{"id":19021,"date":"2017-09-23T16:13:50","date_gmt":"2017-09-23T20:13:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=19021"},"modified":"2017-09-23T16:13:55","modified_gmt":"2017-09-23T20:13:55","slug":"on-stage-bonus-human-heat-gets-back-to-midwest-roots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=19021","title":{"rendered":"On Stage (Bonus): Human Heat gets back to Midwest roots"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff,<\/strong> Staff Writer, The Times<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Human Heat<\/p><\/div>\n

Human heat can best be measured by a non-contact MEMS thermal sensor.<\/p>\n

Human Heat can best be measured by fan response.<\/p>\n

Human Heat, a music act that evolved from a previous band Yellow Ostrich, will be looking to generate some heat when it plays a show at Kung Fu Necktie (1248 North Front Street, Philadelphia, 215-291-4919, kungfunecktie.com<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Human Heat is the new outlet for Alex Schaaf, formerly of Yellow Ostrich. Based in Minneapolis, Schaaf released his debut album \u201cAll Is Too Much\u201d on September 15 via Offline Records and is now out on an album support tour.<\/p>\n

After Yellow Ostrich disbanded in 2014, Schaaf hit the road with both Tei Shi and The Tallest Man On Earth, touring the world as a backup player.<\/p>\n

In late 2016 a breakup shifted his mindset and he relocated across the country to Minneapolis in order to refocus on his own music. He began recording his debut album as Human Heat in early 2017.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m still home in Minneapolis,\u201d said Schaaf, during a recent phone interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cI take off next Saturday. There will be four of us in the road band \u2013 drums, bass, guitar and I play Rhodes piano. When I\u2019m recording, I play almost everything except live drums.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Brooklyn-based Yellow Ostrich disbanded, Schaaf returned to his Midwestern roots.<\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin,\u201d said Schaaf. \u201cI went to college in Appleton, Wisconsin. I was a music major at Lawrence University and graduated in 2010.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen, I went to New York for music \u2013 and to experience \u2018Big City Life.\u2019 I moved to Brooklyn a couple months later.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had started Yellow Ostrich back when I was in school in Wisconsin. It was pretty much just a recording project and I\u2019d put a band together when it was time to play shows.\u201d<\/p>\n

While pursuing his music degree at Lawrence University, Schaaf had the opportunity to open for Michael Tapper\u2019s project Bishop Allen.<\/p>\n

The two established a friendship and when Schaaf moved to Brooklyn at the same time as Tapper in 2010, they decided to perform together officially as Yellow Ostrich.<\/p>\n

Jon Natchez joined as a drummer and later left. Then, Jared Van Fleet and Zach Rose joined band.<\/p>\n

In November 2014, Yellow Ostrich announced that it would be disbanding after its final performance in Brooklyn in December 2014.<\/p>\n

After the sudden end of a relationship at the end of 2016, Schaaf left Brooklyn and relocated across the country back to his native Midwest.<\/p>\n

\u201cI moved back to Minneapolis at the end of last year,\u201d said Schaaf. \u201cNo specific reason \u2013 I just wanted to get back to the Midwest. I knew people in Minneapolis. And, there is a good music scene here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dealing with the raw feelings and heartbreak that emerged from the breakup, Schaaf scrapped old songs and quickly wrote new ones seeped in the bittersweet emotional aftermath.<\/p>\n

This fresh spark of inspiration manifested as \u201cAll Is Too Much,\u201d his debut full-length as Human Heat.\u00a0 Gone are the quirky vocal loops and signature guitar fuzz of Yellow Ostrich, as Schaaf has transitioned to a smoother, more assured and mature voice.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith Human Heat, I wanted to explore more electronic and synth work,\u201d said Schaaf. \u201cFor the album, I retreated a little and focused more on songs and instrumentation<\/p>\n

\u201cThe instrumentation is different than my previous work. The new stuff is lower \u2013 more R&B. In the past, I\u2019d have a song that felt poppy and I\u2019d deconstruct it and make it different. This time, I was ready to give the song more of the spotlight.\u201d<\/p>\n

The album was mostly self-recorded in Schaaf\u2019s home studio, and was mixed and mastered by Zach Hanson (Bon Iver, The Staves) at April Base in Fall Creek, Wisconsin. Hanson plays drums throughout the album, and Jon Natchez (The War on Drugs) adds horns on two tracks.<\/p>\n

Video link for Human Heat \u2013 https:\/\/youtu.be\/TI34QsbBzs0<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The show at Kung Fu Necktie, which also features Norwegian Arms and Total Discharge, will start at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10.<\/p>\n

The wait is finally over. Soraia is ready to unveil her new album.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Soraia<\/p><\/div>\n

On September 23, Soraia will have a \u201cCD Release Party\u201d at MilkBoy Philly (1100 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, 215- 925-6455, www.milkboyphilly.com<\/a>) to introduce her band\u2019s new album \u201cDead Reckoning,\u201d<\/p>\n

Soraia will also have a show on September 24<\/p>\n

Soraia, a female-fronted rock\/garage\/punk\/blues-influenced band, is a Philadelphia-based group that includes ZouZou Mansour (lead vocals, tambourine), Travis Smith (bass guitar, backup vocals), Mike Reisman (guitar, background vocals) and Brianna Sig (drums, percussion, background vocals).<\/p>\n

The music Soraia creates captures the essence of gritty blues-influenced rock music \u2014 the kind of rock you\u2019d hear in smoky bars back in the 1960s. It\u2019s not a retro-sound but rather a tapping into the emotional nature of the music.<\/p>\n

Soraia is the stage name of singer ZouZou Mansour and also the name of her band.<\/p>\n

\u201cTravis and I are the core of the band and we\u2019ve been together for over 10 years,\u201d said Mansour, during a recent phone interview. \u201cWe released our first album \u2018The Valley of Love and Guns\u2019 in 2013, \u2018Soraia Lives\u2019 in 2014 and \u2018Less Than Zero\u2019 in 2015.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the last year or so, Soraia has been playing songs from the band\u2019s yet-to-be-released album. The album \u201cDead Reckoning\u201d will be officially be released on October 13 on Wicked Cool Records.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve already played a lot of the new songs in our shows this year,\u201d said Mansour. \u201cLast summer, our label people told us to write songs and then play them live.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve done it the other way and it didn\u2019t do ad hood. Live is when the magic starts to happen.<\/p>\n

\u201cThings are going really well with the band. We\u2019ve been touring a lot. Wicked Cool Records is owned by Little Steven Van Zandt from Bruce Springsteen\u2019s E Street Band.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ironically, September 23 is Bruce Springsteen\u2019s birthday (as well as the birthday of John Coltrane, Julio Iglesias and Rachel Yamagata).<\/p>\n

\u201cOur shows are drawing more people and we\u2019re playing better venues,\u201d said Soraia. \u201cIt all happened at the beginning of this year. David Fricke, a senior writer at Rolling Stone Magazine, contacted us out of the blue and said he loved our music. He has a show on Sirius Spectrum.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soraia had been building up songs for the new full-length for a while.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe started writing the songs last summer,\u201d said Mansour. \u201cWe sat down to write as many songs as we possibly could. My co-writer Travis and I worked on different ideas we had.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the past, he\u2019d give me a song idea and I\u2019d come up with the music. This time, we spent more time writing together. We\u2019re growing as writers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe recorded the new album in January at Renegade Studio in New York. Our label really wanted to capture our live sound. We did two songs with Little Steven and 10 with producing ourselves with engineer Geoff Sanoff.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe band just set up and played live in the studio. It was all analog and recorded directly to tape \u2013 which was exciting. It was our first time to record analog so it was really special. It was nice to go in and be our own producer.\u201d<\/p>\n

It has taken Mansour a while to reach where she wants to be musically. It has also taken years for Mansour to find where she wants to be emotionally.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was 17 when my mother died,\u201d said Mansour. \u201cI had just graduated from high school. That changed my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a period of time that included stretches of drug use, alcohol abuse and being homeless, Mansour got her life back on track. She became one of the survivors.<\/p>\n

She returned to college and graduated with a teaching degree. Then, she was lured back into the music world by her first love \u2014 singing.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad always said \u2014 where there\u2019s a will there\u2019s a way,\u201d said Mansour. \u201cIt looks like I proved that he was right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Video link for Soraia \u2013 https:\/\/youtu.be\/FeFAOyc9rhs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The show at MilkBoy Philly, which has Wanted Man and the Joey DiTullio Band as openers, will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $13.<\/p>\n

The all-ages show at Fujiyama on September 24 wil start at 7 p.m. Admission is free.<\/p>\n

Normally, if someone refers to something as \u201cfor the birds,\u201d it\u2019s not a complement.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Seth Glier<\/p><\/div>\n

The idiom \u201cfor the birds\u201d usually means \u201cworthless,\u201d \u201cnot to be taken seriously,\u201d or \u201cno good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seth Glier\u2019s new album \u201cBirds\u201d is an album for the birds, inspired by birds and made with the help of birds.<\/p>\n

Unlike the idiom, Glier\u2019s album is meaningful, serious and very good.<\/p>\n

Glier will introduce fans to the songs from his new disc when he headlines a show September 24 at the World Caf\u00e9 Live (3025 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, 215-222-1400,www.worldcafelive.com<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Glier\u2019s new album \u201cBirds\u201d is steeped in conflict and contradictions. There\u2019s grief and loss, but also strength and resilience — doubt and dismay, but also a sense of optimism as Glier confronts heavy topics and wrestles them into the daylight.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe writing process started about two years ago,\u201d said Glier, during a phone interview Friday as he traveled from his home in western Massachusetts to Washington, D.C. for a benefit for Amnesty International.<\/p>\n

\u201cPersonally, I was writing about what I was going through \u2013 grieving for my older brother who passed away a year earlier.<\/p>\n

\u201cI stared the recording process around this time last year. I had written about 40 songs and had demo\u2019ed them in my apartment. I was starting to find the thread. Then, I decided that instead of going to L.A. or Nashville to make an album the traditional way, I\u2019d just do it on my own. Over the course of about five months, I hunkered down, cut down on touring and made the album. My girlfriend inherited a 1925 Steinway piano and that was great. I called the album \u2018Birds\u2019 because the piano is in a position by the window.\u201d<\/p>\n

Glier recorded \u201cBirds\u201d in an airy loft in western Massachusetts outfitted with a grand piano and floor-to-ceiling windows. Birds roost just outside those windows, on the roof of the converted mill building where he lives, and they became his sympathetic audience while Glier made the album.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got a lot of comfort talking to the birds outside my window,\u201d said Glier. \u201cI\u2019d talk to them frequently to see how they thought things were going with the music.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe communicated well. It was definitely spiritual to make that kind of connection. That was the catalyst that got me into writing these songs.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, it was the death of his brother and the relationship they had that provided the focus for the songs.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were a lot of intense moments \u2013 first birthday without my brother, first Thanksgiving without my brother,\u201d said Glier. \u201cThat was also calling me to stay close to home and use an insular environment to pour emotions into my writing.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy brother was born with autism and had seizure disorders. He was in the hospital for six weeks at the end. We were very close.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was my greatest non-musical influence. He was non-verbal. When we were growing up, I had to get up and give him breakfast. He taught me new ways of communication without words. That\u2019s why I can communicate so well with the birds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Video link for Seth Glier — https:\/\/youtu.be\/3LlwknwGgXo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The show at the World Cafe Live, which has Jeremiah Tall as the opener, will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $14.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff, Staff Writer, The Times Human heat can best be measured by a non-contact MEMS thermal sensor. Human Heat can best be measured by fan response. Human Heat, a music act that evolved from a previous band Yellow Ostrich, will be looking to generate some heat when it plays a show at Kung […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19023,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5166],"tags":[3912,7089,7090,5917],"class_list":["post-19021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-d-arts-entertainment","tag-featured","tag-human-heat","tag-seth-glier","tag-soraia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19021"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19021\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19022,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19021\/revisions\/19022"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}