So Many Bands

I'm just gonna put it out there. I'm not much of a fan of the whole industrial, goth-like rock. There are some bands I enjoy like The Birthday Massacre, Dommin and of course, the obvious Nine Inch Nails but usually I don't seek out that type of music. Those that know me know what can be categorized as a "Sarah band:" pretty much anything that makes me want to shake my money-maker or covered in so much sugar coated goodness that it makes people want to gag.

I stumbled onto Art Versus Industry when vocalist Avi Ghosh added me on Facebook. I'm very selective about who I friend on any social media (except Twitter, of course). So when I got the friend request, I was like "Who is this guy? What is he about? Why is he adding me?" And like what people normally do, I checked out his profile. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to see as most of it was private, but I found a link to his band's website. I took a listen and really enjoyed what I heard. It was very industrial, however, there was something more to it.

I sat down with Avi and his bandmates before one of their shows at Elysium a while back. I stuck out as I wore a pastel pink shirt with pastel polka dots in the venue with the unofficially dark tones only dress code. This band is somewhat new to Austin but I've noticed more people are starting to take notice. With the accompany light show at their performances, it's hard not to.

Instead of rehashing their background and what they sound like in this introduction, let's just get straight to the interview. And by the way, after accepting Avi's friend request, he's turned out to be more than just a dude with a band. He and his bandmates are pretty cool and HUMBLE. That's important.

You guys are a fairly new band. You formed in March '09.Avi: Yeah technically.

So how did this line up get together?Avi: Long story. Ok, I'm gonna let Matt explain how he got involved with this and I'll talk about how that happened.

Matt: Ok, well Avi has been doing music for about seven or eight years.

Avi: Way too long.

Matt: Releasing albums under Defy and Avi Ghosh and I first heard him back when I was in high school. I was probably a junior. I was amazed by his music and I sent him a message and we just kept in touch. Long story short, I was finishing up school. He offered me to audition for the band and I couldn't pass it up.

Avi: And you moved all the way...

Matt: And yeah, I moved here from New York Jersey, right outside of Philadelphia.

Because of the offer?

Matt: Because of this offer. Because I was such a huge fan and his art always inspired me. It's exactly everything that I've always wanted to do with my own art so it was the perfect opportunity. I couldn't pass it up.

Avi: It was one of those things that I wanted him to finish his degree. so like "You're not fucking moving out here until you get some sort of education." And after that, I was like "Fuck it. Pack your shit." I think the day after you graduated.

Matt: Literally, the last day, my last class, the following day, I moved. I even missed out on Nine Inch Nails to come down here. That's what happened

Avi: That's commitment.

That is commitment.

Nick: So then we got together. I moved to New York after I graduated from college and to be a big drummer out there. Whatever, try to make it. Didn't work. Came back. So I've been in a couple of bands and nothing was really sticking and nobody's really committed. Nothing was new so I wrote this long thing on Craigslist and this guy responds. So that's how we found each other. On Craigslist. We got together, he was still living in Arkansas?

Avi: Well technically, I was all over the place. I wasn't living in Little Rock at the time because I was living in Little Rock, Chicago, and somewhere in New York in Queens. I was traveling all over the place so I didn't have a place to live but my girlfriend lived here. She's like "Move to Austin" and I'm like fuck, I don't know what I'm gonna do. I'm not going to have a band. I don't have that. I don't know what I'm going to do. So get on Craigslist, see this kid's ad and I'm like hmm, this seems interesting. So I messaged him and we go and meet in this odd sort of Hooters-type situation.

Nick: Twin Peaks. It was awesome.

Avi: And I typically wouldn't never be found in a place like that.

You don't seem like Twin Peaks kind of guys.

Nick: I am. I kinda like it. What can I say? But yeah, so became really good friends. Actually he had me join the band and hadn't even played. Haven't even heard me play. Never. It was like done.

It was just from the ad.

Avi: When you met somebody, you have that sort of love at first sight moment and one thing lead to another, met him and it just love at first sight sort of thing. It's totally heterosexual, but we got along and before you knew it, it was magic.

Matt: I think my favorite part about having Munoz in the band aside from the fact that he's Munoz and that's awesome is that his musical influences are very drastically different from me and Avi. So it was great to have a completely different viewpoint coming in on this so that's pretty great.

Yeah. I think I read in an interview of Nick's, you said the album that made you want to be a musician was Thursday's "Full Collapse."

Nick: Yes. Oh yes.

I like that album too.

Avi: I love Thursday too.

Because obviously this music isn't Thursday...

Avi: Yeah, Not at all.

How did you get from that band to this?

Nick: It was really interesting. It was all because of (Avi). I was looking for something really different. I was really tired of playing drums with that sort of genres, looking for something new. And this was really a challenge because it's so different, so it pushed me out of my comfort zone. But I feel like I've grown a lot as a musician. And yeah, he loves keyboards so it kind of took place of guitars for the most part and it's been awesome.

And for you two, are there any bands you listen to that's different from this genre that people'd be surprised you listen to?

Avi: I personally love the Bee Gees. I'm serous but I love all kinds of music. If it's Elvis or... It's so weird because most people love the electronic stuff, but I like hip hop like old NWA records. Those are probably a bigger influence on anything out there to me. Like old Dre, old Snoop Dog, love that shit but I also like Thursday. And Green Day, one of my biggest influences growing up. I know it's scary to say that nowadays but it's kind of what they do now. The Offspring, all those punk rock spirit, like Amen, so I love music all across the board.

Matt: I'm trying to think of...

Avi: Ace of Base. Always. That's a whole influence. Don't forget Ace of Base.

Matt: I'm trying to think. I'm a very picky listener as far as what I actually have on my iPod so as far as anything that's really personally influenced me, I guess you could say... I mean this isn't too big a stretch like outside of what we do but lots of 90's alternative rock and some grunge but that's still, we have elements of that in our music.

Avi: We all like Nirvana. I like Nirvana.

Matt: But I mean Early Smashing Pumpkins when they were a grunge band. It was just the stuff I was listening to growing up. I didn't actually give this kind of music until around middle school and from there on, it will more my addiction(?). I can't really think of anything really outside of the box. Maybe old David Bowie when he was just awesome David Bowie.

Avi: Awesome.

And we'll talk about the music. I know people are set in their ways when it comes to genres and this genre has always been difficult with music fans. Not like music fans in general because those are the ones like "Whatever, I'll take it all in," but it always seems like this genres like "Eh, no."

Avi: It's definitely avant garde. It's kind of like how do you categorize a band that has wierd sort of rock and roll mixed with dirty hip hop, dirty south hip hop, mixed with I don't know industrial electronic 80's pop?

Matt: I think it's always a challenge because you don't want to be pigeonholed into something. As an avid listener of industrial music myself, I do understand that it is one scene some people may have a hard time getting into it or accepting things but that's not to put anyone down. I mean, I love it but I think one thing that really excites me about this is just certain different combinations and elements musically ranging from like he said dirty hip hop and rock and electronica all mixed also with great melodies and great vocal lines that's not always so prevalent in this type of genre. So that's one thing that I think might be able to open up to more people what would typically just look at the paper to try to find something like this.

Nick: I feel like this genre, and I'm not as experienced in it, needs like a little kick in the butt maybe. Hopefully, we'll do that.

Avi: It's weird to call that any genre because right now, everybody with a laptop is a rockstar and you need to be able to do something. How do you do something that hasn't been done? How do you do something that is engaging and creative? And with a name like Art vs. Industry, you have to do something that is outside of the norm but still is tangible and has sacren(?) enough that somebody can into it. So we want to do something interesting and innovative but at the same time, we don't want to alienate people like most industrial music. Somebody that listens to Thursday might never listen to Common Christ. They're like "What's this?" But you listen to The Birthday Massacre so you understand there's that cross genre capacity. Hopefully we'll do that.

How do get people to pay attention? You know what I mean? How do you sell it? Or how has the crowd reaction been with fans who normally don't listen to this type of genre? Have you ever had that crossover or personally?

Avi: In the past I've found that people that listen to what I was doing ranged from David Bowie fans right up to Rammstein fans so I don't know. I think the amazing thing about the Internet is that it gives everyone a chance to experience something. It's one of those things like there's so much. How do you stick out from everyone else? But I feel with the amount of effort and care we are all putting into this, we don't want to be just every band that you see with a guitar, a bass and a drum set. We wanted to do something. Our approach has been so different. Our light show is all of us, all of our production together. We don't even use any guitar amps for guitars. We use computers and run guitars through them and they sound better than any guitar amp we've ever used. So our whole approach has been hopefully showing people that you can do music in an interesting, innovative manner and still reach out.

Nick: The crowd response has been really really good. Anywhere we played I feel people have been into it. We get invited back and get bigger and better shows. It's been going really, really well so far. I'm excited to see where it goes.

Matt: I think the most interesting reaction for me was the really positive reaction we got from when we played Shreveport, Louisiana because the other bands we played with we sounded very drastically different from them. They were all really great but they were more alternative.

Avi: Metal. Southern rock.

Matt: A little southern rock influence in there and I was kind of concerned to see how the people there... Good portion of them had never heard us before but I was taken a back by such the great response we got. It was interesting to see by the third or fourth song in how many people suddenly all had video cameras up and were filming it. It was just like "Wow. This is really really interesting."

I saw the video you did at Red 7 with the lighting stuff. How did you developed the whole live show vibe? When you first got the band, was it like "All right guys, this is what we're gonna do. Let's plan this out." How did that idea come about?

Avi: Well for me making music, it's like I like presenting a show. I don't want it to just be, like what I was getting at, just the average thing. I've always wanted to do something more, so my approach with it is like how do you separate people and make it entertaining and something different? Luckily, these two are fully on board with that theme so it was a collaborative sort of idea. Lot of the vision I would say is Nick who surprisingly has never done light direction but it's just odd how all of this worked together. We have input of how it looks but at the end of the day, the monster gets behind it. We develop it.

Matt: At the end of the day, it's Munoz spending hours and hours and hours programming, programming. Every once in awhile, maybe one song out of 10, I'll go and I'll be like "Maybe you should try this" and I'll be like ok. The most important thing, like Avi was saying, is presenting a show. I've always been fascinated growing up by just going to see bands that put on an amazing show whether it's either lights and visuals or bands that are super high energy jumping around going crazy, going nuts. I've gained a lot of respect for a lot of bands outside of genres that I listen to. Just be seeing them and being blown away by their live performance. So that was one thing that I wanted to make sure we're putting on. Something that even just visually. Even if people aren't maybe be in that in to the music, they're at least having a good time watching.

Then you have albums coming out. It's like a 2 part movement. (Editor's note: They have since then released the first album. I'm late in the game. Whoops.)

Avi: Our first part...we're just gonna give that away. It's kind of like a ying and yang because the first part's very... I don't know even how to describe it. It's a very artistic in your face brutal sort of experience. And the second part is a little bit softer, a little bit more gentle and being cohesively worked together. The idea is to release that first part in August and have the second part by October/November. They all work together as a cohesive record.

And you mentioned you're giving it away for free. Why the free route?

Avi: Well music is free right now. I feel like you can sit there and be like "Look, you have to pay this money and get this record," but if somebody really wants it, they'll find a way to get it for free. So you might as well give it away. Let people experience it. Hopefully will come to the shows.

Nick: Exactly. If you give them a free cd, I feel like they're more inclined to come to the next show.

Avi: As long as they're impressed.

Nick: Yeah for sure.

Avi: Of course. I think we're confident enough in our material that we're doing that. We're willing to give it away for free because we want people to come to our shows. We're very proud of our studio record but I feel like this is the arena where we really excel.

You're a live band.Avi: Yes.

The album is just to prepare you for the live show.

Avi: Exactly, exactly. So, you have anything to say about that Matt?

Matt: Well no. I mean I agree. If you go as soon as you release something, you don't have to be the biggest band in the world, a week later, there's probably been a bittorrent somewhere of your release. So as damaging as it is, there's ways you have to work with it like he said.

Avi: I think hopefully embrace it.

Matt: Yeah, you can accept the fact that, that's what gonna happen. If you can utilize that though to get people interested and actually come out, there's other ways to keep yourself going to as a band so I don't know. It's one of those things that's always... it's kind of tough to talk about just how it is.

The state of the industry.

Avi: Yeah it is.

What else is coming up besides the releases?

Avi: It's really this. We are committing our entire lives to this for the next hopefully who knows how long and it's gonna be relentless work. Once we get this record out, we're not gonna stop and we're gonna play, play, play, play. It's just really now like you said we're kind of like a secret. Nobody knows what it is. They see the flyers. What the fuck is Art Versus Industry?

Well I didn't know about the band until you friended me on Facebook. I heard the music when I friended you. Well his music's good so I'd add him for that.

Avi: Well, that's good. It's really, like I said, it's in the hands of people like you that are tastemakers. That can hopefully get it out there to a larger audience because right now living in Austin, TX everybody's in a band. Right?

Or they work in the music industry somehow.

Avi: Exactly. It's like "Ok, you're in a band? *shrugs* All right. Well, I'm in a band. Who cares?" Hopefully because we're so proud and confident what we're doing, reaching out to people like you and playing as hard as we can and hopefully before you know it, I'm a big believer that if you do something good, people will catch on. So hopefully, I'll be proven right. We'll see.

Reading old journal entries on my Livejournal, I came across an entry with all the articles from the days as a wee little j-schooler. During my first semester at SWT, I joined the newspaper staff for The University Star as a news writer. Obviously, I didn't stay very long but I like reading these to remind myself how much my writing has evolved since I decided that I wanted to write for a living. Or maybe it hasn't evolved. It's all subjective. By the way, most of the comments in itatlics were written when this blog was originally posted in 2004.

We were having elections to our little government so each reporter had to write little profile on 3 candidates. Here were mine.

1/4/01

Name: Ryan McDow
Office Seeking: senator, applied arts
Major/Year: criminal justice senior
Age: 23

McDow has been involved with ASG for one and a half years. He is also involved with other organizations, including the Interfraternity Council, of which he serves as president. He said he works well with people and has a good understanding about what the university and students need.

One piece of legislation he wants to propose is a bus system that will transport students from San Marcos to Austin.

McDow said students should vote for him because he will accomplish things that need to be done and will represent the students well.

Name: Cory Todd
Office Seeking: senator, applied arts
Major/Year in school: criminal justice senior
Age: 22

Todd has been in ASG for a semester and hopes to make changes to make the SWT experience better for students. He said he is a team player and looks for the best for the students and university. He wants to organize the election next semester so students do not have to walk all the way to The Quad to vote, but with a click of a mouse, they will be able to vote for their choice on the Internet.

Todd believes students should vote for him because he cares about the school and wants to get the best for SWT, especially for the political science department.

Name: Brandon Smith
Office Seeking: senator, applied arts
Major/Year: criminal justice junior
Age: 22

Smith is new to ASG and wants to try it out and make changes. He said he has good people skills, which he acquired through his fraternity. He said he also uses his motivation to get stuff done.

One piece of legislation Smith wants to propose is to get a program started with student rides.

Smith wants to change the involvement with the students and school by trying to get them to participate with organizations and sporting events.

Advertising scholarship presented to SWT
By Sarah Vasquez

News Reporter
2/1/01

Undergraduate marketing students are now eligible to receive a new scholarship thanks to the contributions of the executive director of the Austin Advertising Federation.

Carolyn Barkley presented the scholarship to SWT in honor of her grandmother, who graduated from the university in 1950 at age 75 - the oldest graduate on record.

The scholarship will be known as the Carolyn Barkley Scholarship in Marketing and Advertising at SWT.

"I am thrilled that Carolyn Barkley has chosen to establish the scholarship at SWT," said Mary Ann Stutts, marketing professor and co-adviser of the SWT chapter of AAF. "I have known Carolyn for about 10 years. She is one of the most caring, generous people I know."

Barkley said she decided to give the scholarship while she is still alive instead of leaving it in her will so that she could enjoy watching a student benefit from the money.

"I had received a scholarship when I was in college, and it paid for my books and fees for my entire sophomore year. I said I would return the favor to someone someday," said Barkley, who received a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Texas-Austin in 1967.

Barkley said she was happy to honor her grandmother, who went to school at a time when few women attended college.

"I have always had a fond place in my heart for SWTSU, as my grandmother received her teaching degree there," Barkley said. "My grandmother would be so proud to know I established this scholarship in the Barkley name."

The scholarship is for $10,000, with only the interest, about $500 a year, being awarded to a marketing student.

Each year, Barkley and the Austin Advertising Federation will add money to the fund, so the interest amount will increase regularly.

The money from the scholarship first goes toward paying the recipient's course tuition, and if any is left over, it may be used for purchasing textbooks.

The recipient must have at least a 3.0 grade point average.

"It will be presented to a needy person who is hardworking and not necessarily an 'A' student, someone who has a strong, positive attitude and does not give up easily," Barkley said.

The first scholarship will be given in April 2001, and interested students may apply to the University Scholarship Committee.

SWT students study American presidency
By Sarah Vasquez
News Reporter
3/28/01

While most students were lying in the sun getting a tan during Spring Break, two SWT students and a lecturer attended the Center for the Study of the American Presidency in Washington, D.C.

Todd Curry, a geography junior; Justin Fisher, a marketing sophomore; and Patricia Parent, political science lecturer, were invited to attend the symposium based on their leadership experience.

"I was invited to attend namely because of my service as vice president of the Associated Student Government at SWT," Curry said.

The focus of the symposium was on "The First Hundred Days" of a presidential administration. Scholars, media types and political practitioners evaluated the current administration, sometimes in a historical context.

The conference featured numerous policy seminars, including topics such as presidential-legislative relations and the role of the media. Speakers included David Gergen, an opinion columnist for U.S. News and World Report, and Eleanor Clift, a contributing editor for Newsweek magazine.

"I gained valuable insight on the necessary ingredients an U.S. president must assemble to start a new administration on the right foot," Curry said. "The speakers were fantastic."

Also between policy seminars, Parent, Curry and Fisher had the opportunity to meet former SWT students who are now working in Washington, D.C.

SWT alumnus Kevin Washington, House Majority Leader Dick Armey's legislative director, talked to them about life as a congressional aide and devoted a few minutes to giving them an insider's tour of the Capitol.

The group also met Jill Foley Angelo, who is completing three internship hours and will graduate from SWT in August. Angelo is working as an assistant to Karen Hughes, President Bush's Counselor to the White House.

"We also got to see the Oval Office and the White House press room," Parent said. "We couldn't resist taking photos behind the famous podium. Most people never get to see this part of the White House."

The Center for the Study of the American Presidency is a nonpartisan and nonprofit organization. It is the foremost educational institution in the United States devoted to the study of the presidency, government and politics. The center seeks to further the understanding of the American presidency and related institutions.

Other SWT students have attended the symposium in previous years. Last year, Cami Daigle, Kim Gunn and Tommy Sanchez attended, while Chad Sanders and Jennifer Jackson attended the year before.

"I think it is important that we continue to send representatives in future years so that SWT continues to get its name out in national settings," Curry said.

Even though the trip was during Spring Break, the three who attended enjoyed the time spent in Washington, D.C. Curry described the trip as fantastic.

"It's a bit more cerebral than lying out in the sun, but for politically minded students, it's worth it," Parent said.

Yeah. I got in trouble for this story by the professor teaching this class. She called me at 8 am (my class was at 10 I think so I woulda woke up at 9) and decided to bitch me out because of something I wrote in there (it's in bold). She was like "who gave you permission?" and I was like half asleep so my witty comebacks came like a minute after she had moved on therefore I seemed like a complete wuss because I didn't have anything to say. Ok that bolded part was in the PRESS RELEASE that was sent to me by her department therefore it's now public information. Ugh. Added today: I just noticed this was the last article I contributed to the Star and the angry teacher was in no way the reason why I stopped writing for them.

National expert to teach suicide class
By Sarah Vasquez
News Reporter
4/24/01

More than 30,000 deaths in the United States every year are a result of suicide. It is the third leading cause of death among adolescents, and the elderly have the highest rate of suicide.

A new course at SWT, Sociology of Suicide, will analyze the risk levels for suicide among these age groups.

The new upper level course will be offered starting in the fall 2001 semester. It is open to any students interested in taking the class.

"Sociology 3321 will be an excellent course," said Susan Day, professor and chair of the sociology department. "Students will develop an understanding of social forces that affect types and rates of suicide in different settings."

The class is going to be the only one of its kind offered in the country that examines the topic of a "suicide culture" and the connections between individual and societal orientations toward suicide, said Donna Holland Barnes, sociology professor who will teach the class.

Barnes is one of the nation's leading authorities on the topic of suicide. She is on the national boards of the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention and the Organization for Attempters and Survivors of Suicide in Interfaith Services. She is also a founding member of the National Organization of People of Color Against Suicide and is founder of a Central Texas chapter of the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention. Barnes became interested in suicide prevention after her son took his own life several years ago.

"Suicide has been declared a national health problem by the Surgeon General and it is time more universities offered a course on the subject," Barnes said.

Barnes has taught this course at Tufts University and Northeastern University in Boston.

"I believe that Boston University is one other university, among few, that offers a course on the subject," Barnes said. "It's a course that needs to be recognized in all universities."

The class members will begin with the history of suicide and read literature written on the subject that dates back to the 17th century. Students will gain a better understanding of environmental, psychological and biological forces that can lead to suicide. They will also learn to identify those at risk for suicide and the importance of evidence intervention and prevention and programs.

"Even though the subject is suicide ... it is not entirely a course on death and dying," Barnes said.

The course will also study survivors and how individuals cope with suicide in their immediate families or in a close knit community.

"The frame of reference is drawn from sociology and social psychology, and therefore emphasizes interaction, context and the ways in which situations are defined by members and others," Day said.

The course will be offered from 11-11:50 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in Evans Liberal Arts Building, Room 218. For further information, contact Barnes at db31@swt.edu or 245-8453.

Reading old journal entries on my Livejournal, I came across an entry with all the articles from the days as a wee little j-schooler. During my first semester at SWT, I joined the newspaper staff for The University Star as a news writer. Obviously, I didn't stay very long but I like reading these to remind myself how much my writing has evolved since I decided that I wanted to write for a living. Or maybe it hasn't evolved. It's all subjective. By the way, most of the comments in itatlics were written when this blog was originally posted in 2004.

This is the story that started it all. This was the first story assigned to me. She assigned it and wanted it done by the next day. So after I hung up with her, I had to call the guy to get the information, write it out and ready to go by 5:00 pm the next day. Well I did it which I kinda regret because she then expected that out of me all the freaking time. Added today: I do love that the abbreviation for the organization is completely wrong and even 10 years later, it's still not fixed.

Men Against Violence to rally in Quad today
By Sarah Vasquez
Star Reporter
9/20/00

Members of Men Against Violence (MVA) will hold a rally today to inform the student body about anger management and the purpose of their organization.

The rally will be held by The Fighting Stallions in the Quad at 11:50 a.m.

The organization's members will present a short skit about anger management and statistics about men and violence. They will also discuss what MVA has planned for the upcoming semester and what they are all about.

Men Against Violence is a registered student organization associated with the Alcohol and Drug Resource Center (ADRC). It is a program of predominately male members who try to open students' eyes about the different problems going on in and around the Southwest Texas community such as acquaintance rape, dating violence, hate crimes and alcohol.

"Our mission is to reduce frequency and severity of violent acts throughout SWT and surrounding communities," said John Capuano, health education senior and member of MVA.

Another aspect of MVA is interaction with different people on campus from student organizations, the greeks and residential halls. The group also communicates with students outside of campus attending boot camps, junior highs and high schools.

"We also try to collaborate with other organizations like the Shelter for Battered Women," said Julie Eckert, Peer Education Coordinator at the ADRC and a faculty advisor for MVA.

Students interested in participating in MVA can attend the rally for more information.

I lucked out with this story. I was supposed to attend this bbq right? I was really shy back then so the thought of having to go to this thing without knowing anyone freaked me out. Well turns out that I knew like 5 of the sisters because they were advisors and RA's in Upward Bound. Not to mention that my University Seminar professor was the sorority's advisor so he helped me out a lot getting interviews and meeting everyone. This also made the front page. Of course he showed it off to the class when it came out. He used to tell everyone I was gonna be a superstar one day. lol

Sigma Delta Lambda celebrates fourth birthday
By Sarah Vasquez
Star Reporter
10/03/00

Rick Green, State Representative for District 46, presented Sigma Delta Lambda with a documented history that recognized its contributions throughout the area at the sorority's fourth birthday celebration this past Saturday.

Sorority members and guests ate barbecue and hung out at the event, held at Sewell Park, while music filled the background. Many guests were in attendance such as Martha Tatum, San Marcos City Council member for Place 6, and her husband, Kyev Tatum, from the Willie May Mitchell Center.

"I just want to thank the sorority for the commitment they've made throughout the university and community and the difference they made on life, not only outside their sorority but also among themselves," Green said.

SDL first started four years ago when 11 female SWT students joined together to build a support network for Hispanic women.

One of the founding sisters, Vickie Vallasana, took measures into her own hands and researched what necessary steps it would take to create a sorority. The first interest meeting had over 100 girls in attendance.

"The need for this type of group was obviously there so we took it from there," said Tina Deolloz-Daniels, co-founder and SDL national executive board secretary. "We had to do all the writing for the constitution and once we did it, it immediately took off."

On March 1, 1997, SDL became the first handmade greek organization at SWT, and it is still the only group to hold this distinction.

The sorority's mission is to create a support network for Latinas in the SWT community so when new freshman girls come on campus, they can recognize that some women from their heritage have formed together.

Those who have already graduated can also come back and give advice on their experiences to those who still attend college.

The sorority also does community service. One place they help is the Mitchell Center, a community opportunity center for young people. At the center, the girls volunteer some of their time with the children.

They also try to collaborate with other student organizations and pull everybody together so they can get out and do community service.

The sorority is expanding by attempting to start other chapters at the University of Texas in Austin and University of Texas Pan Am.

"We've come so far," said Lori Ruiz, political science senior and member of SDL. "We started with 11 members and now we are going to expand to two other universities. Many people doubted us but we've become successful."

For all of its hard work, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce named the sorority Organization of the Year.

"Another thing is the whole retention, which is one of the things that really makes me proud," said Anthony Daniels, faculty advisor and mentor and Associate Director at the LBJ Student Center.

"Because of the organization, we have a lot of the females that are really involved and engaged with other activities and their grades are better."

I had to sit through this speaker and it was pretty interesting. He showed slides and all kinds of "behind the scenes footage"

FBI agent explains government position regarding Waco tragedy
By Sarah Vasquez
Star Reporter
10/18/00

It has been eight years since the Branch Davidian siege at Mt. Carmel in Waco, but on Tuesday, the chief FBI negotiator visited SWT to give an overview on what really happened during the 51-day standoff.

Byron Sage, the negotiator, mainly had conversations with David Koresh during the siege and tried to bargain with him so the situation would be solved. During his presentation, he shared with the audience one conversation he had with Koresh on the day of the fires asking him to let the children that were still in the building go from harm's way.

"I asked him to let the rest of the children go, and he told me that he wouldn't let the rest go, because the ones that were still left were his biological children," Sage said.

Also, Sage presented slides from the actual scene during many of the standoff's highlights, including the raid and the fires. As he displayed each picture, he told the emotions he felt as he experienced each situation. When he showed the picture of the building on fire, he expressed that all he could think about was getting the children out. He used his parental instincts to bring the kids out, because that was the number one priority to him, he said.

Sage cleared up what he claimed were false statements about the siege. One unclear aspect of the standoff was the reason the FBI got involved with the Davidians.

"It was not because of their religious practice, because the Bill of Rights grants them that freedom," Sage said. "It was not because they carried weapons, because the Bill of Rights also grants them that freedom. It was because of the murders of four federal agents."

One reason the Davidians did not want to leave the compound was because they thought they would be harmed or arrested by the FBI. To combat that fear, the FBI allowed the Davidians, who were released, to use the PA system to tell the others inside the building that they were all right.

On April 19, 1993, the FBI used tear gas to force the people out of the compound, because it was the lowest level of force available, Sage said. The FBI had two plans of attack for using this weapon. Plan A was to insert cans in the building within 48 hours. If the Davidians attacked the agents, they would go to plan B, which was to saturate the whole building with the cans. The FBI gave prior warning to the Davidians by using the PA system 10 minutes prior to inserting the gas.

Sage presented his audience a list of facts regarding the events that occurred April 19, 1993. The Davidians intentionally started three separate fires within the compound shortly after noon, Sage said. The fires were not caused nor contributed to by the act of the government. It was Koresh and Steve Schneider, his assistant, who ordered the Davidians to begin spreading fuel, Sage said.

After the fire subsided, the FBI went in to inspect the remains of the compound. Officials found Koresh and Schneider lying dead next to each other. Koresh had a bullet hole in his forehead, and Schneider had a bullet hole in his mouth. The gun used to fire both shots was found next to Schneider.

A list of weaponry and ammunition that were found in the compound after the fire included 61 AK-47 rifles, 13 shotguns, multiple illegal silencers and several silencer components, hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition and multiple grenade rockets.

A question-answer session took place after the presentation. One female student asked, "If this sort of situation were to happen again, do you think the government would be more prepared to handle it?"

"Yes, because the technology is more advanced than it was back then," Sage said. "The event took place in 1993, so we didn't have that many technological advances. If it were to happen again, I believe the government would be ready because they are more aware of what would be going on."

The reason why there's two names on the byline was because I got really lazy and just wrote out the press release. Not word for word because well that would be plagarism. (Added today: I've learned since then that can still be considered plagiarism or a blogging standard. Take your pick.) My editor asked me that night "Did you interview the guy because it seemed like you only used the press release." which I was like "uh yeah I did. He never got a hold of me." and she was all confused so she added some tibits of her own to the story. Man, I'm horrible.

SWT sponsors recruiting event
The Los Angeles Police Department will be recruiting on campus today from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the second floor foyer of Hines Academic Center.
By Sarah Vasquez and Sarah Evans
Star Staff
10/26/00

Anyone who ever thought of becoming a Los Angeles Police Officer will get a chance tomorrow.

The Los Angeles Police Department will be recruiting on campus all day. Representatives of the department will have recruiting tables from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the second floor foyer of Hines Academic Center. They will also be offering the Police Officer Written Test, the first step in the selection process, at 3 p.m. in room 205 of Hines. After the test, they will give a short seminar about law enforcement careers.

"We're going around the nation looking for the best and brightest candidates for the Los Angeles Police Department," said Sgt. Bill Frio, the officer in charge of the LAPD Recruitment Unit.

The free written test consists of two parts: a 50-question multiple choice test, which measures reading comprehension and English usage, and an essay, which determines written communication skills. The score for the multiple choice test is usually given on the day the exam is administered, but the essay is scored at a later date.

"The test is to see if the applicant can write and decipher proper English," Frio said. "Some of the most important duties for a police officer are writing reports and testifying in court, and the officers need to be able to use correct English."

If the test-taker passes, he or she will be able to continue to the next step Ñ the interview.

The interview is a behavior-based review of the applicant's personal history, providing evaluation of problem-solving abilities, respect for diversity, community service orientation, role adaptability, communications ability and motivation.

The other steps of the selection process are the medical examination/written psychological test, physical abilities test, background investigation, psychological interview, and certification and appointment.

John Megerson, chief of the University Police Department, said large departments like LAPD often recruit nationwide.

"Departments like Chicago, Detroit, New York and L.A. do nationwide recruiting year-round," Megerson said. "Many times they want to increase their diversity, and they cannot always get a substantial pool from their area."

Frio said LAPD has visited 30 cities since the first of the year.

"We've had double our retirements, and we normally lose an average of 30 people a month, which is not good when we're trying to expand the department," Frio said. "The Southern California area is inundated with law enforcement agencies and the candidates just aren't there, which is why we travel around recruiting."

LAPD officers receive benefits such as family/domestic partner health and dental plans, pension plans, sick leave and disability benefits, vacation and holidays, and deferred compensation.

Starting salary for an LAPD officer ranges from $42,000 for those with a high school diploma to $47,000 for those with a 4-year college degree.

Applicants must be at least 20 and 1/2 years old to take the written test and not older than 35 at the time of the oral interview. They must also have a U.S. high school diploma, GED equivalent or California High School Proficiency Examination certificate, be a U.S. citizen or have an application for citizenship in process, be of excellent health and have no felony convictions.

Interested parties must have vision no worse than 24/40 uncorrected unless they wear soft contact lenses, and they must have normal ability to understand speech in noisy areas, understand whispered speech and be able to localize sounds.

Frio said applicants with a criminal justice background will have an advantage when they go through the LAPD's 7-month training academy, but that background is not a requirement and anyone can apply.

"I have a business degree, and I've been in law enforcement for 25 years," he said.

The LAPD encourages everyone interested to come out and take the test. For more information on the recruitment and The San Marcos Testing Event, call (800) 954-0321.

Mass Comm professor wins prestigious award
By Sarah Vasquez
Star Reporter
11/3/00

A close examination of advertising and its effects in Slovenia won an SWT advertising professor an award at the Ninth Annual International Advertising Association (IAA) World Conference this month. Michael McBride, the professor who researched this aspect of advertising, won the Best Paper award for his work titled "Eastern European Spirit, Western European Style: Advertising in Slovenia."

The association held its biannual convention in Miami Oct. 12-15.

During the conference, there were professional speakers and activities that dealt with advertising and support education. Different countries from all over the globe, such as Austria, Malaysia, Croatia, Egypt and ChilŽ were represented at the conference. The theme of the conference this year was Advancing Marketing Communications Education in a "Glocal" (global/local) Marketing Environment.

"We're excited that a member of the faculty got recognition from an international organization for his research," said Bruce Smith, chair of the department of mass communication.

During the conference, McBride enjoyed talking to old friends and meeting new acquaintances from around the world, and they shared information about teaching, advertising and students.

"We can learn so much from each other Ñ all it takes is listening," McBride said.

McBride taught in Bulgaria on a scholarship during the 1994-1995 school year, so he was informed about the country. He received help on his paper from Janez Damjan, lecturer in marketing at the University of Ljubljana, the capital and largest city of the country. Damjan is also the marketing director for Delo, the largest newspaper in Slovenia.

His winning paper described how Slovenia advertised in terms of appearance, style and design. What he found, though, was that the country used very westernized techniques. Its advertising content is very similar to that of the United States because Slovenia still looks to this country as a model of how a nation should be, McBride said.

Using this technique, helped put Slovenia ahead of many countries in Eastern and Central Europe with advertising, he said.

One aspect of Slovenia that McBride felt was interesting was that the cost of living is more than in the other surrounding countries. One would pay the same amount for a McDonald's Big Mac as they would pay in America.

One thing McBride enjoyed from Slovenia was the scenery.

"It is a beautiful country," he said. "They have gorgeous mountains and green valleys."

The research paper contest McBride won was judged by educators and professionals. On the last day during the closing luncheon, the director general of IAA announced the winner and presented him with a plaque. McBride was surprised when his name was announced.

"I had absolutely no idea they were going to announce my name," McBride said. "I was in shock. I never expected to win that award. It was a wonderful way to end the convention."

Cancer society seeks volunteers for ÔLife' event
By Sarah Vasquez
Star Reporter
11/8/00

Many volunteers are needed for the Second Annual American Cancer Society (ACS) Relay for Life event in San Marcos.

The event's organizers need volunteers to organize and recruit teams, seek community logistics, find refreshments and prizes, plan entertainment and lend their support in any way.

"What we are looking for is to get the relay ready and to make it bigger than last year," said Lillian Wheaton, co-chair of Relay for Life. "We really want everyone to come out, help and get involved."

The first volunteer committee meeting, or "Relay Rally," will be held today at the San Marcos Public Library from 6 to 7 p.m. The meeting will begin planning the event that is designed to raise funds and awareness for the fight against cancer in San Marcos.

Relay for Life will take place on March 30, 2001, at the San Marcos High School track. The purpose is to have everyone from around the community join together to fight cancer.

Relay for Life is a team event where participants walk or run around a track relay style for 18 hours.

Even though the event is in March, the teams need to start collecting money now for the event, said Jamie Doty, co-chair of Relay for Life.

The ACS is hoping this year's Relay for Life will turn out as successful as last year's event.

"The relay turned out great last year," Wheaton said. "It ended up being the largest first-time event in San Marcos."

The event ended up raising $70,000 last year from more than 23 teams running and walking to support the organization.

The majority of the help received was from the university community. ACS would also like help from the San Marcos community this year.

If anyone would like to join the Relay for Life as a volunteer or team participant, they can attend the Relay Rally tonight.

For more information, call Doty at 754-6022 or Wheaton at 353-7449.

"We encourage everyone to come to the rally," Doty said. "If you can't come, call to volunteer or to join a team."

Thsi story was the headline story of the paper that day. I felt so cool. I remember it was freezing this event happened. It really sucked to be standing out there between classes interviewing everyone and so forth.

Goggles give drunken feeling during
By Sarah Vasquez
Star Reporter
12/7/00

Students wearing intoxication goggles attempted to maneuver a small tricycle amongst traffic cones Wednesday in The Quad as part of the Winter Challenge 2000.

The activity was one of many available to students during the two-day event, which continues today.

The Student Affairs Alcohol and Other Drugs Team is holding the event to help promote responsible drinking over the holidays.

"We're just trying to make an effort to make students aware of the dangers of drinking and driving," said Julie Eckert, leader of the team.

One of the activities included in the event allows students to sign a pledge card stating they will not drink and drive over the holidays. The cards will be sent to those who sign during the break.

Students who sign the card are entered into a drawing for dinners at restaurants in San Marcos such as Grins and the Outback Steakhouse.

"I hope doing thais today, our students will be safe during the holidays," said Erin Christille, crime prevention officer with the University Police Department. "I hope by pledging, they won't drink and drive."

Blanca Sanchez-Navarro, counselor and member of the Alcohol and Other Drugs Team, said her organization has mailed up to 800 cards in previous years.

"The cards are a reminder to the students of their pledge while they are home for the holidays and away from campus," she said. "It has been really successful."

There are other giveaways for participating that include cups, pencils, candy, key chains, whistles and notepads.

One educational event that was popular among the students Wednesday was the "alcohol factoid game." Students are asked questions about alcohol such as "Which of these factors does not influence blood alcohol concentration?" and "Eating slows down the effects of alcohol. True or False?"

For each questions a student gets right, he or she is awarded up to $3. In addition to the money, the students can also win prizes such as a money pouch and a mini Jack in the Box basketball game.

The Network and Men Against Violence were in charge of the fatal vision goggles activity. Students can attempt to drive a tricycle through traffic cones and walk a straight line wearing goggles that mimic intoxication of a person with a blood alcohol content of .10. Free T-shirts are given to those who participate.

Some students realized that using the goggles was not as easy as it looked.

"It was like being drunk," said Troy Lott, business management freshmen. "My friend wrecked the bike. He was riding on two wheels."

Adam Rodriguez, officer with UPD's Crime Prevention, said most of the students did poorly with the goggles activity.

"Some don't even stay on the line," he said.

Texas is No. 1 in the nation for alcohol-related deaths. The 2000 Core Drug and Alcohol Survey at SWT revealed that 52 percent of students reported driving a car under the influence of alcohol in the last year. The survey also reported that 2.4 percent of SWT students were arrested for DUI/DWI in the past year.

"Lots of people assume that you have to be drunk to get in an accident," Sanchez-Narvarro said. "There are other types of alcohol-related accidents that do not deal with driving. Alcohol affects your decision making."

According to one of the questions in the "factoid game," alcohol can affect students' academics by 40 percent.

"Forty percent is a lot to be affecting your academics," said Lilia Calixto, education freshman. "I think it [the event] is good for awareness of what college students need to know."

The Winter Challenge 2000 will continue today in The Quad from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

"We encourage the entire SWT community to participate in the Winter Challenge 2000," Eckert said.

Ah Friday the 13th. I'm a horror movie freak so usually when the 13th day of the month falls on a Friday, I host a horror movie marathon at my house. Projector, five DVD changer, popcorn, room full of couches. I go all out. However, SPEAK's August show was also on the same night. So I had to choose. Horror movie marathon or SPEAK? I chose SPEAK.

Guys, if that doesn't show the level of dedication I have for this project, I don't know what does. I went to Dallas for them. I sat through an episode of the Real World for them. Now I broke my Friday the 13th tradition for them. That, my friends, is what you call love.

And I wasn't let down. The guys were awesome as always. It amazes me how they've been playing the same songs month after month (every now and then they throw in a new cover or introduce a new song) and it's always good and entertaining but different enough so they don't seem like polished drones produced by their manager Whitaker. And they are always having a good time. I noticed this month that the guys just couldn't keep the smiles off their faces (as evident in the photos). Aww. That's adorable.

I think they were feeding off the crowd who were more than happy to see them. Maybe it was the $3 Shiners and free pizza or the dancing mood that was set by the three opening bands but everyone was just having a great time. Sadly, I didn't stay for the whole set because I was just too exhausted (long week at work). Sorry guys. What can I say? My love only goes so far. ;)

I have noticed as months pass by that while there are the same handful of familiar faces attending the shows, but the amount of faces I've never seen before enjoying SPEAK just grows and grows. And with the upcoming shows coming up for them which include ACL and the just-announced gig at the Voodoo Experience in New Orleans (both in October), I won't be surprised if I'm gonna have to actually start fighting my way to the front at a show or have to request press credentials to even get a decent photo of the guys, let alone my monthly hello/goodbye hugs.

I always joke with the guys that once December is done, it's gonna feel weird not having to attend a SPEAK show for this project. Troupe jokes that I should keep it going for as long as we can and Joey hopes that I don't drop off the face of Earth once January hits. A friend calls me the SPEAK stalker and wonders why I would even consider doing this. Most of my journalism friends thinks this is an awesome idea and totally get why I'm doing this but mostly they want to know what I plan to do with all this stuff I've been collecting (photos and videos) after the 12 months are done. Ideas have been thrown around with the guys so everything is just talk at this point nor would I reveal that this early in the game. I still have four months to go. But I will say this, if the ideal finale comes together, it's gonna be a great way to end this series.

Imagine this scenario: A guy walks into his usual hangout one night and notices a cute girl he's never seen there before. What better way to get her attention than by performing one of his swoon-inducing piano ballads?

That's exactly what frontman Michael Grubbs of Wakey!Wakey! did when he walked into Bar 4 in Brooklyn, New York, and saw a girl who grabbed his attention. He asked his friend who was running the open mic night to put him on the list. After impressing the girl with his song, he found out she was a writer for the CW TV show, One Tree Hill. The writer then recommended Grubbs to One Tree Hill creator Mark Schwahn.

Schwahn became so impressed with Grubbs that not only did he use Wakey!Wakey!'s song "War Sweater" during the season six finale, but he also wrote the loosely-based reoccurring character "Grubbs" for season seven. Since then, season seven's last episode aired in May and Wakey!Wakey! released their latest album Almost Everything I Wish I'd Said The Last Time I Saw You... in February.

Grubbs sat down with Red River Noise before his show at Mohawk to discuss how One Tree Hill helped his music career and also shared the unexpected music genre Grubbs has a sweet spot for.

Click here to read the rest at Red River Noise.

Most of the musicians I've come across all seem to share the same goal when it comes to their music. They want to be rock stars. They want to be successful. They want to be able to quit their day jobs and just tour the world, share their music to the world and sell millions of records. But when it comes to meeting this goal, that's as far as they go. They want to get from point A (forming the band) to point B (becoming a famous mega-millionaire rock star), but never think about what needs to happen in between to make that happen.

And most times, when you mentioned the business aspect to a musician, they are immediately offended that you would even insinuate compromising their art for money. But let's get real people, in order to be successful financially in any given career, you gotta have some business smarts.

Meet Mike Groener, lead singer, guitarist, front man, manager, main songwriter, the brain of Austin band Love at 20. With every step carefully planned and articulated, Groener has worked very hard in the short amount of time the band has been around to get Love at 20's name out to the masses. So does all work and no play make Mike a dull boy? Does it take away from the fun creative aspect of performing and producing music? Well with the numerous shows, press coverage, and blog posts Love at 20 has been receiving, I think it's safe to say that this guy is on to something.

I interviewed Groener a little bit before SXSW 2010, but life has been a little crazy since then for me to publish this in a timely manner. So some of the information might be a little dated or has changed since this interview. However, there are still some nuggets of information that just need to be shared.

All right, let's start by introducing yourself.

Mike: My name is Mike G. Been in Austin a really long time. Played with Clap!Clap! Then until now just a bunch of other bands. Nothing but a lot of great people in Austin and the latest project Love at 20 is the combination of all that stuff. So everything I've learned is kinda like a memoirs of such which I think I've mentioned before but the things that you learn about yourself, the things that you learn about music and how to write songs and all that that all comes to a head and that's what the Love at 20 record is. So done completely at my house. I flew my friend Ed Davis out and he plays with Juliette and the Licks, did for awhile played with Dave Grohl and stuff like that and he just did the drums two days. The rest of the record was recorded in two weeks, I think. I've been sitting on it for months and giving it to people seeing what they think and turns out that it works.

And you put the album free for download.

Mike: Yeah.

What kind of reception have you gotten?

Mike: It's been really, really interesting. It's everywhere you want to buy records. It's on iTunes. It's on Amazon and all that stuff but the thing is that unless you're a really large band, Muse, U2, Rage Against the Machine, something like that, it's really hard to get people to buy music that they've never heard of. So the benefit of having a record for free is that you can give it to anyone anywhere and they're still relevantly open to listen to it. So for example, our Twitter account, I'll just go and pick people that are tagging #nowplaying with bands that are similar to us, start a conversation, say "Hey, do you want to check out this record? Think you may like it." and just by that alone, we've managed to get what I would consider about 30% more downloads for the free records from everywhere around the world and they give me feedback. It's just really nice. I get to find out what songs they like, where they are. They spread it to friends. There's retweets, all that so Twitter's been a very good avenue for spreading the record and being able to just reach out to people and ask people to listen to it because there's no risk factor, just downloading a record. It's been highly positive thus far with people that really really like music and enjoy pop structures and melodies and all that kind of stuff. However, it's in some cases when I feel it's really pretty accessible that doesn't appeal to certain bloggers which is fine. It's not what they're about, you know, but that's been the group that's probably the most resistant to early adopting the record and post about it and stuff like that but for everybody that we can just consider regular people who likes music really pretty much enjoyed it. We're talking like worldwide so people from Greece, people from Spain, Mexico. There's a lot of people from Mexico and Brazil that have check the record out. It's really interesting. Just a really eclectic group of people and Twitter really is that one glue that brought everybody together.

Yeah, I checked out your Twitter before and I've noticed there's like "Hey, this person, you should check out this album." which is one after another. Some people might think that's annoying but considering I don't see that on my feed, I didn't know that was going on.

Mike: Yeah, that's the thing. If you're following us, I don't think you see the at-replies which is good.

Unless I've followed that person you've at-replied.

Mike: Right, yeah. Exactly but unless I forget, I would never hit them up multiple times. Usually it's always calculated out at a time or I'd do a max of 10 a day at once and it's usually no more than five because I don't want to spam people and make it look like that's all I'm doing. But it's really me and I'm actually out there trying to communicate with people and build those relationships. I always ask everybody that downloads the record if there's anything we could do for them because it is a mutual thing. I want to build those relationships to the fans anywhere and anyway that I can.

Can you imagine how that would have been without Twitter?

Mike: It would have been difficult. So we've been through the Friendster era and music industry didn't really embrace that because it was just learning how they could adopt social networking to use as PR. Then MySpace came and that was a really great source of music, PR, endless conversations and that kinda really tapered off so if it wasn't Twitter, I think it'll be something else whether it was on Facebook which has worked very well too. Though now that's a main source of information for everybody. There will always be something and you could say Google Buzz is the next big thing but yet that's not yet proved it's it's reason to be. It's interesting and I know what Google's trying to do and it's merely just a stone in the big large footstep for them to get into more media outlet so it makes sense.

I noticed at your debut show which was at the Independent with SPEAK and missions, you had a full band performing. How did you get that line up and why did you decide to get a full band?

Mike: Yeah, that's a good question. To preface this, I didn't know it would work live. I overlaid so much stuff. So for Smashing Pumpkins "A Midsummer Night's Dream," there's 60 guitar tracks. My Bloody Valentine, so much guitar stuff and you wonder if (live) could really be translated into that organic, simple, just dynamic live performance. I didn't know that it could. I didn't think it could. So I finished it and I just had the hopes that I would be able to adopt it to a live setting. Louis plays bass, knew him from Clap!Clap! We're good friends and he's just improved so much as musician in the time that I've known him. It was immediately the first choice and he was doing the Always Already and all that. This was "I don't know if this is gonna work." Louis is playing. Scott the guitar player, been in previous bands with him. Mark, all that stuff, you gotta try it. I didn't know if it was gonna work. We sat in a room, taught the guys four of the songs. We started playing it and I was thinking "Well this is different. This doesn't feel the same" but then the tighter and tighter we got, the more than it just translated perfectly. It became that kinda cathartic outlook for me that I was hoping that it would be versus sitting in a room recording vocal time and time again until you get it right. So I thought it wasn't gonna work but once we actually did it and jammed it out, for lack of a better word, that really worked out well. The show was exactly what I wanted to be from first note onto the record just all by myself in that little cerebral environment to doing that on stage. Was perfect really so I dunno if people liked it but got relatively good feedback about it.

I thought it was good because I heard the album so many times. It sounded like you said pretty close to the record for a live setting. I mean there's obviously some things you can't pull off just with the amount of people that you had.

Mike: Yeah, it's hard you know. For "Time to Begin," the track on there the chorus had... we recorded almost six to eight people in a room singing this chorus. That's very not feasible live but as I've been motivated by Radiohead and the Grammy's last year when they brought I think the USC band on stage with them to perform, I would like to bring in a little choir to perform that chorus. I think that'll be really cool if we could do that.

So with the other members, is that gonna be a permanent thing or was it a live setting type thing?

Mike: It's hard to determine. I'm a very very flexible person. I like having conversations about music and I'm open to people's ideas but at the end of the day, I'm very very focused about what I wanna do. So right now, the way things are working out, Mark is a wonderful drummer, exactly what I want. Louis is a perfect bass player, exactly what I want. Scott's a perfect... everything is exactly the all-star team that I wanted in the first place. So schedules permitting and the larger that we perhaps will get and more press, if everybody's able to make it work with the current variation, then we're definitely gonna keep it that way. But some of us have families... Not really but some of us, we're married. Some of us have full time jobs, all this stuff and so it's really really difficult to coordinate all that stuff.

And with the future albums, will it still be you as the main songwriter or do you think they'll be helping out with contributing as well?

Mike: It is a good question. A good idea is a good idea. So if Scott said "Hey, I got this guitar part that's really good." That's where his strengths is. We've talked about many times, he doesn't feel as a songwriter. He writes great parts so if he had a great part, it could somehow spawn a really really great song then of course, I'm gonna do it. So I'm open to it of course, but I think at the end of the day, it still comes down to me. Put my food down unfortunately.

Well yeah, it was your...

Mike: Yeah, it's my baby, you know. Every piece of it has went through what we could consider rigorous quality control to make sure it sounded a certain way or that it came off a certain way, that it was pitched a certain way. Even our emails, the way we write them to people. I mean I'm very particular about how we write. This is a business. This is a brand. So gotta control those things.

I saw at the debut show also you guys were all dressed up. Was that for Valentine's day or is that gonna be a reoccurring thing?

Mike: No, that's part of it for me. In addition to me feeling that treat a band like a business and of course, art's hard because you don't wanna make art a commodity but there is a good balance between being creative and taking things seriously and being professional. I like to dress up. I think everybody looks really good when they dress up. It creates this kinda formality to it in a different kind of tone for us. So it's absolutely my intention to all photo shoots will be black outfit. It's definitely the way that I wanna carry on. I kinda think of it as a neo-Madmen look. So when we do the albums and what we talk about and all that, I think it should reflect how I feel about martini's, women, modern music and all that.

So you'll be doing photo shoots with the band?

Mike: Um, so that's another good question. There is a line. Everybody that I'm working with I really appreciate and they're really close friends. However, sometimes I think that the idea of the band and having people try to post in pictures and coordinate all this is incredibly passé. I just don't like it and in the sense, it clouds what the brand can be for the band. So it's possible that I'll just do all the photo shoot stuff and it's not me being egotistical or be wanting to have more control of the things. I just don't want to clog up what I consider a very right now pronounce brand name that hopefully will be larger and will be able to get control on it's own. So it's an interesting thing. Some people might think I'm being really self-centered about it but it's not that. There's different reasons, motivations behind it.

You gave me one video to post on the introduction interview and then there's another one that was posted. I think the plan is overall four?

Mike: Yeah four. So the idea is that there'll be four vignettes short films that are part of an overall larger short film that hopefully for SXSW next year, we'll have a short form short films filmed, edited and then submit that. But it's again, music video performing in a video dancing around singing with a guitar being again what can I possible have to say on the subject, you know? I'd rather just pay homage and film a little short film that has a little tiny plot than dance around with a guitar and sing around.

Who are you producing those videos with?

Mike: So a couple of my close friends, Charles, Matt and Kevin, not musical guys. They're never really musical guys but they were always really keen on aesthetics, design, and film so Benberry Media which is this other group that I play a role in for however I can help with the multimedia for clients, but essentially what it is we film events, we write scripts, we film movies, we do live sound, all those kind of multimedia things. They're good friends. I trust their tastes so it was really easy to bring them in and say "Hey, let's shoot these videos." and at the same time, hopefully bring the Benberry name in a little bit forward too. So I directed two of the videos but the rest of the people are film fans that understand old stuff and they like it. They appreciate film and all that. So close friends you gotta always take advantage of, cooperating with the people that you love and their talents and catering to those. So that's why we didn't have to spend thousands of dollars doing videos because we just "What are you doing tonight?" "Nothing." "Well let's go take the camera and let's go and shoot." It's really fun too.

It's kinda like a spontaneous thing?

Mike: Yeah.

Well the first two I saw came out really well.

Mike: Oh thank you. Yeah. Well the cool thing too if you're in Austin, Spiderhouse has three different, distinctly different landscapes and backdrops and the coffeehouse so we filmed there. We filmed behind the Paramount Theater. Just random places around town and somehow, we managed to get timelessness and modern settings and obscure looks and very direct looks. It's really cool. Austin is such a very varied place. I like it. I love it here. You can always find someone to rally with and "let's write a song." "Let's film a movie." It's a great place to do that.

What else is in the future for Love at 20?

Mike: I look at Google as a source of innovation as I do with Apple and Amazon and things of that nature. But lots of people that I talk to that play in bands, they don't think that those conservative models to develop your own strategies as a band, but it's quite contrary. For example, Google developing these other technologies. Google Voice for example. The Buzz. They're going to at some point start being their own cellular provider. I don't know if they've ever said that but I feel it's gonna happen. But anyways, they're really divesting their talents into other areas and so for us, I kinda wanna use their advancements to think well how can we adopt this new technology too? So for me, what the immediate plans are in a general sense is to incorporate Google Voice into our relationships with our fans in effect be able to text one another, not like mass texting but one on one relationship building. I wanna do that. I also want to develop more fan interaction about where our shows will be, what songs we'll play in a sense like they would be voting for what we do so that they feel that they really have a say. Because there's nothing more frustrating... Here's an example, Fugazi played back in I would say 2002 - 2003 at Emo's outside and they're a very spontaneous band but they are completely isolated from the audience. Now they have this great energy but it's hard to say that they really engage the audience. And that's something that, although I loved the way the show sounded and I loved performance, I just didn't feel like I was part of it. Whereas conversely if you look at Dave Bazan for example, Pedro the Lion, those shows, it's almost uncomfortably personal in that connected with him. So I want to have a nice balance between those two things that if you like the music and you have something to say, you have a suggestion that I want to hear it. I'm not better than you because the only reason the band would exist, our art would exist is so that we can share something with people. They don't like it and they think we're being too pretentious or too self-centered, then we need to do something about that. So it's more immediately about getting larger fan base and really engaging them and asking them what what they want.

I saw you had a song on the Real World?

Mike: Oh, so one of the nice things you can do with a PR release is since I've and Louis had been in Clap!Clap! too is that you can incorporate some of those other milestones that you had in previous acts and that was something that Clap!Clap! had played on The Real World.

Oh yeah? The Austin one?

Mike: The Austin one. Yeah, they played at the Coldtowne Theater, whatever is next to I Love Video on Airport. Yeah, I don't think it was called that at the time but yes, they played there. So it's an interesting bullet point and I also feel it counts because you really do have to inflate your PR press. You just do and it's not like we couldn't do it now. Still could if we wanted to but I've worked with people that are Top 12 American Idol finalists. The Sword is, you know, we're good friends with them and they went off to do bigger and better things so you meet people and say this is who I know and this is who I've worked with. I'm really proud of that so it's a nice accomplishment.

That's all I needed to ask you. Anything else you wanna add that people need to know about?

Mike: So SXSW is interesting because we had started talking about the record, I think I sent it to you in October and it wasn't released until January for all intensive purposes. So it was pretty big block there for three months and we had show offers for Free Week at Emo's but we weren't ready yet. We'd just been practicing. So it's hard because there really is this demand, if you will, for music in Austin for a time that would be appropriate to really ramp up and hit the most exposure and SXSW may or may not be that opportunity for local bands. But I think it's really hard to say, it's like I wanna see Soundgarden. I wanna see Muse. All the rumors. That I can catch any of these local bands, I think you mentioned this awhile, I can catch them any other time. So I think for us although, we just missed that momentum that really launched into SXSW and playing a lot of shows. We met a lot of good people in the past few months and I think that the next six months to 12 months that's really where we're gonna come through and you'll start seeing more about us. So we've already had a really good blog coverage already. Probably like four major blogs have covered it and then with this 3rd video, another blog will be releasing that interview and stuff so it's planned. It's just you gotta go at it but I hope that people enjoy the shows and they realize that we wanna share the music. It's not about creating this veil of pretension or acting like we're too good. It's not about that.

Well I saw that debut show after you guys were done, all of you went out to the crowd "Hey how was it?" or "How you doing?" You were out and about meeting everybody.

Mike: Yeah, I mean it's hard to create art and not want to know what people think about it. Maybe that's the being insecure or feeling vulnerable or whatever but whatever it may be there's no point in doing it unless I can share it with someone else. If someone says "I get that. That makes me feel the same way." That's good because I thought I was the only one and that's really what's important to me. So I hope that the way we view the band, the way we view our strategies trying to move forward is different than our peers and that our music can break the not any like political boundaries or emotional boundaries or anything like that but maybe different types of people can like it. So that's probably the most important thing for me. People actually listen to it and don't judge it beforehand. We're used to doing that.

It just needs to be said: American Hi-Fi knows how to write some pop hits. And that comes as no surprise. This is the same band that gave us the always catchy "Flavor of the Weak" back in 2001. And for the past five years, frontman Stacy Jones and guitarist Jamie Arentzen have worked with Miley Cryus. Jones has produced other artists such as Plain White T's, Meg and Dia, and the list of their accomplishments just goes on.

Their newest album, Fight the Frequency, is filled with catchy powerpop song after catchy powerpop song. And the guys present them flawlessly and shamelessly in every way that they can. "Lookout for Hope" brings the feel-good rock anthem that reassures people that yes, "It can only get better," while on the flipside, the more aggressive guitar-driven "Frat Clump" is great for those moments when you just want to rock that attitude out.

Click here to read the rest at Red River Noise.

"An epic of epic epicness." That tagline pretty much sums up the geeky action film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Based on the Bryan Lee O'Malley comic book series, the story centers on 23-year-old Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) who, in order to win the heart of Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), must defeat her seven evil ex-boyfriends and one ex-girlfriend (from her "sexy phase").

From the moment the Universal Studios logo appears in 8-bit to an 8-bit Pilgrim beating up "The End" (gotta stay for the credits for that one), the movie uses old school references to the 1980s Nintendo console with today's movie magic to really make it pop. Additional effects like floating text biographies to introduce each character and a "pee bar" that's just like a health bar but monitors Pilgrim's bladder that makes it more than just a movie adaptation. This is a live action comic book/video game.

Click here to read the rest at Red River Noise.

With an earlier-than-normal start time for the show, the Emo's outside stage was a bit slow to fill up. But hardcore Thrice fans were there early, keenly aware of vocalist/guitarist Dustin Kensrue's promise that the band would be playing older material on this tour, including "a couple shredders." These fans were smart to claim their front-row spots after doors opened, though they may not have expected three young indie acts—The Dig, Bad Veins and Kevin Devine—to be opening for these post-hardcore veterans. By the crowd reactions, no one seemed disappointed. Those who just wanted to see Thrice stuck it out or hung out in the back.

Click here to read the rest at Red River Noise.

In the corner of a quaint neighborhood in East Austin stands a bright red and yellow building. What was once a church and former home of Church of the Friendly Ghost, now is home to Esquina Tango, a nonprofit organization that offers a variety of Latin American cultural activities.

As implied by the name, Esquina Tango started in 2008 as a simple solution for the lack of places in Austin that offered tango classes.

"There's no place where the heart is tango," said Monica Caivano, one of the owners of Esquina Tango (pictured below).

Caivano, with her proclaimed partner in crime, Gustavo Simplis, chose the church on East 3rd and Pedernales to open a place for Austinites to learn tango. Caivano has taught the sensual Argentine dance style in Austin since 1997, while tango has always been a part of Simplis' life.

Click here to read the rest at Austin Vida.