HM Magazine Intern Diary: 7.30.09

Here it is… the last post before I head back to Illinois (before I head to Baltimore… before I head to Miami) so I’ll keep it short.

We went to see blessthefall and August Burns Red last night at Emo’s in Austin, and I can’t think of a better way to end my time here. Blessthefall was insane, the lead singer singing from hanging upside down from the rafters above the pit and 1-4 stage divers onstage at a time. August Burns Red was good too, especially since it was about 150 degrees in the pit and all the band members were fighting to keep from passing out.

I said goodbye to Kelly last night – and Kelly, if you’re reading, make sure this issue actually comes out, k? Ha I had fun this summer, hope you did too. (Follow her Intern Diary too, it’s better/less pointless rambl-y than mine.)

Thanks again to Tornado for the food for the road. If it wasn’t for you, Melissa and my mom sending me food I’d have gotten skinnier this summer haha.

I finished my Scream The Prayer Tour review Monday late so check it out if you haven’t and let me know what you think.

Here are the results to the survey so far:

You can still vote and I’ll post the results on my personal blog.

Which brings me to goodbye, follow my personal blog and Twitter if you like, and don’t be a stranger.

Peace,
Corey Erb

“Names is for tombstones.” – some dude.

HM Magazine Intern Diary: 7.20.09

With all the writing out of the way, including five album reviews, one book review and one gadget review over the weekend, it’s on to layout and proofreading this week.

I also have to choose whether I want to go see August Burns Red and blessthefall in Austin next Wednesday with Kelly and Doug or if I want to try and go (by myself potentially since the others will see it when it comes to Austin after I leave) to see Emery, Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, Secret & Whisper, Kiros and others in San Antonio that same night. If I skip ABR/btf I can see that show August 4 outside of St. Louis, but I wouldn’t be able to make another date of the Emery tour. Decisions. Don’t think I can go wrong either way though.

It’s more likely that Kelly and I are going to Scream The Prayer Tour in San Antonio on Friday, so at least I’ll get to see that show.

I think I’m going to see how much driving and how many shows I can cram into that week and a half without going insane. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Wish I had more to say,
Corey Erb

“Some editors are failed writers, but so are most writers.” – T. S. Eliot

HM Magazine Intern Diary: 6.18.09

You may have heard me mention the mewithoutYou show in my last post or by reading one of my 341 Tweets from the venue, but in case you wanted more about that show, you’re in luck!

First off, let me say that Aaron Weiss’ live personality is as billed. He runs the gamut between spastic and serene, frenzied and stoic, and exuberant and somber. And apparently he inspires large adjectives. But that’s just further testament to the fact that he is as thought-provoking a frontman as there is in the muddled rock scene today.

The rest of the band did their jobs – they played their respective instruments skillfully and deferred to their engaging friend holding the mic. That’s not to say they were forgettable, though. Each member took his turn in the spotlight at least once, particularly drummer Richard Mazzotta on the final few songs of the set.

The crowd made it a much more enjoyable show. The band sounded a bit shaky on some of their new songs off “it’s all crazy! it’s all false! it’s all a dream! it’s alright” and the audience was hesitant to get too involved, but as soon as the first note of favorites like “Paper Hanger” sounded, the sweaty crowd was more than eager to shout along with the gravelly vocals and move around in the packed room. “January 1979” was a highlight as the audience got the most rowdy. But then again, uninvited stage dancers and crowd surfers tend to make any song more enjoyable from a bystander’s point of view.

Aaron breaking out the acoustic guitar and switching to a singing-not-yelling vocal tone made “In a Sweater Poorly Knit” a welcome change-up.

Also, whenever he strapped on the accordion there was fun to be had, whether it was by watching him sway back and forth holding a big old-fashioned instrument with a towel on his head or by listening to the way he fit the accordion’s unique pitch into the rest of the rich instrumental sounds.

Tuesday night made it clear that if every mewithoutYou album was streamed straight into the brain with an accompanying video of the band playing all the songs, there would be no doubt who the kings of experimental rock are. I’ll admit straight-up that I’ve never been a huge fan of the band. It’s always been more of a “Oh yeah, they write really deep songs. Cool.” thing than a “Man, I know every word to every song” thing. But I guess in experiencing the band’s collective persona live and seeing the guy in front of me with mwY lyrics tattooed on both his forearms, I started to realize that the hype about this band is legit.

We got there late (what else is new for me) so I only got to hear parts of two songs by The Dear Hunter, but from what I heard they’re pretty talented live musicians as I expected, and Casey Crescenzo’s voice was hair-on-the-back-of-my-neck-raising even in that abbreviated listen. That’s not an exaggeration for illustrative purposes, either – it happened.

While mewithoutYou was setting up we caught a few songs’ worth of Dear and the Headlights on the indoor stage. I’m familiar with their lead singer, Ian Metzger, from his days in the old Christcore band Justifide, but I haven’t followed him in Dear and the Headlights that much since he left Justifide almost a decade ago. I like their sound, it has kind of a dirtier indie rock vibe. Maybe I’ll try to catch their full set at Warped Tour in San Antonio in a couple weeks.

After the show, Doug and I spoke with Brandon from The Rocketboys and the guitarist from Hundred Year Storm. Both bands are featured in the new issue of HM – a review of HYS’s album and The Rocketboys in the Declaration of Independents section. They’re both really nice guys. You should check them out and read what we had to say about their bands in the new issue or as a digital copy.

I’ll give an update of all today’s happenings tomorrow, I think I’ve given you enough to chew on for tonight.

It ain’t that kind of party,
Corey Erb

“I stopped believing, you start to move / (She was like wine turned to water then turned back to wine) / I stopped my leaving and the better man bloomed / (And you can pour us out and we won’t mind)” – from “Paper Hanger” by mewithoutYou

HM Magazine Intern Diary: 6.16.09

So I guess I scared off the other intern with my verbal bullying yesterday so she decided her car was gonna break down so she can’t come in till Friday. Ha! I see right through that, you’re not fooling anyone!

Naw, I hope it gets fixed (and for free, I hate car maintenance costs) and she makes it here safely. (Ha I guess I really am mean, aren’t I?)

Anyway! I got interviews with Thousand Foot Krutch and Showbread set up and will be listening to both forthcoming albums soon to further prepare. I proofread several articles, columns and reviews that have been coming in lately as well.

This afternoon, I got a ridiculously random idea for a book I think I’m going to write (no, Doug, I’m not going to steal your unpublished novel). I made some notes as thoughts came to mind but I think I’ll sit on it for a while till I can make sure it wasn’t just that I got some bad granola this morning or something…

Doug and I are going to see mewithoutYou play at Emo’s in downtown Austin with The Dear Hunter and Bear Colony in a bit. I’ll admit I’ve never been the biggest mwY fan but I enjoy deep lyrics so I’ll keep an open mind especially for their live show. I can say I’m looking forward to seeing The Dear Hunter, though. It’s ex-The Receiving End Of Sirens guitarist/co-vocalist Casey Crescenzo‘s experimental rock band, and I’ll be interested to hear them live since the only two albums they’ve released are acts I and II of a six-act story about the birth (to a prostitute), life and death of a boy known as “The Dear Hunter.” I wonder if they’ll play songs more or less in order of the story, or if they’ll just play random stuff. Their new album comes out next week so I suppose they’ll probably play a good amount of new material and that may take precedence over concerns of chronology. We’ll see if they break out any of the various horns or strings live that they feature on studio material. I hear Crescenzo has a really good live voice too. I guess he produced and even co-wrote some of the music on Falling Up‘s latest album Fangs!, which is a concept album as well. I’ll let you know what I think of all of them, and post some pictures if you’re lucky – and assuming I can get there on time and without getting lost ha.

Sleep now in the fire,
Corey Erb

“Crimson hands, brandish words which masquerade / If you flee from grace your souls can not be saved” – from “The Oracles on the Delphi Express” by The Dear Hunter

HM Magazine Intern Diary: 6.8.09

We finalized the stories for the September/October issue today, barring any changes, which will undoubtedly happen as release dates shift. I started doing some background and contacting the publicist for a feature I’m doing on Skillet. I’m fairly familiar with the band and I’ve seen them live so it shouldn’t be too difficult, but since I’m young enough in the Christian rock scene I’ll be refreshing myself on their first few albums in the next day or two. I’m doing three major features this issue, a smaller featurette and several album reviews. It’ll be a lot of work but I’m glad for the opportunity to write a major chunk of the magazine.

This weekend I visited a friend I went to college with at Miami, who is now in law school at University of Texas. He’s also named Corey, so it’s nice and confusing for everyone around us. He took me on a tour of campus and the infamous 6th street. Check out a few pictures from campus:

Handy little map in the middle of campus

Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Still haven’t forgiven them for what they did to USC in the title game a few years back.

The six-pack, as they call it, since they’re apparently too good for simply a quad.

Random building with a random sculpture in front of it

Apparently they light up the clock tower different colors if the football team wins, if they win a conference game, and if they win the national championship. Which, as mentioned, only happens when they cheat.

Clearly they don’t bother keeping the fountain clean when prospective students (read: parents) are absent.

Big off-campus undergraduate housing tower

A view of the Texas State Capitol from campus

Conveniently located on Guadaloupe right next to campus! Strangely Corey said he hadn’t seen anyone go inside…

The Co-Op, Texas’ bookstore

University of Texas’ idea of a communication school. Ha. Looks more like an FBI building than the Chuch of Scientology building down the street.

Just kidding about all that cheating stuff (ducks behind his desk),
Corey Erb

“Nobody really cares if you’re miserable, so you might as well be happy.” – Cynthia Nelms

HM Magazine Intern Diary: 5.26.09

I got my first real taste of Austin today. I watched Manchester Orchestra play an in-store acoustic set at Waterloo Records. Manchester Orchestra, if you’re not familiar with them, is an indie rock band that’s been around awhile but is garnering a good amount of buzz about their latest full-length, Mean Everything to Nothing, through appearances on Late Night with Conan O’Brien and Late Show with David Letterman, as well as by having songs featured on Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill. They played a few songs this afternoon, including their new single, “I’ve Got Friends.”

Waterloo Records in Austin, Texas

Manchester Orchestra in-store performance

They sounded at home as an acoustic outfit.

Andy Hull has got pipes. He hit every note with a heartfelt urgency, just as on their studio recordings. His voice is very unique – almost reminds me of Lovedrug‘s Michael Shepard in how he emphasizes certain syllables with shrieks.

The band doesn’t exactly fit the typical HM mold, for several reasons, but they play some pretty good music and played an enjoyable acoustic live set. Give them a listen at their MySpace – they’ve got Mean Everything to Nothing in its entirety streaming for free.

After the show, the Van Pelts took me to Hut’s Hamburgers, this little sit-down burger restaurant that looks like it’s been there forever and has a nostalgic atmosphere. Greasy, but ridiculously good. I got the Keller’s Classic, a burger with lettuce, tomato, grated cheese and 1000 Island dressing. We shared some fried okra and onion rings, and as an initiation of sorts, Doug’s wife Charlotta made me eat the biggest ring, which looked like it was just a whole onion they dropped in the batter by mistake. Anyway, it was a much appreciated meal before the drive home. I’ll have to come back to Austin soon (and not get lost next time ha).

Can’t spell slaughter without laughter,
Corey Erb

“I am the only one that thinks I’m going crazy, and I don’t know what to do.” – from “The Only One” by Manchester Orchestra

First HM Magazine intern diary: 5.18.09

The long trip from Miami to Texas is finally over and day one here at HM Magazine is too. Almost hit a buzzard tearing at a carcass on a country road on the way here this morning. Good to know that after 1,300 miles and six long days of road and friends’ couches, my life almost ended 20 minutes from arrival.

Anyway, since I made it here alive, my name is Corey Erb and I’ll be interning here from May 18-July 24ish, or whenever the September/October issue is finished. I’m going to be a senior at the University of Miami – the one in Florida, not the fake one in Ohio. I’m originally from Bloomington, Ill., about two hours from where Cornerstone is held.

Doug threw me right in today after showing me around, giving me the He Is Legend “So & So says” interview to transcribe. They’re a constant on my iPod so it’s cool to hear about their new album coming out June 23, It Hates You, as well as Schuylar Croom’s often misunderstood faith.

Here’s a fun fact about me, mostly for Mr. Van Pelt’s benefit (and to see if he actually reads this):

– I’m probably the most cynical person you’ll ever meet. I’m working on a list of things I like. I’ll get back to you when I find any.



But seriously, I’d like for this to be an interactive thing, otherwise I’m going to be very lonely out here in the middle of Texas. So one thing I’m going to try to do is end each post with a quote, sometimes related to Christianity, sometimes related to music, sometimes related to nothing. I’d like to hear what you think about it, whether you agree or disagree, or just if you think I’ve been in Texas too long.

Whatever it is, leave a comment. You know you want to. And follow me on Twitter. Shorter ramblings. Always a good thing.

I’ll start the quoting off with an old favorite, courtesy of an old friend of mine.

Bye,
Corey Erb

“I think you should never put boundaries on yourself. You should always want to grow.” – Britney Jean Spears

Leaving Miami, heading for Texas and HM Magazine

Well, time to say goodbye to MillenniumBeat and I’m hitting the road for Texas in a few hours (literally) for my HM Magazine internship this summer.

I’ll continue to update here as well as my intern blog for HM, which I’ll keep you posted about. This project will look a little different but hopefully you all will enjoy it.