By Jon Stone | @jwstone

[deep breath] Can you smell it? It’s summer. And it’s coming. This is a big relief for me. Champaign-Urbana in the summer is really nice. The town kind of empties out, barbecue smoke curls into the air from backyards, summer food and music festivals start up; it really is a cool place to be.

Summers generally mean lots of chances to hear CU’s amazing local talent. This summer will be no exception.  We have a ton of amazing artists currently working, from bands already garnering national attention like Headlights and (we hope) Common Loon to those on the cusp of that attention like Elsinore, You and Yourn, and New Ruins.  And since CU is still a relative newcomer to the MoB community, I thought it would be nice to highlight some of the reasons I think we have something special happening down here and also encourage you to support some of this talent as it makes its way up north to Chicago and Wisconsin. Be watching for CU oriented posts — tagged “Summer in CU” — over the next few months.

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Another  band-on-the-cusp is Urbana’s five-piece Santah. Consisting of a strong cast of musicians from the university community (creative writing and musicology grads among them), Santah celebrated the release of their debut record White Noise Bed with a large crowd of local support at Canopy Club last night. They recorded the album at Pieholden Studios, which, as you likely know, was Jay Bennett’s studio and is still maintained by his friend Matt DeWine.

I’ve seen this band on posters almost the whole time I’ve lived in Champaign. I have to admit an initial reticence regarding the name. Santa? (They only just recently added the “h” at the end). Like the jolly Christmas dude? Was it ironic? comedic? Was it just more youth hipster culture stuff that I am slowly understanding less and less?

It took me almost three years before I saw them play. I’m so glad I finally did. Almost immediately Santah dispels any question marks about the name. And, I probably won’t be the first person to make the connection that the one major thing that this band has in common with the fat elf is happiness — jolliness even. Seriously, take a minute to think band first-impressions. You know that crucial moment when a band tries to establish some kind of stage presence: be it bearded boredom; aloof, detached coolness; or, to be fair, genuine “thank-you-so-much-for-having-me” relief… It’s an important moment. When Santah takes the stage, the very first thing you’ll notice is lead-man Stan McConnell’s wide and authentic grin. That smile draws you in immediately… and then you notice that the rest of the band is smiling too.

This unfeigned happiness ends up being the undercurrent of the band’s sound. Santah’s live performance has a kind of “everything is gonna be all right” emotional honesty — and it shows up on the record too. Stan’s younger sister Vivian lends her back-up vocals and acoustic guitar playing to that sound and I always enjoy great keys playing, which they have as well. While the sound is unique enough, the band could fit in comfortably with My Morning Jacket or Band of Horses fans. They also have a punch not unlike two bands that I noticed were played between sets: the Local Natives and Delta Spirit. All in all, I think that this is a band to watch. They’ve put in the time it takes to congeal, recorded a great first record and now it will be your pleasure to see them in your town sometime soon. I promise.

Santah will begin touring extensively this fall. And, as bassist Otto Stuparitz joked with me before the set, “there will be snakes and garden hoses! and you won’t be able to tell the difference! — and confetti! lots of confetti! Oh — and dudes with haircuts where the hair comes down and covers one eye. But only one eye.”

There actually won’t be any of that, of course, but I can promise you smiles.

Download: Santah – No Other Women

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As I said, stay tuned in the coming months as we feature a few other local CU acts. We already have something exciting in the works with Elsinore (who recently made Boing Boingwith a dispute over their proposed album art for their upcoming August release), and will end the summer with what is sure to be an amazing reunion of the band Hum. In 1996, I went to Lollapalooza just to see them, so I’m excited to see them again almost 15 years later (for free!) during Champaign’s 150th anniversary celebration later in the summer!

We’re pretty excited for the return of Radio Summer Camp this July. Last year was a total blast and I’m sure our friends at 91.7 WMSE have plenty of great stuff planned for this year’s festivities.

Today they announced The Backyard BBQ going down on Sunday, July 18, promising “an all-day, outdoor, FREE concert featuring country, bluegrass, blues and roots-leaning music.” Sounds like our speed, right? The initial line-up announcement includes performances by Southern Culture on the Skids, .357 String Band,Carolina Chocolate Drops, Jonathan Burks and The Ragadors.

By Joshua Miller

For singer/songwriter Matt Pond – the leader of Matt Pond PA – there’s a certain fascination that comes with music and it’s abilities to peel back the intricate moments of life. Beneath the catchy pop and emotionally driven songs are deep thoughts and vivid images of the small moments that make up the fabric of life and the relationship we have with each other.

With the release of his latest album, “The Dark Leaves,” Pond journeys further into the profession that first began as an unexpected but rewarding mistake. Days dreaming of being a history professor or some kind of administrator/bureaucrat slowly transitioned to days contemplating where to put certain lyrics and touring around to see dozens of new faces around the country. Now that music’s taken over his life he’s not going to waste time. Before Matt Pond continues that trend at Mad Planet next week Monday I had a very interesting conversation with him about his life as a musician and learning about life and music.

What kind of feeling do you get from playing that’s made you want to continue this lifestyle?

I don’t know, I don’t really think when I’m playing music. When you’re recording you’re trying to play as precisely or that’s how I record. You want energy but you also want precision. And when you’re live, it’s all about energy. Beyond that what happens when I’m playing music it’s kind of like I have no idea almost – it’s kind of just this electric thing. There’s a lot of things that go through my head when I’m playing and I don’t think I’ve ever been able to organize it all.

If you had to describe your music, how would you describe it and what you hope it makes people feel?

I don’t like words – words like beauty are hard to use. But I want to make something expressing frustration but through orchestration, and arranging and orchestrating that frustration into a kind of acceptance and relief. I don’t want to deny that there’s an ugliness to people but I want to show the opposite side of that.

What are some of the musical influences for you and how do you think they’ve influenced you?

I think of Neil Young a lot and musical people like John Lennon. You think ‘I’ll never be able to achieve what they achieved’ or I would be shocked if I would. Regardless, they made music that they wanted to make and could also still relate to people. Art and relating to people don’t have to be separate things.

You wrote all or the majority of your new album, “The Dark Leaves,” in a cabin the woods near Bearsville, NY. Could you describe what that experience was like?

Well, it wasn’t completely in the middle of nowhere. There are some places in Wyoming or Montana that could be in the middle of nowhere. But in the winter [in New York] when you can barely make it outside because the snow is so high and also pressed up against the door and you haven’t seen a single person in a couple of weeks then you can feel a little isolated. It’s a strange feeling but it’s a good way to figure out what you’re thinking.

What you learned about music and yourself while you were out there?

There will never be a time when I’m not learning about either of those things. That’s my daily project.

Could you describe your writing process and what you do to get yourself in the mood to write?

I don’t really know how I put songs together. It all falls out of me. Notes make me think of ideas and ideas make me think of note. So they work together. If you sit with a guitar long enough something’s got to happen. I’m generally with a guitar and hoping something will happen. Songs, they kind of have taken over my life. All I’ve done is do service to them.

Your songs on the new one seem to talk about beginnings and endings and the space between. Could you talk a little bit about that?

Yes, but that’s all we have, isn’t it? So often I feel that everything we’re doing is that we’re waiting for something, we’re waiting to start the next thing. When I was younger I couldn’t wait to be done with high school. And then I wanted to be done with this part. And we’re stuck on the phone waiting to get a new phone service and we’re waiting to do so many things. In some ways that’s why I love touring so much. In a way it’s why I like this thing so much is that when you’re touring you’re not waiting for anything. Your whole day is doing what you’re doing. It’s a really exhausting way to live but for me it’s the best way to live.

Your biography also talks about the songs being about surrender. Could you elaborate on that?

My impulses I think are screwed up and wrong. My impulse is to blast through everything and say what I want, whenever I want. But that just doesn’t work in a civilized society. We should be ourselves. There’s some kind of accommodation and realization that you can be alone and be yourself as much as you want but that doesn’t really work for relationships or friendships or anything else – or playing music. You have to begin to give in to a certain amount. It’s all about balance, I don’t where it comes from or why, but when I want to fight so hard against some things that’s the worse thing to do; basically knowing that you’re going to have to compromise something, there are compromises unfortunately and fortunately.

Any stories or moments while playing music that had a big impact on you?

It’s more of a large mass than one moment. Once something’s happened, it’s happened. If in the moment when I’m on stage and you asked the question I could almost tell you but it would be kind of crazy, singing and talking about it. I would probably explode. When you can connect with an audience and get a feeling that the audience is here to see me or us and I’m there to see them. We need that, we need to be involved. There needs to be interaction and when that interaction happens, those moments that’s the most exciting part. But specifically to pull out what city, where, and when something happens…I mean it’s all building towards something anyways. I don’t know what it isn’t building towards exactly but what I am figuring out but I am figuring it out.

What are your future plans and what should people expect from your live show?

I just am going to do this. I kind of make these ultimatums with myself that I’m going to quit or do it for a certain amount of time but until I find something I want to do I don’t want to do anything else.

[The live show’s] always different, even from song to song and place to place. The only thing I do is put every ounce of myself into what we do. I may be cavalier or confused but I’m not disaffected. I’m very much in this for what is it.

Matt Pond PA and Bobby Long play Milwaukee’s Mad Planet on Monday, May 10th. Tickets are on sale now.

MP3: Matt Pond PA – “Slow Day”
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Buy: Matt Pond PA – The Dark Leaves

Last night Eddie Argos of Art Brut fame brought his new project, the incredibly named Everybody Was In The French Resistance…Now! to the Frequency in Madison. Thanks to Ed Oliver for the photos!

Discuss: Did you make it to the show last night? Drop a comment with your thoughts and reviews.

Myspace: Everybody Was In The French Resistance…Now!
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Buy: Everybody Was in the French Resistance…Now! – Fixin the Charts 1

The always amazing High Frequency guys brought back some supreme footage from Dosh’s show at Cactus Club last month. Awesome stuff, per usual. Speaking of the show, we still have some gorgeous posters available for purchase. Drop a comment if you’re interested.

MP3: Dosh – “Number 41″ (Feat. Andrew Bird)
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Buy: Dosh – Tommy

If you’re a subscriber to our podcast, you’re familiar with Kasey Anderson and his fantastic album, Nowhere Nights. We’re fortunate to be hosting Kasey and Tom Vollman tonight at the Cactus Club in Milwaukee. Kasey was kind enough to send through some of his favorite sad songs for this new feature. Stop by the Cactus Club tonight for some of his own.

Steve Earle – “Goodbye”

First time I heard this song, I felt like somebody knocked me out, then stomped on my heart until I came to. I don’t know that there’s anyone better than Earle when it comes to distilling incredibly complex moments and emotions to their essence. Earle packs everything – regret, shame, longing, heartbreak – in to one simple refrain (“I can’t remember / if we said goodbye”). I’m awestruck every time I hear this song. Every single time. And I hear it a lot. But to me, more than the slow and ceaseless ache in this song, what stands out is that, through it all, you can still hear a man who came out the other side. That’s what makes Steve Earle a better songwriter than most anyone else alive.

The Low Anthem – “This God Damn House” (listen)

Daniel Lefkowitz wrote this song for TLA’s record, What the Crow Brings. Dan’s no longer in the band but I they’re still playing this tune at shows, and they oughta be; it’s a wrecking ball. There’s a simplicity to the way Dan addresses the dissolution of sanity due simply to repetition, routine, and self-deceit. The song is just a very simple, stark portrait of life in a rut, but it is one of the most stirring tunes I’ve heard in a long, long time. Dan’s got a solo record coming out sometime this year, and I expect people will be fawning over it.

John Prine – “Mexican Home” (listen to Josh Ritter’s cover)

Chip Robinson joined me for a leg of this tour, and he played this tune a few times. Chip made the thing his own but Prine’s version is just as devastating. “My father died on the porch outside on an August afternoon / I sipped bourbon and cried with a friend by the light of the moon.” That’s grief and loss in their absolute simplest forms. Prine has always been so good at that, the same way Earle is, but you always suspect there’s a smirk around the corner with Prine, and there usually is. That line always sticks out to me, though. It may not be the entire crux of Prine’s tune, but it is the moment in the song where the hair on the back of my neck stands up. There’s a moment like that in almost every one of Prine’s tunes. He’s just that good; you know it’s coming, and you’ve heard the tunes enough times to know exactly when it’s coming, but you can’t keep from shivering. That’s the mark of a master.

Buy: Kasey Anderson – Nowhere Nights
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MP3: Kasey Anderson – “Bellingham Blues”