Animal Collective Launch Shoe Line

In collaboration with clothing brand Keep, Animal Collective is producing a new line of shoes. Avey Tare has designed the Tobin, the first shoe of many produced by the band. Although the shoe does not ship until March of 2011, it can already be pre-ordered for $75. These preorders will include a bonus cassette of never-before-heard material from the band. All profits made from the shoes will be donated to the Socorro Island Conservation Fund.

Interview: Looking For Alaska

Last week, we introduced you to Looking For Alaska, an indie rock band from Memphis, Tennessee. If you haven’t already checked out their debut EP Everything We All Wish We Could Be, download it for free here or purchase the EP from iTunes. We got a chance to talk to the members of Looking For Alaska (Chad, Calvin, Joshua, Garrett, and Chris) and here is our interview.

For our readers, could you please state your names and what you do in the band?

Chad Turner: I sing and yell.
Calvin Lauber: Lead Guitar
Joshua Cannon: Rhythm Guitar
Garrett Galtelli: Bass
Chris Chamoun, pronounced, Shamoon: Drums/Percussion

How did Looking For Alaska come to be?
Garrett: Well, we had all grown up listening to local bands. We all pretty much spent most of our youth at a now-extinct venue here at home called The Skatepark of Memphis. Life was fun. We were all casual acquaintances in the beginning and watched each other’s bands play, and over the years we grew fond of one another’s different styles and spawned a small family of diverse musical preferences. That pretty much began with a local record label here in Memphis called Smith Seven Records. We called ourselves “The Underground Revolution” and that’s exactly what we were. After several years, bands would come and go and tour and what-not, but they always came back to visit from time to time. Looking For Alaska consists of 5 members of this family. I call us a family because that’s what these guys mean to me. They are my family, they are my brothers. I joined this band because I feel that music is by far, the most inspirational styles of media out there, and I think I speak for everybody in the band when I say, if you can make music, you can inspire. Continue reading