Rock Edition

Inhale Exhale - What's in a Name?

Wed, 03 Oct 2012 13:09:09 -0400

Guitarist John LaRussa explains the meaning behind the name Inhale Exhale.

Track-by-Track: The Last Names - 'Wilderness'

Wed, 03 Oct 2012 13:07:24 -0400

Justin Rice of The Last Names details the duo’s debut full-length, ‘Wilderness.’

Thoughts in Reverse - What's in a Name?

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 16:17:42 -0400

No, we’re not here to chat about Destroy the Runner songs. Thoughts in Reverse is the name of a metalcore act out of Syracuse, NY. Formerly known as From the Ashes, the quintet decided to switch things up after parting ways with singer Anthony Phillips. Now fronted by vocalist Brian Magee, the group is determined to take their ferocious sound to a stage near you. The band’s aggressive new EP, ‘Sightings,’ comes equipped with thrash-worthy riffs courtesy of guitarists Nicholas Panagakis and Scott Garland, the bloodthirsty voice of Magee, and inerrable playing of drummer Kory Stuhler and bassist Jon Page.

Head below to find out how Thoughts in Reverse picked their name and whether or not they have any regrets about it.

Who came up with the band name?

Brian: Kory and Scott were the driving force there. I wasnt in the band yet, so it’s my understanding that Kory saved us from being named something really terrible. I won’t mention the name because I’m 90% sure there is a band out there using the name they didn’t choose.

Kory: The band name was collectively voted on between myself, our bassist Jon, our guitarist Scott, and our former vocalist Anthony. It was down to a few names.

Was there a selection process?

Brian: I think Kory put a bunch of words on a dartboard and threw three darts.

Kory: We asked a magician to pull a random name out of a hat! [laughs] We just voted! Democracy rules, and it took us a few weeks to settle on a name we were all okay with.

Is there a particular meaning behind the name?

Brian: It’s just another way of saying “to think differently.” To, like, approach your normal thought process backwards.

Kory: It basically means to think differently or to have a different way of thinking, and not to just follow the same treaded path. That’s the basic meaning.

What’s the best name that you considered but rejected?

Brian: Brian Magee and The Dudes.

Kory: The other names it came down to were Misfortunes and The Escape Artist.

What’s the worst name that you considered using?

Brian: The Debbie Downer Boner Jammerz.

Kory: We voted on A Shotgun Opera for a day then realized how awful it was! Smartest move we ever made! [laughs]

Any regrets about the name you chose?

Brian: Nope!

Kory: We are all happy with the name we chose, so no real regrets, no. The only unfortunate aspect is now due to the success of the band Falling in Reverse, who happened to come around after us.

Pick up Thoughts in Reverse’s new EP, Sightings.

For the band’s upcoming tour dates, check out their Facebook page.

Original Article

Case in Theory - What's in a Name?

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 16:36:38 -0400

San Francisco-based rockers Case in Theory are a testament of Kickstarter’s ability to successfully fund musical projects. Just last year, the group was able to raise over $4,500 towards their debut full-length, ‘Cinematic.’ But, as we all know, simply having some capital and talent won’t get you too far without a good name. Whether it comes about by a matter of fate, or is decided upon from the beginning, choosing the right name is an obstacle every band must face. Luckily, Case in Theory stumbled onto theirs with no problem, and it just so happens to be a perfect fit.

Who came up with the band name?

Jamin Bracken, our drummer, is the one who gets the credit for coming up with our name. We were still very new, writing our first batch of songs, and we had all been making suggestions, but nothing stuck. One night, he and I were headed out of his apartment for a night of drinking in downtown San Jose, and as he was telling me a story, he said the words “case in theory” in the same context as if someone were to say “case in point.” Before he finished his sentence, we both looked up at each other, eyes wide open and thought the same thing — that “case in theory” had a nice ring to it. I think we even called up Ben [Everett, bassist] and Tadeo [Ramirez, guitarist] and mentioned it to them. Needless to say, we kept it.

Was there a selection process?

I remember we made it a point for each of us to come up with a few names before practice. We would write them on the board and would keep the list growing, but there was definitely nothing cooler than Case in Theory.

Is there a particular meaning behind the name?

No meaning at all. It just sounded cool. And I think at that point we were simply fed up of thinking up names.

What’s the best name that you considered but rejected?

To be honest, I would’ve loved to see that list again, but it’s been so long that none of us can even remember any of the names we suggested. So, I texted everyone to make up some names so that I could answer these two questions. For “best rejected name,” the winner is: Son Named Aiden.

What’s the worst name that you considered using?

…and for worst name: Bob Saget & The Porno Vixens, or La Vic Sauce. [laughs]

Any regrets about the name you chose?

None at all. For some reason, to me, our name matches our sound quite well. I also love how “Case in Theory” isn’t suggestive to any particular genre. Hopefully it intrigues people enough to want to take a listen. And if you do, thank you, we hope you enjoy and appreciate the tunes.

Pick up Case in Theory’s latest album, Cinematic.

For the band’s upcoming tour dates, check out their Facebook page.

Original Article

Smoke & Jackal - "No Tell"

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 20:57:48 -0400

Kings of Leon bassist Jared Followill and Mona frontman Nick Brown recently announced the formation of their side project, Smoke & Jackal.

The duo’s new single, “No Tell,” which debuted on Zane Lowe’s show on BBC Radio 1, will be available through iTunes and other digital music stores on August 28. Smoke & Jackal’s debut release, ‘EP1,’ is set to arrive on October 16 via RCA Records.

Longtime friends Followill and Brown recorded the six-track EP in Nashville while both of their respective bands were on break. Smoke & Jackal is a refreshing take on both Kings of Leon and Mona’s styles with an infusion of indie rock and alternative roots.

“Coming together just worked,” remarked Followill in a press statement. “I think it’s because we took such an easy approach to it, we didn’t bring any egos to it. We just talked about each other’s ideas, neither one of us got our feelings hurt. It just worked.”

“It was all about tone and vibe and what felt right in that moment,” Brown added. “Not second guessing, just having fun in that moment.”

EP1

01. Fall Around
02. No Tell
03. You’re Lost
04. Road Side
05. OK OK
06. Save Face

Original Article

Interview with Jake Orrall of JEFF the Brotherhood

Mon, 20 Aug 2012 15:53:46 -0400

Sad about summer winding down? Put on JEFF the Brotherhood’s latest album, ‘Hypnotic Nights,’ and all your cares will be melted away by a haze of fuzzy guitar licks and songs about rooms that are “So so so so so so so so so so so so so so so hot.” Although the Brotherhood is only a duo, made up of real-life brothers Jake and Jamin Orrall, their simple exuberance, a stripped down drum set, and a three-string guitar are all they need to crank out huge yet accessible riffage. At the same time, the saxophone-tinged balladry of “Region of Fire” and a synthed-out pseudogospel cover of Black Sabbath’s “Changes” prove that the Orralls are no strangers to experimental subtleties.

As the band was making the trek to Chicago before their Lollapalooza appearance, Jake was kind enough to chat with us over the phone. Head below to read what he had to say about the making of ‘Hypnotic Nights,’ touring as a two-piece, and the band’s independent label, Infinity Cat.

How’s it going?

Okay, it’s pretty good. How’s it going with you?

I’m pretty good; thanks for asking. So the big news is that you guys are about to play at Lollapalooza this weekend, right?

We are heading to Lollapalooza, yes.

Are you looking forward to that?

It’s going to be cool to play the festival, but festivals are weird things. It’s a weird way to hear music, I think.

Have you played a lot of them before?

Yeah.

Could you elaborate a little more on why it’s strange?

Well, it’s outside, so it’s not going to sound good, and everyone seems to be milling around. It’s not really a rock show setting.

Yeah. I guess there’s a lot of people at festivals who just go to the festival because it’s a big thing, and they don’t really have any particular bands in mind to see, other than the headliners.

Yeah, which is cool for them, but for us, it’s like, “Uh…”

Yeah, that must get frustrating.

But tonight, we’re playing a club show in Chicago, so that will be really good.

So are you guys still touring as just the two of you?

Yeah. It’s all we can afford right now.

On the new record, ‘Hypnotic Nights,’ you have all these other instruments in the songs. Are you integrating any of those into your live show at all, or are the songs kind of stripped down?

No, it’s just guitar and drums. Every record we’ve done has synthesizer and stuff on it. It’s just to make it more interesting, since you’re not seeing a live show — just something to keep people engaged.

So are you reinterpreting the songs?

No, we’re doing them just guitar and drums.

Going along with that, in a video that you were in earlier this year, you said, “One of my big problems with two-piece bands is that they always try to do too much with two people.” How does that mindset fit in with the new record, considering those extra instruments?

Well, making a record is really different than playing a live show. I was referring to the live show. Even bands that have five people in them still might use a string section, and it doesn’t mean that they’re going to bring a string section on tour.

Yeah, they have it all prerecorded.

It’s just funny when you have two people, and they’re trying to play keyboards and guitar at the same time, and they’ve got the laptop and blah blah blah. It’s like, “Get another person on stage.”

Yeah, that’s kind of weird.

So much can go wrong.

Biting off more than you can chew. What was it like working with Dan Auerbach from The Black Keys on this record?

It was fun. We’re buddies, so we just kind of laughed a lot and made a lot of jokes. It was our first time co-producing a record, so we were a little nervous about fighting over stuff, but it was fine. It was fun.

That’s cool. Were a lot of the extra layers to the arrangements his idea, or did you both come up with that?

Not really. It was mostly our stuff. We had our stuff mostly done before we went into the studio, so we knew what was going to be on them. It was more about getting good vocal takes and picking out the right fuzz pedals.

What inspired you guys to flesh out your sound a little bit more?

We had more money, so we were able to hire people. We also had more time to work in the studio. We’ve always made our records with whatever time off someone has to work in the studio — a few days or something. Since we were making this record for Warner Brothers, we had all the time we needed and money. It still only took about a week. All of the rest of our records still have other stuff on them, not just guitar and drums. Maybe there’s a little bit more; I don’t know. I mean, I can’t play saxophone.

[laughs] Had to bring someone else in.

We had to hire a saxophone player. We couldn’t have done that on our last album because we just didn’t have the money.

So is this the sound you’ve always been going for?

I like to think of it as just the next logical step in our evolution.

So it’s not a peak or anything.

Oh God, I hope not. I hope it’s not a peak.

[laughs] That would be bad.

I mean, the record’s pretty good. We just tour too much.

What do you mean, you tour too much?

To be able to really take the time to make a record. The record’s not what makes you money. The touring — that’s what makes you money. To live off of it, you have to tour all the time, and then you don’t have time to practice or any of that.

I see.

But next time, we should be able to take more time to make a better record.

I think this one’s already pretty good. [laughs] I don’t know how it would get better — I mean, I could see how it could get better, but I think it’s a great record.

I’m glad you like it.

Everyone seems to mention Weezer when they talk about your sound, but who else has influenced you? I feel like every single review is just Weezer, Weezer, Weezer all the time, but I think there is a pretty big difference between you and them, obviously.

I think that’s one thing that makes sense, and then everyone just goes with it, which is fine. I do love Weezer.

Yeah? So it’s not inaccurate.

Oh no. I grew up listening to that shit.

Who else do you like to listen to?

A little bit of everything. We have very flexible taste. Pretty much everything.

Going off of that, what inspired you to cover Black Sabbath’s “Changes” on this one? Are you a big fan of them?

Oh yeah, of course. It was just an idea that got into my head — to do an all-synthesizer version of “Changes” and put it on the record. I thought it would be cool.

So it was very clearly going to be that song — you weren’t just thinking of doing any random Black Sabbath song?

No, no. That’s the only Black Sabbath song that I think we could ever cover.

[laughs] I feel like you guys could do one of the heavier ones.

It wouldn’t be interesting. I don’t think anyone ever has and anyone ever will. That stuff’s too [unique] in the production and the way the individual musicians played their instruments. That’s just untouchable. Unless you’re going to do an all-synthesizer version. That’s fine.

[laughs] Do an all-synthesizer version of “War Pigs.” That would sound pretty good.

Yeah.

Not.

That would be kind of cool. Someone could do a whole album of that.

[laughs] That could be your next record. As far as the lyrics go, do you and Jamin write them together?

No, I usually write them.

Okay. So what typically inspires you for that?

My biggest inspiration for writing lyrics is that feeling of wanting to get a song finished. That’s about as much thought as I put into it.

[laughs] Is that the last part of the song always — the lyrics?

Yeah. Always.

Sounds like a good time.

Yeah. I feel like the next step of our band is to get a songwriter involved that just writes all of our lyrics. I can just write the riffs and arrange cool songs, and then someone’s like, “Here’s the lyrics.”

[laughs] Just hand it over to them.

I’m like, “Great.” Yeah. Fuck it. I hate writing lyrics.

Does Jamin feel the same way about it?

I don’t think he has any interest, really.

That’s rough. You guys should flip a coin every time you have to do it from now on.

We’re pretty lazy about songwriting. Everything else we work really hard at. Writing songs is like, “Eh, why do we have to write songs?”

Well, it’s turned out good so far. Do you ever think you’ll take the leap to adding a fourth string to your guitar?

I think that once we can tour as a three-piece or a four-piece, I’ll probably just start playing a six-string. I don’t know when that’s going to be.

Why is that?

It’s expensive. The idea of the three-string guitar is the philosophy of trying not to do too much with too few people. If you have all those high notes and high strings, it takes away from the heaviness and beefiness. If you have a bass player, that’s being taken care of. I’m not going to play fancy solos and stuff.

Do you ever play around on a six-string guitar for fun?

Yeah, I play in other bands.

That’s cool.

The three-string guitar is just for JEFF the Brotherhood because it’s heavier.

Definitely. What tuning are you in, by the way?

It’s just drop D.

It’s pretty heavy. I thought it might be lower than that. I guess that works out well. What’s your setup looking like these days? I read that you play through bass amps?

I play through a bass amp and a guitar amp. I’ve got a custom built cabinet made by Emperor in Chicago. It’s a guitar 4x12 and a bass 4x12 and then a 1x18. I play through a Big Muff, and I play a custom built guitar made by Scale Model Guitars in Nashville.

Is that the clear, SG-style one?

Yes.

That guitar’s really cool. So you just went to them and asked them to make it for you?

No, actually. He came to me and was like, “I want to build you a guitar.” We designed it together, and he gave me a discount. [laughs]

That’s awesome.

Yeah, I’m pretty psyched about it.

Nice. What’s Infinity Cat up to these days, in general?

Same old shit. Putting out records.

Yeah? Just keeping it going?

Yeah. I just put out a seven-inch and two LPs in the last couple weeks. I’ve only got a few more things coming out this year. Then, we’re slowing down for the winter.

It must be cool to be able to control the pace of it like that.

Yeah. I’m trying to start to because I’ve been trying to do way too much. I never have time, and I just stress myself out. There’s just so many records I want to put out!

That’s always a good thing. Better than no records that you want to put out.

True.

Pick up JEFF the Brotherhood’s new album, Hypnotic Nights.

For the band’s upcoming tour dates, check out their Facebook page.

Original Article

Interview with Cherri Bomb

Wed, 15 Aug 2012 08:59:20 -0400

Photo: Kristin Burns

Not many bands can boast about tearing up festival stages overseas and opening for rock icons like Foo Fighters and Smashing Pumpkins. But, it’s no problem for Los Angeles-based outfit Cherri Bomb. Oh, and did we mention that the members are still teenagers? Formed just a few years ago, Cherri Bomb is a sassy all-girl act on the rise. By fusing their classic rock influences with a punchy and present-day sound, the band introduced their debut album, ‘This Is the End of Control,’ to the world in May. This year alone, the group has garnered more praise than ever, including being dubbed “buzzworthy” by MTV and a “band to watch” by Alternative Press. What’s next for these gritty rockers? We found out. It was on their first Warped Tour that the girls took some time to speak with Rock Edition about overcoming stereotypes, balancing school with a rock star lifestyle, and what it’s like to be living the dream at such a young age. Check it out in the video below!

Pick up Cherri Bomb’s latest album, This Is the End of Control.

For the band’s upcoming tour dates, check out their Facebook page.

Original Article

Bloc Party @ NYC's Terminal 5 (08/07)

Sun, 12 Aug 2012 17:48:54 -0400

Photo: Breeana Mulligan

The anticipation was rising. Fans impatiently assembled to see Bloc Party on the first of three sold out concerts at Terminal 5. The popular British alternative rock band had finally returned to New York City after a nearly five-year hiatus. The fans had waited long enough, but as Kele Okereke & Co. demonstrated Tuesday night, the wait was well worth it.

Promoting their fourth record, appropriately titled ‘Four,’ Bloc Party played relatively new tracks off the album, but the crowd didn’t appear too unfamiliar with them. The set started with a standout song called “3x3.” The audience danced, jumped around, and sung their hearts out as if the evening was never going to end. Fans of the group weren’t the only ones happy the band was back; the four-piece constantly thanked the audience for their continued support. The fun was shared by all, noting a seemingly pleased Okereke as saying, “You must be having fun. We could smell the weed.”

The set consisted of hit singles “Hunting for Witches” and “Banquet” as well as fan favorites “Blue Light,” “Here We Are,” and “One More Chance.” Bloc Party kept everyone wanting more as they played not one but two encores, one of which included a very entertaining cover of Rihanna’s “We Found Love.” Many would argue that the band’s abbreviated take on the Top 40 hit is better than the original.

As vocalist/guitarist Kele Okereke, lead guitarist Russell Lissack, bassist Gordon Moakes, and drummer Matt Tong took their final bow, the audience was still begging for more. But the band kept smiling and looked as happy as ever. Once the UK outfit left the stage, it was saddening that such an incredible night had to end so soon, but this is only the beginning of a new era for Bloc Party, and that’s certainly reassuring.

Setlist:

3x3
Trojan Horse
Hunting for Witches
Positive Tension
Real Talk
Song for Clay (Disappear Here)
Banquet
Blue Light
One More Chance
So Here We Are
The Prayer
Day Four
Octopus
Flux
Helicopter
Ares
This Modern Love

Original Article

Interview with Sleeping with Sirens

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 14:08:58 -0400

Photo: Siri Svay

Post-hardcore band Sleeping with Sirens seems to be everywhere these days. With the release of an acoustic EP, a feature in Alternative Press, and their first stint on the Vans Warped Tour, they’ve been rather busy. Not only that, but the aforementioned EP, ‘If You Were a Movie, This Would Be Your Soundtrack,’ reached #1 on the iTunes Rock Charts. Most recently, the quintet confirmed a fall tour alongside Pierce the Veil, Tonight Alive, and Hands Like Houses which will span from mid-October to the end of November.

Rock Edition caught up with the boys at the Atlanta stop of Warped Tour to discuss how the summer heat was treating them, collaborations, and — of all things — porcelain tubs.

Pick up Sleeping with Sirens’ latest EP, If You Were a Movie, This Would Be Your Soundtrack.

For the band’s upcoming tour dates, check out their Facebook page.

Original Article

Interview with Andrew Schwab of Project 86

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 18:22:52 -0400

Project 86 is a band that has evolved noticeably since the time of its inception; the group has always managed to take its unique sound and propel it someplace new and exciting with every album release. Despite the band’s consistent transformation, they’ve maintained the raw power and brutal honesty that has separated its music and lyrics from those of other rock bands out there. Now, after 15 years, Project 86 is still going strong and pushing forward with the highly anticipated release of its eighth studio album. Their newest record, ‘Wait for the Siren,’ to be released on August 21, engages in sounds the group never experimented with before and includes quite a fantastic lineup of guest artists. In the following email interview, vocalist Andrew Schwab gives us a glance behind the curtain, detailing the progress the band has made up until this point as well as what exactly went into the making of ‘Wait for the Siren.’

No joke-everything you put out, everything you write is brilliant. Does this come naturally or do you have piles upon piles of song drafts lying around? Would you say the songwriting process has changed dramatically with the addition of your newer band members?

Thanks so much, seriously. I think the level of quality control in this band has always been high. We agonize over the finished product every single time because we don’t want to put out something we aren’t completely satisfied with. We don’t have very many unused finished songs, but there are plenty of unfinished ideas lying around. Usually, if an idea isn’t used, though, we don’t revisit it. The songwriting process has evolved a bit on this new record, as I worked to cowrite the songs with two of my friends, Andrew Welch and Blake Martin. In the past, the music has been more of a collaborative effort, but this time around it was quite a bit more on my shoulders from top to bottom.

With every album, your music and your lyrics have progressively gotten less dark and more victorious and optimistic. Is this due to the maturing of band members or a shift in life circumstances?

A little of both. The more you mature, the less selfish you become (hopefully), and the more you want the music to be about helping and inspiring others, rather than just reflecting on your own life.

‘Wait for the Siren’ gushes with what sounds like years of pent-up creative energy. How would you describe this newfound freedom? What held you back in the past?

I think it was inspiring to be more in control of the musical process this time around, personally. Whereas the previous records were a compromise between the creative tastes and influences of the previous members and myself, this one is much more closely linked to my own creative vision. You are correct. It does represent a long period of pent-up creative energy!

You guys have been together for around 15 years (congratulations, by the way). What has motivated you to keep making music for this long?

Thanks! A self-destructive streak that runs deep! Just kidding. I love doing this and love interacting with the people who appreciate our music. I love the challenge of writing songs and it is a great way to express emotions. Our fans have been very supportive over the years and have enabled this band to have longevity.

How would you describe the process it took for you to get to this point-15 years, 8 albums, an ever-evolving sound, a multitude of fans and people you’ve inspired, etc?

That’s a big question. I could write a book on that. The process has involved a lot of soul-searching, prayer, provision, agony, and triumph.

As far as I know, up until now you’ve had one guest vocalist, Sonny Sandoval, in the seven studio albums you’ve recorded…and he was on your first. Why the sudden boom in guest vocals? What led you to collaborate with Bruce Fitzhugh (of Living Sacrifice), Rocky Gray (of Evanescence), Brian “Head” Welch (of Korn and Love and Death), Andrew Welch (of Disciple), Blake Martin (of A Plea for Purging), and the members of The Wedding?

I’ve always wanted to make a hip-hop record. Those guys are all my friends and I thought it would be cool to work with each of them in turn. It created a very fun studio atmosphere, having a different guest come in every day. I really respect all the guys that participated in this thing, so it truly was a blessing.

Your belief in God is no secret and it’s really, truly inspiring. To what extent would you say your faith influences your music? To what extent are you hoping to influence your audience with your music?

Faith inspires everything I do. I think your worldview influences everything you touch. I have never tried to push my beliefs on people who listen to our music, though. That’s why I have always believed in writing on real life topics and referencing faith through the use of metaphor in many of the songs. There is enough room for interpretation in the lyrics that I hope people are inspired to apply their own life circumstances and imagination to make the songs their own.

A couple of your albums begin (and sometimes end) with songs that portray victory and even hint at spiritual warfare (for example, the first and last two tracks of your seventh studio album ‘Picket Fence Cartel’: “Destroyer,” “The Butcher,” “The Black Brigade,” and “To Sand We Return”; and now “Fall Goliath Fall” on ‘Wait for the Siren’). I’m wondering whether that’s been intentional and if there’s a meaning to it?

I wouldn’t say that each of those songs deals directly with that subject matter. Most songs are written either to tell a story or paint a picture of a specific experience, but a lot of the direct spiritual references are metaphors for other things. For example, the “Goliath” in “Fall, Goliath, Fall” references the obstacles this band has faced along the way, but it is meant to inspire anyone who has a an obstacle in their path that is keeping them from accomplishing their calling, vision, or dreams. In general, I try to write songs that leave the ultimate interpretations up to the listener.

After fifteen years of intense changes and challenges, one can only wonder: is ‘Wait for the Siren’ the mark of a new era or the epic end to an epic band?

That’s yet to be decided! We shall see. It all comes down to the impact that this record makes.

You’re currently touring and I honestly can’t wait to see you guys again. What are you most excited about for the upcoming shows?

Playing the new material has been a blast. It’s so fun to see people react to it so positively each night. It’s also very satisfying to have conversations with people who appreciate the music at each show.

Pick up Project 86’s new album, Wait for the Siren.

For the band’s upcoming tour dates, check out their official website.

Original Article

Ballyhoo! - What's in a Name?

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 13:28:21 -0400

Ballyhoo! No, it isn’t the latest hip and happening catchphrase, but instead, the name of a reggae rock outfit from Maryland. It’s quite eye-catching though, right? Almost as catchy as the tunes the band’s been rocking all summer long on the Vans Warped Tour. The group, who were named one of MTV’s Top 100 Bands to Watch, released their newest album ‘Daydreams’ last fall, and it debuted at #1 on the iTunes Reggae Charts. Of course, if that’s not a good enough reason to give them a listen, there’s still that insane name. What is a “ballyhoo?” Luckily for us, lead singer Howi Spangler took some time from his busy Warped schedule of entertaining large, raucous crowds to give us the answer.

Who came up with the band name?

It was a friend of ours. We call her “Red.” We were so young, not even 14, and she said we should call ourselves “Ballyhoo!”.

Was there a selection process?

At that moment, no. We had a few in the running, but “Ballyhoo!” blew them all away because it was so different. I like that it’s one word too. Sort of iconic.

Is there a particular meaning behind the name?

It means loud noise, crazy event — it’s also a bait fish. We usually side with the “loud noise” part. At that point, we were just a really bad noise in my mom’s basement.

What’s the best name that you considered but rejected?

Mean Candy Smash.

What’s the worst name that you considered using?

Mean Candy Smash.

Any regrets about the name you chose?

Not really. Haters (yeah, we have ‘em) make dumb jokes like “Bally-who? Haha, I’m so funny and awesome.” As if they’re the first to come up with that. They think they’re witty. It doesn’t bother us; we just laugh it off and go make money to play our music for people that dig it while they work at Walmart. Fuck Walmart. Such an evil company. But that’s another interview. Goddamn those low, affordable prices though! I once bought condoms and milk there at a reduced price. The cashier was confused. I really like our band name though. No regrets here!

Pick up Ballyhoo!’s latest album, Daydreams.

For the band’s upcoming tour dates, check out their Facebook page.

Original Article

Track-by-Track: Michael Olivieri Band - 'M.O.B.'

Wed, 01 Aug 2012 17:54:31 -0400

For his band’s debut album, former Leatherwolf frontman Michael Olivieri decided to move away from his metal roots and construct something a little more classic, a little more country. Recorded last year at For the Record Studios, Olivieri’s seven-man band brought every instrument they could muster up to the table. Filled with catchy pedal steel licks, bluesy harmonica lines, and glistening slide guitar, the 11-song LP, which was mixed by Kevin Beamish (REO Speedwagon, Jefferson Starship, Y&T), promulgates tales of Olivieri’s life in the most heartfelt and genuine way.

Below, Olivieri breaks down each track for us and discusses the recording process of ‘M.O.B.’

“More Than I Do”

The whole M.O.B. record was written in a very short time — less than 60 days or so. And this song was one of the first ones. This song came together very quickly. I remember sitting out on the patio with my acoustic guitar and Dan Lucett (also part of M.O.B.) talking to him about a relationship I was in and that had just ended. When the rest of the band showed up for a jam in our living room, which is where we worked out all of the songs, they took to it very quickly and the song came to life just like that. As soon as Buzzy James hit the main riff on his dobro and Eric Von Herzen doubled that on the harp, I knew we were onto something really cool. Then, K.K. Martin chimed in with the mando guitar and it was like “AAHH!” That made me want to pound out the rhythm on my acoustic even harder, which in turn made for an honest, heartfelt vocal track. The band not only has a unique blend of instrumentation but there are a lot of great singers in this band as well. Tom Croucier, Dan Lucett, and Paul Wilson all laid down a very solid background vocal track.

Another memory from this session is all of us standing around the mic doing the clap tracks. We were clapping so hard our hands were bruised and red!

The icing on the cake for me is Buzzy’s dobro solo. That is so crazy good it freaks me out. Buzzy is a very talented dude and always takes the time and writes his guitar solos. What I mean by that is that he doesn’t just ad-lib and say, “That was good enough.” He spends hours coming up with great phrasing and note selection. But not in this case. I watched him do it. He had no idea what he was gonna play and just went for it. One take baby! No cutting, pasting, comping, or altering of any kind. He was like, “Let me do that again” and I was like, “Oh, hell no!”

I’m truly amazed at the level of musicianship in this band. And this song really captures the magic of seven guys in the studio vibing off each other.

“Letting Go”

This track has kind of an R&B feel to it. The intro riff was originally done on my acoustic guitar, with a different twist to it. Much more “pedestrian” if you will, but K.K. Martin came up with an alternative approach to it, which gave it more of a Stones feel.

My favorite part of the song is how the chorus modulates up to E-flat. What’s also exciting is the solo section. Buzzy James on slide guitar and Eric Von Herzen on harmonica trade off and then K.K. chimes in for the interlude before Chris Whynaught belts out a sax solo, doubled by my vocal scats.

Usually, a song will lead back to a chorus, but what keeps this song exciting and moving right along is how it goes to a whole other section. It breaks into the outro then finishes with a James Brown type of feel. The ending is kind of cool in that all three sax tracks ad-lib for the last few seconds then come together, à la Saturday Night Live.

“Dead Man Crawl”

This one is an eight-and-a-half-minute epic track. This is take one of one. There is mojo all over this one. It’s a typical 1970’s classic rock track. Long guitar solos, mood changes, and just an overall great feel. Usually, we will track a song two or three times, but after take one on this song, our engineer said through the talkback mic, “Next!” I was hesitant to move onto the next song, so we went into the control room to make sure we got it, and sure enough there it was — magic!

“Talk Me Down”

This one is very close to my heart. It’s a Queen meets The Beatles kind of thing. I have a very close friend who I’ve known all my life. He struggles with depression and paranoia. He called me one night and was on the edge of the breaking point. He called me for support and said, “Talk me down.” I was going through my own stuff and I replied, “Talk me down!” After a long conversation, I hung up the phone sat down on the piano, with tears running down my face. I wrote the song in 10 minutes or less. After i wrote it, I recorded it on my iPhone, listened back to it and sobbed. I knew I had just been given a gift. That song was given to me by a force beyond my own consciousness. What really captures the feel of this is the twisted false happiness of the piano and K.K.’s pedal steel guitar sliding in the opposite direction of Buzzy’s slide guitar. Also, Paul Wilson plays this kind of a funeral death march on the snare drum, which really puts the visual of someone walking onto a ledge of a tall building ready to take the leap.

“Halo”

This is one of the only times I’ve written a song where the lyrics came before the music. I really only envisioned this with a piano and string section. I played it for the guys, they chimed in, and boom there it was. After we recorded the song, I brought in a brilliant cello player by the name of Larry Briner to lay down a few string parts. And then the song was finished. Someday I want to record this with a complete orchestra. That’s my dream for this one.

“For Worse or Better”

My parents have been married for over 60 years and have 7 kids. This song honors their commitment to each other. This is another one that came together very quickly. The only thing that wasn’t quick was picking a key to do it in. We must’ve tried this in every key. It’s not often that I write a song on guitar in the key of F. I liked the way the vocals sat in that key, so I put a capo on the first fret and played it like that. The highlight for me in this song is Eric Von Herzen’s harp. It’s very tasty, fun, and bouncy.

The message of this song is that someday someone will come into your life and make you realize why it didn’t work out with the one before!

“The One”

This is the first song written for this record. It’s got a country feel to it, and K.K. Plays a guitar part capoed on the fourth fret in a D position. It gives it a real Bakersfield feel. Also, this was the first guitar solo that Buzzy wrote. When he played it at rehearsal for the first time, I thought, “This guy gets it!” At the end of the song, Buzzy and K.K. trade off riffs and then come together and harmonize. It reminds me of an Allman Brothers thing. I love it!

“Broken Glass”

The intro to this is haunting. I love the riff K.K. does. It’s like a spaghetti western thing or something. I wrote this after I knew that it was over with me and my girlfriend. I think I did it justice in trying to get the listener to feel what it’s like to love somebody when they don’t love you back.

It’s a dark, moody tune with very bluesy overtones brought out by Eric’s harp and my vocal track. Paul Wilson and Tom Croucier laid down a very solid bass and drum track, and we vibed off of them.

This song also has another one of my favorite Buzzy solos. Actually, he does two solos in this song. Both are incredible.

“Tuesday Down”

Dan Lucett had the riff for the verse. We were hanging out on the back porch with our acoustic guitars, like we often do, and he was playing it and I just started to ad-lib the words. I felt like the chorus needed to go somewhere else, so we came up with that and there it was. This was actually the second song that was written for the record.

“Such is Life”

Another one of Dan’s musical pieces that he had. I remember him playing the intro part on piano and these melodies started flowing through my head. We said, “That is so cool, let’s work on that!” So we did. There’s some tasty slide guitar by Buzzy on this one! Tom, Paul, and Dan did a great job on the backup vocals.

A classic track. This song talks about what it would be like if you outlived everyone you’ve loved.

“Old Souls”

This song was written so fast that I don’t even remember writing it. What I do remember about it was K.K. and myself playing our acoustics and Buzzy on the dobro live sitting around a few microphones. We recorded it twice and used take two. We all sang the last chorus around one mic, and then we stacked the vocals numerous times, doubling or maybe even tripling each harmony.

Pick up Michael Olivieri Band’s latest album, M.O.B..

For the band’s upcoming tour dates, check out their official website.

Original Article

The Kinected - What's in a Name?

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 00:27:53 -0400

No, The Kinected are not paying tribute to the Xbox’s infamous motion sensing peripheral through their band name. Their dedication is instead directed to the crafting of tight, catchy pop rock. In tracks like single “Hypnotize” — now gaining national airplay — crisp drum beats bounce under punchy guitar licks and the occasional solo. Read on to find out how the band chose their name.

Who came up with the band name?

We all collectively came up with the name after about a month of going back and forth.

Was there a selection process?

Yes, there was. We created the name just under two years ago and it is a hybrid of two words, “kinetic” and “connection.” Two of the biggest things we want to do with our art is connect with people and get them moving. The definition of kinetic energy of an object is the energy it possesses due to its motion. These two words kept coming back to us, and before we knew it, we ended up with The Kinected.

What’s the best name that you considered but rejected?

The Tuesday Men.

What’s the worst name that you considered using?

Midnight Society and Midnight Skyline. We just needed to leave the night alone. Pretty horrific.

Any regrets about the name you chose?

We don’t have any regrets. We were pretty excited to create a word that meant something important to us. The only thing that has caused some confusion was that about two months after we created the name, and created thekinected.com, the gaming system Kinect came out. I remember the moment I found out about this. We received a picture message from a friend of a soft drink from Burger King, and on the cup it said, “Get Kinected!” We were so confused!

Pick up The Kinected’s latest album, Evolution #9.

For the band’s upcoming tour dates, check out their Facebook page.

Original Article

XFactor1 - What's in a Name?

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 00:17:15 -0400

XFactor1 are all about big, crushing guitar riffs and lead singer QBall’s gruff wrath — simple stuff, but there’s no denying their songs’ potential for getting bodies moving across concert hall floors. Speaking of bodies and floors, the raging buildups of a track like “Break You” might as well be this decade’s answer to Drowning Pool and other similarly minded power chord pummellers at the turn of the millennium. If you like hard rock that gets right to the point, look no further. Check out what QBall has to say about the origins of the band’s name below.

Who came up with the band name?

I did. Ricky, a.k.a. QBall.

Was there a selection process?

There were several different names we came up with. In the end, we thought this one personified us the best.

Is there a particular meaning behind the name?

Yeah. Most people know that an “x factor” is the unknown intangible. We wanted to be knows as the #1 unknown intangible in all aspects of people’s lives.

What’s the best name that you considered but rejected?

Burn Into Nothing.

What’s the worst name that you considered using?

Connect 4.

Pick up XFactor1’s latest album, Famous Last Words.

For the band’s upcoming tour dates, check out their Facebook page.

Original Article

Interview with Jamie King

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 13:51:18 -0400

Welcome to Noise Control! This new feature is all about in-depth interviews with some of our favorite rock/metal producers and engineers. First up is Jamie King, who is probably best known for his work with progressive metallers Between the Buried and Me. Based out of his studio in North Carolina, The Basement Recording, King has also been credited on albums by the likes of The Human Abstract, Wretched, Alesana, He Is Legend, and For Today, to name a few. Stream or download our hour-long talk with King below to learn about his choice plugins and mics, how he got his start, his struggles with labels, the key mistakes amateur engineers make in the studio, and much more.

[audio:http://www.rockedition.com/mp3s/noise_control/jamie_king.mp3|artists=Noise Control|titles=Interview with Jamie King ]

Right-click the button above to download the interview.

Original Article

Interview with Jeremy DePoyster of The Devil Wears Prada

Thu, 12 Jul 2012 12:17:12 -0400

Given The Devil Wears Prada’s seven-year history, the most surprising thing about their new CD/DVD ‘Dead & Alive’ is that the metalcore quintet waited so long to document their ferocious live show. The discs showcase one of the band’s concerts on last year’s tour in support of their latest and heaviest album, ‘Dead Throne.’ The devastating set should easily silence any naysayers and keep longtime fans satisfied until the next tour rolls into town.

As The Devil Wears Prada were gearing up for the start of this summer’s Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival, guitarist/vocalist Jeremy DePoyster was kind enough to chat with us over the phone. Check out our conversation about keyboards, the festival, and the band’s future plans below.

How’s it going?

It’s going good!

You guys just released ‘Dead & Alive’ earlier this week.

Yes, sir.

That must feel good to have that out.

Yeah, very much so.

What inspired you guys to release your first live album, especially since you’ve been a band for a while now?

Really, the big thing was just putting together a DVD — it’s something we’ve wanted to do for quite a while now, and it just seemed to work out with this tour and with our first big headlining tour and bringing the big production and all that jazz. We filmed it and put it together, and it kind of made sense to do a CD with it too. I think it just gives people a glimpse into what the show is.

Definitely. Why did you choose to shoot it at the Palladium in Worcester [in Massachusetts]?

There were a couple of different locations we were debating between, kind of like hot spots for us, where shows are usually really awesome. We did the record up there, probably about two hours away from Worcester, and shows at the Palladium are always really good. It’s a big room, a nice room, and a lot of kids.

Did you guys have footage from other shows, or did you decide to do this one only?

We just filmed this one. The bonus content that’s on there is just something I put together, and that has footage from a bunch of different shows and different things that we filmed on our own and put together. The main show with the audio and everything is just the one.

Cool. Looking back on that show, on that one concert that’s documented on the DVD, how do you think the songs from ‘Dead Throne’ have changed in a live environment, if at all?

I don’t think they really have at all. We write songs the way that we would play them. Most of our stuff is just two or three guitar tracks, and if we don’t need one of the parts, then we’ll just have one of the guys do it, or if there’s a harmony, then maybe change it up and stuff like that. We’re a real keyboard-driven band, and we have a live keyboard player, so that element stays there when we play live. That allows us to have him do some sampling stuff and background pads and things that really add to the record that we can still bring in live. I don’t think they really have changed a whole lot.

Okay. Were any of the songs unexpectedly challenging for you?

[laughs] I could see how you could see that, but honestly not really. Every time we get into the studio, we’ve played the songs so many times. Especially Dan [Williams], our drummer, just hammering out the songs. It took him, I don’t even know how long, maybe ten days or something to nail the drums, 15-hour days and stuff. By the time you get through the studio, and you’re playing each song 25 times apiece, or 50, or 60 — however long it takes you to get it on the record - you know them pretty well. [laughs]

I feel like there are a lot of metal bands that do the whole reverse engineering thing where they record the album, and then they’re like, “Okay, well now we have to learn how to play it live.”

A lot of bands, I think, have just one guy who programs all the drums and plays all the guitar parts and does all this stuff, and that’s not really how we are. A lot of our stuff is written on a computer by our guitar player, Chris [Rubey], but before we ever head into the studio, we’ve played through every single track as a band and learned it. That’s really the only way for you to learn it on drums and guitar and stuff like that, to actually play through it. We’re still very much a rock band and want that feeling of it.

That’s very cool.

Thank you.

You gotta have some of that live energy, even if it’s not recorded live.

Yeah, exactly.

You were talking a little bit about the keys before. Who’s playing keys for you now, now that James [Baney] isn’t in the band anymore?

We have a friend that we’ve known for a while — he’s actually a sibling of one of the guys on our crew — that’s playing for us. He’s a really talented guy. He’s filling in on that, and then we’re actually piecing together a lot of the stuff for the new record, getting a bunch of synths and going down that lane. For the last few records, a large part of the recorded stuff has been at the hands of Joey Sturgis, who produced all of our records except for the most current, and he did all the keyboards on the new one. So even on the records, for the last few at least, it’s been a large part of Joey making that sound. We’re not really worried about it; we’re moving forward. We’re still going to have him involved. I wouldn’t be too worried about it. [laughs]

Awesome. Yeah, I was wondering how that was going to work out.

Yeah, everybody kind of freaks out, like, “Oh man, they’re not going to have keys anymore!” Yeah, it’s been in that process for a long time.

Would you ever consider just dropping the keys completely?

I don’t think we would just because there are so many cookie cutter bands out there now, especially doing similar stuff to the stuff that we’re trying to do. I think, not even the keyboards themselves, but the way we use them can set apart different parts that might feel kind of empty without them. Maybe on a few songs or something, but I feel like there’s always texture that can be added into a song in some way, and I’d hate to put that on and not be able to replicate it live.

Definitely. In other news, you guys are kicking off Mayhem Fest tomorrow.

Yes, we are on the premises now. [laughs]

Are you stoked for that?

Very much so. We’ve done Warped Tour so many times, and that’s always a good time, but there’s just so many bands and so much stuff going on at all times that you almost get dizzy. The fact that this tour is super focused on just a few stages and really heavy metal bands and actual metal bands — we’re very, very honored to be a part of the lineup. We have some friends out here in Whitechapel. It’s the biggest names in metal, you know? It’s half of the big four. It’s awesome.

I know that you guys did play on Warped Tour, but I still can’t bring those two together — The Devil Wears Prada and Warped Tour. It just seems like you guys would be a bit of an anomaly there.

[laughs] The first few years we did it, it was kind of like that. There was us and As I Lay Dying and A Day to Remember and Chapel and a couple other bands who were holding down the heavy stuff, but really, that’s what people want, and it’s really turned into that. That doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s all quality. [laughs]

Exactly. You mentioned some of the big names that are going to be on Mayhem. Are you really stoked to meet anyone new or hang out with anyone?

I’m not really trying to fanboy out or anything, but I’m excited to watch and see Slipknot and Slayer and Motörhead and Anthrax. We know the As I Lay Dying guys and the Whitechapel guys. I don’t know, man. It’s cool. I’m not going to be on their butts, knocking like, “Hey! Do you guys wanna hang out?!” [laughs]

Like, “Hey, Lemmy [Kilmister; Motörhead bassist and vocalist]! Let’s jam out some time!” [laughs]

Yeah, exactly. Lemmy doesn’t want to hang out with me. It’s all good. [laughs]

[laughs] It’s good that you accept that.

Yep.

What I do like about Mayhem Fest is that there is that fusion of the old bands and the new, and I can’t think of too many other places where that happens.

Well, the older I get and the longer that we’re in a band, the more I start to hate all newer bands, so I can’t say I blame any of those guys if they really, really hate us. [laughs] Yeah, I’m not expecting them to be buying the newest record or anything, but hopefully they’ll check it out and see what’s up.

Yeah. I also mean just from the fans’ point of view.

Oh, the fans! Yeah. Obviously, when you throw in Slayer and Anthrax and Motörhead, you have the diehards, and a massive amount of people who are coming out to this don’t care about us or any of the other bands on it. Hopefully, there will be a few people who will give us a chance, and maybe they already have a preconceived notion about we’re all about, and maybe we can change their minds. I would probably hate our band if I had never seen us or heard us before either. Hopefully, we can shed some of those things away.

That’s a very negative attitude about everything. [laughs]

Oh, no, I’m just saying that if I heard of a band called The Devil Wears Prada, I’d be like, “Okay…” [laughs]

I guess a lot of people equate it with the movie.

Yeah, exactly.

When I was telling my friends about this interview, they were all like, “What? The movie?” [laughs]

We were all very young when we made the band, yeah. [laughs]

I mean, I like your interpretation of the name, though. Isn’t it kind of like an anti-materialism thing?

Thank you. Yeah, exactly.

It makes sense. That’s what I would think of. That’s what I thought the movie was going to be about when I heard the name of it.

It was significantly different. [laughs]

Yeah. So what else is in store for you guys later on this year? Do you know what’s going on?

Right after this, we’re taking a couple weeks off, and then we’re going out with August Burns Red and Whitechapel in Europe. We’re doing all of Europe and the UK and all that good stuff. That will be a fun time. We’re homies with all those guys, so that should be a loud and crazy tour. We’re still blocking out the rest of the year, as far as the road goes, but I think that this summer we’re going to start diving into some new material. Chris, our guitar player, has already been writing some stuff.

Really?

Yeah. You can never stop.

That’s a quick turnaround, though.

Yeah, it probably won’t be out for a while, though. We’ll at least be working on it. By the time you get done writing a record — we were done with ‘Dead Throne’ well over a year and a half ago, if not more. By the time it comes out — and we’re almost coming up on a year of it coming out — it’s been a long time since we finished writing those songs. Gotta do some more!

I didn’t think about it that way, but it makes a lot of sense.

Yeah. You do the record in May, and then it doesn’t even come out until September. You have half the songs written before May. We had most of the songs written back in January or February. I think we had all the tracks written, so it’s been a long time. It’s been over a year since we wrote anything.

Gotta move on.

Exactly. Keep it fresh.

Pick up The Devil Wears Prada’s new CD/DVD, Dead & Alive.

For the band’s upcoming tour dates, check out their official website.

Original Article

Interview with Marianas Trench

Fri, 15 Jun 2012 14:31:27 -0400

Vancouver-based rockers Marianas Trench may be a newer name to American audiences, but don’t let that fool you. With three studio albums, platinum status on three songs and one album, and arena tours, they are far from being amateurs. Having cracked the code on Canada, the band’s been trying their hand at America, promoting their latest album ‘Ever After’ on Simple Plan’s Get Your Heart On Tour last fall before heading out on their own this spring, as well as taking part in the Journey’s Backyard BBQ Tour. It was at the latter tour’s Nashville stop that we caught up with the ever-busy group to discuss their current and future tours, the pros of already conquering one audience, and how the Southern heat was treating them.

Pick up Marianas Trench’s latest album, Ever After.

For the band’s upcoming tour dates, check out their Facebook page.

Original Article

Interview with Animals as Leaders

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 13:44:54 -0400

For many listeners, the words instrumental guitar shred probably conjure up images of solo artists peeling off note after narcissistic note while strategically placed fans puff out their flowing, L’Oréal-worthy locks, bassists and drummers left to rot in endless grooves. Luckily, while it’s immediately clear that Animals as Leaders possess some serious chops, one listen to their latest record, ‘Weightless,’ reveals a group of musicians whose true strengths arise from teamwork. Highlight “Earth Departure” blasts off with a rattling assault of intermeshed double bass blasts and eight string guitar slapping before a gorgeous, jazz-inflected chord progression fortifies a cascading closing solo. Elsewhere, the band generously shares space with programmed electronic elements, as when the opening arpeggios of “An Infinite Regression” gives way to a frenetic beat. Above all, the band always invests their prodigious talents in solid songwriting. Who would’ve known that drop E guitar riffs could be so hummable?

After the band’s Paris concert on their latest European tour, guitarists Tosin Abasi and Javier Reyes and new drummer Matt Garstka were nice enough to hang out with Rock Edition for a little while. Check out our conversation about guitar techniques, metal legends Meshuggah, and various animals’ capacities for leadership below.

Tosin Abasi: You sound American.

I am American. I’m studying abroad right now.

Tosin: Do you speak French?

I’m working on it. It’s a hard language, especially the “Rs.”

Tosin: The “Rs.” [makes a rolling “R” sound]

You did a good job at that tonight.

Tosin: Oh yeah?

Yeah. [laughs]

Tosin: It’s weird playing to French crowds because you can’t talk too much because they might not get everything you’re saying.

Yeah. I think most people understand pretty well.

Tosin: They just kind of look at you. You’re like, “Okay, well…”

That one guy [spoke English] well enough to say you killed his neck.

Tosin: Yeah.

So you’re getting somewhere. Your first show on a boat.

Tosin: [laughs] Yeah.

What’s your feeling about that?

Tosin: It was cool. The venue sounds good. It’s a nice room; perfect size, you know?

Definitely. Nice and intimate.

Tosin: Yeah.

[Javier Reyes joins us]

[to Javier] I’m Scott, by the way.

Javier: Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you. So you just kicked the tour off a few days ago, right? How’s it been going so far?

Tosin: Every show’s been sold out.

That’s awesome.

Tosin: Yeah. Hope we keep it up.

Last time you were in Europe, you were opening for Between the Buried and Me, right?

Tosin: Yes.

Obviously, you were opening that time, but is it a much different reception, or is it kind of the same thing?

Tosin: Kind of the same. Those shows were a bit wilder or something.

Javier: Yeah. Also, Between the Buried and Me and us share fans, so it’s almost the same type of vibe. It was a little crazier, actually. People were expecting to get wasted and party a little harder.

I think the BTBAM fans are a little — I’ve been to a few shows of theirs, and they’re always moshing all the time.

Tosin: Yeah, yeah. The Paris show we played in the fall…

Javier: That was a crazy show.

Tosin: Was like a soccer match. It was like — we were covered in sweat.

What venue was that at?

Javier: La Maroquinerie.

Oh, okay. I haven’t been there yet.

Tosin: Dude. It was memorable. It was crazy.

Yeah? That’s great.

Javier: It was intense.

Nice. So Matt, actually, since you’re here, how’s the experience been in general?

Matt Garstka: Great. I’m getting to play with some of my favorite musicians and playing amazing music. I love the challenge, and I get some creative room too. Although the parts are pretty worked out, and there’s a lot of composed parts, they let me have some freedom. I’m as happy as I could possibly be.

That’s pretty awesome because I feel like most bands don’t do that. Especially metal bands. I’m just thinking about Dream Theater’s new drummer [Mike Mangini] — they programmed all the drum parts for him on their demo [for their latest album, ‘A Dramatic Turn of Events’].

Tosin: Did they?

Yeah, I’m pretty sure they did.

Matt: Yeah, Mike Mangini. He was my professor at Berklee [Berklee College of Music in Boston]. He’s a very part-playing guy, though; he’s not really one to improvise in a musical context. He can do his thing, like a drum solo on his own, but he’s the type to…

Javier: Work some stuff out.

Matt: Yeah.

Well, he’s a beast — I didn’t mean to downplay his skills.

Matt: No. His technical abilities are pretty amazing.

How is the new material from ‘Weightless’ holding up live, now that it’s been out for a few months?

Tosin: It’s hard. It’s too hard.

Javier: It’s nearly impossible to play.

Tosin: It’s too hard.

That first track…

Tosin: “An Infinite Regression”?

Yeah. That one just blew my mind — the tapping part. You just make it look so easy. It just looks like you’re petting the guitar or something.

Matt: I noticed that too. When I’m sitting over there on the drums, every time you go [mimics the slap guitar riff] everyone’s just like [mimes audience members’ jaws dropping].

Tosin: Really?

Matt: Yeah!

Tosin: I should look up or something.

Matt: You should look down. Look down right at your feet. Everyone’s like, “No way!”

[everyone laughs]

Matt: It’s almost like they’re like, “Dude! It’s actually a human playing it! It’s not programmed!”

Tosin: I did not know that.

It almost even looks fake, to be honest.

[Road crew member sticks his head through the doorway]

Road crew member: Yeah, when his hand’s moving? When it sounds like there’s 50 notes playing but his hands just going like this? [mimes guitar slapping]

It looks so relaxed.

Tosin: I should call it “The Art of the Hidden Hand” or some shit. “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Fingers.”

Road crew member: “The Hand With Ten Fingers.”

[everyone laughs]

I’m going to go home and try to do that with my guitar and it’s just going to be like [makes atonal metallic sound]

Tosin: Try it out, man. It’s actually quite easy.

Are you just doing a lot of pulling-off and hammering-on? What’s the secret to that technique?

Tosin: If you’re holding a single note, you’re producing a down and an upstroke with your thumb. [Mimes thumb movement while singing a rhythm] So it’s one-two-three [in a triplet rhythm] … And you combine it with [the other fingers], so it’s one-two-three-four-five-six.

That’s pretty crazy. It’s an awesome technique.

Tosin: It sounds pretty alien.

Definitely. The first few times I listened to it, I was on the fence between whether it was a guitar or a keyboard.

Tosin: Yeah, I’ve heard people think it’s a synth.

Javier: With “Espera,” people think it’s a keyboard. People don’t know it’s a — he didn’t know it’s a guitar! [points at Matt]

[laughs] You’re just shocked.

Javier: He was shocked. “That’s a guitar?!”

Speaking of keyboard stuff, do you trigger the keyboard textures when you play live?

Tosin: No. We play to a sequence that has the audio, and Matt controls it. But the visuals and all the sequence are all on a single file. Everything you’re seeing is a single file, in fact.

Yeah. When you were playing “Weightless,” the last song, I hadn’t really noticed that the visuals were that synched to the rest of the set, but then I was like — because it looked like you started up the video a little last minute — but I was like, “How is that happening right now?

Tosin: It’s cool. We’ve started to get less obvious about the synchronization and more abstract, but then there are moments where it’s clear that it’s…

Yeah. I think it was really sick.

Tosin: Oh, I love the visuals. You’ll notice that half of our set looks different than the other half. The abstract stuff is more recent —

That more grey, clear stuff?

Tosin: Yeah. I fucking love it. I wish I could watch, actually.

Javier and Matt: Yeah!

Javier: Every time I look back, I’m like, “Goddamn, that looks cool.” [laughs]

Yeah, that must be the ultimate distraction.

Javier: It is!

Matt: I think last night was the first time I really saw it, from the film footage. I was like, “Holy shit!”

Tosin: It looks crazy, right?

Matt: Yeah. It looks sick.

Tosin: Tonight looked cool too. I didn’t get any footage, but…

Yeah.

Tosin: I was going to do it for the encore. I shouldn’t have taken off my in-ear [monitors] and…

Javier: Yeah, I just took my guitar and walked back. We’ve never done that.

Tosin: Yeah.

What do you usually do?

Tosin: We’ve never done an encore, ever.

Oh, really?

Tosin: Yeah.

Javier: Yeah, it was the first time.

Tosin: And the reason there was a false start was because the set is all part of a file, so we were just doing business as usual and accidentally started the correct song, but today it’s technically the incorrect song.

First time on a boat, first time for an encore. It’s a new situation.

Tosin: Yeah.

Halfway through this tour, you guys are going to join up with Meshuggah, right?

Tosin: Yeah.

Are you guys stoked for that?

Javier: No.

Tosin: Well, now I’m scared.

No?

Javier: No.

Really? Have you played with them before?

Javier: Yeah, man!

Tosin: He’s being sarcastic.

Javier: It’s like a dream tour.

[laughs] I was thinking, “What’s wrong with you, man?”

Javier: [laughs]

Tosin: Yeah, they’re like…

Javier: That’s a dream tour.

Tosin: If I had to listen to one metal band for the rest of my life, it would be Meshuggah.

Tosin: They’re gods.

Yeah, they are gods.

Tosin: [laughs]

Javier: You just pray to them, that’s it. They don’t say anything back to you.

Tosin: And it’s okay.

Javier: It’s okay! [laughs]

Did they approach you about it?

Javier: Yeah.

That’s awesome.

Tosin: It could’ve been their agent and our agent were having Guinness together. But either way, we’re on the tour. [laughs]

That’s awesome. Have you heard their new record?

Tosin: Yeah.

What do you think of it?

Tosin: I like it. I think they’re — I want to hear Fredrik Thordendal’s [Meshuggah guitarist] solo stuff. I think he’s supposed to be working on that now.

Oh, really? I had no idea.

Tosin: He’s one of my favorite creative musical minds.

Yeah, definitely. Was he one of the first to use eight string guitar in metal?

Tosin: Yes.

Javier: He is.

He is?

Tosin: [to Javier] What did you say?

Javier: I mean, as far as popularizing it. There’s been eight string guitarists, classical guitarists. But I think that he’s definitely the Steve Vai of eight string, if you will.

Tosin: The best part about it is that I don’t think he ever wanted anyone else to play an eight string, or even cared if anyone else played an eight string. He wanted to play one.

Did he originally get one custom made for him?

Tosin: Yeah. There was a Swedish luthier, and then I think Ibanez was like, “Well, what the fuck. We’ll make you one.”

That’s pretty sweet.

Tosin: Yeah. I think the one [Ibanez] made tops the ones that they were getting custom made. They were having tuning issues and stuff like that.

Yeah. It must be a pretty difficult guitar…

Tosin: Now, it seems to be a pretty established science. Yeah, they’ve got titanium reinforcements in the neck.

Javier: Dual.

Dual truss rods?

Javier: Dual truss rods.

I didn’t know that. That’s pretty sick… This is a little bit of a silly question. I know you guys don’t do the whole bass guitar thing, but if you had to have any bass player join your band — any bass player at all — who would it be? You can pick anyone.

Tosin: Evan Brewer. [laughs]

Evan Brewer?

Tosin: Yeah.

He’s awesome.

Tosin: He’s more than a bass player.

Javier: Yeah. He’s a homie.

Didn’t he tour with you guys a little while ago?

Tosin: Yeah. We took him on tour.

Javier: Tosin used to be in a band with him.

Oh, really?

Tosin: Yeah, Reflux. It was like 2004.

I should check that out. I didn’t know he was in that too.

Javier: And then he joined Animosity, which Navene [Koperweis; former Animals as Leaders drummer] used to be in.

Tosin: Very…

Networked.

Javier: Yeah.

Tosin: Now he’s in The Faceless, which the singer of Reflux [Ash Avildsen] owns the label that The Faceless is on.

[laughs]

Tosin: And Navene used to play in The Faceless and played for us and played with Evan in Animosity.

Javier: [laughs] Those guys are just like family.

Yeah. I have one more question for you guys before I have to bounce. What animal is the best for leadership, given your band name? Aside from humans. You can’t pick humans.

Javier: What animal is the best for leadership.

Tosin: For leadership.

If there was an animal that would be good at leading.

Tosin: Elephant?

Elephant? [laughs]

Tosin: They have great memories…

Tosin: They honor their dead.

Javier: A dolphin.

A dolphin.

Tosin: They have tough skin! Okay. [laughs]

That’s a good choice.

Javier: They have abstract thinking. Many animals don’t.

Matt, do you have a choice?

Matt: No.

No? Okay, well…

Javier: He doesn’t know yet.

I think that’s pretty solid. Dolphin, elephant. [laughs]

Tosin: A puppy.

[laughs] Think about it.

Matt: Hamster.

Okay. I’ll put that down.

Matt: Don’t put that down.

No, no. It’s going in. Too late.

Matt: I’ll kill you.

[laughs]

Tosin: [in a sarcastic tone] A rabbit, cause they fuck a lot!

[everyone laughs]

Matt: Well, it’s not because they fuck a lot. It’s how fast they fuck. That’s pretty crazy.

Tosin: You’re into the speed, huh?

Matt: Speed fucking. Of course. It’s like a fucking Olympic sport.

Pick up Animals as Leaders’ latest album, Weightless.

For the band’s upcoming tour dates, check out their official Facebook page.

Original Article

Interview with Gage Speas of To Speak of Wolves

Thu, 24 May 2012 15:48:22 -0400

For vocalist Gage Speas, joining North Carolina metallers To Speak of Wolves has not only been a dream come true, but the perfect outlet for dealing with his hardships. Soon after his parents’ divorce, Speas dropped out of high school and became Oh the Blood’s new frontman. Unfortunately, the group folded not long after their first tour, and Speas went back home without a plan. Things started to look a little brighter when Oh, Sleeper called and invited him to come on the road and do merch for them. For two years, Speas practiced his screams with Oh, Sleeper vocalist Micah Kinard, and picked up business tips from former bassist Lucas Starr. Then, unexpectedly, everything fell into place. To Speak of Wolves had an opening, Speas auditioned, and the rest is history.

Head below to read in detail how Speas became To Speak of Wolves’ new singer, what it means to him to have found his niche, and what the band’s sophomore album is about.

I heard that you had some minor surgery in March. Have you fully recovered from that?

Yeah, man. I’m good. I had gallstones, and then it developed into pancreatitis.

Oh, wow.

Yeah, I was actually dying.

You were seriously dying?

Yeah. I played South by So What?! like that. I walked off stage and just started throwing up everywhere. It was awful. I had to go to the hospital and everything.

Was it the best performance of your life at least?

It was awesome. I was like, “Well, I feel like I’m dying, so I should probably kick the crap out of this show.”

You gotta make it worth it. I’m glad to hear you’re feeling a lot better.

Thanks, man. I appreciate that.

So, take us back to the beginning. When did you officially meet the guys in To Speak of Wolves?

I met the dudes last January. It was January 6, to be exact. I worked for a band for a long time called Oh, Sleeper. I was with them for pretty much two years. I did merch for them. A buddy of mine from back in Albuquerque was like, “There’s a band on Solid State called To Speak of Wolves looking for a new frontman.” I checked them out, and I liked the music, and Phil [Chamberlain], our drummer, had actually toured with a couple of the dudes in Oh, Sleeper when they were in previous bands. Lucas emailed or called Phil and arranged a tryout. I flew out there and made it. It’s been insane ever since.

Going from a merch guy to the frontman of a band sounds like a dream come true.

It’s a huge blessing, man. I thank God for it every day. It’s pretty incredible. Not everyone gets to do that. Oh, Sleeper’s my favorite band. When they had called me to come do merch for them, I was freaking out about that. Then, they got me into a band, and I’m like, “Holy crap! This is insane.” It’s pretty phenomenal.

Now, you were in some other bands in the past, such as Oh the Blood.

[chuckles] Yeah, I was in Oh the Blood. I dropped out of high school to be in that band. We were working with Come&Live! at the time, which is a great organization, and I was 18 living in Albuquerque, while the other guys were from Kentucky. I flew out to Kentucky the spring break of my senior year and tried out. I flew back home and then they called me about a week later telling me that they wanted me in the band. I told my dad, “Hey, I’m gonna drop out of high school and join this band.” It was just after my parents had gotten divorced, so my dad and I were on some rough waters at the time. He was just like, “You’re 18, so if that’s what you want to do, go ahead and do it.” We did one tour and broke up. It was insane.

[laughs] Yeah.

After we broke up, I was like, “Oh, man. What am I going to do now?” Maybe four months after that, Oh, Sleeper called me. It’s pretty incredible how things fall into place. The last couple of years of my life have been a huge blessing. I can’t even really believe it.

And so it’s not like you had zero experience coming into To Speak of Wolves.

Yeah, exactly. When I was working for Oh, Sleeper, Micah would help me practice my screams. I was never really good at screaming high, but Micah is the king of that.

Oh, cool. He was giving you tips?

Yeah. And he didn’t know how to do lows really well, so I showed him how to do lows. He’ll never give me [credit for] that in real life if you ask him, but it’s true. [chuckles]

Very nice. It sounds like those two years of doing merch weren’t wasted.

Definitely. Also, Lucas was the business dude of Oh, Sleeper and he took me under his wing in that aspect as well. He taught me how to do business. It was awesome. Going into To Speak of Wolves, I could help Phil out with that stuff. He’s the business dude in our band.

It seems like band members take on more roles than ever these days. It’s certainly beneficial to know the business side of the industry.

Yeah, totally.

Tell us about the audition process. Was it intimidating?

Yeah, man. It was rough. The dudes were great, though. When I got to North Carolina, we all just hung out the first night and watched South Park. Then, the next day, we went out and practiced. Our guitar player, Corey [Doran], has a horse barn where we practiced for like five hours a day, just trying to get all these songs down. There was this one song that I was having so much trouble with, but I just pushed through it. I flew out for two weeks. My dad had to help me out with the ticket. I told him, “Just give me a one-way ticket. I’m going do this; I’m going to make it.”

We played our first show at this place called The Brewery in Raleigh, NC. Dude, it was awful. I did terrible. [laughs]

[laughs] What went wrong?

I forgot so many lyrics. I called Lucas from Oh, Sleeper and I was like, “I blew it, man. I’m not gonna make it into this band.” I was so torn up about it because I worked so hard to get where I was. I thought I threw my shot down the drain. Lucas told me, “Hey, it was your first show. Everyone messes up at the first show. Oh, Sleeper’s first show was terrible.” The dudes were cool, though. They had some other shows before going off on a tour, so I just had to get everything down. Everyone helped me out a lot. Aaron [Kisling] would write down the vocal patterns and really dissect the songs for me. It helped me out so much. That was really the tryout process.

At what point did they say you made the cut?

They didn’t give me any word about anything. I had been with the dudes for four months at this point. Then, on the last day of the Emery tour, they were like, “Hey, man. You know that you’re in the band, right?” I was jumping up and down in the parking lot. It was a dream come true. Every show, every local band, every super long drive, and every night sleeping in parking lots had paid off. It was honestly one of the best days of my entire life.

Awesome. Let’s talk about the new album. How involved were you when it came to the songwriting process?

Quite a bit. I wrote all the lyrics and all the vocal patterns and melodies. Musically, I can’t pick up a guitar and play it — I don’t play any instruments at all. We had a long break before we went into the studio, so the other dudes recorded a lot of scratch tracks. And it was nice because even though I don’t play an instrument my opinion mattered. When we were in the studio recording, it got kind of rough sometimes because everybody has their own vision of the song. I remember we were recording “Oregon,” and Aaron and I were butting heads like crazy. I was like, “Dude, I hate that guitar riff.” He was like, “Well, I think we should take this part out and you shouldn’t sing there.” So, sometimes it got a little rough, but in the end, we were like, “This song rules!” We eventually learned to trust each other. Anyway, I didn’t write any of the music, but the lyrics and vocal patterns are mine, except for the song that Micah sings on called “Stand Alone Complex.” He came into the studio, sat there for a good thirty minutes, wrote lyrics down on his phone, then he and I went into this back room together, he read me the lyrics, and I was like, “Dude, I love it. It sounds freaking awesome.”

And the group was fine with the lyrics you brought to the table?

They gave me full reign of lyrics. It was pretty incredible. The whole record is about my parents getting divorced. My mom left when I was 18 years old. She walked out on my dad and took my little sister. That whole time in my life is really dark. After she left, I just went down a bad road, and my dad and I started fighting all the time. Sometimes I would just leave and not come home for weeks on end. The summer before my senior year I was never even home. There was also a week that I spent living in my car. I became an atheist at that point. I was like, “If God is real, he wouldn’t let this happen to me.” It was awesome for the band to be like, “Dude, if that’s what you want to sing about, then you should sing about it. That’s cool with us.”

I would say that it’s pretty rare to have a new member come into a band and take charge of what the whole album is essentially about.

Yeah, and to have it be so personal and hit home is just like — I don’t know. Not everyone’s parents are divorced in the band or anything like that, so for them to support that was incredible. We’re just about real music. We want to play passionate music. I know there’s a million other kids who have had it way worse than I have. I still talk to my mom and see her once a year. For the record, I really dug down deep and brought a bunch of my old journals into the studio with me. I went back to that time when my mom left. Every song is extremely personal. I opened myself up and put myself and family on display. I talk about how my brothers don’t really believe in God, how my dad is so lonely, how my mom hasn’t really forgiven herself, and how my sister’s confused about everything. We were raised in church, and once our family fell apart, I feel like everyone’s faith did as well. It’s all very personal. I think those are usually things some people don’t want to sing about. I want to help people; I want kids to know that they’re not alone. Even though you’ve been through these things, you can still do what you want and be who you want to be. And that’s all regardless if you believe in the same God I do or not. You can still burn bright, rise above everything that’s happened in your life, and do something amazing. I feel like our generation lacks that and any confidence in themselves. One of my best friends is adopted. His parents left him in an elevator when he was born.

Wow.

Yeah. And still, his potential is through the roof. He’s working on doing great things with his life. He has an amazing story. Anything is possible.

So, that’s what the whole record’s about — my parent’s divorce, how it affected my life, and everything I’ve been through.

What’s the song “Dialysis Dreams” about? That’s a great title.

Yeah, that’s my favorite song on the record. It’s about my grandfather. He died when I was 20, almost two years ago. He and I were really close. [pauses] Sorry, I’m getting kind of choked up. He had diabetes and he stubbed his toe one time and it never healed. Eventually, they cut his leg off at the knee. Then, his heart started to fail him. When he died, I was on tour with Oh, Sleeper. Everyone in my family was there at his side, but I didn’t really get to say goodbye. That song is me making peace with my grandfather. That track just kills me, but I’m very proud of it. When I was in the studio, I actually had a dream that he came back to life and we were hanging out. He had this old ‘56 Ford, and in my dream he and I were driving it around and he was young, and all of a sudden he pulled an hourglass out and shattered it and started shoving sand in his mouth very violently. I got the song title from that dream and the fact that he had to do dialysis treatments.

I just realized that we haven’t spoken about something. Who recorded and produced the new album?

Oh, man. Yeah, Matt McClellan, who works at Glow in the Dark Studios. We spent about three to four weeks out there in Atlanta, GA. It was awesome, dude. Matt was actually our first choice. We met him on the Emery tour. He was this random dude that walked into the green room and started talking to us, and he became a great friend. He’s a talented dude. He killed it.

Nice. Anyone familiar with ‘Myself

Not at all. It was kind of tough at first because kids were like, “Oh, man. Who are you?” Of course, you still have kids who are fans of Rick. That’s cool, though. I’ve personally never met him. But, yeah, we weren’t worried about that at all. We’re stoked on this new record. We believe in it really strongly. If you love To Speak of Wolves, you’ll love the new record.

Before I let you go, tell us a little about the cover art. It’s pretty cool, and a little eerie.

The record is really dark, so we wanted the artwork to portray that as well. Ryan [Clark] from Visible Creature [and the frontman of Demon Hunter] had called Phil to see what we were thinking for it. We told him that we wanted a symbol, something kids can draw in their notebooks. For example, HIM has that heartagram thing and Oh, Sleeper has the broken pentagram and Demon Hunter has that demon skull thing. To Speak of Wolves needed a face. Ryan was like, “Okay, cool.” Then, he sent that back to us and we were like, “That rules!” We’re super excited about it. So, that’s really all it was.

Pick up To Speak of Wolves’ new album, Find Your Worth, Come Home.

For the band’s upcoming tour dates, check out their Facebook page.

Original Article

Interview with Nick Schendzielos of Job for a Cowboy

Fri, 18 May 2012 10:30:27 -0400

From even the briefest glance at the rows of riot police and the perversion of Lady Justice that appear on the artwork for Job for a Cowboy’s new album, ‘Demonocracy,’ it’s fairly apparent that the band believes America needs to experience some radical changes. As bassist Nick Schendzielos says in our interview below, “The system is completely fucked.” However, in spite of the national stagnancy that the group condemns, a real revolution has taken place within the group’s ranks and their sound. Along with a more technical songwriting approach, the addition of Schendzielos and lead guitarist Tony Sannicandro sees the former deathcore heroes abandoning the lurching breakdowns that made their name in favor of voracious, breakneck thrashing, mach speed lead lines, and harmonized whammy bar screams. But fear not, JFAC diehards — frontman Jonny Davy still prophesies our doom with his familiar two-faced roar n’ rasp vocal delivery.

Schendzielos was kind enough to chat with Rock Edition over the phone as the band was on the road during their recent stint on the Metal Alliance tour. Head below to read our conversation about ‘Demonocracy,’ genre labels, and just what pisses the band off about the USA.

How’s the tour going?

The tour’s going sick. It’s been a lot of fun. We’ve been out for about five or six weeks now. We did a week of dates with Dying Fetus first and then a week in the UK with Cannibal Corpse. Now, we’ve been out on this for about three weeks or so. It’s going good though; great crowds, super fun routing. The routing is really cool; we get to spend a lot of time in the van. We really dig that. You know, really long drives where you’ve got to leave the show right after you play some stuff? That’s really fun. [laughs]

[laughs] You’re being sarcastic?

[laughs] A little bit. A little bit of sarcasm right now. But it’s been sweet. It’s a good time. Everyone watches DevilDriver…

For sure. Speaking of long drives in the van, what do you usually do to keep yourself entertained at those times?

In the van? Mostly, you end up telling yourself you’re going to do all this creative shit — you’re going to edit videos and write songs and even watch TV and shit like that — and most of the time you end up just sleeping. There’s something about the vibration of the wheels and the highway speeds that just puts me to sleep. When I can keep myself going, I try to read a little bit — that’s good reading time — or… I’ve got a YouTube channel that I do bass videos on, kind of like play-alongs. I play with this band called Cephalic Carnage too, so I’ll make play-alongs for that, and I’ve been working on some of the new Job stuff. So I have a bunch of footage in the can, and then I just edit it as we drive, so that’s pretty cool. And then, we’ll listen to music. We’ll listen to stand-up comedy a lot because that kind of breaks up hearing music all the time. And sleep. Definitely a lot of sleeping.

Yeah, I feel you on that. I fall asleep every time I’m in the car as well. [laughs]

[laughs] Yeah, in the airplane too.

Yeah. So your new record is your most technical yet, I think. Have you had to rehearse much more than usual to get the new songs you’re playing off of that ready for the road?

Yes. Definitely. Me personally — when we went into the studio, I had tabs for everything and had demo versions of the songs. I demoed out a couple songs on bass, but the producer, Jason Suecof, he was very involved with the record. When we recorded ‘Gloom’ with him, he was very involved with the riffs on that as well. So I knew that all the riffs were going to change a little bit. I didn’t want to spend a whole bunch of time writing demos for the stuff just to have all the stuff get changed. I really like Jason’s ear, melodically. He’s got a really killer musical brain, so when we went in there to record, Jason and I would listen to the part and be like, “Okay, what should the bass do?” Then, we’d write what the bass would do. So I didn’t really actually get to or have to play the songs in time all the way through until we were like, “Alright, this is a song we’re playing live, this is a song we’re playing live.” Then, with those songs, playing what we had written was really hard.

[laughs] It took me a long time. I had to run the stuff a lot in order to be able to play it, which is great because I think that as a musician, you want to grow. That’s what makes you feel fulfilled — knowing that you’re getting better because you’re not able to play something at first at speed, and then after weeks of rehearsing it, you finally get it up to the level to be able to play it live. In the band too, everybody had to do their own homework to get the stuff tight. In the band, it didn’t take that long, only maybe two or three practices to get the stuff playable live. And then, slowly, we’ve been tightening every single night, until now. We’re ripping.

Nice. Given that technicality, how do you think the new material fits in with the old material in live settings?

I think it fits in pretty phenomenally well, actually. I think we picked the right songs to play off the new stuff. For example, “Ryan” — we have these pet names for the songs. Before they had actual names, they were all people’s names. So, for example, “Imperium Wolves,” the third track off of the album, used to be called “Ryan.” So we play that song live, and it’s crazy; people have never heard it before and it’s getting a better live response than even some of the older stuff. I think that even through some of the technicality, there’s a real solid element of groove in it. I think that that’s what people are going to feel live. They can get through the technicality of it because of that solid groove. I feel like that fits in really well with the old stuff. We probably play all in all the heavier, groovier songs from each record. You wanna play what gets the best live response. We’re pretty stoked. We’re probably going to start playing “Children of Deceit” live, as well. So right now we’re doing “Imperium Wolves,” “Black Discharge,” which was “George” — that was the pet name for that one — and then “Children of Deceit,” which used to be “Nadine.”

[laughs] I see. Speaking of “Imperium Wolves” — this is a little sidetrack thing — but what the hell is the sample at the end of that song on the album?

You know, I don’t know where the hell Jonny got that. I have no idea what the hell that is.

I was trying to figure that out. It’s just so weird. [laughs]

Yeah, it is really weird. We got it too because I had to download it because we use it live to intro the song, actually — instead of outroing it, we intro with that. Yeah, I have no idea what the hell that is. I’ll ask him because I’d like to know myself.

That part — I always forget about it, and then I’m listening to the record, and it’s really heavy, and then that part just makes me crack up every time.

[laughs, then mimics the screaming from the sample] I have no idea. I gotta figure out where he got that from.

For sure. Talking a little bit more about the album itself, among a lot of people on the internet, there’s been some debate about whether you guys have changed from deathcore to death metal leading up to now. What’s your take on the evolution of the band’s sound?

I would say that if you think about it, I’ve never really been a fan of genres and labeling things because I really feel like I want to leave it… When you put a label on something, it’ll literally skew the way that your brain hears it. If somebody’s like, “Oh, check out this deathcore band,” and they put it on, you’re already naturally going to have a predisposition to think it’s going to sound a certain way, and so you’ll hear it differently. You’ll hear, if it’s a chuggy kind of a riff, it’s like, “Oh yeah, there’s the deathcore part.” But if somebody’s like, “Hey, check out this death metal band,” and then you hear a chuggy part, they’re not like, “Oh, that’s a deathcore part.” It’s just a chuggy riff part.

So I’m always wary of labels and stuff, but if we have to play that game, then I look at it like -core, with the -core elements that come from hardcore, and I feel like that is generally associated with breakdowns — building a riff up, and then you just drop the riff right with the quarter, with the quarter china [mimics the sound of a china cymbal] — you know, that whole thing. It terms of describing it that way, I’d say it’s definitely not a deathcore album at all. There’s no, there’s maybe a couple parts you could consider breakdown-esque, but there’s no breakdowns. It’s all pretty much — we call them banana riffs.

[laughs] Why is that?

I think Tony was explaining it to me the other day. It’s [sings a convoluted riff] a banana. The style of riffing doesn’t have anything to do with a breakdown-esque type of riff or chug riff. So I would say it’s heavy metal, death metal, technical, that kind of stuff. The other thing is too that we’re never going to lose that deathcore title, I don’t think. People hear the name Job for a Cowboy, and we’re kind of notorious for being one of the founding fathers of the genre or whatever. I feel like if we can’t ever lose that, then I’m fine if people still call us deathcore, but that’s just what deathcore sounds like now. [laughs] We’ll just change what deathcore sounds if people aren’t going to lose the moniker.

Yeah. I have to say that I had a ton of conceptions about what this record was going to sound like before I heard it, and then it was just totally different. It was a little strange at first, but it’s pretty awesome.

Great. That’s good.

I really dig it.

That’s awesome. Thanks, dude.

So Jonny’s said many times that this is a really politically-themed record. I was wondering if, given that perspective, you guys all share the same political views in the band.

Yeah. I’d say as an average, we’re all pretty much… I don’t want to use the word… I don’t want to put a political categorization on that because none of us subscribe to a particular political side. The whole Democrat/Republican thing is just two sides of the same coin. It’s kind of why I think that the title of the record fits so well. That’s kind of the way we perceive the government style that we have in America — it’s demonocracy. It’s not a democracy; it’s a whole government run by demons, essentially. All of the special interest groups and the elite are really in control of who gets in office. You can pretty much lobby anything into law if you have enough money and enough time. We’re kind of all subscribers to that. We don’t want to seem apathetic towards it, like, “Oh, there’s nothing that you can do.”

A lot of the message that Jonny wants to convey with the band is that when you have a platform or a footprint like the band does, you can reach out to this network of people to inform people of these real evils that exist. I feel like that’s the idea — that we’re trying to raise awareness toward [the idea that] the system is completely fucked, completely bought and paid for. There’s no one side that you could pick that you’re going to vote somebody in and actually make some type of a change. Basically, the entire thing’s gotta be taken down. Who knows how that’s to be done, but we’re all about personal freedom, liberty, equality, justice, stuff that’s supposed to be represented by being an American. But it’s not really there anymore. [laughs]

Speaking of those real evils, what are some specific things that really piss you off about America today?

Well, we’ve definitely got the military/industrial complex. The percentage of money that we spend on the national defense budget every year. It’s mindblowing how much money we put into our military and national defense, as opposed to any of the other problems. We’ve got a shitload of problems of here, a lot, a lot, a lot of internal problems. Infrastructure; highways; transportation systems; the healthcare system. Everything is so fucked, yet there’s a constant, nationally huge, disproportionate chunk of money that’s put toward national defense and homeland security. We are definitely people that want to have a solid defense in case the shit does hit the fan, but personally, for me anyway, diplomacy is something that’s completely been neglected because it doesn’t provide for the war machine.

When you have these corporate revolving doors where people are in the government and then in a corporation directly related to the content of — for example, Halliburton and [Dick] Cheney and all these guys. He’s the vice president of Halliburton — excuse me; he’s the CEO of Halliburton — and then he’s the vice president of the United States, and then he’s back. The doors keep revolving in between so they can change the laws in order to increase profit, maximize the profitability of their companies. It’s all this big, huge war machine.

Along those lines, there’s also the oil industry, the health industry, the Food and Drug Administration. All these things are supposedly for our health and for our benefit, and if you really look into stuff, into the USDA standards for the whole organic food thing and what they allow people to sell to the American population, it’s Aspartame and — I mean, we’re into a lot of lot of documentaries. [laughs] Stuff like that. It’s just so hard to tackle just one thing. But there’s a lot of crap going on. It takes a big overhaul to get shit working right.

Definitely enough stuff to write a bunch of metal songs about.

Yeah, exactly. Definitely a lot of fodder for it.

You mentioned oil briefly. Is that what “Black Discharge” is about? I was trying to figure that out.

That’s it! Yep, black discharge. It’s oil.

It’s pretty gross sounding when you put it that way. [laughs]

[laughs] Yeah. A lot of people are like, “Is that song about the oil industry, or is it about an STD?” [laughs] Either way, you’re going to need some help.

Yeah. [laughs] You guys have also said — I know that Jonny, at least, has said this — that you enjoy pirating music and downloading music and that you encourage people to share the new record with their friends. Does that attitude ever come into conflict with being on a record label?

I think although that’s always kind of been a tradition of the band, I feel like when a record label looks into signing a band, they’re probably pretty well aware of a band’s position on something like that. I feel like they’d probably also want you to say, “Hey, if you want to support us, that’s awesome. Buy the record. Download it first; check it out; make sure you like it, but hey, the artwork’s really cool to have too. The digipak and having a physical thing that you can hold in your hand is kind of almost like a nostalgic type of thing. Pick it up, just for shits and giggles. Why not?” — I feel like you need to add that in there, and at the same time, if you can’t afford it, if you don’t have the money, we want you listening to the music. Get it however you need to get it and spread it around however you need to spread it around.

If I don’t like Job for a Cowboy, and somebody’s like, “Check out the new record,” I’m not going to go risk spending 11 bucks. Like, “Give me the record. If I like it, and I’m turned over, now I’m a Job for a Cowboy fan. Hey, I’ll go to a show now. Maybe I’ll buy a t-shirt, even.” So then we’re up. The ticket price that the people paid to come see us and making money on the merch. So we’re up overall, as opposed to that person saying, “You know what, I can’t spend the eleven bucks on the record because I’m not going to risk it, so screw it. I just won’t even try it.” In the end, it’s really hard to pinpoint whether or not that stuff is long-term detrimental or long-term beneficial. It’s hard to do, so we just say, however you need to get the music, get the music and spread it around. If you want to support us so we can keep doing it, that’s all the better.

Would you guys ever consider releasing one of your records for pay however much you want or for free?

Totally. Yeah, definitely. I’d like to have one — when Radiohead did that, I really dug that. I thought it was awesome. Not to say anything against the record label — Metal Blade has actually been super cool, and the guys over there have been really awesome too. They’re just the way the label should be. But if you look at the breakdown of the production costs of CDs and where that 10 bucks or 11 bucks goes, there’s maybe a buck that goes to the artist. You’re talking 10 percent or 12 percent, at the very most maybe 15 percent or something. So if you were to donate [the price of] the record to the band, say five bucks, less than half the cost of the CD, the band gets all five bucks. So it’s kind of like we’d make five times as much money, and the fans pay half as much.

That’s pretty crazy.

It’s like a win-win, right? Although we’ve got to keep Metal Blade in the picture there because they do wonderful things for the band. That’s a whole different story. All in all, I still think that idea is kind of cool and maybe work in some way to keep the label involved and that kind of stuff. But I think that’s a really cool option — cut the middleman out. We don’t need middlemen anymore.

Yeah. I think that would be pretty cool, especially considering that I’m not under the impression that many big metal bands have tried using that approach.

Yeah, I’ve never heard of anybody [doing that], actually.

Pick up Job for a Cowboy’s new album, Demonocracy.

For the band’s upcoming tour dates, check out their official website.

Original Article