Man with Upside Down Face - Wachichoo

1) Introduce yourself

Hi I’m Chris Strange, keyboardist a/k/a Throwing Bones

2) How did you come up with your stage name?

Wachichoo was the name given to settlers by native Americans, meaning “Man with Upside Down Face” b/c they had shaved heads and beards. I’m not sure how it happened, but at the first rehearsal, this name came to us in a shared vision. And honestly, Wachichoo was a fun name to say.


3) What sets you apart from other aspiring artists?

We are real musicians and have all paid our dues. We are a rock-type band with no guitar, which is something you don’t see all the time.

4) What single or project are you currently pushing?

For more, visit Ucombo Interviews.

Aerias - an emcee from Chicago

We recently had a conservation with Aerias, an indie artist from Chicago.

1) Introduce yourself:

My names Aerias, an emcee from Chicago. I also play the guitar & freestyle a lot at my shows. I was born and raised in Chicago so Im familiar with all the genres of music and artists that come out of it. I’m known locally…for now.

2) How did you come up with your stage name?

Its a play off my last name. My lucky number is 3 and one day I was trying to come up with a logo when I saw the 3 looked like an “E” cause my hand cramped up from writing haha. After that the only place I could put the “E” so it made sense, was after the “A”. So the “E” in Aerias is actually a backwards “3″ thanks to cramps and numerology haha.

3) What sets you apart from other aspiring artists?

I don’t just aspire. I do. And when I do, I do different. I’m sure everyone says that. What really sets me apart isn’t just my music, its who I am outside the music. I’m weird, deadly and eccentric…lyrically of course.

4) What single or project are you currently pushing?

Right now, Im pushing Bootleg Broads. A single off my new album “Scream Like You Mean It”. Its basically a song poking fun at certain people. The title should give you a clue haha.

5) What is the philosophy by which you live by?

Inspire and motivate. I don’t just make music for me. I make it for the people and the fans. I believe music should remind people they’re not alone and push them through trials and everyday drama. I appreciate all kinds of music. But my music has to help, make happy, make forget, make fight and make strong. Its not all about me yknow?

6) Which artists have inspired you to pursue music?

Wow. The list can go on forever. I’m an empath so I pick things up from everyone. But the main ones and that come first to mind are Jimi Hendrix, KRS-ONE, Kanye West, The Doors, Coheed & Cambria, Thrice, Bob Dylan, The Vines, Common, James Brown, Bob Marley, Lauren Hill, Nas & Hott 22 to name a few.

For more, visit Ucombo Music Reviews.

David E Beats of the White House Band

We interviewed David E Beats, a member of the White House Band this week.

Hi David, please introduce yourself.

Wasup! This is David E Beats, the lead and only official member of The White House Band!

How did you come up with your stage name?

I always wanted to have a band called The White House Band. It was something that I’ve always wanted so finally I just said, fuck it, lets do it.

What sets you apart from other aspiring artists?

That my fans support me! Also, that I work longer and harder than most other acts!

What single or project are you currently pushing?

#TheStimulusPackageEP which you can find on my website or on the bands bandcamp!

What is the philosophy by which you live by?

Music First, Bullshit Last!!!!

Which artists have inspired you to pursue music?


First rapper that I listened to was Jay-Z and he was the one who inspired me down this long journey.
Who does most of your production?

I write, produce, and mix all the songs on every record!

What is your opinion of the current state of the music industry?
I try not to have one. I’m just focusing on making sure I stand out above the noise to get my band noticed and make sales.

If you could change one thing about the music industry what would it be and why?

Nothing. I’d like it to stay the same at least for now. Once my band grows into a national band, then it can change up, lol.

Are there any singers/rappers that you would like to collaborate with in the future?

I’m down to collaborate with anyone really, I’m a fan of music. Doesnt really matter who it is, as long as they are dopesauce to me I’ll do the collab!

What Is your favorite movie and favorite book?

My favorite movie is Gladiator and my favorite book is Empire State Of Mind.

For more of the interview, visit A Conversation with David E. Beats.

An Exclusive Interview with Elli Fordyce

A highly accomplished vocalist and actor, Elli Fordyce had an unusual musical journey. 30 years ago, after a devastating car accident that ended a successful year-long “Elli Fordyce And Her Favorite Things” tour, Elli took time away from her musical journey. Although it took 15 years to heal spiritually, music was not over for her. An unlikely inspiration helped to get her back to singing: Elli discovered that her ginger-colored Yorkie pup named Dindi (which is pronounced gingy and means little jewel in Portuguese) loved hearing her sing that song to her. Urged on by Dindi, Elli made a successful comeback, releasing her first CD, “Something STILL Cool,” at the age of 70. It became an overnight sensation with rave reviews.

Ucombo Music Reviews editor Meg Dilts interviewed Elli this week about her early musical career and her comeback.

Meg: Hi Elli, thank you so much for talking to us. You had a successful musical career before you stopped singing for 15 years. Can you tell us your early musical training? How did you get started?

Elli: We sang group folk songs daily in the elementary school I attended and I listened to top-40 radio in Jr. high school; than at 15, a boyfriend and his dad introduced me to jazz, which we heard often, both in-person and on our terrific local AM jazz radio stations. I took a few voice lessons at 16 in Greenwich Village. When I returned to college for two more years at 25, I studied music education. The rest was on-the-job training from the age of 18 when I briefly sang in public with jazz trios.

Meg: You were on a roll with your career when the car accident ended your successful one-year tour of “Elli Fordyce And Her Favorite Things.” You gave up singing soon after. Was it physically too painful to sing after the accident?

Elli: Although I’m still working on physically healing my back injury after 30 years, the injury didn’t directly effect my singing. After the accident, my band was so emotionally distraught and when we couldn’t get work until 6 weeks later and then at a much lesser level than we’d previously achieved, none of us handled it very well. We took our frustration out on each other and with no work coming through, I wound up disbanding the group and trying to start from scratch. When the next band I was in — over which I was thrilled and which had so much combined potential — disintegrated (this time, due to drug use by its leader), I threw my hands up in despair and decided to eliminate what it was that was magnetizing all this drama into my experience and to turn my life back around. At the time, I didn’t know I would leave the business and I dabbled in a couple of short-lived projects not long after, but found myself in situations which led very far from those dreams for the next 15 years. To me, everything is based in the spiritual/emotional, the physical parts being the final but more obvious outcome. I finally took a stand and became more proactive about life.

Meg: The very unlikely inspiration that got you back was your Yorkie pup, Dindi. She loved hearing you sing the song for which she was named. How did you discover she loved it? What did she do when you sang to her?

Elli: I began borrowing her from her litter up the block when she was 6-1/2 weeks old, in 1991. Carrying her in one hand, I’d sing Dindi to her and she’d snuggle and calm down. Several months later, Frank Sinatra came on the air singing her song and she literally did a double take at me, as if asking me why someone else was singing that song. (At least that’s how it seemed; maybe she just recognized her name.)

To read more, visit Ucombo Music Reviews.

An Exclusive Interview with David Bennett Cohen - the exceptional hippie who also cooks

A professional musicians for more than 3 decades, David Bennett Cohen “isn’t the average hippie gone Wall Street”. Best known for his innovative keyboard playing as an original member of the ’60’s rock band, Country Joe and the Fish, he is an equally accomplished guitar player who has been involved in numerous music scenes throughout his varied career.

Ucombo Music Review editor Meg Dilts had the opportunity to interview him on his long musical career and his latest CD release entitled “Cookin’ With Cohen” this week.

Meg: Hi David, thanks again for giving us the opportunity to talk with you about your long and prolific musical career. The critiques have called you “a certifiably smokin’ barrel house rumba boogie-woogie piano player”, but you were trained classically initially. How did it all start?

DBC: I took piano lessons when I was a kid. From about age 7 to 13 or so. I can honestly say that I hated them. My first piano teacher was a fellow named Ben. He essentially turned me off to the piano. We developed this routine after a while. He would put some music in front of me and I would struggle to read it. Really struggle. After a few very painful moments, I would say something like, “Ben, you play so beautifully, why don’t you show me how it goes?” He would puff out his chest and play it for me. After I heard it, I could play it fine. When I was about 12 or 13, I got an acoustic guitar, and that began a love affair. My High School days were spent this way – I would get home from school around 3:30, and play my guitar for about 6 hours, do, maybe, 15 minutes of home work and go to sleep. Somewhere in the middle of all this I would eat some dinner, but that was pretty much it for High School. When I decided to be a musician, it was as a guitar player. When I was about 16 or so, I heard some Boogie-Woogie piano on TV. I was hooked and started to learn as much as I could find. I listened to the Meade Lux Lewis, Albert Ammons and Pete Johnson album and that led to Otis Spann and Muddy Waters, Professor Longhair, Champion Jack Dupree, Jimmy Yancey, etc. This was in the ’50’s and I was part of the Washington Square Folk music scene, so even though I played a little piano, I was essentially known as a guitar player. When I got to CA in 1965, I got into the scene and played with several bands. Dylan’s Highway 61 had just come out and Country Joe was looking for an organ player. There was an old piano in the corner of the club we used to hang out at and every once in a while I would bang out some B-W or maybe play St Louis Blues. Barry Melton, who was playing with Joe at the time really liked the way I played the piano, so he told Joe, “Well, David can play organ.” So, I was asked to join the band. I had never played organ in my life and the only ones I had seen were the big theatre or church organs and I was really intimidated by them. But, I wanted the gig, so I joined and started out by playing guitar but then they bought me a Farfisa organ and I started to learn it. At first, I stole my guitar licks and applied them to the organ. Amazingly, I got these reviews that said things like, “What a unique style,” but I was really learning on the job. Eventually, I did learn how to play it properly and it rekindled my interest in B-W and Blues piano.

Meg: And when did you become fascinated by boogie-woogie piano?

DBC: Well, as I said, I was intrigued and started to learn B-W around 16. I saw Meade Lux Lewis on TV and I thought it was the most fun piano I had ever heard. I had a friend in college, Bob Fox, who played guitar and piano, too, and we would trade licks and such. But, mostly, I wanted to be a guitar player. Bob was also part of the Wash Sq scene. He passed away several years ago. After I left CJ and F, I played in several bands, one of which was the Blues Project. I learned early on that if I wanted to work steadily, I had to play piano. Everybody else, it seemed, was playing guitar. By this time, I was known as a keyboard player and I really began to appreciate the piano. It is an amazing instrument. The lowest note is lower than a bass and the highest, higher that a piccolo. Plus, with 10 fingers, you can play really big chords. Blues, to me, is the most joyful music there is. I think, maybe, that’s because it comes from so much suffering. But I really enjoy the feeling of release that happens when the Blues works.

Meg: What was the music scene like when you were growing up?

DBC: The Washington Square scene in the late ’50s and early ’60s was a moment in time that changed the history of music. People like Danny Kalb, John Sebastian, Happy and Artie Traum, Eric Weissberg, David Grisman and so many others were part of it. Then, in 1960, Dylan showed up and the evolution of Folk music took another leap forward. It was a magical time and I am so proud to have been a part of it. And, of course, behind it all and, in a sense, overseeing everything was Pete Seeger. He was the ideal that we all strove for. Not just musically, but poltically, socially and as a personal example to all of us.

To read the rest of the interviews, visit Ucombo Music Reviews.