We’re working with the folks at one of our favorite joints, Underground Arts, and we’ll be giving away a ton of tickets to their shows in the coming weeks.
On Saturday, Bosnian Rainbows will perform with Sister Crayon and Philly’s own Mohican.
Like us on facebook and email us at FreeJumpStuff@gmail.com to enter to win a pair of tickets (give us your name and put “Rainbows” in the subject line).
If you want to play it safe and get your own tickets, find details for the show here.
Kindred The Family Soul: A Philadelphia Family Affair.
Text by Niesha Miller. Images by Michael Bucher.
Aja Graydon and Fatin Dantzler sit beside each other in their studio near 60th Street and Baltimore Avenue in Southwest Philly. Their creative space is painted sky blue and is home to an old piano, keyboards, racks of clothing from local Philly designers ,and sketches and abstract oil paintings of the duo.
Before they were noted neo-soul artists, Kindred the Family Soul, were two musicians waiting on their big break. The two met during a studio session with The Roots in New York City. Read more…
The Zen of Pat Martino.
Text and images by G.W. Miller III.
Legendary guitarist Pat Martino has always been on a journey, or so he believes.
Actually, he’s not really sure and he doesn’t seem to care about days gone by. He knows he’s here now and really, that’s all that matters.
You see, in 1980, when Martino was at the first height of his artistry and career, he had an operation that eliminated his memory.
“I lost everything,” he says.
He’d had seizures and headaches all his life but doctors had misdiagnosed him, often saying his issues were psychiatric. Then he had an aneurysm that nearly killed him.
After a CT scan in Los Angeles, the doctor told Martino he had two hours to live. So he hopped a plane back to his native Philly.
“I didn’t know why I was coming back except for my mom and dad,” recalls Martino, now 68.
His parents took him straight from the airport to Pennsylvania Hospital. He immediately underwent surgery to relieve his arteriovenous malformation (AVM), a congenital abnormality that disrupts the flow of blood.
When he awoke, he had no idea who he was. Read more…
Commonwealth Choir Perform “Palace” In an SUV.
The folks from General Motors emailed a few weeks back and offered us a Chevy Suburban for a week. We had no idea what to do with the massive vehicle so last week, we just threw the guys from Commonwealth Choir in the back and filmed them as they performed their song “Palace.” It was pretty awesome.
Then, on the Fourth of July, the Commonwealth Choir guys invited us to their Fishtown backyard where they had a little party with live performances from Safari Dudes, Foe Destroyer and Photo Ops, who toured with Camera Obscura.
The Commonwealth guys, who also performed, expect to hold more events in their spacious outdoor area. They even had sponsorship from Philadelphia Brewing Company, which supplied the guys with beer and Commonwealth Cider.
Text by Kevin Stairiker. Images by Abigail Reimold.
Among piles of old audio equipment, children’s books and battered pews stands a man with a plan. Reverend Adan Mairena is the kind of man who looks at a decrepit, crumbling building and sees not what it is or was, but what it will one day become.
His home for the past seven years, the West Kensington Ministry at Norris Square, is a perfect example of this. The building dates back to the Civil War but with the help of some dedicated helpers, the good reverend is looking to bring the Ministry into the 21st century.
The church itself is the main event but add a fully functional recording studio as well as plans for a venue space, screen-printing studio and photography darkroom, Mairena is hatching the ultimate way to keep kids interested – by appealing to their interests.
“I had a kid come up to me one day,” Mairena recalls, “and he was like, ‘Yo Rev., let me spit a verse for you!’ It was all about having a lot of bling. I’m like, ‘You were just asking me to help you buy a bus pass!’”
By connecting with young people, he hopes to further instill positivity into the community.
Guild Shows: The DIY Promoter Collective.
Text and image by Jessica Flynn.
If you’re a regular Guild show attendee, you know that you are going to get way more than music for the small donation asked for by whichever friendly Guild member is waiting at the door. You develop new friends, build community, foster a subculture, cry, drink beers, laugh and probably get involved in a “Simple Pleasures in America” sing-along.
If you are not a regular, it is probable that whichever member asks you for your money will also ask you for your name and remember it.
Chloe Wagner: Master of the Macabre.
Text by Jenelle Janci. Image by Jonathan Van Dine.
A small jar of thin, white, five-inch raccoon penis bones sits at the Requiem counter in front of Chloë Wagner.
“I just restocked those yesterday,” the 31-year-old from South Philly says quite nonchalantly.
Restocking raccoon penis bones, jarring squids and speaking affectionately of human skeletons are just part of another workday for the oddity store owner, who also plays keyboard in the industrial band MyParasites.
For Wagner, unconventional knick-knack collecting has been a lasting hobby.
“I’ve been collecting this kind of stuff my whole life,” Wagner says. “The past few years, I’ve been buying and selling online. I kind of got busy doing that, so I figured I would open my own store.”
Wagner opened Requiem on 9th Street near South last summer with her fiancé, Steve “Jaws” Jaworski. She had moved to Philly from New York in 2011 after studying photography and jewelry design in college. Some of her original jewelry is displayed in the store, featuring macabre elements like teeth, bones and insect parts.
“A lot of times,” Wagner says, “there are bits left over from things sold at the store and I don’t know what to do with them, so I make them into something wearable.”
As for her favorite item in the shop currently, she introduces “Bob,” the human skeleton perched in the corner, seemingly the shop’s watchman.
“He’s sold but he’s sticking around for a little bit,” Wagner offers. “He’s definitely a favorite.”
Wagner hand-picks what items are displayed based upon her tastes and interests, so it can be hard to see some things sell.
“There was a charcoal drawing from the 1800s,” Wagner recalls. “It was this little girl and she kind of looked like Wednesday Adams. She had the most angry look and her eyes just followed you everywhere you go. It was the creepiest portrait I’ve ever seen. I kind of wish I kept it.”
Prior to owning Requiem and playing in MyParasites, Wagner’s resume was a hodgepodge of more odd jobs than oddities, including a stint as a pool-cleaning technician, which helped her deal with the less glamorous side of running Requiem.
“I had to develop an iron stomach to deal with some of the stuff,” she says. “When you clean so many pools, you find all kinds of things. I had one where I was pulling families of baby skunks out of the filters. People ask, ‘How do you deal with putting the stuff in jars?’ That’s nothing.”
She has a varied musical background, from a four-year stint in high school as the bassist/singer in a punk band to three years of classical vocal training and five years of flute (which she jokes was in another lifetime).
She joined MyParasites in 2011. They toured North America and Canada to promote the group’s November 2012 album, ParaLies. MyParasites shared an 11-passenger van with fellow dark electro-rock groups Angel Spit and Cyanotic, all of which were part of the Wall Street Massacre tour.
“It was fun and exciting,” she says, “and awful all at once.”
Wagner also works as a customer service agent for the website Vampire Freaks, a gothic-industrial networking site. Her duties include answering user questions, moderating disputes and deleting fraudulent profiles. She essentially keeps vampire enthusiasts in check.
Wagner balances her music and jobs so that none of her interests fall by the wayside.
“It is a juggle,” she says, “but I think they are equal passions.”
Paul Vile: The Jell-O Man’s Dilemma.
Text by Nikki Volpicelli. Images by Kate Harrold.
It’s a cold Monday night in April and Paul Vile is standing in his camper, crowded with piles of T-shirts, coolers, boxes of Jell-O molds and a huge bubble gum machine filled with colorful balls. There is a generator providing the vehicle with electricity and with it on, it is hard to hear much else. This includes his big brother Kurt’s new record, Wakin on a Pretty Daze, which plays from the small boombox resting on the unlit kitchenette stove.
Tonight, Paul is parked in an employee’s spot outside of a bar in Philly’s Eraserhood but he changes location on a day-to-day basis. The 28-year-old is one of five brothers raised within a 10-child household. He has since moved out of his parent’s place and bought himself this mobile home, which doubles as his office and living quarters. Paul doesn’t really need a stationary home base for what he does, which is to drive around to different music festivals throughout the country selling Jell-O shots and DIY screen-printed T-shirts. Read more…
DMX and a Lot of Philly Talent @ The Blockley on July 5.
The last time DMX came to Philly, he arrived at his show at the TLA wicked late after his bus broke down. Starting his set at nearly midnight, he then performed for only 45 minutes. But it was amazing. Our Chris Malo was there and he said it was one of the most memorable performances he has ever seen.
So, the DMX show at The Blockley next Friday, July 5th, should be amazing. And, thanks to super-promoter Yusuf Muhammad, the lineup is full of Philly talent – Chase Allen, Tiani Victoria (below), I-Know Brasco and DJ Aktive. Check here for tickets and see the facebook event page here.
JUMP: The Philly Music Project 