VEER Magazine | Making Ballet Braver: Jennifer Archibald Illuminates Virginia’s History
Style Weekly | Wild File - Cherub Records founder PJ Sykes offers a deep-dive into his label’s 20-year history.
RVAmag | In The Toughest Year Ever, PJ Sykes Cuts An Album of Hope
RVAmag | Perfect Posture: Weekend Playlist By PJ Sykes
Aziz Ansari - photos by PJ Sykes
INDY Week | No BS! Brass
Foo Fighters use PJ Sykes photo
Richmond Magazine Vexine photos by PJ Sykes
Queen City Nelly Kate photo by PJ Sykes
NYC Taper Mac McCaughan (Superchunk) photo by PJ Sykes
RVAMag | Keeping It Real Hoax Hunters Bring The Noise
WXDU Hopscotch 2014 Coverage photos by PJ Sykes
Richmond Magazine No BS! Brass Band photo by PJ Sykes
SPIN Magazine Mary Lattimore & Mac McCaughan
SENTIREASCOLTARE Horse Lords photo by PJ Sykes
Music Connection
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VEER Magazine | Making Ballet Braver: Jennifer Archibald Illuminates Virginia’s HistoryVEER MagazineMaking Ballet Braver: Jennifer Archibald Illuminates Virginia’s History“My focus was initially on interracial relationships through the film, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?” says Archibald. “I knew about the Lovings’ relationship and the court case [Loving v. Virginia], but I did not know that courthouse was 45 minutes away from Richmond, where I was making this ballet. Two days after I arrived, I visited the courthouse and cemetery with PJ Sykes, Media Specialist for Richmond Ballet, who shot the trailer audiences see before the ballet is performed. Two images really resonated: the headstones of their graves, next to each other, and the way their love permeates the earth as they lie next to each other, and the other image is a felt experience, a question I had in the courthouse: why was this love put through so much pain?”Archibald pauses as she remembers the details of that day, then continues, “The courthouse has this air of ‘You have done something wrong and you are going to get penalized for it,’ and it’s all because they loved each other. The Bowling Green area where they lived is so quiet. There’s a quietness to the trees and the wind. The place felt romantic, and this is something I brought into the choreography. At the same time, I question the decision of the police: they had nothing better to do than to drive to this couple’s home when they were sleeping and arrest them in the middle of the night? It’s as if they had a mission to ruin someone’s life, and there is no explanation that’s good enough for me.”The story of the Lovings is particularly important to Archibald because her parents, a Black man and white woman, were married in Canada in 1969. “Within the ballet, I wanted to show the intimacy and sensuality of the Lovings’ relationship, which I do in one moment, in particular.” At other times, the dancers’ duets are more understated and reflect the velvety lushness and subtleties of voices like Nat King Cole’s.
Style Weekly | Wild File - Cherub Records founder PJ Sykes offers a deep-dive into his label’s 20-year history.Wild FileCherub Records founder PJ Sykes offers a deep-dive into his label’s 20-year history.Press play at the start of the “20 Years of Cherub Records” compilation album, and you’ll find yourself enveloped in mystery.The opening track, like the first official release in Cherub’s catalogue, comes courtesy of Kids Techno, an artist whose identity has been cloaked in secrecy since the Richmond-based label’s 2001 founding. It’s a fitting tone-setter for an imprint whose tagline currently reads, “Celebrating 20 years of being obscure.”True to that history, founder PJ Sykes is commemorating this moment by offering up a 30-song deep-dive into the multifarious and sometimes-murky musical universe he’s curated, ranging from sub-two-minute punk blasts to discursive improvisation and so much in between. Demos, live recordings, unreleased material… he’s got it all.“He’s kept everything,” says Timothy Bailey, who leads Timothy Bailey & The Humans and has two tracks on the 20th anniversary album. “That takes a fair amount of consideration to do.”Sykes has long been a keeper of details and the archiving bug bit early. He didn’t just collect baseball cards, he studied them. He didn’t just play with his Star Wars toys, he photographed them. More recently, in 2021, he landed a position with the Richmond Ballet that involves producing, archiving and restoring video content.“It all comes back to telling the story,” Sykes says of his passion for documentation. “What’s life like in Richmond in [the year] 2000-whatever? Guess what - I have some of that information that nobody else thought to keep up with.”While Sykes is known to many as a concert photographer, having taken well-circulated shots of Foo Fighters and several other rock bands, he’s established himself as a versatile mainstay of Richmond’s music scene with a comprehensive do-it-yourself skill set.“I started figuring it all out because no one wanted to play with me,” Sykes remembers. “It all comes from that thing where if someone says no to you, you’re like, ‘Okay, watch this.’”Sykes grew up in Lynchburg, “a weird kid [in] a growing religious town” he says, recording with whatever gear was available and renting sound equipment to host shows at ad hoc venues. Despite the lack of a thriving scene, Sykes found mentorship in the form of fellow Lynchburg local Jeff Roop, who was in college when he auditioned a high-school-aged Sykes to play guitar in a theater production.“We had this musical kinship,” Roop recalls. “It was a lot of, ‘Have you heard this band? Have you heard this band?’ We learned about so many different types of music and the world just kind of opened up a lot more for us at that time.”Sykes and Roop played together full-time in alternative rock band, Angels VS Aliens, ahead of Sykes’ 2002 relocation to Richmond. Sykes credits Roop with the inspiration to start a label, and there’s a sense of torch-passing in that PJ distributed the first handmade Kids Techno singles at the last Angels VS Aliens show. Nevertheless, Roop says Sykes is the inspiring one: “The thing that I’ve admired the most about PJ is that he’s never been afraid to take a risk … He shares that enthusiasm with whoever works with him.”For Timothy Bailey, that enthusiasm fueled a resurrection. Bailey and Sykes met in the mid-2000s as employees at the Hueguenot Road Barnes & Noble. Bailey was just starting to emerge from an extended musical hiatus, having reached the point of burnout pursuing a career with the 1990s Richmond band, Schwa.“He was just so authentically and generously encouraging,” Bailey remembers of Sykes’ reaction to the songs he’d been working on. “It gave me the wherewithal to try to make music again.” A Cherub-released Timothy Bailey and the Humans album called “Ecoutez! Ecoutez!” followed in 2006.For Bailey, Sykes’ own drive to create has been uplifting as well. “You’ll see memes about making art,” he says. “‘Just get it out, get it out, get it out.’ And I don’t know that many people that have embodied that more than PJ.”Projects of PJ’s appear throughout “20 Years of Cherub Records,” including the panoramic rock of A New Dawn Fades, the punk rock of Hoax Hunters, and a pair of tracks under his own name. His 2021 album "Fuzz" was his first eponymous one since 1998, and it was written and recorded almost entirely solo during the height of the COVID-19 lockdown. Despite a blanketing of crunchy guitars, “FUZZ” is Sykes’ most transparent work to date. “If you put your name on it, there’s no denying that’s what it is,” he says. “Now you have to own it.”So much of the material on “20 Years of Cherub Records” goes in the opposite direction, delighting in obfuscation. You could write a senior thesis on the recording of hyper-prolific songwriter Matt Farley titled “Introducing Jandek's Ready For The House Band” and still not get to the bottom of it. And we may never know who Kids Techno is.But Cherub’s 20-year compilation makes one thing crystal clear: Sykes’ devotion is one-of-a-kind.
RVAmag | In The Toughest Year Ever, PJ Sykes Cuts An Album of HopeRVAmag: In The Toughest Year Ever, PJ Sykes Cuts An Album of HopeVeteran Richmond musician and photographer PJ Sykes releases his first solo album, Fuzz, on May 7. In the run-up to the album’s release, Jason Olsen caught up with PJ to talk gear, music, politics, and the old Shoney’s on Staples Mill Road, among other things.It’s rare to find a voice that’s both smart and true, and rarer still to find one with real heart. Self-produced records are hard to pull off. I should know, I’ve been self-producing a non-existent record for 20 years or more. That PJ Sykes has written such a solid collection of songs, much less produced them himself, is a testament to his strength as an artist. The sheer cojones and will-power that it takes are all on the line in Sykes’ new solo album, Fuzz.Where optimal riffage, tuneful optimism, and clever lyricism meet heartfelt delivery, Fuzz seems at once a banner wave to its possible influences — Dinosaur Jr., Built to Spill, Sugar — and also a hymn to the here and now. In “Holding On,” easily the catchiest bounce-across-the-walls paean to being stuck in a pandemic, “Our time is limited so let’s make the most of it” is a mantra. It’s one so many of us were repeating, trying to find joy in what felt like end-times. Not only do I get it, I live it. Every. Single. Day. It’s a bright spot where being hopeful, despondent, wistful, and suspicious all ride the line together. And that’s mostly the tactic of the first half of the record, after which we experience the hangover of the current world.Thankfully, Sykes is capable of both the bludgeoned and melodic, interspersing a personal narrative that keeps the multiple riffs of “How to Germinate a Heart” from spinning off into space. The opening psychedelic sludge of “Real Life” sustains throughout but never meanders due to a pertinent question being held aloft. Most of the album rides the line between abject disdain for those that can’t wrap their heads around the current sad state, and the hope that maybe, just maybe, some of y’all could wake the fuck up.And then I noticed his detailed, artful use of “gain-staging.” Scooping the frequencies on each take and comping them together. Stacking the sounds to make them stronger. Not division. Not subtraction. Cohesion. “Aerosol” blends overdubs tastefully, providing a wall of stacked action and more than a nod to the last real punk, one Kurdt Kobain [Jason’s views on punk do not represent RVA Mag editorial policy. Nirvana was cool though — ed.], at least from a lyrical and melodic perspective. “Another Frequency” squares up tones against each other and thematically lays out the curve of the record. The sad ambiguity of our America is exposed: why is there always an “other” when in fact we are all neighbors?Whose finger is on the dial that is pumping fear into our homes, division into our interaction, and keeping citizens from looking each other in the eye and holding ourselves to account for our own sins? Sykes isn’t an interloper, he’s not out to take anything away from you. The questions that linger in his songs were as much for him as they might be for you. Are you ready to stop being afraid of everything and everyone you encounter? Are you ready to rock again?I was lucky enough to get Sykes to agree to an interview prior to the album release Wednesday, May 7th.Jason Olsen: So… Awkward first statement. I wasn’t aware of you as a musician. In fact, I’m having difficulty remembering how exactly I hit the follow button on your Twitter account. I’m fairly certain it was a result of seeing some of your live photography, but I won’t commit to that. Somehow, though, you became one of my go-to tastemakers when I clicked through on a “Best of 2020” playlist you made that really defied genre. It had a little bit of everything and seemed to bounce from the eclectic, to the enormously popular, to the singer-songwriter. I often say that I’m not a music snob, I don’t care for elitism, and I sensed that in you. I gleaned that you have a genuine appreciation for music and the spirit of artists.Which brings us to Fuzz, your first solo LP. I was a little blind-sided. I’m thinking to myself, “Is this guy some kind of savant?” Like, already I was a little jealous. “What can’t he do?”I guess that’s my first question. Is there anything you can’t do? Seriously, what gave you the legs to write and produce your own full-length in the past year, other than the obvious element of time?PJ Sykes: There are no guilty pleasures and popularity doesn’t make something good nor bad. I really like artists that are looking to be free and are trying to be themselves as much as possible. Some of my favorites that are currently working are people like St. Vincent, R.A.P. Ferreira, Shamir, and Bob Mould. I’m definitely no savant, but thank you! It’s true that I’m best known as a music photographer, but that came as a result of playing live music. Ultimately I’m a musician first, it’s what I’ve had the most formal training with. However, I think about art holistically. What can I make with this tool? Or sometimes if I have a song in my head, an image, or an idea, how do I use different mediums to bring it to life? I’m not a technical person and I really don’t care what the gear is if I can use it to make something. It could be a crappy camera or a broken guitar. I don’t own a lot of really nice gear. What I struggle with the most is singing and writing lyrics. So I put the most time and effort into that process. I built a DIY vocal booth and did a bunch of demo takes to find what sounded good to me and was comfortable for my voice range. I worked on finding phrases that were more comfortable to sing to and crafted around the ideas and themes I wanted to express.Jason: From a thematic perspective, I can’t help but think that this collection of songs is a reflection of our current political American system, which seems to be in a real-time tug of war between “the good ole days” and actually achieving a leadership role in the world again, and righting some of the inequities. How much of that was bleeding through into your creative process, especially as it pertains to constructing the songs? Were you actively moving toward, or trying to pull back from that?PJ: I’ve been politically active for a long time but it has certainly been more intense leading into the Presidential election year and the pandemic. I don’t know how someone could possibly ignore politics for the last few years. Even before that, things were not great. For me, everything is politics. If you drink water, breathe air, or eat food, you should be engaged. Fuzz certainly addresses life from the vantage point of the last year or so, with a mostly optimistic edge that things can get better if we work at it.Jason: “Dunkin’ on the General,” if I’m hearing it correctly, is directly connected to the outrage that was happening in Richmond, VA last summer, with nightly BLM protests that led to a number of unfortunate clashes with city police, and exposed the city to the international spotlight. As a former resident, and somebody who is sympathetic to BLM, I was really disheartened by the police response, and the violence that was happening. I definitely felt that it was detrimental to the message to the movement. I think you were there, in a photojournalist role, kind of a fly on the wall. Can you expand on how that made its way into the song? Talk to me about the line “expand the circle.”PJ: First off I stand with BLM and as a cis white male I want to use my privilege to lift people up. “Dunkin’ on the General” is about the beautiful future we’re working towards and the ugliness we’re having to face to get there. “Expand the circle” means taking the idea of the diverse and equal public space, in our case Marcus-David Peters Circle, and spreading it past not just the physical boundaries (which are currently limited by police fencing) but also mental boundaries. We’ve all got work to do, starting with difficult conversations with friends and family members.What I saw this summer through all the tear gas and violence was a diverse community coming together day after day and literally growing food, playing basketball, dancing, playing music, and sharing positive experiences on a plot of land that was originally intended as a monolith of white supremacy. I actually did not participate as a photojournalist because of my location and the pandemic. However, I would visit the area often, helped clean up the arts district, and helped spread the word on Twitter during some of the most turbulent nights, among other things.Jason: A lot of the recording techniques you seem to employ aren’t necessarily new, but I was continually impressed at how deft a hand you took in their usage. The guitars especially sound great, with the gain-staging and overdubbing really precise and sharp. I can think of a handful of players that use this to great effect, but here it sounds like you just cranked it out. Tell me that you struggled a little bit, just to make me feel better.I also want to talk about your rig. Tell me about the gear you were using, specifically the fuzz pedals and how often you were switching things up or tweaking. You have a knack for production; how did you land there?PJ: I’ve been experimenting with recording most of my life. I was always interested in sound and trying to capture and manipulate it starting with my Fisher-Price tape recorder as a kid. Over the years I’ve moved from cassette four-tracks to various digital recording software. The basics are all very similar, they just get higher quality sounding and more expansive. I’ve hired and worked closely with Allen Bergendahl for years and picked up a lot of tips from asking questions and watching him record my projects, and other people too. As a photographer I’ve had the privilege to be in the recording studio with lots of artists, and I would watch carefully and pick up ideas.To bounce off my earlier answer, I’m not a nerdy gear or tech person. I know generally how to do things, I learn quickly, but I’m not as interested in getting “technically perfect” recordings. I just want it to feel right to me. I will study things I like and see if I can break them apart to make them my own. Fuzz started out by playing my standard live guitar, a modified Fender Jaguar HH, through my typical live rig, which is an MXR Modified OD into a fuzz pedal of some sort into a delay pedal of some sort and my Ampeg Reverberocket. Once I came up with some song ideas, I broke them out into their own sessions and used all real pedals but Logic Pro amps. I would say it’s cheating not to use real amplifiers and microphones, but if you like how it sounds, who really cares?I was able to track any time of day. So for months I would just record parts and rearrange the songs, set up a new track and play it again. Try new pedal combinations for each song and each part. I dusted off my 90s Epiphone Les Paul and had James Seretis (The Hustle Season) fix it up; I used that for almost every guitar that you hear on the record now. I used a 90s Black Russian Big Muff Pi and the silver 00s Big Muff Pi, what I call a “Viking Muff,” which is a modified Big Muff clone that Allen Bergendahl made for me. But the Fuzz secret sauce is a Grand Orbiter from EarthQuaker Devices, which is a great new (or new to me) pedal company that makes beautiful sounding pedals (please sponsor me!), and this weird fuzz pedal that has reverse attack sound called ZUFF, by Chris Harmon of the band Droopies. I would just mix these up depending on the part or song. When I got frustrated or tired of something I would unplug everything and change all the dials up so I couldn’t repeat myself.Jason: From my view, staring at a blank page or DAW screen can be the most daunting thing, and really quite lonely. Listening to the record actually got me really inspired to plug in and turn the amp up. I recently purchased the BigMuff Pi Op-Amp ‘71 reissue, which is the famous Pumpkins sound, and I hadn’t really turned it up, you know? For about five minutes after playing really loud for two hours, I was just elated. And then I thought how great it would have been with two or three other players in the room to work off of. I’m wondering how you’re feeling about promoting the record without putting it on a stage? These songs sound stage-ready. Is that a disappointment you are going to have to live with, or are you figuring out a way to share it in another arena?PJ: Hell yeah! If Fuzz makes you plug in a guitar and crank it up, I’ve done my job. I really miss live music and I really really miss performing. I don’t have a band right now and I have no plans to play live until it’s safe to do so. I know we’re starting to see announcements for large festivals this fall; to me that seems a little soon to be around thousands of people. I hope we can safely start doing outdoor gigs for a reasonable size audience by the fall. For now you’ll just have to blast Fuzz and play along!Jason: And finally, I meant to ask about the album cover, which is a portrait of you, I think, that you manipulated and gave a saturated primary-color makeover. It seemed reminiscent to me of a lot of the early indie album covers that I grew up with, because on the one hand you have an image of innocence and yet there’s a wild aspect to it, sometimes almost suspicious. I’m thinking of Dinosaur Jr. and Violent Femmes, even Talking Heads. I kinda got a Houses of the Holy vibe, too. What was the impetus behind that design? Because it pops, and then I’m trying to figure out what’s going on in that kid’s head. Did you play around with a variety of ideas, or did this one stick right away?PJ: Yeah, it’s a photo of me as a child. I’ve always loved this photo and before the pandemic my mom happened to send me a scan of it. So it was on my mind as I developed the record, and I was using it as a placeholder for the demos. I liked exploring the idea of manipulating a photo of myself as a child with the filter of what I know now and have experienced in my life since, especially given the topics of Fuzz. Lately I’ve been really into this primary color motif, and liked the added level of surrealism mixed with nostalgia and innocence it gave to the final artwork. I made some similar artwork that will be part of the CD packaging and on the digital single for “Holding On” that features “Shoney’s Cactus,” a prickly pear clipping from the old Shoney’s on Staples Mill road that I saved and posted about on my Instagram. —PJ Sykes’ Fuzz will be available May 7 on Bandcamp at pjsykes.bandcamp.com. The first single, “Holding On,” is available to stream right now at Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music, and others. PJ also has a number of prints of other artists playing live available through his website, pjsykes.com.
RVAmag | Perfect Posture: Weekend Playlist By PJ SykesEvery Friday night, RVA Mag brings you a truly fantabulous playlist curated by Virginia’s most influential artists, musicians, and institutions.This week, we’ve got a set of tunes from PJ Sykes, a veteran musician and photographer who’s been making noise around Richmond for years in bands like Hoax Hunters, Angels vs. Aliens, and a ton of others, as well as running longtime Richmond indie label Cherub Records. His latest single, released under his own name, premieres all over the internet today, and is a prelude to forthcoming solo LP FUZZ.The single, which leads off a playlist full of hot tracks originating in Virginia, is a cover of “Rain In To The Sea,” by Richmond Americana group David Shultz & the Skyline. As with all of the songs on the playlist, the original version of this tune has strong resonances for Sykes.“As I stumbled into writing FUZZ, my first solo album in [age redacted] years, I decided early on it would be a good idea to record a cover song. Something to help me figure out sounds and get back into recording,” he said. “I’ve been obsessed with ‘Rain In To The Sea’ by David Shultz & The Skyline for a decade now. It’s like a classic Tom Petty song, brilliantly simple sounding, yet tricky to play. I think it pairs well with the new songs I’ve been writing.”Get the single, along with a B-side featuring an outtake from the last Hoax Hunters EP, over at Sykes’ Bandcamp. Then spend your weekend jamming this playlist full of Virginia-based musical excellence — it’s sure to brighten up your otherwise-spooky Halloween weekend.Go vote, Virginia.
Aziz Ansari - photos by PJ SykesInstagram
INDY Week | No BS! BrassINDY Week - Raleigh, NCNo BS! Brass Band photo by PJ Sykes
Foo Fighters use PJ Sykes photoFoo Fighters use photo by PJ Sykes to promote US tour dates
Richmond Magazine Vexine photos by PJ SykesRichmond Magazine: The Problem and the Cure - Vexine releases another batch of dark, sensual originals along with a beer named for their newest album. photos by PJ Sykes
Queen City Nelly Kate photo by PJ SykesQueen City: Nelly Kate Continues to Create Despite Ongoing Hearing Loss - photo by PJ Sykes
NYC Taper Mac McCaughan (Superchunk) photo by PJ SykesMac McCaughan: April 18, 2015 Chaz’s Bull City Records (Durham, NC) – FLAC/MP3/Streaming - photo by PJ Sykes
RVAMag | Keeping It Real Hoax Hunters Bring The NoiseRVAmag 2014By Shannon Clearyphotos by Mick AndersThe music of Hoax Hunters is fascinatingly hard to define in terms of genre. Their songs are a modern throwback to the sensibilities of east coast hardcore while engaging the ideals of persuasive indie rock from the eighties and nineties. The tunes feel like outbursts and require little to no time to get the message across. Hoax Hunters founder PJ Sykes is a student of these eras, but he is also an active participant in making sure their memory doesn’t fall to the wayside.Sykes has been active within the Richmond music community for several years. His name may be mainly associated with his work as a photographer, but music has always remained on his mind. “My last band, A New Dawn Fades, was wrapping up, and photography started picking up. Music just got put on hold for a little while,” Sykes recalls. His photography showcases regional and national acts and provided a delicate emphasis on framing a live performance. An image of Lambchop is a fascinating demonstration of the energy that was channeled during their live performances, while an image of Mermaid Skeletons in a hallway at a house show indicates the preparation needed for an ensemble to take the stage.Another facet of Sykes’ participation in the local scene is through his label, Cherub Records. “I started the label as a way to put out music I was excited by, but it also proved to be a strong asset. If you submitted music to promoters or media outlets out of town, they were more likely to take notice if it was being sent from a label as opposed to just some random person,” Sykes explains. Through his efforts chronicling music through Cherub Records, he has released records by Graceland Grave Robbers, Baby Help Me Forget, Timothy Bailey and the Humans, and Kids Techno, as well as his own personal projects.Sykes’ attention to detail, indicated in his photography, eventually emerged as a renewed desire to make music. “I reached this point where I thought about things I wanted to do in my last band and how I could pursue those. One of those ideas was writing songs that I could potentially play guitar and sing simultaneously. Which I know sounds like it wouldn’t be a challenge, but coming from a weird instrumental duo, it certainly was,” Sykes says.Hoax Hunters began with a demo for the song that eventually gave the project its name, a quick jaunt that blazes by with furious guitars and shouted vocals. In many ways, the song explains Sykes’ aspirations for this band. “A lot of what I write about isn’t your typical boy meets girl kind of stuff. It just doesn’t seem relevant to me. I think about things in a much larger sense, and even if I write about something that could be construed as arbitrary; there is a personal meaning behind it,” he says. There is a sense of importance to the idea of uncovering a hoax, and that idea is represented not just in the band’s namesake song but several of their tunes. “Glitterbomb,” an ode to the act of publicly showering someone with glitter, takes its name from an act commonly performed against political candidates who oppose same-sex marriage.“In The Background” is an even more curious tale. Years ago, Richmond natives White Laces performed at Lynchburg’s Rivermont Pizza. The show’s controversial outcome resulted in a great deal of discussion, and this Hoax Hunters song further chronicles the experience. “That particular song is just about being a band and finding yourself [turned into] background noise. You go there with the intentions of performing, but [when] you get commanded to turn down your amp and just be further ignored, [you end up] feeling like you don’t really belong,” Sykes says.Beginning the group by making solo demos, Sykes soon began searching for musicians to round out the lineup. To call it a journey would be an understatement. “There have been several different versions of Hoax Hunters, but I think that’s kind of a cool thing. You may have a record or a demo or a seven-inch that represents that moment of the band, but when you go see us live, it’s completely different depending on who is on stage performing these songs,” Sykes says. The list of bandmates that Sykes has commandeered for this project include former and current members of bands like The Color Kittens, The Diamond Center, Hot Dolphin, Baby Help Me Forget, Flechette, The Snowy Owls, Tyrannosaurus Awesome, Canary Oh Canary and several others. Considering the reputation Sykes had garnered over the years as an active participant in the local scene, it’s not that shocking that he was able to draw from an all-star rotating lineup of bandmates to help flesh out the Hoax Hunters material.The moment that solidified the band as a unit came with the release of a split with The Snowy Owls for Record Store Day 2013. At the time, Hoax Hunters’ lineup featured Tim Falen on bass and James O’Neill on drums. “The two of them joining the band is funny, because I didn’t know them all that well. We became good friends and probably better musicians as a result of our involvement in Hoax Hunters,” Sykes recalls. The split featured the tune “Orbit,” which was the first glimpse at this version of the band. With a solid rhythm section locked in, Sykes was able to focus on musical ideas that would eventually become their debut full-length, Comfort & Safety.The band’s first album provides a look at their entire history. “We put out an EP before the seven-inch, but that feels more like a demo at this point. [Almost] all of those songs appear on this full-length anyway,” Sykes says. Entering the studio earlier this year, they worked with engineer Allen Bergendahl for this concoction of tunes, and the finished product is a strong statement indicating what makes Hoax Hunters a true outlier in this city. “Breathe” is the band at their most melodic, yet it still has the crashing, chaotic aspect that can elevates the best Hoax Hunters tunes. “Six/Five” is one of the strongest tracks on the record with it’s disjointed rhythm and showered influences throughout. Even the earlier tracks like “Hoax Hunters” and “Riskless Business” feel fresh as performed by this lineup.During the recording process, Falen reached a point where his available time for the band was reduced, and he had to depart. “Tim leaving was under the best of terms. He made himself available to record his parts for the album, and I totally understood,” says Sykes. Better known for his drumming in local bands The Diamond Center and Hot Dolphin, Falen had taken on a different instrument in Hoax Hunters, and Sykes was glad to have given him the opportunity. “What I liked was just giving him a chance to play bass. When he joined Hoax Hunters, that was a big part of it. He didn’t really want another band where he would be the drummer, and I’m glad Hoax Hunters could be that band for him. Even if only temporarily.” Ben Nicastro replaced Falen in the group. “Ben seemed like the best choice, and it just fit smoothly,” Sykes says.In the coming months, Hoax Hunters will see the release of Comfort & Safety by Raleigh’s Negative Fun Records, in collaboration with Sykes’ own label. “We are working with some really great people that want to make the record have the best run it can. We’re all really excited to see what happens for the rest of the year,” Sykes says. Despite his past difficulties with maintaining a steady lineup for the band, Sykes has never let that deter his efforts. “This started as me writing songs at home, and has become something of a chameleon in many ways,” Sykes says. “I like the idea of having that separation between what you hear on record and what you see live. For as long as this band is around, it’s exciting to think of what experience someone will have when they listen to a Hoax Hunters record. It’s what excites me as a music fan.”
WXDU Hopscotch 2014 Coverage photos by PJ SykesWXDU Hopscotch 2014 Coverage, with photos by PJ SykesWell, it's hard to believe, but Hopscotch 2014 is in the history books. Many thanks to Cory Rayborn of Three Lobed Recordings for another successful day-party collaboration. Thanks also to all the performers: Daniel Bachman, Zeke Graves, Nathan Bowles, Mike Gangloff, Jenks Miller + Rose Cross NC, Little Black Egg Big Band, Sunburned Hand of the Man, MV+EE, Mary Lattimore, Thurston Moore & Ryan Sawyer. Thanks to our dear friends at Kings Barcade for putting up with this silliness year after year. Thanks to Jonas Blank of NYCTaper for providing an immaculate audio feed for our simulcast, as well as [some] recordings for download after the fact (keep checking back to nyctaper.com for more uploads).Thanks to all of our WXDU DJs who tweeted throughout the weekend. Thanks to Zachary Lechner for attending far too many shows, and writing up his thoughts about all of them in the following posts:Hopscotch 2014 Day 1Hopscotch 2014 Day 2Hopscotch 2014 Day 3And finally many special thanks to PJ Sykes, who was our official photographer for this year's day party. You can see samples of his shots below, and a full gallery at his website.
Richmond Magazine No BS! Brass Band photo by PJ SykesRichmond Magazine: A Decade of World-Class Brass - 2017 marks ten years of music for one of Richmond’s most recognizable homegrown groups, No BS! Brass Band.
SPIN Magazine Mary Lattimore & Mac McCaughanSPIN Magazine Mary Lattimore & Mac McCaughan - photo by PJ Sykes
SENTIREASCOLTARE Horse Lords photo by PJ SykesDischi, recensioni, articoli, news, streaming, videoclip. Tutta la musica che cerchi sulle pagine di uno dei migliori magazine musicali italiani.
Music Connection Fat Possum Signs Gold Connections - photo by PJ Sykes
Modern Drummer | Wye OakModern Drummer Andy Stack of Wye Oak | photo by PJ Sykes
Rolling Stone | Hear Thurston Moore and John Moloney’s Heavy, Unforgiving ‘Full Bleed’Hear Thurston Moore and John Moloney’s Heavy, Unforgiving ‘Full Bleed’The guitarist joins drummer John Moloney for an unrelenting new track off the album of the same nameBY NICK MURRAYphoto by PJ SykesCaught on Tape's new album is their first to feature short, titled songs.
NO BS Brass! - MITHRA JAZZ A LIEGE
Pitchfork | Merge 25’s Strip Mall Parking Lot Dance PartyBob Mould by PJ SykesThere was a moment at Merge 25 on Saturday, the day the label hosted an outdoor show in Carrboro, North Carolina to celebrate its 25th anniversary, when a few hundred people were standing almost completely still in a strip mall parking lot. A tall light fixture cast an eerie orange glow on the crowd, emitting a noticeable hum that everyone was trying to ignore.Jeff Mangum, longhaired and long-bearded, was alone onstage playing “Two-Headed Boy” from 1998’s In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. The only arms in the air were those of reverent Neutral Milk Hotel fans, feeling moved to sing quietly along. There were no phone screens visible (except for one guy, briefly, who brazenly filmed all of “Holland, 1945” and then thankfully called it a wrap on smartphone documenting the show), after signs posted on nearby trees and poles asked for no photos or video at “the request of the artist.” Mangum’s guitar playing slowed and his vocals softened as he wound the song down, and the rest of his band (Neutral Milk Hotel’s original line-up, plus a few guests on strings) joined him to slide swiftly into “Fool", the next song on the album. It seemed universally to be a goosebump-inducing few moments for everyone clumped together drinking draft beers outside the Fleet Feet Sports, one that would only be topped later by “Oh Comely", a song you’d have to be stone-hearted not to be moved by. But for now, it was a high-point for all—except maybe for one overheard Neutral Milk novice who commented to a friend, “It’s pretty Beirut.”Photo by PJ SykesWas this the coolest thing to ever happen in a location like this? “I feel like this has been an emotional day for everyone,” comedian Margaret Cho, who hosted the daylong show between sets, said to the crowd after Bob Mould and his band played earlier that evening. “What’re we going to do when it’s over?” The temperature was hovering around 90 degrees and the air was swampy with humidity when Mould went onstage, backed by drummer Jon Wurster (Superchunk, Mountain Goats) and Jason Narducy (Split Single, Verbow)—who also played on his Mould’s new album, Beauty & Ruin—and numerous bottles of just-in-case water scattered on amps. They powered through a career-spanning set, playing “I Don’t Know You Anymore” and “Hey Mr. Grey” from Beauty, “Hardly Getting Over It", from Hüsker Dü’s 1986 album, Candy Apple Grey, “See a Little Light", from Mould’s first solo album, 1989’s Workbook, and “If I Can’t Change Your Mind", from the 1992 album Copper Blue by Mould’s band Sugar. At 53, Mould is still as frenetic and adept as ever on guitar, same as it ever was but with new songs. (“Hey Mr. Grey,” which feels angsty and post-punk in the vein of Hüsker Dü’s heyday, prompted a friend at the show to wonder if Mould is partially blame for the existence of emo.)This is not to say the whole day was weighted down by impassioned sets and grateful musicians praying at the alter of the label that helped make their musical careers possible, though their praise of Merge was abundant (“Seriously, a record label can really fuck you,” Mangum told the crowd. “Merge doesn’t want to fuck you. They’ve been such a good home for us all these years.”). It was actually a glistening-with-sweat example of what a festival can and should be, but usually isn’t—a solidly diverse line-up, perfectly on-time sets, minimal bathroom lines (and enough toilet paper!), PBRs for $3, readily available free water, and the chance to bump into Mac McCaughan or Laura Ballance (Merge co-founders and former Superchunk band mates) inside Cat’s Cradle, the venue that helped put on the show and remained open and air-conditioned all day to give festival-goers a break from the heat.Photo by PJ SykesThere were lighter moments, too: Norman Blake from Teenage Fanclub provided some humor from his hotel room. He’d brought an item advertised as a “luxury shower cap,” and modeled it before offering it to the crowd, marveling at the name and imploring someone, anyone to enjoy its “luxuriousness.” His hotel accouterments came up again later, after playing “The Past” and “Baby Lee” from 2010’s Shadows, “Don’t Look Back,” from 1995’s Grand Prix, and “The Concept", the song that became a modern rock hit after their 1991 album Bandwagonesque beat out Nevermind for Spin’s top album of the year. Squinting into the crowd, Blake complained, “I’ve got some shampoo, which didn’t wash out of my hair properly, running into my eyes.”But the most fun, highest-energy segment of the day may have been Caribou’s dance party of a set. The sun was sinking and a slight breeze rolled in as Dan Snaith and three other musicians, who casually matched with shirts and pants in varying shades of almost-white, played “Leave House", “Found Out", and “Odessa” from 2010’s Swim, and their new single “Can’t Do Without You” (their third record on Merge is out in October). Caribou’s songs vary in style, experimental, industrial sounds, to 60s-sounding psych, to house and disco beats, but many tend to begin with simpler melodies that weave, expand, and layer, building from quiet to loud in a way that’s perfect for inciting a dance frenzy.This was definitely the case with their closing song, “Sun", the second track on Swim, and the one that involves a mesmerizing repetition of the title word and an arpeggiated organ loop. As the song came to an end, Snaith huddled over his keyboard, bouncing and fiddling with knobs, and facing the drummer, who raised his left drumstick skyward between quick beats. Everyone in the crowd was moving, and no one seemed to mind the questionable-smelling sweatiness. Near the end, a guy in a ripped, damp white tank top turned to his friend and said, “I could dance to that for like an hour.”
Rolling Stone Magazine | Pontiak Deliver a Shot of ‘Innocence'Pontiak Deliver a Shot of ‘Innocence’Hear their anthem about drinking South American hoochBY JOHN D. LUERSSENphoto by PJ SykesPONTIAK MAY HAIL from Virginia, but the trio of Van, Lane and Jennings Carney throw vintage Detroit-inspired heat on “Innocence,” which you can stream below. Recalling the power and the glory of the Stooges and MC5, the cathartic and succinct anthem about getting twisted on South American hooch paves the way for Innocence, due January 28th.“The song is about a time I had in Venezuela,” singer Van Carney tells Rolling Stone. “My cousin and I had been catching buses and hitching rides from gypsy cabs. One evening we wound up in a small rural town where the finest homemade aguardiente is made. We knocked on doors until a man with a parrot on his shoulder produced a liter of white liquid that we finished quickly. Then we found another house, this time with pink liquid. That went down even quicker. Down on the beach, some locals asked us to party. I remember soldiers, beautiful girls and lots of rum. I had a hangover for four days and it took three more to get back to Caracas.”Despite the sonic shot of “Innocence,” the songs on Pontiak’s eighth LP yield an array of approaches, from the contagious “Lack Lustre Rush” to the mellow vibe of “Wildfires.” Ahead of Innocence, the Carneys will cart their vintage amps around the right coast, road-testing tracks during a two week tour with Guardian Alien that gets underway on Friday, November 29th. An extended North American and European tour will follow Innocence‘s release next year.
Style Weekly | Local Photographer Nabs Lambchop CoverPJ Sykes, a local photographer and musician (Hoax Hunters) known for his vibrant shots of RVA concerts, has been branching out with work appearing in national publications from Paste and Spin to Rolling Stone magazine.Now a photo Sykes took from a Lambchop concert five years ago at Cat's Cradle in Chapel Hill has been chosen for the cover of "Live at XX Merge" -- an album documenting the acclaimed 20th anniversary concert celebrating the Durham-based Merge Records.It's a highly kinetic black-and-white image that looks more like a fire-and-brimstone revival sermon than a rock concert.Says Sykes about the photo:"When I left for XX Merge I was really excited for a lot of the bands but had overlooked Lambchop. They just never caught my ear before. I got there early every day so I could be at the front of the stage to try and photograph each band. I was posting photos each morning for Paste magazine and RVAmag.Lambchop's set was crafted in a way that built excitement and intensity. Each song was a little more uplifting than the last and by the time they played "Up With People" the feeling in the room was magical. Social media was still young but word of how amazing the set was started to flood the internet very rapidly. I remember looking around and people were in just disbelief at what we were watching. Then they played 'Give It (Once In a Lifetime)' and I knew as I took the photo that is now on the cover that I was apart of something truly rare. This set is hands down one of the best I've ever seen. I get goosebumps talking about it even five years later.It's a real honor that my photos are being used for the artwork on this release."More info from the Durham-based Merge Records:"Five years ago, those of us lucky enough to be at Cat’s Cradle when Lambchop took the stage witnessed the performance that became Live at XX Merge, a concert film and album. We are now releasing this special album on clear vinyl with a full download of the audio and concert film for those who missed it or for those who want to relive the experience.The limited-edition LP is available now for pre-order and will arrive in your mailbox on or around the September 9 release date. We will also have copies for sale at the Merge 25 merch table. (Note that pre-orders cannot be picked up at the festival.)"
Style Weekly | Day of the Paparazzi Richmond photographers revealed in the Best of 2008 Photo Show.PJ Sykes is that one guy who's way up front at the show, snapping pictures. Sometimes he's right in front of you, and what his camera sees often seems better than what your own eyeballs reconstitute from the antics of the band at a venue. Sykes is a documenter of Richmond's music scene, and he's collecting the works of like-minded individuals for the Best of 2008 Photo Show. Two dozen Richmond photographers, including Kimberly Frost, Liza Kate, Jay Paul, Melissa Koch, Michael Otley, Curtis Patton and Sykes himself bring their own visions from the front of the show, or a forlorn storefront, or near a guy firing Roman candles from his crotch. Richmond photography: eclectic. The show runs Feb. 1-March 1 at Harrison Street Coffee Shop, 402 N. Harrison St., with an opening reception Saturday, Feb. 7, 6-9 p.m. at Harrison Street and Rumors Boutique. 359-8060. — Brandon Reynolds
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