Infantree interview September 5, 2009

•           How did you guys meet?

•           Matt: Alex and I meet in 9th grade at Calabasas High School and have been playing with each other ever since. We meet Don and a mutual friends house jam when we were in 10th grade and he was in 11th at Agoura High School which is next to Calabasas (this was 2005). We were all friends for a while and would occasionally get together to hang out and jam, but it wasn’t until 2007 that we got serious about making music together. We’ve had two bass players and two drummers who are no longer with us, Jordan’s been part of our family for almost a year and a half.

•           What was it like performing at such a huge event?

•           Alex: Oh man, it was awesome. Never have we been given so much free shit. Everyone has been great to us, it is such a huge and well run festival, one of the best experiences of all our lives.

•           Were you inspired at all since you were performing in Golden Gate Park which is famous for hosting great music?

•           Donald: Most definitely. The park is gorgeous, it is such a pleasure to be surrounded by thousands of giant, beautiful tree’s while playing music. We were blessed to have this experience.

•           What are some of the advantages of performing at a festival like Outside Lands as an up and coming band?

•           Jordan: The experience has been unreal, we’ve never played a festival before, we’re used to playing in small clubs, backyards and on the street so this was an great way to shake-up our relationship live performances. It was also amazing meeting musicians that we look up to. We played with Portugal. the Man in Santa Cruz on the Thursday before OSL then on the same stage as them here in San Francisco so we had a lot of time to talk and bond with them and that has been a dream. They are all great guys.

•           What is next for Infantree?

•           Don: Going back home to record our second album at the TreeHouse aka Matt’s basement, we are really stoked because we have like 22 songs to record and all of them are better than anything on Tree-P (we played all unrecorded material at OSL). It should be a grueling and fun process, we’ll be playing shows sporadically in LA and on 3rd Street in Santa Monica through out the recording. If anyone wants to be in the loop, we have a communal twitter

Review of Outside Lands 2009 September 3, 2009

I attended all three days of the second annual Outside Lands Festival, and it was blast each day.  There were few bad performances to be seen at this years festival which took place August 28th – 30th.  Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews Band, and Tenacious D headlined the three day concert which took place in Golden Gate Park.  It seemed like each performer appealed to what the crowd wanted to hear, and had lots of fun performing.

Day one started with Midnite, an awesome reggae group from St. Croix, they delivered some great vibes to what looked like a very dismal and bored SF audience.  But even though the crowd wasn’t really into it Midnite still put on a good show.  After a while I made my way over to the Main Stage and watched the end of what sounded like a terrific by The Silversun Pickups.  I got to see them do a good rendition of “Panic Switch”, which is on of my favorite songs at the moment.  Q -Tip was the next performance of the day, and he gave one of the best performances of the festival.  Tip dedicated the set to fallen comrade DJ AM, and he concluded his show with a guest appearance by Phife from Tribe Called Quest.  Finally Thievery Corporation kept the Speedway Meadow crowd grooving into the night with a set which included many guest vocalists.  I had been hearing that their shows lately had not been that good, but they put on one of the most dynamic live shows that I have ever seen.  You were taken on a musical journey almost. The show started off with the heavy hip hop beats of ” Sound The Alarm”, from there you taken through many genres including Hindu, Brazilian funk , and reggae.

Day 2 started with checking out  the Dirtbombs and Zion I early in the day.  Zion I won the crowd over more because they are a local Bay Area hip hop act.  Amp Live has to be one of the best DJ’s that I have seen concert.  Groundation was next and the hillsides surrounding the Presidio Stage were full of people trying to get a view.  The local reggae act jammed out an awesome mid-day set, being a more energetic act on stage than Midnite helped make them the better reggae act at Outside Lands.  Portugal The Man was probably the act that I was most excited to see on day 2, because they are from my home town which is Portland.  They put on a short but still memorable set which included some older songs that I had never heard before and an awesome rendition of “People Say”.  I also caught most of Bat For Lashes at the Panhandle Stage, Natasha Kahn just as amazing live as she does on CD.  Then it was over to the Twin Peaks for my first ever TV On The Radio show, and they did not disappoint.  Having the horn section really helped give their live show some dynamic.  Going through songs like “Golden Age” and “Crying” guitarist Kyp Malone got to flex his vocal chops.   For a singer that sounds so vacant on recording Tande really got into the music and got the crowd on their feet.  The final performance that I viewed on day 2 was The Mars Volta, and all I could say after watching them was “wow”.  That performance was the definition of rock n roll, complete with stage breaking, awesome guitar solos, and the craziest lead singer that I have ever seen.

Day 3 started off with what I thought was the performance of the weekend by an up and coming act out of Kentucky called Cage The Elephant.  For being such a young act they showed so much confidence on stage, putting on a very well rehearsed show.  Lead singer Matt Schultz felt right at home with the SF crowd, head banging along with them, and even jumping into the crowd at the end of their show.  Atmosphere came next and he blew the crowd away performing a set heavy with old favorites.  At 3 I headed over to the Panhandle Stage for a very inspired Matt and Kim performance, which I felt like the sun should have come out for.  Dead Weather then put on an awesome performance at the Twin Peaks stage.  Alison Mosshart their singer was awesome to see live, and of course you can’t go wrong when you have  Jack White in your band.  Finally it was off to see the performance that I had been waiting all weekend for M.I.A.  She put on an awesome show, even though they only gave her an hour to perform.  Horns were thrown out like at her Coachella performance to help get the audience participating.  “A lot has changed….” she explained “I got engaged here. I had a baby here.  I’m kind of fucking scared of this place”.  She paid respect to the Beastie Boys with an awesome mash-up of “Intergalactic” and “Sabotage” with some of her lyrics.  M.I.A did debut a new song called “Born Free”, which got a mixed reception from the crowd.  “You’ll catch on later..” she said as the song ended.

All in all it was an awesome weekend of music in Golden Gate Park. and I can’t wait to see what they come up with for next years festival.  Even though I heard that the crowd this year wasn’t as big as last year, this concert still helped bring 1 million dollars to Parks and Recreation department of SanFrancisco.

Day 3 Photos August 31, 2009

Day 2 Photos August 30, 2009

Outside Lands day 1 photos August 29, 2009

Thievery Corp. hypnotized the audience with awesome visuals and many guest vocalists.

chillin out Midnite

Colson hangin out watchin Midnite with me

Q Tip gave probably the best day 1 performance. Crowd really got into it.

Outside Lands Day 1 preview August 27, 2009

KUSF broadcasting live from Outside Lands August 26, 2009

FREE YR RADIO HITS MUSIC FESTIVALS

BROADCAST STAGES TO BENEFIT INDIE STATIONS IN

JERSEY CITY, SAN FRANCISCO, SEATTLE, NYC AND NEW ORLEANS

Free Yr Radio Returns To San Francisco at OUTSIDE LANDS to benefit KUSF
Presents Interviews or Performances with Calexico, Akron/Family, Extra Golden, John Vanderslice & more!

SAN FRANCISCO   – August 26, 2009 – In its third year, Toyota’s Free Yr Radio brings music to the masses by hosting the Free Yr Radio Broadcast Stage benefiting independent radio stations at All Points West , Outside Lands , Bumbershoot , CMJ and Voodoo Experience. In addition to hosting and broadcasting interviews and performances at each festival and offering audio content to the nation’s network of CMJ-reporting indie radio stations, Free Yr Radio will make a contribution to each festival partner station and give each the opportunity to raise additional funds through on-site activities geared toward festival attendees. Toyota’s Free Yr Radio festival activities include a Corolla photo booth, and a ®SHRINKY DINK wearable art station.

The 2009 campaign kicked off at All Points West where Free Yr Radio and 90.3 FM The Core ( Rutgers University) hosted interviews and performances with Chairlift , Eugene Mirman, Telepathe, Akron/Family , Heartless Bastards , Tokyo Police Club , Todd Barry and many more.

The next stop on the festival circuit is San Francisco’s Outside Lands on September 28 – 30 . Free Yr Radio and KUSF will join forces to bring festival attendees and listeners across the country performances and interviews from a selection of the festival’s performing artists. Fans and friends attending the festival are encouraged to sit in on these special sessions.

More artists to be confirmed stay tuned. * means performance + interview!

Friday

1:00 – Portugal. The Man*

1:30 – Zee Avi*

3:25 – Akron Family

6:00 – The Dodos*

Saturday

6:00 – Dengue Fever

TBD – Extra Golden

Sunday

1:00 – Calexico

1:45 – Heartless Bastards

2:45 – Big Light*

TBD – John Vanderslice*

TBD – The Morning Benders

TBD – Darando with Nino Moschella

“KUSF is excited to be able to provide to our listeners in the Bay Area and around-the-world twenty-four total hours of live remote broadcasts from the Outside Lands gala event in San Francisco,” says Steve Runyon, KUSF’s general manager.   “It is through Free Yr Radio’s notable support and generosity that KUSF is able to broadcast from this event and we are looking forward to be working with Free Yr Radio again.”

Launched in 2007 with a mission to support independent radio stations, Toyota’s Free Yr Radio has equipped over 20 partner stations with tools to increase exposure and listener support.   Those stations have included KEXP (Seattle and NY), The Current (Twin Cities, MN), KUSF (San Francisco) and KXLU (Los Angeles) among others.   In previous years the campaign hosted shows featuring top indie talent in Urban Outfitters stores across the U.S. Partner bands have included Sonic Youth, No Age, Mudhoney, Dinosaur Jr., King Khan, !!!, Dan Deacon, Grizzly Bear, Yeasayer and others.   In addition to generating awareness and support through the free station-hosted concerts, participating radio stations were also given the opportunity to award a brand new Toyota Yaris to a listener to help boost fundraising or listener appreciation efforts.

“Toyota and Free Yr Radio are proud to be a part of the vibrancy and energy of the music festivals and the ongoing support of indie radio stations and their fans,” said Keith Dahl, Toyota National Manager of Engagement Marketing.    “This year we are going beyond the walls of intimate venues and broadcasting these interviews and performances to everyone.”

Free Yr Radio 2009 remaining festivals and partner stations include

Outside Lands – San Francisco

Interview/performance schedule TBA
Aug 28 – Aug 30
Benefitting KUSF, University of San Francisco
kusf.org

Bumbershoot – Seattle

Interview/Performance Schedule TBA
Sept 5 – Sept 7
Benefitting KEXP
kexp.org

CMJ Music Marathon – New York City (details to be announced)

Interview/Performance Schedule TBA
Oct 20 – Oct 24
Benefitting KEXP
kexp.org

Voodoo Experience – New Orleans

Interview/Performance Schedule TBA
Oct 30 – Nov 1
Benefitting WTUL, Tulane University

wtulneworleans.com

ABOUT TOYOTA MOTOR SALES, U.S.A., INC.

Toyota (NYSE:TM) established operations in North America in 1957 and currently operates 14 manufacturing plants.  There are more than 1,800 Toyota, Lexus, and Scion dealerships in North America that sold more than 2.4 million vehicles in 2008. Toyota directly employs over 43,000 in North America and its investment here is currently valued at more than $21 billion, including sales and manufacturing operations, research and development, financial services and design. Toyota’s annual purchasing of parts, materials, goods and services from North American suppliers totals more than $30 billion.

For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyota.com or www.toyotanewsroom.com .

Must see acts at Outside Lands 09 August 25, 2009

1. M.I.A: Sunday  6:05 – 7:05 @ Polo Fields
2. The Mars Volta: Saturday 7:30 – 9:00 @ Twin Peaks Stage, Speedway Meadow  ( then you still have an hour of Dave Matthews)
3. Pearl Jam: Friday 7:50 – 9:50 @ Polo Fields
4. Bat For Lashes: Saturday 4:55 – 5:35 @Panhandle Solar Stage, Speedway Meadow
5. Portugal The Man: Saturday 3:10 – 3:40 @ Panhandle Solar Stage, Speedway Meadow
6.  TV On The Radio: Saturday 5:40 – 6:40 @Twin Peaks Stage, Speedway Meadow
7. Cage The Elephant: Sunday 12:45 – 1:30 @ Twin Peaks Stage, Speedway Meadow
8. Zap Mama: Friday 2:30 – 3:20 @ Twin Peaks Stage, Speedway Meadow
9. Matt & Kim: Sunday 3:05 – 3:40 @ Panhandle Solar Stage, Speedway Meadow
10. Infantree: Saturday 12:00 – 12:40 @ Panhandle Solar Stage, Speedway Meadow

Festival Map August 25, 2009

Here is a map of where Outside Lands 09 will take place

The countdown is on, less than a week away August 24, 2009