By this time in the day it sank faster and faster beneath the horizon.  Ginger's home was an easy ten minute ride away, and she took advantage of the proximity often.  But today was different.  Today was the first day she was not a star adolescent model, but rather an alumnus of that coveted clique.

As the promised for her seventeenth birthday, her parents had granted her the option to quit modeling.  The age of seventeen had been agreed upon because it was a boring birthday, denoting no particular milestone of life.   So when it finally happened, she had sat them down at the kitchen table, waving away the birthday cake. 

"I don't want to model anymore," she said flatly.  Part of the terms of the agreement were that niether parent would ask why, so they simply nodded.  It happened just like that, "in dem Augenblick," a German phrase which was the subject of one of Ginger's favorite songs.  Ginger had studied German since she was very young.  It predated her modeling career.  And she loved it. 

But in that moment she ceased to be a model and at once joined the growing ranks of ex-models, a collection of women who had spent the bulk of childhood in front of the camera. They knew great amounts of attention and had received a lifetime of orders, demands and coersions to contort themselves this way, pout their lips that way. It is a skill that does not fade easily, and Ginger felt a profound sense of loneliness at her realization that everyone was not always watching her. 

This is the way in which paranoia begins to form itself. Having spent the formative years in the spotlight, Ginger felt comfortable only when others were watching.  The lake where she now sat -- it had once been a respite, one of those places where she was temporarily glad to be away from the spotlight.  But in the couple of months since she had turned seventeen, it had slowly begun to lose its luster.  She felt nervous and jittery for inexplicable reasons.  She tried to practice her German.

"In aber dem Augenblick, alles wird allein sein," she said. 

"In but the blink of an eye, we'll all be alone."

The sun continued to fall rapidly, too rapidly for Ginger, who loved the hottest of summer days and feared the quickening of the wind and the chill it blew off the lake.  She did not yet understand why she felt the way she did -- about modeling, about life, about love, about the future, about anything.  The dreams of youth always seem to be trapped within that fog which is insecurity.  And there was something else she didn't know.  She did not yet know that in exactly six years to the day, she would meet the man who was most like her, the man who could sense the struggles she felt.  This man would articulate them precisely and tempered through the beauty of empathy and understanding.   Yes, in six years she would meet this man called Tom Drake.

And she would take his heart and shatter it.

Suiteside is a little different than the usual people I interview- this time it's the label and management behind new bands. The people that work behind bands do just as much work as the actual bands themselves! This amazing crazy and fun yet professional woman has worked her way up in the music management industry in order to make a name for herself as well as the artists she represents. With her attitude (which shows through her interview - especially last random question), she makes an often difficult job look easy!

How did you come up with the name?
It's a kind of joke. When I started the label I used to collaborate with people from the italian electronic label Suite Inc., and we wanted to find a related name. And Suiteside makes you think about luxury hotels but also sounds like the word "suicide", and sometimes it is a bit, with so much hard work and few money coming in. But we're romantic beautiful people, aren't we?

Tell me a little about yourself?
Sometimes I feel as I am the kind of person who'll never accept to live an adult, ordinary life. I'm into rock-indie music from my teens, and it seems I will never be able to live without being in this crazy business. But I try to work seriously and professionally.

What is the point of your business and what do you do?
My actual goal is to develop the bands I'm working with and for, establishing for them new connections with audiences worldwide. Being a record label doesn't mean so much in 2008, cds are dead! I'm a booking agent as well, for lots of foreign bands. I set up tours in Italy for Xiu Xiu, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Azure Ray, APSE, Ex-Models and many many others.

What did you do before you started all this?
Well, I studied music criticism at the University, then I worked as music journalist for local and regional mags, I've been for years Head of Music in the staff of an alternative radio station in Bologna, and I wrote a few books about rock music too.

How did you start out/ was it hard?
Honestly it was less hard when I started, than now! In 2001 there were just a few indie labels and bands around, now everybody can promote himself on the net, and there are lots of new bands struggling for gigs and exposure. Two years ago I had to decide if go on or give up....luckily I found some refreshment in working with younger and more rocking bands.

Any big plans for the near future?
World domination!! ahah, I'm joking....the BIG plan is to work more an more on a global perpective. One positive thing of the internet is that I can contact people like you on the other side of the globe and do a quick interview like this.

--Random questions--
What song have you been listening to most in the past few weeks?
"Violet Hill", the new Coldplay single. Keeping singing loud "won't you let me know?" in my office.

What one materialistic thing can you not live without?
Coffee. If I don't have one in 5 minute after I'm out of bed I'm lost!

Do you have a secret name for your favourite inanimate object?
No. But I have a favourite little inanimate object :)

Has anything crazy or embarrassing ever happened to you on the job?
Lots of things! Like being really sick in a toilet at a venue in Lugano (Switzerland) after a gig. Or losing a UK band I hosted in Genova and spending hours with their driver calling the police and the hospitals just to find they slept in a dirty hotel 'cause they were too numb to get back home. Or spending a crazy night in Klagenfurt (Austria) waiting for the train to Italy in a pub with a band made of an italian guy, an english, a spanish and their french roadie. The owner of the place was a really kitsch middle-age blond woman who forced all of us to drink lots of beers and whisky and tequila. And there was also a mad slovenian old guy speaking about his war experiences. I could fill pages with strange stories, but I'm sure the best has yet to come!

If you're a big music listener keen to find out about new bands before they hit the big time- there are several ways in which you can keep up with this type of news. OR alternatively, if you're a band or musician who's in need of help to hit the big time- definitely click on the links and get some information! As you all know, no such thing as too much information!

Links:
Suiteside Official Site
Suiteside Myspace
Last.fm Suiteside
Skype: monica.melissano

Listen to a new demo track by one of my current favourites .... The Ex Models - HERE. Titled 'White Psychosis'.... let's hope there's more of this to come. 

Avant de commencer, trois chiffres qui me paraissent indispensables: 15 morceaux. 20 minutes et 11 secondes. Et 2:33, durée du morceau le plus long. Autant le dire tout de suite donc, sur Zoo Psychology, Ex Models ne fait pas dans la dentelle. Le premier morceau démarre avec quelques secondes de silence, puis une guitare semble s'accorder, la batterie débute et c'est parti, le groupe vous attrape par les épaules et vous terrasse à grands coups de secousses sismiques pendant les vingt minutes qui suivent. Une déferlante, que dis-je, un tsunami de séquences frénétiques sans respiration, qui laissent le souffle coupé. Tout y passe: batterie épileptique, guitares no-wave tranchantes partout, riffs de basse abrasifs, des chanteurs hystériques qui crient dans tous les sens, des changements de tempo toutes les cinq secondes. Certains diront que ce n'est que du bruit et en aucun cas de la musique, il n'empêche que ce chaos abrasif est tout simplement jouissif, et très novateur même s'il rappelle fortement la no-wave (en particulier lorsque les guitares prennent des allures de sirènes d'alarme, comme sur Hey Boner). Les chanteurs s'autorisent toutes les excentricités possibles (en frôlant parfois le ridicule comme sur un Zoo Love en forme de chanson pop des années 80, mais pilonnée à grand coup d'explosions distordues), et globalement ces musiciens semblent n'avoir aucune limite, faisant absolument tout ce qu'ils souhaitent: une plage nommée Intro composée d'un son de guitare répété en boucle pendant 50 secondes mais placée en piste 2, des pistes qui semblent sortir de répétitions en commençant et s'arrêtant en plein milieu (Oye Como Shah), des accélérations subites de tous les instruments, tout semble être fait pour déstabiliser l'auditeur, qui devra être lui-même assez fou pour suivre ce torrent bruitiste. Lorsqu'une accalmie semble pointer, comme sur What Is A Price, ce n'est que pour mieux vous asséner un cyclone saturé cinq secondes plus tard, et, finalement, on finit presque par accepter des morceaux comme Sex Automata comme "normaux", à côté des plages les plus terrifiantes de ce disque expérimental. Du vrai terrorisme sonore, aux confins de la no-wave, du noise (mais la frange la plus bruitiste de la noise), du post-punk, du hardcore (voire presque grind par moments). Du martellement psychotique, par exemple sur le terrible final Three Weeks. Des riffs difformes qui ne ressemblent même plus à des riffs tellement ils sont déjà distordus, larsenisés, saturés, et qui sont remplacés par d'autres riffs toujours plus bruitistes. Des morceaux qui n'hésitent pas à tourner autour d'une simple idée pendant 30 secondes et puis c'est tout (Rip This Joint), ou à se constituer uniquement d'une expérimentation au traitement toujours plus distordu (The Password Is Pelican), mais aussi des morceaux absoluments imparables comme ce Brand New Panties où la voix et les explosions de guitares saturées sont tout d'abord placées en alternance, avant de se rejoindre pour la section finale. Et puis ces voix, ces voix suraigues, qui constituent vraiment un élément de ce raz-de-marée sonore, comme s'il s'agissait réellement d'un instrument à part entière: le chant est tout aussi malade que l'instrumentation, les paroles sont la plupart du temps indiscernables. En somme, ne vous attendez pas à entendre un morceau de ce disque sur une quelconque radio ou télé un jour (mais ça, vous vous en doutiez déjà), en revanche, si vous êtes un amateur de musiques extrêmes sautez dessus, car vous devriez y trouver votre dose de folie pure.

Ex Models - Zoo Psychology (2003, Frenchkiss)

1. Fuck To The Music
2. Intro
3. Pink Noise
4. Sex Automata
5. Hott 4 Discourse
6. Zoo Love
7. Oye Come Shah
8. What Is A Price
9. Brand New Panties
10. The Mystery Of Brine
11. Hey Boner
12. Kool Killer
13. Rip This Joint
14. The Password Is Pelican
15. Three Weeks

MP3: Ex Models - Pink Noise
Myspace: Ex Models
http://www.exmodels.org

(Blues Control with Brian Turner covering Unholy Swill at the Bowery Ballroom, 7/11/07)

Yeah, stuff. Instead of taking a planned road trip, I ended up stuck in New York all week, so got to see a couple good shows and whatnot. Wednesday's Deerhunter/Ex-Models/Blues Control show was a hilarious clusterfuck of epically later'd proportions. Congee Village eats beforehand with Lukas were crucial, then BC's smoky jamz left us all ready to pound beer after beer (esp. their cover of an Unholy Swill song -- forget the title -- with WFMU main man Brian Turner on lead ax). Fortunately we were ready for beer pounding, because Ex-Models made us wanna sit downstairs, say hi to our friend bartending, and lament. Just not into 'em. Deerhunter were pretty good, basically sounded about the same as the record, but the best part of the evening might've been the singer's 45-minute-or-so-long monologue from the stage after the band was through. Poor kid only wanted some G.I. Joes, not to be dressed up like a girl! Parents can be so cruel. Nice retardo Germs cover, too.

Friday night it was time for jammin' at Cake Shop in a basement get-wrecked stylee. First two bands were a pretty deec female moan trio (some combo involving Child Bride and I don't know who else). Don't really know nothing 'bout the players, but they were enjoyable enough. After that was a metal band called Fogeaters which wasn't really my thing, but at moments the guitarist had some great Mainliner-style moves. The main thing I was there to see played third, and that was Tobogan, a total retarded mess consisting of Russ and Lea from Blues Control, Brian from Mouthus, Don from DremCron and Big Whiskey, Allison from Awesome Color and Ryan from King Crab. Headbanging sludge plus stylish moves (esp. from Lea on guitar and handbag!). Two more bands played as well, Portland's Night Wounds (not really my thing though not bad -- and it's nice to see a tight punk band with a saxomaphone) and New Jersey's own Home Blitz (already written about here, though now Daniel's got a new trio lineup, and is much more confident than last year). Oh and Max from Violent Students and Richie from Clockcleaner played records and mp3s too, so that was the perfect soundtrack to a night of beer, beer and more beer.

So what else? Not much. Skipped Excepter tonight, feeling way too wrung out to get my mind blown, unfortunately. Thinking about Jack Rose/D. Charles Speer/GHQ/This Invitation (see Todd's page for more info), but haven't decided yet. Oh and I've been adding lots and lots of links lately to the the right side over there, take a look at the following:

Direct Waves - Lots of full album downloads of obscure shit
Mutant Sounds - ditto
Neglected Books - just like it sounds like, buddy
Awful Tattoos - also pretty self-explanatory

Check 'em out and get nerdy.

P.S. did you know that Channel 11 plays "The Best of Soul Train" at 2 AM on Saturday nights?!? Me neither, but now I know and it's awesome! Next up, Yellow Magic Orchestra!