ELIOT LIPP
What will you remember most about 2011?
Carl Craig ending his set on the last night of DEMF. It was incredible, the way he was able to control the energy of the entire crowd was so amazing. It’s really cool to see true techno pioneers in Detroit, where it all started.
What album or albums received the most play?
Jacques Greene “Another Girl” is good. So is the Araabmuzik album. But I pulled out that Avalanches record from way back called “Since I Left You” and I can’t stop listening to it haha. I was the same way about that record when it first came out. It’s just a masterpiece of layered samples.
What was your favorite show or tour in 2011?
Electric Forest was my favorite festival this year. So many awesome people and so much good music. The impromptu set with myself, Michael Menert, Two Fresh and one of the guys from Cherub was really fun.
What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2012?
HeRobust is an artist out of Atlanta that I think will definitely be making noise next year, Kendrick Lamar is the best up and coming rapper I’ve heard in years, Connie Hawkins is quietly making some of the illest left-field electronic beats anyone has ever heard and Ben Samples is inventing the new sound of Colorado lazer glitch.
What’s your New Year’s resolution for 2012?
Make tons of new shit and put it out for you all to hear.
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JEFF LLOYD (HEAVY PETS)
What will you remember most about 2011?
It was an incredible year for the band. We built our very own studio in Delray Beach, Florida, and broke ground on our first fully self-produced album there. In many ways this has been a dream realized. It is no secret that we love to record, so doing so on our own schedule and on our own terms has been an incredible inspiration. We played 160+ shows including many new festivals and new cities. We have begun to rub elbows and collaborate with many of our favorite artists and are feeling a new kind of traction – a new phase of our careers has begun.
What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?
This year has been an incredible one for new bands and new music, but probably my favorite record of 2011 was Paul Simon’s So Beautiful or So What. Paul’s writing and singing at 70 years old is as razor sharp and empathetic as ever, and his guitar playing is simply on a completely different level (Check out his “Frisellian” acoustic work on the ballad “Questions for the Angels”). Wilco’s The Whole Love is also getting a whole lot of love in my world…
What was your favorite show or tour in 2011?
Playing with Steve Kimock at the Stir Fry Music Festival was a major highlight. Steve was absolutely brilliant, using a staggering array of tones and styles while playing through, over, in and out of our tunes. He seemed to really enjoy the changes and would flash a broad smile in my direction when the abrupt turns in some of our tunes came around. Steve was throwing riffs at us and we were tossing them back at him, and several times we slipped into some intricately woven Dead-like sound-scapes. When this would occur, he would walk across the stage and face me, squaring off and locking in. I was performing and yet completely in awe at the same time.
What will you find in your stocking this holiday season?
After our jam with Steve we went back to his studio and he gave me a tour of his tone and a few pointers about gear. I am modifying my sound a bit, so hopefully I will get some new tubes in my stockings and some new speakers under the tree.
What are you looking forward to the most for 2012? Why?
Jam Cruise! Despite all the obvious reasons, it is the unknown that is so intriguing. There are myriad collaborative opportunities and I am excited to both witness some and be a part of others.
What’s your New Year’s resolution for 2012?
My big resolution for New Years is to spend more time in the studio. We have been touring virtually non-stop for years so we look to next year to finally allocate our time a bit more evenly, leaving us the opportunity to get some serious work done in our new studio. Don’t get me wrong – we are still going to play just as many shows – playing live will always be our favorite thing to do. We just finally have an infrastructure in place to tour smarter, so that’s what we plan to do.
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