In a short time, Sacramento’s Cave Women have been churning out exciting new material

For Sacramento band Cave Women, things fell into place very quickly. Whereas some bands take years to find their voice and record, the five highly skilled musicians who make up the group hit it off almost instantly.

Is this the musical equivalent of love at first sight? Well, not entirely. But I thought I was pretty clever when I thought of that while interviewing Cave Women vocalist/bassist Casey Lipka.

“It’s really special to be able to play original music with everyone,” Lipka says of becoming fast musical friends with the other Cave Women, who have only been together as a band since 2011. In that time, they’ve already released a five song EP and a full-length, self-titled album, which was released Nov. 15, 2012.

“I think in a certain sense, that’s what we’ve all really been enjoying,” Lipka elaborates. “We’ve all participated in different music projects, but for it to be our own compositions and have them develop in this way and just be able to work on our music together, it’s been such a great opportunity.”

Lipka has been on quite a journey in order to make it to where she is today. A Venice, Calif., native, Lipka began studying music at Sonoma State before furthering her education in Montreal, Quebec. It was there that she began learning to play bass.

“I was hanging out with a lot of bass players by chance,” says Lipka, who lists voice as her first instrument. “They had this really big room for bass in that school. If you could imagine just walking into a room with 10 human size instruments, it was pretty intense.”

About three years ago, she moved to Sacramento, where she still lives and teaches voice and piano. While enrolled in a world music class at Sacramento State, she got turned on to the mbira, a small instrument with origins in Zimbabwe that consists of 21 to 28 metal keys that are plucked by hand. She has brought her love for the mbira to Cave Women.

“We’d go through all these different types of music from all over the world, and my teacher put on that kind of music,” she says. I don’t think I was concentrating in the class, but the moment she put on that music, I was like ‘What is that?’”

Though she has bounced around quite a bit in her life, Lipka seems to have found a home in Sacramento, which she calls a “small big city.”

“What I mean by that is that there’s enough going on that there’s quite a bit to do, but at the same time you can have a community of people here,” she explains.

Not long after moving to Sacramento, Lipka met up with Alicyn Yaffee, Cave Women’s vocalist/guitarist, and the two began performing as a duo, Lipka says. The duo was soon joined by Vanessa Cruz (drums/percussion), then Emily Messick (vocals/accordion) and finally Kim Davis (vocals/flute).

“I happened to get a free recording session at the Art Institute in San Francisco,” Lipka says. “And all of a sudden, we had this recording and we were somewhat of a band. It was like, ‘Wow, this works.’ It was definitely an evolution of instrumentation and sounds and addition and experimentation.”

Explosive growth would probably be more of an apt term. Of the five songs on the band’s first EP, only two of them appear on the self-titled full-length. On top of that, Lipka reports that she and the band are already working on new songs. Not bad for someone who says she’d hardly written her own compositions before starting Cave Women.

“Songwriting is very new to me,” she says. “Cave Women kind of kick started it for me.”

Cave Women’s songwriting maturity betrays the group’s youth as a band. These musicians have an almost magical connection with one another that’s easily apparent on their debut full-length (recorded by notable engineer Pat Olguin, who has worked with Papa Roach, E-40 and Black Eyed Peas), which incorporates world music and jazz influences into catchy pop song structures. This could be a byproduct of the band’s nurturing songwriting process that allows each member’s talents and instruments to shine.

“Someone will come to the group with a composition, at whatever stage it’s in, and everyone adds their own voice to it through their instrument,” Lipka says. “There isn’t necessarily a conversation like, ‘Oh, there’s a lot going on. You should add less here.’ It’s more of a natural process of adding in the different voices.”

One of the more striking songs on the album, “Hunger” practically swoons through your speakers. Beautiful, dreamy harmonies mingle perfectly with the tune’s somber lyrics as the melody builds to a soft crescendo. Lipka says that “Hunger” is one of the songs that Yaffee first brought to the band, but the rest of Cave Women were quick to add their own personal touches to round out the track.

“[Alicyn] had her melody and guitar part, and the voice parts that we added on the end, everyone made up their own voice part,” Lipka says of “Hunger.” “That was really neat in the sense that…gradually every person added how they heard their own part mixing into the song.”

The video for “Hunger,” shot by photographer Nicholas Wray, shows a behind-the-scenes look at the band in the studio working on the full-length album. In it, you can see Lipka at work on bass and with her mbira, which she has fixed to the back of an acoustic guitar. She says that it amplified the mbira’s sound in a “richer way, because it had the guitar body for it to resonate in.” She goes on to say, though, that you won’t see her trying this trick on stage.

“It’s way too complicated. I don’t think I could hold a guitar and an mbira at the same time,” Lipka says through laughter.

Though the band just seems to click as if it was fate, Lipka does say there are some complications in playing in a band like Cave Women. The band employs so many instruments and sounds that it’s a challenge for the group to recreate their sound live.

“There are certain places that we just can’t play because we have so many instruments,” she says. “If we bring everything, we just can’t physically fit in certain places. There will be times when everyone will just bring one instrument.

“There have been shows where I’m like, ‘My mbira is over there. How am I going to get there?’”

Though the stage might be cluttered, Cave Women’s songwriting is anything but, and a bright, productive future seems pre-ordained.

Celebrate the release of Cave Women’s first full-length at Bows and Arrows in Sacramento on Dec. 19, 2012. Alto and David Alfred will also perform. The all-ages show is $6 and starts at 8 p.m. To listen to and order the album, go to http://cavewomen.bandcamp.com/.

The Fifth Annual Submerge Holiday Gift Guide

By Submerge Staff

If you’re reading this, you’ve survived the madness that is Black Friday. Great job. The good news is we don’t have to hear the words “Cyber Monday” (which is sort of a creepy term, no?) for another year, the bad news is you probably still have lots of shopping to do for friends and family. That’s where we come in. Check out some of these cool gift ideas that we scoured Sacramento (and the interwebs) to find. We’ve got stuff for the home, stuff for the car, stuff you can shove in your mouth and stuff you can wear. Read on and be inspired, and happy holidays from your friends at Submerge!

All that eggnog isn’t playing tricks on you. These Areaware Paul Loebach Distortion Candlesticks, available for $24 each at Lumens, have an improbable design created by taking a traditional candlestick form and distorting it through a 3D rendering program. It’s then cast in resin and marble, making the malleable-looking figure exceedingly durable. Colors available: black, white, grey and rust.

This Pave Link Bracelet by Sacramento jewelry designer Gigglosophy is the perfect blend of cute and stylish, with just enough (but not too much) bling factor. Any fashion forward ladies on your list will love it! $50, available at Etsy.com/shop/gigglosophy.

Sacramento’s cocktail scene is exploding right now. You’ll look like you knew it all along with these Prepara Ice Ball 2-inch Molds. Pack them with mint leaves, basil, fruits and more. Fill them with juice, lemon or lime segments. Use them in pitchers, cocktails, punch bowls and tumblers. Larger ice cubes keep drinks cooler longer and they dilute less too, because who really wants a watered down drink around the holidays? Not us! $9.99 for a four-pack, $19.99 for a 10-pack, available at Prepara.com.

Sacramento history buffs will go crazy over local author Willam Burg’s new book Sacramento’s K Street: Where Our City Was Born, available for $19.99 at Time Tested Books. Join Burg as he chronicles the legacy of Sacramento’s K Street, once a boulevard of aspirations and bustling commerce and now home to a spirit of renewal.

It’s cold, it’s raining and the last thing you want to do is go outside to warm up the car. With this Code Alarm Remote Start and Keyless Entry System you can start up that bad boy from the comfort of your home. Get two keychain controllers for just $129.99, available at Audio Express. ****CLICK HERE FOR SUBMERGE DISCOUNT COUPON****

Do you abuse the snooze button? Well here’s an interesting solution for those of us that do. The Nanda Home Clocky Alarm Clock, available for $39 at Lumens, gives you one chance to get up, but if you snooze, Clocky will jump off your nightstand and wheel around your room looking for a place to hide, beeping all the while, forcing you to get out of bed to silence it.

Our friends at Bows and Arrows never disappoint when it comes to unique fashionable finds, and these one-of-a-kind handmade rings are no exception. Prices range from around $16 to $40. Stop into their store in person or shop online at Etsy.com/shop/bowsandarrowsvintage.

If you’ve got an iPad or iPhone and are jonesing for physical keys, hit up Brookstone at either Arden Fair or the Downtown Plaza and snag one of these Bluetooth Silicone Keyboards for just $59.99. It’s super slim, flexible enough to roll up and water resistant. Perfect for travel, business meetings or mornings spent at your local coffee shop.

Whether you need something soft for your baby, a new keychain addition or a new dog toy for Fido, Uglydolls are perfect for all of the above and then some! Submerge’s shop dog, a 3-year-old Boston terrier named Panda, has cuddled with her Uglydoll “Ice-Bat” every night since she was 8 weeks old, and she has another one, “Brip,” as a play toy. They’re durable, colorful, adorable and have silly names. Available in Midtown at Ladybug Ladybug. Large ones are $21, medium ones are between $10.50 and $11 and the little guys are either $6.50 or $7 and have clips attached to them for jeans, backpacks, keychains, etc.

When you’re a kid, getting a pair of socks as a gift is the worst. When you’re an adult, getting (or giving) socks is cool! Especially ones with skulls ($8.95) or your favorite dog breed on them ($8.50). Hit up Sock City in Old Sacramento for these and tons of other sock options.

Liven up any party or social gathering when you throw on the recently released Dance Central 3 videogame for Xbox 360’s Kinect. In this No. 1 rated dance game you’ll master favorite dance crazes from the past as well as today’s hottest moves. Heat up the competition in the new Crew Throwdown mode or cut your teeth in the Beginner mode.No matter what you’ll have a blast and burn some calories. Pick up your copy at any Dimple Records location for $49.99.

This Original Penguin V-neck Sweater, available for $85 in a plethora of colors at the newly opened men’s boutique Established Apparel, is a great addition to any guy’s wardrobe. Dress it up with a collared shirt underneath, or keep it casual with a solid T-shirt. Either way, you’ll look and feel great in one of these 100 percent lamb’s wool V-necks.

Anyone on your list who loves to cook, or anyone who loves to eat for that matter, will flip for olive oils, vinegars and balsamics from The Chefs’ Olive Mix in Old Sacramento. Stop in and try one of their many suggested pairings, like Fig Balsamic with Mushroom and Sage Olive Oil, or Honey Ginger White Balsamic with Persian Lime EVOO (extra virgin olive oil), or one of the most popular combos, Traditional Balsamic with Tuscan Herb EVOO. Prices vary, but most are $11.95 for 200ml, $16.95 for 375ml or $24.95 for 750ml.

Got someone artsy on your shopping list? Surprise them with a pair of The Converse Chuck Taylor All Star 12oz. Blank Canvas Sneaker and let them express themselves! Choose either high-top or low-top for $49.99, available at Utrecht Art Supplies. You’ll also want the Stained Markers by Sharpie, which are perfect for fabrics. Those are just $16.59 for a set of eight colors, also available at Utrecht.

Protect your investment and look badass doing it with these iPhone and iPod cases designed by local artist Jose di Gregorio. $35 for a hard case, $15 for skins, available online at Society6.com.

We all do it, be it at a stop sign or on I-5, maybe cruising down J Street. Whenever we see a car that has a screen playing a movie for kids in the back seat, we instinctually peek in and try and see what it is. Well why don’t you splurge and get yourself Pioneer’s AVIC-X940BT from Audio Express? Sure it’s $699.99, but this thing has a 6.1-inch touch screen, plays DVDs and CDs, has Bluetooth connectivity, built-in navigation for all 50 states (plus Canada) and a ton of other amazing features. You’ll never leave your vehicle again! ****CLICK HERE FOR SUBMERGE DISCOUNT COUPON****

Every man should have a nice wallet that he is proud to pull out of his pocket, regardless of how much cash it holds. We approve entirely of this stylish piece by Scotch and Soda Amsterdam Couture. Get one for just $38 at Established Apparel.

If you have friends with gauged ears, you absolutely have to turn them onto Plug Club, a Sacramento-based Web company that ships super rad custom plugs directly to customers. They’ve got classic designs like skulls and anchors and whatnot, but they’ve also got really wacky and downright hilarious designs like “Cat Attack,” which features a cat shooting laser beams out of its eyes. There are many to choose from, and prices vary from $13 to $18. They also have “fake plugs” for those weary of stretching their ears, as well as taper kits for those looking to stretch properly. ****USE PLUG CLUB CODE “SUBMERGE” TO GET 20% OFF****

Some say the best gifts are the kind you can eat, and you won’t find us disagreeing with that notion. Take care of any sweet tooth with delectable French Macarons from Estelle’s Patisserie Bakery and Espresso Bar, available in a variety of flavors like chocolate, pistachio, strawberry cream, blueberry cream, green tea and seasonal flavors. Just $1.75 each.

It’s a 10-hour drive from Sacramento to Portland, Ore., though not a difficult one: take a right on I-5 and go straight for a while. Buy some olive oil in Corning, chuckle for a few minutes as you pass Weed, keep her steady over Grant’s Pass. Avoid Salem. You’re there.

For Portland’s BRAINSTORM, the former duo-now-trio of drummer Adam Baz, guitarist Patrick Phillips and bassist Dasha Shleyeva, who recently joined the group for a national tour, the distance between each city has proved inconsequential to the troupe’s appreciating of Sacramento music. Baz tells me that they’ve already circled their Sacramento show at Bows and Arrows on Nov. 3, highlighting the affair as a small reunion of sorts.

“For whatever reason we have kind of a sister community in Sacramento,” says Baz, calling from New York City before a week of CMJ’ing. “Part of it, for a while, was there were a lot of really talented Sacramento-based musicians living in Portland, and we got to know a lot of them. We hit it off.” Heat Waves, BRAINSTORM’s second album released earlier this month, was produced by Sacramentan Robby Moncrieff in Portland’s Type Foundry Studios. Baz recalls booking a show with Moncrieff and Zach Hill’s project What’s Up? a few years back, and Moncrieff’s production work on such albums as Dirty Projectors’ Bitte Orca and with locals Ganglians and Appetite grabbing the group’s attention early on.

“We’ve always respected his production, and his ear,” Baz says of Moncrieff. “I think he’s really good at recording pop albums in a way that yields a much more interesting product than some typical pop recording” (think Appetite’s Scattered Smothered Covered and Ganglians’ Still Living).

And if we’re categorizing BRAINSTORM’s brand of pop, we’d at the very least call it atypical. The band’s 2009 release, Battling Giants, blends riff-y, Math rock tempos stopping on a dime into squeaky clean, glee club-ish vocals over a tuba. The album should receive praise for its bold musicality–and it did–but Baz admits such a repertoire “can at times make it challenging for a listener.”

“Part of the challenge of the band is trying to sync together these different genres in a way that still is coherent and not too all over the place,” he says. “Some of our older material in particular is a little more scattered.”

Heat Waves can be seen as an extension of the BRAINSTORM’s debut in terms of incorporating a variety of influences, though the sophomore effort distills these influences with greater care, and, perhaps, works them in more seamlessly. “Flat Earth,” the album’s opener, is at its core a ‘60s homage: a reserved guitar melody over drums more concerned with keeping time than setting new polyrhythm, and lyrics looking back on a love gone bad. We then transition into an upbeat movement, more vocal harmonies with Phillips’ guitar returning to the forefront–and then back again to the song’s original thrust. If this sounds like hard work, I assure you it’s not. Transitions in and out of BRAINSTORM’s temperamental shifts are clear, no-stress progressions.

“Forms Without a Frame” could be the album’s flag bearer for the new clarity in approach–a guitar-centric pleaser, Baz’s more understated efficiency on drums driving beneath, and a tuba in the back heartily bridging each chorus. BRAINSTORM has succeeded in staying true to its eclectic roots while aging into something more refined.

From a songwriting perspective, however, BRAINSTORM has changed little since its inception: “It’s a pretty democratic, organic process. Patrick and I usually bring little sections of songs to the table. I’ll have an idea for a riff or a vocal part, or just a drum pattern, and kind of jam on that and see where it takes us.” Piecing often disparate elements together continues to be a challenge, though Heat Waves tones down the experimentation of BRAINSTORM’s debut, or at least that was a goal Baz and Phillips set out for themselves.

“I hope [Heat Waves] speaks to our ability to write coherent pop songs,” says Baz. “We’re trying to really come up with perfect and persuasive riffs and stick to them a little more closely. We’re actually trying to write simpler songs, I’d say, in general.”

BRAINSTORM began in 2009 after Baz and Phillips exchanged mixtapes with one another, trading such bands as Lightning Bolt, Dirty Projectors, Ponytail and, notably, guitars from all over Western and Eastern Africa. You could call the African guitar BRAINSTORM’s most pronounced influence, the most immediately obvious incorporation from a varied set of tastes, especially in conjunction with Baz’s inclusive and rhythmic style of drumming.

“It was definitely a kind of music that Pat and I talked about early on,” Baz says of the group’s African influence, pulling from both contemporary and older recordings. “We try to tastefully reference that kind of music in a way that puts it outside of some world music category. I really don’t like that term,” adding, “I think what it generally stands for is some sort of commercialized recording. Our goal is to make experimental pop songs that may or may not contain that style.”

This past February, BRAINSTORM released two covers of Mdou Moctar, a contemporary Nigerian musician, after Baz and Phillips got hooked on a compilation from Sahel Sounds Records, a label set on unearthing recordings from Western Africa’s Sahel region of Mauritania, Senegal, Mali and Niger. It’s easy to appreciate a band working with this sort of material as opposed to just using and discarding, and that sincerity bleeds into BRAINSTORM’s own body of work; BRAINSTORM has, in a way, internalized the music they’ve become so enamored with.

Heat Waves will be unveiled live on a hyperactive, coast-to-coast tour cutting across the South and Southwest, hitting such cities as Fayetteville, Ark.; Marfa, Texas; and Fresno, Calif. before ending up in Sacramento.

“This is definitely the longest tour we’ve done, almost six weeks. When we’re out we try to take advantage of reaching every market that we can,” Baz says.

BRAINSTORM’s live performances have received significant hype, and were described by Baz as “explosive, energetic experiences,” but performing live has always been their strength, he admits.

“Neither of us know much about recording, personally, and so one thing we’ve always been really good at is presenting our music in a live context. It wasn’t until recently, with Heat Waves, that we felt really good about the recorded product as well.”

For more info, go to Facebook.com/brainstormbrainstorm.

You might hear a few dirty words spelled out at this year’s Grown-Up Spelling Bee on Oct. 12, 2012 at Bows and Arrows (1815 19th Street) presented by one of Sacramento’s premiere roller derby teams, the Sacred City Derby Girls. Listen in as participants sound out the words or if you feel spelling-savvy enough, try it out yourself! As long as you keep up with the correct spellings, you’ll receive $1 off tap beers. The rules of the bee will follow the Scripps National Spelling Bee’s format with each round becoming more difficult. Depending on what you can afford, pay a fee of $7 to $15 to enter. Sign-up for the competition starts at 7 p.m. and the first round will begin at 8 p.m. Proceeds from the event go toward Sacramento’s Gender Health Center, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide services that “embrace the psychological well-being and self-fulfillment of individuals coming out and/or beginning or in the transition process in a safe, supportive and welcoming environment,” according to their website (http://thegenderhealthcenter.org/). For more information, visit Bows and Arrows online at http://www.bowscollective.com/.

-Natalie Basurto

It’s that time again Sacramento, bust out your ear plugs because NorCal NoiseFest is turning 16! The annual Sacramento event which spotlights the sound-art genres of noise and experimental will take place from Oct. 5 through 7, 2012 at multiple venues. Friday, Oct. 5 will be at Luna’s Cafe (1414 16th Street) starting at 7 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 6 will be at Sol Collective (2574 21st Street) starting at 3:30 p.m.; and Sunday, Oct. 7 will be at Bows and Arrows (1815 19th Street) starting at noon. If you’re looking to get tickets your best bet is definitely the all-weekend pass, which is $40 and includes access to all shows, a T-shirt, a compilation CD, a button and Sunday brunch at Bows! Individual show tickets are $10 at the door with free earplugs. Visit http://norcalnoisefest.brownpapertickets.com/ to purchase online, or hit up Phono Select or Midikat Boutique to purchase in person. More details can be found at http://norcalnoisefest.com/.

Sculptor, installation artist and Sacramento City College professor Mitra Fabian turned an obsession with tape into an enlightened path toward a full-time life in the arts. The answer was on her desk, stuck to her fingers and keeping her chip bags sealed.

Mitra Fabian uses tape a lot and not just in her art. She admitted in one interview that she tapes chip bags shut when she’s finished. In her twenties she subtly incorporated tape into her art, which mostly utilized wood and metal, as an adhesive for hand-made paper, flower petals, leaves and bee’s wax. By graduate school she created an entire thesis on tape. “And not just any tape,” she joked. “But satin finish Scotch tape. No, I don’t get paid to say that.”

If her month-long installation at Bows and Arrows, near 19th and S streets, entitled Signs of Growth, is a continuation of her most recent works, be mindful of the crystal and slime-like growths around the collective. Fabian’s work with tape and office supplies reduces the inanimate to an unrecognizable state and arranges it in a manner that returns it to an organic growth or infestation. She has an uncanny ability to make hardened glue globules look like hatched insect eggs, wound tape becomes icy crystals, and neatly folded blinds look like a giant fungus. She’s listed as a sculptor but could double as a scientist or worse yet, a mad scientist.

“I definitely have apocalyptic, science fiction notions running through my brain,” she said. “As the line between natural and artificial becomes ever more difficult to discern, I dream of new organisms generating from these bizarre marriages.”

Open-Ended Series II, plastic film, acrylic, glue, 2010

How did you arrive at this format?
At the time I was looking for a material that was translucent with which I could build easily. I tried resin, various kinds of fabric and paper. None of these worked; resin was too time-consuming and toxic, fabric would not hold shape. I wanted something more immediate. And I realized that the answer was right in front of me–something I used and have a strange obsession with–tape! And that is what started the office product trend.

Were you by chance working in an office around these supplies?
Yes, sort of. I worked as a production manager for a furniture company in Los Angeles. Half my day was spent overseeing the people who refinished and upholstered the furniture and the other half was spent at the showroom–behind a desk, processing orders, filing. These systems of order and the products that facilitate the process became a curiosity to me.

As you began tinkering with items, it appears as though your discovery led to a manipulation that renewed the item to its organic state or linked it to something more organic, like crystals or the drip effects in caves. Can you elaborate on these phenomena within your work?
I equate my process to that of child’s play. Not in the sense that it is easy, but rather that I spend time with the material, playing with it. Pulling it, pushing it, taking it apart. I want to discover its limits of manipulation while hoping that it does something interesting. I want it to undergo a transformation; in my own naïve way I am playing scientist. I like the idea of taking something manufactured and forcing it through a metamorphosis to become something that looks natural. I enjoy those kinds of ironies because I am fascinated with the persistence of humans tampering with nature.

5,500 Into the Deep, black tape, 2011-2012

I don’t think many artists find the idea of viewing themselves as scientists all that appealing, since artists are usually pursuing the creative over the concrete. Did you ever want to be a scientist?
When I was young, I did not want to be a scientist. I was not a strong science student, so I never thought I had enough smarts to pursue something like that. But when I think about how I played as a child, I was playing in the mud, creating worlds with natural materials and watching insects with rapt fascination. Now in my adult life I recognize my interest in science, but I still don’t think I have the brains to contend with things like chemistry. I am much happier watching anything David Attenborough hosts! I did study anthropology in college, and my husband is a professor of anthropology and archaeology, so I often feel my social science background definitely plays a role.

I get this feeling like your work is making a statement on humans tampering with nature. What’s your opinion on our role and interference?
I think it’s inevitable and maybe necessary that we tamper. It’s human nature. And I think that very often people are trying to improve upon something. For instance, I recently heard about a genetically modified mosquito that is bred to produce offspring that will die. Considering how I just got eaten alive in rural France for the month of July, I thought, Hooray! That sounds fantastic! But the skeptic in me then thinks, how do we know that this won’t go terribly wrong? That the mosquitoes won’t somehow build up a resistance to it?

Sometimes we tamper to save things, like animals on the endangered species list. But if you think about it, that is kind of a bizarre endeavor. I am usually not of this opinion, but sometimes I wonder if something is meant to go extinct. The repercussions of keeping it around artificially may somehow be worse.

B9, plastic pipette tips, acrylic, 2010

Some of your work has a grotesque or abomination feeling to it, as though the natural is rebelling or in conflict to its surroundings. Is this from our tampering or do you view it as an evolutionary necessity?
Both. I think humans constantly underestimate the intelligence and power of nature. Going back to the mosquito example–how do we know that it won’t over time adapt to circumvent the modification and become more fertile?

Besides the sculptures themselves, the lighting and photography of the piece seems to play a vital role. Would you agree?
Absolutely. I am naturally drawn to materials that emit or reflect light in enticing ways. So ensuring that the light shows off these assets effectively is very important. That makes the photography challenging sometimes. I either hire a professional or spend lots of time correcting in Photoshop.

Is the use of shadow intentional?
The shadow is a direct counterpart to the light, so yes, it does become important. As far as what it conveys… I am not sure. In many cases a sense of drama.

Have you picked up little tricks to gather up a large amount of materials at an economical price? Even free?
I often collaborate with local manufacturers in using their “garbage.” But I also have a few sources that sell these cast-off materials for reasonable prices. And if it’s a household product, I will put the word out, and I will get free donations. At one point, I had all my neighbors setting aside their black plastic.

Whorl III, plastic film, acrylic, glue, LED’s, 2012

Signs of Growth will be on display at Bows and Arrows in Sacramento from Sept. 7 through Oct. 3, 2012. An opening reception will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. on Sept. 7. Check http://www.bowscollective.com/ and to learn more about Mitra Fabian, check out Mitrafabian.com.

The Souterrain is a lovely lounge-folk act from Davis that is readying the release of its debut album What Ails You. Singer Lauren Norton is a native of Ireland but moved to California in 2009 to attend UC Davis’ Creative Writing Program to pursue a masters degree. Her voice is velvety and sweet, like feeling the cool Delta breeze on a hot summer afternoon. “We make some strange music, but we do our best to make it pretty,” says the band’s website, http://thesouterrain.com/. “Folk cures, lullabies and revenge fantasies all have their home in our soundscape.” The lyrical content and writing are fantastic, which is not a surprise coming from someone who moved halfway across the world to hone her writing skills. A little bit serious, joke-y, flirty, edge-y, Souterrain songs really run the gamut of emotions. The group is embarking on a six-week tour of Ireland in late July, so be sure to catch them in Sacramento on July 20, 2012 at Bows and Arrows (1815 19th Street) or in Davis on July 21 at a basement show at the Owl House (516 E. 8th Street). Pick up a copy of What Ails You, and you’ll be glad you did. Learn more about the band and hear some tunes at http://www.facebook.com/thesouterrain