I’m happy to announce that I have some new “get to know your blogger” features on the way this week and I wanted to start off with one of my favorites, Village Indian. Not only does Amrit have a fantastic blog, but you can also find him posting his concert reviews of the NYC area on Stereogum as well. I’d like to thank Amrit for his time, and I hope you enjoy the interview below.
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Let’s get some general background on you. Where do you live, how long, etc.
I pass my days in the East Village of Manhattan. Born in Queens, raised on Long Island. Moved to a Philly burb (Valley Forge) for my teenage years, did the education tour and am back where it all began. Nothing quite like it. Come visit. I have a sofa you guys can all sleep on. Five floor walk up though. Get your step on.
I want get an idea of your musical taste evolution if you will. What were some of the first albums/tapes/CD’s you bought?
Hmm. First albums were Beastie Boys’ Licensed to Ill, Def Leppard’s Hyseria and Bon Jovi’s Slippery When Wet. Those were the sounds of my first summer at camp. I devoured that stuff. I remember Sting and Kool and the Gang being favorites of my (younger) brother’s and mine as well. We had a fun game, where we would “claim” music. If you “owned” a band, the other wasn’t allowed to sing along to it. I made up that game. I think I owned everything (except Phil Collins and Kool and the Gang). But I’m more lenient about what I allow him to sing now. Sometimes.
How about some of the more recent CD’s you’ve purchased?
Hmm. Well, I’ll give you some of my favorites on the year. Land of Talk, Love is All, Sunset Rubdown, Beirut (am I sounding like a blogger yet?), Man Man, Hot Chip, Phoenix, Birdmonster, Cold War Kids (Up In Rags EP), Elvis Perkins, Forward Russia, Thom Yorke, TV On The Radio, . And a ton of others, but those come to mind as I type.
Where do you buy the majority of your records? Do you support a particular record store in your area, buy online, and if so, where?
Other Music is around the corner from me, so I guess I’ll say “Other Music.” Aziz famously lampooned the place, but the guys that work there are imminently approachable. Just don’t ask for anything Pitchfork gave less than a 7.5 to. I kid. They have a great staff, and it’s a fun way to spend a few hours and dollars. But I don’t really buy any music there. The Internets supplies me the morsels of data I need to keep my iPod fat.
When I started listening to music, there were certain musicians that led me in the path of a lot of other bands. Did you have any similar experiences with bands growing up?
Somewhat. I played lead guitar for a nearly signed band in high school and, a few years later, gave it a go as a singer-songwriter. Both those pursuits really informed my listening. The guys I was copping on guit or vocally were little beacons, directing me through the morass of crap music MTV was shoving down my adolescent throat. I feel lucky that I started playing violin when I was in 3rd grade. It’s been nothing but green lights from there.
What are some of your favorite records of all time?
Ooh. The Smiths The Queen Is Dead, Radiohead OK Computer, Jeff Buckley Grace, Rufus Wainwright’s Poses, Pixies Surfer Rosa, Bowie’s Hunky Dory, Beatles Revolver, John Lennon Plastic Ono/Imagine, Tom Waits Rain Dogs, The Smiths The Queen Is Dead, Broken Social Scene You Forgot It In People, . Albums of the last few years that really amaze me are Arcade Fire’s Funeral and Bloc Party’s Silent Alarm. That’s a pretty poor cross section of my favorites but honestly my eyes are getting screwed up from scrolling through my iTunes.
Any idea how many albums are in your collection?
None, unfortunately. Between promo CDs and my days as a Columbia House/BMG member (10 CDs for a penny!), my apartment is a veritable mine(field) of gem cases. My iTunes says 45.92 GB of music, but that has to be a fraction of what I have.
If you could spend time with 3 musicians, who would you choose?
John Coltrane, Jeff Buckley, Rufus Wainwright. I was gonna say Thom Yorke too, but you only wanted three. So I won’t say Thom Yorke. John Coltrane’s music is one of the purest expressions of a mental and spiritual state in sound; the heights he reaches are pretty astonishing. You can literally hear him come to some sort of an understanding as he plays through A Love Supreme. He gets somewhere. And I think that’s what we’re all going for when we listen to music. To be taken somewhere. Jeff Buckley exudes the same sort of spirit, and in terms of sheer talent and technique, the guy was a singular artist. I added Rufus to lighten up the party, while still bringing something to the table musically. I’ve traded words with him when I’ve seen him around the city, but seeing him do the Judy Garland material at Carnegie Hall last night really brought it home. He’s a clown, a brilliant songwriter and a star.
I’m sure you’ve seen some great concerts. Can you tell me what the first concert you saw was and when? To follow that up, are there any particular shows that stand out in terms of being favorites?
First show was Faith No More. I dragged my parents to it. My brother and I were knee-high to a tadpole and wearing leather jackets. Mike Patton was an absolute animal. Billy Idol was headlining. He had a 50 foot inflatable lady on stage for ” L.A. Woman.” I’m pretty sure the sole purpose of the prop was for him to able to say “Look at the tits on her!” Which he did, natch. I’ll never forget that, nor my dad calling out the pot smell in the air.
Favorites? Oh, that’s impossible. They’re all my babies. What are some bands that you haven’t gotten the chance to see live, but would really like to?
Great thing about living in New York. You get to see everything. There aren’t any bands of my time that I haven’t seen that I’d be dying to. Guns N’ Roses, for one. There are of course classics (Joy Division, , etc), but that would require a time machine (or incredibe taste as a grade schooler). And if the question was “what would you do with a time machine?” and I answered “go see Joy Division,” well, that would make me look like a sad little man. But yeah, that’s probably what I’d do with a time machine.
Can you tell me what got you into blogging, and are you surprised by the popularity your blog has attained?
Incessantly barraging my friends inboxes with emails of band suggestions, recapping shows I went to, reading other blogs. Said friends constantly prodded me to start a blog of my own (probably as a sort of spam filter). Well, it worked. But it took time; there are so many blogs out there, it seems a bit daunting and a bit futile. So yeah, in that context, that I have the readership I do is totally humbling and amazing. I have a great time with it, and it makes it that much more fun to know that what I’m writing will actually be read.
What are some of your favorite blogs? Music or otherwise.
My favorite blog is Stereogum, hands down. Of course, being a contributor makes me a bit partial. Scott’s writing is intelligent and pithy, and he has an uncanny ability to find the funny. He’s created something special and unique, and I love being a part of it. Stereogum takes the piss out of the scene, while still feeding it and being informative. There’s nothing like it.
I’m also addicted to Brooklyn Vegan. He has great taste and has done well to position himself as an information resource for concert goers and indie audiophiles. Before I got blogging, they were my two. They were both really supportive when I started, and I’m eternally grateful for that.
Others I check regularly include Largehearted Boy , My Old Kentucky Blog , Gorilla Vs. Bear, Marathonpacks, Said the Gramophone, Coolfer and my good friends Yeti and Jen @ Daily Refill / Gothamist.
How important do you think music blogs are in general? Do you think they will continue to be as popular as they are today?
Well I think blogs are incredibly important. With the proliferation of these sites, the big dogs become even more important; more people turn on to the phenomenen by the day, and aside from the few that they come to know on a personal level, they gravitate to the pioneers. The traffic for those sites continues to grow, but this shouldn’t marginalize the efforts of those “in the trenches.” Bands attain critical mass when bloggers operate in concert to promote them, and the blogosphere is richer for the hard work of the masses. Sound like a commie, don’t I? Guess it’s all that ¡Forward, Russia! I’ve been listening to.
Let’s get away from music for a bit. What are some of your favorite movies and television shows?
Chips, Jonie Loves Chachie, Facts of Life, Different Strokes and Meet The Press.
Actually, I don’t really watch much TV anymore. I do watch Meet the Press when I can, but I get most of my info from The Daily Show (further feeding my warped world view). I get some yucks from Family Guy and Entourage. I used to watch anything and everything though. Those were some good times.
Outside of music do you have any other interests or projects?
I’m rather one-dimensional in that respect. I have a law degree, which is neither interesting nor an interest. I used to write a lot of songs (and won a BMG songwriting competition or two), but I don’t really find time for it anymore. I’m really much happier seeing shows, listeing to music, blogging and further alienating myself from “normal” sects of society.
A lot of people have a favorite concert t-shirt, do you have one?
I just got a ¡Forward, Russia! t-shirt. I like that one this week.
In your opinion, what’s the best place to eat on your city?
That’s probably the most impossibly difficult question to answer. I’ve really been feeling the Organic Grill on 1st Ave b/t 7th and 8th recently. Great sushi at Tomoe in the Village (Sullivan b/t Macdougal and Houston); no fuss, stripped down, just insanely fresh slabs of sashimi as big as your head. Brunch at Mogador (St. Marks’ b/t 1st and A). Falafel at Falafel Star (7th St.) . Lombardi’s pizza on Spring St. in NoLIta is off the chain. Da Silvano is some great pasta in the West Village. Essa Bagel (Yiddish for “Everything On A Bagel”) on 21st and 1st is pretty amazing; so is the Bagel Shop on Bedford in Williamsburg. For Indian, I hit up the Punjabi grocery store on Houston b/t 1st and Ave. A; just like mommy made! But if you want some ambience and you want to, like, sit or something, I suggest Banjara at the corner of 1st Ave and 6th St (right across from my house, actually); that strip on 6th St is called Curry Row, but Banjara is a shining light of excellence. A meal fit for an Indian Maharaja. Best on the block, hands down. But you know, I don’t really eat out much.
Animals dressed as humans. Funny or not?
There’s a point to which it’s funny and endearing. Then there’s that scary place where it’s a little creepy. The East Village is decidedly in that scary place. Welcome.
June 21st, 2006 at 1:35 pm
nice interview, and Banjara rules.
June 21st, 2006 at 2:28 pm
I went to a show on that Faith No More/Billy Idol tour too–was totally there for Faith No More. I don’t remember a 50′ inflatable woman though. For our show, he had a giant fist suspended above the stage and at some point it rotated and flipped off the audience. Yeah, um, big fun.
June 21st, 2006 at 7:25 pm
I thought that I was the only one in the world whose first concert was Faith No More + Billy Idol. To not be alone!
June 22nd, 2006 at 2:13 pm
Nice! I love Amrit’s blog and Stereogum reviews! I might take him up on that couch.