NEWS: Ex-Mars Volta Members and Flea Form Supergroup

Former Mars Volta members, Omar Rodríguez-López, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, and Dave Elitch, and FLEA (?!?!?!) have become the supergroup Antemasque. They have released two videos and a single. Check the videos out below and the single here!

SONG: Teenage Dirtbag Song!!!

The ever so great Matt Farley (interview) was kind enough to write a song about the blog! Check out a sample of the song here and buy it to support him! It also should be streaming on Spotify shortly. Enjoy!

EDIT: While this blog is no longer called Teenage Dirtbag, this is still a great song.

INTERVIEW: Matt Farley

Hi guys, it's been awhile. Glad to be back though. Today's interview is with prolific and hilarious genius Matt Farley of Pappa Razzi and The Photogs, The Passionate & Objective Jokerfan, The Toilet Bowl Cleaners, and many, many more. Enjoy!

1. To introduce you to people who aren't familiar with you, where are you from and what is your style of music?
My name is Matt Farley.  I'm from Danvers, Massachusetts.  For more than 5 years, I've been relentlessly recording songs about every topic I can think of.  The songs are short and catchy.

2. How did you come up with the idea to do what you do today (being a prolific and hilarious songwriter with many different personas)?
I used to be part of a songwriting duo called Moes Haven.  We released 25 albums between 2004-2010.  We put lots of work into creating some fantastic, Dylan-esque masterpieces.  But we also had an inclination to write some silly songs.  I started to notice that the silly songs were the only ones making money (about $2 per song per year).  So I figured if I recorded thousands of songs like these, it might earn me thousands of dollars.  So far, it's working.I came up with all the personas because I thought it would be too complicated for there to be one artist with so many songs.  Also, it's just easier if all the food songs are by The Hungry Food Band, and all the prom songs are by The Prom Song Singers, etc.  And, I figured I'd be creating a fun mystery for people to solve when they recognize that the voice of The Toilet Bowl Cleaners is the same as the voice of The Passionate & Objective Jokerfan.

3. Who are your influences and idols in the music you play and in your style of comedy?
My musical influences aren't known for comedy songs: Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Van Morrison, Billy Joel, etc. In the world of comedy, I like Brendon Walsh and Randy Liedtke. 

4. What kind of humor do you associate your music with; satire, parody, or something completely different?
I'm not sure.  My basic approach would be to say, "Wouldn't it be funny if there was an artist that just sang about _________?"  And then I create that artist.  

5. How does it feel that a song that you made which has you repeatedly singing the word "poop" has over a hundred thousand listens on Spotify?
It feels good, of course.  But I'd be more proud if songs like "Poop Into a Wormhole" or "Bristol Stool Chart" were that successful.  I actually put some work into those two songs.  "The Poop Song" took me two minutes to write and record.  But I won't complain about it!

6. What is your favorite part about being a musician?
I just enjoy recording songs.  It's fun to be creative and to have a finished product that you can share with people.  I've enjoyed recording stuff since I was a teenager. 

8. Which is your favorite persona of yours and why?
The Toilet Bowl Cleaners are great.  It's wonderful to know that there are nine albums devoted to poop songs.  Lately, I've really liked The Very Nice Interesting Singer Man who just released two albums: one about things in his house, the other about transportation.  He'll be doing albums about clothes and body parts in the next few months.

9.  From your music, it's easy to tell you're a huge fan of a lot things such as books, movies, sports, and obviously music. How do you find time to take all of these things in while writing all of the music you do? 
My day job only takes up three days out of the week.  That means I have the rest of the week to spend on music.  I rarely do more than 8 hours of recording in a day.  So that leaves plenty of time to listen to podcasts, watch movies, read books, etc.  I just need to fight the part of me that wants to lounge around and do nothing.  

9. How would describe your writing process?
For the improvised piano songs of Papa Razzi and The Photogs or The Passionate & Objective Jokerfan, I'll quickly make up a chord progression on the piano, then hit record and make up the lyrics for a minute or two.  Then it's on to the next song, unless things went really wrong.
For more involved songs, I almost always record the music first.  Then I'll often make up the lyrics as I go.  But I'll go back and rerecord certain lines to make it better.

10. What is the plan for this year and beyond? 
Albums about clothing, body parts, and household products. More celebrity songs. A new Toilet Bowl Cleaners album.A new album by The Odd Man Who Sings About Poop Puke and Pee (he's in competition with The Toilet Bowl Cleaners).  The album will be called "Diarrhea Diary," with each song being an entry in the diary of a man who has been suffering from sever diarrhea for several months.

11. Would you rather fight a horse-sized duck or 100 duck-sized horses?100 duck-sized horses.

12. Can you write a song about this interview/blog? No problem if you're too busy, because you are obviously busy. Of course!  It'll be on the next Papa Razzi and The Photogs album.

13. That's it for now, anything else you would like to add? I am always happy when my music is featured on The Bone Zone podcast: http://www.bonezonepodcast.com

Website: http://www.moternmedia.com/home.html

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MoternMedia

MUSIC: New Death Grips Album!

Suprise, suprise, experimental hip-hop group, Death Grips, have randomly released their new album, titled Government Plates, via Facebook. Download it here or here or stream it below!

Lou Reed

I was driving back from the movies feeling pretty good. I had just seen Gravity and it was entertaining. When I get home, I began the ritual of entering the house, I took off my shoes, emptied my pockets, and opened my computer. I logged onto Facebook and Twitter like any normal person. I look at my feeds and saw something about Lou Reed. And then another. And then another. I can't remember whose post I saw first or whose I saw last. It was just a blur of denial. After reading post after post, I came to the realization that Lou Reed was dead. I couldn't believe it. The legend was dead. Any fleeting ideas of feeling "pretty good" for the rest of the afternoon were gone the moment I read the first headline. I didn't know what to do. I had to work to do, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I legitimately felt like I had a friend pass on. I was on the verge of tears. I mustered enough energy to grab for my vinyl and put "Heroin" on (I'm listening to the song right now as I write this). I slowly fell into a state of melancholy. I had finally accepted that one of the greatest musicians of all time had passed on, but just barely.

I don't remember the first time I heard the Velvet Underground, but it doesn't really matter. The first time I listened to alternative music I heard the Velvet Underground. Practically every band that I like that came after the Velvet Underground says the band was an influence (and pretty much anyone who didn't is either lying or hasn't realized it yet). Everyone knows how much of an impact they were, but I think people forget just how damn good they were of a band. Their music is frankly incredible. It's had incredible staying power and still sounds amazing and different today. After creating four of the best albums of all time, Lou Reed could have just quit and quietly died through substance abuse, but he didn't. He made more than twenty solo records. While I'm not a fan of his solo stuff, I can see it's appeal and it's incredible that he continued making revolutionary music for his entire life. Most people know Lou Reed as the "Walk On Wild Side" guy, but he means so much more to me than that. The Velvet Underground's music changed the way I look at the evolution of music and makes up the base of most of the music I like. It's also some of the best music ever created.

I don't know what I'm going to do when the other two die.

Lou, I just want to thank you. Thank you for the music that inspires me and makes me feel good, bad, sad, happy, and everything in between. Thank you for creating punk, post-punk, noise, indie, alternative, shoegaze, alternative, hell, even rap (according to some). Thank you for being part of the scenes you created and not really becoming old in my eyes. Thank you for being the amazing person that you were, I wish I could have met you. Thank you for the awesome vocals on "Some Kind of Nature", the song wouldn't been have as amazing without you. Thank you for staying around for the 71 years that you did. Thank you for basically creating my passion. I don't honestly know what I would do without music. My life everyday "is saved by rock n' roll." Thank you Lou, rest in peace.

This came up as I was finishing writing this and

I knew I had to add it. I guess it's fitting he 

died on a Sunday. RIP Lou. I'll miss you

MUSIC: New Flatbush Zombies

Download and stream the new mixtape from Flatbush Zombies, Better Off Dead, below!

VIDEO: Even More Arcade Fire

Arcade Fire has released another video for the song "Reflektor". Enjoy! Also, David Bowie is now confirmed to be officially on this track.