#Sandra Fedowitz

[spilladabalia]

A Place To Bury Strangers - Disgust

[thebowerypresents]

A Place to Bury Strangers – Music Hall of Williamsburg – May 31, 2024

After spending April busily crisscrossing Europe in support of the release of four 7" singles that didn’t make it on their 2022 album, See Through You, Brooklyn noise-rock outfit A Place to Bury Strangers were back home at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Friday.

Photos courtesy of Katie Dadarria | www.instagram.com/dadarria

[thejoyofviolentmovement]

New Video: A Place To Bury Strangers Share Woozy "Bad Idea"

New Video: A Place To Bury Strangers Share Woozy "Bad Idea" @APTBS @dedstrange @pitchperfectpr

New York-based JOVM mainstays A Place to Bury Strangers — currently Oliver Ackermann (vocals, guitar), John Fedowitz (bass) and Sandra Fedowitz (drums) — will be releasing their seventh album Synthesizer on October 4, 2024 through Dedstrange records.  While Synthesizer is the album’s title, it’s also a physical entity, a synthesizer specifically made for the album — and a synthesizer that you…

[hudomiet]

CEREMONY

[sinceileftyoublog]

A Place To Bury Strangers Interview: Hope for the Future

Photo by Ebru Yildiz

BY JORDAN MAINZER

See Through You, the 6th album from NYC post-punk band A Place To Bury Strangers, is at once their loudest and most sensitive. Written and recorded during COVID lockdown, and inspired by simultaneous feelings of depression, self-doubt, heartache, and hope, it’s an all-encompassing manifestation of lead singer and guitarist Oliver Ackermann’s instrumental and lyrical romanticism. 

For See Through You (and its preceding EP, last year’s Hologram), Ackermann recruited new band members, bassist John Fedowitz and drummer Sandra Fedowitz, and also launched his own label, DedStrange, leaving the band’s longtime home at Dead Oceans. But the LP doesn’t sound like a fresh start; rather, it’s as catchy as it is blistering, the sound of a band who has been at it for almost 20 years putting out their most nuanced, layered work yet. The familiar jagged guitars of opener “Nice Of You To Be There For Me” are undercut by pounding techno percussion. The Grinderman-esque sludge blues of “So Low”, whose noise segues from single “Let’s See Each Other”, isn’t just loud, but toys with volume, as does the distorted fuzz of J Mascis and Ripley Johnson-esque tracks like “Dragged In A Hole” and “Ringing Bells” or the loud-quiet-loud dynamic of the syncopated “My Head Is Bleeding”. 

Notably, on See Through You, Ackermann mixed his singing higher, and he gives attention to his sultry vocal performance on the dreamy “I Disappear (When You’re Near)” and anthemic “I’m Hurt”. What also results is a greater centering of his words. “Enjoying dirty wine / Leaving our pasts behind / Exploring every inch together / Your stories make me laugh / Let’s take some photographs / Every touch sends another shudder,” he sings on the wonderfully sleazy “Let’s See Each Other”. Of course, love hurts: A track like “Anyone But You” explores the darker side of experiencing such extreme emotions. “If we spiral to despair,” Ackermann sings, “We fall in and out of love.”

I spoke with Ackermann over the phone earlier this month about the inspirations and emotions behind See Through You, his new label, and Death By Audio, the pedal effects company and former warehouse space he cofounded. Catch the band at the Empty Bottle on May 31st, and nab the album, out now. Read our conversation below, edited for length and clarity.

Since I Left You: Hologram, the EP you released last year, was the first release on your new label and the first with the band’s new lineup. Was there any conscious thing you wanted to communicate with the first proper LP from the new label and lineup?

Oliver Ackermann: It was just encapsulating what was going on during that time. The statements we always make are a little vague, in a way. I like things that seem timeless, so it’s encapsulating some of the depression, aggression, letdown, and hope for the future, which could be a story for any time.

SILY: The feelings on this record are more explicit and pronounced than on anything you’ve released before. Did you notice that?

OA: Totally. It was a super personal record to write, and I felt like I was going through a lot. It made it easy to write in that sense, where there was...a lot I had to say. Because things were shut down and really weird in New York, it gave me time to reflect on these feelings, spend time alone, and craft these songs. When you’re dealing with that stuff and writing music, the two work together in a way.

SILY: There are some genuine love songs on here, but also a self-conscious romanticism. How do you balance tones of earnestness with tones that are a little tongue-in-cheek?

OA: That’s the kind of expressions of feelings and love you have. There are moments when you’re overwhelmed with excitement as well as that weird self-consciousness where you don’t know where you fit in the world. Moments of doubt with the people you’re intimate with. You have all these ideas of remembering different times that were incredible and experiencing things at those moments. All of that comes into play, and as the songs get written, spending a while recording the tracks--a lot of this was recorded on my own, multiple guitar tracks and vocal takes--you go through a lot of your life via moments in time when writing these songs. The feeling of excitement and lust you can have for someone about some moment on a great trip me and my fiancé went on, but once that’s over, you’re reflecting on that. You go through all those different moments even if it takes you a month to write and record a song.

SILY: Were there any newfound musical influences on this record?

OA: Those are always happening; I’m always exploring and trying to create effects from the ground up, learning some computer programming in trying to come up with unique, crazy sorts of effects. As you’re discovering and finding out these things, the main goal in a way is to find and explore sounds to create something that’s more interesting and exciting and goes to a place that challenges me as a songwriter and my taste. As I’m creating some of these things, they get used in songs or branch out into their own song. There were even moments--some of this record was written at my house where I don’t have as much as at the shop--where I had ideas for a song but had to make it with what I had.

SILY: Why did you choose “Let’s See Each Other” and “Hold On Tight” as the singles?

OA: I think they were the hopeful tracks on the album. A few others are like that, too, but once the record was done, I went through this process of healing and depression. These tracks were reflective of what I thought the future would hold. Maybe I’m an optimist, but to hope for better days is always the dream.

SILY: Do you have a favorite song on the record?

OA: I don’t know. Probably not.

SILY: Have you played any of them live?

OA: We’ve done some random shows and have played a bunch of them. That’s sort of the fun--once you write a song, you really want to play it live. Some bands hold them on for a big album tour. I can’t do that.

SILY: Is there a favorite of yours to play live?

OA: Hmm, I don’t know. So many of them are really fun. “Dragged In A Hole”, “Hold On Tight” are awesome songs. I like songs with energy. “My Head Is Bleeding”.

SILY: You named ones that, on a loud record, are some of the loudest or play with volume a lot. Is that something you like to do live?

OA: Totally. When things sound super exciting and thrilling and out of control, whether you create that at a show by freaking out or doing something else, I like that feeling of being overwhelmed, when you see people going for it. Extreme volumes and things like that relay those messages.

SILY: Do you feel like you pushed yourself vocally on this album?

OA: I must have. As time goes on, you spend more time singing. I even noticed while I was recording some friend singing into this microphone, I needed to bust out this windscreen for them. As time goes on, I don’t need a wind screen anymore, [like] I don’t pronounce “p”s with a “p” sound. As you do more bedroom recordings, you know your tools better. This record, the vocals are mixed louder than the other records because of [increased] comfort and confidence.

SILY: Who is harmonizing with you on “I Don’t Know How You Do It”?

OA: Ana Breton [formerly] from Mahogany. A local friend in New York. I always thought she had a really cool voice, and she’s a cool person, so when things were locked down, I invited her to come harmonize.

SILY: I can’t be the first person to say that “Love Reaches Out” reminds them of New Order.

OA: Sure. Probably not. It reminds me of New Order, too. [laughs]

SILY: What’s the story behind the cover art?

OA: I was doing these sort of experimental video projections on walls. I did that video for “End of the Night” from the Hologram EP. This was an accidental photograph of me testing out these cameras. It made sense with the hollowness of the record and what was going on. I just thought those things are sort of cool, when you have a cut out that’s a little bit of a machine with a card or piece of paper. I thought it was a neat and kind of crafty idea.

SILY: What else is next for you?

OA: We’re recording more songs and have been writing a lot of material. We’re gearing up for these tours we have coming up, building some stuff for that. Excited even to see what’s going on--it’s been a while. Still, with Death By Audio, we’ve created a whole bunch of different effects coming out in the future. We’ve started this record label, which have a bunch of bands with stuff coming out. Jealous from Berlin, DATA ANIMAL from New Zealand, Wah Together from New York, LUNACY from Philadelphia, Plattenbau from Berlin, and the rest of the bands haven’t been announced yet. All of them are so awesome and such wicked awesome live bands. It’s cool to offer some support, if I can.

SILY: Anything you’ve been listening to, watching, or reading lately that’s caught your attention?

OA: I’ve been reading tons of news, which is just terrible. [laughs] We watch so much stuff, it often just seems kind of like trash. I’ve been listening to a lot of cool Australian bands like Research Reactor Corp. I read this book about the building of New York, which was neat.

[aptbs]

New from @dedstrangerecords: “In My Hive” by A Place to Bury Strangers is reborn as a deafening industrial danse macabre in a new remix by @ceremonyeastcoast : https://ffm.to/ceremonyecinmyhive (Linkinbio) Ironclad percussion overdubs and a chilling new vocal by Sandra Fedowitz render a chilling portrait of isolation underpinned by an uneasy bassline, awash in eerie effects, churning steadily beneath the surface.   In the mighty grip of Ceremony East Coast, “In My Hive” turns even further inward, burrowing deeper into the fractured and reclusive psyche of its character.   “’In My Hive’ is about how I’ve let myself get taken advantage of by other people because I just didn’t care,” says Oliver Ackermann. “It definitely has come back to haunt me.”   A Place to Bury Strangers — “In My Hive (Ceremony East Coast Remix)” is out today and on the LP Hologram: Destroyed and Reassembled, out now on white vinyl at finer record stores everywhere and digitally on June 24, 2022—only on Dedstrange.   #hologramremix #aptbs #aplacetoburystrangers #hologram #hologramremixalbum #ceremonyeastcoast #remix #inmyhive #ispoketoosoon #facethecrowd #mybodyswoons (at Brooklyn, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/Ce6hXfbuSpA/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[recommendedlisten]

I’m not sure how 2022 will end in music, but it’s early months have already provided a full year’s worth of recommended albums. Will what has become a weekly expectation for jam-packed release schedules ultimately become a detriment to both the artist and the listener? It could be, if we continue treating music the same way we do TV streaming where content is merely dumped onto a service, and never talked about ever again a week after it’s binged. Recommended Listen defies that habit thankfully and will be taking extra time to get caught up with things. To start off the new year (is it still okay to say that in mid-February?), the first edition of Listen to These. is one for the freaks. Be sure to stay up to date with recent album reviews as always, too, because that’s going to be catching its breath for a minute or few, too...

Animal Collective - Time Skiffs [Domino Records]

Somehow, Animal Collective -- creators of an album that once blew up the Internet with a 9.8 on Pitchfork, subsequently curtailed a weird phase in experimental indie music being the norm in the alternative mainstream media, and subheadlined Coachella -- feel underrated and underdogs in the 2022 music climate. Time Skiffs is a reminder of why we should never take a band like this for granted, however. A reunion of sorts with it being the first album since 2012′s Centipede Hz to feature all four members in the mix with the return of Noah “Panda Bear” Lennox alongside Avey Tare, Deakin, and Deakin, their matured wilderness and nautical voyages have never felt as fit for a real chill as it has here as their hyper-color psychedelia reaches the closest they’ve come to jam band status without sacrificing their feral sides either.

Time Skiffs by Animal Collective

A Place to Bury Strangers - See Through You [Dedstrange]

See Through You, the sixth full-length effort from A Place to Bury Strangers, plays like both a new beginning and creative culmination of all the years before them from the veteran Brooklyn noise-gazers. Led by guitarist and vocalist Oliver Ackerman, he’s now joined in a retooled lineup now featuring drummer Sandra Fedowitz and bassist John Fedowitz of Ceremony East Coast, the post-ish pandemic whiplash is felt through the band’s characteristic static chaos, but with a deeper sense of celebration for the moments of balance which flow through the current with melodic torsions. While the album’s early half blazes in the band’s signature lust for full-on distortion and pitch blackout textures, See Through You eventually passages to new euphoric dream worlds through the same instruments, and come out the other side sound more alive in their new familiar.

See Through You by A Place To Bury Strangers

Boris - W [Sacred Bones Record]

27 albums into their career, and Boris are still a beguiling cadence weapon of sound. As the sister listen to 2020′s heavy accelerant NO, W counteracts its energy by imploding it within sublime atmospheres. The result brings us into an eerie dream within an eerie dream which renders all too closer to reality. Is it a blissful stasis, or perhaps the fallout of mankind’s own post-destruction? Those lines are blurred in Wata’s hush, and a dissolve of synth winds, distant electronic signals, and skeletal instrumentation. Though all-consuming metal mountains occasionally wretch terror over W’s vacant stare, in this moment, Boris’ focus on the internal/emotional over the visceral makes visible one of their most humanistic listens to date.

W by Boris

Jana Horn - Optimism [No Quarter]

There’s a sense to Optimism, the debut album from enigmatic songwriter Jana Horn, that its mysteries in song will continue to unravel themselves in the years, and even decades to come. The Austin-based artist’s music carries with it a spiritual weight born from poignant personal occurrences and dogmatic observations in this strange world around us, yet when woven through Horn’s own supernatural myth-making -- oft whispered, and constructed humbly in strum, brass, synth, and harmony -- her stories as written in a craft that transcends astral planes sitting somewhere between dusky terrains and the celestial sphere. Best listened to at night, Optimism’s revelations make themselves most known beneath the darkest moments.

Optimism by Jana Horn

Modern Nature - Island of Noise [Bella Union]

The only thing that songwriter Jack Cooper and his band Modern Nature, conceivably asks of their listeners on Island of Noise is to come forth with an open mind and be rewarded when it flourishes a thought provocation. Here, the third full-length album from the experimental British folk rock band breathes in fully a free-jazz air in a way that often makes each song of the body flow into one another without borders, but also meditatively so. The nature of the unknown Cooper and company embrace is one of a subtle cacophony where chaos brings a gentle rhythm into existence. Like every new world, the island which Modern Nature discover rests on that fault line of hopes and anxieties, and along for that adventure, we as listeners help put that picture of what we want it to look like in our minds.

Island Of Noise by Modern Nature

[vmonteiro23a]

UNDER THE RADAR: A Place to Bury Strangers announce new album an share “Let’s See Each Other”.

UNDER THE RADAR: A Place to Bury Strangers announce new album an share “Let’s See Each Other”.

UNDER THE RADAR: A Place to Bury Strangers announce new album an share “Let’s See Each Other”. A Place To Bury Strangers have announced See Through You, their first album in four years, which will be out February 4 via the band’s own Dedstrange label. This is also the first full-length APTBS have made with their new trio lineup that features new bassist John Fedowitz and drummer Sandra Fedowitz…

[musikblog]

A Place To Bury Strangers - See Through You Mit der EP “Hologram” von 2021 brachten A Place To Bury Strangers die Öffentlichkeit auf den neuesten Stand der Bandsituation – sowohl was die Besetzung angeht, als auch die musikalische Position. Zusammen mit seinen neuen Mitstreiter*innen John Fedowitz am Bass und Schlagzeugerin Sandra Fedowitz gibt der Chef der “lautesten Band New Yorks” Oliver Ackermann bekannt, […] #APlaceToBuryStrangers https://www.musikblog.de/2022/02/a-place-to-bury-strangers-see-through-you/

[thejoyofviolentmovement]

New Video: JOVM Mainstays A Place to Bury Strangers Share Anthemic and Mosh Pit Friendly "Disgust"

New Video: JOVM Mainstays A Place to Bury Strangers Share Anthemic and Mosh Pit Friendly "Disgust" @APTBS @dedstrange @pitchperfectpr

New York-based JOVM mainstays A Place to Bury Strangers — currently Oliver Ackermann (vocals, guitar), John Fedowitz (bass) and Sandra Fedowitz (drums) — will be releasing their seventh album Synthesizer on October 4, 2024 through Dedstrange records. While Synthesizer is the album’s title, it’s also a physical entity, a synthesizer specifically made for the album — and a synthesizer that you…

[tomorrowhittoday]

A Place to Bury Strangers, guarda il video di "End Of The Night"

A Place to Bury Strangers, guarda il video di “End Of The Night”

Risorgono dalle ceneri gli A Place To Bury Strangers di Oliver Ackerman. Nuova formazione con Sandra Fedowitz (batteria) e John Fedowitz (basso) dei Ceremony East Coast e nuovo disco EP in uscita il 16 Luglio. In anteprima hanno pubblicato il videoclip di “End Of The Night”:

[aptbs]

Wonderful Interview with Oliver by the incredibly supportive @domgourlay in @undertheradarmag “We recorded a ton of songs. There’s a bunch more as well. I’m not sure what’s going to happen to them. Sometimes songs come out, sometimes they don’t. But they were actually written in complete reverse order. The album was pretty much done, and then we had this idea where we should just release an EP because it didn’t seem like tours or shows were going to happen. That was with John and Sandra [Fedowitz] too. They helped out with the EP. John had sent me this drums track that he recorded for “End of the Night”. This was just where we were starting out with all of us as a band coming together. That was meant to be the start of what’s yet to come. Whereas the album was dealing with things that happened right before that.” Check it: https://www.undertheradarmag.com/interviews/a_place_to_bury_strangers_on_see_through_you (Link In Bio and Story) Photo by the lovely and incredible @ebruyildiz #undertheradar #undertheradarmag #domgourlay #aptbs #aplacetoburystrangers #seethroughyou #hologram #interview (at Brooklyn, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/CbgzMSnMEEX/?utm_medium=tumblr

[thejoyofviolentmovement]

Led by Death by Audio founder and Dedstrange Records co-founder Oliver Ackermann, New York-based JOVM mainstays A Place To Bury Strangers — currently Ackermann (vocals, guitar), John Fedowitz (guitar) and Sandra Fedowitz (drums) — have long been fueled by Ackermann’s restless creativity and propensity to be surprising: Over the past close to two decades, A Place To Bury Strangers have delighted, astonished — and occasionally destroyed the eardrums of — their audience with a sound that combines elements of post-punk, noise rock, shoegaze, psychedelia and avant-garde music in rather unexpected ways. Their live show is often wildly unpredictable and often sees the band creating a  a shamanistic experience that bathes listeners in glorious sound, crazed left turns, transcendent vibrations, real-time experiments, brilliant breakthroughs. And as the founder of Death By Audio, the company behind signal-scrambling stomp boxes and visionary instrument effect pedals, Ackerman has exported that sense of excitement, surprise and invention to other artists, who plug their instruments into his company’s gear and attempt to blow minds with wild, new sounds and approaches.  With A Place To Bury Strangers’ latest lineup, the band may arguably be at their most courageous and accessibly melodic in their lengthy and acclaimed run. The new lineup has two releases under their belt, 2021’s Hologram EP and their sixth full-length album, 2022’s critically applauded See Through You, which they’ve supported with a seemingly indefatigable touring schedule.  Continuing their long-held reputation for restless creativity, the members of APTBS are releasing a four 7-inch vinyl record series, called The Sevens. The Sevens are a treasure trove of previously unreleased tracks from See Through You. The special vinyl collection sees the band inviting listeners to dive deeper into their unique sonic universe to explore uncharted territories and hidden gems. “When looking back at the recordings that were done around the time of See Through You, there were a bunch of great tracks that just captured life back then and really had something incredible going on,” APTBS’ Oliver Ackermann says. “Even though they are a bit raw and a bit personal, I thought it would be a mistake if they didn’t come out. I thought it would be best to go back to my roots and put out a series of 7-inches the way A Place To Bury Strangers started. That strange weird format where the tracks each speak for themselves; no album context to muddy the water. These tracks are such a contrast to the way I am feeling now and the current songs we’ve been working on so slip back into this moment in time.” Earlier this year, APTBS released the first installment of the series “It Is Time”/”Change Your God,” which featured “Change Your God,” a bit classic APTBS — a bombastic, over-the-top punk and shoegaze sonic explosion rooted in fuzz and feedback saturated power chords, pummeling drumming and propulsive bass lines paired with Ackerman’s reverb-drenched, seemingly detached yet yearning delivery within a grunge-like quieter, extremely loud-quieter song structures. “The latest installment of the series “I Can Never Be As Great As You”/”Chasing Colors” pairs a relentless motorik-like groove with Ackerman’s punchy delivery and wailing bursts of explosive feedback. Much like APTBS’ growing catalog, “I Can Never Be As Great As You” pairs a relentless motorik-like groove with Ackerman’s punchy delivery and wailing bursts of explosive feedback. Much like APTBS’ growing catalog, “I Can Never Be As Great As You” is meant to be played eardrum shatteringly loud and enjoyed in a sweaty mosh pit. The longtime JOVM mainstays are currently in touring Europe to support their singles series. They’ll be on a short Stateside tour that includes a May 31, 2024 stop at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Check out the tour dates below.   The Sevens European Union Tour Dates: Tue. Apr. 9 – Milan, IT @ ARCI Bellezza & Wed....

[thejoyofviolentmovement]

New Video: A Place To Bury Strangers Share an Explosive Ripper

New Video: A Place To Bury Strangers Share an Explosive Ripper @APTBS @dedstrange @pitchperfectpr

Led by Death by Audio founder and Dedstrange Records co-founder Oliver Ackermann, New York-based JOVM mainstays A Place To Bury Strangers — currently Ackermann (vocals, guitar), John Fedowitz (guitar) and Sandra Fedowitz (drums) — have long been fueled by Ackermann’s restless creativity and propensity to be surprising: Over the past close to two decades, A Place To Bury Strangers have delighted,…

[aptbs]

It’s official, Sandra and John Fedowitz from @ceremonyeastcoast are the new members of A Place To Bury Strangers. We started getting together playing and recording last year and it has turned into something incredible. I can’t wait to share the new material and share all the pent up aggression and destruction we have in store for you. #sandraondrums #johnonbass (at Ridgewood, N.Y.) https://www.instagram.com/p/CNSkKmjJwSr/?igshid=187ikxl1addez

[aptbs]

Thanks to Le Crowley of @backseatmafia for this awesome review of our show in Athens on Saturday 3/19: “APTBS have recently refreshed the group’s line-up by adding Ceremony East Coast’sJohn Fedowitz on bass and Sandra Fedowitz on drums. Ackermann and John Fedowitz are childhood friends who played together in the legendary Skywave, and the band has never sounded more current, more courageous, or more accessible. With two releases with the new line up now firmly under their belts, this tour is hotly anticipated and has sold out venues across Europe, tonight is no exception. APTBS have set the bar high for themselves, live they are a shamanistic experience that bathes listeners in glorious sound, crazed left turns, transcendent vibrations, real-time experiments, brilliant breakthroughs.: https://www.backseatmafia.com/say-psych-live-review-a-place-to-bury-strangers-plattenbau-hau-temple-athens-19-03-2022/ (Link in bio) #aptbs #aplacetoburystrangers #athens #letsseeeachother #worldtour #backseatmafia (at Temple Athens) https://www.instagram.com/p/CbbTFZwJ7YC/?utm_medium=tumblr