Tagged: USA

07Dec

[MUSIC INTERVIEW] ORIANTHI Interview

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2020 has been a taxing ride for Australian born, platinum-selling artist Orianthi. Used to a heavy touring schedule that takes her right around the world like the rest of us 2020 has seen her stuck at home because of the worldwide pandemic.

“It has been pretty difficult, I am not going to lie,” says the gifted guitarist and singer as we sit down to talk about her first studio album in seven years. “Emotionally it has been pretty taxing. I really want to be able to see my family and friends and even over here (in the US) I haven’t been able to see that many people. It has got pretty bad out here in LA, we must be heading for another lockdown.”

The one saving grace for Orianthi in this tumultuous year has been the release of her new album O earlier this month. “I have been keeping to just seeing a small circle of people and have been doing a lot of press for my album,” she explains. “It is kind of crazy releasing an album during a pandemic but hopefully a lot of people will be helped by the album and entertained by it. But I really can’t wait for the word to get better again so we can begin to tour again… that would be awesome.”

The great news for Orianthi was that she was one of the lucky artists that didn’t have to find a way to record her album during the pandemic. “The album was actually finished a year ago,” she says as we talk about other artists who have had to face the recording in a pandemic hurdle. “We recorded it in Nashville with producer Marti Frederiksen who has worked with everybody including Aerosmith, Faith Hill, Buckcherry. He has done so much great stuff and he has been a friend of mine since I was 20 years old.”

“I went to Nashville and started to talk to Marti and he was like ‘let’s make a record’,” she says with a laugh. “So I was like ‘awesome’ and we went straight in and we didn’t over think it or anything, we just had so much fun. And you know what, one of the weirdest things was that one of the first songs we recorded was the track called ‘Contagious’ and we wrote that a year ago. For awhile we thought that would be the first single and I was like ‘no we can’t do that, that would be so wrong’. So instead we put out ‘Sinners Hymn’ and then ‘Impulsive’. But it has been pretty crazy because as you would know musicians are very reliant on touring and that’s how artists make money because records are basically free for everybody and touring is the way you get your music out there. That is why I make a record, because I want to tour it.”

O is out now through Frontiers.

07Dec

[MUSIC INTERVIEW] DEATH DEALER (ROSS THE BOSS) Interview

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There are some people in the heavy music scene that simply don’t need an introduction. The man known commonly as Ross The Boss is one of those people. Guitarist for a number of bands over the years including the mighty Manowar over the past few years The Boss has been focussing on his ‘super-group’ Death Dealer… a band made of many talented musos hailing from right around the world.

Now Death Dealer are preparing for the release of their third album – Conquer Lands. This is an album that has been in the making for several years and was stretched that little further by a little thing called a pandemic.

“After the second album we always said we were going to keep making albums,” Ross explains when I talk to him. “I wanted to do that because the band always clicks together, especially live. We were all off doing other things though. I was doing Ross The Boss Band and Sean Peck was off doing The Three Tremors and Stu Marshall as off doing Night Legion, but then we decided that now was the time to finish this record especially when the pandemic because that meant that we had the time.”

So perhaps we should be thankful for the pandemic for small favours. “So we got together and finished it,” he says proudly. “I’ll admit a lot of it was already done and when we all got together to finish it off… we just said that now was the time to put it out.”

And while some scribes have incorrectly said that the pandemic made it hard for Death Dealer to work on this album Ross says it didn’t change much at all. “It was actually pretty easy,” he admits with a laugh. “We are an intercontinental band. Stu is in Australia and then we have members on both the east and west coasts of America so that was nothing new for us. And to be honest a lot of bands are like that these days, they have members all over the place and the find a way to record.”

“The amazing thing about Death Dealer is that not only do we have the new album coming out on November 13th we are already working on Death Dealer Four right now,” he says continuing. “And to be honest we already have Death Dealer Five in the can. By the time we are able to tour I think we are going to be able to tour on two records.”

Conquered Lands is out on November 13th through Steel Cartel.

31Oct

[MUSIC INTERVIEW] MACABRE Interview

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Ironically if you want songs about some of the world’s most macabre serial killers the best band to turn to is in fact Macabre. Whether it be Bundy, Speck, Gacy or Ramirez chances are that at some  time during their career Macabre have written a song about it. Now after a decade of silence Macabre return with the brilliant new album Carnival Of Killers and front-man Corporate Death (Lance Lencioni) was only too happy to have a chat to us about the album.

“I never get nervous,” says Lencioni laughing when we talk about whether he is nervous or excited about the album getting released. “I played at Wacken in front of 50,000 people and people were asking ‘aren’t you nervous?’ and really no I just get out there and have fun with it. Maybe when I first started doing a few shows I was a little bit nervous but when it comes to writing I enjoy it and I enjoy the studio experience just as much as I do playing live.”

“There is something exciting about being able to create it and then mix to make it sound like it did in my head,” he says continuing. “Then you get to put it out there, but when it comes to the response yeah we haven’t done an album in awhile but we are on a good label now. Nuclear Blast are really good people, great to work with. We did an album with them back in 1993 and we had talked to them a bit over the years but we were kind of waiting for the right deal with this album. We had offers with this before but we weren’t going to jump into anything because we have been around for 35 years now. The best deal was with Nuclear Blast so we went with it.”

Carnival Of Killers is out through Nuclear Blast on 13th November 2020.

 

11Oct

[MUSIC INTERVIEW] LINKIN PARK Interview

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It was early in the year 2000 when the buzz started to go around the music scene about this brand new band called Linkin Park. People were starting to talk about this band out of California, people knew there was something great coming but couldn’t quite put their finger on what it was. I remember a friend seeing them at a show and then when trying to describe them to me said “they are kinda nu-metal but are kinda not… nobody has ever had this sound before.”

In September that year the world got its first dose of Linkin Park with their first single “One Step Closer” and by the time their debut album Hybrid Theory dropped in late October the band were already a mainstream success. Heavy music was once again being played on commercial radio and television… yes the album was a game changer.

It is hard to imagine that twenty years later the album is now one of the highest selling albums in music history and that the driving force behind the band Chester Bennington is no longer with us. In a way that makes the celebration of the album even more important – especially considering the band have just put together four brilliant special editions of the album that launched them in the first place

“There is so much stuff on this thing,” says Mike Shinoda desperately trying to pull up a list of what rarities are to be found on the 20th Anniversary Hybrid Theory release. “I actually forget what is on there…. there is just so much stuff,” he continues still laughing loudly.

“The process itself took about a year,” he says when he has finally find the list he is looking for. “A lot of it had actually been collected by friends of the band and some relatives. Lots of stuff came from parents and even from people that worked at the label, some even from management. It was a big team effort and we brought it all together with an art director that we have been working with since Hybrid Theory. We even did the front cover of Hybrid Theory with Frank. It was a huge team effort.”

One of the things that the band has always embraced is the fact that their music was globally loved, even in continents like Asia where heavy music has at times struggled to become mainstream. That is well reflected in the release of these special edition albums as the band found material from all over the world. “We also felt that we could be a local band to everywhere,” says Linkin Park guitarist Brad Delson. “I think partially that happened because we are such a diverse group. We engaged so deeply so often even when we were just starting out. Even with Hybrid Theory we toured the world multiple times and we were going to parts of Asia that many of us had never been to before and we were hearing the songs being sung back to us so loudly.”

“Sometimes that was even happening in countries where English was not the primary language,” continues Delson. “I think that because there was an emotion in the words that is relatable to the world over, but particularly in Asia we have felt like we are a local band. We have felt that right across Asia.”

Nodding along Joe Hahn says he agrees with Delson on why Linkin Park connected with so many people but he also believes that the bond was caused from something even deeper. “I think it came from the connection and collaboration between Chester and Mike,” he says thoughtfully. “There was just something in the melodies that was a natural dynamic that they were able to play with. It did feel challenging at times to have two front-men but I think at the same time that was something that made us really unique.”

“But also when they were writing the music they would often touch on very personal instances but coming from two perspectives,” he says continuing. “They really had to find somewhere to meet and that place where they found the common ground did translate into something very universal and an universal emotion. They really struck a chord that was super personal and super relatable. At times it was really hard to makes things work but I think when it did it came across as something really magical on our records.”

 

The Hybrid Theory Special Edition albums are out now through Warner Bros. Records.

 

03Sep

[MUSIC NEWS] TOMBS Announce New Album

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Brooklyn black metal formation TOMBS are now announcing the release of a brand new album, ‘Under Sullen Skies’. The record is set for worldwide release on November 20, via Season of Mist.

The band are now also premiering the first track from their new album. The song “Barren” can be streamed at the official Season of Mist Youtube Channel HERE.

Pre-orders for ‘Under Sullen Skies’ available in the Season of Mist shop HERE.

 

27Jun

[MUSIC NEWS] ANOTHER DAY DAWNS Releases New Video

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Hard Alternative Rock Band ANOTHER DAY DAWNS has released the official music video for their newest single, “Forget Me Not.” Directed by Cyrus Entezam, “Forget Me Not” features Josh Balz (Formerly of MOTIONLESS IN WHITE.)

Formed in 2010 the Lehighton, PA based band Another Day Dawns continues to be the most talked about up and coming rock act in the Northeast to Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. Led by Lead Singer and front man Dakota Sean, Guitarist Tyler Ritter, and Drummer Nick McGeehan, the band released their EP A Different Life in February 2018 which landed them a charting spot on Billboard which solidified their foundation in the active rock market. In December 2019, early member Jerome Betz returned to filling out the rhythm section on bass.

Hitting the road with bands such as Hinder, Issues, Cold, and Buckcherry, the band has created an established following in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states. Throughout the last two years the band has performed in multiple venues with 400-1200 capacity, filling hundreds of seats, and grossing over 13K in followers on their social media accounts.

19Apr

[MUSIC NEWS] HOLD ON HOLLYWOOD Release New Video

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Rock Band HOLD ON HOLLYWOOD has released the official music video for their single “Movies.” Directed, shot, and edited by Blake Ralston, “Movies” is off of the band’s Valentine’s Day released EP, Love Stories.

“We wrote this song about a time in our lives that’s very dear to us, and probably everyone. When everything was exciting & you and your friends had that new found freedom, one of y’all just started driving or something. You had that person you were crushing on, and you all just wanted to go out and have fun, every time hoping you’d run in to that one person wherever you all went, or building up the courage to ask them out.

It’s funny now to see this video come out at a time like this. It’s a song about going out and being with friends, youthful nostalgia, and we’re all locked in our homes right now on quarantine. The irony sure is funny, but we hope this gives you something to enjoy and remember those good times, while looking forward to more to come.

We got to step into what we consider a “big studio” for the first time as a band for this EP, and had Matt Noveskey of Blue October at the helm producing. Along with Matt Meli (engineer/mixing), they really helped to bring the “Love Stories” to life for us at Orb Studios in Austin, TX. We wanted the video to feel just as “larger than life” as that recording experience did for us!” – NICK DEES (Lead Guitarist)

“Movies” is one of those songs that you know is destined for great things on the very first listen. No pretentious BS, no filler. And the hooks and melodies are irresistible. The video is the perfect visual complement to the song. To me it’s the classic tale of freedom, camaraderie and the human connection. Watching a video like this reminds you that life is supposed to be FUN. Producing the song and being a part of the journey with the guys is a complete honor. The world needs content like this more than ever.” – MATT NOVESKEY (Producer / Bassist of Blue October)