Soul Friends
A. Armada Releases New EP
originally published September 3, 2008
It’s not easy being a band that moves to Athens. Those that have tried will tell you that Athens is too insular, too tight-knit (or worse, cliquish) and too musically incestuous for outsiders. A quick and ready defense for all of this, though, is that Athens simply prefers homegrown talent. The bands that have moved here and failed to find an audience generally arrived like gangbusters seeking to wow the town with themselves. The ones that have succeeded are the ones that truly made Athens their home. This is why A. Armada is rarely associated with its hometown of Columbus, GA anymore.
The band's roots lie with guitarists Matt Nelson and Josh McCauley, who came to town with original drummer Wynn Hyatt and bassist Aaron Stevenson around four years ago. The band recorded a now-forgotten collection of songs that served more as a demo than anything else. Fast forward two years: several handfuls of successful shows and a couple of lineup changes, and A. Armada is on the verge of releasing its first proper record and undertaking a tour of Europe.
Drummer Jeremy Harbin, better known around town as Catfish, had played in another Columbus, GA band, Ampersand, which shared early member Stevenson and remained in Columbus when A. Armada first moved to Athens. “I was thinking about moving to Athens to go to school anyway, and they asked if I wanted to play and that's that,” says Harbin of his entry into the band. Stevenson was replaced on bass by Cinemechanica guitarist Bryant Williamson who says, “I came on around September 2007. Matt [Nelson] had joined Cinemechanica about three months before, and I think things weren’t working out with A. Armada’s bass player, so I offered to play, and they said yes.”
Williamson also runs local label Hello Sir Records and had been coincidentally looking forward to working with A. Armada on a release. Said release will finally make its debut in the U.S. on Sept. 2, through a licensing deal with Germany’s Golden Antenna Records. A. Armada’s debut EP, Anam Cara, was released overseas back in July. The album's title is Gaelic for "soul friend," and the band certainly seems to have found that in Timo Siems, who runs Golden Antenna. When McCauley toured Europe last year as an adjunct member of Maserati, he encountered Siems, who had coordinated the tour, and the two became friends. Siems had already released work by Maserati, and when attempting to send the band on another European tour this fall with San Francisco-New York band, From Monuments to Masses, Maserati was unavailable. A. Armada made the pitch to fill in, and Siems got behind the idea readily. McCauley says, “I think it's gonna be a good one. Timo is awesome, and I'm really excited that he's gotten behind it.”
Harbin, who is a full-time UGA student along with McCauley, is the sole member who has not toured Europe. He says, “I'm very excited I’m the new guy to Europe. They think they know what they're doing with their tour stories and everything!”
Indeed, this opportunity is a curious and serendipitous one, considering that A. Armada has yet to do any serious domestic touring. Williamson says the band is trying to change this. “We're going to try our best to [tour more in the U.S.]. We're trying for maybe a couple of weeks in November or December. In the spring, Jeremy and Josh are back in school. We're going to do as much as we can while they're not in school,“ he says.
The compositional tasks of A. Armada are very similar to that of any other rock band. Nelson and McCauley typically come together with ideas and flesh them out before all four members get together to work on arrangements. As is the case with other all-instrumental bands, the lack of a vocalist requires the members to pay more attention to the flow of a piece of music and to be more conscious of what is going on within the music itself. Williamson says, “When I came in, I asked if they wanted me to listen to old live recordings to learn bass lines. They said 'no,' and I kind of crafted the bass lines so the songs' parts flow better from part to part.” Nelson describes the process by saying, "I work on stuff all the time. Josh and I will each bring stuff in and then we’ll get together and hash it out. He and I feed off each other really well. Josh is just a phenomenal guitarist."
The EP, which clocks its five tracks in at just around half an hour, is just enough to get a strong taste of the band without being overwhelmed. Similar in structure and sound to the aforementioned Maserati and even Explosions in the Sky, A. Armada distinguishes itself from its peers by possessing an intangible Southernism which renders its intensity more introspective than bombastic. In this respect, it seems A. Armada may have nearly become a wholly Athens band, but the music still draws from its Columbus, border-town roots rather than seeking to obscure them.
WHO: The Buddy System, Iron Hero, A. Armada
WHERE: 40 Watt Club
WHEN: Friday, September 5
HOW MUCH: $6 (21+), $8 (18+)
High Voltage
Getting to Know Local Instrument Peddler Zack Hosey
originally published September 3, 2008
“I’ve always loved music since I was a kid,” says Zack Hosey, owner of local music store High Voltage. “When I was nine, my dad got me a guitar that was a Gibson copy.”
After being turned on to Dinosaur Jr.'s Bug by a guy in a record store, teenage Hosey realized he wanted to learn to play guitar.
“At the time, new guitars had pointy headstocks or were brightly colored, but everybody I saw making music was using old Fender guitars." Hosey began to hunt down "the cool guitar," scoring a 1968 Red Mustang as his first big find.
Someone showed him how to play three chords, and he figured it out from there. Time flies. Not too long after moving to Athens in 1991, someone broke into his house and stole the Red Mustang. It would be three years before he got another guitar, and this time he chose a royal blue Mosrite - the guitar The Ventures first made famous.
Hosey made the local scene playing guitar in a band with Joseph Plunkett, Coley Dennis, Chris McNeal and Josh Lott called Doomhammer, which had a sound like heavy Misfits. They played two shows and called it a day.
What Zack was then, and still is, is a hunter and collector at heart, forever looking for guitars. He's become the guy who gets all of the guitars, an urban character referred to as Z-Dog. Woof.
Eventually an opportunity presented itself around a year ago, and Zack had the ultimate coup, mixing business with pleasure when he set up and unveiled his shop, High Voltage. “I realized I had just enough room for guitars and amps,” he says, and yet somehow he has also made room for eclectic items such as vintage guitar straps (one like Jimi Hendrix wore), Casio keyboards, a 2966 Vox guitar organ, a couple of 150 Elvis microphones from the 1960s, and a supply of vintage guitar amp tubes. With its to-die-for guitars, solid amps and rare accessories, High Voltage is a rock musician’s dream - but anyone will love his shop.
Entering High Voltage offers one a rock and roll experience spun on electricity and romanticism. The first thing you notice is the wall of guitars, what seems like a million of them, gleaming on a backdrop of pressed-tin underpinning built by Zack’s friend Adam Music. You can't help but follow the layout of stacked amps that march in place around the room and the miscellaneous items haphazardly spread throughout; it’s crazy. His shop flows over you like mysticism and makes you look and look, and you cannot stop looking.
Being in High Voltage reminded me of the scene in Dylan Thomas’ Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog when the protagonist finds himself in a foreign, amicable room where furniture is stacked everywhere. His eyes don’t miss a thing. Much like that made-up room, High Voltage is beguiling.
Hosey says, “People ask, ‘Can I come in?’ like it’s a museum rather than a place with stuff for sale.” What storeowner would not love to hear that comment? Especially as the inquiring party walks around on a hardwood floor you put in yourself, or admires the thick black industrial shelf on the back wall where one can get access to mammoth amps by climbing the sliding metal library ladder.
Established musicians tend to just show up at High Voltage and knock on the door, asking for an item when they need something for a show. When Hosey opens the door, people are all high voices, looking confident he’ll have what they need. One guy came by and got a vintage pair of olive green recording headphones, and a local musician playing PopFest wandered in needing a guitar pick. Hosey dug around the counter and found one. The man knows his stock.
What started as a weekend obsession of going out looking for guitars has turned into a one-of-a-kind world that's completely Hosey. Much like his attire (black and white gingham snap button shirt, well-fitted bootleg jeans and lace-up Vans), his world features an attention to detail that’s as sharp as any artist’s desire to wholly represent their works' essence.
“I want to keep doing things the same way and carry only vintage stuff,” Hosey says. “This is the kind of shop I grew up with and freaked out over.”
When it comes to freaking out, he’s in good company. Not too long ago Tad Kubler from The Hold Steady saw him inside the 40 Watt and said, “Hey Zack! Can I get in the shop tonight?” When Kubler previously visited High Voltage, he walked in and immediately went up to a green cabinet made for The Yardbirds and a Space Echo and said, “How much?” Then, he wrote a check and loaded it up.
One member of Against Me! exclaimed, “I can’t believe you have all this shit,” when he entered High Voltage, and in all modesty, Hosey says this is the general reaction big-name bands have to the shop.
Artists know High Voltage is the creation of a dependable guy. The Black Lips call him when they’re looking for stuff, The B-52s borrowed equipment while recording their last record in town, and local and Atlanta musicians spread the word to friends and acquaintances about the shop. Hosey says he can count on business to pick up when big shows and festivals take over town. His best customers are John Neff from Drive-By Truckers and Of Montreal’s BP Helium.
“I try to offer unique vintage and used instruments at an affordable price, and I try to offer instruments that sound good and play good, like amps that will make your tone better. I carry vintage Marshall, Fender, Hiwatt and Supro.”
In case a musician is looking for repair work, Hosey has connections with Steve Hunter, acclaimed local amp technician, and two local guys who handle guitar repairs.
To visit the shop and meet Zack, go to 285 West Washington Street, in front of the 40 Watt Club. Because Hosey puts a lot of care into searching for new guitars and equipment, it's best to call for store hours or to make an appointment. You'll be pleased to meet him. Zack Hosey is one of a kind, with lots of gentlemanly valor and really nice shining eyes. His spirit is Southern and universal and rock and roll.
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