Interview: Born Gold to perform at The Bay Brewed 2012
November 28, 2012
Born Gold is all set to perform at The Bay Brewed 2012 this Saturday as part of a California mini-tour, and we couldn’t be more excited. Although the Edmonton-born experimental pop act is constantly evolving, project mastermind Cecil Frena is always behind the controls.
Formerly known as GOBBLE GOBBLE, the project’s first singles “Lawn Knives” and “Wrinklecarver” quickly caught the attention of the Internet in 2010 as the catchy, glitchy hyper-pop anthems burrowed deep beneath the skin and galvanized the bloodstream. As former band members ventured off to form projects such as Purity Ring and Kuhrye-oo, Frena embraced his creative rebirth and adopted the new Born Gold moniker, releasing the Bodysongs singles collection on Crash Symbols last year.
We recently caught up with Frena via email to discuss the current state of Born Gold, what to expect in the near future, and the reception of the act’s sophomore album Little Sleepwalker, which was released on audraglint in October (listen to the album cut “Sky Bicycle” below).
Hey Cecil, we’re very excited to have you back in San Francisco for The Bay Brewed. Can you describe your history with the Bay Area and how it feels to be returning?
Yeah absolutely! I lived on the Peninsula for just under a year right before I decided to do music full-time. At the time I had no friends at all in the area and it was kind of difficult. But the solitude was also really nice in its own way — I just drove up to Baker Beach a lot and wrote. Or I’d go to somewhere like Mighty by myself and dance alone. I eventually befriended the dudes from Weekend, Kites Sail High, Melted Toys, Old Arc and a few other artists towards the end of my stay. The very first singles that would eventually form Bodysongs were written in the Bay, and I still think San Francisco is one of the most beautiful places in the world – a little magic dust has settled everywhere.
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Mixtape: The Sounds of The Bay Brewed 2012 (Podcast #292)
November 6, 2012
Mixtape: The Sounds of The Bay Brewed 2012 (Podcast #292)
On Saturday, December 1st, we’re proud to be throwing San Francisco’s only rock and roll beer festival, The Bay Brewed 2012, where we’ll be taking over Public Works for a full afternoon of tasty craft brews and great indie music. It’s a can’t-miss festival featuring music performances by Bear in Heaven, Sonny & the Sunsets, Born Gold, Blasted Canyons, James & Evander, and Trails and Ways, and unlimited beer tasting from twelve great SF Brewers Guild breweries. To get you psyched for the festival, enjoy this mixtape, which collects fourteen songs from all of our Bay Brewed performers.
Buy advance tickets to The Bay Brewed right now because you don’t want to miss this!
Subscribe to The Bay Bridged Podcast!
Tracklisting:
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Noise Pop 2012: Grimes, oOoOO, Born Gold, Yalls @ Rickshaw Stop 2/22/12
February 24, 2012
Photos: Nicole L. Browner
Wednesday night’s Noise Pop show at the Rickshaw Stop should have been titled, “The Case for Live Electronica,” as all four performers offered unique arguments in support of taking synth-driven pop off of the hard drive and onto the stage.
I’ve been following Yalls for some time now, to the extent it’s been possible to keep up with Dan Casey’s steady stream of new electronic jams, but the show opener’s set really made me take notice. You never know what a one-man-and-some-synths operation is going to turn into, but Dan’s morphed into a charisimatic electro-soul-pop frontman. Paired with engaging and varied visuals courtesy of Dylan Travis, it’s a pretty killer combination.
Born Gold delivered arena-level productions at rock club prices. Seriously, normally this kind of stage show — the jacket with the rhythmic lights in it, the guy on stilts playing a shovel-sampler, the coordinated light-up fans — is meant to compensate for (and distract from) wack music. While I admittedly wasn’t focused as much on the sound as I was on the spectacle, it was obvious that the trio knows its way around supercharged electro-pop. The whole experience was captivating and euphoric, and you could feel the whole audience having a collective “What the fuck?” moment. See Born Gold the next chance you get. Hell, book their next show here, and I’m there too.
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Recommended, 9/6-9/11: Born Gold/Part Time, Mission Creek at McLaren Park, P.S. I Love You, Chromatics
September 6, 2011
Every week, we’ll be offering you early picks for some of the week’s best concerts. Do you think we omitted something worthwhile? Let us know in the comments! Be sure to visit our Local Concert Calendar for an expanded set of daily listings.
Born Gold bring Bodysongs to The Knockout
This month, frenetic Canadian electro-pop band Born Gold (formerly known as Gobble Gobble) releases its debut LP Bodysongs, which collects a variety of the band’s recent singles. The group’s North American tour comes to The Knockout on September 8th (9pm, $6). They’ll be joined by locals Part Time and Religious Girls at the epicsauce-presented show.
Born Gold – “Alabaster Bodyworlds”
Part Time – “I Wanna Take You Out”
Saturday: Mission Creek Music Festival at McLaren Park
Mission Creek‘s annual free McLaren Park show is this Saturday, September 10th (11:30am-8pm, Free, All Ages), and this year sees performances by Spindrift, Sam Flax & Higher Color, Actually (ex-Hard Place), The She’s, Skystone, and Carletta Sue Kay. The amphitheater in McLaren Park is one of the city’s hidden gems, and this is an excellent reason to check it out.
