April 2009 Archives

Fischerspooner emerged from the ultra hip electroclash scene in 2001, bursting forth in a ball of glitter with their debut album, #1, and a live show that was part disco, part art-house and 100% entertainment. Visual and performance art student and showman Casey Spooner was front and center expressing partner Warren Fischer's pulsating soundscapes with dance, makeup, costume, and elaborate staging effects.

As they embarked on a major label venture with Capitol Records, who released Fischerspooner's follow up album Odyssey, Warren and Casey chose to embrace the culture the company represented. Their songs became more structured, and their stage show got a whole lot bigger. So big that after completing a European tour, Fischerspooner found themselves without the funds to tour the show fully in North America.

Disappointed that artistic success had led to financial failure, Casey retreated to his theatrical roots. He joined experimental New York performance ensemble The Wooster Group, taking on the role of Ophelia's brother Laertes in their production of Hamlet (which featured two Fischerspooner songs that were composed for the show).

Though he enjoyed his relatively simple life as an actor, Casey found he missed the creatively all-encompassing and fulfilling odyssey that was Fischerspooner. Taking inspiration from Shakespeare's rhyming couplets, a third Fischerspooner album began to take form.

Called Entertainment, the album, which is released on the band's own FS Studios label, explores what happens when art and pop culture collide. Is entertainment art? That's one of the many questions Casey asked himself when SuicideGirls called in.

Click HERE to read the interview.

In this month's edition of Scott Ian's Food Coma column, Anthrax's hard rocking viticulture expert talks about the rather unlikely wine-pairing event he's been asked to participate in. Ian's pal, restaurateur Joe Bastianich, who is Mario Batali's partner in an eatery empire that includes the hip NYC gastronomic joints Babbo, Del Posto, among others, is organizing a wine tasting evening that pairs wine with the music of Led Zeppelin.

"Led Zeppelin lends itself to wine; Hearty, robust reds match Page's raw riffs and Bonham's thunderous double bass pedal, while the band's lighter, more playful work calls for tamer, yet complex whites," explains Bastianich, who goes on to give an example. "We're pairing 'The Song Remains the Same' with two crispy acidic, chalky, mouth-tingling whites. Think about the opening guitar riff, that jangling makes me think of the bubbles rising in a glass of Champagne. We really captured the spirit of these wines, the acidity, their raciness, the treble. It's all about the treble."

Bastianich wine & Led event will be held on Saturday May 2 at Manhattan's City Winery (a music & wine venue which was the brainchild of Knitting Factory founder Michael Dorf). Scott Ian will be taking to the stage with Led Zeppelin cover band Six Foot Nurse to provide live music for pairing with the appropriate liquids.

Tickets rage from $55 to $75 and include 6 different pours paired with light bites. Click HERE for more info.

This past weekend SG was hanging out at Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Though you can't help but have fun mixing with folks dressed up as their fave horror film characters, vendors who sell all manner of bloodcurdling merchandise, and movie types such as Tony Moran (Halloween), Bill Moseley (Repo!, Devil's Rejects), Corey Haim (Silver Bullet, Lost Boys), Robert Hall (writer/director Laid To Rest) and Paul Solet (director of Grace), after three days manning the SG booth boredom can set in -- thus our ever resourceful girls came up with the following off-schedule Fangoria activities. Hit the link below to read their...

Top 5 Things To Do When You're Bored At A Horror Convention

I was headbanging alongside Keanu Reeves, Dustin Hoffman and The Chelsea Girls at the American premiere of the rockumentary Anvil: The Story of Anvil at The Egyptian Theater in Hollywood last night. Benji and Joel Madden, Henry Rollins, Mark McGrath, Chris Jericho, Ryan Gosling and Rufus Sewell also came out to show their support.

The film is a real-life twist on Spinal Tap, telling the story of two friends, Steve "Lips" Kudlow and Robb "Geza" Reiner, who, at the age of fourteen, pledged to rock together forever. Click HERE for my full SuicideGirls.com report.

Friendship and a strong work ethic are core values for Sarah Connor Chronicles star Lena Headey. The Bermuda-born actress, who was raised in the working-class town of Huddersfield in the North of England, has come a long way, but she remains very down to earth.

Since her film debut opposite Jeremy Irons in Waterland back in 1992, Headey has built up a lengthy list of credits. Her breakout role didn't arrive until 2006 however, when she played the heroic Queen of Sparta in director Zack Snyder's highly stylized retelling of the story of the Spartan's epic battle with Persia. Having worked to protect her husband, the King of Sparta, in 300, Headey was then called on to protect her on-screen son, John Connor, from the Terminator in The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

While working on the Fox TV series, Headey forged a close bond with special effects guru Robert Hall (whose credits also include Buffy, Angel and Pineapple Express) and his partner in slime, producer and actress Bobbi Sue Luther. So when Robert and Bobbi decided to branch out and make their own blood and guts genre horror flick, Headey was more than happy to jump on board.

Though made on a beyond-low budget that was supplemented by friends and favors, Laid To Rest, which was the first film to be shot on Panasonic's new HPX-3000 high-def DV camcorder, has a polished analog look despite its bargain digital price tag. Shot on location at a deserted psychiatric hospital in Maryland, the film exemplifies the DIY methodology of Hollywood's next generation filmmakers.

With Season 2 of Sarah Connor coming to a close, and the fate of a follow up season still hanging in the balance, Headey ultimately hopes to join their ranks. Over the past couple of years, during downtime on TSCC set, the actress worked on her own project, which she describes as a "quirky ensemble comedy." Having penned and prepped it, with The Chronicles behind her for the time being, she now hopes to direct and produce it. If all goes Headey's way, she'll soon be the one making calls to friends for favors.

SuicideGirls called up Headey while she was enjoying a rare moment of rest, surrounded by her dogs, on the couch at her Los Angeles home.

Click HERE to read my full Q&A interview on SuicideGirls.com.