredible sound. The first "Dissent" will be at New York's Fortune Cookie Cabaret on Friday, May 16th, with future installments to follow in the coming months.

We also are scheduled to perform in Round III of the Emergenza Festival in Boston at the Paradise on Tuesday, May 27th. There will be a full slate of summer shows to be announced soon, with a possible Northeast tour pending for mid-to-late August.

Convince our readers to see your next show...
When Televandals take the stage, it's about raw, uncontrolled unstoppable energy. "If a voice is a weapon mine is a machine gun." That is who we are when we perform. We want you to leave feeling like you can take over the world, that you can rise above the disillusionment and despair to truly make a difference with your life. And if you feel a sense of grandeur, hope, inspiration, and downright immortality when you go home that night, then we have succeeded.

If you're intrigued by what you've read about us, check out our music on Myspace and be there at our upcoming shows. We promise you won't be disappointed. We're looking to revolutionize the way music and society coexist. Are you with us?

Updated: 5/23/2008 - Bostonmusicspotlight.com

Original article:
http://bostonist.com/2008/05/23/televandals_wan.php

May 23, 2008

Televandals Want You to Stand Up and Listen

Televandals have something to say, and they think you should hear it. This local band has been lighting up stages in Boston and New York with their unique sound that they hope will touch your soul, force you to think, and most importantly, make you want to dance like hell. Not easily classified, Televandals take inspiration from a wide range styles that includes old-school punk, 80s British dark wave, and electro-synth dance.

Bostonist talked with the band in advance of their performance in round three of the Emergenza music competition this upcoming Tuesday. Tickets are $12 in advance, $18 at the door. Show is 18+ and being held at the Paradise Rock Club. Check out their MySpace for full show information.


Sum up the essence of Televandals in one word.
Transcendent.

You talk a lot about social uprising, speaking out against injustice, etc. If you could get out one singular message, have people take one thing away from
your music, what would you want it to be?
The most important message we have to impart on people through our music is that of awareness. You gotta know what's happening around you... you gotta think for
yourself. There is no sin greater than indifference, especially when there is so much injustice and inequality we must live with. Don't live your life like a puppet... make your own future.


How do you feel about Boston's music scene? Has it been welcoming/helpful/frustrating?
The scene is very indie-rock centric at the moment, but we're starting to see it evolve with more electro-based acts and hybrid groups. Overall, it's an already diverse scene that's continuing to diversify if you know where to look. It's an interesting time to
be a band playing in Boston.

Album-cover-thumbnail.jpg

What is your favorite thing about playing live music?
The real attraction to playing live is the chemistry you can develop with an audience as a show progresses. There is nothing more amazing that having an audience
feed off your energy and vice-versa. When you and the crowd are in lock-step with each other, the result is nothing short of inspirational and just elevates you
even more as a performer. It proves the cynics are wrong... you can make a difference through music.

What is the most annoying 'thing' about playing gigs, etc.?
Having to break down all your gear after your set and haul it out of the venue. Anyone who thinks being in a band is all glamour and excitement has never had to
move amps and gear around after 45 minutes or more of playing your ass off.


What is your favorite tactile feeling?
The subtle heat of stage lights.

What is your least?
A recently-used microphone against your lips.

Any bands, local or otherwise, that you're really loving right now?
Our friends the Simple Pleasure from New Haven... a fantastic synth-soul-rock act. Also our friends To The Masquerade, who we'll be playing with at the Paradise
this Tuesday.

What is one band/musical act that you'd rather not admit to liking, but can't help it?
We only listen to good music.

Finally, why should people come and support you
and learn about Televandals?
When Televandals take the stage, it's about raw, unceasing energy and passion. We want you to leaving feeling inspired, that you can rise above the disillusionment and despair to truly make a difference with your life. And if you feel a sense of grandeur,
hope, inspiration or immortality when you leave that night, then we have succeeded.

Televandal's debut LP, Madison Avenue Reality, is available on iTunes now. - Bostonist.com

“Good music is good music, regardless of genre.”

This quote, which also happens to be the closing note of our interview, describes the all-inclusive and laid back attitude of Boston’s own Televandals to a T. The dance/new-wave/electronic/indie/punk foursome with a sound impossible to define has been making waves on both sides of the river while recording their new material in Allston and playing for packed houses in Cambridge, and they’re ready to hit the ground running with “Good For Nothing”, the single they’ll be celebrating with a soiree at Great Scott on September 4th.

Jared, Nico, Nick and Ryan are all friendly, grounded guys who are grateful for the support they’ve received from the Boston music community and their fans. After hearing about their silly food fight antics on the road (Nico may or may not have shoved some mashed potatoes into someone’s car air conditioner) and the intuitive shenanigans behind their creative process (which, at times, may involve running keyboards through the stereo of an automobile), we’re just as stoked to see this Boston band on the rise as they are to be making music in a city they’ve grown to love.

-Hilary Hughes

THE OPENING ACT: TELEVANDALS AND THE TEAPARTY TEN

What’s your favorite breakfast cereal?

Nick: Cocoa Puffs. It’s been my favorite since I was two years old.

Jared: Cracklin’ Oat Bran: It looks like dog food but tastes delicious.

Nico: That makes you poop, doesn’t it?

Jared: … Doesn’t it make everyone poop?

Ryan: I’d say Frosted Flakes.

No: Rice Krispie Treats Cereal.

Who would you rather punch in the face: Long Duk Dong from “Sixteen Candles”, or Mouth from “The Goonies”?

J: It would be a pleasure – no, an HONOR – to punch Corey Feldman in the face. He came to Boston a year or two ago for some cause, I forget what it was, and he was just a total douche bag the whole time.

Nk: I’m gonna go with the offensive stereotype with Long Duk Dong. I’ve never seen “Sixteen Candles.”

No: I’ve never seen “The Goonies…”

R: Yeah, I’d punch Mouth.

If you were a kitchen appliance, what would you be?

No: I want to be the old toaster oven that short-circuited and melted our stereo. That was like, a Jedi toaster oven.

…It melted your stereo?

Nk: They melded together!

No: Yes. I want to be that toaster oven/stereo.

J: I think I’d be a blender.

Nk: I’d be a coffee machine.

R: A microwave! I’d get to melt shit. [Ryan grins. Broadly.]

You go to bed, wake up, walk into the bathroom to brush your teeth, and you look in the mirror and you realize that you’ve turned into one of Jim Henson’s Muppets overnight. Which Muppet are you?

R: Animal! Duh. Or maybe Louie, the dude who threw around those boomerang fish.

J: I’d be the Swedish Chef! Yes!

No: I’d be either one of the two old guys who sit up in the balcony-

Nk: YES! ME TOO!

No: Yeah. Nick and I would be the two old guys. [Statler and Waldorf.]

Say you have a crazy night, you black out, and you wake up feeling like crap the next morning and you realize… you got a tattoo. What’d you get inked?

J: I would get the lyrics to Bob Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” all over my back. That would be a LOT of words.

No: When I was drunk one night I thought up two tattoos, and then I got them the next day when I was sober. I think I would have architect’s lines on my back, so that it would look like an architect had designed the human body.

Nk: I have no idea. If I was drunk, I have no idea what I’d go for. It’s really hard! I’d probably get a can of PBR on my chest or something.

R: I’d get two sleeves. I’ve always wanted sleeves.

No: What you SHOULD do is get sleeves of sleeves of a shirt.

Would you rather be a rodeo clown or a sumo wrestler?

Nk: Sumo wrestler. I am scared of clowns. And mad animals.

J: Rodeo clown. I don’t want to be that fat, I’m sorry.

No: Rodeo clown. I already like garish clothing.

R: Me too. Rodeo clown.

No: What if you could just be a really fat rodeo clown and then you’d have the best of both worlds? Or a sumo wrestler with a cowboy hat…

If you were a particular style of facial hair, what would you be?

No: 19th-century handlebar mustache.

R: Mutton chops!

Nk: Sideburn. Just one.

J: I’ll be some kind of real bushy, bushy beard.

If you were a type of cheese, which cheese would you be?

No: Parmesan. It’s good on everything.

R: Extra-sharp cheddar.

Nk: Ricotta.

J: I love cheese but I like so many of them! I’d probably be feta: I’m half Greek and one of these days I’m gonna just crumble and fall apart.

What’s your favorite word?

Nk: Word. Haha.

No: Tomfoolery.

J: Hope.

R: Wow.

What’s your quintessential “I’M GONNA DANCE AROUND MY APARTMENT IN MY SKIVVIES AND LOVE LIFE!” song?

Nk: Dancing with myself, Billy Idol.

No: That was mine! Actually, no: Mine would be “She Drives Me Crazy” by the Fine Young Cannibals.

R: Simple Minds’ “Don’t You Forget About Me.”

Nk: Jared, I know which was the last song you danced on top of a van to…

J: What?!

Nk: “You Can Call Me All”, Paul Simon. His answer is “You Can Call Me All.”

IMG_8675
THE MAIN EVENT: THE TELEVANDALS TPB INTERVIEW

Hey guys! Real quick: Names and ages from the members of Televandals for the record, if you please.

Jared: I’m J-Restless, also known as Jared Savas. I’m 28 and I live in Allston. I’m the singer and guitarist in Televandals.

Nico: I’m Nico. I’m 27. I do guitar, keys, synth, mixing and things that go “beep!”

Nick: I’m Nick, I’m 27, and I’m living in Medford right now. I’m the bass player.

No: Our missing drummer is Ryan. He’s my roommate in Allston, actually. He does drums, beats, and a little bit of mixing, too. He’s 19 (laughs).

J: He’s older than the rest of us.

[Editor's Note: Ryan was caught in traffic on the way back from Vermont for the majority of the interview, but was able to join us in time for the TeaParty Ten. Stupid New England summer traffic! Rahhh.]

So, how did you guys meet and come to make music together?

J: It’s kind of a funny thing. Nico and I knew each other way before Televandals even happened. He was actually the last one to join the band. Thank God for Craigslist!

No: Yeah, we put up almost identical posts at the exact same time-

J: – Looking to start a band of the ilk of what we kind of do now. We hit it off right away, and ended up working with a bunch of different people over the course of a year and change, basically. We played a few shows with a fella under the name Televandals, even though it’s very different than what we do now. Same general idea, but we’ve evolved since then. He left to pursue other things and we met Ryan. At that point we started doing shows again and writing new songs. A buddy of ours was a temporary bass player for sometime before we could find someone permanent, and then Nick moved to the area, and we asked him to join.

So how long have you been playing music? Were you children banging on pots and pans and whatnot?

No: I started when I was fourteen, I guess; I just bought a guitar and went at it. A few years later I was like, “Why on earth am I not doing this?” I’m from Miami, actually, and so I packed my car and drove up to Boston to be in a band.

Nk: I started playing cello in the fourth grade and I went to upright bass in the sixth grade, but I also started playing guitar when I was twelve.

J: I started writing lyrics when I was like in middle school and of course at that time I thought it was the greatest thing ever, and it was totally, looking back on it, it was total bollocks but it was a good place to start, anyway. I didn’t start playing guitar until maybe I was, I don’t know, 16 or something like that? The funny thing is, this is the first really serious band I’ve ever been in.

No: Likewise.

J: Just recently, I’ve been dabbling in synths and that, for me, is in the formative stages, but I do a lot of songwriting.

No: He does awesome synth. My favorite line of the whole album was your synth. (Laughs)

Let’s talk influences: Who would you credit for the cultivation of your creativity? Are there any artists whose sound you just love that have helped shaped you as musicians?

Nk: For me, I started out with West Coast Punk, like NOFX and all that. I retroactively got into The Clash after that. When it comes to newer stuff, I’m into Radiohead.

No: Yeah, I’d say Radiohead was the band that really kicked me into music. With Kid A they got into electronic stuff and that got me into electronic stuff: The Chemical Brothers, Apex Twin, and more recently I’ve gotten into some electro-DJs and UK-based indie stuff like the Wombats. I’m kind of a big fan of Plush Gun and Passion Pit.

Passion Pit always comes up in our interviews!

J: (Laughs) For me, my whole outlook on music changed when I started listening to The Clash. That was really the big turning point for me in terms of music. They like, changed me in a way that I never expected to be changed by one single band. Not that that was my only influence – I love Massive Attack’s dark sound, and Bloc Party’s been a big influence. What Johnny Greenwood from Radiohead does with sound manipulation has been very influential in and of itself, too.

No: One thing we try to do a lot of is to make an instrument sound like another instrument; like, we’ll run our guitars through filters to sound like keyboards, we’ll make our keyboards sound like string sections and then we’ll mash it all together.

It sounds like Televandals has got a good “Mad Scientist”-y vibe going on.

No: Yeah! Ryan is very good with playing dance music from a live [drum] kit.

Nk: Yeah! He’s got a great dance beat.

J: Well, we do all this with a sense of familiarity and cohesiveness, too; it’s not just a bunch of sounds and, you know, sounds for the sake of making sounds. We’d like to think that there’s a core to it.

No: Yeah, a foundation.

We can definitely appreciate the difference between fucking around with equipment and experimenting with sound.

Nk: Yeah, our songs take a loooong time. (Laughs) Maybe too long.

No: One of the most frustrating things for us is that we’ll record a song, like the songs for the EP or the songs for the album, and by the time we print it we’ve changed it again.

I guess this is a good point to segue into the creative process behind Televandals. Is is completely collaborative, or is there someone who heads up the lyric writing and compositional quality?

Nk: Lyrically speaking it’s pretty much Jared.

J: It depends. Most of the more recent stuff, we’ve been fully collaborative and writing parts and arranging stuff. There have been a lot of times where I’ll come in with ideas, but just as often these guys will bring in something to work with. There’s definitely no front man. It’s a band, and we strive to be a band in the truest sense of the word.

No: It’s definitely like controlled chaos, I guess. Sometimes we’ll just be jamming and that’ll become a song. There was one instance where we were trying to write the ending of one song and it became another song.

J: We have another song on our album called “Arch Nemesis”, and when we were working on the arrangement for that song, I don’t know, at least two other current songs and several other song ideas came up for us just working on that one song. One of the bands I think all of us would mention would be Does It Offend You Yeah. The way they kind of have blended rock with a whole different electronic aesthetic has been-

Nk: Well, not jut the aesthetic, the songwriting, too.

J: Yeah. Their concept in general is very intriguing to us.

No: It’s kind of that sense of a DJ found a guitar and learned how to play it.

Yeah, I think that people are really receptive to that kind of vibe.

No: A lot of the best electronic acts do that already: When we saw LCD Sound System at Austin City Limits, they had a live drummer and a live bass player. It’s that more organic feel. When you look at the premier electronic bands, too, it all goes back to analog. You’re trying to get that organic dance sound.

J: That whole direction that electronic music is going in is really inspiring, and it’s also something where, like, the lyricism of going back to Dylan or something like that. There are no limits or boundaries to the elements you can bring into the creative process.

Do you feel particularly connected to any of your songs?

No: I like playing “Silence in the City” because it’s very balls-to-the-walls.

Nk: I always love playing “Molotov.”

No: I love playing keys on “Endor.” I have a lot of fun with that.

J: In terms of songs in our catalog, that new song, “Endor”, of the songs on our album it’s the most recent we’ve written and I feel like it’s very strong and a very full arrangement. I feel like “Endor” kind of embodies what we’re all about.

No: Yeah! It’s a lot of fun.

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In terms of playing live versus spending time in the studio, does your creative process change? Let’s talk through the process that was behind recording your latest LP.

No: It was … long.

J: Yeah.

Nk: Very long.

How long are we talking?

No: Ten months?

J: Yeah, nine or ten months, yeah. We all have jobs so it’s not like we can all just go and dedicate this many weeks or months to just recording it straight, so it was kind of intermittent.

No: I was saying how we can change songs constantly; by the time we came back to finish recording it we had new lines added. All of our songs have so many layers that it’s never a matter of just recording the guitar line.

Where did you record the album? Did you record it in a Boston studio?

No: Yeah, right down the road at Cease and Assault. It was actually funny because our manager is in the same building.

When it comes to touring, you’re planning on doing a big push behind this new album. Take us through what the Televandals are going to be up to in the coming months.

No: We’re looking to book more gigs in New England and then we’ll branch out to father-reaching things. We’ve got a new mix contest out right now with the new single and we’re trying to bring the DJs in Boston into it.

J: I think the goal for us is to not be the follower of a trend; we kind of want to be the trend. We want to do something unique and in of its own right something inspiring in its own way. Who knows if we’ll get there? I hope we will, but that’s sort of the idea behind what we’re doing.

Where do you want to be with Televandals six months from now?

Nk: In a van. I want to be in a van. (laughs)

No: In a van. Driving on the left side of the road.

Soooo you want to be touring in England, then?

J: That would be awesome.

No: As much as people find it hard to settle into this lifestyle, it’s basically just living on the road and going from show to show to show to show. I don’t like sitting down for very long.

Do you have any crazy stories for us from Televandals’ tour bus? Or van?

Nk: Nico thinks it’s fun to throw food at my car when I’m driving.

No: I have to. I have to attack it, and he’ll retaliate. It’s gotten to the point where we’ve almost damaged our cars.

Nk: You HAVE! You HAVE damaged my car.

No: There may or may not be KFC mashed potatoes in his air conditioner.

J: We did this one show in Providence where someone threw a beer can at the other person’s car, and it hit someone else’s van on accident, so that was fun.

No: There was another instance where he was stopped at a red light and I jumped out of the car with a 100-yard roll of duct tape and I duct taped him into the car.

Red light shenanigans are the coolest.

No: Yeah, especially when you don’t get hit by other cars…

J: Once, we were playing this gig in New York, and our van was broken into and robbed, so that wasn’t fun… The only equipment they stole were two of my guitars, which sucked, but they stole a lot of our personal things, like bags and stuff like that. We have this guy who usually goes on the road with us named CJ who’s 6’7” giant of a man, huge, huge guy, so he had his bag stolen which had a portable DVD in it. The police come, and a female police officer was interviewing all of us to get a record of what had been stolen, and CJ said, “Oh yeah I had this bag stolen, personal DVD player and … some DVDs… of an adult nature….” (Laughs) It wasn’t fun at the time but looking back on it it’s very amusing.

No: Coming back from SXSW, Ryan and I actually drove the van. He fell asleep and the GPS went out, so I just kept following the road we were one and I only realized that we weren’t in Tennessee anymore when we wound up 100 miles into Kentucky. Yeah. That was a funny four-hour adventure.

J: Meanwhile, that same trip, Nick and I are flying back and we flew out at like, four in the morning, and we had been downing tequila all day long as it was the last day of SXSW. We fell asleep on the floor of the airport. We had to do a connecting flight from Austin to Houston and they upgraded us to first class, so we sit down, and we’re like …

No: We actually wrote the keyboards for “Endor” driving back from SXSW. I traded this gigantic setup using a cigarette lighter to power my keyboards and my laptop and running everything through the car stereo. I was riding with the laptop and me with the keyboards in the back seat blasting the stereo. It was fantastic!

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Let’s talk about Boston. What are some Boston bands that you would love to bill with, or are there any Boston artists that you really happen to enjoy?

Nk: I really like You Can Be A Wesley. They’re another band that can really write songs, and they’re cool people. They put on a good show, too.

No: I’ve been getting into a lot of Boston DJs, like Die Young, Volvix, they’re all really good. Thick as Thieves won my heart when they covered “Just” by Radiohead at one of the last Aloud shows. They’re pretty sick. I’m always a fan of Aloud since Henry and Jen moved up here, and I’m also really into Herra Terra, who we actually played with two years ago. Amazing, amazing hybrid band.

J: Both those bands, Herra Terra and You Can Be A Wesley, were on the bill with us at Middlesex a month or two ago. It was very interesting and a very solid avant-garde lineup. It was unexpected and very cool.

How has it been for you guys as active members in the Boston music community?

No: It’s totally a family.

Nk: I don’t know anything else to compare it to…

J: I don’t want to speak for anyone else, but we’re a band who happens to be from Boston but it’s not like we want to typecast ourselves, but at the same time we’re proud to be from here, too.

No: It’s a very, very fertile ground, too: I mean, if you look in New York right now, all these clubs are closing down and here, you have a bunch of really good acts and really good clubs.

J: It really is burgeoning: there’s a lot that’s come out of here recently so hopefully we can come out of that and do our own thing.

No: I feel like there’s been a big resurgence lately in Boston music. I mean, this was kind of a dead spot for a while, but Passion Pit, Wild Light, labels and the people in the business are starting to take notice of Boston again and it’s really showing.

Let’s talk venues. Where are your favorite Boston venues, both to see shows and play them?

J: Great Scott is fun. TT’s, we’ve had a number of good shows there.

No: I loved Middlesex just because it wasn’t a normal venue.

J: I was skeptical about the show, but having the crowd right there and in your face was cool!

No: We’re into interactions. We hate that space between the stage and the audience, so the closer the audience can get to the stage the better. There should not be dividing lines.

Yeah, we love that about Middlesex, too!

J: Earlier in June we played Harpoon Fest, and it was a huge stage, right? It was kind of the opposite of Middlesex. A bigger stage, it was great in the sense that we got to play for a ton of people, but on the other hand, there’s also the intimacy that you need to make up for, so we invited a bunch of people to dance up onstage with us to get that. Normally, when I’m playing, Ryan is thisclose to me, but on that stage his drum kit was so far away.

No: Yeah, I actually ran out of guitar chord at one point. It was like, “I can’t go farther?! Shit!”

Well, most of the Boston venues have small stages. I can definitely see how you’d get used to working with not a lot of square footage.

No: Yeah. We really like the Paradise Rock Club, too. The sound there is fucking awesome.

What about the differences between Boston and New York as musical cities? We hear a lot about the changes you see city to city when it comes to band-club relations and the business aspect of that.

No: New York right now is, I mean, for lack of a better term, is overloaded: There are so many bands and relatively so few venues that it becomes kind of cutthroat. More so than that, people have trouble getting any kind of draw because if you’re a fan of local music you have 10,000 bands to go see. Draws get split up, it’s hard to build a following, I mean, it’s definitely a place for already established bands. Trying to get started, it doesn’t matter how good you are: You’re still going to get lost in that giant pile. If you’re good in a place like Boston, you’re not gonna get lost and you’re going to be heard. I think that New York offers a lot of opportunities, but I think you have to know when it’s your time to go after them.

Do you see yourselves as being a Boston band for a while? Do you have any plans to move onto another city in the near future?

J: I mean, we very well could move, depending on what happens in this coming half a year or year. Maybe we’ll be on the road and coming back here. It’s just tough to say.

No: We definitely have allegiances here, though. Even if we’re living in a different city, it’s not like we’re ever going to forget that Boston is where we started and Boston is what made us. I hope that we’ll be able to play massive shows elsewhere at some point and then be able to come back and play secret shows at Great Scott.

Do you find the Boston music scene to be clique-y?

No: I don’t know if I’d call it clique-y. People go after the kind of music they like and they befriend the other people they see congregating at these shows, but I mean, we see a huge variety in the people who come to our shows. We draw everyone from Boston punks to fans of the Boston DJ scene. I think cliques only exist to people who want to be in cliques, and there are a lot of people around here that don’t really acknowledge that.

J: I think that goes back to why we hesitate to classify ourselves. I’d say we’re a punk band or a new wave band or whatever you wanna call it; we try to play with a wide variety of bands and venues. It’s not like we’re being clique-y.

No: Good music is good music, regardless of genre. - www.Teapartyboston.com

From the ol Hotline: Local bands are rounding out the lineup for the week-long FNX Radio Disorientation 2009 concert series, which on Monday kicks off a five night run at the Lansdowne Pub. Cambridge new wave comet The New Collisions will warm it up for synth-pop lad Owl City on Tuesday night, while Allston electro punks Televandals have been tapped to open for Brooklyn hipster duo Matt & Kim on Wednesday.

One remaining slot, a support gig for UK post-punk gloomers White Lies on Thursday, should be announced today. The Diso-’09 series already had some local flavor, as New Hampshire’s Wild Light start it up proper on the launch night.

All the shows start at 7 p.m. and are free, but you have to hit up www.wfnx.com and get on the guest list to enter. Each night should be a tough ticket in the House Formerly Known as Karma Club.

The oh-so-sweet complete lineup features:

Oct. 5: Dearly Beloved and Wild Light
Oct. 6: Owl City and The New Collisions
Oct. 7: Matt & Kim and Televandals
Oct. 8: White Lies
Oct. 9: Black Joe Lewis and White Rabbits

Here’s some promotional words from FNX:

You came to Boston for an education. In times like these, that means you don't have cash for anything else. No problem: WFNX is throwing a week's worth of exclusive FREE concerts at the Lansdowne Pub. You MUST RSVP for each individual concert you want to attend. (RSVP is not a guarantee of admission: all shows are subject to club capacity, so get there early to guarantee your spot.) Tweet #DisO if you go!

ALL SHOWS are 21+ and take place at the Lansdowne Pub, 9 Lansdowne Street in Boston, across the street from Fenway Park. Doors open at 7 pm. - Televandals & New Collisions get FNX Diso nod