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VA Beach’s Feral Conservative’s drop new LP, ‘Better Lives’

Caitlin Barbieri | November 9, 2017

Topics: Egghunt Records, Feral Conservatives, indie rock, punk

Egghunt Records‘ Feral Conservatives have been on our radar since the Virginia Beach punk/indie pop band released a short political film “Twenty-Eight“, targeting Donald Trump. Since then, the group put out the well-received album Here’s To Almost, come back from a Southwest tour, added a band member, and earlier this month, dropped a new LP, Better Lives.

The 12-track album, according to drummer Matt Francis, reveals the band’s hopes and uncertainties and is the  “truest band record” they have had.  After the success of Here’s to Almost, which dropped at the beginning of last year, the band was met with the challenge of building on that momentum. 

“It was always kind of like, ‘well where do we go from here? How do we continue this trajectory upward, how do we improve on this foundation?’,” Francis said.

One asset the band was especially excited about for this album was bringing on Jon Auer of the Posies to mix and bring his own special touch to Better Lives. Auer also recorded and produced Here’s to Almost and co-produced Better Lives along with Mark Padgett. On Better Lives, however, he added his own style and collaborated with the band to improve the record and add depth to it.

“It’s mostly like ear candy, textual stuff, but I really think it helps elevate everything,” Francis said.  “I think it really brought a cohesion to all the different sounds and tones we were giving him.”

Feral Conservatives recorded at Chesapeake’s Earthsound Recording back in November 2016 and wrapped up back in April. Better Lives is a continuation of the band’s garage folk sound which is greatly improved by the addition of full-time guitarist, Zach Jones, who rounds out the group as a four-piece with Dan Avant on bass and Rashie Rosenfarb as lead vocalist/mandolin player. 

The songs cover a wide range of topics from growing up, to parental relationships and while some bands struggle to present such different topics through one cohesive album, Feral Conservatives nailed it. Rosenfarb’s melodic, soothing voice carries listeners through the album and makes every track easy to digest.

“I think we covered a lot of ground in a good way, but I think it also all melds together and makes a lot of sense in the track order and also the way it was mixed,” Francis said.

The songs move into one another nicely and tell the story of maturing and finding themselves as a band and as individuals in adulthood. Better Lives showcases the artists’ different talents through songs like “Sun Room” which is more melodic, and “Sippin’ Slowly”, which is loud and filled with energizing guitar solos. Each member of the band wrote at least one song on the album, which contributed to its cohesiveness and artful demonstration of each member’s talents.

Feral Conservatives also challenged themselves with this album. They explored other styles of songs with one written in 5/4 time signature and ended the album with an eight-minute shoegaze style song which was completely new to the band.

“We’re looking to punch above our weight and to succeed in certain areas we maybe don’t feel we have a chance in, and I think that’s where the concept of ‘Better Lives‘ came from,” Francis said.

No shows on the horizon yet for the band, but your eyes peeled on RVA Mag for more the band.

Photo Credit: Beth Austin 

RVA Street Art Festival Brings Life to The Diamond this Weekend

Caitlin Barbieri | September 21, 2017

Topics: Andre Shank, Art on wheels, Bomb Proof, Chance Fischer, Connors Heroes, ed trask, Feral Conservatives, Kenneka Cook, Manatree, McKinley Dixon, Mekong Express & The Get Fresh Horns, Michael Millions, Mickael Broth, murals, Richmond Flying Squirrels, RVA ARt, RVA muralists, RVA street art festival, Saw Black, South Hill Banks, street art, The Diamond, Zéh Palito

Street artists and muralists from all over the United States will flock to The Diamond this weekend, to turn the dull concrete baseball stadium into a vibrant piece of Richmond culture for the fourth RVA Street Art Festival.

More than 250 buckets of latex paint, cans of spray paint, sculpture supplies and more will be taken to the home of the Richmond Flying Squirrels to create a mixed-media canvas. 

Since the first RVA Street Art Festival in 2012, at the Canal Walk, the event has drawn people from all over the city and given artists an outlet to create freely.

“You’re not dealing with a client so within reason you’re able to do exactly what you want, completely your idea and your execution, that’s something that’s is always a draw for me,” said local muralist and board member Mickael Broth.  

It transformed the old GRTC bus depot in 2013, and last year, the street art fest went to Manchester to give life to the drab Southern States silos.

“In my mind, that’s the next arts district,” local artist and RVA Street Art Fest co-founder Ed Trask told RVA Mag in 2016 of Manchester. “It’s great when you can reinvent an industrial area like Manchester and instead of completely scrapping the history of what was here, you can start reinventing the buildings without losing the character so that’s why I love this area.”

Image may contain: cloud, sky and outdoor
Photo by Arshan Yazdan

But for this year, the board is excited to partner with the Richmond Flying Squirrels to bring art and sports together. 

“It’s that interesting intersection of sports and art,” board member Katie Benson said. “The squirrels are in the business of having fun, they are a great family organization and the quintessential Americana and I think it will be really fun to see all that collide.”

Flying Squirrels Chief Executive Chuck Domino broke the news about the festival with Street Art board members in June and was equally excited to have the festival come to the stadium.

“This will be an incredible opportunity for the Squirrels. It’s going to help bring new people to our ballpark and help grow our charities supporting renovating inner city baseball diamonds in underserved communities,” he said in a spring news release.

One of the festivals missions is to showcase local and national artists. Richmond artists, Andre Shank, known as “Bomb Proof” has partnered with visiting Brazilian artist, Zéh Palito, to paint the crown of the stadium. The two started the project earlier in the week and plan to have every panel of the crown painted by Sunday.

“It’s really cool, think about people driving through Richmond on I-64 or I-95 and seeing that art on the crown,” Benson said.     

Along with the crown, the stairs, columns, walls and the interior of the VIP areas will become a canvas for the over 35 artists attending the event.

“The more I do this for a living (paint) the more I realize those opportunities are not that common and you have to use them as best you can,” Broth said.

One artist, Rachel Owens, earned her spot on the walls of The Diamond through a pop-up art event she won at Triple Crossing Brewing. This will be Owens’s first time painting on a wall and will be a great opportunity for her to showcase her talents.  

While the large murals will be the main attraction, the creativity of the event expands beyond the concrete canvas.

“While we are known as the Richmond Street Art Festival, we want to branch that out to not just street art but we have sculptures, we have music, and we have some interactive art with kids,” Benson said.

The festival will include an artist village where visitors can buy and see art from other local artists. Scott’s Addition print shop Studio Two Three will be there making screen prints and t-shirts. Art On Wheels will also be there doing a pendulum art piece and making a sculpture out of painted wood.

Live music, a variety of food vendors, and beer trucks will be at the event as well. And the festival has a solid musical lineup for the day with soul/funk powerhouse Kenneka Cook, jazz.hip hop artist Mckinley Dixon and Crystal Pistol Records founder/folk artist Saw Black. Feral Conservatives, Chance Fischer, Michael Millions, Dead Letter Officers, Manatree, DJ Mike, and Mekong Xpress & The Get Fresh Horns are also scheduled to perform. 

Image may contain: sky and outdoor

Over 11,000 people are anticipated to come out this weekend and to enjoy all the festival has to offer which is aiming to bring people from all over Richmond together and beautify a part of the city “in need of creativity and love.”

“When you put street art up you don’t know how long they are going to be up for, but during that place in time when we are all together in the community it’s beautiful,” Benson said.

Another goal of the festival is to raise money for arts education for children. This year’s beneficiary is Connor’s Heroes, an organization dedicated to supporting children undergoing cancer treatment and utilizes art as a medium of healing.  

The 2017 RVA Street Art Festival kicks off Fri. Sep. 22nd from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. and will continue Saturday from  11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

 

Art Sponsored by Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art 

 

Avers, Manatree, Headless Mantis and more rep RVA at Raleigh’s Hopscotch Festival

Brad Kutner | October 4, 2016

Topics: Avers, Echo Courts, Feral Conservatives, Headless Mantis, Hopschotch Festival 2016, Manatree, Ruby Delux

9 A.M. – It’s a sunny morning in downtown Raleigh, but the scene feels just like any other Friday.
[Read more…] about Avers, Manatree, Headless Mantis and more rep RVA at Raleigh’s Hopscotch Festival

RVA Mag #24: Egghunt Records on their success, the future, and being RVA’s Sub Pop

Amy David | April 14, 2016

Topics: Egghunt Records, Feral Conservatives

A lot can happen in two years. You could start a band and record your first EP. You could get a new job and hopefully a promotion.
[Read more…] about RVA Mag #24: Egghunt Records on their success, the future, and being RVA’s Sub Pop

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