Chris Alvarado: What the World Needs Now

By Amanda Brumfield
Pop- Rock Candy Mountain

As long as there has been music on this planet, there have been performers. Performers like Madonna or Sean Puffy Combs. They have uber-charisma. They can sing and dance at the same time without hurting themselves or others. You watch them perform and it makes you feel energetic, joyful and/ or alternately horny. Without them life would be pretty damn boring.

Then there are artists.

Artists tend to defy explanation. It’s hard to observe a really talented musician and form thoughts that would lead to an explanation of how they do what it is that they do. Chris Alvarado is a perfect example of this sort of artist and when Pop-Rock Candy Mountain spoke with him about his music, his YouTube fame and his goals for his career in music, he summed it all up perfectly.

“I remember the first time that I heard Landslide by Fleetwood Mac. It stopped me dead in my tracks and sent chills all over my body. I think its moments like those that make me love doing what I do.”

Read more

The State

Pop-Rock Candy Mountain loves The State, one of the most influential and prolific comedy troupes of all time. We are currently working on a long-running series of interviews with its members. Join us weekly as we will be featuring a new clip from a current project from its founders including Wainy Days, The Michael Showalter Show and Reno 911.
Read more

Indie Friday With Aly From The Merry Andrews Show

Aly Carr is the creative writer and co-host of The Merry Andrews Show in Tampa, Fla. She is an amateur small cat trainer and she is very fluent in knock-knock jokes. The Merry Andrews Show can be heard online at the show’s official site.

This is only my second week at this underground music column and I’m already feeling a bit restless. Narrowing it down to only one artist a week seems a little bit like Chinese water torture, doesn’t it?

This week I am representin’ Unkle Bob. Unkle Bob is made up of Rick Webster (vocals, guitar), Stuart Cartwright (vocals, guitar, banjo, mandolin), Ron Yeadon (drums, percussion), Tad Macdonald (bass), and Geoff Widdowson (keyboards). Am I the only one who thinks it is interesting that there is no one named “Bob” in this band?

Fun Fact: It is my opinion that the song Laid by James is one of the most marvelous songs in the entire world. You know the song. Trust me. Matt Nathanson did a cover of it for the American Pie Wedding Soundtrack. Anyway, Unkle Bob is on the label that ex- James guitarist Saul Davies founded. Cool shit. Right?

I featured The Hit Parade off of the Sugar and Spite album on Episode Five of our show and I can’t help but clap along every time I hear it. Additionally, Swans is a beautiful tune and is also on the Sugar and Spite album. In case you are wondering if I am a moron who doesn’t recognize the typo in “Sugar and Spice,” you are floating in the same boat I was when I first read the album name.

Right now the band is running a poll to see which cities their North American tour should hit. Regardless of where you live, if you dig them, I think you should vote for Tampa, Florida.

You will love Unkle Bob if you love Ben Lee, Cary Brothers and Aqualung.

The Merry Andrews Show At MySpace


Courtesy Photo: http://www.shores-photography.com

The New A-Team Movie: We Pity the Fool!

According to an article on Yahoo TV, a movie based on the popular series The A-Team is in the works and may be released as early as June of next year. We here at Pop-Rock Candy Mountain are always a bit tentative when hear that one of our all time favorite shows is going to be made into a movie, but we alway try to keep an open mind and give these films a chance.

Obviously, there will be different actors appearing in the movie than those who made the television show a massive hit from 1983 to 1987. George Peppard, who played Hannibal in the original series, sadly passed away on May 8, 1994. Dwight Schultz (Murdock) has continued to act and do voice over work over the years and Dirk Benedict (Face) has been in eleven movies since the series ended. (PRCM is currently attempting to reach both actors to discuss the original series, and if they have any strong feeling one way or the other about the movie)

Now we come to the problem area. Here’s the quote from the Yahoo article that sent us reeling:

“In the interview, conducted in January, (John) Singleton sounded a lot like a man who’s been a little bit hounded by fans demanding to know who’s going to play Mr. T.

“Nobody is playing Mr. T—the character’s name is B.A. Baracus,” the filmmaker reminded.”‘

Au contraire mon director. There is only one B.A. Baracus, and his name is Mr. T.

We thought this over and decided perhaps Mr. T doesn’t want to be in the movie, after all he is very anti- violence these days. Maybe he is sitting back somewhere sipping a virgin Pina Colada and being awesome, unconcerned about the goings on of the movie world.

We are pondering the situation, wondering if Mr. T was offered the role of B.A. -because (no offense to other actors offered the role) who should be playing B.A. Baracus? Nobody. Except Mr. T.

We intend to delve deeper into this mystery and see if we can find some answers. We were already searching for Mr. T, for a random interview because we love him, so this may be a fortuitous turn of events. Stay tuned for updates.

The Zen Of Jon And Vinny

Pop- Rock Candy Mountain

Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo have made names for themselves in the culinary industry the old-fashioned way: they worked hard to get where they are today. And today is not a bad spot for for the two chefs–they plan to open their new restaurant, Animal, in LA, they have a book coming out this summer and they are embarking on a culinary-internet project that could revolutionize the standard cooking program.

According to their bio at FoodNetwork.com, “Jon and Vinny are native Floridians, who met while attending school for Culinary Arts at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Within two months of their education, they were offered their first job together in the kitchen of famed chef, Michelle Bernstein at The Strand restaurant in South Beach. Jon and Vinny not only developed their cooking skills at The Strand, but also had a realization that they may get further in the culinary world as a duo. They continued their team efforts in numerous other top chef kitchens throughout south Florida including Mark Millitello of Mark’s, Oliver Saucy of Café Maxx and Doug Reese of The River House.

While working at Mark’s, the duo developed a relationship with lead chef de cuisine, Ray Roach, who decided to pursue culinary endeavors in Vail, Colo. and invited Jon and Vinny along for the ride. In Vail, Jon and Vinny mentored under Roach at the Wildflower Restaurant, located in the renowned resort of The Lodge at Vail. Here, their efforts helped earned the establishment many awards including a Golden Spoon Award and a spot on the 100 Top Resort Restaurants. Soon enough, Jon and Vinny decided to continue their culinary adventures out west and headed for Los Angeles to work at the Chadwick Restaurant under well-known chefs, Govind Armstrong and Ben Ford.

In 2004, the duo decided to start their own catering event company, naming it Carmelized Productions. Since forming their company, they have developed a unique style and approach to food, which has earned them appearances on shows such as Food Network’s Iron Chef America.”

Pop-Rock Candy Mountain recently caught up with Jon and Vinny in a rare moment of down time for the entrepreneurs.

Pop-Rock Candy Mountain (PRCM): Is it true that you guys have a book coming out this summer?

Jon Shook (JS): Yeah, it’s coming out August 24. You can actually buy it online right now. It’s called 2 Dudes And One Pan: Maximum Flavor From A Minimalist Kitchen. It’s a way for us to do something for people that are just getting into cooking. There was a time when me and Vinny were touring the country and we only had a couple of pans to pull off these big parties, and that’s kind of our foundation, you know?

Vinny Dotolo (VD): I’m excited about it–it’s finally coming together. We’ve been working on it for a long time and we’ve put a lot of creative effort into it. It’s nice to finally see it come full circle. Hopefully, we will sell a lot of them. The food is really easy and fun. I think that people will take to it.

PRCM: How have the first few years of Carmelized Productions been for you?

JS: It has been absolutely awesome! We are getting ready to open our first restaurant called Animal on Fairfax in LA. Me and Vinny–when we first met, we wanted to open a restaurant–that was our deal. We kind of just fell into the catering. We had been traveling across country and we ended up in Los Angeles and we were working at this restaurant called Chadwick’s that went out of business. That’s how we got into the catering thing. We are going to be doing a completely different style of food in the restaurant.

PRCM: Tell us about the new restaurant.

JS: The restaurant is going to have a menu that changes monthly–we are going to be using a lot of off-cuts of meat that aren’t traditional.

VD: This is a lifelong dream for us. It happened pretty quickly, so that gives us an optimistic view of maybe having multiple restaurants within the next couple of years. With Animal, this gives us a chance to do it the way we think it should be done. It’s just gonna be a good neighborhood restaurant and I think LA needs that.

PRCM: Where do you find your inspiration in cooking?

JS: My biggest inspiration actually comes from eating–that’s where it starts. But, there are a lot of other things involved. When I go to a restaurant, I pay attention to everything. Some people play good music and some don’t, right?

VD: I think I come out at from a way where I try to understand the different things that are going on out there. When I’m preparing a menu, it has a lot to do with my mood–some days I want to eat like ravenous beast ans some days I want eat like a rabbit. Some days I want to listen to some great underground jazz music ands some days I want to listen to fucking Metallica as loud as it will possibly play. I’m kind of a moody person. You have your days when you are up and you have your days when you are down and that influences everything, in a universal sense. It all comes though as in any art-form.

PRCM: How was your experience on Iron Chef?

JS: That was probably one of the coolest food experiences that we’ve gotten to do. I would love to go on and battle again, but we are working on some other stuff, as well. TV is a weird world.

PRCM: Is 2 Dudes Catering still in production on the Food Network?

JS: No, were no longer in production on the food network, But, we have partnered up with some other chefs, like Tom Colicchio and Ingrid Hoffman, and we are going to be launching a new website, hopefully in April, called Eat, Drink Or Die. We are really excited about it. It’s all short food preparation videos. It’s going to be awesome.

VD: The website is going to be cool. It’s going to be a whole series on food and drinking with a lot young chefs and young connoisseurs of food coming at it from a different place. Everyone involved is an expert at a different style of food. And that’s cool because food is one of those things that you can never learn everything about. If I dedicate the rest of my life to cooking, by the time I die, I will have never even scratched the surface of how deep cooking is. There’s just so much to learn about–it’s what keeps me going. We also just wanted to be a part of something with all of those people that are into then same things we are. We are coming at it with a fun spirit. We teaching people how to make things like a breakfast sandwich and simple salad and a vinaigrette –things we take for granted. We want to show people how easy it. We have fun with it. We do skits and stuff. It’s a really fun thing that doesn’t take up too much of our time.

If I dedicate the rest of my life to cooking, by the time I die, I will have never even scratched the surface of how deep cooking is. Vinny Dotolo

Jon and Vinny At MySpace

Pre-Order Two Dudes, One Pan: Maximum Flavor from a Minimalist Kitchen

Courtesy Photos

The Presidents of the United States of America- The Power of Positive Rocking.

By Amanda Brumfield
Pop- Rock Candy Mountain

In early March of this year, the Seattle based Presidents of the United States of America released their fourth album, These are the Good Times People. The album is amazing, catchy and addictive–much like the band’s self-titled debut album. PUSA is still it’s old sweet, silly self.

The new album, however, is a bit more of a contemplative and musically complex side of PUSA. The album is upbeat but has a slightly austere undertone. This is a new record with a different feel, and it feels good.

The subtle twist on PUSA’s sound may be in part due to the addition of bass guitarist Andrew McKeag. Pop-Rock Candy Mountain caught up McKeag to find out what makes the Presidents rock.
Read more

Next Page »