twi-ny talks

TWI-NY TALK: JOE SIMON

Joe Simon shows off his colorful autobiography in his New York City apartment (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

JOE SIMON: MY LIFE IN COMICS (Titan, June 2011, $24.95)
www.titanbooks.com

The potential summer blockbuster Captain America opens in theaters today, but that would not have been possible without Joe Simon. Back in 1941, Simon, a native New Yorker born and raised in Rochester, teamed up with Jacob Kurtzberg, better known as Jack Kirby, and created the red, white, and blue superhero. The villain for the cover of the first issue? They came up with just the right one. “Adolf Hitler would be the perfect foil for our next new character, what with his hair and that stupid-looking moustache and his goose-stepping. He was like a cartoon anyway,” Simon writes in his entertaining, intimate, and refreshingly honest memoir, My Life in Comics (Titan, June 2011, $24.95). “We knew what was happening in Europe, and we were outraged by the Nazis — totally outraged. We thought it was a good time for a patriotic hero. . . . And that’s how Captain America was created.”

Today the ninety-seven-year-old Simon spends most of his time in his cluttered apartment just west of the Theater District, surrounded by classic drawings, sketches, and comic book covers. His works line the walls, a veritable history of the industry in black and white and color. One of the many highlights is a grand depiction of the Last Supper populated with his characters, a painting he completed with his daughter Gail. Sitting in his large, comfortable recliner in the middle of the living room, Simon is thrilled to tell tales of his days serving in the Coast Guard with Jack Dempsey, meeting Damon Runyon and Max Baer while a journalist, riding horses in Forest Park, and mentoring such comic book legends as Stan Lee. As we talk, he pulls out stunning works accumulated from throughout his fascinating career. He pauses to congratulate one of his granddaughters for passing an important college test; seven of his eight grandkids were scheduled to fly to Hollywood to walk the red carpet at the star-studded Captain America premiere. Among the other characters Simon had a hand in either creating or developing were the Fiery Mask, the Fly, the Blue Bolt, Sandman, the Newsboy Legion, Manhunter, and the Boy Commandos. An engaging character himself with a sharp memory and a wicked sense of humor, Simon discussed his book and life with twi-ny shortly before the release of the Captain America movie.

twi-ny: What was the experience like going through your past to put together My Life in Comics? Were there any particular parts of your life that were more difficult to talk about than others?

Joe Simon: This was the first time I revealed some of the more intimate details of my life, talking about my wife Harriet and my family, and some of the challenges we’ve faced. It wasn’t really difficult, but it was something I’d never really talked about before.

I feel very lucky because I have my memory. There are things that happened to me ninety years ago — such as the time I met a Civil War veteran — which I remember clearly. I’ve had a lot of exciting things happen to me over the course of ninety-seven years, and it was wonderful to be able to get them down on paper, for everyone to experience.

twi-ny: In the book, you note that you and many of your earliest colleagues come from immigrant Jewish families working in the clothing business in New York City. Do you think that might have had some impact on your eventual career path, creating superheroes and villains dressed in fairy-tale costumes?

JS: That’s a good question. Since tailoring involves creativity, I suppose my parents influenced me in that way, and I’d never really realized it. They also influenced me with their attempts at true romance writing, as badly as they turned out, and with the sense that you stick to it, no matter what you’re trying to accomplish. So in both of those ways they helped me throughout my career. (And of course, thanks to my father, when I came to New York City, I was the best-dressed guy in the comic book business.)

twi-ny: The Captain America movie comes out on July 22. What was your involvement with the picture? What are your thoughts about the film, and about superhero movies in general as they continually get transferred from comic books to the big screen?

JS: Stephen Broussard at Marvel Studios has been keeping me up-to-date, and he arranged for them to film an interview with me. I’ve been liking everything I’ve seen, and am very excited to see how it turns out.

I haven’t seen all of the superhero movies, especially in recent years, but I understand that the Marvel films have been very good. I’ve always thought that Captain America would make a terrific movie and could never understand why all of the earlier attempts sucked so badly. This time, though, they’re sticking to the story that Jack Kirby and I created, so I think they’ll get it right. That’s always the best way to do it — stick with what works.

[Joe Simon: My Life in Comics is available through Amazon and in bookstores everywhere.]

TWI-NY TALK: THE LONDON CANDY COMPANY — JIGS PATEL & KHALIDRA LEVISTER

London Candy Co. owner Jig Patel (right) is happy to unveil Knock-Off pastries (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

The London Candy Company
1442 Lexington Ave. at 94th St.
212-427-2129
www.thelondoncandycompany.com

Whenever we go to London, we make sure to bring back a large bag of British chocolate; our favorites include Galaxy Minstrels and Flake, Aero, Crunchie, and Lion bars. But we no longer have to travel across the pond to fill our coffers; in April, Jignesh Patel opened the London Candy Co. on the Upper East Side, at the corner of Lexington Ave. and 94th St., offering a multitude of queen-approved delicacies. Last month the flagship store added Knock-Offs to their repertoire, original, individual-sized chocolate-covered cakes inspired by Coconut Bounty, Double Decker, Terry’s Chocolate Orange, Cadbury’s Turkish Delight, Topic, After Eight Thin Mints, Milky Bar, Smarties, Mars Duo, and Blackcurrant and Strawberry Fruit Pastilles. For pastry chef Khalidra Levister, the challenge in making the Knock-Offs was to re-create the taste of the classic English sweets without using the exact same ingredients, which would have been a copyright infringement; she particularly nailed the Topic and Double Decker cakes. Second-generation sweets-shop owner Patel and Levister, the chef of confections at Flavorprint and executive vice president of 4food, recently discussed Knock-Offs and more with twi-ny.

twi-ny: Where did the idea for Knock-Offs originate?

Jigs Patel: My parents also owned a sweets shop, so there was always candy around. It simply couldn’t be helped. My mother, desperate to keep me from eating all of it, decided to go ahead and start baking the chocolates into desserts. After all, I could sneak a cake into my bag less easily than a Bounty bar. When I opened the London Candy Company, I wanted to do something similar. We toyed with the idea of cupcakes, but it wasn’t quite right. When Khahlidra Levister, our pastry chef, came in with her ideas, I was blown away. The Knock-Offs are a brilliant way to honor my mother’s original work, to showcase the candy, and to please and surprise customers.

Khahlidra Levister: When I first visited the London Candy Company, my first thought was the layout and aesthetic is very sophisticated. When I heard they were thinking of offering cupcakes, I began thinking of a way to take the cupcake to the next level. Jigs and I spoke over the phone about his love of cakes and his childhood experiences and set up a meeting. At the meeting, I presented him with a cake I created based on the flavors of Terry’s Chocolate Orange. The name “Knock-Offs” came naturally during early development, as I was “knocking off” the candy-bar flavors.

twi-ny: What was the most difficult part of making them?

KL: The most difficult part of making a Knock-Off is translating candy bars to cake while maintaining the integrity of the original product. To do so, I make all the fillings from scratch—nougat, caramel, Turkish delight.

twi-ny: Which are your personal favorites?

JP: My absolute favorite cake is the Bounty-inspired one. I’m such a huge coconut fan and Khahlidra got this one just right. The cake is fantastic, the coconut is delicious, and the chocolate brings it all together. I can hardly believe that I’m not eating the real thing.

KL: My personal favorite is the After Eight Knock-Off, but I’ve always been a sucker for mint and dark chocolate.

Knock-Offs re-create the flavor of classic English sweet treats at London Candy Co. (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

twi-ny: Did you try any others that didn’t work out?

JP: We tried to re-create the Mars bar—chocolate and caramel—but it just wasn’t working for me. It didn’t have that extra something that we’re looking to bring to our customers.

KL: I haven’t figured out quite how to represent the Flake bar, or the Aero.

twi-ny: What makes British chocolate so much better than American chocolate?

JP: The Brits use real sugar in their chocolate—never corn syrup. Also, many American manufacturers use wax to stabilize their chocolate so it doesn’t melt; British manufacturers don’t. A fun fact: In England, chocolate must contain at least 20% cocoa solids, whereas in the U.S., cocoa solids need only make up 10%. A Cadbury Dairy Milk bar contains 23% cocoa solids, while its American counterpart contains just 11%.

twi-ny: How has the public reacted to the store in general and the Knock-Offs in particular?

JP: People come into the store very excited to try anything and everything from our selection. For a lot of people, the sweets bring out a sense of nostalgia for travel or treats from their childhood. Others are just excited to try something new. There’s been quite a bit of interest in the Knock-Offs. Since the cakes are single serving, they’re not much of a calorie or money investment and people are willing to take a chance. The bestsellers so far have been the After Eight, which is a chocolate cake layered with mint fondant, and the Turkish Delight.

TWI-NY TALK: MICHAEL TULLY

Michael Tully wrote, directed, and stars in the creepy southern Gothic dysfunctional family drama SEPTIEN

SEPTIEN (Michael Tully, 2011)
IFC Center
323 Sixth Ave. at West Third St.
July 6-14
212-924-7771
www.ifccenter.com
www.septienfilm.com

We first met Michael Tully eleven years ago, when he was an aspiring filmmaker working with us at an informational movie database company. A good-natured guy who loves talking about sports and films, Tully has gone on to direct the gritty Cocaine Angel (2006), the documentary Silver Jew (2007), about David Berman and his band, the Silver Jews, and the Web series Superego (2010). In his latest feature, the southern Gothic Septien, Tully is a triple threat, serving as writer and director as well as star. Tully plays Cornelius Rawlings, a prodigal son who walked away from his family eighteen years earlier and suddenly returns home, to the delight and concern of his two brothers, Ezra (executive producer Robert Longstreet), who has become the small clan’s rather odd and obsessive matriarch, and Amos (Onur Tukel), a hairy, shirtless artist whose weird drawings just might be predicting the future. Cornelius, in a hoodie and sporting out-of-control facial hair, is hiding a dark secret as he wanders around behaving oddly, challenging strangers to one-on-one sporting contests and pretending he’s floating dead in a lake. Darkly atmospheric and extremely funny, Septien is not afraid to take chances, much like Tully himself, who discussed the film, basketball, and more with us as he prepared for its theatrical release July 6 at the IFC Center; he will participate in a Q&A following the 8:00 screening on Wednesday night.

twi-ny: You’ve been writing about film for many years, including when we worked together back in 2000. What’s it like on the other side of things, being the interviewee instead of the interviewer, the filmmaker instead of the critic?

Michael Tully: Those were the good ol’ days, weren’t they? Actually, no they weren’t. Seriously, Mark, you were a genuinely cool boss and so many fun people worked at that company that life wasn’t as bad as it could have been. But looking back on those years now, I am down-on-my-knees happy to have escaped my confused, frustrated twenties with nothing more than too many hangovers and too much thumb-twiddling. Back then, I didn’t think I’d ever actually have the courage to make a film. But by doing this interview, I guess that means that the wheels have finally been set in motion!

As for the question of existing on two sides of the camera, it really all comes down to the fact that I love movies. I don’t have an extreme, clinically diagnosable attention deficit disorder, yet I find that I tend to get restless in a general sense, so this floating from filmmaker to film writer is simply a way for me to stay connected to things and, frankly, not be bored. Getting interviewed is fun, and I would be a liar and an idiot if I didn’t say that it’s more personally rewarding to attend a festival wearing a filmmaker badge as opposed to a press badge. That said, this year at Sundance I walked around Park City wearing a double-sided lanyard (filmmaker and press), and I made it a point to spend as much time seeing and talking about other movies as I could. I find that knowing what it’s like to be both an interviewee and an interviewer helps to keep me humble and grounded. The world needs more somewhat well-adjusted, less wholly self-absorbed filmmakers in it.

twi-ny: Silver Jew premiered at SXSW, Cocaine Angel at Rotterdam, and now Septien at Sundance. What were those film festival experiences like?

MT: I learned early on that if you’re seeing the glass as half empty at any stage of the filmmaking process, you’re looking at the wrong half of the glass. This certainly applies to the film festival experience as well. Merely getting accepted into a film festival—not just the more prestigious ones that you mentioned but any festival—is a real honor, so I look at everything as icing on the cake. If only three tickets are sold for a 150-seat theater, my view is, “Cool, three people showed up to watch our movie!” At that point, the film is finished, which is really all one can control, so to have the legitimacy of presenting it on a big screen to friends and strangers . . . that’s more of a victory than one could ever hope for. Of course, people don’t ever tell you the depths to which they did not like your movie, but you can tell when someone has an especially positive reaction. If I can leave each festival with one of those, I consider it a smash success. At the above fests, that happened to some extent at every screening I attended.

MIchael Tully, Onur Tukel, and Robert Longstreet play the severely dysfunctional Rawlings brothers in SEPTIEN

twi-ny: You’ve worked on a number of films with your good friend David Gordon Green. What have you learned from him on and off those sets?

MT: David is such a helpful and positive energy source. An outlandish brainstorm over Irish coffees at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival turned the seed of Septien into a pretty sturdy skeleton, so he actually had a direct creative impact on this particular project. But in a personal sense, David’s consistent need for laughter, as well as his boundless, childlike enthusiasm for movies, is always infectious and inspiring. In a professional sense, he likes to keep his sets as casual and fun as possible, and I am 100% in support of that as well. Working on those early films—George Washington, All The Real Girls—helped me to realize that there doesn’t have to be fighting and tension and high stress in order to make a good movie. David treats everyone the same way, and that tends to create an enthusiastic atmosphere that becomes especially helpful on a particularly rough day, or especially at the tail end of a shoot. I’ve never understood directors or producers who look down upon the PAs. (Mind you, I felt this way before I had the humiliating experience of being a looked-down-upon PA.) We’re all there for a reason. Of course, there’s a hierarchy, but if everybody didn’t do their job, these movies would never get made. Any set of David’s I’ve either worked on or visited, I’ve never felt that ugly tension.

twi-ny: In Septien, you are shown to be an exceptional athlete even though you look like the Unabomber. Were you a high school star, and if so, in what sports? Do you still play any sports today?

MT: I was never even somewhat close to being a “star” in sports. I always played backyard football but I was too much of a wimp to play for real. I was on the basketball traveling team as an adolescent and showed more potential to be something special when I was younger, but everyone grew beyond and ran past me by tenth grade or so. Sports were always recreational for me. I still play co-ed bball on Sunday mornings in the winter in Carroll Gardens, and I try my best to play as much tennis as possible in the spring, summer, and fall, though I’ve refused to buy a tennis permit this year since they raised the fee 100% from $100 to $200.

With regard to Septien, let me make two things clear: 1) The actors I hustled in the sports scenes in the movie would have absolutely destroyed me if we had played for real. That said: 2) I did actually make those trick shots!

Should the Knicks have let Donnie Walsh go?

MT: I have lost my affinity for the NBA and I don’t have an opinion either way, except to say that my usual natural aversion to the Knicks—I know, shame on me, but don’t worry, it’s nowhere near comparable to my disdain for the Lakers—has been softened by their reigning inadequacy on the court. They’ve fallen so low recently that I’ve actually begun to feel sorry for them. The real sports question that has been consuming me this summer is what will it feel like to not see Gary Williams on the bench next season as head coach of my beloved Maryland Terrapins, and will Mark Turgeon be able to forge a better bond with the coaches and kids in the Baltimore/DC area to land some more top-notch recruits. It’s gonna be so weird to watch the Terps next season. But the record had begun to skip, and I applaud Gary for getting out before his heart and brain exploded on the court during one of his especially raucous tirades.

(On July 5 at 8:00, the night before Septien opens at the IFC Center, Tully will be at 92YTribeca presenting a rare public screening of Buzz Kulik’s 1974 cult classic Bad Ronald, which stars Scott Jacoby as the deeply troubled title character. “Though they are very different,” Tully explains on the Y’s website, “one of our primary goals in making Septien was to capture that same ‘five-year-old-discovering-a-movie-that-he-probably-shouldn’t-be-watching’ spirit that I felt when I stumbled upon this strangely alluring gem.” And the artwork that Onur Tukel created for his Septien character will be on display at the Pennington Gallery at 355 West Broadway from 10:00 am to 8:00 pm through July 14.)

TWI-NY TALK: PASCAL RIOULT

The always elegant Pascal Rioult will present two new works and repertory favorites at the Joyce this week

The Joyce Theater
175 Eighth Ave. at 19th St.
June 14-19, $10-$49
212-691-9740
www.joyce.org
www.rioult.org

New York City–based French choreographer Pascal Rioult, who established himself as a performer dancing with May O’Donnell, Paul Sanasardo, and, most famously, Martha Graham in the late 1980s and early 1990s, formed his own company in 1994 and has been challenging the precepts of contemporary dance ever since. Favoring sensual movement set to classical music, Rioult has put together such thematic evenings as “The Ravel Project,” “The Stravinsky Program,” and “Bare Bach” that combine new works with reimagined and reinterpreted classics. For his upcoming season at the Joyce, running June 14-19, he will be presenting two programs: one consisting of the all-Bach Views of the Fleeting World (“The Art of Fugue”), City (“Sonata for Violin and Harpsichord #6 in G major”), and the world premiere of Celestial Tides (the Brandenburg Concerti), the second, performed to live music, featuring Black Diamond (Stravinsky), Bolero (Ravel), and the new On Distant Shores, a beautiful dance about Helen of Troy (a sparkling Charis Haines) with a commissioned score by Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Aaron J Kernis. After watching a sweaty rehearsal of On Distant Shores and Celestial Tides on an impossibly hot day, twi-ny met with the former track and field athlete, who graciously agreed to participate in a twi-ny talk as he prepared for his latest New York season.

twi-ny: You’ve devoted previous evenings to Ravel, Stravinsky, and Mozart, and you will be presenting a night of Bach at the Joyce. What are some of the specific challenges, as well as joys, in interpreting Bach onstage?

Pascal Rioult: I have always loved Bach’s music, instinctively and without understanding where the magic came from. It is specifically because of my intense work with the music of two great composition masters, Ravel and Stravinsky, in the past eight years that I felt it was time to “go to the source” of contrapuntal music and try to understand the great mystery of “Harmony.” (“Mysterium Harmonicum” was at the time of Bach an art and philosophy theory believing that there was some sort of mysterious forces that kept the Universe in balance and created a “Music of the Spheres” — a Divine Harmony.)

I love this concept in Art as in Life (I called the closing piece of the Bach program Celestial Tides). Certainly Bach’s mastery of counterpoint must come very close to this Divine Harmony.

But I also want with my dances to show that Bach’s music, contrary to common belief, is unbelievably rich emotionally.

twi-ny: Which composer might you have your sights set on next?

PR: I am not sure yet about which composer will be next, although I love Russian music and have not used it yet.

twi-ny: You also have the new series “Dance to Contemporary Composers,” which includes a newly adapted composition by Aaron J Kernis that will be performed live at the Joyce. How did that collaboration come about?

PR: It is time for me to work with contemporary composers (living composers). On the other hand, I suffer from not being able to have live music for my performances, which makes such a difference. So I decided to try to get support for the project of commissioning new music and have it played live for the next three years.

I have known and admired Aaron J Kernis’s music for many years, and we had wanted to collaborate for a while but did not get the opportunity yet. His music fits my concerns about the classical form as well as being filled with emotional content. I discussed with him my idea about a piece based on the character of Helen of Troy that I described as a “redemption fantasy.” We had to portray in a few minutes the epic of the Trojan war for the male heroes, then slip into the dream world created by Helen’s imagination and finish with a way to redemption. I knew it would be very rewarding to work with Aaron, and it has been a great collaborative experience resulting in a brilliant piece of music.

Michael Spencer Phillips and Charis Haines get hot and heavy rehearsing ON DISTANT SHORES in preparation for world premiere at the Joyce (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

twi-ny: What is it about Helen that drew you to her?

PR: I have always thought that Helen of Troy got a wrongful reputation. She would have been the cause of one of the most horrible wars that ever was, because she left her husband for another man. Was it not as usual the men’s unrelenting need of violence and conquest that drove them to Troy and made Helen a convenient pretext?

I found in the Euripides play Helen a similar version of the fact/myth. The mischievous gods had made a likeness of Helen from the clouds and that is the mirage that Paris took away to Troy, and it is for that “mirage” that so many lives were lost.

It was time for me to redeem Helen.

twi-ny: In addition to the obvious physical contact, your dancers make extraordinary, very emotional eye contact with one another while performing. Is that something you teach them? How important is that when you are choreographing a piece?

PR: As a matter of fact, I never give the dancers direction about expressions. On the contrary, I usually keep them from using facial expressions at all. Dancers do not need it because the expression comes forth through the body itself, from the inner core (you could say the inner self). Then the energy that creates the appropriate expression radiates towards the outside (including, at last, the face). You see, that is what we call “radiance,” “projection.” . . . You cannot help it if it comes from the right place. You don’t need to “put it on” and I don’t need to teach it.

I learned that from my mentor, Martha Graham.

TWI-NY TALK: MOLLY SURNO — CINEMA 16 AT THE MET

Molly Surno is keeping the spirit of experimental and avant-garde film alive by bringing back Cinema 16

Metropolitan Museum of Art
1000 Fifth Ave. at 82nd St.
Friday, June 3, 7:00
Free with recommended admission of $20
212-570-3828
www.mollysurno.wordpress.com
www.metmuseum.org/collegegroup

In 1947, Amos Vogel founded Cinema 16 as an art community where film devotees could see and discuss experimental celluloid works. Vogel, who turned ninety this past April, later cofounded the New York Film Festival with Richard Roud, serving as its first director in 1963; the NYFF still features the “Views from the Avant-Garde” showcase every year. Since April 2008, photographer and curator Molly Surno has taken up the reins of Vogel’s initial call to arms, answering his question “Shall this audience continue unaware of these hundreds of thought-provoking, artistically satisfying, and socially purposeful films?” by bringing back Cinema 16. The L.A.-born, Brooklyn-based Surno puts together monthly programs that combine classic and contemporary avant-garde films with cutting-edge bands providing live scores. On June 3 at 7:00, she is presenting her latest gathering, being held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in conjunction with the exhibition “Guitar Heroes: Legendary Craftsmen from Italy to New York.” Introduced by Met associate curator Jayson Kerr Dobney, the evening, part of the Met’s College Group initiative, will feature films by Andy Warhol, Rudy Burckhardt, Edgar Varèse and Le Corbusier, Gina Carducci, Herbert Kosower, and Francis Thompson and live music by Nick Zinner and Brian Chase of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Shahin Motia of Oneida, and MV Carbon. As she prepared for the event, Surno was able to sneak in a few minutes to discuss experimental cinema and more with twi-ny.

twi-ny: You’ve held previous editions of Cinema 16 at such venues as the Kitchen, Smack Mellon, Galapagos, the Bell House, and MoMA/PS1, but your next edition is taking place June 3 at the Met, in conjunction with the “Guitar Heroes” exhibition. How did that come about? Did the location impact how you curated the program?

Molly Surno: To my amazement the Metropolitan Museum contacted me to do a performance as part of the programming for the “Guitar Heroes” exhibit. Humbled and inspired, I tailored this program entirely to the current show. The band is composed of some of Brooklyn’s most incredible string players, echoing the three centuries of string instruments on display. The films I selected are all based on the idea of a cityscape being a muse for artistic expression. “Guitar Heroes” shows the journey of string instruments from Southern Italy to New York and the way the luthiers drew from their environments. I took that same premise and selected films that used one’s surroundings as the platform for creative influence. Francis Thompson’s film N.Y., N.Y. quite literally examines the day in a life of a New Yorker but through a kaleidoscope-type lens; Andy Warhol’s Screen Test of Salvador Dalí expresses the culture of an artistic community congregating in New York; Gina Carducci’s Stone Welcome Mat journeys from the Sicily of her grandfather’s home super-8 films to her own return to Southern Italy decades later from the eye of a New York–based artist, among other tales of our surroundings informing and motivating creative works.

Francis Thompson’s “N.Y., N.Y.” is among the avant-garde films Molly Surno will be presenting at the Met on June 3

twi-ny: What do you choose first when putting together a program, the films or the musicians?

MS: The selection process entirely depends on the commission. For the Met the “Guitar Heroes” exhibition completely dictated both the musical and film curation.

twi-ny: Where did your love of experimental films come from? Was there a “Eureka!” moment? For us, the Eureka! moment, for example, was taking a class with Amos Vogel back in college. Is he familiar with what you’re doing?

MS: I am actively trying to find my way uptown so that I can meet Amos and potentially do a program together. It’s on the wish list.

twi-ny: Are there certain films out there that you’ve been searching for but have been unable to find or gain access to? Who are the new artists making experimental films today who have a similar spirit to those made by such innovators as Maya Deren, Bruce Conner, Shirley Clarke, and Stan Brakhage?

MS: Certainly films are hard to access because they weren’t preserved properly. For example, I wanted to show some Italian experimental film for this program, but there is so little that was properly archived (or archived at all). There is a community that is vibrant and active around the preservation of experimental films, and through them I have met some incredible contemporary avant-garde artists, including Joel Schlemowitz, Gina Carducci, MM Serra, and Mark Street, to name a few. A few years back I showed a piece by an artist named Ezra Johnson, who also works with animation. His work blows my mind.

twi-ny: You’re constantly surrounded by avant-garde film and music. Do you ever just push it all to the back of your mind and spend a Saturday night checking out The Hangover Part II, Thor, or the latest Twilight or Pirates of the Caribbean flick?

MS: This might be my favorite question any journalist has ever asked me. Oddly enough, the more experimental films I watch, the harder it is for me to sit through big-budget films. I mean, let’s put it this way: For me, a Saturday night spent among purely escapist entertainment would include The Godfather or The French Connection. . . . That is about as mainstream as I like to get.

TWI-NY TALK: TODAY THE MOON, TOMORROW THE SUN

Today the Moon, Tomorrow the Sun will go wild at Cameo Gallery on May 24 (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Cameo Gallery
93 North Sixth St.
Tuesday, May 24, $5, 8:00
718-302-1180
www.myspace.com/cameogallery
www.myspace.com/todaythemoontomorrowthesun

Today the Moon, Tomorrow the Sun’s debut full-length album, Wildfire (Avengeling, May 2011), is one of those records that just explodes out of the speakers and keeps reverberating in your head. After a brief, calm intro, “We Were Wild” blasts off in a blaze of synth and hard-rocking guitar as lead singer Lauren Gibson proclaims, “So if you’re not proud of / the cold that you’ve become / turn up the heat / pick up the pace with your feet.” TTMTTS has a lot to be proud of with Wildfire, a sizzling hot record that should get plenty of people picking up the pace with their feet. Featuring Gibson on guitar and keyboards, Cregg Gibson on guitar, Micah Silverman on bass and keyboards, and Jeremy Cole on drums and electronics, the band has been building a loyal fan base in their hometown of Atlanta and beyond with a series of EPs, including 2008’s striking Lightning, and such kick-ass songs as “Traits of a Traitor (Autonomic),” “Apologia,” “Like It or Not,” and “Never. Always. Good.” But they’ve reached a whole new level with Wildfire, fifty minutes of unrelenting thrills and chills. When Lauren sings, “The beast beats / you hear the sound / take your blood heat / you feel it now,” on “Old Monster,” just try not feeling the beast. TTMTTS will be at Cameo Gallery in Williamsburg on May 24 with She Keeps Bees, Ivana XL, and Little Insects.

twi-ny: Wildfire is a major step forward for you, your first full-length album after several EPs, and it features a much bigger, broader sound. Did you change the way you write and record with the longer LP in mind, or did you follow the same procedures of your earlier recordings?

TTMTTS: We definitely changed our approach this go-around. In the past, as songs were written we would play them live and record them pretty much how we played them live; so basically the newest songs we were playing out would become an EP every nine months or so. With Wildfire, we knew we wanted to write a full-length album. During the heat of the summer of 2010, we decided to take six weeks off the road and lock ourselves in our practice space/studio to write. We also wanted to try creating songs within a studio setting . . . doing as much preproduction work as we could, recording demos and listening back and writing more from there. We wanted to experiment with different sounds and instrumentation and dig a little deeper than we’ve been able to in the past.

twi-ny: So many great bands have come out of Atlanta in the last few years, including the Black Lips, Deerhunter, and Gringo Star. What’s in the water down there? Who are some of your favorite up-and-coming local groups?

TTMTTS: Pretty sure what’s in the water down here is PBR. There are a ton of great bands in the ATL. Since we’re on the road so much we unfortunately haven’t gotten to see quite a few that we’d like to. We’ll be in the studio a little more this summer and are hoping to catch a lot of live music while we’re in town. A few bands we have seen that we love (and I’m sure we’ll be forgetting some other greats) include: Jungol, Royal Thunder, Baby Baby, This Piano Plays Itself, Sealions, A: The Color, O’Brother, Mighty High Coup, the Booze, and the list goes on and on. . . .

twi-ny: You’re playing May 24 in Williamsburg. What kinds of things are you planning to do while you’re here?

TTMTTS: Finding cool, free things to do. Any suggestions? That, catching up with old friends, and LAUNDRY!

twi-ny: Of course, we suggest you check out This Week in New York for lots of cool, free things to do here in the city. Your name comes from what the Weekly World News claims would have been a Polish astronaut’s first words if Poland were the first country to put a man on the moon. What would come the day after tomorrow?

TTMTTS: Today is actually May 19, so forget the sun and the moon, the day after tomorrow is . . . the Rapture. ; )

TWI-NY TENTH ANNIVERSARY TALK: MEGAN REILLY AND JAMES MASTRO

Megan Reilly will team up with Jim Mastro at twi-ny’s tenth anniversary party on May 18 at Fontana’s (photo by Godlis)

Fontana’s
105 Eldridge St. between Grand & Broome Sts.
Wednesday, May 18, free, 7:00 – 9:30
212-334-6740
www.fontanasnyc.com
www.meganreilly.com
www.guitarbar.com

Born in Memphis and based in New Jersey, alt country folk rocker Megan Reilly has spent much of her career surrounded by some of the tristate area’s finest musicians, including bassist Tony Maimone, drummer Steve Goulding, keyboardist Eric Morrison, and guitarists Tim Foljahn and Jim Mastro. Melding Loretta Lynn with Thin Lizzy on her two fine albums, Arc of Tessa and Let Your Ghost Go, Reilly creates atmospheric moods on such haunting ballads as “With You” and “Nighttime,” gets bluesy on “Tropic on Cancer,” and plays infectious pop hooks on “Girl” and “Let Your Ghost Go.” Hoboken fixture Mastro, who owns the popular Guitar Bar on First St., is the consummate sideman, producer, guitarist, and bandleader whose endless array of gigs have ranged from the Bongos and the Health & Happiness Show to Ian Hunter’s Rant Band and various collaborations and live performances with Syd Straw, Amy Speace, Richard Lloyd, Robert Plant, and many others. Reilly and Mastro have been playing together for much of this decade, and they’ll be teaming up May 18 at twi-ny’s tenth anniversary celebration at Fontana’s, which also includes live performances from Paula Carino and the Sliding Scale and Evan Shinners and readings by Andrew Giangola, Nova Ren Suma, Dean Haspiel, and Kyle Thomas Smith.

twi-ny: You each have collaborated with many different musicians who play very different styles. What’s it like working with each other?

Megan Reilly: Jim’s playing is very lyrical and deep and atmospheric. Playing with him makes me a better singer and player. He tastefully compliments everything I’m doing, which I’m really grateful for.

James Mastro: To me, Megan’s songs are all about emotional landscaping — these stark, bare songs that always have little things flowering in spots. She writes like no one else I know — starting in one direction but then taking a turn in a maze that I wouldn’t have thought of, but still ending up in the right place. Her voice and melodies directly affect the way I play, and are what I play off of; she makes my job easy.

twi-ny: Megan, at the anniversary party you will be playing songs from your next album, which will be recorded this summer. Can you share the titles of some of the new songs? How will the record compare to the sound on your earlier discs?

James Mastro, seen here playing the Hoboken Music & Art Festival with Ian Hunter and R.E.M’s Peter Buck and Scott McCaughey of the Baseball Project, will team up with Megan Reilly at twi-ny’s tenth anniversary bash (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

MR: I’m a mother now. My sister thinks my voice has become more earthy. And I’m singing a lot about floating in water or being swept under it. Part of that is from floating in a pond in Vermont several summers ago with all this sky above me, giving me such comfort at a difficult time when no words could. And part of the theme of water also comes from carrying a child. And there’s the subject of my great aunt who emigrated from Ireland and drowned herself in the East River in the mid-1950s. That one is called “The Lady of Leitrim.” It’s something I’ve wanted to write about for a long time. But despite the nature of that song, I think this is a hopeful and self-assured record. It’s got a lot of strength in the sound of it. Jim is a really confident player.

twi-ny: Everyone talks about the changing indie music scene in Brooklyn, but both of you live in New Jersey. What’s going on these days musically in the Garden State?

JM: Hoboken’s still a thriving scene full of great players, songwriters, and bands. Maxwell’s is still going strong, and there have been more and more DIY guerrilla-style concerts being put on that’s always good for shaking things up and keeping people excited about music.

MR: There are some wonderful places to play here, Outpost in the Burbs and Maxwell’s. Those venues have hosted some of my best recent shows. And the people here really seem to appreciate what we’re doing. I’m really happy here.