REZOUND aka Jamie Granato, ALEX BLEEKER (Real Estate / Alex Bleeker & the Freaks)
Where we found them: Williamsburg, outside of the Fader Fort.
On Tumblr: Jamie: I actually got paid to curate this Tumblr showcase this year, so I got Mykki Blanco, Prince Rama, some others. We tried to get Kitty Pryde because she’s the big Tumblr thing. Everyone had to have a Tumblr page. We tried to get Kid Mero to host it and everyone got all mad because he had a Blogspot. I didn’t know that Tumblr was a social networking thing for like two years. Alex: Yeah if someone Tweets at me I will go to their Twitter page and then go to their Tumblr, but I don’t know how to work a Tumblr. Jamie: It’s definitely for people who are younger than me that understand the Internet. Alex: No, it’s so weird. It’s just like so much. There seems to be a flow to it, seems kind of open-source. But then there are those pages that are just crazy images and you look at them and can’t figure out what they’re trying to say exactly. Jamie: For real though, I want a flowchart of a Tumblr kid’s brain.
On playing CMJ shows: Alex: I’m not playing any CMJ shows, I said no to all of them. I thought it was a little hectic. Real Estate got asked to play a few shows but we’re not doing anything because everyone’s away — Martin’s on his honeymoon, Matt’s in Europe. I was like, “Do you want me to spin this for Freaks,” and then no one ever got back to me. [Laughs] So basically they were like, “Uh, nah.” I would have liked to do something a little closer to home, more grassroots now that we’re in it; Underwater Peoples’ or something less intense than a place where there are suited men at the door. Jamie: We’re doing a post-CMJ show though at 285 Kent. Bleeker’s playing with Secret Colors who’s coming out here from Seattle. We’re putting out a new record for him, too.
On trying to keep up with trending bands: Jamie: I used to be way more into that than I am now. For me I’m really into what Arca is doing right now, the whole Uno label really. That weird electronic music with some London and some rave shit — stuff that I’ve been into for a long time. But I don’t know, I also feel like stuff like Mac DeMarco is also really getting back in. Alex: Mac Demarco is the golden child of CMJ. I think one of the underrated gems of Captured Tracks is Chris Cohen. I like the Mac Demarco record a lot too but Chris Cohen is probably my favorite release of the year.