LA.CityZine brings you band, Castledoor, as part of our Know Your LA Bands series. There is no doubt that this group of care free youngsters from Silverlake is the band to keep your eye on. Sure, they photograph well but take in a show of theirs or listen to either of their EPs, and you’ll find yourself completely mesmorized. Frontman, Nate Cole, could lock in any soul with his intense but honest pure voice and it’s more than cool that his wife, Lisa, backs him up on the keys. Also, this band has not only one married couple but two: Gabe Combs on guitar is accompanied by his wife and synth player, Coury. They could just be one happy family playing music. However, they also have friends. Friends who can rock such as Brandon Schwartzel on bass and Joel Plotnik on drums.

Castledoor recently released their second EP, ‘Til We Sink. If you haven’t gotten your hands on it yet (and you really should have), but want to hear more than what’s up on MySpace, make sure to see them live this Saturday. They’re set to play at 1:40 PM as a part of Sunset Junction. They’re also bound to play favorites from their last EP, Follow the Dove, so make sure you get your tickets! You’ll definitely regret it if you don’t. I’ll regret for you. Castledoor is Of Montreal and Belle & Sebastian’s love child who grew up listening to Rufus Wainwright and Muse.

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Dan Evans

It’s been a hell of year so far for 21 year old Dan Evans. For NBC’s The Biggest Loser fans you may remember the Frankfort, Illinois native, camp counselor, and musician was eliminated earlier this year after losing a whopping 136 pounds in weight. Within 2 weeks of leaving the show he was recording his first country-rock album in Nashville with top producing and writing talents, Russ De Salvo and Jim Kimball.

He is set to embark on a country-wide “Purpose of the Pain Tour” which promises a night of inspiration with artists who’ve experienced similar hurdles and life changing experiences and there’s even talk of a health and fitness TV show that he and his mum will co-host. Dan initially weighed 310 pounds and although he has been a musician since his teens, his weight was an anathema to his dreams. He was accepted on to the show with his mother on the Biggest Loser Couples, Season Five and the rest, as they say, is history.

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Gregg Laswell knows how to put on a concert.  He has the ability to play the piano and guitar (although not simultaneously, which would be really cool) in a way that gorgeously mirrors his spectacular vocals.  With three CD’s already released, Gregg Lawell is certainly becoming a veteran of the Los Angeles music scene.  LA.CityZine had the opportunity to check Gregg out at The Hotel Cafe on Friday, August 15 where he performed an hour long set of songs from his ever growing catalog including those from his recently released, “Three Flights From Alto Nindo” and even an unreleased track. Like many performances at The Hotel Cafe, there was an intimacy to the concert as a whole that suited each of Greg Laswell’s songs quite well. Additionally, MySpace has selected him to be part of the “Artist Discovery Series” which is only more affirmation that this guy is worth all of the buzz he’s been getting.

There is certainly no shortage of handsome, talented male singer/songwriters on the music scene these days but Greg Laswell is far from another one of that massive heard. Handsome, absolutely and, without a doubt, he is talented, very talented. He sings with a depth of knowing that is rare in even the most mature artists and exemplifies his ability to interpret life’s difficult moments into beautiful song.

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Sometimes, summer calls for vacations. What do you listen to while packing? This playlist is the perfect thing for you!

1. Peter, Paul, and Mary – Leaving on a Jet Plane | Preview and Buy
2. The Starting Line – Up and Go | Preview and Buy
3. The Dandy Warhols – Bohemian Like You | Preview and Buy
4. Flock of Seagulls – I Ran | Preview and Buy
5. Copeland – Pin Your Wings | Preview and Buy
6. Imogen Heap – Hide and Seek | Preview and Buy
7. Jack’s Mannequin – I’m Ready | Preview and Buy
8. Keane – Somewhere Only We Know | Preview and Buy
9. The Juliana Theory – Into The Dark | Preview and Buy
10. The Cure – Friday I’m in Love | Preview and Buy

Interested in making your own playlist? Contact Winnie@la.cityzine.com!

It’s amazing how much music affects our everyday lives. It’s everywhere. It’s on our computers these days or in some very tiny chips in your iPod but also in campaigns for politics or sports, in class with the little ones as they learn about farm animals, slightly in the background of the most epic Grey’s Anatomy episode… Well, I could go on. The fact that music is constantly surrounding us makes me wonder what a world without it would be like. Music essentially enhances all things in life. It can create intensity whether pleasurable or painful. It can drastically change the tone of a message. It can help us keep memories as one riff in a song brings us back to one moment in time five years ago.

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Like baseball, mom’s apple pie and wars with countries we initially can’t locate on a map, the Vans Warped Tour, who is back in 2008 for it’s fifteenth year, has become an American institution. While package tours come and go, the Warped Tour has found a niche and has become more and more successful, continuously finding new fans even as original concert goers now worry more about kids and mortgages than punk rock ideals.

While Warped Tour has always featured big acts like Blink 182, No Doubt, Pennywise, Bad Religion and NOFX, it’s multiple stage setup have also given smaller bands a chance to criss-cross the country and play to crowds bigger then what they might find on their own club dates. “My most memorable experience on Warped Tour has to be the day we played Denver,” stated Beat Union’s Luke Johnson. “Right before we went on almost 600 kids turned out to watch us play. It was crazy, we had only played Denver twice.”

This years’ Warped Tour began in June with a show at the Pomona Fairgrounds, and after playing just about every big, medium sized and small market in the U.S. and Canada, the tour will end roughly forty miles away with a show this Sunday at the Home Depot Center parking lot. This years tour finale features such big names as Rise Against, Against Me!, Angels and Airwaves, Katy Perry and Gym Class Heroes, as well as other (awesome) bands like Anberlin, The Briggs, MC Chris, Say Anything and dozens more. As usual, the show will feature live music on up to a dozen stages, lots of products for demo and sale, band merch, free sway, skateboard demos, the obsequious energy drink free samples, and, of course, overpriced food and drinks.

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LA.CityZine brings you duo, Gangi, as part of our Know Your LA Bands series. Matt Gangi and Lyle Nesse originally started in Brooklyn, but lucky for us, they have now relocated to the city of angels. Sure, many bands make the move across the nation in hopes of finding a better niche as well as better reception. However, in the sea of many indie bands as well as mainstream bands that come out of LA today, the phrase “It’s harder than it looks,” now has an abundance of new meanings, if not just the levels of intensity within it. Yes, the melodies, the images, and the purposes of bands have eventually taken the music to the masses. But it’s the actual substance within the band members themselves who create those melodies, images and purposes that fundamentally matters.

As musicians these days, Gangi is aware of the many hats they wear as they are creating. With this mindset, they take their understanding into another dimension with their songwriting. The result is indescribable. It is exactly that with no exaggeration. My mind has been searching for ways to describe their music but to say that it’s Grizzly Bear meets Animal Collective just wouldn’t do them justice. Instead, I asked them what others have said. Was the press in the past even close? The question is a difficult task in itself. To determine this answer, you would have to comprehend the thoughts of Matt and Lyle, themselves, and I’ve somewhat cleared a path for you, the listener – the fan, to do so. However, don’t say I didn’t warn you. This interview below includes some massively surreal intellectualism that could literally blow your mind. Then again, there are some funny parts too. Enjoy.

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Shaking up the crowd of 400 at the Nissan Live stage on Monday evening, The Pretenders reminded us to pay no heed to the old myth about stars having 15 minutes of fame. No sir. No ma’am. Not Chrissie Hynde (featured right).

The Pretenders, who originated in 1977 and are led by the insatiable US-UK transplant, are still going strong and are the “Talk of the Town” (to throwback to a 1987 favorite) even in 2008.

In fact, though the median age of the crowd probably hovered in the mid-fifties, the group of five original members plus and minus a few, exuded a stage presence and inventive sound that was pure lyrical energy, and the crowd was feeling it.

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Until last night I had never been to the Hollywood Bowl, but I am already planning my next trip. What a fantastic venue. Usually I prefer a smaller venue when I’m seeing a show, but when my friend was buying tickets and asked if I’d like to go, I figured I would check it out. I’d heard two Feist songs before last night I’m sure anyone can guess which two; I was going for Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings. For those of you who haven’t heard the powerful Ms. Jones and the soulful sounds of the Dap Kings, I highly recommend checking them out.

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