#and i’ve talked to the original bassist a few times on instagram. it was about how men vs women behave when it comes to holiday events

[ripley-ryan]

tattoo that says i <3 making friends. if my chosen career path did not rely on my appearance i would so get it. because truly i heart making friends

[x--daughters-of-darkness--x]

DELAIN Shares Another New Single, 'Moth To A Flame'

DELAIN has released a new single, "Moth To A Flame". The song is taken from the band's upcoming album, "Dark Waters", which will arrive on February 10 via Napalm Records. Emerging as a brand new start and safe haven alike, the LP, without any doubt, continues the legacy of the brainchild of keyboardist, founder and main songwriter Martijn Westerholt and contains everything DELAIN is loved for and more: a sonic rollercoaster ride of catchy tunes with explosive elements — ranging from pop to film score-inspired to blistering room shaking metal.

Singer Diana Leah says about "Moth To A Flame": "This song was the last song written for our new album 'Dark Waters' and I'm proud to say I had the opportunity to write the lyrics for it! It has a deep meaning to me."

Westerholt adds: "I'm extremely proud of this song. It's one of the most upbeat songs on the album while also having the heaviest guitar riff, and Diana's vocals are outstanding! It's a killer combination that I think fans will love."

Along with Westerholt, original guitarist Ronald Landa and original drummer Sander Zoer bolster DELAIN's continuity, while new members — Leah and bassist Ludovico Cioffi — continue to evolve their sound. Songs like the previously released single "The Quest And The Curse", as well as "The Cold" (the latter featuring a real, epic choir),lure with a bombastic sound that skilfully combines orchestral melodies, epic heavy riffs and marvelous vocal performances. DELAIN magnificently manages to never lose touch with their characteristic sound, making them a constant without ever standing still. Pop-induced opening track "Hideaway Paradise" shows exactly that by inducing a dream-like feeling flirting with melodic metal guitars, while the ballad-like dark track "Mirror Of Night", featuring WITHIN TEMPTATION guitarist Ruud Jolie, entices the listener with unfathomably catchy lines and melodies. "Queen Of Shadow" merges the orchestral and synth-focused soundscapes DELAIN is known for as it weaves melodic heavy guitars that intertwine with orchestral lines and vocal melodies. "Tainted Hearts" is centred around Westerholt's keyboard arrangements, which skilfully showcase the creative roots of the mastermind. "Invictus" is nothing less than the magnum opus of the album — a rock opera in its own right with heavy riffing, choirs and vocal parts performed by Leah, Ribaldini and Marco "Marko" Hietala (ex-NIGHTWISH),ending in a bombastic climax where everything comes together.

Westerholt adds: "This album captures all elements DELAIN is known for — our distinctive heavy guitar riffs, massive orchestral parts, both heavy metal and pop vocals, rock opera vibes along with '80s synth sounds. In short, this is definitely a recognizable DELAIN album that contains classic 'DELAIN elements' while also moving forward with fresh influences."

"Dark Waters" track list:

01. Hideaway Paradise 02. The Quest And The Curse 03. Beneath 04. Mirror Of Night 05. Tainted Hearts 06. The Cold 07. Moth To A Flame 08. Queen Of Shadow 09. Invictus 10. Underland

The new DELAIN lineup made its official live debut last August at the Riverside festival in Aarburg, Switzerland.

Leah answered a few fan-submitted questions via the band's YouTube channel, including how she joined the long-running Dutch metal act. She said: "It's really simple, actually. I knew they were looking for a singer so I just left a comment on their Instagram page. So a couple of days later I received an e-mail from Martijn, and we talked a bit about how I could audition and he sent me some material that I could sing on. And the rest is history."

Asked how she decided to sing in a metal band, the 32-year-old Diana said: "Well, I've always wanted to sing in a metal band. It was really my desire to do it. In fact, I did sing in a couple of rock bands, but it wasn't really heavy music, which I loved at the time. It was really hard to find the right people to form a band with and also to get along together and all that. But I've always wanted to be in a metal band. Always."

Leah also talked a bit about her background, saying: "I was born in Romania, in a city called Alba Iulia. It's in the middle of Transylvania. And then I moved to Italy when I was 15, and I lived in Italy for, I think, 10 years or something. And then I moved to Canada, in Ottawa, and I lived there for five years. And then I came back to Italy. And now I currently live in Italy, near Torino, so up north."

In February 2021, Westerholt announced the dissolution of DELAIN's previous lineup. At the time, he explained: "For the last year or so, the collaboration within the band ceased to work as well as it once had. Some of us were no longer happy with the current roles in the band. We all tried very hard to find a solution for over a year, but sadly we were unable to find one. As a result, we will all be going our own ways and pursuing our own endeavors.

"I am very sad our cooperation has come to end, but at the same time I am very grateful for all the years we were able to work together. Together we toured the world, shared highs and lows, and met with many successes as well as times that pushed us to learn and grow. We all enjoyed meeting our fans and making new friends all over the globe."

Singer Charlotte Wessels said about her departure: "I know that you might have questions about the 'why' in all of this. I fully understand and respect that. Simply put, it is the sad conclusion of more than a year of trying to find solutions to built up grievances. Part of me feels like I'm letting all of you down, I'd like you to know that this decision was not taken lightly and I apologise to those of you who had high hopes of seeing all of us together live on stage again after lockdown. Until recently, I thought this might still be in the cards for us as well."

In September 2022, Charlotte was asked in an interview with Spain's The Metal Circus TV how she felt about the fact that DELAIN recently made a comeback with a new lineup. Wessels said: "I'm trying not to engage with it too much, honestly. I've seen positive responses about it, which I think is good. But I do try to keep some distance and just focus on what I'm doing rather than checking that out, because I still don't feel like that will make me happier per se."

DELAIN's sixth full-length album, the Westerholt-produced "Apocalypse & Chill", was released in February 2020 via Napalm Records.

Photo credit: Andrea Falaschi

[shefanispeculator]

I'm slightly disappointed to log onto Zoom and find Gwen Stefani in Los Angeles. I wanted to see the ranch. Stefani spent most of the pandemic in Oklahoma with her fiancé and fellow The Voice coach Blake Shelton, with whom she has recently collaborated on a string of country radio hits, alongside a kitsch Christmas song. For a ska-pop superstar, it's a pivot, but Stefani and Shelton are cute together — picture-perfect in their opposite attraction.

Country Gwen exists, her urban counterpart assures me, but on this particular MacBook she's nowhere to be seen. I'm not sure what crude regional stereotypes I was expecting (Stefani spitting sunflower seeds? Shelton line dancing in the background?) but I get Californian sunshine instead, illuminating a version of Stefani more familiar from my teenage years, when Love. Angel. Music. Baby and its follow-up The Sweet Escape spawned millions of fans, haters and imitators. She's platinum blonde, red lipsticked and wearing a black-and-white outfit that matches the decor. The checkerboard pattern can be traced back to an even earlier era, when Stefani and her No Doubt bandmates were '80s teenagers obsessed with two-tone acts like Madness and The Specials.

Cowboy boots wouldn't fit this picture, and nor would Stefani's glitzy showgirl outfits from The Voice, where she just wrapped another season as a celebrity coach. As she prepares to release her fourth solo record, and enters the fifth decade of an extraordinarily successful music career, Gwen Stefani is re-re-branding as... Gwen Stefani.

Top: Local Boogeyman, Pants: GCDS, Shoes: Valentino, Earrings, bracelets and rings: Dena Kemp (The Residency Experience), Necklaces: Gwen's own, Engagement ring: Gwen's own

"But what is that?" Stefani asks with seriousness, as we consider the possibility of some essential, inherent Gwen. "Everyone's interpretation of what I am and how I sing, I mean, that's what this era is about for me."

Said era kicked off late last year, with the music video for "Let Me Reintroduce Myself." It saw Stefani playfully revisit the wardrobes of album cycles past, from the ab-bearing tomboy tank tops of "Hollaback Girl" to the club kid blue hair mascara of '90s No Doubt. Her Harajuku Girls also make a return. The entire visual is a huge flex, not only for the sheer volume of iconic career moments recreated in dutiful detail, but the fact Stefani can still fit into the clothes originally worn during all of them. She looks eerily the same, frighteningly good, ageing in reverse at the same pace as her frequent collaborator Pharrell.

"It's really a blessing to be able to have such a long career, where there really is nothing to prove anymore."

Pop stars are expected to be young forever, in looks but also in their capacity to innovate new trends. Which makes the nostalgic music video a curious choice. Doesn't Stefani know by now that the cardinal rule of pop is to avoid repeating yourself? That even the hottest artists in the world are basically required by law to create completely new eras from scratch every six months in order to appease fans and maintain maximum TikTok-ready relevance?

Of course she does, but that doesn't mean she has to participate. Stefani isn't trying to chase down her contemporaries, despite clearly possessing the physical fitness required. "It's really a blessing to be able to have such a long career, where there really is nothing to prove anymore," she says. "It's a different energy. You know, it's really just about doing it to do it, as opposed to trying to make a statement or make a mark."

Corset: Ronald van der Kemp, Bracelets: Dena Kemp (The Residency Experience), Earrings: Lana Jewelry (The Residency Experience), Engagement ring: Gwen's own

Even the Saweetie remix of her latest single "Slow Clap" happened on a whim, after the younger artist happened to post a video of herself vibing to Stefani's 2004 single "Luxurious" on Instagram Stories. They knocked out the song and accompanying video in a day. Neither seems bothered by the Old Navy meme. "It was just this little video that we did on the fly," Stefani says. "It just happened. It just feels good to put new stuff out there."

Stefani completed a two-year Vegas greatest hits residency in 2019, which gave her a sense of perspective on her own legacy. "You make a new record because that's what is exciting for you," she says. "But people really just want to hear the records after a while that were the backdrop to their lives, a 'Don't Speak' or a 'Just a Girl' or a 'Hollaback Girl,' or whatever it was for them. So, you know, it's hard — you can only be new when you're new, and that's just the truth, and I know that."

She says she was pleasantly surprised that "Let Me Reintroduce Myself" charted at all, and that she only found out it did when Shelton walked into the kitchen to show her the iTunes numbers. "I burst out crying with joy, because it was like, 'Whoa, really?' I think I'd set myself up to be quite realistic about where I'm at."

Stefani, endlessly polite and self-deprecating in conversation, which on her end mostly consists of endearingly earnest run-on monologues, says she still has "tons" of insecurities. I get the impression she has been trying harder to give herself credit lately. She recalls recently hearing Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" on the car radio and finding herself in awe of the song's timeless catchiness.

Suit: Balmain, Earrings and choker: Lana Jewelry (The Residency Experience), Necklaces: Gwen's own

"But then I started thinking," she says, in a goofy Cher Horowitz tone. "Like, I have a few of those myself." She talks of this realization as a genuine breakthrough, which is a little worrying for a woman who has sold 40 million records. No shit, she has a "few of those." More of them than Lauper, actually.

More new music is coming along slowly, but I've caught Stefani on a day when the horizon looks closer than usual, and while things haven't quite fallen into place yet, she's feeling more confident that they eventually will. "I'm at the end," she declares. "The idea of going for a session and not being with my kids or the idea of taking time away from Blake doesn't fuel my fire like it did two months ago. I need to decide, wrap it up, put out the project."

Crucially, there's no rush. The album will simply arrive sometime this year, tracklist and title currently undecided.

"You're talking to me at a weird transitional time," Stefani says repeatedly throughout our conversation, which sometimes takes on the cathartic tone of therapy. But having time in the first place is a new feeling.

Bracelet and choker: Dana Kemp (The Residency Experience), Obsession necklace: Lidow Archive, Gold necklaces: Gwen's own, Clothing: Blumarine, Boots: Philipp Plein

NO DOUBT WERE A BAND for nine years before getting on the radio. Enough time for Stefani and bassist Tony Kanal to be in a long term relationship then break up and write a whole hit album about it. All of the Fleetwood Mac drama was resolved pre-fame, which enabled the group to capitalize on the surprise success of Tragic Kingdom singles like "Don't Speak" and "Just a Girl" with a world tour that lasted almost three years. Three more albums followed, and Stefani has reinforced her household name status in every decade since, launching a solo career and multiple fashion lines while never totally cutting the cord from her original musical project.

In other words, record executives have been dictating Stefani's schedule since the mid-'90s. She even sings about it on Love. Angel. Music. Baby opener "What You Waiting For," in which her biological clock ticks like a metronome. Interscope Co-Founder Jimmy Iovine, who discovered No Doubt and continued to work with Stefani on her solo output, was quick to point out that his client's prime childbearing years were also her last opportunity to cross over into pop stardom. And after her first record went number one, it only made sense to lay down some new tracks straight away.

"Whether or not I get the response that I would hope to get — because that's what I'm used to, because I'm so damn spoiled and I've tasted the blood of success — I still got to do the creative journey."

"I had the baby, the first one, and it was only like eight weeks after I had him, that Jimmy was calling me saying, you've got to go in the studio with Akon," Stefani recalls cheerfully. "Like, Akon wants to work with you. Like, no, I'm nursing my baby. But then I couldn't say no." And then? "We wrote 'Sweet Escape.'" And then? "I went on a world tour." And then? "In the month that I got home from that one hundred and whatever shows it was, I got pregnant with Zuma. So then that was that." (It wasn't. Admittedly: "Then it was like, No Doubt, let's do another record.")

Things are different now: "You can just drop singles and you don't have to put a record out. But if you want to put a record out, you can work on it slowly." But even as she talks of slowing down, speculating that she might not even go on tour after the pandemic ends, in the next sentence Stefani's back to admitting that there's more work to be done, that she wants to write a couple more songs for her new record, "just to make sure."

Earrings: Lana Jewelry (The Residency Experience) Choker: Chanel, Necklaces: Gwen's own, Gloves: Laurel DeWitt, Top: Local Boogeyman

"The creation is the thing that fuels me so much," she says. "Whether or not I get the response that I would hope to get — because that's what I'm used to, because I'm so damn spoiled and I've tasted the blood of success — I still got to do the creative journey."

Like any good lyricist, she reaches out to her listener, hoping to convey a more universal point. "It's just probably the same for you as a writer," she guesses. "You know, it's the anticipation. You're in it now. You're getting the information. This is what you live for. You're doing the interview and then you're going to write it. And that's going to be the challenge."

GWEN STEFANI WAS PUTTING out diary entry pop when Olivia Rodrigo was still in diapers and Taylor Swift was but a humble Pennsylvania Christmas tree heiress. She struggles to pen lyrics that aren't confessional ("I'm not a creative writer when it comes to like, 'Oh, let's just write a sad song about something that didn't happen to me'"), and occasionally re-traumatizes herself when performing old hits. Return of Saturn deep cut "Dark Blue" triggers "crazy, just horrible" recollections of a past relationship. Even "Don't Speak" felt emotional onstage in Vegas.

But after releasing an excruciating divorce album, This Is What the Truth Feels Like, in 2016, Stefani is back to writing happy songs only. She's getting married, after all. She won't be releasing any of her trademark breakup anthems anytime soon. "Girl," she laughs, "I think I've had my fair share."

Bow: Laurel DeWitt, Earrings: Lana Jewelry (The Residency Experience), Bracelets: Dena Kemp (The Residency Experience), Shirt: Vintage Archive, Dress: Erdem, Tights: Capezio, Shoes: Marc Jacobs (Lidow Archive)

Stefani and Shelton's relationship has puzzled some fans. Shelton, a country radio phenomenon, never endorsed Trump in the 2016 election, but he did come close. Earlier this year, he was criticized for releasing a song called "Minimum Wage," about finding small joys during periods of economic struggle, at the peak of a recession.

Is Gwen Stefani a Republican now? She's not offended by the question, or really anything I have to ask. She has been famous for so long that she expects and even embraces scrutiny. "If you're going to be a star, that's what you get," she says. "You know what I mean? You get what you get, and you don't get upset, at all."

As for her politics, it's read-between-the-lines."I can see how people would be curious, but I think it's pretty obvious who I am," she says. "I've been around forever. I started my band because we were really influenced by ska, which was a movement that happened in the late '70s, and it was really all about people coming together. The first song I ever wrote was a song called 'Different People,' which was on the Obama playlist, you know, a song about everyone being different and being the same and loving each other. The very first song I wrote."

One of very few multi-racial bands playing stadium shows for hoardes of American teenangers in the 1990s, No Doubt did very literally embody those second-wave ska principles of inclusion. Stefani even wore bindis and saris on stage as a symbol of cultural exchange with Kanal, who is Indian-American, briefly kickstarting a white girl facial jewelry trend that it's safe to say would not fly in 2021.

Rings (left): Dena Kemp (The Residency Experience)

"The Specials and The Selecter and all those groups, and what they were doing in the late '70s was this whole kind of anti-racism, we come together, Black and white ska movement," Stefani elaborates on the band's founding principles. "And we were sort of echoing that in the '80s when we did it, we were like the third generation of ska."

Ska she's always happy to discuss, but Stefani was brought up to keep her electoral preferences personal, and that rule has held for her entire career. "The whole point of voting, is you have this personal space to feel how you feel," she explains. "I use my platform to share my life story and to engage with people and to exchange whatever gift I was giving. I'm not a political science major. I am not that person. Everyone knows that. So why would I even talk about it?"

"I don't need to go on Instagram and say 'girl power.' I just need to live and be a good person and leave a trail of greatness behind me."

It never has been. Looking back, it's weird that "Just a Girl" is so integral to Gwen Stefani's brand. She's never written anything else with remotely the same message, and or publicly identified as a feminist. To Stefani, it's just a song about growing up, and "all of a sudden you realize your gender." It wasn't meant as a protest or anthem: in fact, being her breakout hit, she didn't think anyone other than her bandmates and some local fans would ever hear it.

"I don't even know if I knew what feminist at that time was," she says. "I was very sheltered growing up with my family. I wasn't political. I wasn't angry." Even now: "I don't need to go on Instagram and say 'girl power.' I just need to live and be a good person and leave a trail of greatness behind me. Stop talking about it and stop trying to bully everybody about it. Just do it. And that's how I feel like I've lived my life."

WHEN STEFANI WAS GROWING up in 1970s Anaheim, her father got a job doing market research for Yamaha, which required frequent business trips to Japan. He'd bring home Sanrio toys, as well as anecdotes about the Tokyo district of Harajuku, where teenagers were dressing like Elvis, and "taking all these American things and making them Japanese." His daughter was entranced. "He would be telling me these things my whole life, like my whole life. I had a deep fascination."

So when No Doubt played Japan in 1996, Stefani describes, "It was a pretty big deal for me." The tour was the first time she'd traveled outside of the United states, save one trip to Italy when she was 21. "I just was inspired," she recalls. "It's a world away. And at that time it was even further, because you couldn't see it on the internet. I don't think a younger generation can even imagine what it's like to not have access to the world."

From then on, Japan became one of Stefani's biggest career motivations, especially when it came to her solo albums. If she could just write more hits, she'd get to tour there again, see the street style, visit the vintage stores. "If you read the actual lyrics [in 'What You Waiting For?'], it talks about being a fan of Japan and how if I do good, I get to go back there," she says.

In the meantime, she decided she'd bring Japan to Los Angeles. "I never got to have dancers with No Doubt. I never got to change costumes. I never got to do all of those fun girl things that I always love to do. So I had this idea that I would have a posse of girls — because I never got to hang with girls — and they would be Japanese, Harajuku girls, because those are the girls that I love. Those are my homies. That's where I would be if I had my dream come true, I could go live there and I could go hang out in Harajuku."

Earrings, bracelets and rings: Dena Kemp (The Residency Experience, Gold Necklaces: Gwen's own, Top: Local Boogeyman, Pants: GCDS, Shoes: Valentino

Dancers Maya Chino ("Love"), Jennifer Kita ("Angel"), Rino Nakasone ("Music") and Mayuko Kitayama ("Baby") would go on to accompany Stefani for her next two album cycles, dancing on stage and in her videos while also making silent, but very well-dressed, awards show appearances. Kita, who'd grown up in LA, visited Japan for the first time on Stefani's tour.

In a 2006 interview with Blender magazine, comedian Margaret Cho compared the Harajuku Girls to a minstrel show. The backlash against them has been consistent ever since. Stefani, to this day, disagrees.

"If we didn't buy and sell and trade our cultures in, we wouldn't have so much beauty, you know?" she says. "We learn from each other, we share from each other, we grow from each other. And all these rules are just dividing us more and more."

Hello Kitty merch was harder to come by when she was a kid, but in other ways, life felt easier. "I think that we grew up in a time where we didn't have so many rules. We didn't have to follow a narrative that was being edited for us through social media, we just had so much more freedom."

Earrings, bracelets and rings: Dena Kemp (The Residency Experience), Necklaces: Gwen's own, Dress: GCDS, Shirt: Faith Connexion, Tights: Capezio, Shoes: Marc Jacobs (Lidow Archive)

Stefani's penchant for rule breaking has always been apparent in her music as much as her aesthetic. Genre-wise, she's a randomista. The chart success of No Doubt's bouncing ska beats felt like an accidental post-grunge-era glitch in the matrix, and it's insane to this day that one of Stefani's biggest solo hits samples "If I Were a Rich Man" from Fiddler on the Roof, by way of '90s British dancehall duo Louchie Lou & Michie One. That another, "Wind It Up," features earnest Sound of Music yodeling.

"I just make up whatever comes out," Stefani says of her songwriting process. "I don't even know where it comes from. I feel like it just comes from the source. It's not trained, and it's not perfect, it's just real."

She looks back on the Love.Angel.Music.Baby era as unusually experimental and artistically fulfilling. "It was just a really incredible time, and a very creative time. I feel like it was just a really creative project."

STEFANI VIEWS HER CAREER success as mostly a matter of luck. Pop stardom is God-given and mysterious."Because the fact I made it, it doesn't make any sense," she reflects. "It's written in the stars. You know what I'm saying? I'm not the most talented. I'm not the most pretty. I'm not the most smart. None of those things. But I made it, right?"

Clothing: Blumarine, Bracelet and choker: Dena Kemp (The Residency Experience), Obsession necklace: Lidow Archive, Gold necklaces: Gwen's Own

Every week on The Voice she watches objectively gifted musicians fail at becoming artists. "I watched people that went through that without seeing their faces, without knowing what color they are. And I chose the ones that pulled my heartstrings. And even though they were so talented, none of them have had careers. It's made me look at myself and even feel even more amazed by the fact that anyone cared or cares."

If all of this is actually so out of her control, then Stefani feels safe stepping back a little bit. "I don't have that fuel in me like I used to, because I already won," she says. And now she has other victories in mind. "Being a good human, a good mother. I want to have a good marriage. I want to be a good wife. I want to win at finding peace. I want to win at finding other hobbies that I'm good at."

But at the same time? "If I'm inspired, I'm going to try to do something with that inspiration." That's the most fun part: whatever else comes after has always been an amazing bonus.

The "Let Me Reintroduce Myself" era, whatever form it may eventually take, isn't a desperate grab at former glory. It's Stefani refusing to evolve for the sake of it. She's poking fun at the whole idea of having to compete with past personas alongside current ones, while acknowledging the fact she's grateful to still be in the game at all.

"You don't know what you're doing," she says, somehow both confident and resigned. "You're a cartoon of yourself at this point, and you don't know what people are thinking. They're wondering, what? Why are you still here? And I'm like, I don't know. They said I could be here. So I'm here!"

Photography: Jamie Nelson Styling: Nicola Formichetti Hair: Sami Knight Makeup: Michael Anthony Nails: Carolyn Orellana Wardrobe director: Marta Del Rio Production: Katrina Kudlick Digitatech: Sean MacGillivray Logo design: Luca Devinu Story: Kat Gillespie

FROM YOUR SITE ARTICLES

[sophie-e-b]

Talking Spinning Plates - The Book

Hello! Sophie HQ here. Can you believe we are only a matter of days away from the launch of Sophie’s autobiography, Spinning Plates? The book is Sophie’s literary debut and promises to cover all sorts, from music to motherhood.

The book itself is available to pre-order now from all your favourite booksellers. And if you want to get your hands on a special signed edition, make sure you get over to Waterstones fast and get your order in. Copies are limited, so don’t delay getting one in your basket ready for publication day on October 7 (this Thursday!).

We also managed to have a chat with Sophie - in between her busy festival schedule and final book launch prep - to get a little preview of what fans might be able to expect. Have a read of our Q + A below...

Where did the idea to write your book come from?

Sophie: I was kind of tricked into it! Hodder approached me with an idea to write a book that was more of a collection of essays on my thoughts. I started then thought no, actually this is an autobiography! I loved writing it actually. It surprised me.

Does the book cover similar topics to the podcast - e.g parenting and motherhood - or is there even more to discover?

S: It’s a book about me so obviously the fact I’m a parent features.. but really it’s not a book on parenting. It’s a book where I look back at where I started and where I began and I joined a few dots and if I’ve learnt a thing along the way, that’s there too. The book’s chapters are divided up into 4 topics - me (so more emotional stuff or my thoughts on things), motherhood (fairly self-explanatory), music (from my first band all the way through to the kitchen discos) and men - raising them, dating them, marrying one… it’s all there.

Have you found writing the book a way to discuss things you haven't spoken about previously?

S: Yes a-plenty. Weirdly I started off writing about some of the most tricky stuff… I speak for the first time about an unhealthy relationship I used to be in and also some other things that I wanted to share. It’s been helpful and cathartic to be able to talk it through on the page. Plus I document a lot of times when I’ve embarrassed myself so, I definitely over shared with that!

Fans already get a glimpse into your life through your social channels. Will this give them even more of an insight into your daily life and career?

S: I think Instagram tells one story but not necessarily the real one. This is much more in my head than anything else I share. It’s closer to songwriting than social media. It’s personal and intimate and conversational. And hopefully funny in parts, too!

How did you find the writing process?

S: Adored it. Felt gloriously indulgent and grown up and fun. I wrote much more than I intended or expected because of it.

Are you excited for the book to launch? How does it compare to an album or single release?

S: This is much worse! I’m nervous. I’ve been very honest - what’s the point otherwise? - and I’m about to open myself up to all sorts of conversations about things I’ve never spoken about before. But conversely, it’s exactly the book I wanted to write and I don’t think there’s another way I could have approached it. It definitely represents me well.

What response have you had to the book from friends and family?

S: Thankfully, positive responses and lots of relief! I’m not here to upset anyone and even the ‘baddies’ in my life do ok in that I’m not trying to make their life tricky, I’m just explaining how I felt about stuff.

For fans of your music - does the book cover your whole career so far? Can you give fans a taste of what they might find out that they didn't know previously?

S: Yes it’s my whole career and for the second question I don’t even know where to begin! You’ll have to pick up a copy and see for yourself. I think there’s a ton of stuff I’ve never shared! As I say on the first page, if you’re reading it then you’re about to get to know me a whole lot better…

Definitely sounds intriguing!

Don’t forget: you can pre-order Spinning Plates here.

Spinning Plates - The Book Tour

Sophie is no stranger to a tour, but this one is a little different. She will be putting down the disco ball and picking up a pen as she takes Spinning Plates on the road. Tomorrow, Sophie is over to the Henley Literary Festival before finishing up at the Cheltenham Literature Festival where Sophie will be talking to the very lovely Alex Clark.

Steps What The Future Holds Tour

Sophie can always be relied upon to help get a party started. She will be filling the floor ahead of Steps as the support act on the pop icons’ upcoming What The Future Holds Tour throughout this November. You can book your tickets here - no matter when or where you attend, it will be a night to remember.

Kitchen Disco 2022 Tour

We are ever closer to when the Kitchen Disco hits the road itself. From March, Sophie will be taking her signature style of perfect pop and partying nationwide. The disco will be winding its way around the country, from Birmingham to Yorkshire, Cardiff to Glasgow and everywhere in between - so there are plenty of opportunities to get your glam on and come along for a boogie with the queen of Kitchen Disco herself. We can promise glitter, fun and plenty of pop bangers to kickstart your 2022. Grab a mate and a seat!

And Finally…

Outside of the book and touring, Sophie has also been busy on the big screen. She lent her vocals to a special single, While We’re Still Young, which features on the soundtrack of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. You might have heard the track already as it has been a-listed at Radio 2 for the last few weeks. The song is a collaboration with The Feeling. Not only did The Feeling’s lead singer Dan Gillespie-Sells co-write the original hit West End musical, but bassist Richard Jones is Sophie’s husband - so there is a special bit of family magic involved. You can listen to the song here and watch the film now on Amazon Prime Video.

Thanks and speak again soon,

Sophie HQ x

[taleofharrison]

Bass Lines | Calum Hood

Summary: Calum meets reader at a festival and bond over music.

Warnings: none really I think.

Requested: Yes by an anon.

Word Count: 1251 (which is crazy I thought it was shorter)

A/N: This one I wrote it in the second person like the fics I’m used to reading I’m kind of experimenting with different ways of telling stories so I can find with what I’m most comfortable with and because I use fanfic writing as my way of practicing English so enjoy and tell me what you think also I don’t play bass so idk if this is what you had in mind so I hope you like it.

MASTERLIST HERE

It was a small festival just a little something, nothing compared to Coachella or something like that but it still was a festival. They wanted to do something a little bit smaller than the stadiums and sold out venues they were so used to.

As they tuned their instruments Calum allowed himself to start playing and mess around a little bit with his bass plating some riffs not only written by him but from another of their favorites riffs by other bands.

"I recognize that riff!" you said making presence behind him known, "I wrote it"

"Yeah I just was messing around before our presentation" Calum lifted his look from his bass to look at you. He had seen you before, he had been following your band on youtube for a while though in person you looked different prettier is the word he'd use "I've been a fan of your band for a while"

"Really? I never thought the Calum Hood from 5 seconds of summer would be fan our little local band" you teased. Calum could've sworn there was a flirty tone in it.

"Well you have good songs and covers and I think you did a 5sos one, am I right?"

"Yeah we did Moving Along" you answered smiling.

"Sure uhm...Is this your first festival or...?" Calum wanted to talk to you he didn't know what else to talk to you besides music or your band.

"Yeah it is!" you said with a smile "The first time we are performing away from our hometown it's really a big deal for us and we are so excited!"

"Well I wish the best of lucks" he smiled at you. Ashton, Luke, and Michael were sharing amused looks they thought it was funny the way Calum tried to flirt with you "But I don't think you really need it anyways. Your band is great"

You turned your face with a flustered look in your eyes avoiding his gaze "I'm Calum by the way"

"Yeah I know," you said "I'd say you're pretty famous"

"But this is the first time we see each other in person" he pointed.

"Well you might have a point" you smiled "I'm Y/N"

"Y/N! Come here it's almost our turn!" the lead vocalist from your band called you.

"I have to go - uhm - nice to meet you Calum"

Once you weren't in sight Calum turned to face his best friends who were smiling and ready to make fun of him. He just knew it he saw it in their playful smiles.

"For a moment I thought you were ready to ask her to marry you" Luke started followed by Ashton's giggles

"You had heart eyes the whole time you were talking to her!" Michael exclaimed earning an eye roll from Calum.

"Honestly mate you should ask her out or at least for her number" Ashton suggested.

Calum just left the backstage to see your band's performance and maybe take a small video to post on Instagram and give you a boost.

calumhood- been following these girls for a while go check them out  @NewLight

As you guys left the stage you saw Calum on the side of the stage.

"So what do you think?" you asked putting your bass down next to you.

"Uhm it was pretty good for a small local band" he teased. He had been flirting with you since the moment he saw you so why not make the first move yourself?

"Maybe you can give some rockstar advice someday?" you offered

"Uh - yeah just give me your number" 

Around a week later you were outside of a small coffee shop in California. Calum had asked you to meet him there for a small first date. When you entered you spotted him and the back of the shop a black bucket hat on his head.

"I thought you weren't going to show up" he said once you took a seat next to him.

"Sorry, I lost the track of time I was rehearsing" you explained, "I wouldn't miss the chance of talking to one of my favorite bassists, would I?"

"Am I one of your favorite bassists?" he smirked. You said that out loud without noticing.

"Yeah I mean..." A flustered look took over your face. One thing Calum thought was adorable "My friends and I were 5sos fans and you inspired us to actually go for this dream...our band before we found your music was just a hobby"

He nodded "Well I'm flattered. I'm glad we could inspire you guys somehow you have great covers and your few original songs are great too"

"Thank you" you smiled at his compliments "and thank you for that Instagram post a record label is actually interested in us and we are going to meet them in two days so..."

"No need to thank me" he shrugged "after all my band has a similar story"

You smiled at that "So how long have you been playing the bass?"

"Uhm since I was little...like 8 or 9 years old" you answered "My mom wanted me to play classical music and got me into piano lessons but I never really liked it and when my dad bought me my first bass for my birthday it was the moment I knew that was my thing"

You didn't notice the time until the small place was empty with only the two of you and the barista behind the counter.

"Do you want to continue this date at my house?" he asked "We can fangirl about each other a little more"

"Yeah, I'd like that"

The ride to his house was full of music and exchange of opinions in music, you had a lot in common and you were really enjoying his company you hadn't felt this way about a guy in a while you only hoped this would lead to a second date any time soon.

"Alright so you can use this bass" he gave you a black bass "I'm going to show you what I've been working on"

"Am I getting a 5sos sneak peek before anybody else?" he shook his head smiling and getting ready to show you the riff the had thought of.

"So what do you think?" he asked looking up to see your face.

"I think you can make it faster, I think it would sound better" you took the bass and started playing the exact same riff but faster surprising Calum.

"You just listened to the riff once and now you have it learned?"

"Yeah" you giggled "my mom she didn't want me to take bass lessons really keen on me being the best pianist in the whole world. I had to learn some riffs myself until my dad convinced her and I finally could take bass lessons"

After some advice exchange and rewrites in songs and ideas. Calum realized he was in love or at least that he was falling for you something that he thought was crazy and stupid given the fact this was your first date and hadn't met personally until a week before this. 

"Wow you're amazing" he gasped "maybe you can help with some of the ideas I have for the next album and I can help you too"

"That'd be great but I really have to go back home it's getting late" you excused yourself looking at the clock on the wall "maybe next week?"

"Next week it is" Calum smiled agreeing to the plan.

[doomedandstoned]

Spelljammer Reveal Trippy New Vid, Talk ‘Abyssal Trip’

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

Interview by Billy Goate

Cover Art by Aaron Cahill

Our week of big interviews continues as we meet up with the ethereal doom outfit from Stockholm SPELLJAMMER and premiere a new music video, from their just released second LP, dropped only weeks ago on RidingEasy Records and now the number one album on the Doom Charts.

'Abyssal Trip' (2021) is an enthralling listen from edge to center, with lavish textures, deep thematic content, and unforgettably emotive atmosphere that will stick with you for life. Enjoy it as you read the revealing conversation with Niklas Olsson (guitar, vox) and Robert Sörling (guitar) that follows as we unpack their steller new spin, talk nerdy gear shit, and contemplate humanity's fate.

And now, Doomed & Stoned is pleased to bring you the world premiere of the brand new video for that epic third track, "Among The Holy."

Give ear...

Spelljammer - Among The Holy (music video)

You guys have been a band now for damn near 15 years, maybe longer. Most bands don't make it past two years! What is the "key" to the band staying together for so long and continuing to find inspiration for creating new music?

Rob: I don’t think it’s been 15 years just yet but we are getting there, haha. None the less - that’s a really interesting question! Nik and I started the band much because we share the same taste in music, film and, well, art in general. I think that's the core keeping it all together. Also, there have been a few constellations of band members over the years, all with their own dynamic. I think these kinds of changes, and the new directions of the music because of that, is part of the inspiration. Maybe another reason is that we all live in different cities and because of that sometimes a lot of time passes between rehearsals, writing sessions and such, making us always craving for new Spelljammer jams and songs.

Nik: The craving yes. And another reason I think is the fact that we’ve never really been in a rush to get anywhere. Anything Spelljammer, the music included, takes time. If we had been set on making it, this thing probably would have fallen apart a long time ago.

Abyssal Trip by Spelljammer

How did the theme for Abyssal Trip originate?

Nik: I have always been more drawn to the feelings or emotions you get from a riff or piece of music than to any theme of a lyric. But I would say that any themes came in at the lyrics state, which is at the end of the process. But the themes aren’t that specific to any of the albums. I think I cast a pretty wide net in the beginning and stuck to it. For the next album perhaps we will venture more into unchartered waters. We’ll see.

What fascinates you about the Great Abyss of the ocean?

Nik: I totally get that the word abyss conjures up images of ocean trenches and, yes, the ocean is a fascinating and to a large extent undiscovered place. However, when I wrote that I wasn’t necessarily thinking of the ocean but more the abyss of our own minds. But I think it’s a word that evokes many things, like despair and doom, and it is of course totally open to interpretation.

Is mankind doomed or do we have time to correct our course?

Nik: I’m not as pessimistic of a person as the lyrics may suggest. I think we will be here on earth for a long time. Mankind is clever (perhaps too clever for her own good) even if there are a lot of people hell-bent on trying to screw up everything for everybody else.

Rob: Yes, and considering how ignorant and careless (some) people are acting during this pandemic, at least over here, makes you wonder if there’s any hope at all.

Nik: People are the worst. Ultimately, though, none of it matters because we’re all doomed.

Have you guys seen any good movies/documentaries or read any good books lately that inspired you or otherwise challenged your thinking about life, the present, or the future?

Rob: I can’t say that I’ve seen or read anything recently that challenged me significantly, I guess I’m getting too old to be that overwhelmed haha. The film A Ghost Story though was kind of cool though because it was different, slow and weird (in a good way), and for me it’s always inspiring to read/see/hear something that makes you think, "Man, I wish I had come up with that idea”.

Nik: Absolutely! Punch Drunk Love, Moon, and Office Space are definitely movies like that. I have watched so many movies and series through this pandemic and I can’t remember any of them right now. But I did just notice that there is a season 3 of Loudermilk on HBO! If you haven’t already, see it! I’m currently reading "Homeward Bound, The Life of Paul Simon” by Peter Ames Carlin. It’s a good read about one of my favorite musicians.

For recording this album, what kind of gear did you use and what production/engineering considerations did you have to take into account?

Rob: Since we did a remote recording in the countryside we had to use whatever stuff that we could fit into a couple of cars. I have a couple of old audio interfaces that I linked for a total of 16 channels. I also have a small collection of mics (nothing fancy) and we used them all and the rest was borrowed. We set up the drums in the living room and put the guitar and bass rigs as far away as we could (the adjacent rooms) to avoid bleed and just focused on getting the rhythm tracks done. The goal was to get us all in the same room and to catch the vibe from a relaxed rehearsal kind of situation. The bass rig used was a Orange Terror Bass and an Ampeg SVT 810 and the guitar was tracked through a Reval Mark I and/or Orange TH-100 and a Orange PPC 412. Of course there’s always some unforeseen problem lurking and this time it was the electricity in the old country house.

Nik: I don’t use many effects, just a fuzz. For this one I used a Supercollider from Earthbound Audio. It is exactly what the name suggests. That’s all you need really.

The album cover is amazing! It reminds me, in some strange way, of the creature in the old B-movie Robot Monster (1953). What's the story behind the artwork?

Nik: It definitely has a B-movie vibe that I really like. I’m afraid I can’t really tell you much about it other than the artist name is Aaron Cahill and you can find his stuff on Instagram under the name nghbrs.

I filmed your first US appearance at Psycho Las Vegas in 2016. Fans want to know: do you have ambitions of returning to North America once the world sorts out this pandemic?

Rob: Yes, that’s our first and only US appearance so far and we wouldn’t mind at all returning to Vegas or any other part of the US. For now it’s really hard making any plans at all. In fact, you would think that this kind of isolation would enhance creativity, and maybe for some it does, but for us it’s actually been the most unproductive period so far for Spelljammer. So I’m hoping that by the time this thing blows over we get the inspiration back both for writing/recording new music, and in time hopefully revisiting the US!

Nik: I agree, playing at Psycho Las Vegas was a blast. I hope we get another opportunity to come back some day.

Spelljammer at Psycho Las Vegas/a>

Some Buzz

“The vastness of everything is something that I think about a lot,” says Spelljammer bassist/vocalist Niklas Olsson. And it certainly shows in both the expansive, sludgy sounds and contemplative lyrics of the Stockholm, Sweden based trio. Following a 5-year break between their previous album, Ancient of Days — perhaps fittingly spent pondering said vastness — Spelljammer is back with an album that perfectly bridges the band’s earlier desert rock leanings and their later massive, slow-burning riffs.

'Abyssal Trip' (note: carefully reread that album title) takes its moniker from the perpetually dark, cold, oxygen-free zone at the bottom of the ocean. The 6-song, 44-minute album fittingly embodies that bleak realm with rumbling, oozing guitars intercut with dramatic melodic interludes. The songs take their time to unfurl, making them even more hypnotic. Likewise, the lyrics take a poetic approach to establishing the sonic scenery.

“The lyrical themes we address, like the ultimate doom of man, and the search and longing for new and better worlds, are still there,” Olsson says. “The concept of something undiscovered out there in vast emptiness is pretty much always present.”

The recording process for Abyssal Trip differs from previous releases in that the band — guitarist Robert Sörling, drummer Jonatan Rimsbo and Olsson — opted to capture the performances while holed up in the mental bathysphere of a house in the countryside near Stockholm. “The songs benefitted from the relaxed environment of being away from everything,” Olsson explains. Indeed, the album sounds confident and meticulously arranged, afforded by the band’s isolation. Sörling mixed the album and it was mastered by Monolord drummer Esben Willems at Berserk Audio.

Album opener “Bellwether” begins dramatically with a very slow, nearly minute-long fade in of rumbling distortion setting the stage for heavily distorted bass and guitar plucking out the lugubrious riff for another minute and a half before the drums begin, and likewise equally as long before vocals gurgle to the surface. “Lake” abruptly shifts gears, opening with an unusually fast gallop before rupturing into thundering doom that soon drops into a clean-tone Middle Eastern melodic breakdown.

The title track serves as the album centerpiece, opening with ominous film dialogue about blood sacrifice that launches into pummeling, detuned guitars rumbling over gut-punching drums and howling vocals hearkening to the proto-sludge of Pink Floyd’s “The Nile Song.” The dynamic relents briefly for a slow building clean guitar melody before all instruments lock into a jerking riff topped off by a trilling Iommi style lead. Throughout, Abyssal Trip is, just like its title suggests, an epic tour through desolate zones which yields much to discover.

Follow The Band

Get Their Music

[idonthaveanaccent]

Just a little rambling and then a few bands I really like and you should totally check out, so expand it if you wanna see them :)

I know this isn’t a normal update, I just have to talk about this with someone.

Music is a vital part of everyday life for me. Everything I do has a backtrack. If I’m not watching a show in my room, I have to have music playing. When I write I have headphones in, blasting music, like right now. To go to sleep and sleep easily I have to play music, ever since I was young I’ve done it. I can’t remember not falling asleep without music playing. Music even helps inspire what I write. 

Point is, I love music. 

However, I am extremely uncomfortable with sharing my music. My freshman year I was made fun of the type of music I listen to, which has evolved a bit in the 3-4 years since that time, however it hasn’t ventured too far. 

When I was eleven my parents gave me a windows phone with no sim card, but it had a music app. They downloaded a bunch of child friendly songs and it was the first time I could control what I listened to. Before I had an old MP3 which was filled with Disney songs, Anamaniacs tunes, and ABBA’s Golden Hits. I can sing all them by heart, dances are a fun time for me. Now, I could look up songs. 

My best friend was into the alternative scene as her sister is six years older than us and as such had a more ‘adult’ music sense. She introduced me to the classic bands, Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, Panic! At the Disco, etc. I loved their music, we’d listen to it on the bus to middle school. However, as time went on, I began expanding my music taste. I got into My Three Days Grace, Shinedown, and other similar bands. Then, Freshman year came.

I remember the moment clear as day. I was working on my photography notebook the week before finals like the dumbass I was am, with Pandora open and listening to one of the many radios. Then, a song came on. It was by a band I hadn’t heard of before. It was called Bad Company, and the band was called Five Finger Death Punch. Now, little fourteen year old me was a little shocked by the name but the song wasn’t unlike anything I’d heard before. I decided I liked that song and favorited it.

A little while later more of their songs began popping up, but they were a little different. Heavier. Angrier. And I loved it. I don’t know what it was about the gruff vocals or pounding drum beats or glorious guitar solos, but I was hooked. I then moved onto Spotify and listened to their albums, headbanging all the way. This was my first experience with Metal, and you better believe I was a fan.

As time went on I explored more bands. Alesana, Asking Alexandria, Crown the Empire, A Day to Remember, Halestorm, Ghost, etc. I tried showing people my favorite bands but they made fun of my music taste, mimicking their screams whenever I looked up. It was disheartening, and I never wanted to share it again. Not until I knew they were okay with it. I had people tell me they were scared of that music, and asked me to never play it in front of them. You can see how that would make me never want to tell anyone about it, right? Well, I kept it to myself, electing to share music with only a few people, one being my friend. She always jokes about how she showed me Fall Out Boy and all them and then lost me along the way. 

During Junior year I discovered even more bands, including one of my favorites, Ice Nine Kills. Amazing band, you should definitely check them out, but the advertising comes later. My music taste also diversified a little and I began listening to softer bands, like grandson and The Ghost Club. 

Now, to the main show. My recent music taste.

It all began with one Instagram video. A meme video that really isn’t all that funny. I was actually just looking through what I saved and it happened to be in a  really small folder, so I clicked it. Here is the exact video

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by positive memes (@positive_and_negative_memes) on Feb 23, 2019 at 6:14pm PST

So I was interested the song and band and decided to look them up. What I found was simply...amazing.

Okay, here comes the advertising of my favorite bands :)

I. Gloryhammer

The first Power Metal band I discovered and still my favorite. Here’s how Gloryhammer describes themselves:

“And lo, Planet Earth had been destroyed by the Hootsman, with an explosion so powerful it ripped a hole in the very fabric of spacetime. And yet, Zargothrax was still not defeated, for he managed to use his last shreds of power to escape through the dimensional rift. Vowing to defeat the evil sorcerer, Angus McFife XIII followed him into the portal, with no idea where it might lead…“

That may seem confusing, and it is, but trust me, when I tell you a bit more, it will all make sense. 

So Gloryhammer is one of the best bands I have ever heard before. Their concept is absolute gold and is the only of its kind I’ve seen before. Basically, every single one of their songs tells a story of the Land of Fife. The Lead singer (Thomas Winkler) is Prince Angus McFife (the 1st and 13th), keyboard/backing vocals (Christopher Bowes) is the Evil Sorcerer Zargothrax, guitar/backing vocals (Paul Templing) is Sir Proletiues, leader of the warriors of Crail, drums (Ben Turk) is the Ancient Hermit Ralathor, and last but never least is bass/backing vocals (James Cartwright), the Mighty Hootsman! 

Each album follows a part in the epic saga, with three in total. The first album tells the story of the original Angus McFife the I whereas the next two follow his ancestor, Anguc McFife XIII. I don't want to give too much spoilers but let's just say that all three are filled with so much creativity and twists that it’s like listening to a movie! I cant even express how if you are looking for something to listen to that has dragons, goblin kings, evil sorcerers, hammers, and space, then this is the band for you! 

I am going to put one song by them down because you can only have five and I’m big mad about it.

Gloryhammer - Legends from Beyond the Galactic Terrorvortex

So yeah, that’s band numero uno!

II. Sabaton

What is there to say about Sabaton that hasn’t already been said... 

Unlike Gloryhammer, Sabaton is older, formed in the nineties. Here’s what they say about themselves on their website:

“In the nearly two decades since their launch, Swedish metallers Sabaton have carved out a reputation as one of the hardest working bands in the business – gaining a legion of loyal fans across the globe, delivering eight highly-rated studio albums (including two certified platinum-sellers), and scoring multiple industry award wins and nominations… not to mention launching their own annual festival and cruise.

Combining soaring power riffs with vocalist Joakim Brodén’s instantly-recognisable gruff baritone, the band refuses to be simply slotted into a genre. Fans need only know them as Sabaton: the heavy metal band that sings of real life wars and the people who played a part in them – of gruelling campaigns and dazzling acts of bravery, of magnificent victories and touching personal struggles – true stories more fantastic than any fiction,”

Sabaton is, as they stated, a band dedicated to sharing stories of true battles throughout history. On their website they even have a whole calendar dedicated to historic events, so you can see what happened in history on whatever day you’d like! 

As a huge history geek, this band is amazing. I would watch the World War documentary series before I went to bed in middle school because I thought all of that stuff was so interesting. If I didn’t love writing and English as much as I do then I’d go into a career where history was involved. They were actually a part of my Spotify Wrapped this year where I explored 27 of their songs, listened to six of their albums, and spent over 39 hours listening to just them this year. 

Unlike what I did before, I am just going to showcase three of my favorite songs by them because they have way too many albums and I’m sad to say I didn’t listen to all of them. 

The Lost Battalion - The Last Stand

Now, onto the third band and a good one too!

III. Powerwolf

I’m not a religious person, I grew up being taught all that stuff but I consider myself to be more agnostic rather than Christian or any of that stuff. But, if there’s one religious thing I don’t mind bumping its the Priests of Metal, Powerwolf! Here's what they have to say about themselves:

“After spilling gallons of blood and fighting tirelessly, after only two albums with Napalm Powerwolf shot straight to the pole position of the official German album charts (and another album made it into the top three!). After selling out venue after venue and thrilling bigger and bigger hordes of fans, the time is right for a new chapter: The Sacrament Of Sin which offers eleven metal psalms forged for all eternity!

Powerwolf entered Fascination Street Studios in Örebrö, Sweden starting in January 2018 to work on their seventh manifesto together with renowned producer Jens Bogren (Opeth, Arch Enemy, Amon Amarth). The result is brimming with the Germans` trademark sound, and yet the band have recorded their boldest and most adventurous album to date! ‘Where the wild wolves have gone‘ even marks the first ballad in Powerwolf history – whereas ‘Nightside of Siberia‘ does the exact opposite and turns out to be one of the heaviest tunes the fivepiece have ever written. ‘Incense And Iron‘ simply MUST be part of every future setlist with its folky nature and anthemic catchiness; and epic single ‘Fire & Forgive‘ brilliantly melts infectious melodies into timeless, heavy shredding. The Sacrament Of Sin overwhelms both with sophisticated songwriting and sheer aggression – and proves once more why Powerwolf are the one and only true high priests of heavy metal!,”

The band is made up of vocalist  Karsten Brill as "Attila Dorn", lead guitarist Benjamin Buss as "Matthew Greywolf", bassist/rhythm guitarist David Vogt as "Charles Greywolf", keyboardist Christian Jost as "Falk Maria Schlegel" and drummer Roel van Helden. 

They’re really awesome and here’s my favorite song by them.

Army of the Night - Blessed and Possessed 

Now onto the fourth band ;)...

IV. Brothers of Metal

Oh boy, if you thought the bands might’ve mellowed out a little then you are sorely unprepared for this glorious group...

When I was younger I was one of those Percy Jackson kids, but my love for mythology started long before I read one of those books. As I grew older I expanded my knowledge, moving away from Greek and Roman and into Norse and other mythologies. You can imagine my joy when I found Brothers of Metal. They have no Wikipedia or website so here’s what Spotify says about them:

“BROTHERS OF METAL consist of eight powerful Viking warriors that originates from the glorious kingdom of Falun, far up in the north. Falun is a mighty town that lies within the dark iron woods where only true metal warriors reside. BROTHERS OF METAL are known to most as the strongest metal band in the nine realms. 

Before time, our eight warriors would travel through the realms and protect the good folk against evil. It was one of those nights that the legacy of metal was born. They came home from some pretty intense giant slaying and felt the common urge for mead and entertainment. The mead was generously flowing from the teats of Heidrun, but the music was really bad. The warriors took what instruments they could find and started playing, thus they wrote their first song Son of Odin, creating a tribute hymn to the strongest god they knew. 

The mortals of the kingdom was so impressed with the music that they couldn't get enough, our warriors looked at each other and so a band was formed. Together they swor an oath to keep the flames of true metal burning and to continue to play until the earthlings had worthy entertainment of their own, it's yet to come,” 

They haven’t released a ton of music when compared to the bands I listed before them, but they are absolutely amazing! All their music videos make me chuckle and when I watch Q&A’s they’ve posted they feel so down to earth that a person whos probably a decade younger than them if not less/more can relate to them. All their music has to do with Norse Mythology, but here’s my favorite music video yet:

The Mead Song - Prophecy of Ragnarök

And yeah, that’s it!

I hope you all weren't too bored and I hope you at least somewhat enjoyed this. It feels good to talk about my favorite bands. I’d love to put more videos in but Tumblr won’t let you so I guess we’re stuck with only one per band. I planned on doing three each but I guess that’s dead in the water. 

Oh well.

If you like any of this music/band honestly just reach out and talk to me, I love chatting about music. I don’t know a ton about the logistics or anything like that but we can share bands or songs or whatever. I sound really lonely which is true but please don’t feel shy.

See you all later! 

-Paige

[manjuhitorie]

Hitorie’s Recent Tweets - Translated and Dissected

Hitorie’s recent happenings and side-activities, arranged and explained.  Yumao

Pwease somebody whisk me away to a drummers meetup. I’ve never been.

There was a large meetup the day before he tweeted this, his TL was surely flocking with his friend's photos. Jealous Mao.

 I’m gonna be unza-unza at Kashima PALOOZA.

Hitorie were part of the the opening act for ‘Back Drop Cinderella’ on their ‘Get Serious Dancing The Unza-unza tour’. “Unza-unza” is their own neologism, many song names include the term unza-unza, they play “perverted pop” and dance unza-unza with the crowd, etc. Originated from ‘Emir Kusturica & The No Smoking Orchestra’’s song “unza-unza time”.

Dear newly inaugurated adults, don’t drink alcohol if you’re still not over 20!!!!!!! Over and out!!!!!!

In reference to the January holiday in JP, Seijinshiki. it’s fundamentally a day with haregi kimonos, ceremony, and youngins pronounced of age for adulthood.

Baaro

Slang of “Baka yarou (damned idiot)”, originated from Detective Conan.

Everyone of twitter, you really don’t wanna lose to President Maezawa.

Maezawa Yusaku recently beat the world record for most retweeted tweet, after promoting his retail shopping website ZOZOTOWN by dispensing 1 million yen to 100 chosen retweeters. Which sparked twitter community to start “Resisting President Maezawa” with their own various lotteries. Such as the Golden Egg which did manage to surpass Maezawa.

Did Remo’s CS Clear always have such attack power…? When I had them on my Vistalite set, I sensed they just made it feel fat and heavy but, did they always have such strong attack power?.. They leave such a strong impression...

Ref: https://bit.ly/2szU1Xp

Using my money on gear puts me in such a cheerful mood

[Photo of 3 wrapped drum heads]. He bought them.

Ahh my YD9000, I love you. Thanks much for this year!!

Shinoda

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bshog8EFCt5/

I got a dental crown.

https://privatter.net/p/4137778 - http://onsenmanjukun.tumblr.com/post/172040512391 SND’s dental dilemma is his go-to story at this moment.

https://twitter.com/sho_do_teki/status/1085031296034717696

Why is Shinjuku station all Mister Khamen Reply: Cause the Lion statue is a pyramid. A-a genius has appeared,,,,,

In SND’s favorite manga KinnikuMan, Mister Khamen is a character inspired by olden Egyptian society, hence the pyramid connection. While the Lion is a renowned statue in front of Shinjuku station, like a landmark it’s a common meeting place there.

SND’s original manga slides translation (https://bit.ly/2szU1Xp):  

“Dear Shiohigari, on your 30th year…” “Happy Birthday” “Shiohigari you’re the best I love you”’ “I like-like of the likey you” “Everyone…” “Thank you.” “(Creatures thought to be FF5 Catastrophes, talking in Mojibake)”

Shiohigari, an artist of who is known for his signature draws cute girls with bizarre punchlines. SND also wears his face keychain on his pants often. 

Replies:  Shiohigari “Now I am endlessly depressed. It’s going to be about 10 years since we met isn’t it. Let’s stay together forever.’ SND “I’m glad I didn’t make this the punchline: <picture of a manipulative machine linking up to a brain>. Shioho “I yearn to be like this after all”. SND “True”. Shioho “I blinked and I was in this state, that was the one single lesson I learned in my 20s. Thanks Shinoda-san.” I wanted to avoid drawing my nameless manga so much, that I put a bizarre amount of effort into Shiohigari’s birthday manga

Kamikiri Ryunosuke … Translation: I cut my hair

Kamiki Ryunosuke is the name of an actor. Who’s name resembles the word “kamikiri (haircut)”... He’s making a pun.

I had a dream where The Tunnels (*a longtime comedy duo) forced me to buy a clock for a million yen.

~

At CDJ (Countdown Japan, a new year music festival) we came together in an attempt to awaken Pretty*, I saw the band of my old college mate, I saw the band of one of my manga readers (Big respect for him), per natural I missed Kankaku Pierrot, per usual I saw Shaggy Jr. and Kuusou Iinkai, then I got drunk as a skunk after and chatted it up jovial. CDJ is always the best.

I forgot to include the part about using my phone as a penlight and singing along with the crowd for Wasurerannee yo, ya don't forget about Wasurerannee yo. *(Because their name translates to “I don't forget shittt” sort of phrase.)

Also this is a pretty disgusting tweet but… Before we first met I was the one who was always watching ygarshy play while I was down on the floor, so… When I saw him playing bass at CDJ, something horrifying swelled up in my heart. I truly do like watching ygarshy play bass up on the stage, I realized.

The one who SND was trying wake up, the bassist of go!go!vanillas, Pretty, was involved in a car accident.. Much to his loved one's devastation he was hospitalized and remained unconscious for a few weeks on end.. To at last finally wake up... The band crew reunited at his bedside, his recovery back to his life and the stage is certain.

wowaka

I suck at dealing with the world but I do love people!

I like music too much

January 4th Instagram live report:

“We announced a lot, so look forward to a lot.” hitorie.jp

He lazed around for the new year, he didn’t go home or meet anyone or anything

*Replying to a comment* “I wanna go to Hakone Onsen too”

wowaka’s favorite songs from ‘HOWLS’ are November and Ao.

Said his New years resolution “瞬” derived from “瞬発” 

Went to his first New Year’s visit to shrine at Sensouji in Asakusa, received the super rare good luck fortune.

On the subject of the upcoming Chou Hinichijou Hitori-escape, which includes special events for each member, he laughed at a comment saying it’s a chance for Yuma to probably go on rambling about drums and rhythm: "Hahaha, he loves drums after all".

also bonus info on Polaris I’ll flinging here: https://twitter.com/boat_manju/status/1067352775892324353 https://twitter.com/boat_manju/status/1066948087468515334

ygarshy

As support for Wasurerannee yo, guests upon Arukara’s tour, we finished our show up in Sapporo, Hokkaido. I send gratitude towards everyone who was at the arena. Shimogami-san (Arukara’s bassist) when he mowed down the trinkets on top of Taisuke’s (Arukara’s vocalist) amp with his shield of wildness, that brought me such satisfaction to watch.

I’ve arrived back at home in Tokyo a step ahead of everyone else. Shimogami-san’s bass line in their new song was extremely cool.

I’m in Osaka right now. Time for the support of Wasureranee yo at the live house Shinsabashi JANUS. In the same fashion as Wasurerannee yo, Hitorie will also later be joining ‘Sukippara ni Sake’ on their new release Doro.ep’. tour.

ygarshy has been filling in as the bassist for the band ‘Wasureranee yo’ He’s been parading along for a many gigs since July of last year, including CDJ2019, their big solo show final, various festivals, and more. + yg is in 3 songs on their new single: “That guy hit a long shot and that girl swooned while I was at home”. “Odore Hikikomori”, “When we all cheered the only glass you didn’t tap was mine”. Judging by the photos Shibata posts of their partnership, they seem to be staying awake until 4 drinking and smiling together, often have their arms wrapped around shoulders, and yg seems to be truly enjoying it.

Advanced pizza

<Photo of three boxes of different card games, including Startups, One Night Werewolf, and The Lost Legacy> <https://twitter.com/ygarshy/status/1082259497819824128> 

The ambience of a new year

<Photo of a mixed pizza> <https://twitter.com/ygarshy/status/1081559687961739265> Pretty I believe in you Good morning Pretty

[sftswigan]

Manchester garage punks, Tinfoils, George from the band tells us about their latest single, their money raising effort for BLMUK and how a game of pool completed the band...

Alright hope you’re doing well through this shit time.

Can you tell us who Tinfoils are and where did the name come from?

TINFOILS are a mardy northern bastard garage punk band based in Manchester. There's three of us, and we've all moved here from Yorkshire.

The name came from when I was on an X Files hype. Thought it was a good name for a band, so I just got the Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages before we'd even done a rehearsal! I think it was before we even met Will. I just thought it was a good name, the other two agreed and we ran with it.

Sounds like you had confidence in this band early on then. How did you find Will and what has he brought to the band?

I don't know if I had loads of confidence in the band before we started really, I just thought the name was cool! We didn't really take it very seriously for a long time, took us about 6 months to bother looking for a gig. Was just an excuse to meet and get pissed up at first.

Me and Alex had known each other for a while, and went to a pub in Fallowfield. We were having a game of pool, when two blokes came up and asked if they could play doubles because no other tables were free. We agreed, and one of them turned out to be Will. After that they invited us to some flat party, and at about 6 in the morning on some unknown persons kitchen worktop he mentioned he played bass. We met up a couple of days later and the rest is history.

He's an amazing bassist, and his love for funk has a massive impact on every song I write. Tunes always come out sounding better once I show them to Will and Alex.

Love the bass lines in your songs, The Abyss, especially. Could’ve been a different story if you and Alex decided that was your last game of pool and just handed it to Will and his mate!

Like The Blinders, you also (and I think one or two others have followed suit) made the journey from Doncaster to Manchester. How much of a difference has that made to you and the band?

Definitely! All credit for that goes to our mate Breezy to be fair, he was the one who suggested doubles. He drops it in to conversation every time he's trying to convince us to come out.

Yeah I moved from Doncaster about 5 years ago, I do love it to bits but I wouldn't have been able to do half the stuff I wanted to if I'd stayed. Wouldn't have met Alex and Will, and probably wouldn't have ended up starting a band. There are some decent bands in Doncaster but a lot of it was indie stuff at the time, which I do like but not something I was interested in doing. The music scene in Manchester is amazing at the moment, there's so much music and it's all really different and interesting. Best place for music in the country at the moment I reckon.

Manchester is definitely a great place for music but I think the UK in general has a really good music scene at the moment with loads of good bands about! Though places like Manchester have some unreal venues and bands love playing there.

I wanna talk about your latest single ‘Spitting’ which was released during lockdown. Absolutely love that track! You went to Magic Garden to record it. What did recording it there bring to the song?

Cheers mate, we're really happy with it. I think it added a lot going to Magic Garden, Gavin's brilliant. First of all, it's just way higher quality than anything else we've put out, and I think it manages to sound a lot like we do live. Gavin also suggested we add some vocals in to middle 8 bit, which was originally just instrumental. I quickly wrote something down on a bit of scrap paper in a few minutes, and recorded it in one take, and that's the take in the final song. It's the whole "lap me up I'm stagnant water" bit. We'll hopefully get some more tunes recorded soon, would love another trip to the garden. The music video for the song is just clips of our time at the studio mixed in with some live clips, had a really good time there.

I hear quite a few bands speak highly of him and his influence on their time in his studio. He does seem to get great results.

You recently released some songs on bandcamp that were live demos if I remember correctly. Are they going onto Spotify at any point and also will you be recording any of these? Peeping Tom is probably one of my favourites of yours.

Yeah they're a load of demos we did at Dead Basic Studios last year, we thought it was a shame to have them just lying about. We decided to put them out and donate all the money from Bandcamp Day to BLMUK, every little helps doesn't it. They won't be going on Spotify, but I reckon we'll probably record a couple of them properly one day. Peeping Tom's a bit of a favourite, would love to get that recorded in a studio but there's a million tempo changes so I think it'd probably be tricky to nail down. Its one of my favourites to play live, especially when we're headlining and get the chance for a self-indulgent 10 minute jam with a big sing-a-long. The demos will stay on Bandcamp for the foreseeable, but I think we'll probably take them off at some point.

A great cause, did you manage to raise much? Some really good tracks on there would love to here them recorded like you say.

So what are the bands plans once lockdown is relaxed to a point bands and musicians to get out there and do proper stuff without fear again?

Yeah we raised about £60-70 I think? It was only for the day, when Bandcamp waived their fees. Props to Lewis from Dead Basic for recording and mixing them all.

First things first we need to get in for a rehearsal! I've written a load of new songs which I'm looking forward to working out, I think it'll be a lot of new tunes in the set list when we're back gigging. Hopefully reschedule our tour that had to be postponed, play some tunes, get some recording done, and go out and see some bands! Just got to hope it's not too far off.

That’s awesome! Excited about the new tunes and future recordings...and gigs again obviously.

Hopefully you can squeeze a rearranged gig for us on the tour!

You mentioned how highly you rate the Manchester scene. Which bands should people go and see once bands get to gig again?

There's a tonne of bands to go and see, to name a few: Loose Articles, Blanketman, The Early Mornings, Swine, Springfield Elementary, Giant Boys, The Red Stains, Cold Water Swimmers, and loads of others. There's a lot of different styles about but I do feel like there's a sort of coherent feeling between all the bands around here at the minute. It got to the point just before pandemic where no matter which venue or what day, if you turned up you'd probably see something amazing. Fingers crossed it all survives the lockdown!

There’s some good bands there, really like Springfield Elementary and Swine what I’ve heard of them and also Red Stains. I need to check the others out but we’re very lucky to have so many good bands about and more people these days that are very much into new music!

We’re gonna end the interview with some quick fun questions...

Favourite album/EP of this year?

I'm gonna go with either Zero Dollar Bill by Do Nothing, or The Non-Stop EP by Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard. Can't pick between them!

Also really looking forward to Fontaines DCs new album, and Idles, and The Blinders.

If Tinfoils could tour with any band alive or dead who would it be?

Would love to go on tour with Fontaines DC, Idles or Sleaford Mods. If I had to pick between them, at the moment probably Fontaines. Loving their last few singles, and Dogrel was banging.

Ah wait, Thee Oh Sees! Maybe Oh Sees actually. Any of the above would allow me to die happy.

Is there a song that at least one member isn’t keen on in the set but are outnumbered?

I don't really like The Royal Baby Machine that much, but the other two do.

Chinese food or Indian?

Indian

Lager or Real ale?

Ale, but more of a standard bitter to be honest. Not West Coast passionfruit and jasmine infused with lemongrass IPA stuff, it's rank and I don't get it. Give me a pint of John Smiths over that wank any day.

Festival you’d love to play?

Wouldn't turn down Glasto!

Last one...

Best live band you’ve seen?

Best live band I've seen is probably Idles.

Alex, our drummer says Cabbage at Night & Day was probably the best gig he’s been to recently

Thanks to George from Tinfoils for chatting to us! You can listen to their music on all the streaming services and go and visit their social media pages. Here is their latest effor, Spitting.

[electricdazemag]

Muero: Interview

words by Tasha Bielaga, photos by Xander Marrow

A band of misfits, a boy band by definition-- Muero are newcomers to the Portland music scene. The band consists of members from Miami, Minnesota, Texas, New York, and one Oregonian, who now all call bridge city home. Vocalist and guitarist Alexander Ochoa, guitarist Francis Wilhelm, drummer Dilan Barajas, bassist Clark Newman, and keyboardist Colin Cauthorn spend most of their days jamming, writing, recording, and throwing shows (translate: All music, all the time). Springtime brought them an EP recorded at Revolver Studios, a name change, and some gigs. If all goes as planned, summer will bring them, in their own words, “ideas that bloom like flowers in the pavement”. As the sunny days roll in, we chatted about how Muero came to be, how their entrance to the DIY community is going, and the new EP.

Electric Daze: Tell us a little bit about yourselves? How did Muero become Muero?

Clark: I’m originally from Minneapolis, I’ve only been in Portland for about 2 years. Alex moved in with me because my roommates knew him.

Alex: I basically moved her from Miami with the purpose of starting a band. I was apprenticing at a studio called Miami Beach Studios and my old band Golden Arrow was close to getting signed, and it all kinda fell apart. So I left town and decided I wanted to do what I was doing there, somewhere else. Then I met Clark. Dilan was in another band called United Suns, I was going to record them but Dilan ended up getting kicked out, and we just decided to play together. Francis and Colin played in Alberta Paper Company together and they both got kicked out.

Dilan: We’re a band of misfits. It was kind of a stroke of luck that we ended up in the same room and realized we all played music.

Alex: We were originally called Hormones, then Swoon, but that name was used by a few acts and we didn’t want to confuse anyone. Muero means die, or the sensation of dying, in Spanish. It was originally a name I had came up with for a solo project before moving here. We’re also a boyband by definition, we all have our own personality and backstory but it’s cool because on a musical level we fit together right.

ED: Dilan’s in Mustrd, and I know you all jam a lot. How do you go about balancing other musical projects with Swoon?

Dilan: It’s difficult for me, because Muero just went into the studio and recorded our album, while Mustrd. is one step behind in the process. I just have to have patience and try to make myself available. Also with the fast-paced nature of Muero, when I work with Mustrd. I kind of already know how I want things, how I want my drums set up or what’s going to work best for me.

Alex: Muero is the main thing that I write for, I write other music and I have other ideas but a lot is just for me. I’m the initial song writer for Muero, but everyone’s also writing their own songs. Swoon is more of a collective of songwriters, and that was always my intention for the band.

 ED: How is throwing shows at your house?

Dilan: With the three that we’ve had, each one has been a little different. The first one was great, second show was on 4/20 and had a good turn out, but we had a bad house guest that upset a lot of people. With those two under our belt, we knew how to throw the third one and make it work. We got to facilitate a touring band as well as a local band that has a pretty good following. It took some trial and error, but we know how to do it now. It’s fun, it’s not the same experience as a venue show.

Alex: We do want to throw more house shows, but we’re trying to be very selective about it. It’s important to give time between each show to work out the kinks and plan better. Our next show is with a band from Seattle and we’re going to host them here, and when we tour they’re going to host us up there. There’s a couple other bands that I’d love to get on our bill.

Clark: I love playing house shows, but I’m awful around big crowds.

Francis: I love it, I love the diverse group of people and it’s fun. It’s very comfortable and carefree. Most people are very gracious and thankful for the house.

Alex: I get anxious with the people in our house. All of our stuff is here and it’s putting a lot of trust in others. We want to be able to provide a space for all kinds of bands, like On Drugs played here and they’re wild, but they didn’t get too crazy with our gear and they were really cool.

ED: How do you feel about playing house shows vs. shows at bars and clubs?

Francis: I prefer house shows, they’re more personal and down to earth. It can depend on the venue too.

Dilan: I’m on the other end of the spectrum.

Colin: There’s more chicks at the venues though.

Clark: I like house shows but with bars a lot of the work is done for you. They have a sound guy that does the soundchecks and they help point you in the right direction.

Alex: I handled the email, and that shit’s important. Working with the venue is a lot of backwork. But it’s awesome to play venues if you have a good venue. I was bummed that they charged five at the door instead of a free show. One thing about the venues here is that it’s a lot more business based and they want people to pay for every single thing. There’s a middle ground that we want to achieve where everyone can just come enjoy our music and have a good time.

ED: How do you feel about the Portland DIY community?

Dilan: We haven’t been a part of it for that long, we’ve only played with about 4 bands and we’re only homies with one really.

Alex: It’s very acquaintance based for us right now. There’s some microshade of people testing what you’re made of, but that’s just the world of music. Moving here from Miami, the scene there brought a lot of different styles of music together and they don’t do that here.

Clark: But we’ve yet to have a bad experience with a band so far, it’s all been really good.

Francis: I think it’s pretty inclusive, there’s just a lot of different pockets and genres. Everyone’s pretty friendly, it’s not super competitive.

Clark: I think Portland is kind of a clique-y city, but once we start playing more and networking it’ll be easier to break in.

ED: Let’s talk about the new EP! When did you start writing for it?

Alex: We're yet to set on a record concept yet, we’re considering a self-titled. I first started writing for it when I moved to Portland. I would make skeletons and give everyone the form of the song. Clark learned the roots of what I was doing and then made his bassline, and Francis knows the key and makes his guitar lines.

Francis: As far as writing for other people’s songs, I’m kind of an improv guitarist, I’m very routed in Jazz. I just listen and make it up as I go. I think we all kind of work that way when writing together.

Alex: We grind out the songs together and it’s exhausting and can be frustrating. But I’m very grateful that everyone here can work towards one goal. I love these guys and the music sounds great for our first go.

ED: What was the inspiration behind these songs?

Alex: I’ve written the lyrics over the past few months. Leaving Miami, I felt a really heavy loss and everything I’d come to known as my life was gone. When I first moved here I just had a bed, table, and chair. I cut my hair and had a bit of a mental breakdown in December, and shaved both my eyebrows. It was a bad time. We had a harsh winter, and I had never experienced coldness like that, and I had nothing. All the titles for songs are phrases and quotes. We have ideas and write them down. One is called Open Door Policy which is what our house is, we always welcome people over.

ED: What should people expect?

Dilan: Good vibes. I mean people always ask what kind of music I play and that question has always baffled me, I just end up telling them that my music feels good. They can expect good music.

Clark: I think they should take it for what it is.

ED: With recording, Alex and Colin are really well versed in that. Are you excited to record in studio instead of on your own?

Alex: We’re recording in Revolver Studios and it’s beautiful. We’re very lucky because they’re picky with who they want there. I engineered most of our demo recording and they turned out well. I’m so excited to work in a legitimate studio and have an outside opinion.

Dilan: And this is what we want to do with the rest of our EP’s, so it’s a good start.

 ED: This is the first interview you guys have done as a band, and the first ever for some of you as well! As your first interview, is there anything you want to say?

Francis: Try to love your fellow man, you know.

Alex: We want to let everyone know that we just want to throw good shows and have people enjoy our music. We want to be friends with everyone and for them to feel welcome.

Francis: Musicians are just people

Clark: We might be a little more sensitive than others, but we’re just people

Alex: But yeah! We’re here to bring it for Portland!

Connect with Muero on Facebook and Instagram.

This interview was conducted for the PDX Summer 2017 issue of the Call Your Mom zine presented by Electric Daze. Check back here to read the other interviews and view photos of Portland bands.

Find Xander’s work on Instagram at @xandermarrowphotography

View Tasha’s work for the magazine here. 

[chaos-and-recover]

I was tagged by @nikkihorrorxx to post 10 songs I’ve been vibin’ to lately. I did this a few weeks ago but!!! I wanna do it again because I have new additions and want to share links so you can all get on my level.

1. Lucky Boys Confusion - Burn A Little Brighter This whole album, and this song specifically, have pretty much been my #1 go-to listen since it came out in early April. I didn’t even know they were working on a new album (they haven’t released anything since like 2008 and I lost track of them entirely), but saw a post on a different band’s Instagram about this album, cried (like... actually), and bought it right away. Knew all the words within like a week and a half and have been checking their site for tour dates outside the Chicago area and/or hoping for a show on a date when I can travel to see them because I love them so much. This song, specifically, since the first time I heard it has just stayed with me.

2. Dreamcar - All Of The Dead Girls So now all of you who don’t know wtf my URL is about can understand, since I changed it like as soon as I heard this song and then... never post about Dreamcar because I have a sideblog for that (well no, I have a sideblog for AFI but it’s been taken over by Dreamcar). It’s new-wavey af and incredibly catchy, and “all the dead girls love me, the gone boys too” is, for me, evocative of something very specific when sung by Davey Havok and I’m all about it.

3. Paramore - Idle Worship On my last list I put Rose Colored Boy because it was literally in my head at the time I wrote it, but now that I’ve listened to After Laughter like... a lot, this is the song that really stands out for me. 

4. New Kids On The Block - Still Sounds Good To Me Look I’m absolute boyband trash at all times forever. The New Kids are goddamn kryptonite for me. This song is not good. I can’t find a quality version of it on YouTube, just some live versions where it’s part of a medley of other songs from their current tour, but trust me when I say it isn’t actually a good song. It is objectively not good. I know this. But it samples 99 Red Balloons, and like. My love for that song is almost as eternal as my love for garbage boybands. This dumb ass middle aged boyband is very, very good at putting out music that isn’t good but that I want to listen to all the time. They’ve ruined my life.

5. AFI - Still A Stranger This is the song that properly sold me on The Blood Album, because I wasn’t sure about it at first, but I really, really love something about this song. Maybe it reminds me of the kind of AFI songs I originally fell in love with? I don’t know, it’s just my favourite.

6. July Talk - Beck + Call I really need this band to be bigger so I can go off about their aesthetic and performance and the duality of their vocalists and how they play with power, relationship and gender dynamics and people won’t look at me like I’m crazy. Also I’m low key in love with their bassist. Also if they do get bigger (I mean they’re already fairly big here, on the radio all the goddamn time and co-headlining a 16,000 seat venue this month but like... internationally) I’m gonna do my best not to bitch about before they were cool. Well not too much.  Please like July Talk.

7. Jimmy Eat World - The End Is Beautiful The designated slow jam of this list. I find this ballad about letting go of the pain of a past relationship absolutely stunning.

8. Take That - New Day This might be the video that finally gets me into this album, because I love it so much and it’s made me like the song a lot more which makes me want to give the whole album a proper chance, so yeah, I’m into it.

9. Zedd feat. Alessia Cara - Stay I’ve liked Zedd for a while and I will stan the crap out of anything Alessia does, and I’m so thrilled for her and everything she’s achieving so yeah I’m kind of all about this song.

10. July Talk - Lola + Joseph I’m not fucking around about my love for July Talk, you guys.

Anyway everyone should do this cause it’s fun and I wanna know what you’re listening to!

[hasiefardiasyah]

Here’s an example of how the universe works in weird ways. A few weeks ago, for some reason I went browsing for videos of Beatnikk, an Arctic Monkeys-sounding Jakarta band circa 2010. I recall seeing one show, I don’t think they got around to recording an album, and they’ve probably broken up. But I remember being impressed by the precise playing of one TJ Kusuma, whom you may know now as lead guitarist of Barasuara.

The lead singer of Beatnikk was Mesa Sinaga, whom you might recognise as the vocalist and songwriter of mid-to-late 2000s Jakarta band Holy City Rollers. They had some decent songs (including “Hook Up” which I’ve embedded above) and a energy just on the right side of chaotic when performing live. They released their debut album in 2007, an EP in 2009 and pretty much disappeared save for the occasional show as recently as last year. (I last saw them a couple of times in 2014.) Besides forming Beatnikk in what I assume was one of Holy City Rollers’ many inactive periods, Mesa also put out a solo album in 2012 which included a song he’d previously performed with Beatnikk, which I assume means the band had broken up by then.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago, during a wedding where I spotted Harsya Adhyatmiko, who was Beatnikk’s drummer and currently plays live with Kimokal. I don’t think I’d ever had a conversation with him before, but while he was talking to a mutual friend I felt some random idiotic urge to butt in and mention that I’d recently been watching Beatnikk videos on YouTube. Inevitably talk turned to Mesa, and he mentioned that Holy City Rollers were recording a new album.

Lo and behold, a few days ago - after not seeing him in over three years - I happened to meet Mesa with his wife and kid at the Foodmart supermarket in Townsquare Cilandak. I’d had a few conversations with him over the years, so I was less inclined to feel like a random idiotic when asking him about the upcoming Holy City Rollers album. He said they’ve almost finished recording and will release it soon. Mesa, bassist Andrey Miko and drummer Stevanus Shada are what’s left of the original band; keyboardist Iman Adisoma was already gone from those shows I saw in 2014, and I’m not sure when guitarist Mohammad Andrew Herizal left but the only posts on his Instagram account are three repeated posts from January 2017 in which he was selling his guitar. Too bad he’s left the band because I loved his tone and clean style of playing, but even at the height of the band’s hype a decade ago he was already trying to balance it with a busy legal career. Currently on lead guitar is Alfiando Sambudhi Krishna, late of the band OhNo!and Bernardus Fritz of Sunmantra is on synths. (The latter’s Instagram refers to himself as an additional member of Holy City Rollers, for what it’s worth.)

I wish I could say there is a point to this long, rambling post, but there really isn’t one. Maybe if you’re a Holy City Rollers fan, you might be interested to know they’re coming back. You can follow them on Instagram if you really want to know. As for how long they’ll stick around this time, your guess is as good as mine. Either way, I look forward to hearing what they come up with.

[rockrevoltmagazine]

Foo Fighters - Matthew Knight Arena - Eugene, OR

Eugene, Oregon, also known as TrackTown USA, is a haven to hipsters working on their facial hair and the iGeneration seeking their post-secondary education. It is also not necessarily the first place you’d think of to host one of the biggest bands on planet Earth, but that’s exactly what happened December 5th, 2017.

The Matthew Knight Arena, home to the University of Oregon Ducks basketball and indoor volleyball programs, is a state of the art facility capable of sheltering just over 12,000 men, women, and children. But on this foggy, cold evening in December, its doors were opened to the Northwest’s own Foo Fighters.

But before we would be experiencing the fighters of the Foo, we were treated to an absolutely incredible performance by a 4-piece from across the pond called The Struts. The Struts, made up of lead singer Luke Spiller, guitarist Adam Slack, bassist Jed Elliot, and drummer Gethin Davies, absolutely blew the Matthew Knight Arena away. The flamboyant, charismatic Luke Spiller engaged with every soul in the venue, inspiring each person to wave their arms, stand up, dance around, and cheer. I have never in all my years seen an opening band get the crowd as engaged as this foursome did.

Luke addressed the crowd saying, “I know that none of you are here to see us tonight, but thank you for checking us out and giving us the time of day. Thank you.” He went on later to say, “Back home in the UK, we don’t get this kind of attention, so we bought four tickets and came to the USA, and we’re playing the shows of our lives in front of the best people in the world and now supporting the Foos. Thanks to all of you, and thanks to the Foo Fighters.”

There are a lot of parallels that I could draw between The Struts and some other well-known and familiar bands, but I think it would be better for you to lay your senses on them. Then, come back and tell me what you think.

The Foo Fighters were a bit late getting on stage, which meant that the crowd in Eugene was in for a very long night. Afterall, this is not a band that’s best known for adhering to curfew. Opening up with the song “Run” from their recent release, Concrete and Gold, the Foo came out with both barrels blazing. Singer Dave Grohl frantically paced the front of the enormous stage making sure that every eye in the venue was on him and his band. He then went on to say that the Foo Fighters intend to play for roughly six and a half hours which just got the already rambunxious crowd even more fired up. Dave then laughed, saying, “Oh come on, nobody wants to hear ANY band for six fucking hours.”

During one particularly poingiant moment, Dave walked out to the front center of the stage, his beautiful blue Gibson hollow-body in hand and began playing “My Hero.” Dave played and the crowd cheered. As he sang the first two verses without any other accompaniment, it was as if the oxygen just got sucked out of the arena. When the rest of the band kicked in, the roar of the crowd became deafening.

Dave polled the audience to see how many fans have been with them for the past 22 years and how many have never seen the Foos before. It seemed to be a pretty even split from what I could tell. “I guess you old school fans will have to show everybody what to do then,” Dave said.

The band then played “Times Like These.” Before playing the next song, “Breakout,” Dave asked for all the lights in the arena to be turned off and for us to all illuminate the Matthew Knight Arena with our cell phones. Complete darkness gave way to “twilight” as thousands of stars illuminated the space. From my seat, I could see Dave coerce one of his stage crew into giving up one of their headlamps which he then affixed to his head before going on to play the song. After “Breakout” was over, the lights came back up with Dave saying, “That’s the first time I’ve ever worn a headlamp on stage. It just seemed appropriate.”

There were several moments throughout the show when Dave connected with the audience. For example, there was a guy in a banana costume about midway back in the GA section. “Was that just laying around your house, and you decided to wear it to a rock show? How did you get it in, did you just wear it in? It’s fucking Eugene, Oregon… anything goes,” he said. To which, Banana-man nodded. “I guess I need to have a talk with security,” Dave laughed. The Foos then went on to play the Alice Cooper song “Under My Wheels,” dedicated to the sad and lonely Banana-man.

Just a moment later, Dave called out a guy in the front row wearing a Rush shirt. He said “Dude, you in the Rush shirt. I saw you walking to the arena. You were walking alone, and I saw that Rush shirt, and I knew we were going to have a rock show because of that shit right there. I saw you from my stretch limo where I was doing a ton of cocaine, but I saw you!”

The Foos then began playing Rush’s “Tom Sawyer.” After a minute or so, the band stopped and Dave said, “I love you, honestly, but do you really think the Foos would play a Rush song? After a few laughs, they went on to play more “Tom Sawyer” which again got cut short. Dave then got into a “discussion” with “Rush shirt guy” about the last time the Foo Fighters played in Eugene, Oregon. At this point, the fans took a stance insisting that the Foos have never played Eugene. “Well, when we come back, in 22 more years, and that fucker with the Rush shirt is here again, we’ll play the whole song”.

The setlist was great, and the Foos played several cover songs. During Queen’s “Under Pressure,” Luke Spiller from The Struts joined Taylor Hawkins for the vocals, while Dave did his old schtik on the kit. For “Big Me,” Dave got to bring on long time friend and bass player Krist Novoselic whom he credits for helping create the hit.

In an uncharacteristic move, the Foos did the whole encore bit. After “Best Of Me,” they left the stage. While the darkened arena clapped and chanted “Foo,” the enormous diamond shaped video screen displayed Dave and Taylor backstage silently bickering about how many Encore songs they would come out and do. We ended up getting three more, “Dirty Water” from the latest record, a very lengthy and drawn-out tribute to Tom Petty with “Breakdown,” and closing with “Everlong.”

The Foo Fighters played and kept us mesmerized for three hours, a bit short of the six alluded to in the opening. We waited 22 years. We could have stayed for six hours. Thanks Dave and the rest of the incredible Foo Fighters for breathing out so the 12,000+ of us could breathe you in.

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Connect with The Struts (click icons):

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Connect with Foo Fighters (click icons):

  All Writing & Photography:  Terry L. White

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tlwhitephotography/ Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TLWhitePhoto/ Web: http://www.tlwhitephotography.com

Foo Fighters – Matthew Knight Arena – Eugene, OR was originally published on RockRevolt Mag

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6 Famous People Who Hilariously Trolled Their Own Fans

Some celebrities see fame as tremendous burden and distraction from their craft, whereas others treat it as a golden opportunity to screw with thousands of strangers for no logical reason save “shits and giggles.” We’re talking about such famous rascals as …

6

Chris Pratt Trolls His Fans With Bad Jennifer Lawrence Photos

Hollywood certainly made a weird choice when it needed a hot new action star and decided to pick that zaftig fellow from Parks And Rec. During the press tour for the 2016 science fiction thriller Passengers, which starred Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence, fans got overly enthusiastic about the pairing and started “shipping” them. (For those who aren’t up to speed on the internet lingo, that means they want the two to hook up and mash their bits together and make babies.) Followers of Pratt’s Instagram account started demanding that he take more photos of himself hanging out with Lawrence so that they could satisfy their vicarious need to imagine these two millionaires spending time with each other.

And so Pratt proceeded to do what the fans were demanding:

Chris Pratt/Instagram

Over the next few days, Pratt went on to post a number of Instagram selfies featuring himself and Lawrence together. Technically.

Chris Pratt/Instagram

Chris Pratt/Instagram

You can’t argue that he didn’t give the fans exactly what they’d asked for. Still, a bunch of them didn’t seem to appreciate the photos, leaving comments like “Why isn’t she ever full in the pic” or “Why you cut Jennifer out?” Some people are simply impossible to please.

5

Nirvana Would Fuck Up Their Live Shows In Delightfully Stupid Ways

Nirvana are much better-known for their catchy grunge tunes than for Kurt Cobain’s primal screaming, but it’s not like he was intentionally trying to ruin the songs. Unless he was playing live, that is. Here’s a compilation of clips of Cobain mumbling into the microphone, or putting on a fake stupid accent, or sometimes replacing his lyrics with caveman grunts:

It’s more or less the Charlie Brown teacher voice.

Read Next

6 Famous Writers Who Secretly Wrote Insane Pieces Of Trash

Sometimes, his reasons for messing with the audience were almost admirable. In 1992, for instance, Nirvana was booked to play a show in a packed stadium in Buenos Aires. The opening act, an all-girl band called Calamity Jane, had an extremely negative reception, getting pelted with mud and bottles from the audience. This pissed Cobain off, and he considered cancelling the performance, but bassist Krist Novoselic talked him into a compromise — they’d take the stage and do an incredibly shitty job. And so, rather than play any of their hits, the band began the opening riffs for songs like “Smells Like Teen Spirit” or “Come As You Are,” and then broke into renditions of their least-known songs, predominantly from their worst-rated album, Incesticide. As a finale, they did wind up finally playing a track from Nevermind — the hidden instrumental one at the end that you hear if you accidentally forget to stop the CD after ten minutes. The audience was furious. Cobain called it “one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had.”

That wasn’t Nirvana’s first foray into deliberately messing up their shows. A year earlier, they were invited to perform on the British show Top Of The Pops, but after agreeing, they found out that the show had a policy of playing the music pre-recorded and only the singer’s voice live. As a response, Cobain sang “Smells Like Teen Spirit” like Christopher Walken with his mouth full of marshmallows, the whole time pretending to play his guitar with an open hand like a robotic Disneyland attraction.

On top of all that, there’s the band’s remarkable disdain for their most famous song, “Smells Like Teen Spirit” — which was intended as a joke, a mockingly generic pop song full of nonsense lyrics and a guitar riff openly stolen from Boston’s “More Than A Feeling.” They hated that it became popular and resented playing it so much that, fairly often, they would rile up the crowd by playing the opening riff, and then instead launch into … a bad cover of “More Than A Feeling”.

4

Kiefer Sutherland Started Saying “Dammit!” More Often In 24 To Mess With Fans Playing A Drinking Game

24 may have been massively successful and popular, but nobody, from the fans to the producers to the stars, was ever under the impression that it was anything but a TV show based on a gimmick and starring one-note characters and cheap dialogue. It’s entertainment in the same way that Pringles is food — they don’t have to pretend it’s wholesome.

So when fans of the series endearingly mocked its hacky writing, the creators weren’t too proud to play along. Fans put together a drinking game in which you take a shot whenever Jack Bauer repeats one of his ten or so go-to lines, like demanding to know who someone is working for, saying the word “protocols,” or yelling “Dammit!” whenever something irked him:

In a 2006 interview with Rolling Stone, Sutherland revealed that he’d caught wind of the game and decided to have some fun with it. So in one episode, he made it a mission to say “Dammit!” as many times as he possibly could, even sneaking three into the same scene. In his words: “Boom, boom, boom. And that was just one scene. By the end, there had to be fourteen ‘Damn its.’ And I could just see all these college kids going, ‘Oh, fuck!'” (Which, incidentally, is what Jack would say if this show aired on cable.)

Now, this is the internet, so of course there’s a Wiki page cataloging every single “dammit” uttered on the show. Sutherland’s claim appears to be an exaggeration (his record was four d-bombs in one episode), but it’s true that the show got more liberal with the word as it went along — the penultimate season has 47 “dammits” between Jack and company, compared to the measly 30 in the first.

3

Mythbusters‘ Adam Savage Is Always Flamboyantly Lurking At Comic-Con

It’s probably not shocking to point out that Adam Savage, the non-walrus-stache half of Mythbusters, is kind of a nerd. What is shocking is that if you’re a dedicated nerd yourself, you might have met him without even knowing it.

Savage attends the San Diego Comic-Con every year, always wearing an elaborate costume which completely obscures his identity and prevents myth-busting enthusiasts from showering him with questions. He started in 2013 with an Admiral Ackbar costume (including an original mask from Return Of The Jedi), then topped that the next year with an exact replica of the original Alien spacesuit, complete with a facehugger model to cover his face. It was so hot that it required him to wear an ice vest to keep from passing out from heat exhaustion.

In 2015, he attended in a bespoke Judge Dredd costume, though he made himself somewhat easier to recognize by refusing to shave his trademark blonde goatee. On the next year, he went as the main character of the Oscar-winning Leonardo-DiCaprio-mauled-by-a-bear movie The Revenant — that’s right, he dressed up as the bear.

And finally, in 2017, he went as King Arthur, in armor made by the actual costume designer from the 1981 movie Excalibur, with chain mail made for the Lord Of The Rings series underneath. He could have gone as Arthur from the Guy Ritchie movie that came out two months earlier, but everyone had already forgotten that.

Every year, Savage challenges fans to figure out which of the Comic-Con attendees is secretly him, and rewards them with bonuses like free tickets to his panel. And every year, at least one person figures it out, probably by whittling down the number of identity-obscuring cosplayers whose costume could only be put together if someone was earning Mythbusters dollars.

2

The Dallas Stars Wouldn’t Stop Playing Nickelback

Americans don’t care about ice hockey nearly as much as Canadians do, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have their own league. You can catch up on what’s going on with the NHL late at night on Fox Sports on a slow day. Well, if you’re not a fan, you might have missed the 2015 home game between the Dallas Stars and the Vancouver Canucks, during which the Stars decided that instead of playing “We Will Rock You” or “Seven Nation Army” to hype up the audience, they would only play Nickelback. Again and again. For the entire game.

Presumably, the intention was to troll Vancouver’s visiting fans. Nickelback is, after all, a (perhaps inexplicably) widely despised band from Vancouver. Unfortunately, there were as many if not more Dallas fans in attendance, who were just as annoyed by the sonic assault as the Vancouver visitors.

Toward the end of the game, the scoreboard displayed a graphic asking fans to text which artist they’d prefer never to hear again at a hockey game, providing three “options:” A) Nickelback, B) Nickelback, or C) Nickelback. It didn’t matter that the number was fake, because one answer was the clear winner (B, obviously). And in case you were wondering, yeah, Dallas won.

1

Guardians Of The Galaxy‘s Michael Rooker Showed Up On The Set Of Avengers: Infinity War Just To Mess With Marvel Fans

If you haven’t seen the second Guardians Of The Galaxy movie yet but intend to, then first of all, what are you waiting for? Secondly, this entry is going to have spoilers for that film. So either stop reading or see the damn movie already.

In early 2017, Marvel Studios started shooting Avengers: Infinity War, the long-awaited film that will see the 200 or so characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe come together. At the same time, Guardians Of The Galaxy actor Michael Rooker started posting images on his Instagram account of himself visiting various locations in Georgia, where parts of the movie are being filmed, while wearing a cap emblazoned with the Infinity War logo. Hmm, what could he possibly be doing there?

Here’s the thing, though: Rooker’s character Yondu, the blue guy with the whistle-powered arrow thing, dies at the end of Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2. It’s not one of those implied deaths that happens off-screen, either — he slowly freezes to death before our eyes in deep space while Chris Pratt screams “NO!” at him. The film later shows them holding a funeral and turning his corpse into fireworks. He’s definitely dead. And yet Rooker kept posting selfies from the Infinity War makeup trailer, with tape stuck over the logo on his cap that he’d previously “forgotten” to hide.

The obvious implication is that Yondu somehow survived his death and is going to show up to help kick Thanos’ ass in Infinity War. However, Guardians director James Gunn threw cold water on that suggestion when he was asked about it and answered bluntly that “Yondu is dead” and will remain like that “so long as I am involved with Marvel.”

So why the hell was Rooker on the set of Infinity War? According to Gunn, it was all a misdirection. Before the Guardians sequel hit theaters, fans started noticing that Rooker wasn’t on the Infinity War cast list and came close to guessing he was about to kick the bucket, so Marvel had him visit the set and Instagram himself in a branded hat to keep people guessing. Because dreams are meant to be smashed.

S. Peter Davis is the creator of the Three Minute Philosophy YouTube series, and is the author of the book Occam’s Nightmare.

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Interviews

The Fontaines (SXSW interview:)

Traveling to Austin, Texas to perform at SXSW for the first time, Los Angeles band The Fontaines are a group that have plenty of potential. Releasing two new singles “Evaporate” and “Vacant” recently, fans get a taste of their unique sound, which they label “nu-wop.” Speaking to siblings Hank and Charlotte Fontaine and members of their backing band Chrystian Kaplan (drums) and Daniel Zuker (bass) at Houndstooth Coffee in downtown Austin, the band told us what they think of one of the music industry’s most well-known conferences and festivals, opinions on Austin, their inspirations, and more.

Hank began the interview by saying, “this is our first time in Austin playing SXSW, and it’s been a good trip. We’ve had some good barbeque. We went to this place called Le Barbeque, which was pretty good. We’ve played with a lot of cool bands and we played with a lot of our friends yesterday.” As for what they think of Austin, “it’s beautiful,” Hank says. “It’s kind of like LA.” Charlotte, Hanks sister interjects by saying, “we don’t have anything like 6th street.” “Austin is a lot more supportive of upcoming music,” says Zuker. “For LA, it’s become this whole pay to play scene.”

When asked how the band got started performing together, Zuker says, “Hank and I had a mutual friend and we were trying to set up the group, and I asked my friend Albie if he knew any bass players.” “Not even!” Hank says. “I asked my friend Albie if he could play bass for us, and he was like, I would, but I can’t, so try this guy. I was referred to Hank by our friend Anthony who is in another band.”

As for how they found their style, the group has been described as taking after Southern California surf band The Beach Boys, though Hank insists that the band is losing that part of their style by saying, “we always hear different things from different people. They will say ‘oh, this is funk, or this is indie, which I like since you can’t pin it down.” Charlotte says, “for me it’s always about what I’ve been listening to or what I heard growing up. I like a lot of female singers from the 50’s, 60’s, so Brenda Lee or Peggy Lee, and then going more modern I like Amy Winehouse. Just strong female voices.” Hank names his influences by saying, “I listen to stuff that happened before I was too young to know about music, like Sonic Youth and Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana. I started listening to those bands and seeing what they listened to, and that was like Sam Cooke, The Cars, stuff like that.”

Since their songs can’t be pigeonholed into any genre, Hank tells us they have been writing more pop inspired songs lately, saying, “there’s a lot of freedom in the restrictions of writing pop songs, but I would love to do an acoustic album someday.”

Releasing their new single “Evaporate,” the response Charlotte says, “has been amazing actually. It’s been our fastest growing song on Spotify, and there is a Huffington Post article about it. It’s been really fun because it’s kind of a new direction for us as a band. It’s a bit poppier but it’s been a lot of fun performing it live for the first time at SXSW.” When discussing how Spotify and other streaming platforms have helped them as a small band, Charlotte says, “our most diehard fans have actually come from the internet. They’ve been following us on Instagram, Twitter, or on Spotify or YouTube, which I find interesting especially from LA, you can play a lot of shows and play to a lot of the same crowds, so it’s nice to be able to reach people that you would never have the opportunity to unless you are touring the world.”

As for if they have any plans to release more new music (they released their EP ii last year,) Charlotte says that they have a few more singles coming out (they dropped their latest single “Vacant” several weeks ago) and that they have a full album’s length of songs that they want to put out this year.

The Academic (SXSW interview:)

Formed in 2013 in Mullingar, Ireland, an hour outside of Dublin, a young band called The Academic turned heads at SXSW in Austin, Texas just a few weeks ago. With songs such as “Mixtape 2003” and “Different” off their most recent EP Loose Friends which dropped in 2015, Listen Here Reviews caught up with the entire band to talk about their beginnings, playing SXSW (it was their first!) and what’s coming up after SXSW.

Meeting at the Austin Convention Center after doing a radio interview with Kansas City Radio, the band states that it was a good warm up to the day, as they had just flown in to town the night before. On their first official morning at SXSW, lead guitarist Craig Fitzgerald states that the band went to BD Riley’s for breakfast and spent some time on 6th Street, saying, “we found out that we are actually playing at BD Riley’s tomorrow. It’s our first time in Austin, so we’re just getting the vibe down.”

Getting their name from the novel The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger, Fitzgerald gives details about their beginnings, by saying, “we were always playing in school together from a younger age, and then when we hit around 18, we said that we would get more focused on the band and original songs, so we started troubleshooting a lot of names over the years, and The Catcher In The Rye had the words ‘the academic’ in the first few pages, and it made it to the shortlist. It stuck and it made sense as we were all in school together.”

If fans search the band on Youtube, they will come across their cover of Taylor Swift’s hit track “Style,” though The Academic does go acoustic for their version. Performing it for the first time on Ireland’s National Public Radio (RTE,) drummer Dean Gavin gives details about that performance, saying “We had just dropped our very first single and it started to do well, and they said, ‘we want to come in and do this song, we want you to do a cover that’s in the Top 40 at the moment.’ “We thought that song was good and her record 1989 was coming out, and it came together last minute.”

Discussing their home town of Mullingar (where One Direction’s Niall Horan is originally from,) Stephen Murtagh, the bands bassist, says that “there’s not a huge scene like there would be in Dublin.” Fitzgerald interjects by saying “you kind of have to go to Dublin, and that’s where we got a lot of our breaks, but also Cork City is another great place to go and gig, but it’s not a massive country so it’s easy to get around. There’s only so many shows you can play in Mullingar because its tiny.” Gavin continues, “It’s only got 20,000 people, but it’s definitely more musical.  The outlying towns, they aren’t as musical, but for some reason Mullingar just loves music.”

While they each had varied musical beginnings, the group now have shared musical tastes, leading to the question of how they got to open for the Pixies at Live at The Marquee music festival in Cork, Ireland in 2014. Guitarist Matt Murtagh (Stephen’s brother) told the story by saying, “I remember when I was 14, my cousin gave me a CD of their greatest hits and I became a big fan. That’s the biggest support slot we’ve ever done, and when we found out we were supporting the Pixies, it was totally crazy. I don’t know if we were expecting to meet them or anything, but we did get to hang out with them and it was a mind-blowing experience for us, since it was the first time we had ever met and played with a big act. It was 8,000 people as well which was by the biggest show we had ever done.”

As for what’s coming up after SXSW, the band got to enjoy a few days off at home before heading off to start a UK tour beginning tomorrow at Kasbah in Coventry, UK where the band will play new songs. To wrap up the interview, they gave details on new music, with Fitzgerald saying “I don’t know if we would get in trouble by giving a description, but it’s pretty much the same sound. It’s fun, young, and indie.”

  The 4onthefloor (SXSW interview:)

Forming in 2009 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, The 4onthefloor writes all their songs in 4/4 time, with every member of the group playing a bass drum during live performances. Releasing their last record All In in 2015, the group has become known throughout their home state and the rest of the country as a band with soul and authenticity. Hoping to secure a record deal with a label that understands and breathes their passion for music at SXSW (South By Southwest,) a music festival and conference in Austin, Texas, happening next week, Listen Here Reviews sat down with front man Gabriel Douglas to chat about music, the late Minnesota teen and osteosarcoma patient Zach Sobiech, their favorite part about performing at SXSW, and how they write songs.

Starting out his musical journey by “assaulting everything he could find with rhythm”, Douglas described his  passion and influences as the following, “The old-fashioned, countryside deliverance of rock’n’roll through a multitude of sources via old records, AM & FM bands on the radio waves, and countless broadcast renditions of oldies brought music to the forefront of a young mind. I started assaulting everything I knew (mostly trees and fallen branches) with rhythm. Although I was ways away from learning any sort of traditional drums, I got a saxophone – an alto saxophone – which lead to the wanting of more notes at the same time. Which lead to an old Sears acoustic guitar that had been hiding unassumingly under our family’s stairs. The action on it was atrocious, it only had a few sheets with cowboy chords with it, and the internet was still young enough that even finding tabs was looking for a needle in a haystack. It was perfect. It was a start.”

With Minneapolis having a thriving music scene, influence can be found throughout the entire state, with the group feeling so inspired by their Mid-Western roots that they named their fourth record Spirit of Minneapolis (2013) as a tribute to their home state. Moving the conversation towards home town inspiration, Douglas talks about not only the states frigid winters, but also the warm spring saying, “Where you live, where you reside, and what you call home will always have an influence on what you do for a living if you let it.” Elaborating further, he says that “until it has come around again, I don’t remember the joy of the first snowfall until the skies unleash the army of those beautiful snowflakes. Changes that you can always believe are coming, but when they arrive, it is anew all over again. It brings a resilience, a stoicness, to my songwriting process that is ingrained in generations of hard-working North Country men and women. Minnesota brings community and the joy of brotherhood to a primary spot at the table of priorities and I hope that is encapsulated in our songs as well.”

Perhaps another question on fans minds is the influence of late Stillwater, Minnesota teen Zach Sobiech on The 4onthefloor. In 2013, the group got a chance to perform with Sobiech in Minneapolis at The Varsity Theatre for a performance of his hit single “Clouds,” a track describing his journey as a cancer patient. Raising funds for osteosarcoma research, which Sobiech eventually passed from in May of that year, Douglas says that it was a pivotal moment in not only their professional lives, but their personal lives as well. “Zach lives in every single step I take as a musician. On every stage that The 4onthefloor gets the honor and joy to grace, he still is part of our performance. Knowing Zach is a beautiful connection I do not take for granted. The youthful, jubilant energy that he created through everything else; his hunger for living is not lost on any of us. We are happy to a part of his legacy (albeit a small, tiny morsel of the rock’n’roll part.)”

Heading into more technical matters, Douglas hashed out details of their unique stage set up, as it has raised questions to how The 4onthefloor write songs, and while their strict policy of only writing songs in 4/4 time did not get discussed in depth, Douglas did explain the creative process of songwriting. “We draw on our experiences traveling and sharing the merriment of rock’n’roll for songs. We get songs from the people we surround ourselves with and the people who come barreling through the doors of our lives. And the people who get thrown out the windows of our lives. We hope to one day find a song similar to “Came in Through the Bathroom Window” but currently none of our processes have conjured such a topic, such a Cocker-esque sequence, such a song.”

With SXSW just around the corner, Douglas divulged about the bands favorite parts of the festival, considering that The 4onthefloor has performed at the event over the past several years. Saying that the band enjoys tacos, Douglas says “Favorite parts: rock’n’roll and tacos. Other parts that we adore: downtempo, classic country, the class reunion of all of our tour mates from tours gone by, rooftop hangs, seedy club hangs, quarter-riddled arcade hangs, how’d-we-get-into-this-sewer-and-how-do-we-get-out hangs, and tacos.”

Among other plans at the festival is the hope that the group will score a major record deal when the festival is finished. Douglas says of the ambitious task, “We are hoping to get a major label contract from SXSW. We hope the label is ready for a road-worn, road-ready pack of musicians that are as hungry as the day they gasped their first breath. We hope the label is ready for a band that puts the show and the songs at the forefront, but a band that will not stare at its shoes. We welcome the community of patrons at any establishment that has taken the time from their lives to listen to our music, to learn our music, or to recite our music with us.”

“We hope the label doesn’t attempt to give some ridiculous advance, we don’t need it. We need their PR machine, we need their prestige, we need to be on the road with other like-minded musicians, traversing this nation and this globe. We hope the label understands that we will not be ready to tour the moon in 2017, but any year coming up, we are ready to circle back around and talk about lunar tours. We are hoping for a label that believes in our music, in rock’n’roll, and in sharing joy, as much as The 4onthefloor does.”

The ambition and heart that The 4onthefloor possesses will not be lost on anyone listening and with another year of SXSW about to be in the books, there is hope that The 4onthefloor have no trouble securing what they most desire.

Yarin Glam

Growing up in the small town of Arad, Israel, roughly an hour and a half from Tel Aviv, up and coming pop vocalist Yarin Glam never imagined that she would have success on the other side of the world in Los Angeles, California, where she now lives. Releasing her latest single “Mr. Calvin Klein,” which has received warm reviews in Israel, America and Italy, Listen Here Reviews chatted with Glam through e-mail to talk about her music, her new single, finding success in America, and what’s coming up next.

When speaking about her influences, Glam says “To be honest, I have so many. But to name a few, I love Lana Del Ray, Lorde, Beyoncé, Alessia Cara, Drake, and Lady Gaga.” While speaking with Glam, it’s clear that she wants to make upbeat music, which is popular in Israel, as the country has a large electronic music scene, though she mentions that pop music is not well loved.

Spending most of her life in Israel, the Middle East’s most stable country has had an obvious effect on Glam, with her stating “It’s home. Israel shaped me as a person, and as an artist. It’s who I am, and it motivated me to bring something new to the music world. I want to inspire people that come from diversity to dream big and never give up.”

When talking about “Mr. Calvin Klein” and its universal appeal with women, as everyone wants to find their perfect man, Glam gave details about the inspiration behind the track, saying “I had the biggest crush on this boy from my high school who I couldn’t stop thinking about. He looked as if he came straight out of a Calvin Klein commercial. It’s been really great to see how people from all ages in Israel, America, and even in Italy have responded to my music. They’ve given me so much love and support! It shows how music can reach anyone. I guess it means lots of people around the world have their own ‘Mr. Calvin Klein’”.

While good working relationships are a crucial part of success in the music business, Glam also gave details about her relationship with her producer Swagga Bob, how she met him, and how he has helped her throughout her time in America. “I met Swagga Bob about a year ago at IHOP, and it’s been all good vibes ever since. “Swagga is like family, we’ve grown extremely close. It’s been awesome working with him. He teaches me a lot about music, and the industry in general. When in the studio, we can be serious and focused, or we crack a lot of jokes, or both. He’s one of my closest friends, and even more than that, a great mentor to have in my corner!”

To wrap up the conversation, Glam will be hard at work releasing two EP’s this year, with one of them already being released, titled Now or Never, with Glam saying “My first EP is very special to me. I feel it’s my first chance to share my love for music with the world. It might sound a little ‘all over the place’ which is me experimenting with my sound. I feel I grew a lot as an artist while working on it.” With that said, she kept her second body of work shrouded in mystery, telling Listen Here Reviews, “I guess you’ll have to wait and see.”

Wherever Glam ends up, we hope to see her on stage soon performing all over the world and giving everyone a taste of their very own “Calvin Klein.”

The Funeral Portrait

Releasing their record A Moment of Silence in December, Atlanta act The Funeral Portrait has been moving up the ladder as a group to watch, and with new music that will get people talking, Listen Here Reviews was eager to chat with the group about the new songs, touring, and what’s coming next. Speaking with front man Lee Jennings through e-mail, he gave us the history of the group, how they wrote Silence, and the bands that they most like to tour with along with their favorite cities to perform in.

New to the music scene, it may be surprising that the group started off as a pop-rock band named Comoscope with Jennings saying, “After about two years of playing shows and releasing a record under that name we decided it was time for a change and started working on the songs for our first EP, [The Dearly Departed] as The Funeral Portrait. We then submitted our songs to Revival Recordings and they loved them and wanted to help us release the EP.”

After listening to the group’s music, it becomes apparent immediately that the group has varied musical influences.  Jennings, who comes from a musical theater background, naturally incorporates that feel into the band’s music, despite their more edgy tone, while drummer Steve Danzey brings in more of an old heavy metal vibe to the bands songs, though Jennings states that each member also listens to more recent material, particularly “emo-rock from the 2002-2008″ period.

In 2015, fresh on to the music scene, Alternative Press named The Funeral Portrait one of the top bands of the year. While that’s an accomplishment for any act, Jennings recalls the story of finding out the big news by saying “It was kind of scary actually… we were such a small band, so fresh and new and to already have to live up to that name is kind of weird! In 2016, we just spent the year recording the record and touring as much as we can, so hopefully we will have lived up to that grace!”

The Funeral Portrait recently made Alternative Press headlines again when the magazine’s website premiered clips from the groups new album A Moment of Silence. With each track sounding varied and different with each clip, Jennings provided details of the recording process, saying that they tend to deviate away from the normal process of ‘getting in a room and jamming.’ “Steve, our drummer, sits down and writes most of the instrumentals then Juergie Landstrom, our other guitar player, comes up most of the lyrics and then we demo out everything at my recording studio. This being our first full length record we really wanted the songs to be super strong and have great parts, so we worked morning, day, and night, to make sure every song sounded the way we wanted before ever going into the bigger studio with our producer to record the record.”

While touring is a normal part of life for The Funeral Portrait, to close out the interview, Jennings gave details about what is coming up next while also naming who the group enjoys touring with most, with Jennings saying, “Alesana are always fun dudes to tour with! Same with the guys in Islander. Both bands are just made up of genuinely nice guys! I know we always love playing Buffalo, NY as well as New York City and Anaheim, California. A place we haven’t played but would like to is Seattle, Washington… we were supposed to play there on this last run with Famous Last Words but the show got canceled because of a snow storm.”

A Moment of Silence is out now.

                Marcus Alan Ward

Releasing his debut album Last Night I Grew Tentacles in 2014 on his own label Long Division Records, Cleveland, Ohio soul singer Marcus Alan Ward has a great career shaping up ahead of him. After checking out his latest video for his latest single “Little Sunshine,” we set up an interview with him to discuss his influences, who he would most like to sing a duet with, and more. Our conversation is below.

Kicking off our chat, we began by asking Marcus which bands he is influenced by, due to his soulful and anarchic voice. The answers he gave us were a bit surprising. “Growing up my favorites were The Mars Volta, The Killers, The Yeah Yeah Yeah’s, Marvin Gaye, Bjork, TV On the Radio, and James Brown. That’s just to name a few. I still listen to these artists today regularly.”

While solo records pop up all the time, there is very rarely a solo record released where musicians do everything themselves, though in Ward’s case his music is a true solo venture. Telling us that he began playing music in fifth grade by picking up the clarinet, he tells us that “I play electric guitar, bass guitar, piano, vocals, and do drum programming and production as well. On the records I write, produce, and perform everything myself.”

With such a soulful feel, each song that Ward puts out sounds like he is creatively in control, and by doing every aspect of his albums alone, he continually pushes himself to make great music, and so far, he has risen to the challenge. Starting to take music seriously as a teenager, Ward told us about his days taking over guitar and backing vocals in plenty of bands, while exploring his next steps by experimenting with computerized sounds, and eventually discovering a happy medium by doing a hybrid of both musical outlets.

We think it worked out pretty well. With such a large responsibility to fill every time he releases an LP, we asked about who he dreams of recording with, with Ward telling Listen Here Reviews, that his dream would be to sing with Bjork, “as she’s the queen.”

Rooting his music in science fiction, we ended the interview by wanting to know more about the response to his latest album Tentacles and the writing behind it, with Ward telling us “I think it really opened people’s minds up locally and regionally to what could be done. I mean it’s an electronic, alt rock, soul concept album rooted in science fiction, space exploration, and quantum physics, created by a young black male. So I think it was a good look. I’m in a different place musically now, but I think it did well in showing people that I can’t really be tied to any one genre.”

While he may be in a different place musically, Tentacles illustrates that Ward does not want to be pigeonholed into one genre while also compelling his audience to listen further and dive deeper into his releases.

  Continental Recording Studio

The recording studio has had a long history in the music business. It is a place where musicians go could and record their creative ideas and put out their songs on an album for their fans to hear. For decades, the studio was the only place where musicians could record, though over the past decade or so, the concept of the studio has become more personal. Now, musicians have the freedom to record out of their bedrooms with programs such as Garageband or Reason. For the music fans that want to take an old-fashioned approach to recording music, studios are still there to meet their needs.

One of those studios is Continental Recording Studio based in Long Island, New York situated very close to the Big Apple by way of the subway, who opened their doors in 2008. Speaking to brothers Mike and Matt Gevaza about their joint business of recording music for a living, they are determined to turn a dying part of the music industry into a thriving one, and we were interested to know more about not only their business, but also their musical history and what drives them to help musicians be creative.

Kicking off our discussion with Matt about how the brothers began playing music and recording, he began our discussion by telling us “Our path to getting into recording began in the early 2000’s while playing in high school rock bands. Mike was always technically inclined and early on in our music career he took the initiative to record us. After getting a few sessions and mixes under his belt with some basic recording gear and cheap dynamic mics, word started to spread of his engineering skills. By 2008 we were in Greenpoint, Brooklyn and still recording our own music in our rehearsal space. Eventually other bands heard what we were doing and wanted to work with us and once again word spread. What started out as a bunch of 15-year-old kids experimenting with sound eventually blossomed into Continental Recording Studio.”

Both siblings had a strong musical education that started when they were both very young, beginning with the guitar and bass, taught by local guitar God Larry Logeman. The brothers credit Logeman with teaching them everything they know about guitar, eventually giving the brothers enough knowledge to start performing in front of a crowd with Mike adding “among our earliest performances was in an 8th grade play performing as The Beatles, at a local bar in 2001, and at a local ska venue around the same time. We were fortunate enough to play at CBGB’s many times between 2002-2006.” In total, the siblings have been playing music for 20 years, while they have dabbled in piano, synths, and drums alongside their main instruments.

The experience of playing one of New York City’s most historic venues, eventually led to a new path behind the recording desk and with the opening of Continental Recording Studio. Asking how the brothers picked the location of the studio, Mike tells Listen Here Reviews that it was about making the studio to musicians who utilized public transportation heavily. “We chose Long Island City for many reasons. LIC is accessible through the E, G, 7, and M trains at Court Square, the N, and Q trains at Queens Plaza, and in close proximity to the 59th street bridge and midtown tunnel. Its central location makes it ideal for musicians who access us via public transportation. Aside from being located so close to Manhattan and Brooklyn, Long Island City is also a thriving neighborhood and there is a lot of great art, culture, and food in the area.”

Set in a vibrant area, we know that New York City musicians are looking to get their songs out to the world in the best way possible, which led us to asking Mike and Matt about their approach to recording, with the brothers telling us that they treat each client as if they were The Beatles recording at Abbey Road. With a meticulous attention to detail and getting each recording just right, the brothers work as if they were working on a piece of artwork by telling us “We’re guided by the spirit of doing what each individual recording calls for, and we aim for a balance between experimentation and using tried and true methods. While we use digital as a recording medium, our recordings run through all analog signal paths. One of the main things we stress is getting the sound and performance right at the source. We try to avoid fixing things in the mix where possible, and we are deliberate in our microphone placement and gear choice. Throughout the tracking, mixing, and mastering process we listen with a very attentive and focused ear and don’t leave sonic issues unaddressed.”

To wrap up our discussion, we asked Mike and Matt about any upcoming projects they will be working on for the remainder of 2016. Wanting to consistently challenge the artists that they work with, Mike and Matt are currently working on a series called Uncomfortable Covers, where they invite an artist to come in to to record a song outside of their genre, with Mike excitedly saying that “It is a fun way to challenge artists and create some really cool unexpected covers. Our affiliate label, Electric Giant Productions, also has a few releases on the way. We’re putting out Tory Hanna and the Pondsiders debut album Learning to Share on August 26th, Brett Ferguson’s album Let Go in the fall, and John Severin and the Quiet 1’s self-titled release later this year. Be on the lookout for those in the near future!

With plenty of upcoming projects in the works, Continental Recording Studio is in for the long haul as the future of the music industry is changing rapidly. With creativity flowing in and out of studio, Mike and Matt Gevaza will make sure that the concept of the recording studio stays breathing for a long time to come.

          A Boy Named John

Starting in 2014, Parsippany, New Jersey rock band A Boy Named John formed over a mutual love of music and friendship. With the release of their new album So We Live | So We Die, Listen Here Reviews spoke to the band about their formation, their inspirational high school teacher John SanGiovanni, live performances, and what’s coming next for the band. To start the discussion, we decided to start things off with a subject that is close to the band member’s hearts – their high school music teacher. Josh Lustig, who plays guitar, spoke fondly of his former teacher, telling us “John SanGiovanni, or as we call him, Sange, was one of the main reasons that we got started as a band, namely because he encouraged us to get started by donating almost two grand worth of vocal equipment to us, for free.  He was great to have in class as well because he made his students look forward to playing music.  A few months ago, we performed at his retirement party to a room full of our old teachers and administrators.  It was a very humbling and gratifying experience.  It should also be noted, that John SanGiovanni was not only a great teacher, but he was the perfect representation of all of the great teachers that we had throughout our schooling, especially in music.”

While SanGiovanni was certainly an inspiration, he also encouraged the band to keep going, and as they polished their work ethic, the DIY group also had to start doing everything themselves. Starting bands which is similar to starting a startup, takes a dedicated group of people to make bands successful, something that was rooted in A Boy Named John early on. Noticing their persistent efforts to the get the group up and running, we wanted to know if they had any advice for upcoming acts or individual musicians who are doing everything themselves. They had some important tips that aspiring musicians should take note of. Vocalist Christian Singh added the following, “The biggest advice I would say is to keep good communication between everyone in the band. Don’t go MIA, be active within the group, help each other out. Have someone designated to answer emails, to book shows, to make phone calls etc. To this day we are continuously improving our methods of communication, aiming to operate as efficiently as possible in those regards.”

Moving away from the business of music, we wanted to discuss the very thing that got the band here in the first place, their music. Releasing their album just a short while ago, we wanted to hear what inspired the band to write the songs on the LP and the storyline behind the record. They offered the following explanation, “the general meaning behind So We Live | So We Die as a whole is basically how we as a society, live life as a routine (living and dying) and how we need to break that routine, open our eyes on the bigger issues in this fucked up world and do something about it to break this cycle and stand up for ourselves and each other. The writing process was pretty awesome for the album. We all collaborated pretty evenly in terms of lyrics and music. These songs were written based on issues going on in this world that, for the lack of better words, really pissed us off and we wanted the world to know and open up their eyes. Hopefully the listeners will be inspired to make some positive change!”

In the early days of social media, music fans had sites such as Myspace that allowed members to discover bands and musician from every corner of the world, become their friend, and keep up with their latest happenings. After a few years of extreme popularity, Myspace was side swept by Facebook who is currently the face of social media, leaving Myspace to lag behind. After a much needed faceclift, the former social media giant revamped its website to dedicate itself entirely to music. Occasionally, you will hear a band that is streaming music on Myspace, and A Boy Named John is one of them. Caught off guard to see where the band is allowing a first listen for their fans, we decided to them to ask why they chose the platform.

“If you’re looking in terms of the generic, cluttered, complain-about-everything social media Platforms, then yes Myspace does trail behind Facebook. That’s because Myspace has shifted its gears away from the “life’s a box full of chocolates” way of doing things and put all its efforts toward one beautiful thing: MUSIC! It’s an entirely different animal these days. If someone is on Myspace, they are there for the music and nothing else. A genuinely sweet community of music passioneers (yes I made that word up and yes you can use it.) We support this 100% and we’re very happy with the results received from working with them.”

While the band is still largely unknown, we wanted the guys to give us a little taste of their live performance and what the set list looks like for shows. Drummer Dean Mulligan jumped in for this question telling us, “They can definitely expect to participate in a high energy show. We establish a bi-directional connection between us and the crowd that intensifies throughout the set. We really aim to make the entire room feel something. “We’re in this together and we’ll come out the other side together.”

“As for the set list, we try our best to tailor it to the vibes we receive from the people in the room. It all depends on the type of show and the expected audience. It’s also not unusual for us to throw in some covers for people being introduced to our music for the first time. Collectively, our favorite songs to play are “I See, Said The Blindman” and “The Irony of a Birdhouse” which we often close with due to their high and climactic energy. So for those who have yet to see us, you can expect a high intensity show with a feeling of connectivity and belonging.”

Guitarist Jack Lips wrapped up our interview by telling us that the band will be releasing a music video for their latest single “Gentleman” and that they will be doing an East Coast tour in the future as well as possible tour out west.

Wherever the band will end up next is unknown, but their future is an exciting one and we can’t wait to follow along on the amazing ride with A Boy Named John.

Lisa Loeb

Lisa Loeb is one of pop music’s most recognizable artists. Getting her big break in 1994 when her song “Stay (I Missed You)” made it onto the soundtrack for the romantic-comedy Reality Bites, it was the first time that Lisa had achieved such visibility with her music. Her good friend and actor Ethan Hawke had passed the track on to Ben Stiller who was directing the film, which then kicked off Lisa’s career, leading to the release of several albums as well as venturing into children’s music.

Today see’s the release of Loeb’s new 7” record, with the songs “3,2,1 Let Go” and “The Disappointing Pancake,” with the latter being a fan favorite among adults and kids alike, released on her kid’s album Camp Lisa. Gearing up for the release, Lisa spoke to Listen Here Reviews about the record, as well as what inspires her to write music, her current tour, and her interest in writing music for children.

We started off the interview with Lisa by asking about the beginnings of her career and making her way onto the soundtrack of Reality Bites. Asking about her friendship with Ethan Hawke, she tells us “I’d been friends with Ethan for a while before he passed the song along to Ben Stiller, who put the song in the movie and soundtrack.  Ethan and I were part of a very creative group of pro-active friends who made music, wrote plays, books, acted in films and theater- all kinds of things.  We really had a great support system, which felt like a continuation of the same support system I had at Brown University.  When the song got into the film, it was the biggest thing that had happened in my professional music career.  I’d had songs on smaller labels complications and some record company interest, but this was the most visible.”

While Lisa has maintained her popularity among adult music fans, she made the shift to performing music for children in 2003, with the release of Catch the Moon, collaborating with her college friend and music partner Elizabeth Mitchell. Since then, Lisa has written songs that have appeared on the Noggin TV network, and contributed to the children’s album A World of Happiness, with the single “In The Details.” Interested to know why she made this shift in music, she told us that “I had an opportunity to make a record and I decided to make a kids record at that time.  I love writing music for kids because I visit other parts of my brain and creativity and storytelling that I don’t in my grownup music.”

Inspired by kids albums such as Free to Be You and Me and Really Rosie, which were both released in the 70’s and 80’s, Lisa tells us that she enjoys these records due to them being “entertaining for the grownups too with their wit, heart and cleverness,” something that she hopes to get across in her music when adults are listening.

Wanting to know the details about her latest release, we asked her to tell us about the 7” inch, letting us know that “this is an awesome exclusive way to get a super cool title song I wrote for a film starring Nia Vardallos, (Helicopter Mom,) and one of my most popular kids’ songs about a pancake who turns out to be not so disappointing after all.  This is something I would have loved to own when I was a kid.  You can listen to it over and over again and it’ll sound great on vinyl! The artwork is super cool too.”

Of course, promoting a release is a must for any artist and Lisa was excited to tell us a bit about her upcoming plans to perform for her fans in Canada, along with what they can expect to see from her if they have never watched her perform live. “I’ll play my songs, you know, from the radio, album tracks selected from all of my albums, some new songs, some kids’ songs too.  You can probably make a request during the show too. I always like to play some requests. I’ll most likely tell some stories and maybe hear from the audience as well.”

She also shared her love for her Canadian fans saying “I’m always on tour.  I’ll be up in Canada in July for four shows.  It’s been quite a long time since I’ve been to Canada, other than visiting my brother-in-law’s family in Ottawa.  I love my Canadian fans- they really connect with humor and heart and so I connect with them.”

To wrap up our discussion, we asked Lisa about her upcoming plans which included heading back Los Angeles to finish up the recording of her upcoming kid’s album Feel What U Feel, which will be released in the fall, and of course, more touring.

To see all of Lisa’s upcoming tour dates (including dates for the US), check out Lisa’s website here. You can listen to her new EP and purchase it over at Bandcamp.

The Downtown Fiction

Releasing their new EP Alligator Tears in February, Virginia power-pop band The Downtown Fiction have accomplished quite a bit in their almost ten years as a band. Forming in high school in 2008, members Cameron Leahy, guitar and vocals, and former drummer Eric Jones, came together to form The Downtown Fiction, and soon after began posting demos to their MySpace page, a popular method of getting noticed by the music industry back in the early days of social media. Upon the release of their latest effort, we sat down with Cameron to discuss the record, the bands songwriting process, and their upcoming plans.

We opened our discussion by asking about the band’s start and asked Cameron if he ever felt that the group could potentially make it as far as they have, with him telling us “we have been so fortunate to emerge at the time we did, with so many resources and means by which to reach people. I feel lucky to have the opportunity to get what I create out there. I just wanted to make music and I guess part of me kept saying, you’re doing this one way or another.” While it has become easier for a musician to “make it” in the digital age, The Downtown Fiction rose to becoming well-known in the pop punk and indie music scenes pretty quickly, as the band got a spot in Alternative Press, one of music’s most well-known magazines, which labeled the group as a band you need to know in 2010, only two years after they formed.

Since then, the group’s sound has changed and evolved, and we became interested to know just how much the band has changed since the beginning of their career, with Cameron telling us that they are at the point where the group can break their own rules, while also getting back to who The Downtown Fiction are at their core. “I think we’re continually modifying the constraints we want to work within. Those walls are always being reigned in or pushed out in some way or another. I don’t think we consciously make these rules, but over time I think you start to get a better gauge of what’s integral to your musical DNA and that’s something you’re sort of just putting on like a character.”

When asked about the writing process behind Alligator Tears, which Cameron self-produced, he tells Listen Here Reviews  about the creative freedom and path the band took with the release, saying “I had the opportunity to focus more seriously on demoing the songs at my home studio and take the time to experiment with facets of the arrangement that I would have left more undefined until later. But this time the songs took form pretty early on and once we re-tracked the bass and drums live, it really began sounding like the record. It was a great experience because self-producing really allowed for some creative freedom time-wise to push the limits of how much punch we could fit into one moment. There were some sleepless nights but I think that’s what’s at the heart of Alligator Tears, this feeling of pouring all of yourself into what you’re doing.”

After talking about the creative process, we wanted to know if there were any songs on the EP that hold a special place in Cameron’s heart with him telling us that “it’s probably “Hepburn Shades”—we just put out a video for the song. I think it became the closer because it has the ability to really take hold like a rock song would, but it’s also very reflective. It makes you want to sit back and think a little bit and that’s the sort of music I’d love to continue making.”

As for touring plans, the band cannot wait to perform the songs on Alligator Tears, with the members hoping to play for as many people as possible.

Tawnya Reynolds

Country artist Tawnya Reynolds always knew she wanted to be a star. Born and raised in New Mexico, Reynolds did not grow up in a musical town, leaving her no choice but to risk it all and move to the bright lights of Nashville. Though before moving to Music City, she set her sights on the Live Music Capital of the World, also known as Austin, Texas, to try her hand at what she calls a “more raw” music scene. Believing that she never truly fit in to the scene that Austin had to offer, she decided to go where country music blossoms, Tennessee’s capital and home of country music. While she says she has found the right city, that didn’t mean that Tawnya wouldn’t encounter some stumbles along the way, as she tried out for The Voice in 2012 and only made it to number thirty-two before being eliminated.

Now with a new album titled 8 Track, Tawyna is ready to embark on a new journey with new music that means the world to her, while hoping that the music will be loved by her fans as well. We sat down with Tawnya to discuss her new music and the path that got her to where she is today.

We started off our discussion talking about what has inspired Tawnya throughout her childhood. “As a little girl I was drawn to stylistic artists. Reba McEntire specifically, was the end all be all for me for years. That’s carried over into my adult life into a significantly deep respect for not only her musical sensibilities but her business savvy as well. Every artist dreams of that kind of longevity.” As for dreaming of moving to Tennessee, she tells us “moving to Nashville was always the goal. It was never a question…so I suppose mission accomplished.”

While the journey was never as cut and dry as some music stories may lead you to believe, Tawnya first tried out Texas to get her feet wet in the music business, in a city that’s not as harsh as Nashville, while telling us “as much as I love the city and everything it had to offer, Austin never seemed to truly fit me musically. I was so green, not even twenty-one at the time so I was really just trying to figure it all out. There’s no handbook in the music business. Everything is truly trial and error. I had so much to learn and was too caught up in surviving on my own to focus on the music properly.” Never finding a spot to fit into proved difficult, and while Nashville has provided Reynolds with experiencing her dream, she admits that “Nashville is somewhat vanilla. It doesn’t stray from the path of popularity,” making Tawnya’s songs a bit of a risk, as her music tends to stray from the commercial sounds of country, a style that Music City thrives on.

But risk taking is something that Reynolds does well, and wanting to explore more of this side of Tawnya’s story, we asked her about her time on The Voice back in 2012, where she would end of making it to number thirty-two in the competition before getting eliminated. When asked how to she got on the show while also describing the moment of her elimination, she offered the following explanation. “I was approached by Perry Howard of BMI to do an industry audition. It took some nudging from my husband but in retrospect, taking the opportunity was the right thing to do. Going home was a real moment. I never imagined I would be as emotionally invested as I was. You spend every moment with these people who become your friends and then out of nowhere you have to leave them. I was proud of portraying country music and myself the way I did so I wasn’t regretful. It took up over a year of my life from start to finish and then ended rather abruptly. One moment I was performing in front of sixteen million people, then not even sixteen hours later I was on a flight home. It was bittersweet but it honestly felt like the right time.”

Saddened but not defeated, Reynolds immediately began working on new music. While she is grateful that the fans have embraced her she admits that “this business can be fickle” and “that as far as the touring, the record and moving forward, that all has to come from me. I have to hit the pavement and make it work. The show gave me such an enormous platform and unimaginable exposure, but nothing was handed to me.”

To wrap up our conversation, we wanted to know what was coming up next for Tawnya surrounding 8 Track and beyond. “I always want to improve. I want to continue to be a better singer, a better guitar player, a better writer. I’m getting ready to hit the road and meet some new faces. This summer I will have the new music with me physically and otherwise. I just finished a duet with Radney Foster that will be on an upcoming Roger Miller Tribute release. I’m not shooting for perfection in any endeavor but I’d like to surprise myself somewhere along the way.”

While Tawnya certainly has had some difficult experiences along the way, she continues to impress us by the way she approaches music along with her relentless work ethic and with this in mind we know that 8 Track will find success in Nashville and elsewhere.

Safe, So Simple

Labeling themselves as a high energy band, Benson, Arizona group Safe, So Simple are certainly making a name for themselves throughout the music scene in Arizona and beyond. Releasing their new EP <em>Too Close to Closure </em>in March, the group is on a roll. Every song is immediately alluring, while also having the perfect sound for the younger generation- songs that bring together the sounds of EDM while using pop punk and metal to tie everything together, elements that we’ve heard in the recent pop punk songs of the last few years. With all of these elements in mind, the EP puts Safe, So Simple on the right track for achieving long term success. Curious to know more about their beginnings, career, and their songs, we chatted with the group to see what they had to tell us about what’s happened and what’s ahead.

Dereck Ausseresses, the groups drummer begins the interview by telling us, “Derrick [Fenn, guitar and vocals] and I were in a project together and we met Josh [Striffolino, the bands front man] through mutual friends who I used to be in a band with. We all discussed a project idea and made a decision to give it a shot,” adding that “collectively we share a lot of similar influences like Blink-182, Taking Back Sunday, Brand New, New Found Glory, Four Year Strong, and A Day to Remember.” As for their own individual backgrounds, each member began playing their current instruments in middle school and high school, with many of them playing other instruments before settling on their current choices, giving each member a varied musical background.

When listening to the EP, the, EDM, pop punk, and metal influences are obvious, with all three genres coming together seamlessly, with the band possessing a real sense of what makes their fans excited as well as what they want to hear from the band. With this in mind, we wanted to find out more about their songwriting process, the influences behind the release, and the creative process behind the record. Derek tells us, “Our songwriting has definitely evolved as we’ve gotten closer as a band. It used to be one of us had a song and then we fleshed it out. It’s a much more collaborative effort now. It definitely helps solidify our sound as a band as “the EP is primarily about finding a sense of closure. Whether it’s in the fulfillment of your dreams, relationships, or finding your purpose. Then it actually took on a whole new meaning during the writing and recording process. It took us seventeen months and three engineers to complete this EP. It was a process that at times we thought would be just easier to hang it up, but we trudged forward and worked for that sense of closure.”

Deciding to forge ahead, it’s a good thing the band decided not to call it a day, as Safe, So Simple is now trying out for a spot on the main stage at this summer’s Vans Warped Tour, one of America’s most renowned tours which stops in Phoenix in August, along with getting the chance to work with director Jeremy Tremp on their video for “Teeth Like Sharks.” Music fans may know Tremp’s name from working with fellow Grand Canyon state musician Luke Holland on his popular drum covers on YouTube. Seeing Tremp’s work beforehand got us curious about what the group’s experience was like working with Jeremy, the filming experience, and the storyline of the video. As it turns out, the filming behind the “Teeth Like Sharks” video was a simple one.

Filmed in Tremp’s home, the band is seen in a single shot going from room to room singing the track. Derek goes on to tell us that “Jeremy Tremp is the most professional individual we’ve worked with as a band. It being all one take, meant our blocking and timing had to be perfect. After a few solid hours of dry run’s, we mustered up three solid takes and picked the best one. No tricks or editing. All one crazy fun-filled shot!”

To tell us more about the process behind the shoot, Josh jumped in and told us a little bit more about the video with him saying that, “Jeremy had come up with the idea and then he and Derek began the initial blocking and ideas. Jeremy always maintains a very fluid and creative work atmosphere, so changes were happening on the fly. Everyone gave input and helped make it what you see today.”

As our conversation came to an end, we wanted to ask about the band’s possibility of playing Warped Tour. After telling us that it is up to a panel of judges whether or not the group will play, they tell us that it would be their first time performing on the Warped Tour. With a good chance of gaining hundreds of new fans from participating, we can’t think of a place better for the group to be than playing then on the main stage of one of today’s biggest and most influential platforms. For fans who are wondering when new music will be released, we certainly wanted to know about their upcoming plans for new music, with the group telling us that songs will drop after summer ends.

Check out the video for “Teeth Like Sharks” below.

    Audio Impulse

How did each of you get into music?

I know Freeman, our drummer, got into playing drums through Rock Band, but had been learning guitar and bass prior to that. The rest of us it just stemmed from a love of music, not just listening to it, but wanting to be a part of it, creating it. For the four us, not to be cliché, it isn’t just a hobby it’s a lifestyle. Music just resonating within us so deeply we had no choice, but to play and perform.

How did the band get started?

Audio Impulse was initially a started with Nate and Barry jamming together for fun. As they started to actually write out songs they decided they wanted to form a full band. It was then they reached out to Pat to fill out on bass and then we found Freeman in the deepest, darkest depths of the internet known as Craigslist. After Freeman joined Audio Impulse formed into the band it is today.

  How did you come up with the name Audio Impulse?

After spending an embarrassing amount of time debating what the name should be we initially settled on “Arc Impulse” as a reference to our videogame nerdiness, but we came to find out the name was already being used by another band. After throwing around a few other ideas involving the words “audio” and “sonic” we settled into “Audio Impulse”.

  How did you decide that “Straight Shot” should be a single for your current EP?

Well there’s the obvious it’s the title track might as well make it the first single, but that aside it was the first song we wrote when we began working on the EP process. It’s also the most emotionally charged and aggressive song on the EP, so we wanted to put that out there first to get it out of the way as we’ve taken a different approach with the material we’re writing currently that isn’t entirely indicative of that kind of emotion. Since we draw our inspiration for our songs from our own personal experiences it kind of begins a narrative, and “Straight Shot” is where the story begins. While it’s still a song we all love, take great pride in, and believe deserves to be out there it isn’t entirely where we’re at anymore, so the rest of the releases from the EP and the next couple releases will begin to work us into the next chapter of our lives and music.

  What are your plans for promoting the EP?

We just held our release party for “Straight Shot” and had a great turnout. We have a few shows coming up in support of the EP, and we have a few more videos in the works to help push the EP. Overall we have a lot planned for 2016. We’re working on securing tour dates in the summer and fall as well, so make sure to swing by www.AudioImpulseMusic.com to stay up to date on that, as well as all things Audio Impulse.

How have fans responded to the songs that you have released so far?

“Straight Shot” has received really positive response since the release of the video getting 1000+ views on the Facebook feed, as well as another 16,000+ over on YouTube. We couldn’t be happier with the way that’s been received, but also just talking to fans at the release party who’ve caught the separate teaser “leaks” of each track all the tracks are getting their fair share of love. I think it just comes down to personal tastes in music. Each track is vastly different from the rest, but still have our unique sound to them.  It’s interesting to hear the different reactions.

  What is your songwriting process like?

Our songwriting process is generally pretty simple. We’re big fans of the old adage “keep it simple, stupid”. One of us will come into the rehearsal space with the idea for a riff, vocal melody, or drum beat, and we’ll start to work from there. We’ll start to hash out different parts, then take those parts, and work out a song structure and progression. Once we have that general framework in place we just polish our individual parts and work on making the song feel like it has a natural flow to it.

  What was the process behind shooting the “Straight Shot” music video?

Again here we didn’t over complicate things. The premise behind the song “Straight Shot” is pretty simple. It’s a hard rocking “F*** you” break up song, so we decided to make a simple video for it. None of the bells, whistles, or the ricketa-racketa, just us rocking out.

What’s next for the band?

We have a lot planned for 2016. Like I mentioned we have a few more videos to work out to support “Straight Shot”, by the summer we have two more singles to release, we’re working on getting a tour together, and by the end of the year we’re looking to put out another recording. We’re also in competition to get onto Warped Tour this year. You can help us out by swinging by here (http://warped.amplifiertv.com/channel/Audio+Impulse) and checking out our videos. That’s all we currently have planned this year, so make sure you swing by the website to keep up on your Audio Impulse news and thanks for checking us out!

MC Lars

1.You just started your tour with Koo Koo Kangaroo. How has that been going?How did you guys end up going on tour together?This tour has been great!  They are the most awesome kids’ dance / hip-hop/ comedy duo to ever come out of Minneapolis.  We met on Warped and itfelt only natural hat we teamed up.2. Your EP The Laptop EP had a great style as well as themes. Your new albumZombie Dinosaur will be coming out in early November and I hear that bothreleases are similar in sound and lyrical themes. Can you tell us moreabout the record and what fans can expect from the new music?Thanks for your props on the EP!  The new album has exciting guestappearances from Watsky, Kool Keith, Roger from Less than Jake and more! I’ve continued some of my stories form earlier works and the sonicaesthetic ranges from everything from crust punk to trap to ska.  It’s mybest record I feel.3. I remember when The Laptop EP was released back in 2004. How do you thinkyour music has changed and what do you think keeps your fans coming backand listening to every album you release?Everything has moved to the Internet, physical media isn’t as present anda lot of the things I predicted on “Download This Song” came true, andstreaming has surpassed downloads.  Things like Warped help me stay intouch with my fans and pre-order sites like Kickstarter helps fund thecreative process and give fans proprietary bonus goodies.  There has neverbeen a better time to be an indie rapper.4. Are there any new songs on the upcoming release that you particularlyenjoy and how does this record differ from your previous albums?“Zombie T-Rex” is my favorite track because I’ve always wanted to do asong with Stza from Leftover Crack.  This album is heavier musically andmore lyrical than other albums, while staying poppy and high energythroughout.5. What was the writing, recording, and producing process like for the newrecord?Intense!  I spent over a year working on it and was able to higher some ofmy favorite engineers to produce the final product.  Very pleased with theresults.6. After living in Los Angeles for a few years, you decided to move back tothe Bay Area. Being from the Bay Area myself, I know that they are hugedifferences between Southern and Northern California. Why did you decideto move back?The Bay Area is home.  My time in LA was up and it was one to go back tomy roots.  I love Venice Beach, but nothing beats San Francisco.7. What can fans expect from you when they see you perform on this tour?A high energy, upbeat, multimedia extravaganza!  Come hang out! http://nerdcoretour.com8. Lastly, you just recently signed to Blacktop Records. How did you end upsigning with them?Ben had put out my friend Brendan from Wheatus’s cassette, so we thoughtit would be fun to collaborate on a cassette project.  Availableeverywhere 11/6.  Thanks for spreading the word!

Face Value

1.      You guys just released your debut EP Growing Up Young. What was the recording process for the EP like?

Pretty awesome. We recorded, mixed, and mastered it at The Monster House in Waldorf, Maryland where we also stayed during the entire process. Mike Bridgett (the man behind The Monster House) took us in and let us live on the floor of his living room for a week and a half. Everyday we would wake up, watch Chopped on Netflix as we fixed breakfast, and then record music in his basement for hours upon hours. We had a blast recording G.U.Y and we hope you can hear it in every hit, riff, progression, burp, fart and chorus when you listen to it. Alec’s mom also made us some delicious baked Ziti and chicken dinners that we enjoyed on the first two nights. Each night we watched Netflix movies, ya know, the ones nobody has ever heard of that went straight to DVD. And we made friends with all of his roommates. It was like a sleep-away summer camp that we never wanted to end.

2.      Do you guys have a favorite song off of the EP?

“If I had to pick a favorite, it’d be Members Only”, says Jeb. “It’s one of the first songs we ever wrote as the band we are today. I think it really captivates the kind of sound we’re going for and the lyrics are dark and very strong. They’re about the loss of a loved one and the guilt and hurt that comes along with it. It’s a song people can relate to, not when they’re up, but when they’re down and need it the most. And it’s just boppy and catchy as hell.”

3.      You were formally named Out To See. What prompted the name change?

We were going in a different direction. More mature sound, new members, etc. The band was changing and it was only right to change the name as well. Face Value defines us and what we stand for. We got the name from a band called “With The Punches”. They have a song called “Face Value” which talks about not letting physical things define you, saying, “..From the clothes you wear to the car you drive, the company you keep. They’re all just worthless commodities…”. To us, Face Value means to be yourself and to not let what you have or who you know define you. No one’s better than anyone else.

4.      How did each of you choose your instruments? As individuals, who inspired you to play music?

Jeremiah: I was always hitting on things trying to make cool beats and sounds since I can remember. I always loved music and something in me just liked the drums the most. I got a book from the library and read all about Keith Moon and I’ve had sticks in my hand ever since.

Gray: I started playing drums at age 7 when I admired a band called Hanson (don’t judge me). When Park started playing guitar in 5th grade, I took it up, too. Park got our grandparents to buy us a Mark Hoppus Signature Bass and I began dabbling with that as well. The Mark Hoppus Bass is now decommissioned ever since Jeb dropped it in Alec’s driveway…I love you, Jeb.

Park: Me and Gray always liked Blink and Sum 41 back when we were too young to understand any of their fucked up lyrics. Enema of the State and All Killer No Filler were huge influences on us. In 5th grade, me and Gray saw “School of Rock” and it really made want to start playing guitar, especially since I was the same age as those kids. I started taking guitar lessons and playing Blink 182 songs and that’s really how I learned how to play guitar.

Alec: The desire to learn how to play guitar really stemmed from my father’s love for music. he was an 80’s hair metal headbanger, which may be frowned upon by the music elitists of the modern age, but nevertheless the genre was super uppity and catchy. With my interest in music growing, my dad decided to sign me up to take lessons in my quaint hometown of Kingsville, MD. Mr. Don, my instructor, taught me about every Beatles song ever written, which I slightly resented at the time, but later understood was a great basis to continue to self teach myself guitar on my cherry red Fender. Since then I have self taught and taken vocal lessons and started the band which I continue to play in, Face Value.

5.      How was the most recent tour that you did over the summer? Were there any memorable moments or shows?

Our first tour could not have been a better time. Our friends in the band Something More asked us to hop on and the rest is history. I would say we had a bunch of memorable moments that will stay in hearts for years to come. In Indianapolis we saw “Inside Out” while Something More saw “Jurassic World”. In Peoria, an awesome band called Unamused Dave let us crash at their parents’ house (borderline mansion) and let us all shower and eat frozen pizzas, yum. In Knoxville, TN, some random local yocals let us sleep at their town home and gave us Panera bagels. Finally, in Charlotte, SC, we stayed at our friend’s place and hung out on the beach all day before our final show. Some shows were better than others but that’s life. We spent two nights sleeping in Walmart parking lots and the rest of the 9-day stretch we managed to sleep in somebody’s home. All in all, tour was one of the greatest experiences of our young, weird lives and we would do it again in a heartbeat.

6.      You guys recently released a music video for the single “Car Door.” How did you come up with the plot for the video and what was it like to film it?

We worked with AHT Productions before with our music video for “Up Late” and they did such a great job with it that we went to them again for Car Door. I believe the only idea we gave them was “Naughty” and they came up with the rest and made it the masterpiece it is. It was awesome shooting it. We spent all day watching the actors and actresses (which were mainly just our friends) do their thing and shoot all the scenes and also got to do our small little scenes (Alec and Jeremiah gardening and Parker and Gray working at a liquor store). Then, we spent all night shooting the live band scene at a friends’ parents’ house. They only knew Gray and Parker, but were kind enough to let us, the film crew, and a handful of extras come make noise on their property. It was a great time and if you’re reading this definitely check it out! We couldn’t be happier with it. Big thanks to the Krach family for sure.

7.      What can we expect to see or hear next from the band?

Other than show announcements in our hometown of Baltimore, Maryland and the surrounding area, expect new music (a new EP perhaps?) and new merch (T-shirts and stickers) in the somewhat immediate future! Be sure to find us on Facebook and follow us on all your favorite social media sites for pictures, videos, updates, and foolishness! Thanks for reading.

Ship Captain Crew

How did the band get started?Roger and Mike have been playing in bands since 2005, but Ship Captain Crew started in 2010 after some of us met outside of a show that was sold out. We started playing music together in bedrooms, basements and garages and immediately started playing shows around Chicago. We have been at it ever since then.You guys played at the Chicago date of Warped Tour recently. What was the experience like?It was an incredible experience for us as a band and personally. It was one of the largest dates of the tour for attendance, almost 20,000, so being able to perform for and meet a portion of all those people was absolutely a dream come true. Also for us, as music fans, being able to play on a stage across from some of our favorite bands like Senses Fail, The Wonder Years and PVRIS was truly inspiring. To be a part of Warped Tour and what it means to many people was everything we imagined it to be.Even though you guys only played the tour within the past week, has the response to your music grown? How has the response to your music progressed since you started performing together?Absolutely the response from people we meet has been phenomenal. Seeing a fan with your lyrics tattooed on their skin forever, or even meeting someone at a show down-state that caught your set at Warped Tour is a humbling and very unique experience. But that’s what we live for, and the response is always getting better the more opportunities we get to play for people.On your Facebook page, you posted a picture of a fan who got a tattoo in honor of the band. What was your reaction when you saw the tattoo? What was the particular story behind the design?It was something we never imagined would happen, so it was incredibly humbling to actually see in person. It was a little quote, ”I always leave some room to grow” from our song Notebooks, with a little potted plant sprouting underneath. The simplicity of it was most captivating as it really sums up the mantra of the whole song and the EP that it begins, House Of Mercury.Has playing Warped Tour changed anything for you guys in terms of what you want to achieve as a band going forward?I think everything we do as a band is always leading to a step in another direction. Playing Warped Tour may have been a small step in the grand scheme of things, but it was a big leap for our friends, family and fans that have known us from the start. So it was very rewarding to see how much that meant to them. I think the door has been opened for new opportunities as a result of playing, and what lies ahead is a little more clear now.What are your upcoming plans for new music and touring? We are currently working on a new EP, which you will be hearing more about very soon. In support of the new record, we will be playing around the Midwest and East Coast this Fall!

Zak Mahoney of Like Mike

How did you guys get started?

We started practicing in the summer of 2011. All of us had just graduated high school. Myself, Corey and Dan were in a different band together and were looking to take it on the road but we just couldn’t get it together with the other two people in our band. Nothing against those guys but it just seemed that their personal lives weren’t going to be flexible enough to do as much as we wanted to do anytime soon. Sometimes that’s how it is. I got a call from Corey one day asking if I wanted to sing in a pop punk band he was starting. It was meant to be a side project to our other band until we were able to really get that band going on tour. He contacted Billy and Edward who were in another local band at the time. We began practicing and things just clicked. The 5 of us got along, had similar goals and wanted to tour. Eventually this band became the main focus and we decided it was time to put our old band to rest.

For each of you, what are your musical backgrounds?

My favorite band is Knuckle Puck. Corey loves Such Gold. Billy’s all time favorite is My Chemical Romance. And Edward loves Four Year Strong and Set Your Goals.

Your music has had a great response within Atlanta. How does your music fit in with the culture of the city, particularly alongside its hip hop scene?

There’s a pretty strong pop punk scene in our area. A lot of bands have been forming that can fall within the genre. The scene we’re in and the hip hop scene are fairly separate in our area. To be honest, I couldn’t name a venue that primarily exists for hosting hip hop shows. We’ll have a rap artist on shows we play here and there but for the most the two scenes don’t intertwine too much. 

What inspired you guys to shift the direction of your music after a few successful releases? How have your fans reacted to this change in style?

The music we write is simply inspired by whatever we’re listening to the most at the time. When we first started you’ll hear a lot of Set You Goals and Four Year Strong influence. We eventually shifted to have some influence by Taking Back Sunday and Senses Fail.

How has your success grown since performing at Warped Tour?

Playing Warped was an awesome experience. I don’t know if the one day that we played really kicked down any doors for us. But we’ve been touring a lot since then. It also kind of helped us learn more about how bands on a larger scale operate.

How is the writing/recording process going for the new music?

It’s going great. This time around has been a 100% team effort. We used to have Edward write something from home, upload the audio tracks in our google drive. Then I would go in and write a vocal part over whatever he had written. Then we would show up at practice and learn the song together. This time around, everything has just been jammed out together at practice. Somebody would jam out a really basic but catchy chord progression. Then the song would just build from there. As the songs became more solidified, I would put a vocal part over it.

What kind of sound can fans expect to hear this time around?

It’s going to be a mixture of how our old stuff sounded and how our more recent stuff has sounded. We really found a way to blend the two sounds together to create something that I feel is really cool and unique.

What do you hope to achieve with this new record?

I think the goal as with most bands is to have it catapult us to where we can be making enough money to pay our bills and quit our day jobs at home. I know all of us would very much like for our living to just be playing music together.

Approaching Troy:

1.      You guys just released a new EP called Dear Sadie. It has a lot of influences from bands such as Taking Back Sunday, Hidden In Plain View, among others. Was there a reason for reviving this sound, especially since we haven’t heard that in a while? 

 There isn’t really a specific reason. We’re all 90’s kids and grew up in that early 2000’s scene. We lived through that Long Island Pop-punk Emo scene. It’s what inspired us to write songs in the first place. Those are the bands that got us through the adolescent hardships and teen drama. Every new up-n-coming artist had to be influenced by something before them, I like to think we do a good job incorporating it into our newer more modern take on the genre. 

2.      How did you guys meet since the band originally started as a solo project? 

We actually all met through different ways. Some of us went to school together, and others met through “friends of friends” on social media. 

  3.      What has the response been like to the new EP? 

 The response has been amazing! Not only have people been complimenting us on the musical direction we took with this EP, but also the work that our engineer Anthony Paganini did on the recording to bring out our performance and that sound we wanted. The best part about the response to this EP has been when we ask people their favorite song, we usually get a different response from person to person. 

4.      Do you have a favorite song off of Dear Sadie? 

I think it’s pretty split among us as well. Some of us hold the title track “Dear Sadie” near and dear because of its lyrical composition as well as the use of different beat patterns, and then some of us think that “Here’s To Ohio” is the best song and most memorable off the album. It’s dark yet fun at the same time. We really think “This Victory” should be in a movie soundtrack or played for a sports event or video game. That would be cool don’t you think? 

                                                                               5.      What was the process like writing and recording the EP? 

 The writing process was unique on this EP. There were songs that just came to us like “Here’s To Ohio” and “This Victory,” but then there were songs like “Dear Sadie” that if you were to hear the original demo of the song, you would have no idea that it’s even the same song. Some of the songs were more of a challenge to write because we really tried to go out of the box and give a new sound and feel to familiar styles. 

 6.      How has opening for bands such as The Ataris, Hawthorne Heights, and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus changed the band? Obviously opening for these bands gives you exposure, but have you felt that opening for them has helped you achieved your goals as a group? 

 Well to start, opening for bands like that was surreal. Some of these bands like Hawthorne Heights we grew up listening to and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus was actually the first band our lead singer, Jake Salazar, saw live. As a band, these opportunities are all stepping stones on the road to our success. We always hoped we would open up for bands like these and when it finally happened it really helped us realize what we need to do to be ready for these opportunities. We’re definitely excited to see the momentum continue by having more shows with bigger bands like those to open for. 

 7.      Is there a city, state, or country that you’ve always wanted to perform in, but haven’t gotten the chance? 

 We’ve been talking about the UK a lot lately. It would be unbelievably exciting if that could be accomplished within the next year or two. England just seems like it’s ready for something new. We’ve had a few plays here and there at a few stations in the UK and hopefully it’ll catch on soon over there. We’re confident it will. Asia is also on our bucket list and we really feel we’d be successful over there too. 

 8.      How has Long Island’s musical history influenced Approaching Troy?

We fully appreciate the rich music history that has come from this amazing place they call Long Island. With that being said, our influences come from all over. Of course you can tell that our music is strongly influenced by bands like Bayside and Taking Back Sunday; both Long Island natives. Yet We’re not entirely sure we completely write based off those influences. We also are influenced by bands like Utah’s own, The Used, and Michigan’s Chiodos. Maybe it’s coincidental or maybe…it’s just something in the Long Island water we drink that keeps us close to our native influencers. 

The Scandals:

1. How did you and the rest of the band get into punk rock?

I was given a Rancid and an Operation Ivy cd in the schoolyard by a good friend. I fell headfirst into it that moment. I think the rest of the band had similar experiences. There’s always a person in your life that points you in the right direction.

 2. What inspired you to start a band?

I always wanted to play music but when I saw a local show in my hometown at 15 i knew that was it. I watched a punk band called No Say rip through a set in the park and I wanted to run right home and start writing the songs.

3.  You guys have a European tour coming up that’s just around the corner. What has the response been to your music over there?

Europe has been great to us. Last years tour was our most successful tour at that moment and we’ve been beyond excited to get back. There’s something special here in terms of the excitement surrounding music and live shows. It’s something that I’m afraid is lacking a little bit back home.

4. Are there any cities that you are looking forward to playing? What do you notice the most about your overseas fans in response to your music and punk rock in general?

I don’t think there’s a city on this tour that we’re not looking forward to. Dublin and Brighton are high on the list as we’ve never been to the UK. We’re also stoked to return to Berlin, Prague, and Volkach. The biggest thing is the genuine interest to hear music that is new, and if they like it they show a great amount of support.

5. Do you guys have any shows that are memorable to you over the course of your career?

There’s been a few shows that stick out in my head. Our return home from Europe at The Court Tavern last year was great. We’ve had shows in Cedar Falls, Iowa that have become tales of legend amongst our group. I think we could all agree that Terminal 5 in NYC this past March with The Gaslight Anthem was surreal.

6.  You guys have been around for awhile. Do you guys have any moments that stick out to you that are particularly memorable, either on tour or recording?

There’s definitely quite a few moments that stick out on tour, most of which I probably shouldn’t talk about. Anthony’s first tour with us was actually his first tour ever. It was with our buds in Let Me Run and we hazed him by stealing his toothbrush every night. He had no clue where they kept going and we’d keep seeing him trying to hide  the fact that he was buying new ones at rest stops because he was embarrassed. At the last show Corey from LMR handed him all his tooth brushes on stage. Recording has always been a blast for me and we’ve had the opportunity to work with some great people.

  7. What are some of your favorite songs to play live? Do you have a favorite song that you’ve written?

Right now our favorite songs to play live are our newest ones. We’re still figuring out some of the nuances that allow us to perfect the tracks so playing them live can be a lot of fun. I also enjoy playing Sean’s track “Sold on Merit” because I don’t have to worry too much about where I am on the stage. I’m not sure I can pick a favorite song that I’ve written. Each one holds a certain time and place for me. I guess if I had to pick one I’d go with a newer one called Lucky 7’s.

8.  Is there a record or a band that you is feel is particularly influential to you as individual musicians or as a band?

I know for a fact that we all have very different opinions on this subject. I’ve had a lot of bands and records stay with me from the obvious choices like “…And Out Come the Wolves” to The Wallflower’s “Bringing Down the Horse.” I hold a band like One Man Army as a huge influence of mine as well as Lucero. I’m a sucker for great songwriters.

9. You guys just played Skate and Surf alongside some incredible bands. What were some of the highlights of the festival.

Skate and Surf was a blast. We got to catch our buds in Gates, see Beach Slang for the first time and I got to do a song with Gaslight to close the night. Way too much fun for one day. I’ve been listening to those Beach Slang EP’s in the van nonstop since then.

10. Lastly, what can we expect from the new music you are putting out this year?

I think you can expect the right step that we need to take. We put a lot of time and care into these songs and we really can’t wait to get them out there.

Victorian Halls:

Here is my interview with Mike and Jordan of Victorian Halls that happened during SXSW. Their new album Hyperalgesia comes out on May 19th on Victory Records. Best of luck with the album release guys!

Lauren: Can you guys introduce yourselves and tell us about what you both do in the band for anyone who doesn’t know who you guys are?

  Mike: My name is Mike and I play the drums.

  Jordan: I’m Jordan and I like to think of myself as the multi-instrumentalist that does a little bit of everything on stage, except play guitar, a little of percussion, but it’s mostly bass and vocals, and a little of synth here and there. Sprinkle it in…

  Lauren: So, how did you guys form as a band?

  Mike: Well, we formed quite a while ago. Jordan joined the band shortly after, and we were actually friends with some of the people in his band, and we had a member leave the band or whatever, and then it just so happened that right around that time Jordan’s band was having a falling out…

  Jordan: Not a falling out, but we were calling it quits with our music, we’ve done this for so long, and we really didn’t want to play this style of music anymore, and let’s just throw in the towel…

  Mike: Then we got a hold of Jordan a couple of days before their last show, and we went to go see him, and we absolutely loved him. Like, we fell in love with him. That was a couple of years ago, and since then it’s been like the core three of us, and we’ve just kind of stuck as a three piece since then. It’s much easier that way, traveling….

  Jordan: Everything…

  Mike: And it doesn’t smell as bad either. Don’t get me wrong, it smells terrible, but it doesn’t smell as bad if you had like four or five members…

Jordan: True, true.

  Lauren: So how did you guys come up with the name Victorian Halls?

  Mike: Uhhhh….I honestly don’t really know.

  Jordan: I know the story behind it, just because I had to look it up, because I asked the guys when I first joined the band, but it ended up being this, um, but it ended up being this charity event for orphans, and it was around Christmas time so they were just giving a bunch of donated presents and gifts away to a bunch of orphans, and when the whole thing started, a bunch of the orphans just rushed the stage, and a bunch of them got trampled, and it was a tragic event. So I guess that was where the name Victorian Halls came from. It was at Victorian Halls.

  Mike: Like, that was where the stage was.

  Jordan: To my understanding, I mean I looked this up, so I’m pretty sure that’s it.

  Mike: Its sounds like you guys are dark and morbid, something like that, so yeah, that’s pretty much it.

  Jordan: Sick, I love kids.

  Lauren: So how did you guys start playing your instruments and what inspired you to start playing music?

  Mike: Me, personally, I would always listen to the radio as a kid, and I stole my brother’s punk CD’s, and he had a couple of hip hop CD’s that I would take from him and just listen to. Drums just kind of stuck out for me, and I actually went to a Black Hawks game as a kid, and anytime the Black Hawks would score a goal, there was like this marching drum line, and they would stand in the gates, start marching and going crazy. They would use the large drumsticks, and I just asked one of the guys for a pair of sticks, and he gave it to me, from there it just went crazy.

  Jordan: Dreams were made…

  Jordan: For me, my musical upcoming is like really weird, because no one in my family really plays music or anything, so I pretty listened to whatever my mom was listening to, and that was like Usher, R. Kelly, Shania Twain, a lot of New Jack swing, 90’s R&B. I didn’t dive into punk rock until I was in middle school. But prior to that, I really got into metal, and that was really weird, for all of you out there, I guess heavy metal is taboo for African Americans. But, I loved it. I think what made me want to pick up the bass, was that I really couldn’t distinguish it from music at all, like when I was younger you had CD players and cassette tapes and all that. So I couldn’t really, like, hear the bass, and I was like “where’s the bass in this?” like “where is the bass?”, “I don’t hear it.” And if I couldn’t hear it, was it even present at all?” I think that was really got me to play the bass, so I could make it come out, but then you know technology expanded and grew, you know innovation, and now bass is everywhere. But I still love it. I play guitar and drums too though, but they’re not my main thing. But yeah, mostly nu-metal, bands like Slipknot and Korn, Spice Girls is a big one. Spice Girls is HUGE for my musical influences, Usher, Michael Jackson, Prince, all over the board.

  Lauren: So, a good mix of different things.

  Jordan: Nothing super intricate, like I like jazz and gospel and all that, but I never practice it, but I feel like you don’t need that much when writing a song. So that’s it for me.

  Lauren: It’s cool that you have all of those different influences.

  Jordan: I just love music as a whole. You can find beauty in any genre that you listen to, you just have to wait for it and hear it. Because, you know, I don’t like everything, but I can find something, you know?

  Lauren: You guys have a pretty interesting sound I took a listen to a few of your songs, so how did you find your sound?

  Jordan: I feel like we’re still looking for it!

  Mike: We’re still changing still, which is cool, you never get bored of playing one genre. Our debut album with Victory was kind of like one genre, but twelve different songs from that same genre and very similar style, and at the time, it was just kind of like…

  Jordan: It reflects a lot on our older music, it was really aggressive, but we want to add more electronic elements in there. And for this new album, we kind of strayed away from that and just wrote songs. Not being genre specific, but if a song went a certain way, it was why can’t we just write it this way, instead of making it the way we usually would, with all of the electronics and all the thrash, and with the crazy high pitched aggressive vocals. We were like, “why don’t we write songs that we want to write?” Then we went in that direction. But our first album, I feel like it’s all over the place. Just a lot weird, unorthodox type music. But I really enjoy the direction we’re taking right now, and hopefully we’ll just keep evolving and playing different genres of music, and putting more of our musicianship out there, rather than just writing a song that anyone could play, I guess.

  Jordan: We’re not saying that EVERYONE can play our songs. Because they are crazy and they have weird time changes, and genre switching stuff going on.

  Mike: But, yeah, I like where we are right now.

  Mike: Hopefully, that answered your question.

  Jordan: I went off on a tangent there, but it’s my morning breath of air, to get everything I have to say out in the beginning of the day, and as the day goes on, I chill and then I just listen to people talk.

  Lauren: So what was the process like when Victory signed you guys? Did they approach you, how did they find you?

  Mike: We wrote a little EP, we wrote it ourselves, and we sent that out to several different labels, and Victory was one of the labels that got back to us, and we talked and we were on the same page, as far as what we wanted to do with distribution and touring and things like that.

  Jordan: Just like the big picture of everything.

  Mike: It was cool, because one of things that they asked us, was who do you guys want to be, and we were naming some smaller bands, and where do you want to be. Think bigger, and I don’t think we ever thought like that, until we started talking with them. They pushed some humongous bands, and it’s very inspiring to us. And it’s cool to think like something like that is possible. And you go to these concerts, and you never think that these people are larger than life. It is possible, and if they are one of the labels that can help us pursue that, and get to that level…

  Jordan: Especially when you’re young, and I didn’t even realize that I was listening to a lot of bands who were on Victory, when I was in middle school, high school. Like Taking Back Sunday, Catch 22, Bayside, Between The Buried and Me. Those are just a few on our label that I just loved growing up.

  Lauren: As a music fan myself, I always get a lot of the bands I like from the bands I listen to. Is there one particular band that you think everyone should check out, or know about…

  Mike: Like, upcoming bands?

  Lauren: Any band. Upcoming or known.

  Jordan: It’s weird because I always have a favorite band in mind. At the moment its Earth, Wind, and Fire. It want to funk that will make you just want to get up and dance, Earth, Wind, and Fire.

  Mike: I’ve had some of those on repeat for a 45 minute drive. Just funk in general, though is just amazing. They started off with like the pop punk thing, and went to indie rock, and then they went to grunge, and then they went super grunge.

  Jordan: I would have to say that my favorite band is Brand New. They’ve evolved immensely over time. They did the pop punk thing and then they did indie rock, then they went grunge, and then they went super grunge.

  Lauren: Have you listened to, I forget the name, I think his name is Simple Mind, he did a covers album of one of their records, The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me.

  Mike: They did a cover of the whole thing?

  Lauren: The whole thing.

  Jordan: No way! I have not heard this!

  Lauren: He did a re-imagined version of that album.

  Mike: That’s cool. We will definitely check that out.

  Jordan: The Devil and God is like my favorite record of all time, then I’ll probably listen to it for like a year.

  Lauren: So when you guys are out on the road, do you have any particular cities that you like, or cities that get a particularly good response?

  Mike: Arizona. There’s a couple of cities in Arizona like Tempe…

  Jordan: Scottsdale…they’ve really grabbed onto us, and it’s not like the geographical location of Arizona, it’s the people there, that are like really, really cool.

  Mike: Their not really into a “scene”, their just into music and they absolutely love it, they really latched onto it, and any time we come through, they know about it immediately. We don’t even have to post the dates, like somehow they find out through the promoter and say “hey, I heard your coming through here, I’ve got a bunch of people coming.”

  Jordan: So, that’s probably one of my favorite places. Like, they go out of their way to find places for us to stay, and I just think that that’s like so cool.

  Jordan: Besides Chicago, of course. But you know, it’s a devil of its own. Got to be careful around those parts. Because music isn’t like huge in Chicago or anything, like we listen to a lot of music, but we don’t have a lot of up and coming artists coming out of Chicago, so it’s really hard to make your niche in the scene. Especially, there is like no scene.

Jordan: But yeah, Arizona’s cool. I really like Texas. I’ve been here to South By about four or five times, and every time I come down here, it’s like the best time. Everyone is so friendly, music is thriving, you meet a bunch of people, it’s really great. I also like New York. New York is just a little bit too crowded for my taste. But I like people, sometimes.

  Mike: It’s an interesting group of people out in New York.

  Jordan: Yeah, everyone’s just free in New York. Oh, and California too. California’s fun. But that’s also another beast of its own, because everyone’s different wherever you go. And you’re going to have those few that are like, really cool, and then you’ll have another set of people who aren’t into much of anything, except what they’re doing, and you just have to get past those people.

  Mike: It’s all about support; you have to support each other, if you want to get somewhere. People see right through that stuff too.

  Lauren: So, what’s next for guys in terms of albums, tours, things like that?

  Jordan: Yes! All of that stuff!

  Mike: We are releasing a new album on Victory Records called Hyperalgesia, it’s going to be out in May. I believe the 19th. After that, it’s heavy touring. Heavy everything. Just when you go out at your hardest, that’s when everything kind of comes together, and that’s what you get to enjoy. You to record and do all of this stuff, getting everything ready, and then touring is really the fun part. It’s what pays everything off. Touring is fun, that’s the easy part.

  Jordan: There’s nothing I’d rather do than just tour. Just all the time. It gets hellacious after awhile, but after you really find your place, then I feel like touring is the place for me. I don’t like being in one place for a really long time, so I think that’s the way to go.

  Mike: So, there’s a lot coming.

  Jordan: Very soon. I can’t wait. We’ve had this record written for a year and a half, but we’ve just been going through and making all of these revisions, rewriting, and rerecording parts, and trying to make it the best possible album that we could. But, I’m really excited to see what comes next.

  Mike: The songs have been around for a little while but they’ve changed drastically, at least like four or five times, like each song. We’re perfectionists when it comes to that.

  Jordan: We like to do everything ourselves, whether it be videos or whatever. We always get help from friends, but we like to spark the idea a little bit, and then just get people to help us out. But we always want to have our vision in everything we do. I feel like its more close to home that way, a little bit more intimate, and people can relate. Like “oh these guys are actually doing something and they are doing it for themselves.” I think that’s cool. Maybe that will spark inspiration in someone, you never know.

  Flannel Mouth:

I interviewed Flannel Mouth at SXSW back in March. They were nice guys and very fun to interview! Everyone check out their album when it comes out this summer.

Lauren: Could you introduce yourselves and tell us a little bit about how the band got started?

  Luke: Well together we’re Flannel Mouth, I’m Luke, and I sing and player guitar.

  Ryan: I’m Ryan, and I sing and play bass, and some percussion.

  Tyler: I’m Tyler, I play the drums, sing  backup vocals, and I take a lot of Dayquil.

  Lauren: You guys are from a small town in Illinois of only a thousand people. How has your hometown responded to your music?

  Luke: From elsewhere, or from the hometown?

  Lauren: From the hometown.

  Luke: I think that they appreciate us and expect us to do good things; I don’t think they get the music as much in the hometown, and when we go out I feel like the reception is a lot better.

  Tyler: It’s very rural, you have to drive through a lot of backcountry to get to it, and there’s a lot country music, people really like that, we have a little element of that, but for the most part we are the kids who are doing good. We’re kids making noise for a lot of people.

  Luke: They still complain a lot about us practicing. I guess if there was a country band playing by us, I wouldn’t be super stoked about. It’s a wonderful hometown though, I love it.

  Lauren: How did you guys get started?

  Luke: We all went to school together. Me and Tyler were going since kindergarten basically, then Zach showed up, and then Ryan showed up. Zach’s the invisible guy right here.

  Ryan: Zach’s not here but he plays lead guitar, backup vocals

  Luke: Violin

  Ryan: Trumpet, piano

  Luke: He’s a wonderful guy

  Tyler: Very soft spoken, for as much as he has to do.

  Tyler: We’re all in the same graduating class, out of a class of 60 people, and we all just hung out and got along, and we were really good friends even before we started playing instruments, and then we started playing instruments and ten years later here we are, in Austin, Texas playing South By. So cool.

  Lauren: For each of you individually, has playing music been something that you guys have always done or was it something that you picked up later?

  Luke: I remember going to school and doing like the wheels on the bus, and I’ve always been into since then, always been a chorus kid. Tried to do the band thing, but I picked the oboe, but I wasn’t too good at the oboe. I’ve always been into music, me and him (points to Tyler) always dance to The Backstreet Boys. The music interests have changed, but you’ve got to stick with your roots.

  Ryan: Me and brother, he was in band, I never picked up on anything, and then they asked me join, and I was like OK, and then I just started from there.

  Tyler: We gave him a week

  Luke: I didn’t like him when I asked him to join the band

  Tyler: We were always very athletic and into sports and and just hanging out and being friends anyway.

  Luke: Our sports were always really bad I think that that had to do with it.

  Ryan: We were bad at it, so we just did something we were good at.

  Tyler: Luke and I started a rock band, played guitar for awhile, and then we needed a drummer, so I was like, I’ll give it a shot, why not? It was freshman year in high school, and it just kind of grew from there, did jams bands, hanging out, and having a good time. Then we started taking it a little more seriously and then we met Mike (Abiuso) from SwitchBitch Records, and then he ending up signing us and recording us. Then he took us to Boston to record our first EP, and we didn’t get quiet a running start.

  Luke: Since then it’s been hard work.

  Tyler: We wanted to learn the ropes, it’s been an incredibly slow process but incredibly rewarding.

  Lauren: What was the inspiration behind the name Flannel Mouth?

  Luke: Well, we’ve been through a lot of names, with this one it was kind of like, we knew we wanted to go with something that was a little bit more Western, because we’ve got a little punkabilly feel to it, so we were looking up all types of Western terms, and Flannel Mouth is actually a term for someone with a sharp tongue.  Like, someone like a lawyer, or something like that. So that’s what we were going for, I guess.

  Ryan: Then we all sat down and tried to figure out names, and that’s what we came up with.

  Tyler: It’s like cooking spaghetti, throw a bunch of names at the wall, and the ones that stick are the ones we went with.

  Lauren: Do you remember any of the other names you came up with?

  Luke: Iridescence, for a good part of it, and that was probably a good, like, year or so, and then we introduced Zach to the band.

  Ryan: And then we were Two Chambers Each when Zach was in the band

  Luke: That was when there was three of us.

  Tyler: It was a six gun, we were called Two Chambers Each. A robber, pistol reference, not pistol, it was a revolver! Gotta know my guns, I’m in Texas right now. Then before that, it was Mafia of the Beloved, and Myers On Batalon, our respective last names, and I don’t think we ever even played out under that name, probably because it was terrible.

  Luke: And then when we were coming up with Flannel Mouth, there was like a whole list. That was a very frustrating process. And because of this guy (points to Ryan), he was like “Nope, nope, that one’s no good.”

  Tyler: It took Ryan a couple months to like anything we came up with.

  Luke: Yeah, he still doesn’t like Flannel Mouth

  Tyler: But, hey, we’re here. Deal with it.

  Ryan: Now it’s stuck.

  Luke: Like spaghetti

  Lauren: What should fans expect from seeing you guys perform live if they’ve never seen you before?

  Tyler: Well today a pool party, which is the coolest thing (laughs)

We took a lot of influence from Brand New, and like shoegaze, where we kind of just stood around and stared at ourselves playing, and it was more just atmosphere that we were involved in, but once we started playing out and seeing more bands, and just picking up on things here and there, we just decided that we were going to go completely out of the way, and try to be really cool, calm, and collected in person. But when we get on stage, we just lose ourselves and go crazy.

  Ryan: It’s more, instead of it just being like, entertainment, it’s a performance, watching something happen, than listening to just music.

  Tyler: If want to hear our music, buy the CD, if you want to see us live, come see us live. Because you don’t want to hear exactly what you’ve already been experiencing by yourself, and so we want to make sure that’s a big thing in our show.

  Luke: I like to freak people out

  Ryan: Scare ‘em right away

  Luke: Have eyes in the back of our heads

  Lauren: Do you guys have any moments on the road that particularly stand out?

  Ryan: We have good moments and bad moments for sure.

  Tyler: I have terrible moments for sure.

  Luke: The moment that always sticks for me is the pee, I’m not gonna lie

  Ryan: The pee!

  Tyler: We don’t need to talk about that…

  Tyler: We learned up wind back forest, where one of us tried to use the bathroom out of the back of the van while we were driving

  Ryan: On the highway…

  Tyler: Because we didn’t want to pull over. And I didn’t I needed to tell anybody that I needed to use the bathroom.

  Luke: Well, Ryan was holding you.

  Ryan: And covering myself.

  Tyler: So what happened was the updraft from underneath the van comes off the trailer and pushes right back in and so luckily I’m not standing at 90 degrees. I was sideways and our merch guy….

  Luke: I felt it, and I was like “ooohhhh.”

  Tyler: I was thinking more along the lines of having no one show up to our show in Detroit except for three people, one wearing overalls, dancing and having a great time, and introducing us to his friends who were the other two people there. They ended up taking us in for the night, and we stayed up just listening to vinyl and talking about everything imaginable, until about 6 or 7 in the morning. And we finally fell asleep for a couple of hours, and watched Netflix all day, and they made us a meal. And what was one of our worst shows, turned into one of our best experiences as a touring band, it was pretty incredible.

  Luke: All because of the people.

  Tyler: We had an opportunity to play a different show in a different city, and we called the promoter and asked if it was going to be a good show, and he said yeah, and it wasn’t, and we were just beat. But everything just turned around immediately. It was incredible. Big shout out to Mike, and Laura, and Julius in Detroit, they’re fantastic.

  Lauren: I know you guys are recording a new album. How has that been going and what has the process for that been like?

  Ryan: Constant work.

  Luke: It’s been going really well, I would say. I’m really excited, it’s going to be a pretty big departure from what we were doing.

  Tyler: We went out to Boston and recorded songs in three and a half days for our EP, where as this time we took it upon ourselves to just buy all of the equipment, so it’s ours just to have now. We flew Mike of Switchbitch Records, to our hometown of Peoria, and we rented an office, and got everything up to par, recording standards, and we spent a whole with Mike just soundproofing different things, and trying different ideas.

  Ryan: Different mics

  Tyler: It took about four days to do all the drums, and it took more than the time it took to record Bull In your horns. Very, very particular about the sounds that are coming out of the amps and that sort of thing, and so far we are in our fifth week of recording now

  Luke: We get to come back from here and record some.

  Tyler: This is a working vacation for us for sure, but the sounds that are coming out are amazing. I didn’t know Luke could sing the way he does, I’m really, really impressed.

  Luke: Thanks!

  Tyler: It’s been different and it’s been rewarding. We are never opposed to trying new things

  Ryan: and it will be amazing.

  Tyler: It will blow the ears off of goats and the Mediterranean. So, if you’re not a goat in the Mediterranean you’ll be ok.

  Lauren: Do you have a release date you are thinking about?

  Luke: We are hoping to get it done by the time we go on tour in May. So it might be kind of close with the mixing and all that.

  Ryan: The mastering…

  Luke: But we’re going to try, going to try for May, and if not it will be June or July for sure.

  Tyler: Definitely summer, early to mid summer. And we’re be touring lots of places, ideally Austin, Texas

  Any names that you’ve thought of for it yet?

  Luke: For the album?

  Lauren: Yeah.

  Luke: Yeah, we’ve actually got a name. It’s called The Prisoner’s Cinema

  Tyler: It stems from the Iridescence days. Iridescence was supposed to be like a rainbow, and we started playing off the monochrome EP just to play off the color, and prisoners, I’m not even sure how we landed on that. But when you…. there’s an absence of light for a really long time, you start seeing hallucinations and all these different colors that you’ve never seen before, and they called it Prisoner’s Cinema, because a lot of time prisoners are subjected to no light whatsoever, and it just your mind playing tricks on you. We were trying to be very cinematic with Iridescence, and it’s easy enough to just call it the rainbow album or whatever, you know.

  Luke: We should just called it Dark Side of The Moon

    Ryan: Haha, yeah I know.

  Tyler: Exactly, so we wanted to be as original as possible and Prisoner’s Cinema took on a different meaning where it became a story about a prisoner and a movie that’s kind of playing out in his own head, and kind of rationalizing the craziness that occurs. It’s got 12 songs, which we have coming out.

  Tyler: That’s it in a nutshell. Very big big nutshell.

  Lauren: I’m looking forward to hearing it. It was a pleasure chatting with you all. Thank you!

    Synodik

Tell us how the band got started. Have you guys always been into heavy metal?

Matteo: The band is active since 2006, when was called Asylum and had a way different musical attitude than now. In fact the first demo, “Drown In Pain” was influenced by a mixture of death and thrash metal and in particular by bands like Morbid Angel or Nile. When the band changed the name in Synodik the musical attitude and the overall sound changed to go in a more technical and atmospheric/progressive direction so that has a lot of modern influences but still keeping its roots into 90’s styled death metal. Our first album “Sequences For a New Matrix” showed the first step of where the new band’s sound was going, and the latest EP “A Matter Of Perception” pushed up what Sequences already did before. Our new EP represents in the best way possible what the band wants to do musically, to be free from pre-settled rules and to explore as much soundscapes as possible. Synodik is freedom, Synodik is the universe of sounds that we are talking about in our songs. We all grew up with a strong passion in Death and Extreme Metal and everyone of us has got its favorite bands but our basic influences kinda disappears when we are in composition mode, we want to sound like ourselves and not like our musical mentors, we don’t want to give us limits in what we do and of course we want to amaze and thrill the listener and even ourselves

Where did the name Synodik come from?

Leandro: We were searching for a new band name to replace the old “Asylum” monicker, and the new one had to match with our new wave of inspiration focused on fringe science, introspection and physics of the deepest structures of reality; “synodic” indicates the period of a body to rotate once, in relation to the planet, star or whatever to which is orbiting around. It’s an harmonic motion that perfectly describes the beauty of the universe’s order at a macroscopic sight, in extreme contrast to what happens in reality at a microscopic level, where quantum mechanics describe a strange “non-sense” world very hard to understand for us.

Matteo: When we entered in studio to record “Sequences For A New Matrix” we felt necessary for us to change name because the band identity deeply changed and so the lyrical aspect and the concept within the music needed a much more appropriate name. We looked to the name change as a new era for the band and a cut to the near past. Literally Synodik is the “sinodic month”, the time the Moon takes to re-align its position with the Sun and the Earth after a complete revolution motion around our planet. The “sinodic” term derives from the latin “synodicum” and then from the greek “synodikòs”, a further derivation of “synodos” that means “reunion” so “sinodic” resembles the reunion or the conjunction between two planets or two stars.

  How has the Italian music scene responded to you? Is heavy metal a popular genre in Italy?

Giacomo: Absolutely yes, in Italy there are tons of amazing bands in heavy and extreme metal. Several famous acts started to come out of our country actually back from the late 70’s to the mid 80’s and throughout the whole 90’s like Strana Officina, Vanexa, Necrodeath, Extrema, Bulldozer, Mortuary Drape, Cripple Bastards, Sadist, Electrocution, Antropofagus, Detestor, Sacradis, Spite Extreme Wing, Abysmal Grief, Rhapsody, Lacuna Coil and many more. Also, during the last years Italy has seen the birth of some of the finest extreme bands around such as Fleshgod Apocalypse, Hour Of Penance, The Modern Age Slavery, Nero Di Marte, Hideous Divinity and many others so summing up the whole Italian metal scene, nowadays as in the past, is more than prosperous. In consequence of the high and various musical proposal each subgenre has its own strong fanbase, and so the number of people that listens to our music kinda raised up after our “sound change” because the death metal roots kept with us the die hard old school metalheads, while the newer generations liked our more modern influences.

    Your new EP A Matter of Perception features only three songs with two of them clocking in at over seven minutes long. Was there a reason for why you decided to include only these three songs at that length?

Leandro: All Synodik’s songs are built with no rules or standard “policies” about length, refrein’s repetitions ecc. Every song evolves independently; I like to describe the process of creating a Synodik song comparing it to the stream of the scenes in a film: every scene (we can call it “riff” in music) is linked to an emotion, and while listening to the song you can follow and bring those emotions into your inner core, enjoying all the different moods and visions that stem from the dynamic evolution of the track.

How have your fans responded to A Matter of Perception?

Leandro: The feedback is very good, in particular compared to the former album we see that numerous people appreciate the new chosen path, because I think that this Ep is perceived as a step forward for the band in creating a more personal sound.

What were some of your influences while writing the EP?

Leandro: The main influence in writing these songs was the fascination that the themes regarding the limits of human perception generates in me. The role of humans in their particular way of perceiving the Universe in its deep complexity, in contrast to its apparent macroscopic simplicity, is a true passion for me! From a musical point of view currently I’m really into atmospheric/progressive metal bands like Fallujah for example, despite I’m listening to soundtracks and cinematic stuff in an increasingly way, as well as more “traditional” extreme metal acts like Decapitated. I’m also a great fan of Muse!

What is next for Synodik?

Leandro: We’ve just got a new drummer, Emanuele Giannoni, and we are finally ready to hit the stage again after a forced break due to the decision by our previous drummer Edoardo to leave the band. We feel stronger than ever and we are building up new songs for the next album, that will be another step forward in the band growth!

Giacomo: To promote our music even more, to grow up even stronger in our musical path to find a more personal and unique identity and of course to express ourselves as much as possible in our favourite environment: the stage! Come and headbang with us! \m/

Jeremy & The Harlequins, interview with front man Jeremy Fury

1. First off, I just want to say that I loved the album, particularly the sound of the record.

Was there anything in particular that made you go completely analog with the recording,

or have you guys always enjoyed albums that were recorded this way?

Well, thank you.  To get our sound, recording analog to tape is not only important, but a necessity.  I don’t mean that in a pretentious sounding way.  If we had done it digitally, it would be a totally different record.  It’s not only because of the sound that analog gear has, but also in it’s limitations.  It’s way more difficult to “correct” the recording.  The limitations become an asset and the imperfections make the end result more perfect.  As a music listener and fan, I wouldn’t say I only enjoy analog music, but when it comes to rock ‘n’ roll, I tend to prefer the sound that analog recordings have.

2. The record has a very old timey feel to it. Did the group set out to have more of an older sound, or did it evolve into that?

I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t intentional.  It was somewhat reactionary to where music is at right now.  The electronic thing is so massive right now and we’re not that.  We don’t want to be that.  Our goal is simply to make great songs and play them as stripped down as possible with guitars, bass and drums.

3. Jeremy, in your biography on Facebook it says that you started the band after taking out lyrics that you had written over the past few years. How long have you been writing

(lyrics or otherwise?)

Yeah, not only lyrics, but songs.  Some of the tunes have been circulating for years, demoed in various ways.  It wasn’t until a couple years ago did I finally find the right people to play them with.  As for writing lyrics, I’ve been writing for years.  I’ve been playing in bands and touring for years.  I think the first song I wrote when I was seven or eight.  I wrote it with my mom and it was called ‘Mr. Miller’s Caterpillar.’

4. For everyone in the band, what is your musical background? Are your influences

reflected in the music you are playing with Jeremy & The Harlequins or are your tastes

totally different?

I think everyone found a common chord in this band, but everyone does have other influences and tastes.  Patrick has played in Jamaican reggae bands in the past, and while it might seem far off, the guitar lines from reggae are very similar to what you might hear in ’50’s rock ‘n’ roll.  Craig loves classic pop rock, but maybe has a soft spot for British rock, everything from the Invasion era to the Oasis/Blur Brit pop wave.  Stevie and I grew up listening to a lot of the same stuff, not only early rock ‘n’ roll, but also really influenced by early ’70’s glam like Sparks, Mott the Hoople and T-Rex.

5. Ambition seems to be a huge part of your band. What made you want to perform in front of an audience one week after forming? What was the response like?

We were there and we were asked to do it, so we did it.  We were excited to play because it had been awhile since any of us had been on stage.  Plus, we were excited about the music.

The response was good.  It was funny because a few people asked how long we had been together and when we told them that was the first time we ever played together, they thought we were lying and being jerks.

Actually, one of the other funny things about that night is at that time we hadn’t yet chosen our band name.  I wanted to call it Jeremy and The Harlequins, but we hadn’t really decided on it.  So the host of the evening, just prior to us taking the stage, asked me what we were called.  I told him Jeremy and The Harlequins.  And that was that.

6. You guys recently made it in the Wall Street Journal after the paper premiered “You’re My Halo.” How have things been going for the band since appearing in the paper?

Good.  We’re definitely getting more press and more people interested.  Our biggest goal is to show more people what we’re doing.  That’s the best thing about press, to have other enthusiastic people, like yourself, let people in the world know about us.

7. While looking at your Facebook and press photos, even your appearance indicates that your music fits in with an older era. Is there a particular band or musician you are trying to emulate with the way you guys look?

I wouldn’t say that.  I think it’s more that we’re representing the idea of classic America.  In the past six or seven years in this country it’s been cool to see more people in this country making things again.  Not only music and art and movies, but everything from chocolate to cars to beer to clothing.  That’s what the world fell in love with in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s and I think the world is ready to fall in love with that America again.

8. How has your hometown of Toledo responded to your music?

I’m not sure.  We all live in New York now so I’m somewhat disconnected.  We have played in Toledo a few times over the past 18 months and it seems the response is pretty positive.

9. What is next for Jeremy & The Harlequins?

We will be putting out music videos for the songs ‘You’re My Halo’ and ‘Some Days.’  Also, one of our older tunes is going to be in the season finale of the show ‘Shameless’ with William H. Macy.  Besides that, more shows.  Oh, and we are recording some new stuff right now that we hope to put out by the end of the year.

You can listen to “You’re My Halo” below.

Mike Smagula: Co-writer and creator of children’s show The Shagoolies. He  was also the bassist of the band The Number #12 Looks Like You.

 Most of you guys have been in music for a long time. What made you want to transition from musicians to creators of a kids’ puppet show?

It actually came pretty naturally. From playing and touring in the #12 Looks Like You with Jesse, we would always be talking about funny episodes of cartoons or Pixar movies. After the band, we started getting together and just working on ideas that we thought would make great kids shows. Then we quickly reached out to Mat about adding his insight to everything. Mat’s way of thinking matches up perfectly with ours. Then we would get in touch with Eric to see what he could bring to the project. Eric’s personality was perfect for bringing The Shagoolies’ main character to life.

Did you all come up with the idea for the show as a group or did one of you bring up the idea?

Jesse had the original idea that eventually became The Shagoolies. He wanted a show about a photographer that traveled. When he came to me with the idea, I immediately wanted to incorporate puppets. Together we came up with some rough ideas of the different characters and story and then went to Mat for the art and he gave us how these characters and this new world would look.

Take us through the process of creating each episode. When writing each episode do you all throw out ideas as a team or do you each bring ideas to the table individually?

It’s always a mixture of both individual and a team effort. At first we all come up with separate ideas of what the overall episode is about. Once we like that topic, we start to think about different scenes within the episode. Finally, we start to put together the dialog. I think all of us always want to have certain jokes or scenes that we really like in each episode, so we figure out a way to get those all in.

Was a puppet show something that you’ve always wanted to do, or was it a more recent idea?

Personally, I have always wanted to do a puppet show. I been a huge fan of Jim Henson since I can remember. I wore out the VHS tapes for both the Muppets Take Manhattan and Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas. It didn’t take much convincing Jesse to make The Shagoolies into a puppet show, and Mat was immediately on board with what we were doing too. We believe there is a certain magic that a live action puppet can bring, instead of just using animation.

All of you are working with an impressive group of television veterans such as Cory Cavin as well as writers who have written for well known children’s shows and channels. How did you get all of these people on board?

We have been very lucky that we already knew various creative people – artists, musicians, writers, comedians – many of which were friends, or friends of friends. Often when sharing our concept, somebody would be excited to connect us to someone else they knew. That’s how we linked up with most of the crew on the pilot.

What do you want kids to take away from The Shagoolies?

We want kids to take away a sense of passion and fun that comes with exploring the world around you. The show is about getting out there and seeing the amazing things that might be taken for granted. For adults, seeing someone ride a bike or riding on a bus might not seem like a big deal, but to a kid (and a Shagoolie) this is something new and exciting!

Note: The Shagoolies show has a Kickstarter to fund the shooting of six webisodes.The fund has six days left for fundraising, with $3,455 raised of a $150,000 goal.

Dirty Loops: Interview with bassist Henrik Linder

For the readers of Listen Here Reviews who don’t know your story, tell us how you made the transition from a studio band to a touring band. Which setting do you enjoy playing in the most?

It’s was kind of natural transition. We did an album and when it was released we started touring. Both of them are a lot of fun. It’s a good thing for us to go in between them as we all like to change things all the times.

In your biography, you mention that you chose the songs you covered on Youtube because you knew you could do something different with them. Do you consider yourselves fans of the music that you cover, or are you more of a casual listener of those artists?

-I guess we’re more casual listeners. Some songs we liked better than others. But we think all of the songs are well written pop songs.

  How did each of you individually get started playing your instruments? Are your families musical or was music something you picked up on your own?

All out families are full time musicians or hobby musicians. So there’s always been role models and people who’s been supporting us from back home.

What is your songwriting process like?

  We always start out with the melody and back that up with very simple chords. Then we try to get a vision of the arrangement/production and after that we add the extra everything.

Have the artists that you’ve covered on Youtube been influential to you when writing your own original music or were your musical inspirations for writing the album completely different?

For the melodies absolutely. I don’t believe there’s an accident those songs became suck huge hits. For arrangements though we have other sources for inspiration.

For each of you, what was your first musical memory?

Henrik: I guess dancing to just a gigolo by david lee Roth as a baby. I saw videos of it. I was a way better dancer back then.

Aron: the sting records my mom used to play at home. 

Jonah: my moms choir lessons. I started singing before I could talk.

What is Sweden’s music scene like? Is there one particular genre that is popular or is there a mix of styles that people enjoy listening too? 

There’s a big mix. Especially since streaming services get available. But the Eurovision Song Contest dominates the Swedish charts. 

  What are some of the differences between touring in Europe and here in the US? As this is your first US tour, how is everything going so far?

It’s our first nightliner tour. Which is a way more comfortable way of traveling compared to all the airport stuff we’re used to. Its our first U.S. tour as well. A big difference is the climate that you could go from snow to sunshine from one day to another. Tour has been a lot of fun. And it’s been great meeting all the people at the shows. Hope to do it again!!

What’s next for Dirty Loops?

More touring next year and writing new material. We constantly need to develop.

The bands debut album Loopified is out now.

If you want to hear what Dirty Loops sound like, you can check out their video for the single “Hit Me” below.

    Dylan Sneed

       Growing up, what were some of your musical influences? Is there a particular artist that has influenced you more than others?

My strongest musical influences have been my guitar teachers. I’ve studied with three main teachers for a cumulative amount of about 10 years, so I’ve logged some hours with these guys. Their impact is immeasurable, because it’s on a foundational level. They taught me how to think about music, and so they’ve influenced the way I listen to everything, indeed how I see the world. You could say they influence the way I’m influenced. If I had to pick a couple of artists, I’d say Paul Simon and Townes Van Zandt.

Have you always played music or was it something you picked up later on?

Our church sang accapella all the time, so I started singing at an early age. I took piano lessons around age 8 or 9, but I didn’t like to practice. I kick myself for that now. I started learning guitar at 15, and it was a hit from the get go. There was no doubt. Songs started coming a year or two later.

Moving from the corporate world in Dallas, TX to Hartsville, SC to pursue music is quite a difference.  What inspired you to make this change and how has it changed you?

I actually started to pursue music at a younger age. I grew up in Austin, and had a band there in high school, then several bands in college, and continued playing and touring after college when I moved to Dallas. The best explanation I can offer for leaving a town like Austin and eventually landing in a town like Hartsville while pursuing music the whole time is this: there’s something in my DNA that is attracted to swimming upstream.

How has moving to a small town impacted your music? Obviously, Hartsville is not LA, New York, Nashville, or even Austin.  Why did you decide to relocate to South Carolina instead of one of the major music cities?

I won’t claim that I’ve “been there, done that,” just because I grew up in Austin, but I do believe that I’ve been imbued with some of that Live-Music-Capital-Of-The-World spirit. It’s something you can take with you and share with others, and that’s what I try to do wherever I go. I’ve started a couple of concert series in Hartsville, and I host an open mic. We’ve already attracted musicians from around the world to our little town, and events like the open mic are cultivating the kind of audience you might expect in Nashville, NYC, LA, or Austin, minus the smug hipster vibe (There are tons of cool people in all those towns, of course, but sometimes the too-cool-for-school vibe can be a little much. It happens.). It’s so rewarding to witness that moment of discovery in people’s eyes when they realize the inherent value of live music. To answer your first question, I feel that the combination of living in a small town and traveling the world keeps me grounded, and this hopefully keeps my music honest. I know that Hartsville is not the center of the universe. New York isn’t, either. People are living lives of great significance all over the place, even if nobody’s watching. And as for why I moved, I always like to cite Coelho’s The Alchemist and say “I was just following my Personal Legend.”

As an artist where do you want be in five years?

I want to be more honest. I want to be easier on myself. I want to still be hungry.

How was your last European tour? When finding homes to play at, what is the process like? How have music fans in Europe responded to your music? Has it been the same or better than in the United States?

My last Euro tour was great. Everything on the booking end was done for me, so I basically just showed up and played. In that way, it was better than many of my domestic tours. But you could argue that all those tours had to happen before the first trip to Europe. Finding house concert hosts can be difficult, but in my experience you end up finding two kinds of people: those who host one concert, have a good time, and move on with their lives; and those who can’t get enough of it. So it’s worth the work in seeking out hosts, because in many cases you end up finding lifelong supporters of your music. The folks in the Netherlands responded much the same as the Americans I’ve played for. They speak English just as well, so there’s no real barrier there.

Do you plan to have your organization Artsville expand throughout SC and beyond, or do you envision having it be just a local organization?

Great question! If I had to pick between local and global, I’d pick global. I think the message of Artsville is something valuable to people all over the world. I printed over 1,000 black and white bumper stickers with the simple phrase, “try new things.” and I’ve handed them out to just about anybody I run into. It’s a message I think we could stand to see more of, no matter where we live.

If a major record label wanted to sign you, would you take the offer or do you see yourself going with an independent label, or doing things completely on your own?

It all depends on the deal. I’d want to surround myself with smart people that care about me and consult them before I made a decision like that. The most important question to ask in that situation is “Do these people believe in me?” True supporters are those that trust you, even when your art begins to evolve.

What advice do you have for aspiring musicians who want to have professional careers in music, as well as those who are thinking about making a career switch to playing music full time?

A few things. Measure twice, cut once. Sound good, and keep going. Be yourself. Those are the best pieces of advice for aspiring professional musicians I’ve ever heard.

Interviews was originally published on Listen Here Reviews

[doomedandstoned]

Sailing into the Doomed Underworld with VOID KING!

Melissa Marie visits with guitarist Tommy Miller about the Indiana band's journey from leaky garages to international festivals and uncovers a plot to conquer your eardrums...

First of all, I want to say congratulations for all the wild success Void King has experienced in this relatively short amount of time as band. You must feel proud of all of your hard work!

While I appreciate the kind words, I don’t know if we look at it the same way. We have been given a ton of great opportunities by a lot of great people and I think we just took advantage of those when we had them, if that makes sense. We had only been a band for a very short time, when we were asked to open for some pretty big names in the stoner, doom and drone genre. It feels like we hustle hard, but we have these hard to define set of expectations for the band that I don’t know if I could outline. All we really wanted to do when we started this thing was to play loud music and drink beer, but as you see that people are seeming to dig it you want to branch out and what not. We’ve played a lot of shows this year with a lot of bands in a lot of different places. I don’t think that is success, in and of itself, but I do think it’s something we can hang our hats on. So now that I have rambled, I am kind of proud of our work ethic. “Success” will work itself out, whatever that ends up meaning.

Void King at Doomed & Stoned Fest, Filmed by Billy Goate

I would imagine that your relationships with your bandmates would be just as important as your success. I understand that you and your drummer, Derek, have been close friends for about as long as I've been alive that your bassist is actually your younger brother, Chris. How do these connections play into the concoction that is Void King?

I can’t overstate how central and vital that this lineup is to me, personally. I’ve played music with a lot of different people over the years, but the personality thing is always my hang up. As anyone that has ever been in a band before will tell you, that relationship piece is the hardest part to get down and make work. You can write any song with almost anyone. At least, I seem to be able to do that. But to know the people you are writing with and to kind of almost predict how they will participate in the process is borderline miraculous.

Chris is the best musician that I have ever been in a band with -- and that is saying something. He comes from the “prog” world, so he pushes how I think about songwriting all together. Derek and I have been making music together since we were teenagers, practicing in my neighbor’s leaky garage and trying to figure out how to get three guitar players going through one amp. He does a great job of keeping me in check. I tend to want to add some whacky time signature change or dumb chord progression into a song and he knows how to tell me that something is stupid, without making it a whole thing. The whole band is kind of tied together by Jason, for me. Derek and I used to go see him play shows at Ball State when we were young. Jason was the guy in the bands that everyone wanted to see and he was one of the first “rock stars” that I knew, so being able to jam with that guy has been something else.

There are many exciting things happening in the Void King camp, so let's take tackle this one thing at a time. Your fan base has been glued to our collective smart phones and computers following Void King on Facebook and Instagram, championing behind you as you roamed through Europe and left your mark. Please do tell us about your adventures overseas like the Off The Record festival, the challenge it was to schedule such a feat, and those who helped you along the way.

Yeah, I don’t even know if words can properly express just how great Europe was for and to us. It really gave us a different perspective on just about everything and I am sure I am going to miss some experiences here, but I will do my best. First, to say that I am thankful for the time overseas doesn’t even begin to cover it. So many people bought merch and gave us words of encouragement, which really means the world to all of us. It almost felt like we were representing our hometowns when we toured over there. Secondly, precisely none of that tour would have happened without Tjeerd and our label, Off The Record. We played a show on a Wednesday at the Melody Inn with our now label mates, Boudain, and that dude liked us enough to put out our record. I am forever grateful to that man and the risks he has taken on us. As for the shows and adventures over there, they were great.

Every single person that we dealt with was professional, incredibly kind and very encouraging. We were fed at all of our shows, offered a place to stay, and had enough beer to drown a small village. Every single show that we played had a great sound man, stage, and PA. Like, we did not play one bad venue. How many times will I get to play inside of a fortress built in the early 1800’s?

Finally, scheduling was tough, but I got so much help from so many good people that it ended up working out for us in the end. Bob Fouts kind of got the ball rolling for us when I told him that our original booking agent had fallen through, and he put me in touch with quite a few people. From there, I literally just went through Facebook, finding events and venues and seeing where other bands had played in certain cities, and hit those places up. While I got a lot of non-responses, the people that did get back to me were endlessly helpful. I really could not have booked this tour without the help from my new friends Sasha, Ben, Nienke, Maria, and others.

But to come full circle and to answer your question, Off The Record festival was out of this world. Our backline looked like a guitar center warehouse. The sound was arguably the best I had ever heard from the stage. The crowd was packed in there and incredibly receptive to our music. Really, all facets of the trip exceeded our collective expectations.

You've recently announced the release of a 7" split with your label mates Stone In Egypt. Did your time in Europe prompt this collaboration, and is this an indication that there could be more music from Void King to come soon?

That has kind of been in the works for a little whole. But the goal is to definitely write and record a new album in 2018, for sure.

I'd like to talk about your 2016 debut 'There Is Nothing' for a moment. A very sharp sounding piece, this was recorded by Carl Byers at Clandestine Arts. A local hero of sorts. He was also in the legendary blackened doom band Coffinworm. No doubt it was a huge advantage to have such a professional on your side. Surely he's a busy guy, was it difficult to get in contact with him and set it up?

First of all, Coffinworm is my favorite band to ever come out of Indiana. I just want to emphasize your mention there. If people haven’t heard that band, please go do so now. Anyway, Carl is a guy that Jason and I have known is some capacity or another since way back. He’s an old school Muncie guy, so we’ve always had some sort of a connection as it relates to music. Carl is a busy fella to be sure, but he has the right ear for the sound we want. He made us sound like us on the record, and not the “album version” of us. We’ve all heard a band on recording, and then seen them live only to say “Who the hell is this?” We didn’t want that at all.

There Is Nothing by Void King

'There Is Nothing' covers lots of ground with the unique lyrical content, especially about unexplained things like the supernatural. I am particularly attracted to the last two tracks, "Release The Hawks" and "That Was Not An Owl." Lots of us utilize animals as symbols in our personal life and this is transparent through music. You'll stumble across a lot of raven references if you dig into Steve Von Till's 2015 album, 'A Life Unto Itself,' just for example. Any chance we may hear any more songs featuring birds or nature?

Jason’s lyrics have evolved into something else. I don’t know how to say it better than that, but I think you will find more of an “expression of self” on this newest recording. There Is Nothing was more of a commentary on everything else. The new stuff seems to be more of an inward look.

I see 'There Is Nothing' is now in the Salt of the Earth Records Distro! Scott Harrington is quite the force in the underground scene, was it difficult to win him over?

Scott kind of reached out to us to get that relationship started, after we had submitted our music for a festival. He’s one of those guys that really is trying to grow bands and get the word out about music. You can’t have enough of those kinds of people in your corner.

I'm certain that the European tour isn't the end goal, so what is next for Void King?

Definitely. Europe was the first step of a long process. For us, we are going to play couple of more shows and then go into hiding to finish this new record. We want to record next year, and get that whole process moving. But we’re a live band, and we want to play a bunch of festivals in 2018 and 2019. We did a few long weekends this year, and the Europe tour and we want to expand on that. Ideally, we’d like to be on the road as much as we can make happen, and maybe play Indiana three or four times next year, at most.

Thanks so much for your time. Much love, I will see you guys soon!

Thanks again Melissa!

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