Checking in with Io Echo lead singer and Jane’s Addiction bassist
By Wes Woods, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
POSTED: 10/19/13, 12:37 AM PDT |
My column this week features extra comments from interviews I did with Ioanna Gika of Io Echo, which performed with Haim at Pomona’s Glass House on Friday, and Chris Chaney of Jane’s Addiction, set to take the stage Oct. 24 at San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino in Highland.
Gika said the band’s influences are “a kind of love letter to experiences we’ve had ... overall life experiences is the main influence of the music we do.”
She said she doesn’t worry about writer’s block or running out of ideas.
“In life there’s always going to be moments and experiences both good and bad fodder for expression. Life is a spectrum of emotions. Sometimes, when things are happening in moments of joy there can be extreme moments of sadness. So there are moments of sadness and moments of joy.”
Gika has strong feelings about human rights. “I have written about it before and it’s something I feel passionate about. My grandfather represented the United States in the Geneva Conference on Human Rights. I believe that all people should be treated equally and that people need to be aware of certain human rights violations. It’s something I have talked about in songs in the past and will continue to, through music and visual art or a blog.”
Meanwhile, Chaney said Jane’s Addiction has been busy touring but they were able to release the single “Another Soulmate.” “We recorded that prior to the tour,” Chaney said. “We haven’t buckled in and got back into the studio as of yet. Dave Navarro will be busy in November ... he’s going back to do “Ink Master” (the reality show Navarro hosts) all of November and part of December so he’ll be unavailable. It’s nice to take a little break and maybe regroup at the top of the year.”
Chaney said the group was able to record “Another Soulmate” in a studio near Santa Monica inside of an $18 million home that is for sale.
“We call the house a rock,” Chaney said. “A lot of people have recorded there over the last year and a half. It’s such a high price that not that many people have $18 million to drop down on a house. It overlooks an amazing golf course. I went in with Stephen Perkins. I ended up doubling the bass parts with a Moog, a bass analog keyboard. David (Navarro) recorded the guitar parts, overdubs, and tweaked it a bit. (Perry Farrell) laid down vocals. He laid down three vocals for the vocals. It’s a real quick song. The length is of a Ramones song, two and a half minutes long. It’s infectious. We’ve been playing it live. It’s a good addition. There’s also tracks laying around that just need to be reenvisioned and redone. There’s music waiting in the wings that needs to be recorded.
please send ANR the demos of those songs and we'll let you know if you get the go ahead to record them. Your judgment seems to be impaired, but...don't get your hopes up
so i guess the big news from this article is that apparently they are doing ink master twice a year instead of just once since dave is filming next month.
creep wrote:so i guess the big news from this article is that apparently they are doing ink master twice a year instead of just once since dave is filming next month.
yup. Dark Matter is gonna be quiet without DN and the usual slew of callers.... Oh but there will be a lot of PF talking up how awesome the next record will be..
clickie wrote:Theres some people, even a few hardcore Janes fans who think Idiots Rule is a throwaway song and look past it.
anyone here think that?! I don't, I think it's great
I also think it's a good song, with loads of power. If we're gonna talk about throwaway song of Jane's 1.0, let's talk about Thank You Boys and Sympathy. Even Standing in the Shower can sound like a throwaway, but I like it. Drum-wise is like a demo to Been Caught Stealing.
right, Shower is the weakest song on NS imo, but still compared to lots of other stuff out there it's a really good song with great guitar work. Don't agree with you on Thank You boys though, I think its cool they threw something very different and jazz'y in at that point on the album, great contrast.
clickie wrote:agree with you about shower being the weakest song in their entire catalog, but its still an impressive drum beat by perk.
in the context of "great rock songs" it's a miss, but the song itself is golden (see what i did there?). the guitar, bass, drums are all rad, the lyrics are cool and the singing is ace too...
Idiots Rule would be better off without the brass... It's soooo dated and lame... rest of the song is cool though. but I reckon it's the weakest track on NS...
Sympathy has been on my SkipList for the longest time mainly because I don't like The Rolling Stones... I guess it's an OK cover... Perry does sing pretty well on it though... but the song is average to start with IMO...
Standing in the shower is actually one of my favorite Jane's songs, especially the lyrics. Idiots Rule, while a country mile better than superhero, is basically the superhero of NS. to me. for what its worth. which isn't much.
