Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Local Band Local Beer November 4
A Listening party for Freedom Suite, a new album from The Beast and Nnenna Freelon, featuring performances from The Beast, King Mez, Carlitta Durand, Brody & Choch, and a special turntablism, live drums, and sampling set from producers The Apple Juice Kid and Zakee who have worked with M.I.A., Wale (pronounced Wal-lay), and Rye Rye.
The Beast will headline this show and special guests include:
Producers The Apple Juice Kid (has worked w/ Wale, Camp Lo) and Zakee (has worked w/ M.I.A., Rye Rye) will be performing a collaborative set featuring turntablism, live percussion, and sampling.
http://www.myspace.com/theapplejuicekid
http://www.myspace.com/iamzakee
King Mez
http://www.kingmez.com/
Carlitta Durand
http://www.myspace.com/missdurand
Brody & Choch
http://www.myspace.com/brodyandchoch
For more information about The Beast visit:
http://www.thebeastmusic.com/
The show is FREE. Ages 21 and up. Starts at 10pm.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Signalfest This Weekend in Chapel Hill

Signal, the Southeast Electronic Music Festival, kicked off its fifth year last night with a hip-hop show at Cat's Cradle featuring Pac Div, Kooley High, King Mez, and others and continues through Sunday in various Chapel Hill and Carborro venues. The festival features a wide array of acts, both national and local, from many different subgenres, including Le Castle Vania, Cex, Sammy Bananas, Tittsworth, The Beast, The ExMonkeys, and WKNC's own Brooklyn Airlift.
Weekend passes for the fest are available for $40 today at the Ackland Art Museum from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m., Tallula's starting at 10:00 p.m., and at Vespa on Friday night starting at 10:00 p.m. Individual tickets for each show will be available at the door of the venue the night of the show.
For more information on the festival, including schedules and past acts, check out their website here
Monday, August 9, 2010
LBLB Last week recap, and what's up next!
Photographs of Local Beer Local Band night on August 5 by WKNC photographer Katie Hill
Museum Mouth
Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
The Beast
Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
I Was Totally Destroying It
Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
This Thursday, August 12 features music from Aminal and Butterflies! Both are from Chapel Hill.
Aminal
You might remember Aminal from our concert series Friday's on the Lawn. They played for a crowd of people, blankets, and picnic baskets. Hooray for indie pop! Come on Thursday to bob your head and tap your toes!
Butterflies
From Chapel Hill and signed under Trekky Records, Butterflies will be opening up at Tir Na nOg this Thursday. "Butterflies reimagine indie pop in laid-back folk environs... contemplative (though hopeful) soul searching of... frontman Josh Kimbrough, who gets help from a revolving cast of friends... including pianist/ girlfriend Katie Zickefoose. She adds generous harmonies." -Spencer Griffith, Independent Weekly
Monday, August 2, 2010
Local Beat recap 7/30/10
Jenks Miller and Heather McEntire of Mount Moriah got stuck in heavy traffic on the way to the station, and, unfortunately, we only had around 12 minutes to chat about the band and their brand new limited edition 12" called The Letting Go during the first hour of the evening. We discussed the history of the band and their future as far as releasing their upcoming album is concerned. We also promoted their sold out show at the Pinhook with Midtown Dickens and the Mountain Goats Saturday, July 31. Jenks and Heather run Holidays for Quince Records, and each is in several different bands, including Un Deux Trois and Horseback, and are two of the busiest people I know. It was interesting to talk about their other projects in relation to Mount Moriah. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, I had to hold back many of the questions I had for them, but what we did talk about was certainly fascinating and worth a second listen:
Mount Moriah on The Local Beat 7/3/10
At 6 p.m., John Booker and Rachel Hirsh of I Was Totally Destroying It came in to promote their new 7" The Get Big 7", which is officially being released at Tir Na Nog this Thursday for Local Beer Local Band (alongside Museum Mouth, Jews & Catholics, and The Beast). The new single is being released by their record label, Greyday Records and can be purchased at any local record store as well as online or at their shows. If you buy the vinyl, it comes with a digital download and bonus track! I also had to ask them about their band name and their answer might surprise you! Listen to our interview as we talked about the new release, IWTDI's upcoming shows, and their penchant for wearing costumes on stage:
IWTDI on the Local Beat 7/30/10
Alex Iglehart and Wylie Pamplin of Calico Haunts came in at 7 p.m. for their first-ever radio interview to promote their first show in Raleigh since 2007, which was at the Berkely Cafe Saturday evening. We also debuted some brand new songs from their upcoming record that is scheduled to be released in October this year. Many of you might be familiar with Calico Haunts last release After All, which was one of The Independent Weekly's albums of the month last year. Unfortunately, the band dissolved shortly after the release and little promotion was done for the record. A short time later the band was pieced back together and they started recording a follow up album only to have their work stolen two weeks before it was scheduled to be finished. With all of these mishaps you might think the band would throw in the towel. Listen below for their side of the story and their reactions:
Calico Haunts on the Local Beat 7/30/10
HUGE Local Beer Local Band Night this week! FOUR BANDS! WHOA!
I Was Totally Destroying It
If you find yourself at Tir Na nOg on other nights rather than Thursday, then you might have caught their other musical project I Was Totally Destroying U2 where they cover all the hits of U2 while offering spot-on Bono impersonation. Well guess what... they have original tracks too! Which are way better than U2 in my opinion.
The Beast
You might remember The Beast because they were featured on the Hear Here music compilation. They're a delicious hip-hop group that has entertained Raleigh listeners for a while now. Be sure to catch them live this Thursday!
Jews and Catholics
A review from Patrick Culliton describes this duo in brief: "How can two people make this much noise? Machines. Guitar, bass, sequencers, hands, throats. Machines. One wing beats rust, the other glisten. A Jew, a Catholic; a boy, a girl. Isn’t tension what our attention’s after? Do you like to dance, even a little, and sweat, even a lot? We’re all lost in the woods, thank God. Jews and Catholics can fly deeper in."
Museum Mouth
This Thursday will be the first time I will see Museum Mouth live. I am incredibly excited, as I am listening to them now. Grungy, sort of angry about something, indie rock. Already I am drawn to the lead vocalist. Fast-paced music paired with this lady's wonderful, almost lazy-like singing voice is working for me in so many ways.
See you there, friends!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
The Beast and Orquesta GarDel make sweet music in the WKNC studio

As an avid local music lover, The Beast, of course, was no stranger to my earbuds. I last caught the band last at WKNC's fall Fridays on the Lawn series where they opened for Kooley High. Obviously, I was going through a bit of a withdrawl, and with promises of on-air free-styling from Pierce Freelon, the Beast's front-man, the interview was too hard to pass up. Orquesta GarDel was a newcomer to my music pallet. Based in strong Latino roots, GarDel plays classic and modern salsa music with a sound heavily influenced by the New York-Puerto Rico connection of the 1970s. Eric Hirsh, Beast's keyboardist, is also a major part of GarDel, which has ultimately led to some interesting collaboration in the past. I won't give away too much, but I experienced firsthand the powerful forces and talent when these two groups collide. Be sure to check out the whole interview including the free-style performance:
Part 1: The Beast. The Beast
Part 2: Orquesta GarDel.Orquesta GarDel.
Part 3: Shakori Hills.Shakori Hills
Part 4: Free-style "Ahora" GarDel and Beast. Free-style "Ahora" GarDel and Beast
Next Friday, tune in to DJ Kligz as she will be talking to The Honeycutters as they gear up for their performance at Shakori that weekend.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Fridays on the Hills (Shakori Hills Grassroots Music Festival)
Take a look at who's dropping in:
This Friday -- April 9th, 2010

Inflowential (1-2pm w/ DJ Mick and DJ Kligz)

Bowerbirds (2-3pm w/ DJ Mick and DJ Kligz)
--
Friday -- April 16th, 2010


The Beast and GarDel w/ Special K 2 to 3 p.m.
--
Friday -- April 23rd, 2010

The Honeycutters (11am-12pm w/ DJ Kligz)
If Fridays weren't already your favorite days of the week, then hopefully WKNC will change that with these great interviews. Be sure to tune in online or at 88.1FM. Also, check out our spring Fridays on the Lawn concert this Friday on Harris Field at N.C. State featuring local bands Aminal and Bright Young Things. The show is free and so are the t-shirts and pizza. Don't you just love Fridays?
Friday, January 29, 2010
Eye on the Triangle recap: 12-07-09
NEWS
Tom Anderson and Mike Alston filled in for Evan Garris to bring you this week's local, national and international news. Listen to the podcast if you missed it for updates on the Obama exit strategy for the war in Afghanistan, bipartisan opposition to the Honors Services Law, the most recent bombings in Pakistan, the creation of the new aircraft: Spaceship 2, Raleigh's rating as the 21st city in the nation with the "best bang for the buck," former State Senate Democrat Cal Cunningham running for U.S. Senate, a Gastonia murder trial and more.
News
VIP
I interviewed former student body president and current senior class president, Jay Dawkins, and Student Body President Jim Ceresnak about N.C. State's image, the good, the bad and the grades they give its issues -- ranging from the former N.C. first lady Mary Easley's scandal, which caused the resignations of the University's three top leaders, to the Rally 4 Talley campaign, to research developments at the University. Although Jay and Jim seemed to remain optimistic, it's clear the University has its work cut out for it. Listen to Jim and Jay's analysis here:
VIP
SPORTS
John Cooper Elias, Tyler Everett and Derek Medlin gave us a wrap-up of the semester in sports, a football rundown and expectations for the next semester as well as next year for several sports, including men's soccer and men's and women's cross country. We also discussed the firing that week of Volleyball Coach Charita Stubbs due to what can be considered a terrible tenure for her with the team, as well as the incident surrounding what she perceived to be a racist cartoon, which was actually intended to show that the volleyball team was finally winning some games last season. Be sure to check it out the whole podcast if you missed it:
Sports
HEAR THIS
Kelly Reid gave us a list of best local moments of 2009 including Bombadil shows, the Raleigh Undercover event, the journey to the Love Language's Debut album and more. Be sure to check it out if you haven't:
Hear This
COMMUNITY CANVAS
Mike Alston sat down and spoke to Eric Hirsch and Pierce Freelon from The Beast to talk about some of the programs and "hip hop" curriculum the members take to N.C. schools. Hirsch discusses the importance of music and scholarship, and how the band was able to put the two together for schools around the nation:
Community Canvas
WOLFPACKER OF THE WEEK
Damian Maddalena sat down with Logan Scarborough, Forestry Club president and senior in forest management. Scarborough talked to us about the club and its activities, including its forestry competition, Rolleo. Listen to the fyll segment here: Wolfpacker of the Week
As always, be sure to let us know what you think/want to hear more or less of at publicaffairs@wknc.org. We'll be back in action for the spring semester -- same time, same place!
Monday, December 7, 2009
EOT15 Year in Review
http://interviews.wknc.org/eot/EOT15_120709.mp3
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
88.1 WKNC Pick of the Week 10/22
Bull City band an ‘academic super group’Silence Fiction - The Beast
Chakra Con Music/Robust Records
4/5 stars
By Mike Alston
I always say that if you’re going to be a nerd, you shouldn’t apologize. Be proud!
Herein lies my justification for being unapologetically nerdy about some things. I suppose the same applies for being a band: if you’re going to be socially conscious, be unabashedly so.
Judging by their first full-length release, “Silence Fiction,” Durham-based band The Beast must agree. Almost every track is infused with laments, celebrations, and everything in between concerning matters of religion, race, politics, Bojangles, and other matters of pertinence.
And there’s no vacillating on some of these issues. The Beast is in your face about words like freedom and about race issues. It’s no wonder, then, that emcee Pierce Freelon is a visiting professor in the political science department at the UNC-Chapel Hill and the founder of the blog blackademics.org.
Additionally, The Beast’s recorded lyrics are less the product of writing than freestyling, so Freelon’s messages are genuine, if a little overbearing at times. But if issues don’t get you excited about music, then that’s okay too. The Beast is anything but a one-trick pony. I’ll get to that shortly, but their formative process is a prerequisite to understanding their sound.
The Beast could be called an academic super group. Freelon — whose mother is Grammy-nominated jazz singer Nnenna Freelon — needed a backing band for his thesis work in Pan African Studies at Syracuse University. He went asking at his alma mater, UNC-CH, and came back with three musicians all studying jazz.
While Freelon, Eric Hirsh, Pete Kimosh and Stephen Coffman were scoring the music for a film relating to the thesis work, they decided to stick together longer than originally intended. The result has been two EPs and an imminent LP that are refreshingly unique.
This distinctive sound is what, in my mind, makes The Beast noteworthy.
The band members are all students of jazz and manage to mix a vast array of musical influences. Their MySpace page will tell you they fit into the “Hip Hop/Jazz/Soul“ genre, but that is a bit disingenuous. The song “Translation” illustrates this point perfectly. It begins with an intense beat with Freelon rapping, but around the one-minute mark the band turns the song into what sounds like a salsa number, with some of the accompanying lyricism in Spanish. Such a tightly executed change of pace indicates quality musicianship and great production — courtesy of Sound Pure Studios.
The entire album is full of surprises similar to this one, as well as several points during which Freelon’s contagious energy culminates with a chant of “Whoo!”
Messages, influences, and production aside, this album is carried by its songs, each a unique story — some of them approaching didactic. Each song adds something new to the list of the things that The Beast does well, which in turn gives the album great replay value. “Silence Fiction” is long awaited but worth that very wait.
88.1 WKNC Pick of the Week is published in every Thursday print edition of the Technician, as well as online at technicianonline.com and wknc.org.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Final FRIDAYS ON THE LAWN this Friday!
Now with two concerts down, WKNC turns to promote its final installment featuring a hip-hop based show with The Beast and Kooley High.

WKNC staff will be posted out at the Free Expression Tunnel at NC State tomorrow and Friday to hand out fliers for the show from 11am-1pm. WKNC merch and Hear Here Compilation CDs will be available for purchase.
Due to weather conditions, Friday's show will take place at the Wolves Den in the basement of Talley Student Center. This show is also free and open to the public. Free food and free t-shirts will be available, however they are limited, so don't forget to come early! Let's make the last Fridays on the Lawn the best one yet!
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
EOT13 Talley Renovations 11/16/09
There are a lot of events coming up this week, so be sure to check them out. The Technician staff will be playing the Daily Tarheel staff in flag football at 4:30 p.m. Friday (we'll be live blogging from the game!), and of course Fridays on the Lawn at 6:30 p.m. with Kooley High and The Beast in the Wolve's Den in Talley Student Center.
NEWS
This week in News, Evan Garris gave us a rundown on several topics, ranging from Obama's trip to China to Iran's nuclear program. Here are links to some of the articles referenced in the newscast:
National
Obama wades into Internet censorship in China address
Fears grow over Iran nuclear sites
Local
Police find body of missing 5-year-old
University plans for Kay Yow Memorial and Cary basketball court dedicated to late NCSU coach Yow
North Carolina tornado outbreak
SPORTS
This week in Wolfpack sports, we started off with statements from both the Technician editor and the Daily Tarheel editor to each other's staffs about Friday's football game on Miller Fields at 4:30 p.m.
Derek Medlin and Tyler Everett then talked about football, basketball, predictions and stats. You can also check out Derek's personal blog, Cardiac Pack.
VIP/SOUNDBYTES
To go along with our VIP segment this week, Matt Moore went around campus and asked students about their thoughts of the fee for the student centers and the Board of Trustees vote, which we had our VIP guests, Peter Barnes, former Student Centers president, and Christian Stackhouse, student senator, listen to and address in our discussion about the new fee. Barnes was one of the main advocates in the Rally 4 Talley campaign, while Stackhouse voted against the fee increase in the interest of the student body. We also played interview clips from Marycobb Randall, current Student Centers President, who also advocated the increase, and Jordan Hammond, a current student senator who was in support of the renovations personally but voted against the increase because of the student body votes against it. The fee, if approved by the Board of Trustees (Thursday and Friday) and Board of Governors (early next year), will increase the student centers fee by $83 for the next academic year, $165 the following year, and not to exceed $290 for the next 25 to 30 years.
HEAR THIS
Music industry veteran and Kingsbury Manx band member Paul Finn raised some eyebrows when he pulled a rather ambitious move in June of this year -- he launched a brand new record label with three albums. Mike Alston was WKNC's local music director at the time and had inquired about the Kingsbury Manx album, but he was surprised when it came packaged with debut albums from two bands he had never heard of -- Americans in France and Impossible Arms. Well, all three albums were spectacular (Independent Weekly agreed) and Odessa has put out a few more releases since. Kelly Reid spoke with Finn about the launch of the record label, the inspiration behind such a bold move and the future for Odessa Records.
And as a reminder, we will not be having an Eye on the Triangle episode next Monday, Nov. 23, due to a live broadcast of the women's basketball game, but be sure to check out the blog for more or our podcasts on wknc.org/eot. Shoot us an e-mail with your thoughts on anything to publicaffairs@wknc.org. And come out to Friday's football game and concert!
http://interviews.wknc.org/eot/EOT13_111609.mp3
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Fridays on the Lawn Round 2: Success!
Max Indian and Schooner certainly did draw a noteworthy crowd. This is evident because students stuck around even after the free pizza and t-shirts were long gone. Mike Alston, WKNC's General Manager, mentioned that "UAB, IRC, Student Government, and WKNC are all supported by student fee money, so we felt it important to do something free and big for the students who help pay our bills. Ultimately, we just want it to be a fun time for everyone involved while helping expose some great local music to otherwise unaware students."

WKNC expects to see even more students at the final hip hop based installment of the concert series November 20th, featuring Kooley High and The Beast. This show, however, will not be taking place on the lawn, but instead will be hosted in Wolves Den underneath Talley Student Center. Needless to say, many hope that Fridays on the Lawn will become a staple for the Wolfpack community.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Top 10: The Beast
From Pierce, emcee
"Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Part 2" by Raekwon
"Brazilian Girls" by Brazilian Girls
From Eric, piano
"Infernal Machines" by Darcy James Argue's Secrety Society
"Bring Me The Workhorse" by My Brightest Diamond
From Stephen, drums
"Such Fun" by Annuals
"Wildnerness" by Josh Mease
From Pete, bass
"Funeral" by The Arcade Fire
"Voodoo" by D'angelo
From the band
"Double Booked" by Robert Glasper
"Leave it all Behind" by The Foreign Exchange
The Beast's album release party at the Duke Coffeehouse on October 16. Kooley High, Carlitta Durand and Freebass 808 will also be performing. Doors open at 8 p.m. See you there!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
On-campus Concert Series: "Fridays on the Lawn"
There will be FREE pizza and a limited supply of FREE T-shirts, as well.
The first date of the series is Friday September 25th, and will feature I Was Totally Destroying It and Luego.
Check 'em out here.
Friday October 30th will feature Schooner and Max Indian.
Local hip-hop acts The Beast and Kooley High will round out the series on Friday, November 20th.
In the event of adverse weather conditions, the shows will be held in the Wolves' Den in the basement of Talley Student Center, with convenient parking at the Reynolds Coliseum Deck. Click on the map below for a larger version. (Full disclosure: this image was created by an engineering student.)
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
The Beast and Cashmere Live on WKNC 88.1 FM Tonight

The Beast will be live in the studio for DJ J Wall's underground show tonight at 10pm. Also Cashmere will be calling into the DJ Nominal Late Nite Mix Show at 12am. Don't forget to check out The Beast, Edgar Allen Floe, and Natalie Steward (1/2 of Floetry) at the Brewery on Friday January 23rd at 8 pm.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
The Beast with Natalie Stewart of Floetry January 23, 2009
The Beast will be at The Brewery with Yo Majesty, Natalie Stewart Of Floetry on January 23, 2009
Armed with keys, bass, drums, and an emcee, The Beast makes revolutionary music - revolutionary in its genre-defying compositions, imaginative lyrics and political content. Tapping into the rich wellsprings of a conscious musical tradition, one could think they were listening to Bob Marley, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Gill Scott Heron or Public Enemy, at any point during a Beast performance. Infusing the best in jazz composition and improvisation with Hip-Hop poetry and soulful grooves, The Beast is North Carolina's own independent revolution. Beautifully rebellious and refreshingly conscious, The Beast creates music to engage/enrage one's mentality, and impassion all bodies to get up and move.
Hailing from the city of Durham, The Beast started as a chance encounter between Pierce Freelon (of local hip hop duo Language Arts and the Blackademics blog) and his old high school friend, drummer Stephen Coffman. In deciding to hold a casual jam session with local bass phenom Pete Kimosh and award-winning jazz composer Eric Hirsh, they had no clue what journey was in store for them. The musical connection and spontaneous creation that day were so powerful that one year later, entire pieces of music and lyrics remain unchanged from their original, improvised form.

