Catching Caddisflies

Living with Sonoma County artist Chris Jehly for a bit over a year was an experience. We made up languages, we tackled the boundaries of bending bodies. We photographed it. We wore pinatas as hats, made limbs out of blankets and we both fell head over heels for cocorosie and those with ambiguous identities. Saying "Chris Jehly is one unique guy" is a complete understatement: the man's a damn time machine. Its hard to imagine where Jehly gets his drive and inspiration but after having a serious, sit down interview about art, bugs, music, and his life, you realize hes just a man who focuses on the details and strives to share them with you. Just, be careful though, one of his drawings may pupate on you.



Castles and Catastrophes: Your last couple or art shows have been filled with bugs and fish. What's your fascination with these creatures?

Chris Jehly: Having collected insects for a long time, I saw how they operate, grow, and reproduce. Every little thing about them seeped into my art completely. The fishes, well, I grew up in a family of fishermen so I always used to go fishing and the best bait was always the caddisfly. You always caught the biggest fish with a caddisfly.

C.C: Where has your art taken you, imaginatively?

C.J: I think it’s gotten a lot more psychological. Before it was just making the meanest thing- with the biggest teeth and the most saliva, and eyes bugging out. It was about creating the craziest. Now it’s definitely more about the images and the symbol. Its becoming more and more about meaning, vocabulary and all the things influenced by life- like the jesus fish on the back of somebody’s car, a giant flock of birds, or having some sort of dream and waking up thinking I was having a heart attack you know, its definitely more personal and its getting more forensic.

C.C: What's your inspiration?

C.J: I think the human experience is what really drives me. The human experience is composed of dreams, situations that have happened, your interactions with people- whether it be artistic or sexual, or just conversations. It's a whole bunch of things, parents, teachers, friends, things you have battled, whether it be yourself or other people. Graffiti was an influence, printmaking was an influence, my friends, being drunk, eating too much cake before bed- a whole lot of things, and just deconstructing all of that.

C.C.: Who's your favourite local artist?

C.J: That's a really tough one...When I think of favourites I think of people I relate to, or someone I'm swimming in the same pool of water with. It would definitely be either Ricky (Watts), or Alex Pardee.

C.C: What do you think of the Sonoma County Art Scene?

C.J: I think it needs to get out of this whole "Wine Country " theme. I think younger artists need to be featured because there's alot of talented people out there. It's too bad that you get clumped into this whole thing where if your art isn't Sonoma County vineyard, chicken coop, mustard field, imposta thick paint than nobody cares. I think there needs to be more chances for the people not doing that.

C.C: What are you working on now?

C.J: Right now its all the insects I've been painting that look like they're mounted but are in all white shadow boxes. The work started out as being insects and spider that look like they are mounted but when you look closer they appear to be potentially alive. Then it started turning into these weird arrangements of beetles and flies, and creating these relationships that aren't even in nature but just my own twisted sense of where everything goes. I'm putting those relationships in different words and almost creating sentences and captions for these beings inside the boxes. It's all about the "1's" and "0's" that have been here forever and live with constant change.

C.C: What have you been listening to lately?

C.J. Alot of movie soundtracks- "Schindler's List" soundtrack, "The Royal Tenenbaums" soundtrack, alot of ambient music. Especially with the drawing, listening to music I've never heard before and being high as fuck really makes a difference. It moves you in a certain way. I think drugs supplement the drawing, they don't control your hand. You have to know how to draw, to draw.

Chris Jehly's show "Ancient Order" will be premiering this Friday at Micro Gallery at Ray-Modern Design Studio in Santa Rosa. Show opens at 6 p.m.

Currently, his show "Acaraphobia" with Ricky Watts is running at Budhha's Palm Tattoo Gallery in Sebastapol.

Or, you can check out his myspace here.

Who Wants Flowers When you can have a Sunday with NTRW?

Situated around a dirty glass table in my backyard, Paul, Lauren, and Ian of Not To Reason Why eat some fresh chocolate chip cookies (they're Vegan!) and sip on some limonata while we wait for bassist, Navid to grace our presence. It’s a beautiful Sunday afternoon, and Lauren and I jump into the two, slouchy green vintage sun chairs left out from Friday’s party. My deck smells like beer and there’s a keg in the corner, which Ian refers to as he explains his two pseudo-keg stands from the night before. Lauren's explaining the "Hipster Olympics" to me, which are apparently sponsored by Pabst and include contests like: "pick a record you knew before anyone else", "judge a passerby", and a "myspace photo shoot" battle, when Navid walks in and we start the interview.

C.C.: Tell me how you guys got together to form Not To Reason Why.

Navid: Ian said “Hey, Let’s start an instrumental band.” I think that’s how it went.

Ian: Were we playing Balderdash or Monopoly?

Lauren: I think it was a card game, but it doesn’t matter. The first time I met you (Ian), you said “I heard you play piano, lets be in a band.”

Ian: No, I said, “I heard you were a shredding pianist, we should start a band” and Lauren said “Okay”

Paul: Then we got together and jammed once, the first time was without Lauren. I remember we just got to know each other a little bit, instrumentally.

(NTRW at the "Church" in Petaluma)

C.C.: I’m sure you guys have got this question before, but what’s the story behind your song names? Did you each just pick a movie or a TV show you really love?

Lauren: I think most of them are from Navid, actually.

Paul: We don’t really get a say in the song names, its kind of like, “Hey, it’s called this”

Ian: Most of them are movie references, we all appreciate them.

Lauren: One from Are you Afraid of the Dark? (Submitted for the Approval of the Midnight Society) and of course “Flowers Not to Reason Why” is from the Cotati flower guy…

C.C.: Is the first track (Mightiest Monster in All Creation) from Godzilla?

Navid: It’s from “Mothra”

Lauren: That’s actually Ian’s contribution.

Navid: We went to that Taffy store in Bodega, the pink one, and they have old VHS’.

Ian: Sold for 50 cents each!

Navid: It was the tagline on the VHS’ that Ian bought.

Paul: What’s the other one? Oh yeah, The Little Giants… “The Annexation of Puerto Rico”

Ian: The best play…

C.C.: I knew that one right off the bat! I fucking love that movie, I think it’s because I had such a big crush on Devon Sawa.

Lauren: Me too! That’s why I loved that movie!

C.C.: I still kind of have a crush on him.

Lauren: Even when he was in Casper, which was a horrible movie. There was this whole era of Devon Sawa where I was totally in love with him.

Navid: Did we cover all the bases?

Paul: Back to the Future…(1.21 jiggawatts!) but for the next album we are doing kind of the contrary, one word titles and I actually get to name one or two of them.

Navid: Depending on if we actually stick to the name of your song…

Paul: “Cah”, that’s my name, it’s kind of like a contraction of “Can I Have?”

Lauren: It doesn’t make any sense…

Paul: I invented CAH.

C.C.: Paul, how was producing your own album?

Paul: It was fun and it was interesting. I liked it because I had never really done it before and once I listened to the songs, I would get this vision of what I needed to do, and it worked out. I liked it. I didn’t solely do it by myself, I mean; I would do something and then ask (the band) “Hey, is this cool?”

C.C.: So did anyone else help in the production?

Navid: We all did

Paul: Yeah, definitely. I would run things by Navid a lot, make sure it was okay.

Navid: It was a lot of the four of us, sitting on Paul’s bed, listening to the music.

C.C.: Who did the artwork for your first album, “Who Wants Flowers When They’re Dead”?”

Ian: The artwork was done by a local legend by the name of Josh Staples.

C.C.: Did you guys approach him about doing the art or did he offer?

Paul: Kind of a little bit of both, Navid was talking to him about it, I think

Navid: I asked and he said “Yeah, I would love to be part of your guys’ first album.” It was really helpful because he actually knows how to lay out an album, and we don’t.

Ian: What I especially like about the album is the “N2RW” logo and acronym. It’s very poppy…in a cutting edge sort of way.

Paul: The artwork is very subtle; if you look at it for a long time you can see new things, which I really enjoy.

C.C.: What have you guys been listening to these days?

Paul: I was listening to Manchester Orchestra today, they’re awesome. I also like the new Radiohead album.

Lauren: I always listen to a lot of Ben Folds, no matter what. I have a big crush on him and he recently got divorced, so I think I’m looking…

Navid: I’ve been listening to Beirut.

Ian: I’ve been listening to a lot of Tusk. Recently I wrote a song for this project and it was influenced heavily by Tusk.

(NTRW at the "Church" in Petaluma)

C.C.: So, What’s in the future for NTRW?

Lauren: A full length album

Navid: And a Northwest tour, up to Vancougar and back. It’s a band. (Vancougar)

Paul: A band that’s full of cougars and lives in Vancouver. Like, thirty-something cougars.

C.C.: What’s a thirty year old cougar??

Paul: Like 40 year old cougars…

Ian: They’re blowing smoke up your ass…

Paul: No! This is serious! Like, a Lady Cougar! An older woman who pounces on young men!

Lauren: We want to do a soundtrack, or a film, maybe a documentary. We are looking at that.

C.C.: What are your guys’ thoughts on the Sonoma County music scene?

Navid: I feel like its dying. A couple years ago it was rockin’. It was very alive. Now people are moving, or growing up. Some bands are getting bigger, and we are losing venues.

Ian: We gained some.

C.C.: What venues did you lose and gain?

Ian: The “Church” is developing into a pretty legit venue. There’s also the “Boogie Room” in Santa Rosa, that’s a really good venue.

Paul: We lost Epiphany, in Santa Rosa.

Navid: And we lost “Sweet Lou’s” in Cotati, which was kind of a bummer because you got the Sonoma State crowd out there. I don’t think it’s so much a lack of venues, but more of a lack of showgoers. We need another wave of showgoing kids.

(NTRW at the "Church" in Petaluma)

C.C.: This is kind of a silly question, but if you could each have one wish, what would it be?

Lauren: This is hard, but the first thing that pops in my head would be to fly.

Paul: I wish for endless endurance, you know, to never get tired. Then I wouldn’t get tired when I’m drumming. That would be a plus,

Navid: I wish I never got full, so I could like, eat forever.

Ian: Can I have two? I wish to have the powers of Hero from the show “Heroes” (he controls space and time), and I would also like to speak every language.

Not To Reason Why is Lauren on Piano, Ian on guitar, Navid on Bass, and Paul on Drums. You can buy their C.D. “Who Wants Flowers When They’re Dead” NEW OR USED at the Last Record Store in Santa Rosa, or online at http://cdbaby.com/cd/nottoreasonwhy.

reincarnation

Halfway hungover and so eager about posting my Deerhoof interview, I forgot to mention a few important things in the last post!
First off, the photo of Deerhoof belongs to my partner in crime, Miles Mattison. He is incredible.

And secondly, maybe you were curious about the history behind the name "Castles and Catastrophes?" I promise it's not some lame indie rock attempt at making a cutesy but dramatic name, in fact this name has been reincarnated from another literary experience of my past...
In high school I was really really into zines. I collected them, cherished them, categorized them and scoured for them in every city I visited. As a project for my senior year, I decided to make a zine distro. I did this with some success, I emailed all my zinester friends and ended up with quite the catalog of DIY and punk zines. My distro was Castles and Catastrophes, and though the disto's soul rests somewhere not in this world (RIP sweet distro), the name has been reincarnated into a virtual zine aka BLOG.

Deerhoof's Greg Saunier on ESP, KRS, and Album Art!

I wish I could tell you a lovely little tale about my interview with drummer Greg Saunier of Deerhoof. In an ideal world we would have sat down for cupcakes and whiskey, maybe we could have played some tic-tac-toe to get us started. But, alas, I am queen procrastinator and waited a mere five days before contacting them for an interview at there February 23rd show at the Phoenix Theater in Petaluma. Unfortunately, they did not have time for a sit-down interview, but Greg Saunier was able to answer some questions via email. Hurray! So after a weeks wait, here are the questions and answers, and if you ever get a chance to see Deerhoof live, go! They are the perfect balance of calamity and cartoon. It's almost like the chase between Wile E Coyote and the Roadrunner, but the coyote gets the roadrunner, and then they have a serious conversation and become friends.





C.C.: Deerhoof has been working with KillRockStars since the beginning- how has your experience with them been?

G.S: We got lucky didn't we? They were the very first label we ever approached and we're still together 14 years later. The true test of a relationship is not when everyone is happy, but when there are problems - can you solve them? It was when the band started to be more involved in the label stuff (like promotion) that we started having our first conflicts, and when we were able to work everything out that I realized that we are on a dream label. So many bands have left krs to go to major labels but i don't envy them one bit, that corporate world is a killer for creative types. too many people in the office. krs is really just about 5 people or something, pretty anarchic, everyone putting in their 2 cents whether it's in their official job description or not. their DIY thinking is perfect for us, that's the way we work too.

C.C.: This is your first time playing in Sonoma County, we are so close to San Francisco! What took you so long to come here?!

G.S.: Good question, we just played the show last night and for the life of me I have no idea why we didn't try earlier, it was just so much fun. the Phoenix was a great venue and all the kids came out. The show was faun fables' idea, they were the ones that played second. i hope we can come back again.

C.C.: I read on your website that Deerhoof is touring in Europe after the Phoenix show, is there anywhere you are excited to visit?

G.S.: There really aren't any places we're not excited to visit when we're playing music. It's a great way to see the world - we might not see much of the Eiffel tower or the Washington monument but we have a great excuse to meet people from all over the world, which to me is more valuable.

C.C.: I know the band has gone through a lot of changes, but the artwork has been consistently strange and unique- who did the cover for "Friend Opportunity"?

G.S.: David Shrigley. I highly recommend seeking out the rest of his work too.

C.C.: "Believe ESP" off "Friend Opportunity" is such a hypnotic song. Do you guys believe in ESP? How about Unicorns?

G.S.: I'm not sure I believe in the sort of tv version of esp where two people can have clear conversations in their minds. My guess is that esp-type abilities are more common or stronger in some animals than humans. Whether or not it's esp, many animals seem to be able to sense things or communicate things or predict things that would be lost on us humans. Groups of dolphins hundreds of miles apart in the open sea converging at a single point, pets who know you're on your way home or when you want to give them a bath, or know when the weather is about to change.

C.C.: You've picked up a new guitar player- What's his name? What's his favorite color? Will the sound of Deerhoof change?

G.S.: Ed Rodriguez. we were discussing colors last night - I told him to wear his powder blue three-piece suit for the concert, but then our other guitar player John said "I thought that suit was brown and white?" then Ed said it was pink, but that it was also completely filthy so he wouldn't be wearing it. the sound of our band has definitely changed, it sort of changes with every song...