Back on the grind

Charleston, SC

Electric Friends - Charleston, SC

Electric Friends - Charleston, SC

NYC

Porch front - DC

Put your SUNGLASSES on, it’s about to get SAVAGE

We first came across SUNGLASSES when we stumbled upon their ridiculously awesome music video for "Whiplash" a few weeks ago. After listening to it on repeat for several weeks, we decided it was time to talk to these Savages and see what they are all about. So I got in touch with the men behind SUNGLASSES, 8000 bam bam (Samuel Cooper) & Baby Seal (Brady Keehn) on their car ride from Savannah to Baltimore to talk about everything from the creation of the group to their future plans and of course their love for PBR.

MDS: Tell me a little more about SUNGLASSES, how you started, what influenced you, etc?
Samuel: Well both of us have been making music separately for basically as long as we can remember... I'm from North GA; Brady is from Washington, DC. We both went to SCAD for different things. I came for film and Brady came for sound design... Eventually I had to work on a film that was trying to bridge my love of music and film together. It was basically a narrative, a musical narrative film. I got with Brady through some mutual friends, got him working on dialog, and we recorded some music together. Next thing you know, I showed him some samples I had, he showed me some beats he made and next thing you know people liked it and then... We were finished with "Miles" which is the movie we made... and we both constantly want to work, so we decided to make a music video with some of our friends. So I directed that, we had a friend that helped us edit it and we got it on the internet and people really responded to it... That's basically what has happened over the past six months, well less than that, it's happened really quick... And I come from pop, Beach Boys, Harry Nelson, Beatles love for songs and melodies and harmonies and Brady started off as a DJ and really loves Dub step and Hip Hop and we just kinda put the two together...


MDS: So the "Whiplash" video is pretty crazy, what were you guys thinking when you put it together? What was the concept behind it?
Samuel: Personally for me, I really wanted to do some green screen stuff, I just wanted to do it for fun and... The main guy in it is one of Brady's closest friends for a long time and he is just a character and we wanted to use him for something. We have these girls that came to all of our shows and wanted to be in the video... I wanted to do something completely different from what I did before ["Miles"], which was basically the opposite of "Whiplash"... it's just really us having fun, when we shot it we had a good time shooting stuff and then we got in the editing room and just kinda had fun with it. We gathered images that we all liked... and we wanted the video to enforce the themes that we were trying to support in the music which is kinda of a psychedelic collage if you will.



MDS: Where does the name SUNGLASSES come from?

Samuel: Brady was having some trouble with his solo name... So we tried to find something for him, we were looking through the cliché band names... somehow SUNGLASSES came up and he wanted to use it for his solo name, but then we decided that we both liked it so much that we wanted to use it for us. I think it also kinda works out well with the sound and the themes that we are playing with.

MDS: So what's the plan for the future? I know you’re traveling now, are you going to tour, record an album?

Samuel: We just signed with Lefse Records which is the same label as Neon Indian and a newer band called Keepaway that signed around the same time we did. So we just signed that and we are going to release an EP with them on vinyl and digital very soon. We are supposed to get our release date today... We are playing in... New York on Thursday at Home Sweet Home in the Lower East side and then a House Party in Philadelphia. Then we are going to go to Brady's parent's lake house outside of Baltimore and finish mixing the EP, send it to the label and then we have already started recording a full length which... the label will probably want to release before the end of the year so that will be our goal, we already have around five songs we've started for that.

MDS: Where do like to play, smaller venues or bigger venues with more of the light show type stuff going on?

Samuel: Well, our definite goal is to play for as many people as possible, a light show will definitely be involved as well as some video collages that we've already kind of made, playing behind us... Our live show is very much audience interactive, its very high energy. We played a house party on Saturday and there was like 400 odd people outside trying to get in this little attic... It was just good energy there and a lot of people and we almost broke the floor, they said the ceiling below was bending like rubber or something... We think the more people the better. We had to stop because people were jumping and it was endangering people's lives... We are shooting our next video as well, so we shot this, we are gathering footage... We've just been playing some shows and getting live footage, we will probably pull that together for some kind of video, it should be something to look forward to.

MDS: What is the most Savage thing you have ever done?

Samuel: Umm hmm...

Brady: Hmmm... I don't know... wow...

MDS: I know you guys have done some savage shit...
Brady: Well actually our last show was probably the most savage thing we've done. I mean with all the people we had in there and the fact that I had to get on the mic and be like "alright everybody, you guys need to stop jumping up and down because you are endangering your lives." That would probably be the craziest thing that has ever happened to us, its not the first time we've broken a floor at a house, we've broken one before. It fell 6 inches and we had to stop playing there. This time we played in an attic, where it was on the 3rd floor, the people below us said the cieling was moving about 6 inches up and down, chandeliers were shaking. People were runnning and coming up to us while we were playing telling us to stop playing, but I wouldn't stop because I wanted to finish the song first. A guy had to grab me and be like "the cieling is about to fall you need to tell people to stop jumping." So I had to get on the mic... and they were good, they listened but we couldn't play for too much longer because the amount of people that were outside the house. Supposedly 400 people were out there and they had to lock the door so they wouldn't come in...
Samuel: Yeah... those people that threw the house party got evicted because of us. They don't have anywhere to live right now.


MDS: Well, I'd say you passed the Savage test haha. What are your top 3 go-to songs right now?
Samuel: We are dealing with CDs right now because we're driving in the car, so here's what we've been listening to. Dark Side of the Moon we listened to that a couple of hours ago and took too many notes and had too many ideas with that one.  Then we listened to a collection of David Bowie singles we did the same thing, took notes and talk about what we want to use or things we like. And right now we are in "Kaya," Bob Marley which we are just about to get in to too deep. We also have Miles Davis - "On the Corner", that's an amazing album and... "A Love Supreme" by John Coltrane


MDS: What is your vice?
Samuel: Hmmm we have too many... I'd say recently we've gotten back into Bloody Mary's, that's not really a vice but it's good... We've been taking a lot of whiskey shots lately too, that can't end up good. And then... one of our vices is to add consonants to the word wow. Like instead of saying "wow" we say "shwow" or "bwow" annoying things like that are probably more of a vice. We like wordplay a lot; it's annoying to everyone else but us.




MDS: And finally, do you guys like PBR?
Samuel: Yes we like PBR, of course. But for some reason, we don't really drink it anymore because in Savannah it got like really hip to drink Pabsts, so it costs more than like High Life or it even costs more than like Budweiser or something else. But we definitely enjoy Pabst Blue Ribbon.

Right now, you can  hear their jams “Whiplash” and “Referee” on their page, and we can’t wait to see what else they’ve been working on. These guys will put on a Savage show wherever they are, so be sure to check them out!

...

Wisconsin Ave - DC

King St - Charleston

Rooftop - DC

Tivoli - Charleston

There's a Savage Sneaker Head in all of us

On his recent trip to DC, D Rod sat down with Dom Adams, the GM of Major, a SAVAGE sneaker boutique in Georgetown to talk about everything from their Savage store opening in the middle of the night to what kicks celebrities like LeBron James are picking up at their store. If you’re a sneaker head or just like a good pair of dunks, this shit will blow your mind.

Major

1426 Wisconsin Ave NW

Washington, DC 20007

MDS: Tell me about the store opening

Dom: Before we opened there was a little sticker on the outside of the door and there was paper up… so the kids had decided that they were going to come in the morning that the store was gonna be open… It all started on the forums, The Freshness… Nike Top, etc... The kids pretty much figured out that the next day the store was going to be completed. So they were waiting outside... about half a block long there was a line of kids. So when the paper got torn off the window there was literally a crowd already standing outside. This was like 12:30 or damn near 1 in the morning and the kids all came in.

MDS: Y’all are in the heart of the Georgetown district, it’s a cool spot but it’s a predominately white upper middle class neighborhood. There is a lot of suits and corpos here, how do you get your clientele?
Dom: For us, we are unique in a way that Georgetown’s legendary shopping resides on M Street. We are on Wisconsin Ave… in a spot where you have a lot of Arab business shop owners. Back in the early 80s this little strip here was a lot of what I like to call hood rich money… The legend of Rayful Edmund and Alpo and those guys, the big drug lords… they would come on this strip and drop like $5,000-$6,000 in a day in the shop… so this little strip here was always that way. How we were able to come back, being all the way up here by these flagship stores… because what you have up here is very unique… Our primary owner is a legendary music exec so he has close ties to the music industry… For us we are top tier count as far as Nikes, Adidas and Reeboks go, but the flipside is, because he has such deep roots in the entertainment industry, whenever stars come to town, like Nas and LeBron, when they are in town they come here.
Because we are a little bit off of the main strip they feel comfortable parking on a side street and coming in. We are able to give them the private shopping experience but we can still cater to the sneakerheads. We get a mix… We literally get every type of customer within a half hour range – the soccer moms, the white kids from Capitol Hill, the hood guys from Southeast all coming through this door constantly…

MDS: What’s your biggest seller right now?

Dom: Hard to say, sometimes we have days where we will sell a gang of generic surplus, other days we will only sell Jordans and the next day we’ll sell pumps. It’s never the same thing. Right now as far as per square inch we are probably number one shop wise

MDS: Yeah, there is boxes everywhere…
Dom: We are pretty much the only store that gets deliveries every day except for Saturdays and Sundays...What I can’t stress enough is that we have the most versatile staff in the world. Our kids live, sleep, eat and breath this shit. Everybody here rides BMX bikes, skateboards, long boards. We got two black guys that long board, you never see that! These are all kids that were our best customers that they all do cool shit. They are all artists, photographers… They really live this. For us to be where we are and to have as much stock as we have we can call out something that is not even on the floor and we just know where it is and what size it is. Right now we are actually showing about 3,000 footwear pieces on the floor each day… We got about 2,500 more shoes that we actually aren’t showing right now because we just can’t fit it all.

MDS: Yeah y’all could fill out a damn warehouse and you’ve got it packed into a dive bar.
Dom: Yeah, Georgetown is probably damn near just as expensive as you New York is right now rent wise... The beautiful part is the history of DC, at one point Georgetown was its own city within the city… These buildings haven’t changed in about 150 years... By law we can’t even change this…

MDS: What are your dream sneaks?
Dom: Right now I’m rockin some beat up Gucci Jordan Ones… but uh… best shoes ever, I gotta say Concord Jordan 11’s. Straight up. It’s classy, its clean, its every kid in my generation’s wet dream. That’s the best shoe in the world to me, it always will be.

MDS: Do you drink PBR?
Dom: I actually do… haha… have you ever heard of the brand Durkl?
MDS: yeah, I have.

Dom: A couple of the guys that are deeply involved in Durkl are former employees from here… when they have good parties, PBR is definitely getting passed around.

MDS: What is the easiest/hardest part of managing one of the illest shoe boutiques on the east coast? Would you say your top five on the east coast?
Dom: Honestly, I would say…we’ve traveled around, we are definitely top 5 in the world. Where we come from, we were the kids that would get on the Greyhound to go to New York to go shopping. I would say the toughest thing here is getting people to understand what it is we do. We bought this to DC so it is still a teaching method here. We still have to teach people that we were selected as one of the top 27 sneaker spots in the world to do a shoe with Adidas. That means something.

MDS: Give me the top celebs that have come in here.
Dom: Okay, top celebs that ever came through, I’d say: DJ Clark Kent, Nas, LeBron…
MDS: What did LeBron get?
Dom: LeBron, believe it or not, got some black Foamposites… size 15…
MDS: Who else?
Dom: Kevin Durant, damn I mean everybody… The whole Roots team, that’s crazy.

http://www.majordc.com/

How to Make it (Savage) in America

Our good friend from North Carolina, Sugar C, recently hit us up with some knowledge on that new HBO show that everyone is watching, “How to Make it in America.” Marinate on it.

Verdict isn't out yet if "How to Make it in America", Closest to the Hole Production's new HBO series, is actually savage. Its existence alone makes it more savage than Closest to the Hole's "Entourage", which never strayed beyond the stagnant plot; minor problem, party and spend money, Vince fucks some girls, problem resolves itself, Turtle/Drama/Eric acts like a douche, shuffle and repeat. The soundtrack for "How to Make it in America" however is actually as savage as a god damn lion rocking flannel and taking down PBR tallboys over a barrel fire underneath the Brooklyn Bridge, which to be fair is not a far cry from the music of "Entourage".

A few choice cuts for your ear buds

Missing Persons- Destination Unknown, truly savage. I picture a thick scene of caked up original hipsters back in 1983, a bunch of guys rockin' androgynous bitch jeans and savage little hipster chicks in all types of leggings and neon, deep on PBR smoking cigs up in Mike's first NY apartment and blastin this track late night.

White Denim- Shake Shake Shake, savage in a greasy gritty uncut type of way (the video shows it all). Skip the shower and crank "Shake, Shake, Shake", set a fucking mattress on fire in the yard, bash out a few windshields, tell your spooked neighbors to go fuck themselves and down an ice cold brick, it's Spring god damnit



Bronski Beat- Smalltown, confusingly savage. Its the synthesizers; you love it, I love it and we need it. Bronski Beat's style is at the roots of the current 'tron/synthed diet we eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner today, plus the video reminds me of Miami Horror.

A Tribe Called Quest- Can I Kick it. Tribe's savageness was established in 1990 when their first album dropped and this is just one well recognized example of why ATCQ was one of the best hip hop groups ever.

Holy Ghost!- Hold On, modern disco pop. It's been out awhile but still a good sound and a savage cut for the lower-key late night party.

Edward Savage & the Magnetic Zero's- I Come in Please, throw this in the donk and hit the road. From the same people who brought you Home, Ed and the 0's blend a range of sounds guided by an upbeat horn creating a savage melody that speaks to open highway and sun in the hair.

Tenor Saw- Ring the Alarm, like we said it's spring, throw some reggae on the fucking speakers, spliff out and bob your head in the sun to this savage reggae standard.

Other equally savage picks from the show you should check out: Schoolly D- Gucci Time, Ducksauce- aNYtime, Lee Fields and The Expressions- Money I$ King, Sharon Jones and Dap Kings- This Land is Your Land

-Sugar C

DC

DC

Charleston SC

Charleston SC

What did you do this weekend? 

Friday night.  The he's, Charleston SC

The he's, Charleston SC

The he's, Charleston SC

 The he's, Charleston SC

Charleston SC

The he's, Charleston SC

Bar Review - A Hybrid DC spot

Since most Savages spend a good majority of their time drinking (we consider it a hobby/healthy interest) we decided we'd do something to help all you Savages out there find legit post up spots to drink at.  Hence we have started our bar reviews.  Since D Rod made a special trip up to DC for the week, we decided to get crackin so we can help you Savages find the best dive bars out there and avoid the shitty ones. So here goes, D Rod's review of a local DC joint, The Passenger:

So, after a long, great day of touring DC and seeing art at the Phillips Collection, I made my way back to the Georgetown district where I’m currently squatting with Tenderfoot for the week. We get a call from a good friend, James, with a dinner invitation. My buddy James is an oxymoron – Corpo by day/Savage as fuck by night, pretty good hybrid if you ask me. Our homeboy lives in the Corpo downtown district,  so Tenderfoot and I had to step out of our crunchy/savage safe zone.
After some amazing cheese and dinner, Tenderfoot and I, fueled by Jameson and PBR, decided to hit up The Passenger, a “great dive bar” suggested to me earlier by a writer for the NY Times. Here’s my little review of the spot:

The Passenger

1021 7th St NW

Washington DC

 -Being a Wednesday night in Corpo Bogan territory the bar was not packed at all. Maybe 30 or so people. So we just pulled up some stools at the bar, no problem. If there was one word to sum up this bar it would be HYBRID... so hard to put into words. For my Charleston people think Chais mixed with Rec Room. I know, weird and a bit scary. I mean half of the people were in bow ties and the other half looked Savage or homeless.
-The actual bar was nothing special, pretty standard in my opinion, but it did have a lot of stainless steel and a kind of modern feel. No vintage decor on the walls, it was all pretty open. Think of a loft apartment. I’ve read a few reviews of this place calling it a “hipster bar,” the people who wrote those must be single soccer moms who drive mini vans. If anything it is more on the corpo side, but then again it IS me and Tender foot, the two most Savage fucks in the world reviewing this bar. Our version of a dive bar would be cannibal themed with whiskey and PBR pouring from the fire sprinklers.


-After a few drinks we had the pleasure of talking to two of the bartenders:

Alex Bookless – head bartender- Alex was a beautiful woman who was very sweet and is apparently very well known in the DC area for her vodka concoctions. This woman is a surgeon with vodka. I’m positive she could make you a shot that tastes like the best filet mignon you’ve ever had. Me and Tenderfoot wouldn’t know though, because we were drinking Steel Reserve out of a can
-What’s your favorite spot to go drink in DC?
Cork has great wine and cheese, also I like going to Saint-ex
-What’s your favorite drink?
A Martinez (old top gin, carpano, antica sweet, vermouth, luxardo maraschino liquer, orange bitters)


 Eamon, the other bartender, was a neck-tattoo sporting, gauged-ear hipster.
-Being in the Corpo district of DC do you like the clientele?
Egghhhh. The office crowd tips good on the weekdays
-Do you get to pick the music that gets played here? If not, what would you play?
Fuck no, I would blast Queens of the Stoneage, LCD Sound System and Bad Brains
-What’s the most common drink ordered here?
Any vodka concoction made by Alex, the most ordered wine would have to be the Tenunta Mazzolino Pinot Nero Pavia IT08
-Do you drink PBR?
Yea, why not?
All in all, it was a fun bar. Not too savage, pretty mellow and cool bartenders!
I give it 3 out of 5 stars
High Points: Steel Reserve and High Life in cans
Low Points: Alex, the amazing vodka surgeon didn’t know what grandma (Grand Marnier) meant when I ordered shots. Supposedly they call it G.M. up here in Corpo Bogan DC land. White Trash

-D Rod

Where Savages Party

So according to GAWKER the new hot spot to late night at in New York City is some guy named Mike's apartment.  In the past couple of weeks a plethora of celebrities have been rumored to have been seen there, smoking cigs and cramming as many as 150 people into old buddy's spot into the wee hours of the morning.  Supposedly "Mike" is some restaurant wookie that's been around town for awhile and has come to know quite a good bit of people in the area, leading to all this hooplah about his studio apartment that celebs like to chill at.


Well, it sounds to us like these people finally got it right.  What's more savage then smoking cigs inside, not being bothered by any obnoxious door guys or cover charges, BYOB, partying till sunrise and getting to sneak some of Mike's expensive whiskey from his collection for free? This sounds like a typical savage Saturday night for us, celebs need to get with it.  All this buzz about Mike's apartment got us thinking about the most savage places we like to party... Because remember its all about being in your element when you are a savage.  So here's what we came up with:


WAREHOUSES - It's dark, it's creepy, you can't see anyone and if you are at a savage party then you can't hear anyone either because the music is too loud.  Warehouses are our go-to spots.  They are the destination for savages because you can find a deserted one in almost any city, pack as many of your friends in there and most likely find a band to play for everyone if you are savage enough.  We have spent countless memorable nights getting fucked up in warehouses listening to great bands and making out with some randar in the corner.  Plus have you ever noticed how a lot of the great music venues out there kind of resemble old warehouses?... feels like home.  Always a great time.

BEACH HOUSES - What is not to like about a beach house? Have you seen Weekend at Bernie's???  Everyone loves beach houses.  There is absolutely no reason for anyone to stay completely clothed at a beach house.  Its so hot outside you just HAVE to keep chugging that butterscotch brewflake in your hand to stay hydrated.  Bonus points for beach houses with hot tubs.  Leave a couple of savages at a beach house for an hour and you are guaranteed to have a rager on your hands.






AN ISLAND - Same idea as a beach house, just a little more secluded and primitive which can equal a lot more wild sometimes.  If we were stuck on the Island of the Blue Dolphins, that place would be like spring break everyday.  Savage. 

UNDER THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE - Don't ask us why we are so obsessed with the Brooklyn Bridge we just are.   If we were homeless we would most definitely be posted up as close to the Brooklyn Bridge that we could get, chillin around our barrel fire. 

FIELDS - Fields are one of the most legit places for savages to party, because we are in our homelands.  The grass is soft enough to take a nap on and you can pretty much do whatever the hell you want to. Drive as many cars up in that thing as you want to, listen to your music as loud as you want to, hell get naked and have a rain dance.   Get out your loin cloths and set up a couple of teepees in there and you've got yourself one savage party. 

YACHTS - And the creme de la creme of all savage hot spots to party on... a boat.  There is something about the open ocean and the wind in your hair.  Puts us savages right in our element.  The combination of water, wind and sun is not just something that causes greatness on Captain Planet.  You cannot have a bad time if you are partying on a boat... unless your sea sick, then you're on your own. 

And this YACHT WEEK we've been hearing about sounds like one long euro-trash savage fest of a trip... see you biddies there!