New at Cairo: Rachel Ravitch Jewelry

Currently featured at Cairo is jewelry by local designer Rachel Ravitch. Each item is handmade into shapes that denote ideas of movement and fluidity. Come by today to snag your own one-of-a-kind piece!

New Product at Cairo

Check out these great new animal themed BAGGU pieces, currently at Cairo!

Restocked: Greentree Jewelry

Currently Cairo is carrying these beaded necklaces and rings by local designer Greentree Jewelry! These beautifully simple pieces will compliment any outfit, so stop by today and try some on!

http://www.ilikemytreesgreen.com/index.html

for your LOVED ONE(S)((SELF))

some ideas for your LOVED ONE(S)((SELF))

Chocolate Grills & Bananas Arrangements: an Interview Between Erik Blood & OC Notes

With collaborations being something of an unofficial theme with this year's VIBRATIONS festival, we thought it would only be proper to curate a collaborative interview between two artists involved. So we had Erik Blood & Otis Calvin (OC Notes) hook up to pick each other's brains a little bit. Take a glimpse into the minds of two of Seattle's perennial musical geniuses, who just so happen to be making a record with each other! 

Erik: So you came up in the south end like me. Black mother, white father, like me (or is it the other way round?). When you make your music, you do it alone, like me (though I have my people who I rely on for drums and extra ears). Here's my question. Why haven't we started a religion together so that we can make some real money and stop living like poor people? I think we could bring a lot of peace to this world, no?

Otis: Both of my parents are actually black, my grandfather was adopted in the midwest and there is a suspect unclear history on that whole situation.  Either his mother or father was white but we can’t get the adoption records so we will never know.  I dont care anymore.  All I know is that my light skin has been an epic headache in my life.  I’m hated on by whites and blacks, I’ve always felt like an alien.  Starting a religion has always been a back up plan of mine.    Growing up in church with a preacher dad I feel like I have learned the game.  No disrespect to the church but I’ve seen a lot of hustlin & hustlers in church, I think my church swag is pretty hard.  Reverend swag on a million.  I think we could have one of the most loving and effective churches in the game.  I’m all about love, peace, & taking care out your earth brothers and sisters.

 Erik: I'm right there with you. My whole life people think I'm trying to "pass for white" like it's the fucking 1950s or they're steadily trying to figure me out. Had a guy come up to me in a bar and say "what's a nice Jew boy like you doing in a place like this? I could tell by your nose." ?!?!?!?!?!?! But we learn to not give a shit. Just being is all we can do.

Not to bring up old shit, but when I first heard your record Secret Society, I though you'd been spying on my dreams. That track "Nowhere" is one of those jams that made me jealous as fuck. But since then, you've put out three more records (maybe 4?) and your sound keeps evolving. How the fuck do you make so much good music and never repeat yourself?

Otis: good question.  I enjoy makin music, I make music no matter what my mood is. I do it because i like it and its fun to me, it makes me feel good.  I dont like sounding the same.  I’m influenced by far too much sound to stick to just one sound.

Erik: Yes! No one should survive on a steady diet of one sound.

 Art=god. Music=my religion. For me, Prince=Jesus. Who's your Jesus?

Otis: The one from the Lebowski movie.  Him or ODB. Swag.

Erik: I know we gotta get back to work on our collaboration soon. But what's this thing you're doing for VIBRATIONS and what are we going to hear from you the rest of 2012?

 Otis: I guess I’m doing some sort of improvised collaboration with the white rainbow cat Adam.  Should be dope. He's a boss.  As far as the rest of 2012 goes, I’e got a record comin out entitled "pre future post modern love songs: aka alien booty bass" I’m very excited about the record. No samples, a lot of singing.  I wrote and played all the music on the record, I’m really proud of this one. That & our collaboration are the 2 things I’m most excited for this year.  I want to perform more this year outside of Seattle too. I can’t tell you too much though, next thing I know somebody in the town will start bitin.  Chocolate grills.

Erik: Can't wait to hear that new shit. And our collaboration is going to blow some minds. Honored to be working with you.

Otis: You’re in the top 3 nicest people I’ve ever known in my life, you’re also one of the most humble ninjas I’ve ever met. How did you end up meetin Shabazz and what was the first meeting like?

Erik: Aww. Thank you, sweetie! I met Ish through my good friend and mentor Bubba Jones while they were working on Cherrywine. I dropped my copy of Blowout Comb at his studio for Ish to sign for me and while he did that, Bubba played him my old band, The Turn-Ons, album "East". I didn't meet him in person until a Spiritualized show a few months later and I was a straight up starstruck nerd. He was a hero (still is) and he was so gracious and cool to me. After that we talked about working together for a couple of years until we started the first Shabazz sessions. 

Otis: You grew up in Tacoma durin the lawless 90's in its prime time.  What was it like growin up around so much gangsta shit as a spirit in the package of Erik Blood?  I feel like you would have gotten mad love from OG's since you’re such a genuine and unique spirit that doesn’t front, was it like that or am I totally wrong?

Erik: Tacoma was a strange place then. The violence was becoming not only commonplace, but admired by stupid ass kids. I had a gun pulled on me by a kid who "thought I was someone else", got hit in the head with a rock and my jacket stolen a block from my house, and had to be careful who called me by my full name in public. That said, I had people around me all the time who weren't into being a part of that shit. I just stuck to the sidelines, played video games, and made music. 

Otis: Were you in any bands as a youngster, if so, what was your first band, what instrument(s) did you play, & what kind of music did you play? Cover songs? Original tunes? Were they good or bad?

Erik: I did a lot of bedroom recording as a youngen. For a very short time I made shitty beats for my friends who rapped. I had a short lived hip hop crew called Young, Gifted, and Black that was...of a time. Middle school. Picked up a guitar after hearing Cocteau Twins and My Bloody Valentine when I was 16 and retrained my brain. No bands until I was 21 when I joined Mountain Con and was their DJ/producer. That's my sorted past. 

Otis:  I listen to your records all the time, I feel like you make the music that I hear in my head but I have trouble getting it out. Your sound is lush as fuck, your arrangements are bananas. How do you manage to make it all happen?  Is it difficult wranglin up musicians to play your music & do you have trouble sometimes gettin cats to figure out the parts to your songs?

Erik: Again, thank you and right back at you. I don't know how it happens. I sometimes hear a complete song in my head for weeks and then I just put it down piece by piece. Usually it's not exactly what I had in my head originally, but that's how it goes. Other times I just sit down and let shit come out. I've worked with so many cool cats who play music really well, so I just try to get them to play with me. My whole band is poached from bands I've recorded. Sometimes it's a little hard to get people to learn my shit, but the folks I fuck with are the real deal so they get the hang of it. I'm eternally grateful to them. 

Erik Blood and OC Notes are playing Cairo's VIBRATIONS festival on August 25th at Volunteer Park! Thanks for your time guys. IKJ

Interview with Vibrations Band DETECTIVE AGENCY!

One of the many awesome bands playing at Cairo's Vibrations Fest is Detective Agency, a local four-piece band inspired by 1960's girl groups, ABBA, and Elvis. 

The band stopped by Cairo the other day to drink champagne, answer some questions, and try on some sweet gear. Check out their photos and read their interview below, and come see them perform TOMORROW at Vibrations! 

 Nate, Gwen, Uli, Amy

Have you ever played a festival before? 

Yes! We've played SxSW twice, and BeachTreat 2011, up at Golden Gardens. 

What was your best tour memory?

Uli-- I liked it when we played in Vancouver at 3:30 AM, at this place when everyone was on drugs in a big warehouse. It was so sweaty and it smelled like garbage. But it was really fun!

Nate-- my favorite memory was going to this random dude's apartment-- he said it was a "business", but really it was a guy sitting on the couch watching Point Break. nice guy tho. 

Amy-- I liked playing Bellingham. It was in a house of people I used to know and a lot of new people. I really like playing in houses. 

Gwen-- Probably when I played with you guys for the first time at SxSW. I was trying to be all tough wearing all black and playing keyboards, when I didn't really know what I was doing. 

Biggest individual music influences? 

Uli-- I really like ABBA. Madonna's first album. Teenage Fanclub. 

Nate-- Elvis, The Anniversary's second album. That's when I started wearing tight jeans. 

Gwen-- Don't say that, it's so cheesy! I love Gun Club, The Clean, and The Normal. 

Amy-- I really like 60's girl groups. I listened to The Cure, The Pixies, and The Smiths growing up. 

How did you all meet and start? 

Uli--We started as a real detective agency! We were a detective agency because I really wanted to solve some crime. We all lived in Ballard and it was such a small neighborhood and we just wanted to solve mysteries. We wanted to put ads in Ballard in little newspapers and actually get cases. 

Amy--We started as a band here at Cairo! We added the name on the band map and decided to start playing music. 

What are your signs? 

Amy-- Sagittarius.

Uli-- I'm a cusp of Scorpio Sagittarius. 

gwen-- I'm a Taurus.

nate- Libra!

First concert? 

Nate-- Less Than Jake 

Amy-- David Bowie at the Tacoma Dome 

Uli-- I went to The Lemonheads. They opened for Soul Asylum. 

Gwen-- I don't wanna talk about it. I'll tell you about the time I snuck in to see Joe Strummer play at The Showbox, when I was 18. It was the first time I used a fake ID. 

What are you most excited about for Vibrations?

Uli-- To play outside and hang out with cool people and all the cool bands that are playing. 

Nate-- I am excited about all the good vibrations. 

What is next? 

We are playing with Dead Ghost, then take a break and record. We'll be playing more shows in late fall. 

Come watch Detective Agency tomorrow afternoon at VIBRATIONS in Volunteer Park! See you then!

King Dude & Ensemble Economique at EXPO 89

We'll be posting a round-up of photos and videos from EXPO 89 all this week, thanks again for coming out, and making this one of our favorite events of the year!

KING DUDE & the best candles ever to grace Cairo:



ENSEMBLE ECONOMIQUE:

Stephanie, Flexions, Erik Blood, and O.C. Notes at NEUMO'S, Tuesday the 10th

Super pals show coming up this Tuesday at Neumo's!  Check out newly minted Cairo Records label mates Stephanie and Flexions, with the always amazing O.C. Notes & Erik Blood.  Erik just finished recording Stephanie's first full length album One Glove, which will find it's release in late spring on Cairo Records.   See you on Tuesday, and until then, check out Flexions teaser here:

MATT LAWSON, of Secret Colors

We recently talked with Matt Lawson from Secret Colors in advance of his show here at Cairo on Friday November 4th celebrating the new release, Water Mirror, being put out on Brooklyn NY label Group Tightener. Show starts at 8 pm, and will also feature sets from Weed (Vancouver, B.C.) & Pleasure Beauties (Olympia, WA). Check out the interview below & as well as some recent videos Matt created.

Heavy Sleeper from Secret Colors on Vimeo.

1995, or 2012? That is hard! I feel like I could think about this for a long time . . . As much as I wanna say 1995 I know it's foolish to wanna live in the past so I'll say 2012. I'm excited for the future.

How did this album come about? What is your relationship with Group Tightener? Group Tightener is run by two guys from Seattle that live in Brooklyn now. They found my music via the internet/myspace about a year and a half ago and asked if they could put out some of my stuff. At that time I wasn't too focused on Secret Colors, I was a lot more invested in this new band, Stephanie. But they really wanted to do it and of course the prospect of having a vinyl record with my music on it was really exciting. So we came up with a way to do it. Basically, I hadn't recorded any new material in a long time, so they asked if I could send them all my old recordings and together we could decide on a batch of songs that could make for a good album. As a result, half the songs are from an old tape that had a ridiculously small pressing, and the other half are from a cd-r that I made and never officially released. Those guys are awesome and their support really made me take my solo music-making a lot more seriously and the process of putting out this record has been so amazing. Thanks Jamie and Sam!

Where did you grow up? Did you go to shows there? Do you remember the first show you ever attended (sans parents)? I was born and raised in Spokane, WA. There was some stuff going on there but I never knew about it. I never really went to shows at all until I moved to Seattle. I think that's given me a real appreciation for a lot of the stuff I'm able to experience and be a part of here, because it hasn't always been like that for me. There's so much going on all the time, it's so cool. I feel really blessed to be where I am in all of it. The first show sans parents might have been The Wailers (with some guy filling in for Bob Marley) in Spokane. Haha, that was pretty cool.

You work in a ton of mediums, was art apart of your childhood or upbringing? I loved to draw and write at a young age. I loved writing stories. I really enjoyed that and was told that I was pretty good at it. That's something I wish I did more of these days. I used to draw a lot and make comic books and stuff. At some point basketball kind of took over, and then skateboarding, and finally music. But I really love to try and create things in lots of different ways. Music definitely comes the most naturally to me, but with other stuff I just get inspired by friends and stuff I see and sometimes it's fun to try and make a poster or a video or whatever.

Secret Colors - Rewinder from Secret Colors on Vimeo.

Are there particular filmmakers or video artists you admire? I really like David Lynch, Werner Herzog, Terrence Mallick, I saw a couple films by Andrei Tarkovsky that were inspiring. Same with Ingmar Bergman. Recently I got into Lars Von Trier's stuff. I really love Enter the Void by Gaspar Noe. Old skateboarding videos for sure. I think what I like about video art is the way you can sort of simulate a hallucinatory experience. I also really love the way situations or stories can be presented through film, as opposed to in a book, as much as I love reading and appreciate what that medium has to offer. There are just certain things that can be done with film that I feel really drawn to.

Was there a particular band, or song, that made you understand a reality "outside of Top 40", or commercial radio? It's hard to think back and figure out when that switch was flipped. I grew up a huge hip hop fan. From about 10 to 15 almost all I listened to was like hardcore rap. My dad would find the cd's and break them in half! But then I got really into a classic rock phase, and then I heard The Velvet Underground and that was huge for me. So then it just went from them to Sonic Youth, and then Black Dice and stuff like that later on.

You collaborate a lot, is there someone either historically, or a contemporary artist you'd like to create music with? There are a few bands that I'm so obsessed with that I've totally dreamed about going back in time and being in the band. It's almost painful that I can't actually do it. The Velvet Underground, My Bloody Valentine, and The Swirlies.

Top five forever albums?

The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground & Nico
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
Guided By Voices - Bee Thousand
Animal Collective - Sung Tongs/Feels
Yo La Tengo - And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out

Who are you particularly psyched on right now musically? My biggest musical discovery this year has been Thinking Fellers Union Local 282. I'm obsessed. They've become one of my all time favorites for sure. Eric Copeland from Black Dice is one of my favorite contemporary artists. I've been really into this band Disco Inferno. They were from England and put out a lot of awesome stuff in the '90's. I also just recently discovered Tonstartssbandht, these two guys that make this weird music that just feels so good to me. It's kind of all over the place, from psych-rock to crazy a capella doo wop. Feeling inspired by them right now, like there's no reason to hold back.

What is your day job? How do you view your day-to-day, is a job a means to an end, or does it contribute to your creative process? I work at an elementary school as an after school counselor. I hang out with kids every day. I've been doing it for almost two years now and I feel really comfortable and it fits into my life really well. I think in some ways it could be contributing to the creative process because I spend that time thinking a lot about musical ideas and band stuff. It's not so demanding or stressful that I can't let my mind wander. A lot of it is fun and really entertaining and keeps me feeling like a kid.

We've never met, but I hear you are over 8 feet tall, any good stories come out of that? Haha,I'm 6'7" actually. Sometimes I become really conscious of that fact and it freaks me out, but at the end of the day I am what I am. I've gotten used to it. I always have a pretty good view of my surroundings, which is nice.

What's your favorite thing about the Northwest, or Seattle in particular....what keeps you here? The Northwest is just home. I'm so used to it. I think the main thing that keeps me here is relationships with friends and loved ones. I'd like to travel more and see more of the U.S. at some point. I don't know if I'll be in Seattle forever, but it feels good right now.

SEE YOU ON FRIDAY, $5 gets you in the door, and $10 gets you in the door AND a copy of Water Mirror! Until then enjoy another insanely blissed out video below....

Secret Colors - New Lens from Secret Colors on Vimeo.

New Column! Fashion Photo Blog.

Hey friends!
Cairo will now be posting photos and short interviews of friends/artists/bands in the local community.
All interviewees are dressed (mostly!) in Cairo fashions and photographed in-store.

First up, Marius Mazilu of Eel Eater and Romanian fame.



Sign:
I’m a Leo.

Born/Raised:
I was born in Romania, but I grew up in Burien.

Current favorite Seattle band:
I guess... M. Women?

Favorite PNW band:
Botch!

First Concert:
The last RKCNDY show in ‘99… Blood Brothers played with Kill Sadie, Botch, and Bali Girls.

Most memorable show ever:
Probably Oops! The Tour in 2002. It was the first time I saw Lightning Bolt.

*Shirt, Jacket, Belt, and Boots courtesy of Cairo.


Photos/Interview by Liv.

STEPANIE VID, from last spring's EP release show

Stephanie from Joel leshefka on Vimeo.

One of our favorite shows of this past year