Russian Circles interview

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  Pampelmoose is a music and MP3 web site covering the eclectic independent music scene. We stay clear of major labels and their artists to avoid having the Web Sheriff gallop through our offices. We are indie at heart so we support all things indie – in all its shapes and forms.
  
  Dave walloped the bass strings and is a founding member of the highly influential, post-punk band, Gang of Four. With his business partner, Ned Failing, he started Pampelmoose in 2005. We love music and we love the way the internet leveled the playing field for all artists.
  
  Josh Kneedler, co-founder and author
  
  Josh Kneedler is a highly experienced interactive designer. He began working in online media in 1997 at the birth of the interactive world, a world we now take for granted, one that has become as common as the utilities we use at home. His skills consist of design, programming, and creative direction. It’s an eclectic mix, but one that is vital to pursuing new ventures where traditional broadcast media rules do not apply. Josh understands that music artists no longer need traditional record labels. A consumer in Japan may never have heard of our local Northwest music scene so local bands need a different way to promote their independently produced CDs. Josh has the necessary skills and experience that highlight innovation over imitation to tackle contemporary challenges in the world of interactive programming, design and creative marketing. Some of Josh’s work can be seen on his web site: http://www.joshkneedler.net
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Contributing Writers

June 19th, 2009 by Roy Christopher

Post-rock instrumental bands have been emerging from every crack and crevice of the map the past few years. You can usually tell them by their simmering introductions that build to explosive crescendos and their airy adverb-clause or sentence-length names.

Russian Circles’ heavy brand of meandering rock leaves lesser bands choking on their smoke. Where amateurs follow the slowly-build-then-explode archetype, Mike Sullivan (guitar), Brian Cook (bass), and Dave Turncrantz (drums) avert cliché, smash expectations, and drive it home clean. It’s a difference difficult to describe but easy to hear, leaving many writers — myself included — sounding stupid.

Russian Circles are currently in the studio with Brandon Curtis (of Secret Machines) behind the boards, working on a follow-up to last year’s massive and majestic Station (Suicide Squeeze). Brian Cook (also of These Arms Are Snakes and formerly of Botch) took a break from laying down bass tracks to answer a few questions about the band, the record, and the state of music in general.

Full interview here.