The Virgin Mobile Festival took place this weekend in Baltimore and featured a star-studded bill starring some acts you may have heard of such as Foo Fighters, Kanye West, Stone Temple Pilots, and Nine Inch Nails. But the DJ tent wasn’t too shabby either. Armed with her camera, Big Shot reporter Mary Ishimoto Morris caught up with Moby, Armin van Buuren, P-Thugg from Chromeo, Rabbit in the Moon, Steve Lawler, Donald Glaude, DJ Dan, and various other jocks and asked them to pay homage to Sir Richard Branson.
BSTV
BSTV: Alex Moulton Talks About His New Album, Expansion Team
In between running Expansion Team (who are readying the release of the Men Without Pants collaboration between Dan the Automator and Russell Simins of John Spencer Blues Explosion fame) and working on a slew of projects, New York based DJ/producer/filmmaker Alex Moulton found time to produce Exodus, his awesome sci-fi/fantasy dance music concept album. The album features appearances by Groove Collective’s Jonathan Maron and Roger Joseph Manning, Jr. and album artwork painted by legendary fantasy artists Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell. Big Shot caught up with Moulton at his studio and interviewed him for Issue 23. In these two video snippets, Moulton describes Exodus and Expansion Team’s modus operandi.
Alex Moulton On His New Album, Exodus
Alex Moulton Talks About Expansion Team
BSTV: Peter Hook Recalls Joy Division’s Birth, Mourns Tony Wilson
Peter Hook told Big Shot that New Order is officially kaput. Though Hook isn’t on the best of terms with his former bandmates, he was in New York City last weekend to attend a screening of Joy Division: The Documentary, an excellent biopic that uses interviews with Peter Hook, Bernard Sumner and Stephen Morris (as well as an array of Manchester scenesters) to chronicle the rise and fall of Joy Division.
The documentary, which features rare audio and video, is an answer to Anton Corbijn’s rather excellent Control and provides even deeper insight into why singer Ian Curtis (who suffered from a bipolar disorder and epilepsy) committed suicide just before embarking on the band’s first American tour. Unlike many retrospectives that are afraid to ask its subjects tough questions, Joy Division doesn’t hold back and wonders why the rest of the band wasn’t alarmed over Curtis’ morose lyrics. Their contention: They never listened to his lyrics and blokes don’t ask each other how they’re feeling.
Below are highlights of the post-movie Q&A session with Peter Hook and producer Tom Atencio.
Peter Hook recalls how attending the Sex Pistols’ gig at Manchester’s Free Trade Hall inspired the formation of Joy Division.
Peter Hook remembers Tony Wilson