Citay [The Onion AV Club]

The Onion AV Club, San Francisco Edition, July 10 – 16, 2008

Interview with Ezra Feinberg, Citay frontman, for the Onion AV Club (San Francisco Print Edition only)

Citay began as a solo project, with onetime Piano Magic drummer Ezra Feinberg laying down tracks in his San Francisco apartment. But with the help of Tim Green (The Nation Of Ulysses, The Fucking Champs), Citay became a two-man studio project, and now, two albums later--the most recent is last year's Little Kingdom—the band has grown into a six-member juggernaut. Feinberg plays "friendly dictator" to his bandmates—which include new entries Josh Pollock and Sean Smith—composing mellow, airy tracks that approach psychedelia with repetitive melodies, breathy vocals, and sometimes surprising electric guitars. The A.V. Club talked with the band's founder and frontman about transitions, the future, and where he got that silly name.

The A.V. Club: How has Citay changed now that it's a full band?

Ezra Feinberg: Citay wasn't done with a band in mind, it was done thinking it might just be a recording project. For the second record, Little Kingdom, I knew once the songs were finished I would show them to the band and they'd reinterpret them live. The only thing that's changed is that I've gone from not really thinking about it in terms of a live show to having faith that the live show would work with the songs.

AVC: You're going through a lineup change right now. Has it been a smooth transition?

EF: It's proving to be a very smooth transition—smoother than I could have ever imagined. The electric guitars are the centerpieces of Citay, and Adria [Otte] and Jesse [Reiner] both have gotten really into their other projects and had to leave. I found two people who are close friends of the band, Josh Pollock and Sean Smith, who are both really excited and amazing guitar players. I couldn't be happier. It's been a transition that was necessary and a step forward in the development of our sound live.

AVC: With your bandmates involved in various projects, are you open to the idea of a revolving-door band?

EF: I have to be. Ideally it's a stable lineup, but I think it's going to continue to be good. When you have a singular vision, that's what you have to deal with: a revolving door.

AVC: Your highest-profile gig before Citay was playing drums with Piano Magic—what inspired you to become a frontman?

EF: Before Citay, I felt like I was always the principal songwriter and I was always a leader in the bands, but felt as though there needed to be someone else who had more character or personality or stage presence—more flash or bite or something—than me. But Citay has actually represented me: I can do that, and I want to do that and work it out in my own way.

AVC: At your last San Francisco show, a drunk guy at the bar yelled "Citay!" like he was channeling Steve Perry. Does that happen a lot?

EF: I don't remember the drunk guy, but it certainly happens. The idea [behind the band name] is a word that only exists in songs, taken out and used as a band name. "Citay" is not a word, but it's sung all the time.

AVC: You've described Citay's sound as "bridging the gap between 'Diamonds And Rust' by Joan Baez and 'Diamonds And Rust' by Judas Priest," which is a hell of a gap. What made you think you could do that?

EF: I really love a lot of really heavy guitar music and I really love a lot of very sweet-sounding music, but I've never wanted to be in something that was just sweet and I've never wanted to be in something that was just heavy. There wasn't much premeditation for this project--what came out was some heavy stuff and some sweet stuff together, often in the same song.

AVC: What's next?

EF: We're playing a bunch of local shows in the summer just to get the new guitar players all together. I think that the lineup change pushed back work on a new album a little bit, but it'll happen. —Jess Hemerly

Citay performs as part of the Rough And Tumble theater company benefit with Tall Firs, Sleepy Sun, Corvette Summer, and DJ Andy Cabic on July 15 at Café Du Nord at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10-$20 and the show is 21+. Citay also performs with Tall Firs, Brian Glaze, and Meridians on July 16 at 21 Grand at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $7 and the show is all-ages.

Maker's Mark [The Onion AV Club]

The Onion AV Club, May 1-7, 2008

Design a box while thinking outside of it at the Maker Faire

Make and Craft magazines' Maker Faire is part world's fair, part science project, and part Burning Man (minus the drugs, sand, and naked people), with entertainment and inspiration found in DIY crafts, robotics, technology, mad science, art, and everything in between. This year's event promises to once again be the most exciting thing to happen in San Mateo all year, and will probably even impress your friends who claim to be too cool for a fair spelled with an "e." What follows is a guide to some things worth checking out at the third annual Maker Faire.

Green days
With global warming going full blast, "green" is turning into an overused marketing buzzword, but the movement is also offering new opportunities for invention and innovation. This year's Maker Faire is spotlighting the concept of green living by bringing in people who recycle old clothes into new wardrobes and costumes, teach container composting, and demonstrate using alcohol for fuel. There's also going to be a father and his teenaged son converting a gas-powered motorcycle into a plug-in vehicle (no, it's not Robert Pirsig), and The Neverwas Haul--a steampunk art car modeled after a three-story Victorian house and created from 75 percent recyclable materials--is making its second appearance and will host the first-ever Maker Faire wedding. Elsewhere, you can pedal around in Cyclecide's rodeo of completely impractical bicycles, or help keep DJ Fossil Fool's pedal-powered generator running as he performs live at the Rock The Bike area.

Heroic guitarists
Last year's ukulele performance of Ziggy Stardust promises to be challenged by the Electronic Music Fest, with a program that includes the Stanford Laptop Orchestra, which pushes computer-generated avant-garde music to scientific extremes, and The Guitar Zeros, a group of software geeks who turned Guitar Hero controllers into real instruments capable of producing a variety of synth sounds. Attendees can also learn how to build guitars from a kit, mandolins from a template, and electronic drums from supplies found at The Home Depot, and there will be several pirate-radio tutors teaching aspiring Hard Harrys basic broadcasting technology.

Extreme crafting
The crafts found at Maker Faire don't resemble the ugly socks your friend made after she got dumped and started knitting. Crude Awakening's welding workshop offers a shot at making weird steel sculptures, while The Crucible will let you do everything from blacksmithing to glassblowing. For the slightly less adventurous, GalaxyGoo will demonstrate how to use clay to make replicas of cells, while "Zen paintball painting" gives you license to make your own Abstract Expressionist work. Those with young ones will have fun hanging out with crafters offering hands-on opportunities, including The Sawdust Shop's woodworking demo area (which includes a place for kids to make their own ping-pong shooters) and award-winning paper-airplane designer John Collins.

Explosions in the sky
The robots at the Maker Faire rarely disappoint, and tend to be some of the weirdest and most fun projects at the event. Put aside robot holocaust fears and check out Sparky 2.0—built from trash and designed for roving video chat—and Roboexotica's MindReadingMartiniMaker, which specializes in perfecting the classic cocktail. The Life-Sized Mousetrap is back this year, hopefully with a platform and less mechanical glitches, and EepyBird—the creators of that Diet Coke and Mentos explosion made famous via YouTube—will be performing a live junk-food imitation of the Bellagio fountains. After getting nice and sticky, swing by Institute For The Future's Make The Future Pavilion to learn about forecasting the future (no crystal ball required).

It's getting hot in here
For those who are into fire and art cars but don't want to drop $300 and have their cavities filled with sand at Burning Man, Maker Faire's Saturday Evening Fire Spectacular provides an alternative that isn't as expensive or annoying. After the main portion of the event shuts down at 6 p.m., the nighttime fun begins with live music, lots of fire, and power-tool drag races.

Note that the concession lines can get crazy, which means you may wait half an hour for a corndog, and tall cans of Tecate go for $10, so plan accordingly. Do yourself a favor and make friends with the martini-making robot. — Jess Hemerly

Maker Faire takes place May 3-4 at the San Mateo County Event Center from 10 a.m.-10 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are $10-$25 and are available at makerfairetickets.com or at the door.