Brooklyn to Austin, Walker Lukens has traveled a long way.  His newest record "Devoted" is out today.  The video for "Dear Someone" (streaming below) is a refreshing take on music videos.  It is a charming stop motion polaroid love story.  I asked Walker about the making of it and he explained that there were in between 400-500 polaroids taken to create the stop motion.  What does one do with that many polaroids?  Currently they are stored in an Impossible Film tote bag at Lukens' studio and for everyone who orders a 7” through his website a polaroid gets thrown in.  

One of the characters in the video is Louis the Lion who is Lukens “travel-gnome/Sancho Panza.”  Walker had a lion logo before he met Louis but when he found him in a trash can he knew it was fate.  “I'm walking home from work. (I should have gotten on the subway but ended up procrastinating and walking three miles home.) I see this lion statue, lawn ornament, super-gauche living room decoration sitting in a trash can on the corner of Avenue A and East 4th. I took photos of him all along the way in bars, on benches, on the subway, and in the street.” Thus starting his side hobby of photographing Louis who is expected to be in future videos.  

"Devoted" was written while spending much of last year traveling, visiting family and touring. Lukens confessed to a few obsessive habits while on the road.  “If I'm driving I listen to an inordinate amount of This American Life. If I'm flying or sitting on a train, I read a lot of fiction. In both cases, I drink a lot of coffee. It seems like such a waste to sleep when you've got all of this uninterrupted alone time.”   

The release show for the new record is set for this Saturday April, 6th at The ND.  Doors open at 10pm and the show begins at 10:30.  You can stream all 10 songs on Devoted via his website. - Courtney Pierce

Maybe you don't go there much, but we recommend a trip to Central Presbyterian Church tomorrow night at 8, where you can check out Chelsea Wolfe and Technicolor Hearts.  Heavenly music at a sacred venue, what's not to like?  Find out more here.

Well, we can't be everywhere at once, so good thing the good folks at T. Cannon pointed out the waaay cool Walker Lukens vid for "Dear Someone", a cut off his latest LP, "Devoted", due out April 2.

You may ask yourself: Howdidtheydothat?

"The film was provided by a company called The Impossible Project, a group of former Polaroid employees in the Netherlands who saved the last Polaroid production plant from being shut down and now produce film for vintage cameras that would otherwise have been obsolete. "

Check it:

The penultimate day of my fourth SXSW was definitely the longest in my history of SX’s. Arriving at 10:30am at the Elvis Presley-themed Beale Street Tavern to host a show, I was out on the town for 16 hours to follow. Opening the morning, Austin’s Indie-meets-retro rock quartet, Ghost Bunny, and solo, blues-rock multi-instrumentalist and loop-master, Walker Lukens, got the ball rolling. Most attendants woke up and arrived for a bevy of Brooklyn bands: Black Taxi, The Courtesy Tier, and The Click Clack Boom. The string of East Coasters was broken by LA- born Vas Defrans (pictured), who put the sound system to the test with pounding drums and intricate instrumental layering. A laid back local favorite, The Naturals, contrasted with the strobe- light and projection illuminated, electro/dance-rock quartet, Kid Savant who followed suit. NYC’s Hollis Brown closed the afternoon with straight up great blues rock and Southern rock sentiments. Yet another Tex-Mex decompression resuscitated me for an extensive evening of street performances. Renegade rocker, Tom Morello, brought the aggressive music of Black Top Demon, Outernational, Anti-Flag, and Wayne Kramer outside the Swan Dive as part of Occupy SXSW. Morello himself marched into the crowd of hundreds for a finale while police swarmed the area. All ended without any blood shed, but it was an night/early morning to remember! –Meijin Bruttomesso