The Bowery Presents

The Bowery Ballroom upcoming shows

Apostle Of Hustle / Forro In The Dark

Brian Bonz

Venue:
The Bowery Ballroom
Date:
Wed 6/10
Notes:
18+
Doors: 8:00 PM / Show: 8:00 PM
$15
Tickets
Apostle Of Hustle
official website
myspace
Apostle of Hustle first took shape after a two-month sojourn in El Barrio Santo Suarez, in Havana, in 2001. This experience was mind blowing for Apostle of Hustle's lead (Andrew Whiteman) from the ground up: the community, the fashion, the pace and the music. Whiteman returned to Toronto invigorated about a possible music that did not yet exist. Knowing he wanted to create it, Whiteman took up residency at a local dive as Apostle of Hustle, a quartet. The band played Brazilian and Cuban folk songs, as well as Tom Waits / PJ Harvey / Marc Ribot covers. Whiteman played guitar and tres; plus he recruited Dean Stone on drums and Julian Brown; an old buddy from the mid 90's indie scene on upright bass. The fourth position was a kind of "open door" to whomever might show up on their nights.

Apostle of Hustle's first endeavor, Folkloric Feel, was released in July of 2004. It was a Frankenstein of a record - recorded in over four different locations at different times. By this point, Whiteman was almost completely consumed with recording and touring with Broken Social Scene and finishing the Apostle of Hustle record could only happen in between tours. A collection of tracks and mixes and ideas was brought to BSS producer David Newfeld's door and he somehow was able to create the psychedelic debut that came out on the Arts & Crafts label.

The follow-up, National Anthem of Nowhere was recorded in Montreal at Studio Masterkut in March of 2006. This time around the band sought the production talents of Martin Davis Kinack (BSS/Sam Roberts front-of house man, as well as Sarah Harmer producer) National Anthem of Nowhere was finished in Whiteman's bedroom in September and mixed in the woods at Marty's secret studio locale. National Anthem Of Nowhere was a concept album, though nobody realized it at the time. The band spoke about it: stories about when people go, or are pushed, voluntarily or involuntarily, to the borders of themselves. We all have these walls around us, and they are there for good reason (political /geographical /sexual /cultural /musical! /spiritual). People need these borders to define who they are but when you find yourself thru circumstance outside of your personal safety-zone, then what? The songs on NAON explored what happens or what changes are made within a person when they suddenly become a vagabond in their own body, no familiar home, nowhere to rest. It's a study of people dealing with varying degrees of identity-re-evaluation.

With the bands latest, Eats Darkness is also a concept album, perhaps more obviously. The very title "apostle of hustle eats darkness" mocks the omnipresent and utterly common advertising slogan. Do this! Be more desirable! Make others like you!? If they were selling anything, it'd be "eat darkness - you'll feel better". Not exactly, but there is an alchemical process at work here. Transformation does have its costs. You can't expect to feel better about life right away, can you? Why eating darkness? How is that supposed to help? Lets go back to the old idea of the shaman; the one who cures by ingesting the poison itself; he is the one who has been the sickest and thus has the skills to know how to travel back and forth between states. He suggests, eating darkness will be the cure of your darkness. Its very traditional. William Blake: "The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom". Swallowing poison usually leads to death, but not if the patient knows the art of transformation, not if they can "stomach" the bullshit & hell that is surrounding and tormenting them. This then is the process - one eats darkness & somehow is able to excrete out pure light!
Forro In The Dark
official website
myspace
Picture this: it’s an exceptionally hot, muggy night in the heart of Northeastern Brazil. While the ambient forest and wildlife sounds engulf most of the region, a bright rhythmic pulse beats out of a large, illuminated dance club.

A sweaty group of men and women, who should be exhausted after a long week’s work, dance exuberantly pelvis-to-pelvis in a waltz-meets-salsa like motion to a colorful vibrant band effortlessly performing a style of music centered around the bass-like thump of a zabumba, the awkward wail of an accordion and a large metal triangle rattled so quickly, you’d think the musician was having a seizure.

Well ok, Forro in the Dark is not quite that type of traditional forro band, instead they are bringing an updated style of the music to the hipsters and club-goers of NYC, but the sweaty, excitable vibe is still undeniable.

Supplementing the traditional instrumentation with electric guitars, an array of flutes, modern percussion and other contemporary instruments, along with the help of David Byrne, Bebel Gilberto and Miho Hatori, Forro in the Dark capture the immediate, pleasure-craving core of forro for modern audiences to relieve their stress on the dance floor just like the Brazilian workers of the early 1900s.

Forro in the Dark is Mauro Refosco on Zabumba and Vocals; Gilmar Gomes on Percussion and Vocals; Davi Vieira on Percussion and Vocals; Guilherme Monteiro on Guitar and Vocals; Jorge Continentino on Pifano, Baritone Sax and Vocals; and Smokey Hormel on Baritone Guitar, Slide Guitar and Vocals.
Brian Bonz
official website
myspace
It all began in Sunset Park. A diverse neighborhood with a breathtaking view of the Manhattan skyline, the hilly Brooklyn neighborhood was home to talented musician Brian Bonz. As the city around him went through multiple incarnations, Bonz began writing and recording songs with his older brothers equipment, and eventually booking his own shows, all while still in high school. The first record of seven songs, Sunday Theory (2003), was self-released and was followed shortly by SUSAN THE BOYSCOUT EP (2004, Electric Frog).

A solo-acoustic project that evolved to include an eclectic group of people, Brian Bonz and The Dot Hongs has been recognized as the best of Brooklyn's experimental rock scene (KEXP) creating wistful, intensely precious indie pop (Time Out). Drawing influence from a far-reaching variety of genres and musicians including Sam Cooke, Bjork and Broken Social Scene, the group embodies an indie-rock persona without becoming bound by it.

In 2007, Bonz began writing new songs that would become FROM SUMI TO JAPAN. By that summer the band had begun recording at Seaside Lounge in Sunset Park, accompanied a newly solidified lineup as well as session musicians who played with TV on the Radio, Arcade Fire and Tom Waits. With friend Chris Bracco (Kevin Devine) at the helm, mixing continued at his Buckingham-Nicks studio, allowing the group a brief refuge and change of scenery. The unusual opportunity to explore allowed FSTJ to evolve fully, and gave the group a chance to transform its songwriting both structurally and sonically.

Filled with stories of distance and escape, the new release is a musical journal, an ode to the surreal value of youth. While some might think that growing up in the city affords anonymity, eventually you begin to run into the same people when you pay to get onto the train. What the record really means is outgrowing certain things, friendships and relationships. It's about traveling and adventure and being apart from what you grew up in and seeing things from a different perspective.

Each song is a narrative. Whether the story is about bringing your girlfriend home to meet the parents, traveling with a married couple, or watching kids arrive at your house late at night to fight, these are the true tales of Bonz's Brooklyn. In reality, these are the chronicles of an American life.

Beyond singer/songwriter acoustics, FSTJ's variety of sound becomes the albums standout asset; by incorporating brass sections and the unique hammered dulcimer, Bonz's sparkling pop becomes draped in a colorful, melodic atmosphere. Tracks like Judy and The Alpha Queen and Dee The Dinosaur layer guitars over Bonz's mystical vocals to create the bands own brand of enchanting pop, while Christa McCauliffes Cacophony (Reprise)” and Goodnight, Captain Revelstoke showcase the underlying experimental nature of the record.

Brian Bonz and The Dot Hongs have played with a number of acts including Kevin Devine, Do Make Say Think, Apostle Of Hustle, Pronto, Ramona Falls, Jesse Lacey (Brand New), Travis Morrison (Dismemberment Plan), Owen, Person L, Straylight Run, Roger Miller (Mission of Burma), Joan of Arc, and more. They are currently writing there second release due out Summer/Fall of 2010.
Past recordings done by Kevin McMahon (The Walkmen, French Kicks) and James Flames.
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