#live at wfuv

[nofatclips]

Night Vision by Kiwi Jr., live at WFUV

[karmaalwayswins]

The Beths perform "Not Running" live at WFUV in 2019.

Video Credit: WFUV Public Radio

[nonesuchrecords]

Rhiannon Giddens recently gave an intimate performance in NYC for WFUV's FUV Live. She spoke with host Alisa Ali about her new album, You’re the One, and was joined by her band to perform from it. You can now watch three songs and listen to the complete set here.

[oooklathemok]

Mother Falcon - "Marigold" (Live at WFUV)

[moremusic]

This week’s guests are from my favorite city, New York. The Upsides play infectious music that will get into the core of your soul and leave you wanting more. Do yourself a favor and check them out!

Can you tell us a little history of the upsides. How did you meet and form?

My brother Matt (who is the lead singer and guitarist) and I have been playing together since I received my first drum set for Christmas in fourth grade. Matt DaSilva, our bassist, has been in different iterations of groups we’ve had over the years including a 90s covers band. Hopefully we’ve improved a little since those days. I met Hart (lead guitarist) in college although we never played in a band together there, we would just kind of jam together after a few drinks. I luckily ran back into him in Lower Manhattan after graduation and invited him to come to the next rehearsal my brother and I had lined up.

I am a big fan of your song “Jump In” can you tell me the meaning of this song?

Thank you! That one came about a few years ago and while all of our songs are collaborative, that’s a tune I had more of a hand in than others. Lyrically, it is really just about coming to a certain point in maturing as a person. Being more comfortable in your own skin and ‘jumping in’ if you will to who you actually want to be, rather than someone else’s idea of who you should be or what you should be doing with your life. It felt like a proper album opener particularly with the uptempo feel, sort of a “here we are” moment.

When you write, is it a band effort or does someone come to rehearsal with an idea or finished song?

For this first album, most of the songs were one person bringing forth an idea to the band that we would work together to fully form which was a great process. However, for the second album that we are beginning to work on we wanted to try to build songs from the ground-up as a unit in the rehearsal studio. We actually rented a cabin up in the Catskills in early July and had a really productive week forming ideas with that method. We’re really excited to finish out those songs that stemmed from a new writing process and it was invigorating to have a full blank canvas every day rather than quickly showing each other new ideas after a rehearsal in Brooklyn.

What is your career highlight?

It might be a toss-up between having our tune ‘Jump In’ played on either Pat Monahan’s (lead singer of Train) SiriusXM channel and also on WFUV 90.7 in New York City. We grew up covering Train in that aforementioned 90s covers band, and also grew up listening to WFUV which just had enough signal to make it to our hometown of Randolph, New Jersey. Shout out to Alisa Ali of WFUV who always supports local acts!

What is your favorite venue to play?

That would probably have to be Mercury Lounge right here in New York, where we had our album release show back in May. It’s an intimate vibe but always sounds great and has a great stage. You can almost feel the history of the bands who have played there over the years in the walls. And you can definitely see all the band stickers in the green room!

What does the next 6-12 months hold for you?

We’re going to be hard at work on album 2, hopefully finishing up demos for that by October and starting the recording process early next year. We’ll have a couple more shows in New York in New England to close out the year as well and then hopefully releasing more music as early as possible in 2025 and gigging in support of our second album!

What is your dream festival line up?

Speaking for myself, and keeping the list to a somewhat respectable number, I’ll go Cut Worms, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Fontaines D.C., Arctic Monkeys, then Queens of the Stone Age.

If you could open for any band who would it be?

Funny you should ask, I just asked that question while we were killing time driving to a show in Philadelphia. I picked Spoon. I’ve seen them live a few times and they’re just a killer band who has been at it for awhile growing organically and are about as authentic as it gets in my opinion. Other picks I can remember were Alvvays and Fontaines D.C.

Who are your influences?

It’s definitely a mixed bag which is something I really appreciate. Honestly, and I’m not just saying this, the first Atlas Genius album was a big inspiration for Matt and I as we first started writing our own songs. And Hart even brought up how he was doing some “Atlas Genius guitar stuff” when we were up in The Catskills. We definitely first bonded over a love of The Strokes but have sought to differentiate our sound from them, as they’re an easy band to want to sound like particularly being from New York. I really love Australian bands like Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever and the feel of songs like ‘Jump In’ and ‘Grand Plans’ definitely comes from that influence. We all made pretty eclectic playlists of ten songs that were ‘mandatory’ listening ahead of the Catskills trip which was fun to see what ideas, even if it was just a quick drum pattern or chord progression, stemmed from that. Those playlists saw everything from Kevin Morby to The Chills (from New Zealand!) to Jonathan Richman to New Order.

If you were stuck on an island and could only take one record, what would it be?

‘Caravan’ by Van Morrison. I do have it on vinyl and it just instantly puts me in a good, nostalgic mood. Brings me back to sitting on the patio with my family growing up and is just timeless incredible music.

Fender or Gibson?

While I’m the drummer, I can definitively say Fender. Hart just got a new Fiesta Red Made in Japan Jaguar, so now we have just about every Fender option available other than a Mustang I believe. The Upsides arsenal includes a Stratocaster, Telecaster, Jazzmater, Jaguar, Precision Bass and Jazz Bass all from Fender. We’re open to a Fender sponsorship!

Any upcoming gigs you would like to promote?

Yes we have a big one on Saturday September 7th at Bowery Ballroom in New York! That will be in support of our friends Gooseberry and their album release, and another dear friend B. Miles will be on the bill as well. And then Saturday October 26th we’re going to make our debut up in Portland Maine which will be a blast.

Lastly, where can people find out more about you?

https://www.instagram.com/theupsides_?igsh=OTl2dHg4c3cxc2Fr

[dudewhoabides]

Mavis Staples - "You Are Not Alone" (Live at WFUV)

[between-myself-and-me]

Julien Baker - Sucker Punch (live at home for WFUV)

[dg-music]

London Grammar - "Rooting For You" (Live at WFUV)

London Grammar ☆ Rooting for you

[loscampbracket]

anybody voting for by your hand over letters has Obviously not seen the letters from me to charlotte live from WFUV/the alternate side recording https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ig1P4l_A0tc&pp=ygUlTGV0dGVycyBmcm9tIG1lIHRvIGNoYXJsb3R0ZSBhY291c3RpYw%3D%3D

!!!

[klapollo]

if you're old enough to have listened to traditional radio: where did you grow up/live when you listened and what stations did you listen to?? here in nyc i mostly listened to Z100 but also lite fm and fresh 102.7 for pop and Q104.3 for rock. weren't really a KTU family for some reason. these days if i were to pick a station id probably go with wfuv.

[nofatclips]

In The Splinters by Nicole Atkins, live at Langosta Lounge for WFUV Public Radio

[michido]

Laufey - "Everything I Know About Love" (Live at WFUV)

(via Laufey - "Everything I Know About Love" (Live at WFUV) - YouTube)

[nonesuchrecords]

Natalie Merchant recently gave an intimate performance at The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture in NYC for WFUV’s FUV Live. She spoke with host Alisa Ali and was joined by her longtime guitarist Erik Della Penna to perform several songs from throughout her career. You can now watch her perform "Sister Tilly," from her new album, Keep Your Courage, as well as “Carnival” and “Break Your Heart” from the set and listen to the complete session at wfuv.org. Merchant resumes her Keep Your Courage tour on the US West Coast, Europe, and the UK in the autumn.

[nakedmonkey]

Watch "boygenius - "Salt In The Wound" (Live at WFUV)" on YouTube

[ogpenson]

Ben Folds - What Matters Most (live at WFUV)