Thank you to everyone who made it out to the Poketo store for the “It Rained All Day” opening party and art show on Jan. 18! Our first event of the year was so much fun and it was good to see familiar faces and make new friends.

Together with independent publisher Unpiano Books, we were excited to celebrate the release of the “It Rained All Day” hardcover book and recording. Both Mel Kadel, the book’s LA-based illustrator, and ((SOUNDER)) aka Michael David Aho, were on hand signing books. They are both so talented yet down-to-earth, and we could not be happier to support this amazing collaboration.

((SOUNDER)) also brought some of his band members with him from Austin, and they played a rocking set to a packed house. Warming up the crowd was LA artist Jay Howell, who played some of his favorite music before the band performed. It was so good to see everyone enjoying the music and art with their Cerveza Indio beer. What a great way to unwind from the work week!

For those of you who could not make it down to the event, we still have copies of the “It Rained All Day” book at the Poketo store, so do swing by and check it out!

Just three more days to the “It Rained All Day” opening party on January 18th and everything is coming together! It’s going to be a fun event, with a music performance, art show and book signing. LA artist Mel Kadel and Austin musician ((SOUNDER)) will both be here so you can meet them in person.

Up next in the artist interview, we find out more about ((SOUNDER)) aka Michael David Aho, the musician behind the “It Rained All Day” soundtrack. Mel and ((SOUNDER)) have been collaborators for a long time, so it’s always interesting to see what new things they come up with. Here, ((SOUNDER)) shares with us more on his collaboration with Mel, his musical style, creative inspiration and what to expect on Friday!

1. What was your inspiration for “It Rained All Day”?

It was kind of inspired by the feeling of a day that’s really intense and stressful. Sometimes it feels like water is rising all around you, but in the end there is some kind of hope, hopefully.

2. For this collaboration, how does art and song work together?

Well, I sent Mel the lyrics and she did a drawing for every line. Her drawings are always amazing and with these she really found a way to abstract some of the imagery while still making illustrations to the words. She’s brilliant.

3. How did the idea to have your song illustrated come about?

Reading Shel Silverstein to my daughter. He was always writing songs, and he’s been one of my biggest inspirations my entire life.

4. How did the ((SOUNDER)) project come about, how did you get into music?

Me and my friend Steve Stratton started playing as ((SOUNDER)) in 2005. Since then it’s grown into a full band. I learned guitar on my own when I was 9 and found an old Sears guitar in my parents closet…it’s always been a major part of my life.

5. Can you describe your musical style?

I guess I aim to create songs that show the breadth of human emotion. Sometimes life is funny, sometimes it’s tragic…I try to make music that expresses all of it. As far as what it sounds like, I lean on old Pavement and Palace recordings alot for the ‘sound’. However, I don’t really try to write certain kinds of songs, they just kinda come out, and then the challenge is sticking with them and believing in them enough to put them out in the world.

6. You’ve previously worked with Mel on other projects…could you tell us more about those collaborations?

We did a similar thing for the first ((sounder)) LP in 2006. She did a drawing for each song and we made a few hundred handmade books that came with the first copies of the CD. She was just as awesome back then.

((sounder)) ‘Get Use to Falling’ from ((sounder)) on Vimeo.

7. What do you plan on performing and doing with Mel on the opening night show?

I’m bringing half the band out to LA…so I’ll have bass and drums with me. It should be fun. We’ll see what happens.

IT RAINED ALL DAY from Unpiano on Vimeo.

Poketo x Unpiano Books present “It Rained All Day” with Mel Kadel and ((SOUNDER))
Opening Party and Art Show – January 18, 6-10pm
Art Show – January 19-20, 11am-7pm
Poketo Store
820 E. 3rd Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013
213-537-0751

To find out more about the event and to RSVP, check out the Facebook event page here.

We met Scott Kitano of the band, Hearios some years back. A huge Poketo fan, whenever we’d see Scott at one of our events, he would grace us with a killer mix cd or even a demo of some of the music he was working on. It’s safe to say that his mix cds have been on heavy rotation here at the studio. One of the tracks he gave us some time ago was a really catchy tune with featured vocals from Aloe Blacc. I loved it, it was a song that made you tap your feet and want to dance. Well, some time has passed and Scott has just released a full length album… a mix of hip hop, soul, and folk… it’s love, fun, sweat, and dedication in this album and you hear it from beginning to end. One thing you should know, Scott’s passion is music, but, he’s also a full time educator. Making music, collaborating with artists, and recording… that’s a full time thing in itself.

Props to our friend Scott for making this album, for making art and getting it done! We love supporting our friends and fans, here is a short interview with Scott of Hearios, he takes us through the album and shows us, the feel of the music. Go to esomusicart.blogspot.com, you can hear snippets.

You worked with a lot of different collaborators on this album. Tell me about them.

This album has some special guest appearances as well as new additions to the band. Hearios started off with me and Seann Carroll, the best drummer in Hawaii, and I would fill in the gaps with multiple instruments. Now we added James on bass, RaE is singing more solo songs, Anné adding soulful hooks and a very important addition Navid, a very dope emcee with a great flow and voice. Jae-Mi (also from Hawaii) is featured on the title track and it was great working with her style. I am also playing more electric guitar and keys.

It was an honor to have some of my mentors on the album too. DJ Cheapshot is responsible for me getting turntables, a 4-track and sampler way back in the late 90′s. He added some of his trademark scratches to a song on the new album. Aloe Blacc has been a major influence on my music and he’s on the sentimental and catchy song “Hello (It’s Me Again)”. Both of these artists, as well as Exile, have been the reason why I keep making music. I’m never going to give up because they never gave up and I feel like my music has grown so much because of them.

Aloe Blacc, love his work, how did that relationship form?

I met Aloe Blacc when I was down at UC Irvine frequently visiting the Hip Hop college radio show hosted by DJ Cheapshot. Aloe went to USC and I transferred to LMU and we worked on some music for fun. But for me it was more of a learning experience and sharpening my production skills. Then I moved to Hawaii and he came out for a visit and we worked on a few songs for Hearios. I kept on making my music with Hearios while Aloe started to dominate the music scene with his “Good Things” album. It is so great to see his music received all over the world and that gives me motivation to keep on playing.

You’ve been working on this album for some time, tell us about the process, the sweat, the love…

This album took four years to do!! All my songs are very personal and the soundtrack to what’s going on during that year. The songwriting process takes the longest. It took about two years while I was still living in Hawaii to get all the content, write the music and record with the musicians. I moved to Los Angeles, absorbed all the new indie music and then finished editing and engineering the album. That took another two years. The title sums up the theme of the album, “Feelings Are Not Fact”. What you feel one day will change the next so there’s no use to stress out over feelings. I found myself feeling something about the music, or about a girl, and then waking up the next day feeling different. This album is very eclectic not only with the music but with the subject matter. It’s supposed to soundtrack any day, any feeling, anywhere. Lots of time, love and emotion is on this album and when you listen you can hear it.

Any plans on live shows for this album?

We had a tour in Honolulu with the full band and it was very cool to play the songs live. I am trying to make another tour out there sometime this year. For Los Angeles, I am working on getting some shows soon. I am also working on a solo set and then producing an indie-soul record for my friend Kapali Long. Check my blog for tour dates and news and all that good stuff.

BTW, that song “siren song of the city” has a Poketo shoutout!! listen to it carefully (3rd verse).

To hear the album and find out more, go to esomusicart.blogspot.com
Here is another interview we did with Scott last year, prior to this album release.

This is NOT the best of list for 2011. Neither is it the hottest new artists list of this year. This is our best of 2011 at the Poketo studio. From looking at the images below, you’ll think we are stuck in the past. I guess we are nostalgic for the good stuff, dare I say, music that is timeless. This is not to say we don’t love new bands or don’t collect current releases… we do, trust me! This records below have been on heavy rotation everyday when we come into work. Who’s putting the records on? Well, we have an in-house dj that sits in a dj booth and plays whatever we desire. Just kidding. Well, it could be me, could be Angie, mostly it’s Charlie, Joe, or Dikka. Either way, it’s been good year of music… old and new.

This Portugal album is a new release for 2011… and one of my favorites.