Hopscotch returns for second year

For the second year, the Hopscotch Music Festival is back in Raleigh. This year’s lineup is a smorgasbord of talent, with everything from hip-hop to chillwave on the schedule. The three-day event is the area’s biggest music festival, drawing audiences from far beyond the state for national and local acts alike.

NATIONAL

The Necks
Lloyd Swanton, double bassist

• So who are The Necks?

• If your band was embodied in a religion, which one would it be?

Certainly a religion that involves surrender or fatalism. We basically just drop ourselves in the music and let it take us where it will. I don’t know if that means one of the Eastern religions. But certainly, we throw ourselves at the mercy of the large forces of nature that just kind of push us around where they wish us to go.

• Miles Davis or John Coltrane?

Well, both of them have an iconic recording that was instrumental in us forming. In the case of Miles Davis, it was In A Silent Way, and in the case of John Coltrane, it would be the first studio recording of My Favorite Things. Both of them gave us an idea of how we wanted to improvise. For My Favorite Things, if you just listened to the rhythm section, that’s kind of what we want to do: just gradually set up a nice groove and let it go where it wants to go.

Jeff the Brotherhood
Jake Orrall, guitarist/vocalist

• What are you most looking forward to at Hopscotch?

The free beer

• What have you heard about the festival?

We heard it’s fun from the Valient Thorr dudes.

• What do you like most about touring and making music?

Seeing our friends and not having a job.

• What would be in a JEFF the Brotherhood mixed drink?

Beer and orange juice

• What is the answer to life, the universe and everything?

It’s good to have a good time.

• Which of your records best represents the band as a whole?

Rafiki’s Vision (2009)

• What dance moves do you plan on busting out at Hopscotch?

Salsa

Family Dynamics
Shelley Burgon, multi-instrumentalist

• How is Family Dynamics different from your previous band, Stars Like Fleas?

This is a bit difficult to answer, but on the simple side, we are only four people versus a band of 8 to12 plus, and we fit in a minivan versus a sprinter. Musically, I feel we are continuing where Stars Like Fleas left off, but because of the smaller band size we are able to take the music to a more developed place than I think could’ve been possible with Stars Like Fleas. The music is more formed and clear. This is just my opinion, not necessarily what the rest of the band thinks. To be honest, we don’t really talk about it, we just make music with four people now.

• Why should people come see your band?

People should come to our shows so they can decide if they like us or don’t like us and if they are interested in seeing a harp surrounded by drums, keyboards, guitars and a violin. This looks and sounds more interesting than it looks in type.

LOCAL

Mount Moriah
Heather McEntire, guitarist/vocalist

• You and the rest of the band find yourselves in a time machine. There are buttons for the years 1985, 1902, 1845, 1774 and 1370. Which button do you press?

1774. I’d love to see Jenks Miller (guitarist) in a powdered wig with tights.

• Who from Mount Moriah would win in a fight against and Grayson Currin and Greg Lowenhagen (Hopscotch Music Festival directors)?

Luckily, I have a pool of revolving band members to choose from. I’d put money on Lee Waters for that fight. Do you know he plays hockey?

• What do you like most about Mount Moriah?

It feels very honest. As a songwriter, I’m very inspired to write for this band. Personally — and after playing punk music for years — it’s nice to sync back up with my Southern roots and tell stories and sing harmonies. I’m proud of our live performance. You never know how things might translate from recording sessions to live shows, but I think we present the songs in a really strong way in front of an audience.

Bombadil
James Phillips, drummer/bass guitarist

• Who would win in a fight: Andrew Jackson or Abraham Lincoln?

Well, supposedly Andrew Jackson was born in North Carolina, even though South Carolina claims him (the matter is up to some dispute), so I will go with him, even though he was weak because he had a musket ball in his lung and Abraham Lincoln had a strong beard.

• Who in Bombadil would win a “Survivor”-like reality show among the band members?

Bryan (Rahija), because he is the best at basketball.

• If Bombadil were a conspiracy theory, what would it be?

There was a rumor floating around that Bombadil was actually a natural-born citizen of Kenya. People also tend to blame us for the amount discrepancy in hot dog and hot dog bun packaging.

Le Weekend
Matt Kalb, guitarist

• What do you think of the looming technological singularity?

It’s hard to imagine we’ll actually recognize it or know we’ve passed the point. I assume like most advances, we’ll look back and say, “A-ha,’”and maybe that point wasn’t so far in the future as we thought. In any case, there’s damn too little critical thinking in this culture today so I for one welcome the idea that machines will pitch in and/or force us to step up our game.

What is “Le Weekend”? Why not “The Weekend”?

“Le weekend” is the actual French term for “weekend,” which is if you ask me (and I did, when naming the band), is hilarious.

• What do you think of these questions?

Like songwriting, they gave me a chance to ponder a number of topics and decide on direct or oblique ways to address them. Like songs, I may look on in horror when the answers are preserved and presented to me again.