Ok so one of the things that makes Detroit so great is the movers and shakers in our community! The solid dudes and ladies who are breaking new ground with solid innovations and hard work. Vile friend Amy Kaherl (recently represented in the Girls Guide to Detroit Video) has started something rather unique: Detroit soup .
So heres the scoop: Five dollar cover gets you in. You sit and enjoy a meal with other mover and shakers in the community. Presentations are given on certain plans that will be voted on that night. Then everyone gets a chance to vote. The money collected at the door goes towards the specific plan that won the vote. Seems simple enough. Like one of those " why didn't i think of this!?" kind of ideas!
Our hats off to Amy and the others who created and are still running Detroit Soup.
Make sure you guys check out this video below that explains things a lot better than a two paragraph blog. -Vile
Most of you don't know who Gordon Lightfoot is. Embarrassingly, some of you (even in Michigan) can't point out where Lake Superior is. All that aside, there was once a famous ship that sank on that lake and to keep this all about lakes, Great Lakes brewing made a beer that commemorates that ship. The Edmund Fitzgerald porter. While the cooler nights are coming to an end, we've still got another month of them here in the mid-west so porter up! Perfect for a dessert or breakfast beer as it's smooth and creaminess turns into coffee dryness. Not as over bearing as a stout, you can smash plenty of these and not feel overly full. Great Lakes brewing has been making incredible beers since 1988 with plenty of gold medals to prove it. You can find Great Lakes beers just about anywhere these days and if your local watering hole doesn't provide the beers you seek, there always someone on staff to smack and ask why they wouldn't serve some of 'mericas best beers. Cheers and mahalo!
So last week I had the pleasure, to lay down a few guitar tracks on the recent project from Vile friend Derek John . DETROIT THE ALBUM is the first of its kind. Here's the scoop: 40 Musicians 10 Groups and 10 original songs all in one album. Each group is comprised of elite members of the Detroit music community thus making up 10 different super groups if you will. As much as these songs are not my personal cup of tea to record, it was still fun stepping out of my comfort zone along with 39 other musicians stepping out of their boxes as well. The end result is an exceptionally mixed variety of music with different feels and genres. So take a second and head over to their BandCamp. The album was just released this past weekend! So let us know what you think! Comment Like or share below and help spread the word!
-Aren
Derek John ^
Lasers. How fucking cool are lasers? Or what about wooden, floatable glasses? Or handmade industrial furniture? These are just a few of the really rad things being produced in an Eastern Market located industrial shop named OMNICOPRDETROIT
OCD is what is called a ‘hackerspace’, housing 10+ local “makers / entrepreneurs / doers / thinkers / creators / artists / designers / engineers / musicians and others who come together in a repurposed industrial building in Eastern Market to work on projects, learn and share together”. Every 1st and 3rd thursday of the month come check out what they’re creating and you can even bring your own project to “hack”.
During September of last year, I was fortunate enough to get a tour of their space and meet some of the members during Eastern Market After Dark. Since we’re creators ourselves, we love seeing spots like OCD in the community supporting the same values and creativity.
If you’ve got ideas for some really awesome shit, set a date and get to their space for an Open Hack Night. Lets see what you're made of, Detroit! -Dani Fahs
Most people hear IPA (India, not Indiana pale ale) and think of the most overwhelming bitterness and it turns them off. Maybe they just haven't had the right one. Here in the Mitten, we've had Bell's two-hearted shoved down our throats. I do mean that in the best way possible (it was, after all, rated one of the best IPA's in the world. Twice.) but some may not know that IPA's aren't always tongue crushing. For instance, Lagunitas IPA. The west coast has a very distinct style of IPA's which are more citrus-based than anything, as the mid-west and east coast offers more earthy or floral styles. Lagunitas is everywhere finer beers are sold. Pair with cheeses, fish or chicken taco's or, the sun, the beach and a fat joint. Cheers and mahalo!
-Dave
A few weeks ago we were able to sit down with Mike Reaume of Man Mountain and ask him a few questions. For those who don't know. Man Mountain is an up and coming Post Rock band, who is quickly gaining respect and notoriety in the Detroit Scene.
Vile: Alright Mike, Who? What? and Where? so Who and What is Man Mountain?
Mike: Man Mountain is a project that started about a year and a 1/2 ago. We play instrumental post rock ambiaent music that we have been playing mostly in the Detroit area. A lil bit more late 90's early 2000's indie instrumental type music.
Vile: Oh really? what would you say are your major influences?
Mike: Oh, Well id have to say American Football Caspian, Appleseed Cast, Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky, This Will Destroy You, Sigur Ros etc
Vile: How do you feel about Sigur Ros being mentioned recently in the Metro Times as being on of the top overrated bands ever?
Mike: Oh yeah i saw that! Thats got to be a joke. I feel like they post those things in order to get a ton of click throughs for their ad revenues. Everyone is like "WHAT? THEY CANT SAY THAT ABOUT SIGUR ROS" and they are forced to read through the rest of the garbage article. it was pretty dumb.
VILE: Agreed! So whats your favorite part of playing in the Detroit scene?
Mike: Its actually been kind of cool. The last band we played in, we mostly played in the toledo area. The scene is pretty dead down there so its been good playing for a whole new crowd. I feel like everyone is real cool at shows. Like people actually come out to listen to our music, not get annoyed with us for playing background music while they play pool. Detroit kids seem to get it.
Vile: Ok so what should we be looking forward to in 2014 for Man Mountain?
Mike: After our show at the old Miami in March we are heading into the studio to record our full length. And hopefully have everything finished for the fall of 2014.
Vile: who are you recording with?
Mike: we will be recording with Matt Halliday of Minx studios. He's recorded for bands like Empire Empire and Wayne Szalinski !
Vile: alright dude, thanks for stopping by and we'll all be waiting with anticipationto hear the full length!
Make sure you guys check out this track "Lucerna" from our dudes in Man Mountain. -Vile
For those of you who dont know. Jason Hall is the Man! This dude and his crew "Bikes and Murder" are hustling so hard for this city its crazy. Between Running Slow Roll (oneof Detroits biggest weekly rides) ted talks, and being a weekly guest on Live in the D, somehow...they manage to put together THE BIGGEST BIKE SHOW in the Midwest. DETROIT BIKE CITY!
Vile: Alright dude, break it down for us! How is North American Bicycle Week going down from day to day?
Jason: So everything starts Thursday March 27th thats the launch. Its an invite only party at the YMCA. Featuring three speakers from around town, who will be talking about a 40 year history of bicycling in Detroit.
Friday is our demo day at Eastern Market, Bern Helmets, Chrome Bags, Aerospoke and a ton of others will basically give everyone a chance to check out and demo all the stuff! After the demo we are going to meet up with Critical Mass. Last year we rocked out the tweed party, so this year we decided to make it a Tweedical MASS! So make sure you guys wear your best tweed for the tweed ride! Then there is an after party at Cobo! Its in this room called City View thats right across form the main expo hall so people could check out the hall and see what people have set up!
Saturday is the main expo, it runs from 10-6. Thousands upon Thousands of square feet covered in vendors and bikers alike! Everyone can out whats new, whats good, or anything little thing you could think of for your bike. We decided to show off the bike culture in its finest. So 250 bike builders from multiple states are submitting their bikes for a Best In Show. Oh and We have our annual bike swap! Bring your bike in to wheel and deal! You could walk out with some serious upgrades! We've got the tech shop, and the dudes from Albes Bikes teaching people about how to build bikes! Its going to be madness!
After the Expo we are going to head over to Easter Market to rock the After Party! Man we are going to be partying all night! We've got jameson, New Belgium, The Suicide Machines are playing! its going to be sick!
Then Sunday we are meeting up for the Season Opener of Slow Roll! Which if its anything like last year, we topped out Slow Roll last year with 1700 riders! Right now we could totally see 2000 riders rolling that day! Then we are going to finish off the week with an Alley Cat Race starting out of eastern market at 4:30.
So Come one and come all and lets Push this shit to the next level!
Vile: We are so excited to be a part of this event once again! Make sure you guys come out and party with us!
oh and ps check out this Ted x Detroit of Jason talking about Detroit Bike City last summer! Just so you can get a feel for what he's about!
-vc
Its here! Our brothers in Assassins have now officially released their debut album "War Of Aggression!" If you are into sludgy riffs and solid anthemic choruses with super positive message, then you better snag up this album. War of Aggression has seriously been playing on repeat here at Vile HQ. So go support Michigan Metal and some good dudes on their way up!
And while you are at it, check out this video the dudes made on the Die Without Hope Tour!
For those of you who don't know. This is our boy Dave. Dave is the front man for the band We Came As Romans. We had Dave over to the studio recently and rocked out a quick interview on things going down. so here goes!
Vile: Alright dude So whats this tour you guys are heading out on?
Dave: Oh man, Its called "The BreakDown the Walls Tour" Asking Alexandria , August Burns Red, Us Born of Osiris and Crown the Empire. A quick month long tour just in north america.Its going to be awesome to since we've toured with all of these bands before so its going to be one big party.
Vile: You've toured with those bands before right?
Dave: Yeah every band except for Born of Osiris. Which we are excited for because those dudes are so, so metal. Which is probably why we have never toured with them before.
Vile: Oh for real? Well how do you see your guys music?
Dave: I dont know we are kind of like melodic, pop, hardcore kind of thing. Maybe a little bit of metal.
Vile: Yeah you guys still have the heavy edge but I can remember the first time we kicked it you were talking about how even though you were in a heavy band that you mostly liked pop punk.
Dave: Oh yeah thats funny.
Vile: I can tell that the "Melodic" part is just you guys maturing as a band and reaching out to a bigger audience. You cant play the same music forever, and eventually you've got to switch it up. But you still have enough heavy in there to make the die hard WCAR finds still excited.
Dave: Yeah its been awesome. The new Record is Killing it! All we play anymore are new songs. They get the best response! We couldn't be happier with it.
Vile: What Venues are you looking forward to playing?
Dave: This tour actually rolls through the North East, so I'm looking forward to playing out that way. Most tours will spend four or five days out in cali, so spending more time out in Boston and New York should be cool. Oh and we haven't announced it yet but it should be announced by the time this goes out. We are going to be playing The Royal Oak Music Theater on March 29th! Its always awesome to play in front of all of our friends!
Vile: So you are obviously used to playing all over the world but how do you feel about coming home to play in Detroit?
Dave: Well its obviously fun to play around friends and family. but 89x has done a great job at pushing our music on the radio, so we usually come back to even more fans who have never seen us live before. so its a great time.
Vile: Well speaking of friends and family. If there is one thing I'd like our readers to get out of this whole interview its how you guys treat your friends and family. I remember the first time I kicked it with you guys, you impressed the shit out of me. We show up to the party and you guys have your like "in the scene" kind of friends, music party friends etc. Thats whatever, but you still had all of your High School friends partying with you as well. and i was like "Wait!? do these guys still party with their high school friends?
Dave: ha yeah we still do!
Vile: I was mostly impressed because a lot of bands dudes get to cool for the people that they grew up with. But not you guys. All of the dudes especially Lou and Andy have been so welcoming every time I've came over to kick it! Oh and your roommate Justin and Mike. They just want to make sure that everyone is having a good time and feel welcomed. That was a breath of fresh air as far as the music scene is concerned. Fuck i mean your Parents and Uncles are all kicking it at your New Years Party with all of us! Happy New Years Mom and Dad. And the best part was that it wasn't weird. They were super welcoming as well.
Dave: Yeah we try to keep it real. Like my roommates : Justin I've known for six years and Mike I've known for seven years. We want to be surrounded by good people. So why not keep the good ones around! Tour life can be so surreal. So its always good to come back home and kick it with good friends!
Vile: OK Last question. This is a you question not the rest of the band so all judgement aside. If you could pick your own tour. Who would you tour with?
Dave: Oh shit, Id have to say Linkin Park head lining because that tour would be huge and i love those guys. Slip Knot as main support because that would make it the biggest tour ever. If money isnt a problem i'd want Under Oath to do a reunion tour, and Architects because I've really been digging on those dudes lately!
Vile: Alright bud, thanks for answering some of our questions and kicking it.
Dave: No problem dude, ill catch you and everyone else at the Royal Oak Music Theater on the 29th! Itll be a party!
As some of you may remember, just last week we shared a badass Detroit girl-power video entitled “A Girls Guide to Detroit”.
This week, we’re continuing the female badassery by sharing this Michigan independent film and music projects company named Never Say Die MI, which is owned and operated by two chicks - Leah Castile and Tifini Kamara. Since NSD's birth less than one year ago, they have released a series of rad videos called “The Living Room Sessions.” The LRS's are exactly what you would expect – artfully filmed live performances by some solid acts in a living room.
Last weekend, NSD started filming The Living Room Sessions, PT II in Detroit! The series is set to include some great local Detroit acts, including: Jamaican Queens, Mexican Knives, Ritual Howls, Shigeto and J. Walker & The Crossguards. So get stoked, check out their website, watch their videos, follow their social stuff. You won’t regret it. These ladies are creating some great things
Check out this recent video they did for our brothers in SMPLFD !
Its music monday! Check out this vid of our brothers in Assassins keeping it vile on the Die Without Hope Tour! This tour features headliner Carnifex , I Declare War, Here Comes the Kraken and Lorna shore! Make sure you catch them at a date near you !
Check out this video A Girls Guide to Detroit. Now I know this isn't super Vile, but man we love our city hard. Just see us gloat and boast about how awesome our city is. and guess what? its all true! This video makes me so proud and lucky to be where we are today! So make sure you check out some of these awesome shots of the city from Indian Village and down town. And hear what Six different Detroit ladies have to say about their city! -VC
Many of you know about our brothers in the band Wilson . You have heard stories of their fuckery and how they are melting faces across the US. We decided to get you a closer look into the brain of Wilson frontman: Chad Nicefield.
Vile: Besides being the frontman of Wilson and having a great beard, what else should we know about you, Mr. Nicefield?
Nicefield: I was born and raised in Port Huron Michigan. Started playing music when I was maybe 10 and I started my first band with my buddies back home called Winston Churchill Youth Brigade, when I was 15 years old. got into a massive car accident when I was 16 years old and lost my life and at that point decided when I was in the hospital that I was going to change what I was currently doing which was basketball and focus all my time into making music. 180 degree change of my ongoing life choices to focus completely on music. So I mean, I pretty much am an open book You can read about anything that I’ve done because Ive just played music and shit in peoples hands for the past 20 or something like that. So yeah as far as being in a band and having a good beard and where I was grown is all Ive ever done in my entire life.
Vile: The majority of the local music scene are fans of Wilson and their “fuckery”, but for those who aren’t as familiar, how would your describe your guys’ music?
Nicefield: I would describe our music like a thousand bastard swords whipping through the air in the middle of the night or 24 bottles of PBR and then that PBR is strewn upon the floor of your weekdays worst nightmare. I’d have to go ahead and say that we’re fucking rock n’ roll. The idea of our music is to bring light and life to the live music experience. In general, rock n’ roll is supposed to be about that. So, that’s what we preach.
Vile: Speaking of “fuckery”, how did you guys come up with the word? Tell us your definition.
NiceField: The definition to me is anything that feels too good not to do. And a lot of other people can construe its kind of, I guess, oblivatory on top of that being a little bit cliché to say “it’s whatever feels good man”. But yeah, how we coined that term in general because originally when we wrote the record we named a song “Viking Pussies Fuck Off” and once that was finished and we recorded it, I was having a conversation with one of my friends and said “Dude, we just wrote this song and it sounds like full blast fuckery.” And I was like, “Dude, I think I just got the fucking records title off that. We just kind of went with the flow of it. “Fuckery” to us is the embodiment of Wilson
Vile: What is the experience you want a first timer at one of your guys’ show to have?
Nicefield: All smiles. Might be a little cheesy but like I mentioned having a good time at a rock n’ roll show is sometimes few and far between because sometimes people are caught up in the scenery of things, if you will. They’re not so much caught up in the music and the emotions its giving them. And having your own little fucking party, if you will, is what we hope each person takes away from the show.
Vile: Wilson has branded themselves as being quite the party animals. Does this transfer over to your lives off the stage as well?
NiceField: If anyone that knows us is reading this, they know that what we put ourselves through on a daily and mainly weekend-ly basis. On the road we take our partying pretty seriously but in the sense that we put it on the stage and its left on the stage. We like to drink a lot and have a good time but like, we’re also there to be entertainers and you entertain when you’re puking on stage and can’t sing a song correctly. So I think we definitely party harder when off the stage and when we’re not on the road.
Vile: Wilson was a part of Shiprocked a couple of weeks back… Tell us a little bit about how the opportunity came about and what the tour in paradise was like for you guys.
The tour was announced and I was talking to a team member of ours and I was like, “Hey, I don’t know if there is any way this could possibly happen but, if you could reach out and see, because one of the other bands he works with was on it. And the guy was like, ‘Yes!’” I’d have to describe Shiprocked as one of the top three experiences of my life. Number one, being what I aforementioned about being in the car accident because it changed my life from what I was doing to what I’m doing now. Number two, Shiprocked because it was fucking awesome. And number 3, is the first time I saw my own seaman shoot out the tip of my penis. So if you could sandwich Shiprocked in-between losing your life and I guess, bearing life, I guess you could say it was pretty fucking awesome.
Vile: What were a couple of the bands you shared the stage with during Shiprocked? What were some of your favorite performances to watch?
Nicefield: I kind of went onto the ship not having like a sour attitude towards the lineup but this isn’t something I would particularly listen to, like, its not something I’m currently jamming. But I left with a completely different situation because these are all bands we all have listened to at some point. Like we’re talkin’ Papa Roach, Sevendust, Candlebox, Living Color. Like, that was one of the most incredible things for me because I got to see Living Color play. So I would say, out of all the things that were on there was Five Finger Death Punch and In This Moment, the two best shows i saw were Sevendust because they’re a machine and I mean, there were so many good ones. The last night I watched Papa Roach for the first time ever and the ship was like was hitting all these huge swells, and it was just crazy. And these dudes just went out without a fucking flinch, and were like, “Well that’s a little weird but lets keep going!” and gave the most ape-shit performance ever. I had listened to their first record but never really did after that because my mood changed who I was but these dudes have been doing this this long and still go that fucking hard?
Vile: You said that those are band you arent necessarily jamming right now. So what are some of the bands you are listening to currently? ...No judgement
Nicefield: What i was listening to on the way here may not be what i have been necessarily jamming as of late, but I have a new found love for the band Slipknot. So i was jamming that on the way over here. But I would have to say that beyond that I have Tune Yard in my record player right now, I have a band called Gypsy Hawk form Los Angeles, a disc from a band in Detroit called Against the Grain, Silver Snake, American Sharks, Dinosaur Pile Up, Oh and the Toadies.. I'm always listening to the Toadies.
Vile: What’s on your guys’ schedule for the upcoming year as far as touring goes?
Nicefield: Well we can announce some of the tours, but we will be on the road in april may and june, We will be on a couple more cruise ships this summer. I can announce Rock'n the Range in may with Mastodon, Korn and other modern rock bands.
Vile: Your first album, “Full Blast Fuckery”, was released last summer and kicked so much ass… What’s in the works for your follow up album When can we expect to hear some new tunes?
NIceField: Well we are currently writing that record now. We have been going on multiple writing trips, like we are headed to a cabin in march for a little over a week. We are headed out to LA to sit with a guy and track some of the stuff we are working on. We are planning to have like written done this summer and everything recorded and done (fingers crossed) in hopes to release in early 2015!
Vile: If you had to chose your favorite song to perform, what would it be and why?
NIcefield: My favorite song to record now, is this new song that we have been opening our sets with. The song is tentatively called "Fire" for now. We are really stoked on it because its the first time that the five of us have written organically together. In the past its been me jason and james, or me jason and puhy, or kyle jason and puhy,but this is the first time we have all came together to write these songs at the same time. Mainly because some members werent at the initial writing process for full blast and they have joined the band more recently than others.
Vile: Anything else we should know about?
NiceField: I have webbed toes, and one time i killed this frog when I was younger and I feel really bad about it.
You can check out Wilsons recent video College Gang Bang below:
Its friday so fuck it...lets try a photo friday! Today we take a sec and give respect to a huge influence on vile. Richard Perkins is a Virginia based photographer and videographer. Perkins is known for his ability to show the grittier side of life. The vile side of things if you feel me. His work ranges from photos of strippers to look books for clothing lines such as Play Clothes, Akoo ( T.I.'s clothing company) and a recent shoot for Vile. Perkins has been interviewed and rep'd on the Urban Outfitters, Frank 151 , and even Vice Magazine . Recently Perkins was featured on Karma Loop and gave us a shout out. So naturally we feel inclined to return the respect...which is long over due!
To put it as succinctly as possible: Richard Perkins gets it! He has the ability to capture moments that I'm sure the rest of the world has only heard stories of. He captures the raw gritty-ness and best parts of a night of real partying. Seriously though our hats off to this talented dude!
Check out his work here at www.parachutefullofforks.com
Here are some pics from a recent shoot for vile!
ps check out this video for Death Face shot by Perkins!
Its that time again. Time for the 19th Annual Motor City Tattoo Expo! Come one come all and get your tattoo boners on! Local Mi artist such as Mark Hedgie of signature tattoo, CarlyCunningham, Bob Tyrell, Jay wheeler and many many more! The expo will take place at Detroit's very own Renaissance Center.
For all of you who are visiting from out of town and getting a hotel down town. What are you going to do after the expo closes down–well we’ve got you covered.
Get nuts at the Shelter Friday night for Van Halentine’s Day. Here’s a quote from the event’s description, “….hits you square in the forehead with SCREAMING GUITAR RIFFS, EXPLOSIVE DRUM BEATS, BONE RATTLING BASS, AND in the midst of it all, a figure emerges from the smoke and flashing lights.” That’s literally all you need to know.
Saturday night hit up the Magic Stick for the Fourth Annual Detroit X Detroit show! Watch 15 kickass musicians each perform a 3 song set of another locally grown band or artist.
The Handgrendades as Phantasmorgia.
After Dark Amusement Park as The Supremes.
500 Club as the Suicide Machines.
Okay, you get it. Be there or, well…. your loss.
Find out more about this one HERE!
Alright, well that was your weekend run down.
Hope to see everyone out and about this weekend!
and whatever you end up doing...
Keep it Vile.
-Dani Fahs
1217 Griswold is a little known place that has filled we Detroit kids with some of the best all nighters and diy shows any of us could ask for. Loft after loft after loft of punk rock heaven. Home to some of the best dudes, musicians, artists, skater kids alike! Home of the Reverend dudes and Deastro!
Check out this blog post from the good people of Vice Magazine (Thump) as they follow the story of how the residents Griswold Lofts are being evicted.
http://thump.vice.com/words/im-getting-evicted-from-detroits-most-famous-techno-loft
yeah we know that thump cares about techno more than we do. but this letter is on point! Here is our favorite quote from the letter of a tenant to the editors of Vice thump. Here is probably our favorite quote:
"There’s no other place like this gruesome paradise where you can pay $500 a month for a 2500-square-foot loft just outside the Financial District and run a boisterous-ass venue out of it. There's no other place where you can take acid on a Friday, go run around in an apocalyptic world, come down, do shitty coke, drink shitty coffee, ride a snowmobile downtown to go see Carl Craig, or Erika, or someone cool like that, then come to again, get chased by a pack of stray dogs, die, take a vitamin B supplement, eat a taco in your sleep, have your shoelaces come untied, keep on partying, do a line of Ambien, then at some point realize it’s 3PM on a Tuesday and you're late for work."
But dont worry THIS WEEKEND! We will be partying it up with our friends the Turtles and other rad kids and celebrating the time we spent! if you live in Detroit, you know what to do! Come Party and Keep it Vile with us!
-VC
DETROIT PARTY TURTLES !
We are privileged to be friends with so many talented artists, photographers, musicians and models who are doing some crazy work out there! this blog post we want to feature one of our favorite photographers BRIANNA LYNN ! Her work def exemplifies the best parts of the California lifestyle and some of its raunchy night life! check out her website brianna-lynn.com and make sure you follow her on IG and FB!
Make sure to check out this slide show of the work she has done with us!
