Alice Austin

BLURT’S BEST KEPT SECRET #12: Alice Austin
Aug 30, 2010

Steamytwangysexycool Beantown rocker kicks up her heels like nobody's business.

BY FRED MILLS

The BLURT staff put our heads - and ears - together and we have the latest pick for our Blurt/Sonicbids "Best Kept Secret": it's Alice Austin, from Boston (and soon to be from Los Angeles).

She describes herself as "indie-rock with spurs," and that's an apt phrase - in her compelling vocals we hear a little bit of Neko Case, a little bit of Jenny Lewis, hints of P.J. Harvey and Holly Golightly, all wrapped up in a steamytwangysexycool package. Meanwhile, Austin also plays some stomping electric and slide guitar while incorporating stylophone lo-fi drum loops, so random comparisons to White Stripes, Black Keys and the Pack A.D. are not totally offbase, either.

Last year Austin released her album To A Star in the Yard, which she performed, recorded and produced by herself. Prior to doing the solo thing she played with Boston outfits The Stark Raving Mad and the Lavas (one critically acclaimed album, 2007's Wall To Wall). Before that she was based in Burlington, VT, where she played with Zola Turn, issuing 1999's Ninja Jane and landing a short-lived deal with L.A.'s Brick Red Records (a subsidiary of Gold Circle Entertainment) before myriad band pressures and industry vicissitudes ultimately prompted a name change, to Queen Tangerine, which cut the 2002 album Queen Tangerine with famed producer Keith Cleversley.

She therefore brings over two decades' worth of experience to the table, and while Austin may essentially be a "new" act operating under her own name, she's clearly got the hunger and the savvy to make things happen for herself as she prepares to make the big move to the West Coast. Based on the strength of the material showcased on To A Star in the Yard - which includes such gems as the whooping, avant-Delta blooze "Graveyard Before Dark" and the barrelhouse punk of "Sharp Side of the Knife" - we wouldn't expect anything less from her.

Check out Austin's MySpace page and official website for info, tour dates, song samples, links to videos, and more.

***

BLURT: What got you into music initially?

AUSTIN: My mother is a singer in a jazz band, and my father was a guitar player and recording engineer. As a kid, I suffered through many a sleepless night while my mom and dad (in bands together, and separately) had band practice. I also went to just about every gig, since career musicians don't really get paid well enough to afford fancy (or safe, for that matter) babysitters. I think I learned how to sing with my mom when she had me pausing and restarting the turntable as she was trying to decipher lyrics to Motown songs and jazz standards. We sang along the whole time, and I learned the harmonies.


You hail from Burlington, Vermont - Phish, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals. Who else is from there? What was the music scene like when you were starting out?

I was playing in bands in Vermont a long time ago. Probably 12 years ago was when I first started... I loved Club Toast, and Club Metronome. They both got lots of fantastic touring acts en route to Montreal. I remember seeing Pavement, the Throwing Muses, Frank Black, Superdrag, Dandy Warhols, and great local bands like the Pants, the Chrome Cowboys, Envy, Lindy Pear, The Red Telephone, Chin Ho!, the Fags, Wide Wail, Invisible Jet, and so many others that were probably not known outside of Vermont. It was a pretty good time for Vermont... and there are loads of incredibly talented musicians and artists there who just live to play and keep it real.


Zola Turn and your frustrating big label experience with Brick Red Records: the band had already amassed a decent national rep, so is this a cautionary tale, or just another story of an indie artist getting the shaft?

The ugly and honest answer is that I completely sabotaged the opportunity. They set us up really well. Two records, the full budget that all bands dream of, complete with van, gear, touring, stylists, etc. I was more of a punk than I had a right to be. I would give the world for that now, but I was young and dumb. Brick Red signed an all-female band. That was what they were marketing, it was an angle for them. However, I felt like we were seen as a novelty act and no one would ever take us seriously as musicians. I was so sick of the gender identity, so I brought a couple of dudes on board for our label showcase at SXSW. Brick Red was visibly mortified, which wasn't really my intention, but that was the beginning of the end. They really didn't give us the shaft, they were just trying to find an angle for us and it wasn't working for me. Hence, all the name changes. Just looking for a new identity.


How did you wind up in Boston? It has a rep for having a highly competitive scene...

Boston... I love the Middle East and TT's, and lots of great bands here. I needed to get out of Vermont be - Blurt Magazine

BLURT’S BEST KEPT SECRET #12: Alice Austin
Aug 30, 2010

Steamytwangysexycool Beantown rocker kicks up her heels like nobody's business.

BY FRED MILLS

The BLURT staff put our heads - and ears - together and we have the latest pick for our Blurt/Sonicbids "Best Kept Secret": it's Alice Austin, from Boston (and soon to be from Los Angeles).

She describes herself as "indie-rock with spurs," and that's an apt phrase - in her compelling vocals we hear a little bit of Neko Case, a little bit of Jenny Lewis, hints of P.J. Harvey and Holly Golightly, all wrapped up in a steamytwangysexycool package. Meanwhile, Austin also plays some stomping electric and slide guitar while incorporating stylophone lo-fi drum loops, so random comparisons to White Stripes, Black Keys and the Pack A.D. are not totally offbase, either.

Last year Austin released her album To A Star in the Yard, which she performed, recorded and produced by herself. Prior to doing the solo thing she played with Boston outfits The Stark Raving Mad and the Lavas (one critically acclaimed album, 2007's Wall To Wall). Before that she was based in Burlington, VT, where she played with Zola Turn, issuing 1999's Ninja Jane and landing a short-lived deal with L.A.'s Brick Red Records (a subsidiary of Gold Circle Entertainment) before myriad band pressures and industry vicissitudes ultimately prompted a name change, to Queen Tangerine, which cut the 2002 album Queen Tangerine with famed producer Keith Cleversley.

She therefore brings over two decades' worth of experience to the table, and while Austin may essentially be a "new" act operating under her own name, she's clearly got the hunger and the savvy to make things happen for herself as she prepares to make the big move to the West Coast. Based on the strength of the material showcased on To A Star in the Yard - which includes such gems as the whooping, avant-Delta blooze "Graveyard Before Dark" and the barrelhouse punk of "Sharp Side of the Knife" - we wouldn't expect anything less from her.

Check out Austin's MySpace page and official website for info, tour dates, song samples, links to videos, and more.

***

BLURT: What got you into music initially?

AUSTIN: My mother is a singer in a jazz band, and my father was a guitar player and recording engineer. As a kid, I suffered through many a sleepless night while my mom and dad (in bands together, and separately) had band practice. I also went to just about every gig, since career musicians don't really get paid well enough to afford fancy (or safe, for that matter) babysitters. I think I learned how to sing with my mom when she had me pausing and restarting the turntable as she was trying to decipher lyrics to Motown songs and jazz standards. We sang along the whole time, and I learned the harmonies.


You hail from Burlington, Vermont - Phish, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals. Who else is from there? What was the music scene like when you were starting out?

I was playing in bands in Vermont a long time ago. Probably 12 years ago was when I first started... I loved Club Toast, and Club Metronome. They both got lots of fantastic touring acts en route to Montreal. I remember seeing Pavement, the Throwing Muses, Frank Black, Superdrag, Dandy Warhols, and great local bands like the Pants, the Chrome Cowboys, Envy, Lindy Pear, The Red Telephone, Chin Ho!, the Fags, Wide Wail, Invisible Jet, and so many others that were probably not known outside of Vermont. It was a pretty good time for Vermont... and there are loads of incredibly talented musicians and artists there who just live to play and keep it real.


Zola Turn and your frustrating big label experience with Brick Red Records: the band had already amassed a decent national rep, so is this a cautionary tale, or just another story of an indie artist getting the shaft?

The ugly and honest answer is that I completely sabotaged the opportunity. They set us up really well. Two records, the full budget that all bands dream of, complete with van, gear, touring, stylists, etc. I was more of a punk than I had a right to be. I would give the world for that now, but I was young and dumb. Brick Red signed an all-female band. That was what they were marketing, it was an angle for them. However, I felt like we were seen as a novelty act and no one would ever take us seriously as musicians. I was so sick of the gender identity, so I brought a couple of dudes on board for our label showcase at SXSW. Brick Red was visibly mortified, which wasn't really my intention, but that was the beginning of the end. They really didn't give us the shaft, they were just trying to find an angle for us and it wasn't working for me. Hence, all the name changes. Just looking for a new identity.


How did you wind up in Boston? It has a rep for having a highly competitive scene...

Boston... I love the Middle East and TT's, and lots of great bands here. I needed to get out of Vermont be - Blurt Magazine

Alice Austin looks sweet, but don't be fooled. The lead singer of the Lavas has the attitude of a Joan Jett or a Shirley Manson-- or Britney Spears on a bald-headed, car-smashing day. Tonight, Austin and her band will be at T.T. the Bear's Place to play tuned from its disc "Wall To Wall", whose retro-rock title track features Austin sounding something like Courtney Love. Opening acts are Kill the Camera, Proud to be Human, and Mark Nelson. It starts at 9:15. Tickets: $8. [Meredith Goldstein] - Boston Globe

Alice Austin, To a Star in the Yard

Album Review

BY DAN BOLLES [06.10.09]

Once upon a time, Burlington’s Zola Turn was widely presumed to be the next big thing to come out of Vermont, following in the footsteps of other successful local acts such as Belizbeha and, of course, Phish. Forged in the midst of Burlington’s much-ballyhooed 1990s alt-rock heyday, the group made national waves during its seven-year run, signing with Gold Circle Records and scoring a distribution deal with Sony-BMG. But major-label bliss was short lived. In 2001 Gold Circle dumped the band — all of its rock acts, actually — and Zola Turn called it quits the following year.

The group’s front woman, Alice Austin — now based in Cambridge, Mass. — has gone on to modest success, playing with regional acts such as The Lavas and Queen Tangerine. But the sort of national acclaim she achieved with Zola Turn has proven elusive. However, should her old fans get wind of her new solo album, To a Star in the Yard, that stands a fighting chance of changing.

On the whole, the album is a striking collection of alt-rock gems that will no doubt inspire bouts of wistful nostalgia among those who remember the era fondly. That is not to say Austin is stuck in a flannel-lined rut. Rather, she simply embraces her roots, dated though they may be. Refreshingly, she imbues her music with the no-frills sensibility that was a hallmark of the genre — and by extension, Zola Turn — both sonically and lyrically. Or put another way, you can take Siouxsie Sioux out of the Banshees, but you can’t take the banshee out of Siouxsie Sioux. And in case you were wondering, Austin still wails.

From slow-burning album opener “Wings to Me” through tracks such as bottom-heavy scorcher “Never Cry Halo” and the sneering “Sharp Side of the Knife,” Austin proves she’s still a force. What’s more, she seems to have matured as a lyricist. While never lacking for poetic grit, she manages to temper her observations with a subtle intimacy heretofore unseen, at least in the Zola Turn catalog. The result is startling, especially on cuts such as the bruising, Blackhearts-esque rocker “Vicarious” and swooning album closer “Blink and We Miss.”
- Seven Days Vermont

Toast Of The Town
’Twas the Roaring Nineties and The Queen City was an epicenter of alt-rock excellence. Bands such as The Pants, Envy and Wide Wail reigned supreme, most often holding court at the late, great Club Toast (now Second Floor). One the most successful acts to emerge during the decade was Zola Turn. Originally an all-female power-pop outfit led by the sultry Alice Austin, the group gained national notoriety before disbanding in 2002. This Monday, Austin — now based in Boston — has a homecoming of sorts with a gig at Red Square, with local chanteuse Caroline O’Connor and psychedelic rockers Lendway.
- Seven Days Vermont

Alice Austin looks sweet, but don't be fooled. The lead singer of the Lavas has the attitude of a Joan Jett or a Shirley Manson-- or Britney Spears on a bald-headed, car-smashing day. Tonight, Austin and her band will be at T.T. the Bear's Place to play tuned from its disc "Wall To Wall", whose retro-rock title track features Austin sounding something like Courtney Love. Opening acts are Kill the Camera, Proud to be Human, and Mark Nelson. It starts at 9:15. Tickets: $8. [Meredith Goldstein] - Boston Globe