The Aislers Set

Slumberland Records, the locally formed label that has released some of the best, noisiest indie pop ever pressed to seven-inch, turned 20 this year, and it’s celebrating all weekend. Tonight’s show at the Black Cat features current Slumberland bands Crystal Stilts, Brown Recluse, Frankie and the Outs and Pants Yell!, as well as three reunited bands from the area, the Ropers, Lorelei, and Nord Express.

We asked some of the people involved with Slumberland over the years to share their favorite memories of the label. We ran some yesterday, and here are the rest:

On professional jealousy: “The one record that I wish I had been a part of but wasn’t was Black Tambourine. I am forever jealous of everyone in that band because those songs are absolutely perfect. When I first heard “Throw Aggi Off the Bridge,” I was filled with anger that it was something I hadn’t done. It represented what we were all about. It was noisy, it had the Wall of Sound, and it hinted at ’60s girl groups. It had that element of what anyone could do and no one had.”—Kelly Young (Velocity Girl)

On bonding over chipped beef: “My first encounter with Slumberland was in 1990. I went to see Whorl open for the Wedding Present at the old 9:30 Club. I distinctly recall Brian Nelson screaming until the shade of his face matched the red lights they were performing under. The stage was like the bridge of a submarine that is rapidly sinking. It was insanely loud and pummeling. I tracked down Mike Schulman after the show and demanded an interview. I met Mike and Dan Searing at the Tastee Diner in Silver Spring and interviewed them for the GW Hatchet. They told me about music like John Cage, Glenn Branca, and Skullflower. My article apparently failed to capture and convey what I had witnessed as Whorl’s fan base did not explode in the way that I had imagined. But, I made friends for life over coffee and chipped beef.”—Matthew Dingee (Lorelei)

On hazing: “Dan Searing and I went to meet John Cage at a book signing in Adams Morgan [around 1991], and then to a concert of his work downtown. I don’t remember what we saw but I do remember mixing pills and drink. We did our best to focus but, like the composer himself, we nodded off a few times during the performance. We ended up where we usually did, back at Mike [Schulman]’s garden apartment listening to records at full crank. Pam [Berry] was over practicing some Bright Colored Lights songs with Mike. I eventually passed out on the floor. Much to my surprise, when I got home the next day I noticed that Pam had drawn eyes on my eyelids. I’ll be looking to propagate this hazing ritual onto any member of the new crop of Slumberland bands that happens to pass out this weekend.”—Matthew Dingee

On soul-induced nudity: “We had sort of a Slumberland supergroup with members of the Lilys, and the Ropers and Lorelei, and it was I think the 10th anniversary of the old 9:30 Club, maybe the 15th, and we were doing a cover of Archie Bell and the Drells’ ‘Tighten Up,’ which is a great soul classic, and Lorelei’s guitarist at the time [Dave Cerf], who was in the original lineup and who was back in town, who knows how or why, but he took off all his clothes and became a naked male dancer for this song, at a sold-out 9:30 club.”—Stephen Gardner (Lorelei)

On surviving a blizzard: “I think it was October 1994, and Boyracer and the Ropers were on an American tour. Papa Slumber (Mike Schulman) and a German fellow named Ulrich were shepherding a caravan of sleepy musicians through a northern snowy mountain pass in two vans. Blizzard conditions…and I think we were supposed to be in Seattle the next day. Our vehicles were built for East Coast winters and wet city slop. They never should have seen West Coast mountains like these, not to mention this kind of snow. The heat was on full blast but still not enough to keep out that cold. Mike was driving one van, and Ulrich was driving the other. I could feel ours fishtailing back and forth at every turn. I was drifting in and out of consciousness from sleep deprivation but to actually fall asleep felt like certain death, so no one really slept. I can’t imagine how we got through…Really, I was so frazzled, I can’t even remember. It was something else…like Washington crossing the Delaware. Like this label…how did Mike do it? How did this label come out the other side of that mountain range with everything in tact? He kept it together. 20 years…amazing.”—Greg Pavlovcak (the Ropers)

On touring Japan with the Aislers Set in 1999: “Amy [Linton] was being chased down the street for her autograph, like the Beatles or something.  We did a big show in Tokyo at the end of the tour, and the album wasn’t out in Japan yet but every single kid knew every word to every song. The whole crowd just went nuts from the first guitar chord. It was kind of shocking. Even I signed an autograph.”—Mike Schulman, label head

On channeling influences: “One time Peggy [Wang-East] and I were out at an indie-pop dance night in New York called Mondo. All of a sudden, the opening chords of ‘I Love You Like the Way that I Used to Do’ by Rocketship came on, or so I thought. I said, ‘Peggy, they’re playing Rocketship, this rules—let’s dance.’ And she responded by pointing out that the song was actually ‘This Love Is Fucking Right’—by us.”—Kip Berman (the Pains of Being Pure at Heart)

Mexican singer Ximena Sariñana has said that her debut studio album, 2008’s Mediocre, was meant to take on old-fashioned images of women as demure, repressed, one-dimensional beings. The only thing that drives home that point better than Sariñana’s album is the artist herself.

At 23, she is a film and television star, in addition to being an outspoken Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter, and she’s currently headlining her first U.S. tour. Her beautiful voice and laid-back, jazzy style have drawn comparisons to Norah Jones, but Sariñana is more complex than that. Songs such as “Normal” and “No Vuelvo Mas” are mellow, for sure, but always with a bit of edge bubbling just under the surface.

As is often the case with newly crowned industry darlings, Sariñana is pretty busy these days: On Thursday she’s headed down to Miami for the Billboard Latin Music Awards, where Medicore is nominated in the Latin Rock/Alternative Album Of The Year category. But, you can see her tonight at the 9:30 club, with Matthew Santos. Take advantage of the opportunity-from the look of things, Sariñana may soon be hard to catch.

Sariñana performs at 7 p.m. at the 9:30 club, 815 V St. NW. $18. (202) 265-0930.

Finding words to describe Vampire Weekend seems futile, since they’ve become the A-list blog stars of 2008. But in case your Internet has been disconnected since January, Vampire Weekend is the project of four Columbia-educated Upper West Side turned Brooklynites who play intoxicating indie pop imbued with Afro-beat inspired soukous rhythms and melodies. The band’s eponymous debut album was released in January and has become one of the most vibrant and refreshing albums of the year. They’re playing tonight and tomorrow at 9:30 Club with The Teenagers. (Sorry, kids, both shows have been sold out for months, but there’s still hope!).

Drummer Chris Tomson took a few questions from Black Plastic Bag before they electrify a sold out audience tonight.

Have you seen Twilight or Let the Right One In? What’d you think? If not, do you have a favorite vampire movie?

Unfortunately, I haven’t seen either movie, although my roommate (the notorious Buddy Herms) did see Twilight. He described it as being “entertaining enough to not be upset as it takes your money.” I’ve never been one for Vampire movies in general, but I would have to list The Lost Boys with Kiefer Sutherland as my all-time favorite.

Do the recent collaborations with Chromeo speak to the direction of Vampire Weekend’s sound? More synth on the next album? Possible Discovery cameo?

I think that the Chromeo collaborations speak to how awesome they are rather than anything for our sound. It started with their remix of “The Kids Don’t Stand A Chance,” which we all felt took the song on a great new tangent. And then our jamboree-style live take of the same song really opened our eyes to the joys of live talkbox! Chromeo definitely does their own thing and does it extremely well, so we’ll leave the synth-jams to them.

What’s the best part about playing on Conan?

Meeting Conan! He was super nice, and it was very interesting to watch their read-throughs of potential monologue jokes. It made it clear that to be that consistently funny, you’ve got take it at least somewhat seriously.

Why do you think so many reviewers place importance on your alma mater? What do you wish they’d emphasize instead?

With the way that we dress and some of our lyrical directions, I can see why people would try to place a lot of importance on our collegiate background. Ultimately, though, it doesn’t really bother us, and as our album has been around for a while now, that sort of thing has not been as prevalent. As long as reviews, whether positive of negative, are focused on the music that we’ve made, that’s really all we can ask for.

Do you ever just want to thumb your nose at the preppy, hyper-literate mold and come out on stage in cut off shirts and combat boots?
What does hyper-literate mean? We all pretty much perform in what works for the situation. If its 100 degrees at Coachella, then I’ll wear a sleeveless t-shirt and the appropriately short shorts. Or, if its mad muddy at Glastonbury, Ezra will come on in his Wellington rain boots. When any amount of people have paid money to see you, though, you kind of want to look nice, right?

What did you guys do last time you were in DC?
Well, our keyboardist Rostam is from DC, so his mother cooked us an incredible dinner and then we played at the Rock and Roll Hotel. After a solid night’s sleep, we drove the minivan up to Philly for the next gig.

All time favorite DC band?

Off the top of my head I would say my favorite DC musicians are Henry Rollins and Rostam Batmanglij! After a quick wiki search, though, I would also like to add Duke Ellington and Marvin Gaye.