Mishmash Magazine

The Gay Blades Tour Logs From Drummer Puppy Mills, PT2

2008-07-28T14:33:00.000-07:00

PUPPY CHOW 2

Kansas City, MO - Gate's Bar-B-Q:

When you pull into the parking lot of Gate's Bar-B-Q, the little arrow sign
at the entrance to the parking lot that usually says "Enter"
instead says "HI". This pretty much gets you ready for the experience you
are about to have at Gate's (or pretty much anywhere in the midwest / south
for that matter): Polite, but simple.

Gate's has six locations, most of which are in Kansas City, MO, which is not
in Kansas. (It's like how the NY Giants play in NJ.. it probably has the
same amount of steroid riddled meat too.) When you walk in to the
restaurant, the women behind the counter greet you with polite enthusiasm,
alien to us, as we are so used to eating in restaurants in NYC, where the
most you'll get is "NEXT!"

So anyway, I ordered the burnt ends sandwich, and the other guys ordered the
combo plates (ribs, ham & beef). Burnt ends are "the ends of a smoked beef
brisket, trimmed off and double-smoked". It tastes like someone took all
the little meat pieces that find their way to the edge of the grill after
hours of cheese-steak making, and then stuffed them into a sandwich.. but in
a good way. It was super-smoky tasting, and when dipped into Gate's
original and hot sauces, was a messy greasy feast that melted the bun in
your hand, and their fries were the perfect amount of crispy on the outside,
soft in the middle.

Now I have to give props to the ribs, which I ate for the experience alone,
since I usually don't like ribs. These tasted like they were ripped from
the chest of god himself, and then slow cooked in a magical tasty-matic oven
invented by Thomas Edison's ghost. I got so mad that I had wasted stomach
space on the burnt ends sandwich (which, as I said, was really good when not
being compared to the ribs) and flipped the table in a fit of rage. The
super-friendly staff then came over, fixed and cleaned everything up,
refilled our drinks and offered us a to-go box. Seriously, the wait staff
there is incredible.

Aside from their awesome food, they also sell their eponymous sauces for
under $3 for each 8 oz. bottle, and gift packs of bbq sauces and spices too.
On the BBQ scale of "Tough-Guy Texas Style BBQ" to my uncle Ron's "of course
ketchup and steak sauce mixed together is the same as BBQ sauce" I rate
Gate's Bar-B-Q "Table Flippin' Good." Also, they give you extra (free)
sides of their sauce and to-go cups for your soda when you leave.

God's ribs. Seriously.

The Gay Blades Tour Logs by drummer Puppy Mills

2008-07-16T02:48:00.000-07:00

[The Gay Blades Tour Log | MySpace.com/GayBlades]

Touring is great. Sleeping in a van with 3-8 dudes in Texas on a 95 degree humid day. Playing stages in hot rooms with bad sound. Carrying equipment. Arm wrestling bouncers. All of these are "part of the job" when it comes to touring... so when Mishmash Magazine asked me to do a blog reviewing all the crazy foods we could find on the road, I jumped at the chance. I mean, how often do you get to eat all the crappy, heart attack inducing food you can handle and actually have a legitimate reason for doing so (other than just "being an American")?

Cincinnati, OH - Skyline Chili:

Skyline chili is a small chain of Ohio chili restaurants originally opened by a Greek immigrant whose secret chili ingredients include chocolate and cinnamon. I ordered the 3-way chili which is spaghetti, chili, and cheese, and a "Coney" which is a mini hot dog, also smothered in chili and cheese. (The 4-way chili includes onions, which taste bad, and the 5-way chili has onions & kidney beans, which taste bad and are gross.) I also opted for the habanero cheese and a crap load of hot sauce on both dishes. Let me tell you something; if you play drums fairly violently in hot clubs for forty minutes at a time, and you want to be able to throw up a little bit in your mouth every couple of minutes during your set, just eat any greasy food smothered in hot sauce within the two hours before your set. Drinking warm beer during the set helps too. Eating Skyline chili and hot dogs with hot cheese and extra hot sauce not only lets you taste your food again while playing, it also makes people who clean bathrooms that band guys use hate god.

On the chili scale of "Hormel" to "Soylent Green", Skyline Chili gets a rating of "Cinnamon" - it's bittersweet and you don't want it in most foods.. including chili...

BOY A : Movie Screening

2008-06-22T10:44:00.000-07:00

Jules of Cinema Movie Blog

Boy A
by Julia Marchese

Official Selection
2008 Tribeca Film Festival
2008 Berlin Film Festival
2007 Toronto Film Festival
2007 London Film Festival

Screens at the Los Angeles Film Festival June 27-28

Opening July 23, 2008 in NY at The Film Forum and July 25, 2008 in LA at the NuArt.

Not Yet Rated by the MPAA
Running Time 100 minutes

I went into the screening of “Boy A” completely blind. I had no idea what the movie was about, when or where it was made, who was in it, nothing. I got a pleasant surprise.

The film was made in England and directed by John Crowley (INTERMISSION, CELEBRATION, THE PILLOWMAN). Newcomer Andrew Garfield plays Jack Burridge, a 23 year old boy just released from a psychological prison. He had been there since he was 10, after committing a horrible crime. Peter Mullan (THE MAGDALENE SISTERS, CHILDREN OF MEN) plays Terry, the boy’s guardian during his tough transition into the real world.

The performances in this film are superb. Garfield has the lost puppy dog eyes and shy smile that makes the audience sympathize with him, even when we learn of his hideous past. Mullan shines as Terry, a man who just wants the world to believe that even “bad” people are inherently good, and can change for the better. Katie Lyons (GREEN WING) does an incredible job as Michelle, the girl that Jack falls for. She presents the character as self assured and playful, but with a longing underneath.

Although this movie is very intense and a bit disturbing I think it really works. It never veers into melodrama, and really lets you see the world through the eyes of the characters. It’s definitely worth seeing.

Joey Letz, Hanzel Und Gretyl : Tour Logs

2008-06-22T09:34:00.000-07:00

JOEY LETZ kicked off his tour with HANZEL UND GRETYL June 12th @ Rebel in NYC. He'll be sending Mishmash his tour journals while he's out! The tour runs through June 22nd, so keep checking in for more of Joey's stories from the road.....
[Tour Logs posted newest to oldest... scroll down for Day 1 entry]

June 22nd - MESSAGE FROM JOEY:

I'm really sorry I fell behind...stay tuned for more tour journal updates coming soon!!

Hanzel Und Gretyl : Tour Day 8 : Peabody's in CLEVELAND, OHIO

Woke up at like 5 or so for soundcheck. I asked Joe to set aside a little extra time for me at the end of each soundcheck to learn some new COMBICHRIST songs which I need to have prepared for our show in LA in a week and for European tour. He made it happen and told me that he will try to for the rest of tour. I thanked him by smashing him in the head during “Fukken Uber Death Party” tonight during the show. It’s his own fault for getting within 5 feet of my back during a performance.

The club tonight is callled Peabody’s, and it’s in Cleveland, Ohio. This is the club that pretty much everyone plays when they are coming through, much like the Masquerade in Atlanta. After soundcheck it was time to find a decent bathroom for Loopie and I. Funny thing you may not know is that women who tour with other women will tell you that after a month or two they start menstruating at the same time. Weird thing about Loopie and I is that we seem to have to drop the bomb at the same time everyday. SHIZAH! Well the toilets in Peabody’s don’t even have doors on them. WTF! One thing I love about Europe is that European people seem to have a general understanding of the importance of privacy when it comes to things like this. Well not here in America, and ESPECIALLY not at CBGB's (RIP) or Peabody's. I did remember however that there was this special lounge area upstairs that was pretty private, so we rocked those out good and proper. And that’s where I grabbed these candid shots of Loopie droppin a deuce! SCORE!

After that, Loopie and I decided to venture round the ghost town in search of Starbucks. Surprisingly enough, we found one within like 5 blocks. I tripped on this fuckin 6 inches worth of a pole comin out of the ground on the way there. DERF! Who leaves shit like that! I DO NOT GET IT!... Well anyway, I’m happy to say that I had like one of my BEST Starbucks experiences EVER! First off, there was absolutely NO LINE! Then when I ordered my coffee I said something a little silly like, "the biggest cup of coffee with the most caffeine in it" and the girl behind the counter suggested I get a cup of coffee with a bunch of shots of espresso in it. I never really thought about doing that unless I was getting a latte or something, so that was a good suggestion. I also ordered a toffee almond bar. Yum. She also asked me if I needed room for cream, which rarely happens AND she didn’t correct me when I asked for "the biggest". Then something new and interesting happened that kind of excited me. She actually asked me if I wanted a receipt or not. I said no, and noticed that she didn’t throw one out. I asked what the deal was and I learned that Starbucks has realized that a lot of paper is wasted every day by receipts all around the world, so they now will ask you if you want one or not before they print one. AWESOME! I have like 65 useless receipts for like gum and crap in my wallet right now. I hope they start doing this everywhere. All in all, it was a great trip to Starbucks, and Loopie even mentioned that it was too bad that we had already pooped cause the bathroom was in fact in such a non conspicuous place that we could have spent as much time in there as we wanted and not felt like everyone was staring at us when we got out (which is kinda what happened to me yesterday in Columbus).

Got back to the venue, and I’m feeling really tired for some reason, even though I got my coffee. Hung out on the bus for a bit until 9 when my good friends COLUMBINE were to hit the stage. COLUMBINE is a band that I first met while playing with GENITORTURERS in Detroit like 5 years ago. I fell in love with these kids, they are super creative and original and I just absolutely love their energy as people and as performers. I’ve since made sure that they play with whatever band it is that I’m coming through their neck of the woods with, and would love to do a full tour with them one day. They had this white sheet that they hung across the stage like a curtain/banner that said COLUMBINE on it with red paint, and it looked like blood. They also have a new drummer, this kid Matt, who I met when he played with PSYCLON 9, when PSYCLON 9 opened up for COMBICHRIST. He’s definitely a great addition to the other 2, my homeboys Daniel (see pic) and Kevin.

After that it was time to get ready on the bus, and that’s where the following sequence of photo's of a funny interaction between Loopie and Vas came from. Loopie was surrounded by all his guitars and thought it would make for a pimpin rockstar type photo and got all excited, as I expect he probably thought that he’d finally figured out a way to look like bad ass motherfucker in my blog, but Vas decided that she wanted to rain on his parade. She totally acted like a brat and tried getting in on the photos to get under his skin, and he got all pissed and basically kicked the crap out of her. it was priceless. Here’s the shots from that whole episode.

Don’t know what was up today, I was like 100 times more tired than I usually am, but for some reason I played better than I feel that I’ve played at any other show on the tour. Weird. During the last song, “Fukken Uber Death Party,” is when I bashed Joe on the head with my stick. I don’t know what he was doing on stage, probably protecting his lights, but he came up and tickled me right before the chorus, and I guess the chorus is when I really go apeshit, so he ate it pretty bad, but seemed to be pretty happy about it. He had cut his head yesterday and I think I smashed him on the cut cause he bandaged it up right after the show. Ha. At some point during load out Joe started having some sort of panic attack or like maybe even a heart attack or something, so he had to chill out for the rest of the night and take it easy. Poor Joe.

At one point on my way back to the bus I passed by some kid wearing a CHEMLAB shirt, so I took a picture of it. My normal drum tech, Gabe, plays guitar in CHEMLAB, and keyboards in VNV NATION actually as of a few months ago. It was nice to have a little reminder of him. I miss him tons, but I’ll see him in a week or so. So I’m posting the pic of the CHEMLAB shirt in honor of him.

I also came across this girl who was really drunk, and a couple of other dudes had seemed to be mesmerized by. She was way fucked up and acting like a total hooker. One of the kids from LIVING DEAD was like, "Hey Joe watch this", and gave her a dollar. She proceeded to bite a hole in the middle and put it on her nipple. I told her that I was going to take a picture for my blog and she told me not to get her face in it. Well, she was too drunk to realize that i took a picture of her face, so here it is. I don’t know her name, and i don’t care, but she is definitely a dirty hooker. congrats on that... very classy. I wonder how many kids ( and std's) she has.

After all that excitement it seemed like the night was going to come to a screeching boring halt since we were in ghost town USA, but it seemed to pick up a little later, only not in a great way. There was a kid who was trying to organize a trip to a strip club for us, but even after we told him no, he didn’t seem to get it and would not stop bugging us about going. We finally just asked him if he knew where we could get some food, and him and a few of his crackhead friends escorted us to this pizza place on the corner. I was in there for like 5 minutes with them before I totally freaked out. I don’t really know what came over me I just knew that I felt like I wanted to hurt these people that we were with so I decided to remove myself from the equation. I went back to the bus and waited for the pizza, and everyone else seemed to be way over that whole group of kids as well.

About 20 minutes later there is knocking on our bus door, which we tried to ignore. It continued for some time before I finally got up and saw one the the kids that was with us in the pizza joint, and I told him to fuck off. Well, he didn't and after banging on the door a few more times started throwing little kid fits in the middle of the street in front of the bus, and swinging his chain wallet around like a stupid fuck, so I called the cops. In retrospect, I feel kinda bad for the kid. He was wearing a HANZEL UND GRETYL shirt and everything and probably didn’t realize he was being a jerk off, , but he was fuckin WASTED and a band’s tour bus is their home. You can’t fuck with someone’s home without some shit going down. Well lucky for him and me both I’m not drinking anymore, otherwise he probably would have ended up in the hospital, and me in jail.

We finally just took off after the driver got back, and hit up a truck stop. I pretty much just go into every truck stop that I’m awake for just to see what kind of randomness I can come across. This one was a good one. I’m a claw machine addict, and they had this super duper claw machine like none I’ve ever seen before. It was called "SEGA UFO CATCHER" and it had awesome music coming out of it. I borrowed a dollar from Loopie to play it, but to no avail. Oh well. Then I went to take a leak in the bathroom where I saw this machine where you can pay a quarter to get sprayed with one of 5 fragrances. Still doesn’t beat the "pocket pussy" machine in German truck stops though.

Tomorrow is Toledo and everyone seems to be excited about this show. Hopefully it will make for an interesting blog entry. Erika and Brianna will be visiting again. Here is a picture of a picture of Erika that I took off Willy's computer.

Joey
(Scroll down to the end of Tour Day 1 to leave Joey comments!!)

Hanzel Und Gretyl : Tour Day 7 : Skully's in COLUMBUS, OHIO

Woke up really late today. I’m used to someone waking me up after the stage is set up and it’s time for soundcheck, which seems to be around 4 or 5 every day. Today I woke up on my own at like 6:30 only to learn that there will be no sound check. The venue we are playing at is called Skully's, and it’s a rock and roll diner/bar in the front, and a stage and venue space in back. Pretty cool place actually, I was surprised. For some reason they double booked the day, having some local show all day until like 10. After that cleared out was when our guys were supposed to load in and get the stage ready for our show.

Until then, there was much to do. First off, Loopie, Willy and I went into the diner part of the venue for our free meals. I wasn't very pleased with the experience. First thing we ordered was some coffee. After what seemed like 10 minutes the girl brings us 2 cups of cold coffee and walks away, didn’t even bring us milk. When she came back to take our order 5 minutes later, she asked if our coffees were cold. When we said yes, she goes, "Yeah I thought maybe it was but I figured I’d see what you thought anyway"... what a fuckin idiot. So she said shed bring us new coffee. Another 5 minutes later we got it, and then another 10 minutes for the cream. On top of that they got my order wrong. Annoy-ING!

After that it was off with my bathroom buddy to find a proper restroom for a drop off. We learned that there was a Starbucks about 2 miles away from the venue, and decided that we would make the trek. Starbucks is usually my first choice in a bathroom if there isn’t one in the venue that’s worth using. It took forevs, but it was worth it. I got a cup of coffee while I was there too. Whenever I order a cup of coffee from Starbucks I refuse to say "grande" or "venti" or whatever else there is. I say "small, medium or large". Nothing annoys me more than when one of these retards behind the counter corrects me.... they might say "you mean venti". Yeah, that’s right you fuckin geek. Um, tuck in your shirt and don't curse or god might kill a puppy. Seriously. When they correct me I usually just stare at them until they feel uncomfortable enough to hopefully never do that to anyone again. Luckily today it didn’t happen.

On the way back to the bus I popped into this cool as fuck record store connected to the venue. I might as well have stepped into a time portal cause whenever I come across a used cd section in a store, I absolutely have to go through EVERY SINGLE CD. I was there for hours before the dude gave everyone the 5 minute warning, and I still hadn’t gone through a-d (I think). I brought what I had picked up to the counter to check out and found out that after every 3 you get one free! BONUS! Picked up some gems for sure....WARRANT, TEARS FOR FEARS, GEORGE MICHAEL (feat. Queen and Barbara Streisand), WALLS OF JERICHO, OASIS, DEBBIE GIBSON, ROBERT PALMER (rip), INXS, FINE YOUNG CANNIBALS, REPUBLICA and ROBBIE WILLIAMS. After he rang me up he asked if I was in a band and gave me 15% off when I told him I was in HUG, so I quickly ran over and grabbed a LEFTOVER CRACK cd that I’ve been missing from my collection for some time. All and all, a great shopping experience. Something about buying used cds from a cool independent record store that makes me feel good inside.

Went back to the bus to upload the stuff to my iTunes and to my surprise a friend named Lori who I met on my last COMBICHRIST tour was hangin out on the bus with her husband Daniel. Lori is a really special person and it was very uplifting to spend a little time with her and her husband before the show. Her husband Daniel is from Stuttgart, Germany and reminds me very much of my good friend Sascha from KMFDM, and it was totally freakin me out the whole time cause I felt like I was hanging out with Sascha! I gotta get those 2 in a room together one day. They hung out while we were getting ready for the show and we took some funny pics together.

The show was pretty decent for not having had a sound check. Once again, “Fukken Uber Death Party” was a god forsaken free for all, and I ended the song saving a three thousand dollar strobe light from getting crushed and drowned in beer. Some girl was standing on the stage bragging to her friend about her new bra, and I thought that was random, so I took a picture of it to show all of you too! You’re welcome ;-)

After the show I was told that I had a 3:30 bus call, which gave me just under and hour and a half to go with Lori and Daniel to their house to have a shower. Took about 15 minutes to get there and then Lori gave me a tour of their place. Lori is a very talented painter and collects horse and unicorn statues and guns and German stuff. It rules there. She had like 4 cats and a doberman pincher too. She showed me some guns and stuff and then set me up in the shower, but it got cut short cause I guess our driver came back to the bus early and everyone started freakin out that I wasn’t there ready to go. So I rushed out off the shower only to go downstairs and see this steak feast that Daniel prepared for me and for the rest of the bus once I got back. I quickly decided that everyone could wait a few extra minutes while the three of us enjoyed some great food together. It’s really special to have friends like Lori and Daniel in places far away from home that will take care of you and take you in while you’re in the middle of such a crazy and hectic journey as a rock and roll tour. It totally reenergizes you and gets you ready for a few more days of ruckus.

Then it was back to the bus, where we caught the bus moving to a new location in hopes of playing a joke on Loopie and me. Apparently Loopie was on his way to Lori and Daniel's when he got the same call that we did about the driver and he didn’t even make it. He instead got some pizza, and had no problem finding the bus once he got back, so good job on that joke guys. Loopie was absolutely disgusted with the persons responsible for him not being able to hang at Lori's for a bit, and challenged a certain individual to a bloody duel outside. I calmed him down with some DEBBIE GIBSON, but not before I could fire off some pictures of him looking like he is possessed by a demon. Enjoy.

Oh, and I got a picture of those stupid friggin tiger heads they sell at the truck stops. Tomorrow we are in Cleveland. I think I’ll organize my junk bunk when I wake up. It’s pretty messy.

Joey
(Scroll down to the end of Tour Day 1 to leave Joey comments!!)

Hanzel Und Gretyl : Tour Day 6 : Logan Square in CHICAGO

Woke up at like 5 today, opened a can of coke and headed upstairs for soundcheck. The venue is called Logan Square, and it doesn’t seem to be as near to the rest of the city as other clubs I’ve played in Chicago. The room we played in resembled a high school auditorium, and the stairs made it difficult for our crew to load in. On my way upstairs I was briefed about a local opener bitching about our drum riser again. Please allow me to vent here. When you are local support, or even in most cases DIRECT support for a band. You can rarely expect them to move their gear for you. When I toured with KMFDM, there were nights when I set up within INCHES of the edge of the stage. We were all great friends with KMFDM and their crew, and never once did we ever consider asking them to move something, let alone throwing a little girl fit/attitude about it. So yeah, "FASHION BOMB", fuck you. And you're lucky that my tech isn't as big of an asshole as I am cause when I heard about it I told him to move my riser 4 feet closer to the end of the stage so you'd have even less room, JUST TO BE A DICK. =-)

After soundcheck we all went on a search for some Mexican restaurant, but didn't find one. We walked for a while until Willy stepped in some dog shit on the sidewalk. Poor willy. We finally decided to walk back to some restaurant near the venue, where I had an awesome cheeseburger (med rare) w/ cheddar, blue cheese, bacon, guacamole, onions, tomatoes, mayo, ketchup, and asparagus instead of fries. Joe started his meal off with a tomato bisque and followed it with a tender sirloin topped with blue cheese and accompanied by some garlic mashed potatoes. I must admit, I was a little jealous by his choices off the menu.... but my burger filled me up just fine.

After dinner it seemed Loopie and I were both in search of a bathroom, and since there were no private bathrooms and we both have bathroom anxiety, we decided to be each others bathroom buddies, so he stood outside and didn’t let anyone in the room with me, and I returned the favor for him. Then it was back to the bus for an interview. The people who interviewed us were from a radio station, and seemed to be big HANZEL UND GRETYL fans. They brought gifts for us, little tiny bottles of fig flavored vodka. I of course can’t drink it so I jammed one in my mouth and took a picture of it to show my appreciation, rather than downing one (or 9 in Loopie’s case).

After the interview, we had to get ready for the show. We got ready on the bus since the backstage was like a gazillion feet away from the stage. When it was time to go on, we went up to it for a few minutes, and then when it was time to go down and start the intro I told them that I’d meet them side stage after they started the intro, since I dont have to be in stage for 3 and a half minutes. Well, I guess either no one heard me or no one took me seriously, cause I went to go hang out with Willy at the merch booth and just waited for the intro to start. Well, it didn’t start and sure enough ten minutes later my drum tech gets on stage and says in the mic "we need a drummer, is our drummer here". Tards.... so I ran over there and they started the intro. It was so ridiculous to stand there though cause the whole crowd could see us, it was a really awkward set up. Instead of staying there for the full 3 minutes I walked 5 feet away, back into the crowd, and spent the next 2 minutes spraying Loopie with water.

We finally went on stage and fired through 4 songs, and then the power went out. Luckily it was within SECONDS of the end of a song, so we actually got to finish the song, but then it was a waiting game. After a little while it was determined that the power was down in the area and it had nothing to do with our show and it couldn’t be helped, so we had to call the show off.. bummer, except that this now gives me a day off to heal some of my injuries, so I decided to just accept it as a blessing in disguise.

We went back to the bus with some friends, and waited for Joe and Ryder to finish load out so we could all take off together till bus call at 3 am. The plan was to go to a club called NEO, which was also to hold the aftershow parties for LADYTRON and PETER MURPHY, which were competing shows for us tonight. We wound up waiting for about an hour and at one point Joe came in all distressed because Ryder had knocked out the promoter. Apparently when Ryder asked about the loading personnel help that the venue is supposed to provide as stated in the contract he signed, he told Ryder to fuck off. I guess Ryder just lost it and let him have it. Good. Hopefully that motherfucker learned his lesson. Turns out Ryder and Joe wound up bribing some local kids with cigarettes to help them carry our gear down all those stairs. None of my shit better be missing or heads are gonna roll.

When the guys finally finished, it was finallly time to party. There were a few rides set up, but unfortunately not enough seats for all of us, so we got split up. Turns out the half of us that weren’t in such a hurry to get in the cars were the ones who didn’t care about going to the club, and we all decided to set out to find some Chicago style pizza. We were told that there was pizza near the club though, so we basically had the same destination in mind as the others, but just different plans once we got there. Well getting there didn’t go so smoothly, but that was fine by me. We all kind of walked around aimlessly just being jackasses for a mile or so before we got fed up and decided to look for a taxi. Finally found one and squeezed in pretty tight, but this wouldn’t be the last time we had to do that before the end of the night ( I’ll explain later).

We get to the club like 10 minutes later and look around only to realize that whoever told us there was pizza here was full of shit. A few drunk kids told us of some diner called the "Golden Nugget", so we set off in search of that, and embarked on another long walk. Wasn't so bad though, and when we got there it was pretty empty and we all really went for it and not only had meals but desserts too.... Loopie seemed to be the hungriest of all of us as he was most impatient to get to the diner, and when his meal order arrived it was pathetic. It looked like half an egg with a couple pieces of bacon. It didn’t even take up half the plate, poor Loopie! There were a couple of interesting (or not so) characters placed randomly around the diner and we all played a game of seeing who could sneak the silliest picture of each one. Towards the end of our visit this one old dude came in and just started rambling rhymes out loud waiting for someone to engage him, and of course, we took the bait. This guy jumped right up and came over to our table and started playing a harmonica. He didn’t want money, he was just nuts, so it was pretty funny. He was saying stupid shit like, "Jonny cash has a mustache and eats trash and I like wieners cause hot dogs and mustard and girls like wieners and then yeehaw". It was great. Loopie and Joe considered hiring him as a 3rd tech for the tour. Ha. For dessert I ordered an ice cream sundae and I was a little unclear about the way they listed it in the menu, and as I was reconfirming what was in it with the waitress, she was saying "yes" to everything, and she sounded just like Borat. I think we were all thinking the same thing as it was happening and kinda started snickering, and as she left I was like, "man I wanted to say HIGH FIVE so bad". I wish I did but I think I might have peed a little.

On the way back to the club, where we were supposed to meet back up with the others and head back to the bus, and then it started raining. We finally got back to the club, but not before Vas and Ryder ran off with each other ("dot dot dot"). At the club we met up with one of the chicks from the radio show and the guy from the radio show, who came to the diner with us, decided that he would try and squeeze us all into his PT cruiser. There were 8 of us. It was tough but we did it. Totally felt like I was 16 again, it was great. I lucked out in the front seat cause I’m tall and I always get away with the "I’m tall I get shotgun" routine. Loopie on the other hand wasn’t so lucky and got stuck with Joe's crotch inches from his nose for the 10 minute ride back to the bus.

When we finally got back we said our goodbyes to our friends and Ryder and Vas were friggin WASTED. Not really too much else to talk about, but I took a lot of pictures of everyone being gay jackasses, so I’ll just let the pics do the talking. And of course I wont spare you my awesome Loopie shots for the day. Beginning with "Loopie as Arthur Fonzarelli from Happy Days."

More to report tommmorow.

Love, Big Al
(Scroll down to the end of Tour Day 1 to leave Joey comments!!)

Hanzel Und Gretyl : Tour Day 5 : Opera House in TORONTO

Today turned out to be a very blogable day indeed. We found out in the morning that someone sent an email to some promoters from an email address that they made up, to try and make it look like I sent out an email canceling the tour. Whoever this retard is spelled so many things wrong, that it was obvious to the people that they sent it to that it wasn't me. I mean aside from my drumming abilities, I’m pretty well known for having placed 3rd in the Bumblebee Scout National Spelling Bee when I was fuckin 12 alright! So everyone pretty much knew it was a fake right from the get go. It’s pretty obvious whoever sent it has been reading my blog though, because they used the excuse of my neck injury as the reason why the tour was being canceled. If this person really wanted to fuck with me they’d find a picture of me and Photoshop a penis in my mouth and post it on the internet or something. I mean, DUH! Having a penis Photoshopped onto a picture of you is like the ULTIMATE insult.

Anyways, we played in Toronto, CANAKANUKADIDANA tonight at a venue called the Opera House. As I’ve mentioned, Ryder did’t make it into the country, so I had to set up my own stuff tonight. This was a good thing for me. It opened my eyes to how easy Gabe's (my normal drum tech) job really is. And to think, I’ve been going SO easy on him. Well FORGET IT. From now on I’m going to have to figure out different things to do to make his job a lot more difficult... (JK Gabe! MISS LOVE YOU!)

After I set up my crap, Loopie, Willy and I decided that we absolutely had to have a cup of coffee before soundcheck, so off we went. I had just turned the corner when I saw a little figure of some guy sitting on a bench in a window of a store, and I decided I wanted a picture of it. After I took the picture, I walked right into some sort of wire chair thing and almost fell and untied my shoe somehow. RETARD! I took pictures of all 3 of those things. Here they are. And I’m throwing in a picture of some old lady with a bag on her head for good measure...

After we made a "violent right" and grabbed a cup of coffee, we walked back to soundcheck, but not before we could take pictures in front of a wall that said THE BIGGEST JERK on it. I like Loopie’s pose the best. I’ve figured out who Loopie reminds me of. If you’ve ever seen the TV show, "The Office" with Steve Carell, he is exactly like Steve Carell's character in that show, but only if Steve Carell actually WAS as funny as he thought himself to be in that show.... get it? Loopie is hilarious. I think from now on whenever someone is talking to me and I get bored I’m going to imagine that Loopie is the person telling me whatever it is that the person is telling me in order to entertain myself.

After we soundchecked, I ate some chocolate covered almonds. They were great. After I ate some chocolate covered almonds, I went to hang out at the bar in the back of the room so I could take advantage of the venues wireless. We had to turn it off on the bus today cause it can wind up costing hundreds of dollars a day in roaming charges since we aren’t in the US. Anyway, I caught our direct support's soundcheck. They are called LIVING DEAD and they have a song about performing fellatio in return for narcotics... so they are okay by me now. They also helped out a lot during our show since Ryder wasn’t around, and that was rad of them.

Tonight we have a band called CHRISTIAN DEATH opening for us. I believe they are having their own headlining tour and it just so happens that both our tours crossed paths tonight and someone thought it might be a good idea to combine both bands into on bill.... my first impression of these guys wasn’t a very good one. I had heard that they were sending emails and making calls weeks ago about us striking our drums so that the drummer could use our riser, and borrowing gear. Now I understand what’s up about having space on stage, but I am used to playing on the edge of stages when I am opening for other bands. So when I am headlining, and I have had time for a soundcheck, I absolutely insist on my drums staying in the Exact spot that I last played them in. Anyways.... I’m sitting at the back bar, updating my MySpace with some new COMBICHRIST tour dates, and I look up and see this dude movin my shit around and I’m like WTF. My sound guy is no where in site, and I’m like, SHIT! It ain’t my job to be the dick, it’s my tech's job. He would normally be the guy who has to throw the stuff back together at the last minute, so he's the guy that is supposed to yell at people for me. So Ryder isn’t here, and soundman Joe happens to be in the shower, so I wind up going up and getting all pissed at the kid and telling him to move his drums. Homeboy comes up to me a few minutes later and introduces himself…it turns out he used to work at a Guitar Center in Tampa, and that he had been responsible for hookin me up a few times. Then I felt bad so I just went up and showed him the main things I was paranoid about and told him to watch out for a few things and I cooled down about him sharing the riser.

A few minutes after that drama, the doors to the club opened so I decided to go for a walk all alone. Since all the stores seemed to be closed, I did some window shopping and took some pictures. I thought about it for a bit and I’ve decided that I really like Toronto. My new friends in THE BIRTHDAY MASSACRE are from here, and they are some of the coolest people I've ever met. As a matter of fact someone put on their cd at some point after my soundcheck and it made me feel all warm inside. I miss those guys. They are still on tour with MSI so of course they couldn’t make it tonight. Anyway, it was a beautiful evening, and I got some awesome pics of the sky and some of the city.

At one point right before I finally went back to the bus to get ready for the show, I came across a movie poster for this JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH remake with Brendon Fraser in it. First of all let me say that I CANNOT STAND Brendon Fraser. He’s a douche bag. One thing in this poster caught my eye though. It seems that there is some chick on a rock that has been detached from the cliff that Brandon seems to be clinging safely to. Check out her face! ARE YOU KIDDING ME! If that was me I’d look TERRIFIED! First of all I’m grossly afraid of heights and second of all, SHE IS ABOUT TO PLUMMIT TO HER CERTAIN DEATH! She looks like she is watching MAN ON FIRE starring Denzel Washington (the best actor ever). Either way, fuck this movie and fuck Brendon Fraser and fuck this movie poster and ... YEA RIGHT!

Then it was back to get ready for the show where I popped in and caught a minute of the local opener. It was only 2 dudes on stage in this band. A keyboard player and a singer who was this big dude with this ridiculous hair cut. It ruled so I took a picture. Then I was over it. It didn’t rule anymore, and I was standing to close to him. so I went on my bus.

The show tonight was rockin. We had a bunch of the kids who worked at the venue on stage side waiting for things to go wrong so they could run out and give a helping hand. Loopie didn’t leave them standing around much. The second one of them would pick something up he would knock it right back down again. It was all in good fun though and the kids had the time of their lives. They were crackin up the whole time and didn’t stop talking about it for the entire load out after the show. Unfortunately at one point during the performance, Loopie smashed a mic stand down with his wrist and now it seems to be sprained. It’s a good thing that we had Ryder learning some of our songs.... come to think of it.... I bet Loopie is faking it just so that he can destroy everything and not have to worry about playin guitar at all. Very smart.

After the show I cleared the air with the drummer dude from CHRISTIAN DEATH and apologized for being shitty earlier. I then went up to the merch booth where I introduced myself to the singer. I used to play in a band called AMEN and I remember the singer telling me that he played bass in CHRISTIAN DEATH at one point. I asked this dude about it and boy did I open up a can of worms. Apparently there was another band calling themselves CHRISTIAN DEATH illegally after being loosely associated with a key band member for a short period of time. Basically what I got from the whole rant was that there was only 1 CHRISTIAN DEATH, and that these guys were definitely it. Needless to say that person I was asking about seems to have been involved with the "other" CHRISTIAN DEATH.... I’m not surprised. Judging by my own experience with that person I totally believed every single thing that this dude told me. Our convo got cut short when I got called to the bus, so I took a pic with him, and one with the chick in the band, who is this dude’s wife....

Apparently while I was chattin up the singer, Loopie was chatting up his wife, the bass player in the band. I didn't really get the whole story until after a bit more of it folded out right before my eyes!.... I guess Loopie dug this chick and as we were driving off in the bus (and in a rush to get to Chicago), Loopie exclaims, "Wait I forgot something!" And like a rock and roll super hero, Loopie darts off the bus before it even stops and runs over to this dude’s wife, who’s sitting on the sidewalk like FIFTEEN FEET away from her husband and the rest of her band. I swear I could hear that music that they played in Lassie on episode 17. You know, when Lassie was running towards Timmy after having not seen him for 3 days because she had an infection on her right hind paw! The scene where they run towards each other in that open wheat field in slow motion! YEA, THAT MUSIC! Well they met in the middle of the street and just started making out. It was awesome. I’m gonna make this motherfucker a cape tomorrow! Check it out, I even ran out and got a pick of them about to suck each others teeth out.

Apparently Loopie’s had the hots for her for quite some time, and informed me later of an incident that occurred during the show, during our last song where he usually pulls a ton of people on stage. I guess Loopie tried pullin her up and instead of succeeding, he fell off the stage and on top of her (I didn’t notice) and whispered in her ear "alone at last.” Amazing. Absolutely amazing.

That pretty much wraps up all the excitement for the day. On another note, I did make sure to grab a few extra red bulls so I don’t have to worry about annoying the promoter for them for at least one day. We also realized that some of the best cookies ever invented in the world are made here. And I took a picture of Randy Jackson from American Idol back from his hairy, fat Jimmy Hendrix days.

As far as dinner goes, we drove for a little bit and finally stopped at Wendy’s but it was closed. Willy and I weren’t into the Dunkin Donuts type place everyone else ate at so we ran over to the gas station and realized that we could buy English chocolates there! Let me tell you in case you don’t know.... chocolate in America SUCKS in comparison to chocolate in Europe. EVEN KIT KAT’S taste like a million times better. So we each bought like 15 dollars worth of chocolate and milk for dinner..... only to go back on the bus like little girls who just met the Jonas brothers, and then to figure out that it was fraudulent European chocolate! It was European brands, but made in the US so it tasted like shit. Oh well....

Now we drive to Chicago. Sheizer heil eich Auslander kein mein fire hydrant uber.
Joey
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Hanzel Und Gretyl : Tour Day 4 : Penny Arcade in ROCHESTER, NY

Woke up today at 4 very excited in hopes of seeing Sammie. Sammie was one of my 2 pitbulls, who I had to give up for adoption a few years ago due to my hectic touring schedule. I found him a great owner named Nancy, who just so happens to have bought the Penny Arcade, the venue that we played tonight. So I put my contacts in (to avoid dog drool on my specs) and ran inside, and sure enough there was my old man Sammie the rascal.

I took full advantage of my rare visit and took Sammie for a really long walk into a huge beautiful open area with like 6 kickball fields on it! During the walk, Sammie pooped twice, tried to poop once more, AND I found a dollar! Needless to say it was a pretty eventful walk. When we got back, Sammie met up with a few of his other new doggie friends who looked like ginormous St. Bernards. Sammie also tried stealin some ice cream from this little kid who looked at Sammie very sternly and said "I dont want dog drool in my ice cream!" It was very cute and I got a pic of it.... definitly a Kodak moment. SPEAKING OF KODAK! It just so happens that Rochester happens to be the "worldwide headquarters" for Kodak film. Apparently, locals are warned not to swim in the ocean there because of the horrible pollution from the plant. Shitty.

There’s not much to talk about as far as the show went tonight. Not many people came down at all. The club owner, Nancy, also mentioned that GOD FORBID played there last night and had a similar turnout. I think it has something to do with the fact that she hasn’t gotten her liquor license yet. Bummer. It’s a really cool club. We'll definitely try and get back up there once she gets that worked out to try and get a proper party goin on.

As I type this, its 5:45 in the morning and we are dropping Ryder off at the airport. He cant get into canananananananananandididididididididididida cause of some transexual prostitution charge from his meth days. (JK LMAO LOL ROTFN OMFG..... I don’t think he ever did meth). Anyways, we sent him off with a few HANZEL UND GRETYL songs to learn on guitar so that Loopie can sing certain songs without having to play guitar. Ryder seems very excited, but this should prove to be really interesting as Vas pointed out, because one of Ryder’s main jobs is to pick up after the mess Loopie makes on stage, so with Loopie not having to worry about playing a guitar, he’s sure to make even more of a mess! BUT RYDER WONT BE ABLE TO CLEAN IT UP RIGHT AWAY BECAUSE HE'LL BE ROCKIN OUT! I cant wait to see this craziness. Anyway, Ryder won’t be there tomorrow so I’m gonna have to set up my own stuff. YEA RIGHT! I’m gonna make Willy the merch guy do it, he just doesn’t know it yet.

After the show I headed over to a diner with a couple of friends from one of the openers tonight called KRYZST. Mike was the drummer from the band, and he was pretty fuckin good. I could tell from his playing that we shared the same love for the NIN style of drumming. Mike's girl’s name is Ashley and she couldn't make it over to the show and was pretty sad about it, so I sent Mike away with a big chunk of china cymbal for her. Oh yeah, I broke my other china cymbal today. I am now chinaless. Newt, the other guy, was the keyboard player from the band. We talked about drums, peyote, being sober, and got lost a little each way to the diner. No biggie though, still got back in time for bus call at 1:30. Got back and Loopie was pretty pissed that I didn’t ask him to go. I didn’t think it was appropriate since he had a lady friend visiting. He ALWAYS seems to have a lady friend visiting, sometimes even a few (3 or more) in one day! EPIC!

After the show it was off to a truck stop and showers. I don’t know what it is about truck stops, but they always seem to be a little weird and have strange random things for sale. The other day there were these cheezy fake tiger heads, like to hang on your wall as if you killed it yourself and it was your trophy. CHEE-ZEE! I think I’m gonna buy one. Loopie bought 3 buffalo wings from the dude behind the counter. I’ll name him Bob. Bob was tall. Bob..... I bought cherry m&m's and was pretty pleased to learn that they were only 35 cents!

On my way out I noticed what looked like a bag of cocaine or meth sitting on the counter and it had a label that said KEY LIME PIE on it. I took a picture of it and the lady behind the counter said I could have it. I planted it on the floor in the bus hoping someone would find it and freak out about it since we are about to cross the border. When I got back to the bus the bus driver was cleaning and no one said a word about it. I bet the bus driver sniffed that shit thinking it was meth. Bus drivers love that shit.

Off to CANA-NANANANANA-NE-DUH. More to report tomorow.. "doncha know"

Joe
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Hanzel Und Gretyl : Tour Day 3 : JAXX in Virginia

DAY 3 down the hatch. Just leaving a venue called JAXX in Virginia. AGAIN, weird rules about drinks. The people who worked at the club told us that if we walked outside with a bottle of water that the cops would shut the club down. WHAT THE FUCK! SLC ain’t even like this. Fuck, I remember taking pictures with the cops and KMFDM the first time I was over there... Anyways.... I didn’t care and I walked around outside all day drinking water. I’m such a rebel.

I woke up around 4 and found an Einstein Bagels. I inquired about a bottomless cup of coffee from the menu and the guy told me that if I left that I couldn’t come back in to get another cup for free. Then on my way out he gave me another cup and told me to just make two cups! I had two different flavors and both cups lasted me all day. One was a dark French roast, and the other you ask? VANILLA HAZELNUT OF COURSE! DUH!... Nice guy.

Got back to the bus just in time for a torrential downpour. Someone said there was a tornado. Once it stopped I went outside and it smelled like friggin bacon everywhere. It smelled like that for the rest of the day and it was really humid, so it was pretty gross outside. I felt like I was walking around inside of a dead pigs lung. Yum.

I took a walk at some point to find a nice bathroom (I do this often, I hate using public restrooms, even at venues before they are open). I found a Starbucks not too far off and was very excited as it’s usually my first choice for a private bathroom, but it didn’t have a bathroom in it. I moved onto CVS where I snuck into the stock room and found the bathroom. Very excited. If i remember correctly, I even rinsed my pits in the sink. Refreshing.

There was a bit of drama today as our sound/light guy, Joe, realized that he didn’t have his passport. I just found out yesterday that our tech isn’t able to get into Cananananadida because of some sex in public charge, so it wasn’t too good to think that we may not have our only other crew member either. It scares me to think about having to put my drums together by myself. I don’t think I remember how to do it. I remember one time I got mad at my old tech and fired him while he was putting my drums together, only to walk onto the stage and have no idea where anything was. I quickly apologized for getting hot headed, as I realized what an asset he was. Anyways, after a bit of worry, Joe's mom has located his passport and we are currently on our way to new jersey to pick it up. I'll still have to do a bit of my set-up myself though, but at least Joe can help me out.

At some point before our show one of the dudes from BELLA MORTE showed up with his fiancé and they hung out on the bus while we got ready for the show. Everyone (except for me) finished off a bottle of Jager within a few minutes, and things were off to an interesting start for the rest of the evening.. in fact, Loopie absolutely INSISTED on dressing me for the show! Arousing! When it was finally time to go on, Loopie couldn’t find his wireless unit for his guitar, and had a hard time getting his shit together to get off the bus to do the show. I thought it was great how disheveled he was and so of course I tried to force him to finish the second bottle of Jager all by himself. He tried but almost barfed. I finally got him off the bus and we went to go to the stage.

Rough show for me tonight. I had what seemed to be an asthma attack within the first couple of songs and had a really hard time performing the rest of the set. At one point, I think it was during HEIL HIZZLE MA NIZZLE, I stopped playing for a second and I almost passed out. On top of that the venue had this really rickety and shaky riser and at one point my hi-hat stand just fell right on me while I was playing. Vas and Loopie on the other hand seemed to be in their element. During our last song, FUKKEN UBER DEATH PARTY, Loopie invited the whole venue on stage with us. This has happened a little the other two nights, but this time it was just ridiculous. Loopie wound up crowd surfing ON THE STAGE for the entirety of the whole song. I swear he must have set a record for the longest crowd surf EVER. He fell on my drums a few times too. Ryder was standing on my riser trying to protect our lighting, and holding Loopie’s guitar. He seemed to be having a rough time so I grabbed the guitar out of his hands and continued to play some of the song with only my left hand, and a guitar in my right hand. Never done that before. A few times during the song I was laughing so hard that I couldn’t even play. It was good times for sure.

After the set I ran onto the bus and tore apart my junk bunk looking for my inhaler and took a few minutes to repair myself. Gotta remember to bring that thing onstage with me every night. Once I got it together I went back inside to hang with a buddy of mine named Richie, who surprised me by driving down from NY without even telling me. I also ran into a buddy who was introduced to me by Gabe (my normal tech) who used to play in CHEMLAB with him. He looks just like Richard Patrick from FILTER and NIN, and I asked him if anyone ever told him that and he told me that RICHARD PATRICK HIMSELF had told him that and showed me a pic that he had of the both of them together. I made him email me the pic.

There was this crazy looking chick in the front row who had a shaved head and all these Marilyn Manson tattoos. She freaked out when I took pictures of her. I don’t care though and now I’m gonna post ‘em here.... SO THERE YOU CRAZY LOOKIN CHICK!

Of course Loopie was busy mackin it to all the groupies, that is, until Vas came through with more of what we had for dinner (some sort off spicy pasta and chicken dish). I put a ton of ketchup on it and downed it. I usually will wear the same pair of pants and shirt for a while tour, and only usually bring extras in case of a ketchup accident. I love ketchup. I put it on everything. Well tonight, I had a ketchup accident, so it might be time to change.... or I might just try to wash it off in the sink. I’m diggin the plain black shirt I’ve been rockin lately.

Tomorrow we play Rochester and I realized that the promoter of the show just so happens to be this girl named Nancy who adopted one of my pitbulls from me a few years back. I’ve asked her to bring him so I can bro down with him for the day. Sammie rules. He has horrible breath, kills cats, and resembles Samuel L. Jackson. Here’s a pic of him from last time I saw him, which was when I toured with Genitorturers a couple years ago. Hopefully I’ll have some new ones of him for the blog tomorrow.

Here’s my funny Loopie shots for the day:

Joey
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Hanzel Und Gretyl : Tour Day 2 : Virginia

Well, day two under our belt. Where do I start. I woke up at about 3 in the afternoon outside some bar and grill type place in Virginia (I think) called Buddha's Place. Our rider today consisted of a meal of our choice from the venue, but the selection didn’t seem too exciting. I noticed someone from the venue eating the food and asked them what they recommended, which is what lead me to the club sandwich. Loopie, on the other hand, ordered the cheeseburger, which he ate in a very unique fashion. He chewed up the burger part and took it out of his mouth and then put it back on his bun and said he wanted to have a sloppy joe but since there wasn’t one on the menu he just had to be creative (note before and after photos). Aside from that, I think they gave us a case of water and beer. I asked numerous times for 4 red bulls, and once again, denied at the last minute. Something about some law here in Virginia about supplying certain drinks to bands. Sounds like a bunch of malarkey to me, but fuck it… I went to sevs elevs and bought some.

We did manage to get a free hotel room somehow, which we all used to shower in (together of course). I’m hurtin a little cause I decided to get tattooed the day before this tour. I had taken the red eye home from LAX and landed at 7 in the morning at JFK and took the subway to my boy Richie Rocks place and got tattooed for a couple of hours. This bus doesn’t seem too clean and my tat is lookin kinda crusty and it hurts. I’m afraid it might be infected (note pic)... in any case, a hot shower was definitely in order.

Then back to the bus to begin warming up for the show. So far things aren’t really running as scheduled and it seems that our main support band needs a bit of shaping up as far as getting on and off stage on time. This sort of thing really fucks me up since I have a pretty strict routine that I have to stick to in order to warm up for a performance. Basically in this case I went from thinking we went on at 11, to then being told 12, to it turning into 12:30, and then to being rushed onstage half way through my warm up since the venue threatened to cut our set short because of the opener taking their time. Once we finally got onstage, I realized very quickly that I hadn't stretched my neck correctly when I pulled a muscle running all the way down my back in the very first song. Right now my neck is FUCKED UP and I am pissed. As far as I’m concerned, the openers can fuck off if they don’t get it right tonight. I have no time for this shit. If I wake up and I’m told that I go on at 11 o’clock at night, then that is exactly when I expect to go on. If anyone has a problem telling them to fuck, off I’ll do it myself.

Anyway, got some cool characters on this tour. JOE is our sound guy AND light guy! I’ve never witnessed someone being responsible for both these jobs at the same time, and I gotta say he does a pretty good job. I feel like I play a lot better when it seems the lights are great, and so far they seem awesome. A few people have complained that the sound has been too loud but Joe seems to be proud of that, so I guess that’s what he's all about. Our stage hand, who is also my tech, is named Ryder. Since my main tech has been hired for the rest of THE BIRTHDAY MASSACRE/ MINDLESS SELF INDULGENCE tour that I was just on with COMBICHRIST, he couldn't make it on this tour with me. Ryder is normally a monitor and guitar tech, and has toured most recently with CRADLE OF FILTH and MACHINE HEAD. He was off to a rough start with the cymbal mishap the first night, but seems to be really on top of things. I can’t really help but blame myself for a bit of it as I was too busy to properly mark all my gear for him to set it up correctly, especially since he’s never done drums before. I took some extra time after sound check to mark everything and that should make things much easier for him. Ryder did have a bone to pick with me after the show regarding some bodily fluids and drumsticks that he seems to be getting in the way of quite a bit. I apologized and I think he knows that I meant no ill harm. We discussed a better place for him to hang out that will keep him out of the way of some of that from now on. We also have a dude named Willy who does merch. He wears freaky contact lenses and last night he had a girl with an interesting hair cut (see pic) hang out and come for the ride on the bus. They slept in the front lounge so I put the soundtrack to Edward Scissor Hands on my iPod radio for them. I bet they made out.

That’s pretty much everyone that’s on the bus. It’s great that there are only 6 people. I’m used to there being a full bus and no room for anything. In this case I have a middle bunk, with an empty bunk above me that I’m using as a personal junk bunk AND an empty one below me which I’m putting my shoes in. Pretty easy to stay organized with all that space and without a bottle of whisky in my stomach.

The show went well and we followed it up with a little VILLAGE PEOPLE on the bus while waiting for the driver. We also had the pleasure of watching a video that I haven’t seen for years that a friend of mine posted on you tube. It’s footage of a friend of mine getting yelled at by his mom after clogging a toilet. He was like 13 at the time. It’s pretty fuckin amazing. She screams at him, “SHIT, FLUSH, SHIT, FLUSH!” Hilarious. If you wanna check it out go to you tube and type in THE SHIT TAPE. Should be the first one to pop up. Oh, and here’s a pic of my HANZEL UND GRETYL STAGE SHIRT that I made in NYC. OH YEA! And in case you haven't figured it out, I've made a sport out of getting candid photos of Loopie. He hates it ;-) Check out today’s gems!... More to report tomorrow.

Joey

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"The Shit Tape"

Hanzel Und Gretyl : Tour Day 1 : REBEL in NYC

The first day of HANZEL UND GRETYL tour in NYC today was a stressful one for a million reasons, but mainly because NYC is always an important show to play. It also happens to be everyone’s hometown, which made it that much more important. Usually you wanna do a show like that after at least having a week to settle in to the motion of things and get warmed up. Unfortunately, it wasn't the case last night. It’s also extra stressful to have a bunch of people come to the show who you totally miss and wanna hang with, but also have to juggle getting ready to perform, which for me involves being alone in a room doing yoga for an hour and listening to Clutch and Turbonegro.

So everyone in the band is from NY, which made the plan for the day pan out like this: crew shows up with gear in a truck at 11 am to the venue to load in EVERYTHING, including everyone’s personal shit. Unfortunately, the bus was not scheduled to arrive until 2 am (after the show) and everyone’s stuff had to hang around in the dressing room and in the venue till then. AND WHAT A MESS! The dressing room in that club (REBEL/ ex DOWNTIME) is TINY, and they've recently installed BATHROOM stalls in it for some reason. I guess when it’s a normal club night they use it as a bathroom… well for today it was our dressing room.

I’ve got a totally new crew who I’ve never worked with before, so I had to give them a quick tutorial on setting up my kit correctly. Afterwards, I hooked up one last detail on my custom painted drum set (painted by me of course), which was spraying the German phoenix eagle on the front bass drum head. Coincidentally, the club manager was hanging around, and is from Bvlgaria, Germany. I was waiting for someone to complain about spray paint fumes when to my dismay she asked me to decorate the newly installed dressing room bathroom stall doors with the stencil. I happily obliged and am proud to have been personally responsible for the awesomely intimidating German phoenixes painted on the bathroom stalls. The club is totally Hanzel and Gretylized forever (or until they change management I suppose).

A couple things stressed me the fuck out today:

#1 was that I had broken my china cymbal a few days earlier during a recording session with MORTIIS. I haven't really used a china since my GENITORTURERS days so I only had the one and no back up. I made an emergency call to my boy at SABIAN and had 2 replacements sent to me. Found out the day before the show that they weren’t scheduled to be delivered until the DAY OF the show… and I waited around for them for 2 hours past load in, until I finally had to give up and head into the city. Luckily the promoter’s friend was coming in from Long Island and was able to go pick them up and bring them in to me just in time for my set. Unfortunately my tech, who’s name is Ryder, has never done drums before and put the brand new china on upside down. Too much was going on for me to alert him to this straight away and I wound up breaking the thing within the first 20 seconds of the first song. I’m not gonna hold it against him though cause it’s his first time doing drums and he seems like a hard worker and a great guy. Luckily I have one more unbroken china, lets see how many minutes it lasts tonight!.....

#2 stressful thing was worrying that my click track would work without a hitch. All to many times during a COMBICHRIST show, we will be all set at sound check, only to walk onstage and have the monitor guy sitting around with his thumb up his ass and having not turned my monitors back on. Usually that leaves me with like 10 seconds for my tech to get it figured out, or to have to try to play without any sound or monitors, which is IMPOSSIBLE for this type of music. Often times I’ll wind up smashing the guy in the head with a stick to get his attention.... this stress has caused COMBICHRIST to invest in some wireless units so we can set our levels during the intro and at least have a minute and a half to trouble shoot in case we are turned off. Anyway, don't have wireless units with HUG and during soundcheck the click track somehow unplugged itself. With like a million openers changing gear on such a small stage I was super stressed that something might have gotten unplugged, only to walk out on stage and be totally relieved when everything was fine (except for my china being upside down).

One thing that was a total bummer was that the promoters fucked up alot yesterday. This was very disheartening especially since I’ve known these guys for years. I haven’t been treated so poorly since I was like 16 playing in some shit club. Everything from not having water, red bull or towels, to trying to dick us out of money at the end of the night. After a ton of yelling and a shattered personal and professional relationship, we got our money. I vowed to them that they will never book anyone else on Metropolis ever again, and trust me they wont.

We also wound up going on at like 12:30, which was an hour and a half late. I think a few of my friends had to take off early, but it was cool to catch up with them for a few minutes before the show. Acey Slade came in fresh off a plane from the UK from WEDNESDAY 13 tour. My cousin flew in from Los Angeles from Nine Inch Nails rehearsals. My new buddy, Tom, from a band I play with called DANGEROUS MUSE, and my homeboy Neil from BURN HALO were among some of them.

All and all it was a hectic yet fun night. Now that we have our bus, things should run alot more smoothly. Woke up somewhere in Virginia today. Not sure I ever played Virginia… I think I usually play Washington DC. Took my vitamins and had a coffee and I'm ready to go. More to report tomorrow.

Joey
(Don't forget to leave Joey some comments below!)

Movie Blog : The Apple

2008-06-17T21:39:00.000-07:00

Jules of Cinema Movie Blog
by Julia Marchese

The Apple
Released 1980

Now you’ve seen Xanadu. Who hasn’t? And you thought it was awesome with all its cheesy dance/skate numbers and cutie-pie leads, but it left you wanting more. “If only,” you thought “someone would take Xanadu and make it ten times better/worse, throw some biblical allegories in there and set it in the “future” of 1994 – now that would really rock!”

Well, friends, look no further. The Apple is the movie for you. How this movie was actually made, I have no clue. And that’s what makes it so wonderful. As you sit there, mouth agape, watching the train wreck that is this film you think, wow. Somebody actually green lighted this picture to be made. And paid for it!

Catherine Mary Stewart (Night of the Comet, Last Starfighter) stars as Bibi and George Gilmour (his only film) as Alphie, two lame Canadian lovers who compete against the Bim, the corporate overlord, in a song competition. Although the competition is rigged and the lovers lose, the Bim realizes that it was a close one and decide to buy Alphie and Bibi. Promised fame and fortune, Bibi is all too anxious to sign up, but Alphie has a vision (and what a vision!) of destruction and opts out. The lovers are split, evil is winning and all seems lost, until…well, I’m sure you can guess what happens.

But the plot is inconsequential here. If you want outrageous musical numbers, this film is for you. The costumes, the lyrics, the dance steps all look like they were created while the filmmakers were on acid. Yay!

I cannot recommend this movie enough. It brings me joy just to know it exists. It also makes a great background movie at parties.

Warning: just a little note of caution to all readers. I have actually lost friends over The Apple. No joke. When I showed it to two cult film loving friends of mine, they told me I had no taste in cinema and shouldn’t be allowed to watch movies anymore. I told them to stuff it and that was the last time we spoke. Watch The Apple cautiously, friends. It has powers beyond most cult cinema.

Movie Blog : Rad

2008-06-17T21:25:00.000-07:00

Jules of Cinema Movie Blog
by Julia Marchese

Rad
Released 1986

I’m a huge 80’s teen movie fan. I thought I had seen them all, but there’s always going to be those movies that slip between the cracks, and Rad was one of those movies. I didn’t see it until I was an adult, and I was a little concerned it was going to be lame. See, I had high expectations because my brother had given me the soundtrack on cassette when I was a kid and I grew up listening to it and loving it. But I hadn’t seen them film. What if I saw the movie and it ruined my love for the soundrack?

Don’t worry, it didn’t. Rad is justly titled. If you are looking for a super dated, super bitchin’ BMX movie that freely uses terms like “hell track” and “ass sliding”, this is certainly the film for you. Starring actual BMX-er Bill Allen as hometown boy Cru Jones and Lori Loughlin as the comely pro biker, Christian, the film also throws some classic 80’s cameos our way with Talia Shire as Cru’s hard ass mom, and Ray Walston as the crusty old guy. Wait, Ray Walstons always the crusty old guy. He’s even crustier here.

As the pro BMX-ers invade their small town to set up Hell Track, the ultimate BMX show down, local boys are getting elbowed out of competing. Cru thinks he can win! Unfortunately, so do the corporate no goods behind the competition and they’re determined to do everything in their power to stop him from winning. And his mom wants him to take the SATs that day! He needs to concentrate on his future, dammit. What will he choose? Cru, the usual 80’s pugnacious leads, shows the fortitude and sly know how to beat those big bad guys!! Or does he? I don’t want to give anything away here….

A bitchin’ soundtrack, genuinely charming leads and a super rad dancing on bikes scene. See it. Its Rad. (get it?)

Dethklok : Live Review

2008-06-13T13:55:00.000-07:00

Dethklok
6.6.08 - Wiltern Theatre - Los Angeles, CA
by Taylor Kingsbury

There is a heavy mist of genuine surreality in the air tonight at the Wiltern, as a sold out, sweaty mass of metal fans shake their horns in the air and chant the name of the band we await. Now, each part of this ritual is completely normal behavior for a metal show, but the reason it’s just a little unusual tonight is because the band we’re chanting for, death metal titans Dethklok, doesn’t actually exist.

Dethklok are in fact animated characters from the wickedly brilliant Adult Swim show “Metalocalypse” who, in addition to being one of the world’s premiere metal bands, routinely murder their fans and embezzle money from themselves, but still find time to found charitable organizations like the “Dethklok Home For Wayward Kitties”. Oh, and they write a mean coffee jingle.

Or, at least, that’s what they WERE. Thanks to the clever marketing of creator Brendan Small, Dethklok has managed to snag more mainstream exposure than most “real” metal bands could ever hope for. In addition to their episodic adventures, Dethklok have an actual album (2007’s “The Dethalbum”, naturally) that holds the distinction of being the highest charting Death Metal release of all time (Billboard #21). Also, button-mashing faux-rockers with way too much time on their hands no doubt recognize Dethklok’s hit single “Thunderhorse” as one of the unlockable songs from Guitar Hero II, and have likely strived for the holy grail of mastering the nimble tune on “Expert” mode. To further confuse things, Dethklok’s vocalist, the effortlessly gravel-throated Nathan Explosion, has even turned up on records by other, non-animated bands, most notably the recent release from Zimmer’s Hole, the side-project that features all of the guys from Strapping Young Lad in a band that’s not called Strapping Young Lad.

Considering how much Dethklok have crossed the plane between their cartoon world and our unsuspecting reality, it almost seems entirely possible that five animated dudes are about to walk on stage and completely lay waste to the Wiltern.

It turns out that only four guys walk out, and they’re not cartoons, but they DO, in fact, lay waste to the Wiltern.

Instead of Nathan Explosion, Skwisgaar Skwigelf (guitars), Toki Wartooth (guitars), William “Murderface Murderface” Murderface (bass), and Pickles The Drummer (uh… drums), we are greeted by an ensemble led by Brendan Small, who, along with drum god Gene Hoglan, is responsible for the unrelentingly brutal tunes that pack each episode of “Metalocalypse”, and the “Dethalbum”.

Of course, one of the reasons that Dethklok’s onscreen adventures hit such a perfect chord is that their music, as created by Small and associates, manages to strike a keen balance between lampooning the genre and owning it. If Dethklok WERE a real band (which, tonight, they apparently are… or something), even the most discerning metalhead would be hard-pressed to find a reason why “Briefcase Full Of Guts” doesn’t completely kill.

Though we don’t get the actual Dethklok live experience (which would be, you know, completely impossible, since they don’t really exist), what Small and his band present tonight is no less enjoyable. Our beloved heroes ARE on hand, thanks to a continuous screen feed that presents full-length videos for songs that are only teased in snippets on the show, as well as original content created specifically for the live performance (for any fan of the show, these humorous vignettes are worth the admission alone). But the “live” aspect of the show is handled by Small, who, with flying V in hand, tackles the parts of both Nathan Explosion and Skwisgaar Skwigelf, drummer Gene Hoglan, guitarist Mike Keneally, and bassist Bryan Beller, none of whom seem to have any trouble recreating the intricate and expertly-crafted corners of Dethklok’s catalog.

Special mention needs to be made of Gene Hoglan, the undisputed best metal drummer ever, whose savage beats are key to the success of Dethklok’s genre skewerings. For the uninitiated, Hoglan gained notice for his more nuanced work with legendary death metal pioneers Death and the good-in-drums-only Dark Angel, before showing the world that he can seriously put the hurt on a drum kit as the skinsman for the ludicrously awesome Strapping Young Lad. Since there was always a hint of parody lurking behind SYL’s smirking delivery (in fact, they’re the closest thing to Dethklok a “real” band has ever been), it makes sense that Hoglan would be the one to bring Dethklok’s backbeat to life.

On record, Hoglan’s stunning double-kicks and blindingly quick blast beats sound so perfect, it seems impossible that they’re not machine-created. Live, it’s easy to see that Hoglan IS the machine, and he delivered his parts with the same preciseness and ease. Hoglan makes his work sound incredible, but look effortless, and he hardly seems to break a sweat onstage. This is amazing considering that the band blasted through most of the set without between-song lulls, and also considering that Hoglan is easily over 300 pounds.

The band played in relative darkness, letting the screen behind them provide the visual focal point. But, even though we were supposed to be watching the cartoon versions of the band, it was impossible not to stop to admire the live-action members as they slugged through most of the “Dethalbum” and tackled select bonus material like the immortal “Duncan Hills Coffee Jingle”.

At the end of the show, when Small finally broke character to introduce the “real” band, it didn’t seem like a cheat, nor did it cheapen the experience. The man certainly deserves credit for creating such a rich and enjoyable cross-medium experience, and the crowd broke character with him, cheering not for fictional lead singer Nathan Explosion, but for the man who puts the gurgle in his throat.

Initially, when Small announced the “Dethtour”, he compared the experience to a Gorillaz show, where the animated characters would be the emphasis of the presentation. Though this is what I walked in expecting, it turns out that what Small gave us instead was far more fitting. By taking center stage himself, he allowed the audience to be in on the joke, which is more in line with the sense of community that thrives in the metal scene.

And, after all, Small created Dethklok and wrote their music for the same reason that each person at the Wiltern converged to watch it: a sincere love of a much-maligned and hideously-misunderstood genre called “Metal”. The fact that so many of us gathered to watch a group of stand-ins play songs by a band that doesn’t really exist, and loved every minute of it, is a indication of the genius of Small’s creation. Whether or not Dethklok can be considered a legitimate band, the passion and energy behind them, and that which they solicit, are very real.

Miss Derringer : Show Review + Pics

2008-06-09T23:05:00.000-07:00

Live at The Roxy
6.7.08 - West Hollywood, CA
by Joe Cortez
photos by Derek Liu

There's something about the idea of band like MIss Derringer that I love. One listen to their music reveals a range of likely influences as diverse as The Shangri-Las to Johnny Cash. Exceptional taste to be sure but as the curtain rose on the Roxy stage last Saturday night, revealing the quintet in all their glory, there was the realization that this was a band created solely for the purpose of filling its own niche. Call it alt-country-cabaret. Dressed in matching black western attire and turning out rockabilly infused licks, you can almost imagine them playing at the bar in a Tim Burton directed remake of "Johnny Guitar."

What's truly affirming about this group is the fact that there is genuine substance beneath the surface. Their songs have the appeal of simple pop ditties but cover terrain rarely traveled in contemporary commercial music. Hangings, deadly car trips and charcoal tear ducts, all served up with a deliciously subversive wink to the audience. Beyond that each member is an exceptional musician in their own right, coming together under the banner of Miss Derringer to create a tight sound that is punctuated by bouncy beats and rocking riffs. Even with such talent, it my be difficult for the band to overcome their own niche-y sound as they seek to gain a larger audience. Listening to the other bands on the bill for the night, Derringer stuck out like a sore thumb amidst the more traditional and straight forward rockers The Western States Motel and Nico Stai. However, it would be difficult to imagine anyother band suitably sharing space alongside these galloping goths.

For all the band's charm as purveyors of the pop occult, pouty singer Liz McGrath, who could have been a double for Marlene Dietrich had she been born about seven decades earlier, is the band's secret weapon. Her vocal stylings have a kind of bygone wistfulness, evoking a time when girl groups pinning about the boy that got away were the norm as she deadpanned through a series of choreographed dance routines.

If there was one thing that was lacking from the performance it was the feeling that while Derringer had possession of the stage they never quite took ownership. The boys in the band seemed to be having a great time during their set, however singer McGrath seemed almost timid and reserved between numbers. A contradiction given her burlesque attire that left just enough to the imagination while remaining classy and appropriately theatrical. I have a feeling, however, that the band was suffering more from exhaustion than malaise considering their forthcoming tour in support of Blondie for a series of east coast performances. After all, if they have Debbie Harry's approval they must be doing something right.

Check out MySpace.com/MissDerringer for more info.

Pop Noir : Interview + Live Show Video (Teaser)

2008-06-09T08:38:00.000-07:00

Jess from MishMashMagazine.com chatted up the multi-talented guys from Pop Noir before their packed show at the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, CA last Friday. Luke, Joe and Nico were a blast to hang out with! Check back for our full clip July 1st when we relaunch the new MishMash!!! Head over to MySpace.com/PopNoir for all things Pop Noir!

The Hard Lessons : Live Review + Pics

2008-06-05T15:15:00.000-07:00

The Hard Lessons
Plush Lounge at the Key Club
West Hollywood, CA
5.20.08

by Genie Sanchez
Photos by …totallylikeduh!

Detroit bands always seem to amaze me. I don’t care what they look like as long as I know they are from Motown I can rest assured that I won’t be disappointed with how they sound. It must be something in the water, because every Detroit based band I’ve ever heard of seems to have one thing in common. These bands know how to rock. Now, I’m not talking about just getting up on stage and getting people to clap along to the chorus or being able to step into a studio and add a couple of effects here and there to compensate for the live shows - I’m talking rock! The kind of rocking out that gets people up off their asses, fist pumping and wagging their hair in the front row all the while shouting the lyrics to the songs at the top of their lungs. This kind of rocking can change lives. You know these bands, bands like MC5, the Stooges, the Dirtbombs, the Von Bondies and most importantly, the Hard Lessons. These bands are resilient, hard working and they rock! The Hard Lessons are no exception; these guys [and girl] pack a heavy punch.

Their sound is inescapable, lead singer/guitarist Augie’s licks are striking and worthy of a good head banging, while Koko Louise’s keys add depth to the powerful pounding drums of drummer “The Anvil” as the rhythm section caries the band’s intimate yet intense action packed live shows. Augie’s and Koko’s vocals are an influential force that has no problem bringing the crowd’s attention up to the stage. The band sounds and feels bigger than they really are, I saw them play to a tiny dark room of about 15 people but it felt like should have been buried in a sea of people ready to rock out.

They sounded and performed with such authority that upon closing my eyes I imagined they were playing to a stadium filled to capacity of rockers young and old. I’m amazed this band isn’t horrifyingly huge…yet. I guess only time will tell when the Hard Lessons will get their break and be able to rock out in the capacity they deserve, they certainly have the potential.

Check out the Hard Lessons:
MySpace.com/TheHardLessons
www.thehardlessons.com
Hard Lessons Photos

MGMT "Electric Feel" : Music Video Review

2008-06-04T22:31:00.000-07:00

Artist: MGMT
Video: "Electric Feel"
Album: Oracular Spectacular
2008/Columbia Records
by Jess Correos

Somewhere between a cross of Woodstock and A Midsummer Night's Dream,
MGMT's music video "Electric Feel" satiates the hunger of
neo-psychedelics that weren't living during the original era of peace,
love and understanding.

The video begins with Andrew VanWyngarden making his way through a
mystical forest where he finds himself in a gathering of
hippie-looking villagers. He later meets up with his homie, Ben
Goldwasser, where they lead a colorful, musical orgy. Throughout the
video, the village kids are in a trance as they grind and shake their
bums to the duo's retro-techno sound mixed with sultry vocals thanks
to VanWyngarden. With lyrics such as "Ooh girl, shock me like an
electric eel" and "Turn me on with your electric feel" how can you not
get in the mood?

As the display of visual candy continues, the viewer can be possibly
caught off guard yet delighted by a band comprised of puppet animals;
the band somewhat emulates the instrument-playing puppets at Chuck E.
Cheese's and at the Disneyland attraction, Splash Mountain. These
animals, probably dwellers of the forest, may not have been randomly
placed there after all!

The climax entails a moon being anchored then descended into the
villagers' gathering where VanWyngarden cuts it open so that the
congregation can drink and smother themselves in the colorful goo that
seeps out...and of course, the party continues. By the end, the kids
release the moon back into the night sky, but the merriment doesn't
end there, folks. VanWygarden and Goldwasser decide to hop on their
flying motorcyles where they go cruising until they crash into the
moon, causing a massive explosion. The partying villagers then find
themselves in a shower of the moon's glowing smithereens and alas, the
grand finish of a vibrant and magical celebration!

Go ahead, don't be shy; grab a flower, put it in your hair and cover
yourself in body paint (or goo, which ever you prefer) because
"Electric Feel" is optically and audibly stimulating and spectacular,
indeed!

Watch "Electric Feel"

For more MGMT, go to www.whoismgmt.com and www.myspace.com/mgmt

Iron Maiden/Anthrax : Show Review

2008-06-04T21:20:00.000-07:00

Iron Maiden & Anthrax @ Verizon Wireless
5.31.08 - Irvine, CA
by Taylor Kingsbury

In this era of reunion tours and nostalgic harkenings back to times that weren’t really all that great the first time around (I was around in the 80’s, kids… it was actually pretty lame), it’s not surprising that a band like Iron Maiden continues to thrive. What is surprising is the REASON they continue to thrive: because, after three decades, Iron Maiden continue to be the absolute best at what they do.

Even during their formative years, when Metal as a genre was demonized as a corrupter of the young and blamed for murders, suicides, and rampant teen drug abuse, Iron Maiden was somehow spared the cold Christian hammer that was dealt to peers like Judas Priest, Slayer, and Ozzy Osbourne (although it’s admittedly strange to think of Ozzy as a frightening figure after you’ve watched him shamble around his mansion picking up Pekinese dung). Alarming as it may seem to those who don’t remember those trying times, there was a day when a lot of people though that a gay man in leather bondage gear was secretly telling children to kill themselves via backwards messages in songs that were mostly about being a gay man in leather bondage gear.

Yet, Iron Maiden somehow avoided being pigeonholed as a negative musical force, unlike Slayer, who mostly sang about Satan precisely to piss off the very people who later reviled them, Ozzy, who mostly sang about Satan to tell people to stay away from Satan, or W.A.S.P., who didn’t really sing about Satan at all, but they did sing about violent sex, which was considered even more harmful than Satan. This is intriguing for two reasons: 1) If the devil is the root of all evil, and violent sex is evil, then the devil is responsible for violent sex, which kind of gives him the edge, and 2) Your average 80’s Metalhead couldn’t get laid to save their life, violently or otherwise.

The reason for this is quite simple, actually: Iron Maiden have always had an air of sophistication about them that most other bands of the era never came close to channeling. While their peers were searching for new ways to shock and titillate their audiences, Maiden was turning “Rime Of The Ancient Mariner” into an eleven-minute prog-rock opus. Even from their earliest work, Iron Maiden were a strikingly literate band. When they did write about sex, they seemed to prefer Victorian bodice-rippers to Hustler magazine. When they wrote about the devil, they made his odes so catchy that he sounded like a pretty alright guy. And when they wrote about violence, they wrote about soldiers marching through Civil War bloodtide looking for just one more enemy combatant to strike down with their sabers before their wounds weakened them to the point of collapse.

Yet, even as they projected culture and wit, they remained the very embodiment of all things Metal. Their impossibly intricate riffs both defined and elevated the genre each time out. Their mascot Eddie was (and remains) the absolutely coolest looking trademark of all time. And, more importantly, their songs were anthemic enough to stir your blood, and heavy enough to make you bang your head until every drop of blood rushed out of it.

Thirty years later, all of these things are still true. And, this is why 15,000 people will gladly converge unto Verizon Wireless every time Maiden comes to town and throw a sea of devil horns into the crisp, open sky.

This is also why the band is bigger today than they were when they were writing the vintage material that they delivered on this “Somewhere Back In Time: 80-89” tour. Now the Metal kids have Metal kids of their own, and the gambit of ages on hand to revel in the part-circus, part-history lesson, part-kick-fucking-ass Metal show ran from barely walking to freshly in a walker.

To the 2-year old girl with the denim vest adorned with a “Killers” back patch who tossed me devil horns: welcome to the family.

This tour was specifically geared toward revisiting the past, yet as Maiden thundered through their well-constructed, impossibly tight set, it was clear that they remain the future of the genre as well. After all, someday, that toddler with a stitched emblem of the band’s best album on her back is going to have a toddler of her own, and they’re going to want to see Maiden too. Judging by the energy the band set forth on their second sold-out night in Irvine, they’ve still got plenty left in them to travel that distance.

Vocalist Bruce Dickinson, in particular, hasn’t aged a day since he first belted out “Invaders”. His pipes are still remarkably polished, and not only did he hit every dizzyingly high note, he injected new energy into the tested material. He also made great use of the labyrinthine stage set, prowling the catwalks that surrounded the drum riser and leaping over monitors like a precocious child discovering chocolate.

The setlist drew heavily on the band’s more recognizable material, yet even at the expense of omitting crucial bits (“Flight Of Icarus”, “Sanctuary”, “Running Free”), they still seemed to relish in revisiting more obscure catalog gems, particularly material from their “Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son” LP that hasn’t been touched since that tour twenty years ago. In the end, it was a perfect mix of bread and butter for the first-timers, and first-timers for the bread and butter fans who have seen the band on multiple tour outings.

In keeping with the spirit of the tour, to revisit the prime sections of their catalog, the band brought along an inclusive stage rig to resurrect the more ambitious highlights of their legendary live history. There was plenty of fire and explosions to go around, but the night’s transcendent moment arrived when Eddie, the multi-faceted mascot that adorns all of their records and shirts in his various guises, was revealed amidst billowing clouds of smoke. Ultimately, the fact that a group of dudes in their 50’s can get away with shredding beneath a 30-foot animatronic mummy puppet without looking completely ridiculous, is a pretty special thing.

Perhaps it has taken the gift of time to prove exactly how timeless Maiden’s delivery is. After all, a show that announced itself as a celebration of the past never got mired in nostalgia, and I’d imagine that, if anything, the awesome majesty of “The Trooper” sounded even better on this night than it did when the band played their famous series of shows at the Long Beach Arena in 1985. Whatever magic descended on this band when they began their journey remains very much intact, and though many have tried to mirror the dexterous and ridiculously wicked triple-guitar harmonies the band’s heavily-axed front section delivered with ease (I’m looking at you Iced Earth and HammerFall), none have come close to crafting the undeniably solid SONGS that Maiden still uses to summon deafening cries from an arena full of devotees.

Support band Anthrax have an admirable legacy behind them, but their set faltered because of the wistful dreaming of days gone by that Maiden managed to avoid. Even with their classic line-up almost intact, it was very distracting to meet their new singer, as he more resembled an American Idol early eliminatee than a Metal frontman. Granted, former vocalist Joey Belladonna used to prance around shirtless with an Indian headdress on, but somehow that made a lot more sense than the preening Rock Star 101 poses on display here. Vocally, the kid did a decent job of capturing the notes, but in the end, the collective suffered from poor song selection and an overall feeling that you were actually watching a merely decent Anthrax cover band.

The band did score points by including a couple of gems from their sadly under-appreciated “Sound Of White Noise” LP (“Room For One More” and “Only”), which was commendable since they only had about 45 minutes to work with. But, by omitting the more crushing material from “Persistence Of Time” and “State Of Euphoria”, Anthrax sounded more like an arena rock band than a Metal band, and this point was hammered home as their un-introduced frontman sounded far more comfortable belting out a crossover-baiting track like “Safe Home” than he did leading the troops through a rousing stomper like “Caught In A Mosh”.

Their finish was quite limp as well, as they closed the set out with “I Am The Law”, a song that was written about the now-obscure comic character Judge Dredd, who is best remembered via a notably lame movie/Taco Bell commercial that marks the absolute low-point of Sylvester Stallone’s career (yes, worse than “Demolition Man”… I’m fucking serious). Great music is timeless, but “I Am The Law” is about is relevant today as a shirt that says “Frankie Says Relax”.

I don’t mean to be so hard on Anthrax. They certainly have a respectable catalog, and their consistent presence within the genre reveals a fine degree of tenacity. However, they need to discover that finding a singer with a comparable voice means nothing if he doesn’t fit with the band. Once they do, I’m confident they’ll be able to provide a more serviceable set, and one that accurately reflects the best music in their catalog.

Maiden didn’t have that problem, despite reaching into the fascinatingly obtuse corners of their discography. They also cheated a bit, and any music geek will tell you that “Fear Of The Dark” was recorded a couple of years after the ”80-89” misnomer in their tour name. But, as far as presenting the most enjoyable and anthemic aspects of Iron Maiden’s musical output, they couldn’t have chosen their songs any better. “Revelations” was a stunning and perfect inclusion, and finales don’t get much better than the haunting “Hallowed Be Thy Name”, which the band concluded its encore with.

Sure, we can quibble about how maybe they should have represented their pre-Dickinson material more fairly, since the lone set entry from this period was their namesake. But that’s the thing with a band like Iron Maiden; they’ve simply recorded so many classic tunes that it would be impossible to play them all.

And, ultimately, the fact that Maiden can solicit such a deep wishlist is a testament to just how important they remain to the genre they helped define. Since that’s exactly what this night was meant to celebrate, even the omissions were perfect, because they left the crowd wanting more. Not only after a 2-hour show, but after a 30 year career.

And, guess what? When I’ve got a little toddler Metalhead of my own, you best believe that I’ll be holding that kid up to the heavens so that they can raise their pudgy horns and shout the chorus to “Run To The Hills” at the top of their tiny lungs.

I really can’t wait now, because after the thrilling, powerful, and ageless set that I heard on this night, I’m now certain that Maiden will still be around when that day comes.

Radiohead : Photo Feature

2008-05-29T22:27:00.000-07:00

Radiohead
Verizon Wireless - 5.9.08 - Charlotte, NC
by Jeremy Deal (Lunahzon Photography)

Hatebreed To Release New DVD

2008-05-29T14:53:00.000-07:00

by DJ Troll

Hatebreed will release a DVD called “Live Dominance” this September, but even the singer of the band, Jamey Jasta, says he has not had the exact date revealed to him.

Hatebreed has never released a DVD before but the band’s members hope to make gold with “Live Dominance”.

Jasta says that going gold is Hatebreed’s goal with this release because Hatebreed has never had a DVD go gold before.

The DVD includes footage taped mainly in Detroit but also in Germany, Philedelphia, New York City, and New Haven, Conn. In addition it includes a music video recorded in Europe during “Hatebreed’s Supremacy World Tour.” Jasta says that owning a copy worth the money.

He says, “Please go to the store and buy it rather than copy it. We need your support. You won’t be disappointed. It’s worth the money.”

In addition to the live DVD, Hatebreed is also releasing a live album this summer produced by legendary drummer Vinnie Paul (Pantera, Damageplan, Hell Yeah). The live CD has not yet been titled.

Jasta says Hatebreed is pleased with the whole line-up of this year’s Jagermeister tour. Of course, he may be particularly happy to be singing in the headlining band, but he also says, Type O Neg is an old favorite of theirs and the guys in 3 Inches of Blood are their friends from last year’s Ozzfest.

You may still be able to catch the sixth annual Jagermeister Tour in a city near you. See every upcoming tour date listed at www. hatebreed. com. If you do catch a show, you may buy band merchandise directly, save money and support the tour!

Coincidentally I spoke to Jasta before their recent show in New Orleans about the cost of diesel for touring bands.

He said, “Diesel is expensive; like five dollars a gallon.”
Since Jagermeister is sponsoring the tour you might think they would supply everything, but I found out that’s not exactly true either.

The band does however get as many logo flip-flops, matchbooks and T-shirts as they desire and almost all the Jagermeister they can stomach!

Ah, the life of a rockstar.

More info => MySpace.com/Hatebreed

Tour Log : Mugison

2008-05-29T12:56:00.000-07:00

Tour Log : Mugison
(MySpace.com/Mugison)

Icelandic singer-songwriter Mugison is gearing up for the release of his third official solo album Mugiboogie, described as "a mind-trip back to yesteryear when music was free from categorization, when gothic guitars towered and scintillated and when you could hear guts being spilled out all over the record." Mugiboogie drops internationally on July 22, 2008 on the Ipecac label and has already sold over 10,000 copies in Iceland. Preview track samples, order the album and get more Mugison info at his official website Mugison.com.

Mugison recently wrapped his two week Canadian tour with Queens Of The Stone Age. Check out random Mugison shenanigans from the road....

TOUR BLOG 1

TOUR BLOG 2

TOUR BLOG 3

TOUR BLOG 4

TOUR BLOG 5

TOUR BLOG 6 - Winnipeg, MB - 5.7. 08

TOUR BLOG 7 - Hamilton, ON - 5.10.08

G.G. Elvis & the T.C.P. Band : CD Review

2008-05-29T08:44:00.000-07:00

Artist: G.G. Elvis & the T.C.P. Band
Album: Back From the Dead
2008/Mental Records
by Genie Sanchez

I always love a good punk band; I think that's really where my roots run. There's nothing better than getting your angst out while listening to a good, dirty, sweaty punk record. It can cure all aliments...I'm sure of it! On the other hand some good old fashioned rock n' roll never hurt anybody. I'm talking about Sun Records rock n' roll, stuff everyone knows the words too. I don't care what country you're from, what your age is or anything. It's those good wholesome songs from the 1950's that really make the world go round, stuff like Elvis, the king. I think many would agree that too much of a good thing is never enough, I like to think that too much of a good thing will satisfy all. That's what I hear with G.G. Elvis & the T.C.P. Band's new album, Back from the Dead. In short, this is a tribute to Elvis on a punk rock platter flavored with G.G. Allin. I know that sounds like a weird bitter taste but it works, it's all the wholesomeness of Elvis topped with the tartness of G.G. Allin. Both are kings, one is rock the other is punk, too much of a good thing will satisfy all. The band is made up of members from NOFX, Aggression, Bad Samaritans, Ill Repute, and Stalag 13 and of course Dr. Know, so these guys know what they are doing. Each track hits like a freight train, from the rendition of "Viva Las Vegas" (which makes you feel like any granny can pogo her way to the slot machines), to the mosh pit attracting cover of "Suspicious Minds," right along to the trashing version of "Love Me Tender." This whole album guarantees a fun filled mosh pit appropriate for any age. Punk meets Elvis, it doesn't get any better!

For more info => MySpace.com/ggelvis

Derby: CD Review

2008-05-29T08:33:00.000-07:00

Artist: Derby
Album: Posters Fade
2008/Green Submarine Records
by Genie Sanchez

Over the years the music trends change. Sometimes it's sad, and most times it's greatly appreciated. One genre I do miss is the indie-pop scene of the 1990's, when catchy guitar riffs skipped gleefully along side a rolling rhythm section thru the schoolyard. I was very pleased to discover Portland, Oregon's own Derby. A three piece band made up of Nat Johnson, David Gulick, and Isaac Frost. Their new album, Posters Fade, is filled with addicting drum beats accompanied by head bopping bass lines, mellow-pop guitar and soothing vocals. Believe it or not, you can actually legitimately rock out to this album with a kazoo! The melodies instantly get stuck in your head with no intention of ever leaving…and that's a good thing! This album very well could be the perfect soundtrack to road trip with friends. The second track "All or Nothing" starts with an infectious hand clapping beat that blends well with the harmonies throughout the song. The title track "Posters Fade" gives off a chunky bass line while the guitar plays off a danceable rhythm. If you like Sloan, the Shins and remember the Gin Blossoms then Derby's Posters Fade will fit you like a glove.

Check them out at:
www.derbyrock.com
www.myspace.com/derbyrock

The Kooks : Live Review + Pics

2008-05-28T09:11:00.000-07:00

The Kooks @ The Wiltern
Los Angeles, CA - 5.19.08

by Genie Sanchez
photos by …totallylikeduh!

Being a product of the 80’s, one might not suspect that I’ve ever witnessed any musical phenomenon. Yes, I am young but I’m experienced. Now don’t get me wrong, I’ll never be able to say that I physically experienced 1960’s teenage girls crying their eyes out, anxious shrieks of excitement, and the occasional faint or short of breath amongst a sea of people as they anticipate a band getting ready to hit the stage. I’m too young for Beatle Mania. I simply wasn’t around yet. I’ll never be able to say that I physically experienced dropping acid in a mud pit while listening to Jimi Hendrix play the National Anthem at Woodstock. Again, I simply wasn’t around yet although part of me wishes I was. I’ll never be able to say that I physically snorted a line with a Heavy Metal band, and I’ll never be able to say that I physically experienced the overwhelmingly Disney-ness of a Hannah Montana concert…thank god I’m too old to ride that bus. Amidst all of these absent “you had to be there” moments in music history I was however, around in the 80’s and the 90’s when boy bands abound and homemade t-shirts of NKOTB adorned a portion of my closet. Those were good times, you had to be there! I thought the days of bands being held as idols, crushes and gods had gone far far away. There just hasn’t been anyone good for fans to put out the effort…at least that’s what I thought up until I experienced the Kooks play at the Wiltern to sold out crowd on a sold out tour.

Insane, right? No one sells out tours anymore, at least not a rock band. The Kooks played the second show of their sold out tour at the Wiltern in Los Angeles and to say the least…whole show surprised me. Now I am young but I know my rock history and hold my music knowledge very highly and close to my heart, this mentality of “rockliness is godliness” impresses me when others live and stand by it as well. The Kooks are a young band and just by looking at them I wouldn’t expect them to really know anything rock history or even want to grasp on to it. Quite frankly they look like their fans; young, naïve, youthful, innocent and above all else, purveyors in vintage clothing. So its not surprising when the cliché of this demographic might question the greats of rock n rolls past “why waste time brushing up on old smelly records?” These kids have no time for that, plug in the ipod and push play. Not surprising. This bias was in my head as I was trying to squeeze my way through the teen/twenty-something hipsters clad with hippy head bands, skin tight jeans and homemade “I heart kooks” t-shirts filled lobby as I made my way to the press area to await the Kooks set. “What are these kids doing here?” I questioned, But I threw all that out the window about 30 seconds before the Kooks hit the stage.

The bands entrance song was Link Wrays’ "Rumble." Not many teen hipsters concerned with their messy hair fitting under their head bands know of Link Wray, so I was surprised that not only the band liked this song but that once it came on over the house monitors the fans went crazy. The band quickly rolled into their set, mostly songs from their new album titled Konk and some from their older album. All were crowd favorites. At some points in the performance it sounded as if the crowd was singing louder than front man Luke Pritchard. The people in the pit created what looked like a sea of hands, each reaching out to try to touch the band, if only with their fingertips.

The band's rhythm section was strong all the way through as drummer Paul Gerrad kept a steady beat while not in the least being distracted by the mezzanine filled to capacity with jumping screaming fans threatening to tear the place down in excitement.

Guitarist Hugh Harris looked as if he was hiding behind his big black hat, staying out of the spotlight during solos but the crowd ate it all up just the same and begged for more each time. I’m proud to say that I physically experienced the Kooks in all their glory, I have a feeling this is only their beginning.

More on the Kooks => MySpace.com/theKooks

Comedy Spotlight : "Freak Dance" at UCB Theatre

2008-05-26T23:23:00.000-07:00

Freak Dance: The Forbidden Dirty Boogaloo
Upright Citizens Brigade - Hollywood, CA
by Josh Henaman

On a cold, rainy Friday night, tucked away in the relatively cozy atmosphere of the UCB Theatre in Los Angeles, I discovered something about each and every one of us. In the simplest of terms, I found out that each one of us is a brain… and an athlete… and a basket case… and…. Ah screw this Breakfast Club bullshit. The only thing I learned on that cold and rainy night is that dancing isn't about sex. It's all about the looove...and we can blame weed for everything… including terrorism.

In case you didn't know, I'm talking about Freak Dance: The Forbidden Dirty Boogaloo. Billed as a straight-up, activated and in your face musical extravaganza, Freak Dance is the absolute must-see show of the decade because you never know when you'll keel over dead as your head implodes because you danced on the ceiling one too many times. WTF? That's right, I'll bet you didn't even know the threat of head implosion existed. Well, thank Christ for Freak Dance.

Written by UCB alum, Matt Besser, directed by Lindsay Hendrickson and with songs by Brian Fountain and Jake Anthony, Freak Dance follows the tried and true story of a group of inner city youths as they strive to save their dance hang-out from closure and in the process discover something about themselves and everyone around them. But what separates their story from those in Save the Last Dance or Step Up or Step Up 2: The Streets or even that non-dancing movie where Sean Connery shouts, "You're the man now, dog!", Freak Dance isn't just about preaching to us the joys of dancing, it oozes it from its break-dance lovin' pores. This show isn't above reminding us every thirty seconds or so that dancing isn't something to do, but something to be.

From the opening dance number that introduces us to a world of oversized man junk and the art of the dance fight, we are fully engrossed in the plight of Funky Bunch, Sassy, Egghead and Barrio as they welcome the rich, wannabe-poor girl, Special Flavor, into the fold. With guidance from their mentor, Asteroid, an old school dance machine who once danced the forbidden boogaloo so fast and so hard the friction burnt his penis off, the gang set out to save their hang-out, Fantaseez, after it's shut down due to a bathroom deemed too dark to pee (among other things.) For about two hours, we're enveloped in a setting where dance numbers involving illiteracy, weed and slaughtering a pig might be considered the tamest of the bunch. And while it's hard to review a show that is as non-stop riotous as Freak Dance and single out all great standouts, random highlights and snippets include The Bad Newz Bears Crew BBoyz, smoking weed to forget I'm ugly, my dead brother, ten and the evil genius that is Dazzle.

With only two shows left in their run, May 30th and June 6th, you would not only be wise to check it out, but you might even be branded a friggin' genius by all of your friends. And to paraphrase Funky Bunch's signature line… "Activate! And go see Freak Dance: The Forbidden Dirty Boogaloo. It's fucking awesome."

For more information on UCB Theatre => UCB Theatre Los Angeles

The Von Bondies : On-Cam Interview + Live Show Footage

2008-05-26T01:13:00.000-07:00

MishMashMag.com caught up with The Von Bondies before their show @ Safari Sams in Los Angeles, May 23, 2008. Check out our teaser...full coverage coming in July!

Interview hosted by Adam Kruger
Video by M'Lou Elkins

Movie Blog : Fade to Black

2008-05-21T14:20:00.000-07:00

Jules of Cinema Movie Blog
by Julia Marchese

Fade to Black
Released October 14, 1980

I’m usually not shy when it comes to talking to celebrities. I’m not one of those annoying kids who will disturb people at dinner, but if I see someone I respect, I’ll usually toddle over and say hi, with no embarrassment.

The one celebrity who struck fear into my heart was Mickey Rourke. We’ve all heard stories about Mickey. Punching people, generally being mean, and looking pretty plastic to boot. I had visions of walking up to him and getting a sock in the nose before the first syllable of his name left my mouth.

I mustered my courage to the sticking place and said “Mr. Rourke, I love you in ‘Fade To Black’”. He stopped, really looked at me, and grabbed my hand. “What’s your name?” he asked, in his husky voice. “Julia” I responded, meekly. “Julia, Sweetheart, no one has ever told me that before. Thank you. “ He kissed my hand, and I walked away on cloud nine. Not only was he awesome, and kissed my hand, but also I gave him a compliment he had never heard before – every geek’s dream. Score!!

The movie of which I spoke, “Fade to Black”, is a little seen horror classic. Released in 1980, it was executive produced by Irwin Yablans, fresh off of the success of Halloween. The star, Dennis Christopher, had just been nominated for a Golden Globe for his break out role in “Breaking Away.”

Christopher stars as Eric Binford, the movie geek to end all movie geeks. (He even has a New Beverly Cinema calendar in his room! Yes!) This is before VHS, kids, so Eric locks himself in his bedroom, wearing a rakishly tilted fedora and chain smoking while he watches classic films on his 16mm projector. He evil aunt hates him, all of the people at work hate him, he’s an outcast who’s longing for someone to share his useless movie knowledge with. Today he would embrace his inner geek and find companionship at the Fangoria convention, but this is 1980. Being called a geek was an insult and not a compliment. Under too much pressure, Eric’s line between fantasy and reality snaps and he begins dressing like the characters he idolizes so much and bumping off those who have done him wrong. Like Richie, (Mr. Rourke) his conniving coworker.

This film is incredible. Dennis Christopher is perfect as Eric Binford, he’s down trodden and dorky, but you love him so much, you remain on his side throughout. Tim Thomerson and Gwynne Gilford are unintentionally hilarious as the cops on Eric’s tail. Not only does this film have some of the most creative deaths ever put to screen, but it also features a babe-a-licious Australian Marilyn Monroe, film trivia a go go, and the most jaw dropping Grauman’s Chinese Theater finale ever.

If Mickey Rourke likes it, you should too.

Serj Tankian : Live Pics

2008-05-21T13:58:00.000-07:00

Terminal 5 - 5.14.08 - NYC
photos by Alyssa Scheinson

Thrice : Live Pics

2008-05-21T13:04:00.000-07:00

Amos' Southend - 5.2.08 - Charlotte, NC
photos by Debby Flores

Tour Log : Tietur

2008-05-19T10:14:00.000-07:00

Tour Log : Teitur
(MySpace.com/Tietur)

VIDEO FOOTAGE:
January 2008 - Copenhagen rehearsal before tour

Tour Log: Bowery Ballroom, Mighty Teitur Pizza and Old Springs Pike

This has been the best tour ever. Everything has been fantastic! I am so glad for all of you who have come to the shows. It's is a pleasure to perform every night. This is my favourite tour. Thank you!

5.3.08 - Bowery Ballroom, N e w Y o r k - is the perfect venue in New York to perform "The Singer." We had a great time and played a fun show. Helgi also played a lovely set and so did Old Springs Pike and Jenny Owen Youngs. Coming to the venue was a typical New York arrival - waiting for transport, being stuck in traffic, driving with a suicidal driver, answering 45 phone calls and the usual drama that ensues from entering one of the world's capitals. The band stayed with friends around town, Heather from Old Springs Pike was kind enough to lend out her appartment in Queens and the rest of us stayed down in Brooklyn. On the sunday we played football in Prospect Park. Soccer? Football? Same thing.

VIDEO FOOTAGE:
Bowery Ballroom, New York

5.6.08 - C o n n e c t i c u t - Mighty Teitur Pizza! We played this pizza place!!!! called "Two Boots." The name comes from merging Italian and Louisiana food: Italy and Louisiana are formed as a boot - hence the name. There was a cool stage in the back and a lovely crowd! It turned out to be a great show! The people at the venue were cool and they even named a pizza after us - it's called "The Mighty Teitur." It has chicken, jalapenos and peppers. I didn't choose the recipe, but I hear that it is delicious.

Old Springs Pike - May I just say how much we have enjoyed to have Old Springs Pike opening for us. The were everyone's favourites! It was two guys named James and a girl named Heather. They played drums amongs themselves - James played the Bass drum, Heather played the snare and, erm, James played the hi-hat. During all this drum craziness they did also perform other intruments; all singing, all playing guitar, bass, keyboards, cymbals and melodika and their songs were great! If you get a chance to see them, I suggest you do! MySpace.com/OldSpringPike

Tour Log: Oh, Canada!

5.9.08 - M o n t r e a l - This visit to Montreal was a beautiful spring day. The last time I played there it was so cold, that it hurt in my hands when I went outside for a cigarette. We played in a place called "Sala Rossa" that reminded me in a curious way of the place we played in Berlin which was called "Roter Salon" - also meaning "The Red Salon". Its overseas twin venue in Montreal is, naturally, also dominated by the colour red and has a theatre-like stage with drapes on the side - perfect for "The Singer" material. However "Sala Rossa" didn't have a picture of Lenin in the merch booth! They serve wonderful Spanish tapas downstairs! We played a lot of Faroese songs which was fun. My friend Tina Dico has also joined us for these three shows in Canada. She did a solo set after Helgi. The audience were wonderful. They stood up from their chairs and danced when we played "Catherine the Waitress."

5.10.08 - Q u e b e c C i t y - Crazy story: Once upon a time, not long ago, a girl from Quebec City named Marie travelled to Iceland. There she met a Faroese skipper, who hired her to work on his boat - He took her to the Faroe Islands and payed her to sing in the caves for his scooner tourists. The country and her new life on the sea made a strong impression on her and she felt forever grateful. She took lots of pictures on the Faroes. Yesterday she showed me all those pictures in her home. I saw a young Mikael Blak (now a Teitur band-member) playing stand-up bass together with father Kristian and a 17 year old singer named Eivør - who is since then became Faroe Islands queen of song. It's funny how it all comes back. Marie returned the favour in Quebec City. She brewed us a strong tea and lent us her house to shower in. She had Faroese music in her home. She also had a recording studio in her basement. Her partner David was the sound engineer at the venue where we played and so we all exchanged music. The venue was packed and very sweaty!

5.12.08 - T o r o n t o - What a venue! What a crowd! ("The Courthouse" is an old courthouse like the name suggests). The ceiling was very high and the sound was perfect! I love it when someone has the vision to turn a place like that into a music venue. I was told that KD Lang had just done a show there with a pianist - I would have loved to have heard her voice in such a place. Thank you to everyone who was there - it was a night to remember. My friend Alex moved back to Toronto two years ago. He is the guy who wrote the letter from New York that I turned into a song on "The Singer" - the song is called "Letter From Alex" written four years after his father died. I had been looking forward so much to playing it for him, but at the show Alex asked me not to play it - It's too depressing, he said. (I think he likes it much better in Toronto). Instead, I ended up playing this silly song that I wrote just before soundcheck. It's more of a lyric rant than a song. More like "Alice's Restaurant" (One of the funniest songs ever - by Arlo Guthrie - check it out). The song was about a cab-driver of Armenian decent who drives around Toronto and it goes into how his family got a Martin guitar in a Batman soft-case, a canon-camera, an iPod with hi-fi headphones, credit-cards and how his buddies in the cab-community now have four international cell phones with John Mayer's old telephone number. It's a true story. That's what happened last time I was in Toronto in November! I left all my things in a cab outside of the Drake Hotel while talking to a journalist about Christopher Walken and the "More Cowbell" sketch. I went into the Danish consulate the next morning without nothing but my smily face and my name. Strangely, I got back to Copenhagen two days later.

VIDEO FOOTAGE:

3.30.08 Roter Salon, Berlin
Performing "Catherine The Waitress"
Performing "The Madonna Song

3.5.08 Sødra Teatern, Stockholm
Performing a solo rendition of "The Singer"
Performing "You Should Have Seen Us"

The Birthday Massacre In New Orleans : Photos

2008-05-18T21:18:00.001-07:00

The Birthday Massacre
5.12.08 - HOB - New Orleans, LA
photos by M'Lou Elkins

For more on The Birthday Massacre, visit MySpace.com/TheBirthdayMassacre.

Combichrist In New Orleans : Photos

2008-05-18T21:06:00.000-07:00

Combichrist
5.12.08 - HOB - New Orleans, LA
by M'Lou Elkins

For more on Combichrist, visit MySpace.com/Combichrist.

Killola : Live @ Knitting Factory

2008-05-18T19:24:00.000-07:00

Killola Live @ The Knitting Factory
5.10.08 - Hollywood, CA
by Joe cortez
photos by M'Lou Elkins

"I make a terrible girl."

You'd be hard pressed to find a more ideal front woman for an indie rock band than Lisa Rieffel of Killola. Here is a singer that understands the power she wields on stage but also knows how to subvert her own punky image by coming out dressed as the belle of the ball just as she did at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood last Saturday evening. Writhing on the floor and stalking the stage in a frilly teal dress, she came off like a prom queen that decided to ditch her date and run away with the house band. It's hard not to focus on her while she's darting across the stage like a pixie on speed but make no mistake, Killola is a group. One with a killer set list and a twisted sense of fun.

Although vocalist Rieffel is the star of the show, that's not to take away from the music. Far from it, her performance brings the tracks to life like a shaman at a seance. There's little point trying to describe what they sound like since I myself was only made a believer after seeing them live. Suffice it to say, their songs are like bubble-gum power pop that cuts your cheek while chewing, insanely catchy with just enough of a perverse edge to make you wonder just what they'll do or say next. There was even a moment early on during the show when Rieffel called out to her mother, who was in attendance for this pre-Mother's Day concert, to help out on a cover of the Ween track "Dr. Rock," retitled "Dr. Twat" for the evening. It was a moment that was kind of sweet in its own way without being too sugary for its own good.

The Knitting Factory show was announced as a sort of release party for their new album, I Am The Messer. Although their set ran the gamut of old and new, the standout track for me was "You Can't See Me Because I'm a Stalker." It's a standout not necessarily because it's any better than the other songs in Killola's repertoire but because it's a decided change of pace from the rest of their raucous fare. It's a slower number, sung in a kind of Patsy Cline-esque vocal by the surprisingly versatile Rieffel detailing an unrequited love that's gone unnoticed for far too long. Think The Police's "Every Breath You Take" from the female perspective, only more cutting than haunting.

If you've been to and seen as many concert as I, you'll know how rare and rewarding an experience it is to truly be surprised by something you were completely unprepared for. The last time I experienced such an event was when I saw Northern State, the night's headliner, open for Tegan & Sara last year at The Orpheum. In a kind of cosmic kismet the girls of Northern State returned the favor allowing Killola to set the stage with a performance that left me battered, bruised and and loving every minute of it.

For more on Killola, visit MySpace.com/Killola.

White Denim : Review + Pics

2008-05-17T06:48:00.000-07:00

White Denim
The Troubadour - 5.08.08 - West Hollywood, CA

by Genie Sanchez
photos by …totallylikeduh!

White Denim is a three piece funk infused rock band from Austin. To put it simply, they are rad! I first caught wind of them at this years SXSW at the Little Radio Day Party at the Red Eye Fly and instantly fell in love with the way they injected funk and soul into their rock, jam band tunes. So I was pretty excited to see them play in L.A. while they were on tour with Tapes ‘n Tapes. Fearing my “love” of white Denim was nothing more than a lust left over from the intoxicated week long musical indulgence that is South By Southwest, I didn’t want to get my hopes up with them. Much to my surprise it wasn’t! They took the stage quietly, did a quick sound check and before I knew it, they had rolled right into their first song. Early on in the set the crowd was won over by the barreling drums, groovin’ bass lines, dirty guitar licks and fist-pumping-hand-clapping vocals. Plain and simple, these boys put on a rock show. A hot, sweaty, dirty rock show. Normally bands like this are always hyped up by the hipsters and their blogs but don’t actually live up to all they are cracked up to be. Believe in the blogs! These guys are the real deal! White Denim is in and won’t be going out of style anytime soon.

Try them on for size here:
www.whitedenimmusic.com

RockStar Get A Life Tour : Review + Pics

2008-05-16T17:43:00.000-07:00

5.07.08
RockStar Get A Life Tour
UCI Bren Center
Irvine, CA

by Genie Sanchez
photos by …totallylikeduh!

I haven’t been to a BIG concert in awhile; I’ve gotten comfortable going to small intimate club shows around L.A. So I decided it’d be a good change of pace to get out and experience the very first RockStar Get A Life Tour featuring the Used, Straylight Run, Army of Me and Street Drum Corps. Seems like a pretty eclectic show right? It was. I noticed that even though every band was essentially very much different than the other, all the fans in attendance were fairly open minded and seemed to be enjoying the whole line up, every band and every song for what each was worth. That’s a beautiful thing, co-existence. Opposites attract right? That’s the vibe I got from this show. First of all, it was held at a school. Kids don’t normally willingly flock to schools but in this case the music and their love for it is what brought them in. Second it was a school night and the show started a little early but, to my surprise the place was pretty filled up by the end of the night. And not just with kids screaming their heads off to every single verse of the Used songs but parents were in attendance as well. I think that’s pretty awesome! Parents at an emo kids dream concert…awesome! Way-to-go RockStar!!!

The first band up was Street Drum Corps. They filled the stadium with some pretty loud and infectious beats who were later accompanied by Orange County band, No Doubt drummer Adriane Young.

Army of Me followed with a strong stage presence and the last song of their list struck as an unconventional closer but in my opinion, the song's extensive guitar solo made up for any confusion the song choice my have caused.

Straylight Run played a rather pleasing set as well. Their steady melodies flooded the stadium with song and as they performed their most popular “Existentialism on Prom-Night” where it felt like the whole place was singing along with them.

The show really picked up when headliners the Used took the stage. The crowd literally went crazy as they were clearly there to see the closing band perform. Minutes before the band even hit the stage fans were chanting the lyrics to “The Taste of Ink” from the bands self titled debut album. One the band started, front man Bert McCracken came out and gave the kids what they wanted…a show. This band knows how to perform and knows how to deliver. They were on beat and played for the fans, something you don’t see every day from newer bands trying to make it in the scene. This tour has something for everyone right along side a good time.

The Heavy @ Cinespace : Review + Pics

2008-05-16T17:31:00.000-07:00

The Heavy @ Cinespace - 5.6.08 - Hollywood, CA
by Genie Sanchez
photos by …totallylikeduh! For MishMashMag.com

The night air was cool to the touch as hot steamy sounds leaked from inside the back room of Cinespace, the sound was something intoxicating. It had soul, feeling, groove, sex. It was alive and breathing, it was The Heavy. Coming down like cinder block, the five piece from Noid made music that could quite possibly have burnt down the roof that night. Noise so stimulating it very well could be the racket musicians like the Stooges and John Lee Hooker would make babies too. From the beginning of their set the Heavy’s rhythm section, made up of Spencer Page and Chris Ellul laid down the big head banging beats while lead guitarist Dan T delivered the hip shakin’ riffs and front man Swaby accompanied by keyboardist Hannah Collins sang sweet swaggering vocals. During the first song the crowd was a bit weary to get on the dance floor, as many a L.A. crowd is [we’re shy folk] but once the hypnotizing noise of the Heavy drenched the room in the love that is their music the dance floor was flooded with people dancing and letting loose for the rest of their set. To put it lightly, the floor felt like it was going to collapse and I don’t think anyone would have noticed. We were all too drunk on the Heavy’s sound and presence. The Heavy is a band not to be ignored and their shows are not to be missed…ever.

Check out the Heavy:
http://www.myspace.com/theheavy73

J.Period & Don Cannon Present Design Of A Decade The 90's Mixtape

2008-05-16T17:08:00.000-07:00

by Skillz

Now I don't do that many mixtapes, I think I may have like 5 or 6 to my credit. Maybe because I just don't really get inspired to spit over what's hot right now and leak it to the world. I feel like doing something special when I do something, something that will stand out from what else is being done at the moment. Picture me rapping over Lollipop right now?? LOL, ain't happening homie! So I came up with this idea to do a mixtape series on decades of music. I had to start with the 90's cuz that music influenced me the most. And when I started pulling songs it was a zillion, I couldn't decide on which ones that I wanted to do. So these songs are me paying respect to the cats who inspired me. I still get in the car and pick a week where I just listen to one artist all week whenever I'm in the car so I can remember how I felt when I first heard those songs. Like last week I listened to Eric B & Rakim all week long, every song, every album. It helps to inspire me ya know? I can't get inspired by what I hear on the radio. I titled the songs by their initials so you wont know what I did over until to hear the actual song, so check it out, ride with it (it plays perfect in a ipod) vibe to it and hopefully I can make you feel the way I felt while making it. Shout to Cannon & J. Period for making it with me…look out for future volumes cuz I can do these joints all day long!! LOL! Make a playlist and rock out to…DESIGN OF A DECADE THE 90′S COLLECTION...
>> www.zshare.net/download/12022285a6af7237 <<

Hyaena Gallery : Interviews w/ Bill Shafer, Clint Carney and Jeremy Cross

2008-05-09T02:59:00.000-07:00

by M'Lou

Tucked away in the serene community of Burbank, a treasure trove of eclectic goodies and art exists within the four walls of the Hyaena Boutique and Gallery. Hyaena's head honcho, Bill Shafer, has successfully created an unpretentious, artist-friendly environment where you can indulge your darker side without breaking the bank.

Owner Bill Shafer, Painting by Clint Carney [photo by M'Lou Elkins]

Drawing from it's unique "Artist Pack," the gallery hosts two solo art shows per month and with names like Clara Boo, Evil Paul and Suzi Boneshaker... you know you're in for a spooky treat! Currently on display is the dark, surrealistic horror art by Clint Carney. This is the first solo show at Hyaena for Clint and it's undoubtedly been a huge success. Only 8 days in to his show, at least half of his pieces have already sold. Clint is also the singer/songwriter for the industrial/gothic bands System Syn and Fake, and he plays keyboards for Imperative Reaction. System Syn's new single "Like Every Insect" is available in stores May 27th and their new album, End, drops June 17th.

Clint Carney [photo by M'Lou Elkins]

We recently chatted up Bill, Clint and fellow artist Jeremy Cross at Hyaena Gallery. Jeremy's artwork "sews together aspects of outsider, folk and Muerte," and he's had three shows at Hyaena in two years and credits this to "time travel." Among his interests are drunk painting, frolicking and general cavorting with an occasional bout of skipping to my Lou (this last part I found especially amusing since...well, that's basically my name). Jeremy is currently part of a group show at Art Slave Gallery in Los Angeles. Clint's current show runs at Hyaena until May 15th.

Jeremy Cross [photo by M'Lou Elkins]

Hyaena Gallery is located at 1928 W. Olive Ave., Burbank, CA 91506 and on the web at HyaenaGallery.com and Myspace.com/HyaenaGallery. Head over to MySpace.com/SystemSyn for more info on Clint Carney's art and music and MySpace.com/BotchedCross for more goods on Jeremy Cross. Check out our on-camera interviews with the guys and see why we all love Hyaena Gallery... then go there and make lots of purchases!

(Full coverage - including more interview footage and a 'real' write-up about Hyaena Gallery done by an 'actual' writer - coming July 1st when we launch the brand new MishMashMag.com!)

NEXT SHOW:

Jupiter One : Interview From 'The Love Van'

2008-05-08T00:06:00.000-07:00

5.6.08 - Los Angeles

MishMash had the chance to hang with the guys in Jupiter One before their stellar show at Hotel Cafe last night in Los Angeles!

Check out our teaser! Full coverage coming soon!!

Jupiter One is on tour 'til the end of the month...be sure to catch them when they head your way...and bring them pants, vodka and candles!

www.JupiterOne.com
MySpace.com/JupiterOne

LARGO: The Last Hurrah on Fairfax Ave.

2008-05-06T14:32:00.000-07:00

5.5.08
by Joe Cortez

The night felt like a memory before it even began, but that was expected as the clock ticked away on the last few hours remaining of Largo's old home on Fairfax Avenue. Nuzzled between a trendy book shop and a shuttered store front across the way from Canter's, Largo has featured some of the most amazing performers you've never heard of and a few you have. Most importantly, it was a home for wayward souls, performers and patrons alike, that wandered in from the harsh light of L.A.

For well over a decade under owner Mark Flanagan's reign, Largo has been a special club to many but not always for the right reasons. There is a general lack of appreciation by paying customers (myself included initially) for Largo's strict rules: no photos, no talking and most certainly no cell phones allowed. But to bemoan these rules is to ignore the fact that they are in place for the talent and that's exactly who Largo caters to and is intended for. That's what made this place so special for so many and that's why last night's final show seemed all the more bittersweet to everyone in attendance. An era had ended and we knew it.

As the line outside the club began to snake down Farifax earlier than usual, chatter about who might be on the bill for the last night began. No one knew for sure since, well, the line up was unannounced but given Largo's penchant for the occasional surprise guest, this night was not likely to disappoint. Although the club is known for a diverse range of shows and types of shows featured throughout the week, Monday's are almost always comedy nights and it was anyone's guess just who would show up.

Faces both famous and familiar filled the small space as Oasis and The Smiths blared through the house sound system. Before the show began, Flanagan made a surprise announcement saying that, at last, we were allowed to take photos inside the venue. So much for the rules on the last night.

Doug Benson, of Best Week Ever and The Marijuanalogues fame, was the host for the evening that featured Largo regulars Morgan Murphy, Laura Kightlinger, Todd Glass, Jim Gaffigan, Greg Behrendt and very special guest Janeane Garofalo. Each set was a brief showcase for the stellar talent on dispaly this evening that veered from the sentimental while still managing to wax nostalgic every now and again (you know, in between the dick and fart jokes). Benson did an excellent job serving as both presenter and entertainer mixing in the occasional joke and impression
throughout the show.

The evening closed with a very special performance by Jon Brion who was joined by Fiona Apple to perform the classic "Tonight You Belong To Me," made famous in Steve Martin's "The Jerk" and later revisited by another L.A. fave Janet Klein. Apple and Brion closed with a fitting farewell in the form of a new composition written just for Largo that name dropped the staff and some of the key performers from the club's past and present. I'm not a fan of Apple's work but there was something undeniably special about the song she sang that made the room feel that much smaller and more intimate than usual. It was something I'll never forget.

With its dinner theater-like atmosphere, Largo on Fairfax always seemed to me like the anti-concert venue where everyone was just a guest in the company of Flanagan and his crew. Last night was a summation of all that made Largo a club equally loved and loathed by all that have walked through its doors at one point or another. Now that it's home will be the more traditional Coronet Theater on La Cienega, I have to imagine that no matter how great the new venue may be it will never have that same appeal, that same magic that made Largo on Fairfax what it was. Sure the rules will still likely be in place, as will Jon Brion, The Watson Family and the rest of the rogues gallery that have made each night at Largo special but it just won't be the same after Monday night. Better maybe, but the same, never.

The Kooks 'Konk' - CD Review

2008-04-28T21:33:00.000-07:00

The Kooks 'Konk'
{Virgin/Astralwerks 2008}

by Genie Sanchez

Most “new” things are usually better the second, third or even fourth time around. At least that’s what I’ve come to experience and expect when drinking whiskey, but it’s especially true when listening to new music. Particularly when that music is from bands I never really got into the first time around, when they put out their first album. I don’t like being force fed anything. So when my favorite radio station plays that one song over and over again (yes, Angelinos still listen to the radio! Even though we hide behind our beloved iPods and act like the only tuneage worth injecting into our denial filled self-denounced hipster ears is music we hold as being as “vintage” as the clothes we wear. We do still listen to the radio and secretly anticipate new music. So don’t be fooled) I can’t wait to turn the dial in an act of “sticking it to the man.” Usually I have to listen to a new album over and over, and over again just to be able to have its sound attach to the inside of my brain. I’ve got to allow it to fully wrap around me and absorb it before I can truly make any kind of sense of it…or at least tolerate it. Although this might be just me, I’m not sure. I think it’s probably some kind of toxic side effect of watching bad day time television and listening to the same 7 poorly produced pop songs in the carpool lane during rush hour traffic on the 101. In any instance, my aural senses need a vacation every once in a while, a breath of fresh air if you will. And every once in awhile my lack of auditory pleasure is satisfied, when those underestimated bands come out with a really well developed collection of songs. The Kooks sophomore album titled Konk satisfies my rock-snobbery. The record is named for the London studio in which it was recorded at. Pretty clever huh? Meh.

It's very seldom you discover a band nowadays that drives you to find out more about them. Like when you find an old vinyl record from some obscure band you’ve never thought twice about but in your mind that record has now become your obsession, it's the one that is the holy grail of all albums and instantaneously you fall in love with that band and from that moment your life’s mission is to find and listen to every single album ever made by that one band. You’re intrigued, smitten, infatuated, you’re in love. I never really got into the Kooks, I mean I had heard them on the radio a little bit, seen their music videos and sure they are cute guys, they have some catchy songs but for whatever reason I just never caught on to them. But then I listened to Konk and now I find myself trying to find any and all songs that they ever put out. This album is a great mix of Brit-pop rock. It’s got it all; rockin’ guitar riffs, a danceable rhythm section, and catchy vocals... really, what more could a girl ask for? Oh and don’t you hate it when every track of an album sounds oddly like the all the rest. I do, you can’t tell if it’s all one forty minute track or 12 separate ones, not to worry here though! Each track on Konk is completely its own, the way it should be. The single “Always where I need to be” is entertaining and could easily fill the dance floor with hipsters wanting to rock out behind their ray bans. While the fourth track, “Do you wanna,” has a swagger to it all its own and is sure to get even the most timid girl to the front of the stage to strut her stuff for singer Luke Pritchard. “See the Sun” gives off a warm glow shining light on the bands “vintage” fundamental influences making for an astounding opener to an album that screams the work of genius.

I’m not sure how “popular” this album will be on the top forty chart, in fact I don’t believe it will be on there for very long if it gets on it at all, but if it does I’m defiantly listening to my radio! I’m sure of one thing though, I know that this album will be held as jewel in the treasure box of our generation's music and will become on of those albums our kids find when they are teenagers or twenty-something’s and they will hold this as great work of art, a staple in their “vintage” music collection, a cut above the rest.Konk will shine on for years to come. Well done Kooks, well done!

Thrice - CD Review

2008-04-28T10:36:00.000-07:00

Alchemy Index Vol. III & IV – Air & Earth
Rating: 7/10
by Jeremy Deal

From the initial announcement of Thrice’s intentions to record a set of 4 EP’s, each attributed to one of the main elements, fans were polarized, with stances that ranged from calling the idea “genius” to “pretentiousness”. I fell moreso into the former, thinking that the idea held a lot of promise; the concept of taking their music to another level, making it more of an art than a collection of “itunes candy,” was commendable. For months we heard tidbits about the sounds and dynamics of making songs fit their respective “element”, a few songs were performed live mostly to acclaim, and the band kept fans in touch with the process via their own blogsite. After all the build-up, the band signed to Vagrant and it was announced that The Alchemy Index would now be split into two different two disc sets. It was this last step that I think gave Thrice the biggest hinderance to their latest endeavors.

It was with Vheissu that Thrice really began creating a sound apart from their mostly hardcore back-catalogue. What made that album a true gem, to myself, was that it ran the gambit of crushingly heavy aural assaults to beautiful soundscapes that really drew out one’s imagination. It was a complete package. The Alchemy Index would’ve faired better if it would’ve been allowed that same privilege. The second half of the band’s project comes in the form of “Air” & “Earth”. If “Fire” & “Water” were two polar opposites of the spectrum, “Air” & “Earth” feel like the middle pieces that would’ve cemented it all together.

“Air” consists of songs dealing mostly with the ideals of flying and hopefulness (funny how those two themes go hand in hand so well huh?). True to its namesake, the songs also manage to have a dreamy, wispy vibe to them, which is epitomized by the enveloping sound of the disc’s closer, “Silver Wings”. The two strongest tracks from this EP are “Daedalus” and “The Sky Is Falling”, the former which finds the band on their second visit to the story of Icarus (this one quite chilling in nature) and the latter being a rather rapid paced commentary on society’s unwillingness to “see” the world around it crashing. “A Song for Milly Michaelson” is an unusual tribute to an 80’s movie in which a boy proves that his belief in something, if strong enough, can bring it to fruition.

“Earth” is something more likened to Dustin Kensrue’s solo album last year. Its tone is more folky and simplistic in nature. One of the Alchemy songs that has longest been played in concert, “Come All You Weary” can be found on this disc; on it, they sing of camaraderie and redemption through brotherhood. After hearing the complete project, it remains a favorite of mine, though the general consensus from their fans is a bit more indifferent. This disc also features some of the more obscure instrumentation and experimentation in style of all four entries. “Digging My Own Grave” is a ghostly little number that features a rather well placed woodwind piece that makes it almost jazzy (if ghostly and jazzy can coexist, then there you have it). Two other oddities are “The Lion & The Wolf”, a piano driven, twisted lullaby, and the far-too-short closer for the disc, “Child of Dust,” which brings the creepiest element of their “Earth” disc in its closing.

The pair of EPs are a strong effort in their own right, but feel much shorter than their counterparts despite the inclusion of the 6 minute “Daedalus”. There also doesn’t feel to be quite as much diversity on these two albums as a ‘cohesive unit” as there was on Volumes I & II. This goes back to my argument from before that the Alchemy Index, if released as one project unto itself, would be a solid work and a more balanced affair. Thrice have definitely proven that they have the creative chops to carry out a vision and do so in high fashion. This album serves best as a reminder that they have the right idea and hopefully will earn them more weight in the decision making process next time. Eyes are already pointed forward to what the band will do next, as it has the potential to be a masterpiece if they’re allowed to keep their ideals from being diluted by typical commercial handling.

Alternative Press Tour - Review + Pics

2008-04-22T19:42:00.000-07:00

w/ The Rocket Summer, The Matches, All Time Low, Forever The Sickest Kids, Sonny

3.25.08 - Fonda Theatre - Los Angeles
by Joe Cortez
photos by Adriana Torres

Here's a thought: when several hundred screaming teenagers are all packed under one roof for a concert, does it really matter what they're listening to? That idea was tested at Hollywood's Henry Fonda Theater as the annual Alternative Press Tour rolled into town delivering a healthy dose of solid rock to the masses. With it's fresh lineup, low ticket prices and cross promotional marketing tie-ins, the event was clearly aimed at a young audience and that's a great thing-in theory. With so little emphasis being placed on the actual music in today's download-to-device music industry, it's important for teens just discovering music to have something to actually hold onto and associate with their favorite bands (beyond a $30 t-shirt, that is). A concert itself may be no more tangible than an MP3, but atleast there's an experience to be had that simply cannot be matched by listening to an iPod with your headphones cranked up to 11.

Rock is the music of the young and it's great to see it return to some prominence within today's teenybopper set after a long period dormant as pop and hip hop battled for playground supremacy. But doesn't the kind of rock being played matter? Maybe it's just me and maybe I'm still stuck in a 90's musical head-space but the bands featured on this year's AP Tour line up actually felt more like boy bands in post-punk drag, their guitars draped around their bodies like a prop. Oh sure, there was the occasional f-bomb dropped here and there by the bands on stage and maybe even a bra or two thrown about but where was the risk? The rebellion? Even the parents in the back seemed to be more jaded than appalled by any of the antics of the bands on stage.

I'm sure by now you've noticed that I've gotten this far in the review without actually talking about the music itself. Image and attitude go along way in selling a particular band's sound, it's a performance you're witnessing after all. The bands on the lineup, which included Forever the Sickest Kids, The Matches, The Rocket Summer and All Time Low, all looked the part convincingly enough and fit well together on the same bill but were all so mired in creating an accessible, radio friendly sound that they for got to be dangerous. That said, I was probably the only person in the Fonda that felt this way as kids on the floor ate up every band on stage.

Show openers Forever The Sickest Kids, hailing from Dallas, brought a unique sound to the set with their decidedly country flavored vocal harmonies and poptastic hooks. They were followed by Sonny Moore's band, aptly named Sonny, who urged the crowd to "make some fucking noise" about 17 times during their set.

The one band that truly embraced this cleaned up ethos of rock was The Rocket Summer. Just hearing the crowd of mostly young girls chant the band's name over and over before they took the stage turned the Fonda into a real rock concert venue and the band delivered with their brand of polished pop rock so clean that it would be difficult to imagine them sounding much different on disc as they do live. The most surprising moment of the set was when the lead singer took to creating a song all by himself through the miracle of looping elements recorded live before the audience to which the crowd responded by singing along on the fly. The band that closed the show, All Time Low, was a disappointment and actually wound up leaving a bitter taste after the show ended. Most of their songs were trite and juvenile although they did close their set with a near ballad that, while I'm sure intended as heartfelt, came off as insincere when preceded by their early work.

I'm sure this was the first concert for many kids in attendance and for them I hope it will lead to other more important shows in their concert going lives, but for me the AP Tour was just another show.

THE ROCKET SUMMER

THE MATCHES

Juliette and the Licks - Live Pics!

2008-04-21T08:36:00.000-07:00

The Green Apple Music Festival for Earth Day was yesterday in Santa Monica, CA. Juliette and the Licks heated things up with their stellar hour long set. Additional photos and our full coverage coming soon!

Flight Of The Conchords - New CD, Amoeba In-Store, Tour

2008-04-21T08:12:00.000-07:00

The Flight Of The Conchords full-length, self-titled CD drops April 22nd! Packed with 15 professionally recorded versions of the band's concert and television hits, the CD is sure to "undisappoint" you. Today is the last day to pre-order and save two bucks! The guys begin their tour in support of their new release and hit TV show May 5th in Darby, PA. For those of you not lucky enough to score tickets, you can catch a special in-store performance by Flight Of The Conchords this Thursday at Amoeba Records Hollywood!

Road Recovery Benefit - Pics Are In!

2008-04-18T18:05:00.000-07:00

photos by Alyssa Scheinson

The 10th Annual Road Recovery Benefit show went down last night in NYC. Mishmash has a super-amazing feature about Road Recovery in the works, but I lack patience so I'll post some show highlights and photos right now. Unfortunately, I also lack the ability to write exciting articles - but I'm great at making lists...

Things I know happened:

Tom Morello MC'd the entire event.

Denis Leary opened the show.

Jerry Cantrell covered Pink Floyd's "How I wish You Were Here," with Slash playing alongside him. (Question: How does Slash manage to keep 4 inches of ash attached to the ever-present cig dangling from his mouth?)

Perry Farrell sang Jane's Addiction's "Mountain Song," with Tom Morello on guitar. Word has it that it "Rocked so hard!"

Perry Farrell cranked out the Porno For Pyros hit "Pets"

Jakob Dylan was in the house. (I still need to confirm this, but I'm sure he looked pretty hot)

A couple of bands with kids who are involved in Road Recovery played an incredible set that concluded with George Michael's "Freedom" and The Ramones' "I Wanna Be Sedated."

The show finale was Guns N' Roses' "Paradise City"

Stay tuned for our 'real' coverage of Road Recovery and more amazing pics of the show from Alyssa Scheinson. In the meantime, head over to RoadRecovery.com and see what they're all about.

Preview New Funker Vogt Song

2008-04-18T10:43:00.001-07:00

Sneak preview of the new Funker Vogt song "White Trash" is available exclusively on their MySpace page. Click the image to check it out!

Road Recovery & Green Apple Music Festival coverage coming soon!

2008-04-14T10:50:00.000-07:00

Stay tuned for the MishmashMag coverage of the 10th Annual Road Recovery Benefit show April 17th in NYC and the Green Apple Music Festival for Earth Day in Santa Monica April 20th! Road Recovery features performances by Slash, Jerry Cantrell, Tom Morello, Perry Farrell and more. Green Apple has Juliette and the Kicks, Escalera, Ziggy Marley, Taj Mahal, and The Frequency...plus admission is FREE!

Road Recovery is an organization comprised of entertainment industry professionals whose lives have been touched by addiction. Through their mentoring, educational and live performance programs, Road Recovery's goal is to help young people find their way towards a healthy future. Check out RoadRecovery.com for more info.

The 3rd annual Green Apple Festival is America's largest Earth Day celebration. It's a weekend of music and environmental awareness culminating on Sunday, April 20th with eight free festivals occurring simultaneously in cities across the U.S. Head over to the Green Apple Music Festival page for more details.

Candlebox : Live At The Roxy

2008-04-11T01:59:00.000-07:00

by Taylor Kingsbury
3.15.08 - The Roxy - West Hollywood, CA

Nostalgia is a very strange beast, and its cagey powers were put on full display as the original members of Candlebox took the Roxy stage. The moment the proscenium curtains parted, it was as if the band’s story had been completely rewritten. As the near-capacity house erupted into a rapture of enthusiasm, Candlebox were not greeted as a slightly-relevant 90’s band who thrived for a moment based solely on the strength of two certifiably fantastic radio staples, then faded into nothingness after two subsequent releases generated little fanfare and even less commercial weight. Tonight, they were returning heroes, old friends who had been away far too long. Those assembled at the Roxy gave a roar of approval that indicated they hadn’t truly dismissed the band, they were merely anxiously waiting for their return.

Of course, this isn’t true.

See, Candlebox were a slighty-relevant 90’s band with two hit singles and two follow-up records that quickly became fixtures in the 99-cent bins of record stores nation wide. Said records—1995’s Lucy and their even less visible 1998 effort, Happy Pills—weren’t just ignored by the casual fans who drove the band’s eponymous debut into the Platinum club because you couldn’t download “Far Behind” for free in 1993, they were also summarily dismissed by the band’s mainstays (i.e.- the few people who wouldn’t have been ashamed to wear a Candlebox t-shirt to Lollapalooza that year).

And, let’s not forget, even at the height of their radio powers, the larger world regarded Candlebox as a third-rate Pearl Jam knock-off. This comparison was certainly unfair, as the two bands had little in common other than the fact that they both released debut records that relied heavily on bluesy rock anthems, but, to most people, that’s who Candlebox were back then. (On an aside, it’s also interesting to note that another band whose upcoming reunion is being met with unbridled excitement, Stone Temple Pilots, was also initially panned as a “baby Pearl Jam” in 1993, and it was even suggested that STP really stood for “Stealing Tunes from Pearl Jam”).

But, wait, I come to praise Candlebox, not bury them.

You see, on that fateful night at the Roxy, something even more extraordinary than the audience’s 15-years-tardy praise unfolded: Candlebox kicked some serious fucking ass. And, while the audience rewrote the band’s story by pretending they had never been away, the band seemed content to do the same, and while they were at it, pretend that they never made two records that no one bought.

Indeed, if you scanned the setlist, it would appear that Candlebox were road-testing material for their sophomore LP. With the exception of two underwhelming singles from their dark period (anyone remember “Simple Lessons” or “Happy Pills”?… didn’t think so), the band relied almost exclusively on a combination of songs from their forthcoming reformation release and about two thirds of the self-titled debut that made the Roxy return even remotely possible.

It’s a great time to be a where-are-they-now contending 90’s band. After all, with almost nothing near listenable, let alone great, emerging on current Active Rock charts, it’s nice to re-visit a time when the shittiest band on the radio was Bush, and Bush was still a halfway decent band. Certainly, KROQ (L.A.’s “modern rock” monolith slash evil corporation that blackmails competing stations off the air and makes sure that when their listeners’ favorite bands come to town, there aren’t any tickets available to purchase) knows this state well, which is why about 75 % percent of their playlist relies on material recorded before the turn of the century.
Candlebox seem to know it too, and they relished in the adoration of the small, but packed, house before them as the assembled greeted even deep catalog numbers like “Arrow” with furor. And they benefited from the timeless quality of the nostalgia in the air as well. Without contemporary context to pigeonhole their tunes, a song like “Don’t You” doesn’t sound like a Pearl Jam rip-off, even as it nicks its groove and basic vibe from “Even Flow”; it just sounds like a great rock song.

One particularly gratifying aspect of the performance was that, while many bands of Candlebox’s stature struggle to get even a polite response to their new material, the several infant songs they nestled into the set received ovations that often matched those given to their more classic numbers. And, with good reason. The tunes the band premiered at the gig (their new record is due in July) were undeniably strong, propulsive dervishes that didn’t seem at odds with the decade-and-a-half old material they shared a set with, but actually complemented it. Surely, the more traditional hard rock leanings revealed that the band wasn’t looking much farther ahead than 1993, but, as we’ve already established, their fans aren’t either, so the debuts were a tantalizing glimpse of a future the band may have once again.

Of course, there’s a reason fans still care about Candlebox 15 years after they released their first disc; actually, there are two reasons. Reason Number One served as the finale of the set proper, and as the band launched into a powerful rendering of “You”, aided by the pipes of everyone else present, the Roxy could have easily been any arena in the world. Reason Two closed out the brief encore, and no one singing along with the anthemic strains of “Far Behind” seemed to notice that vocalist Kevin Martin could have been addressing them personally when he roared, “you left me far behind.”

But, he probably wasn’t. Because, after all, tonight Candlebox had never gone away. And, whether or not their upcoming release re-establishes them as a name again, they were sent away from the Roxy with the knowledge that they cemented a couple of genuine moments into Pop culture lore.

Not bad for a third-rate Pearl Jam knock-off, eh?

Awesome Hyaena Gallery Exhibits

2008-04-10T15:30:00.000-07:00

You still have time to catch the creepy, ghastly, dead-sexy art by revered Toxic Toons creator, Eric Pigors! His artwork had graced the T-shirts and album covers for bands ranging from Metallica, The Murderdolls, The Ghastly Ones, and the Genitorturers. Internationally, he has been featured in magazines such as Savage Tattoo, 1313, International Tattoo, Horrorhound, Hardcore Ink, Virus, and Rue Morgue. Exhibit on show at Hyaena Galley until April 15th.

Curioddities exhibit is showing at Hyaena Gallery April 16 - April 30. Opening reception is from 8pm-midnight on April 19th.

For additional info and to see the work of more insanely amazing artists, go here:

DJ Rosstar w/ In-Studio guest Piebald

2008-04-09T12:12:00.000-07:00

video by M'Lou Elkins

The 88 : Show Review

2008-04-07T20:47:00.000-07:00

by Aaron Pompey
photos by M'Lou Elkins
7.13.07 - Troubadour - Los Angeles

If L.A. bands sometimes have one shameless advantage over even the most talented groups coming out of music hotspots like Seattle, Minneapolis, or New York, it is their proximity to the entertainment industry. TV networks have become increasingly reliant on local music connoisseurs like Jason Eldredge to help round out the emotional force of shows like Six Feet Under with popular music like Death Cab For Cutie's "Transatlanticism". Eldredge, the current host of KCRW's Accidental Rhythm, has worked on shows like Six Feet Under and The Closer as a music coordinator, crafting soundtracks for the shows' unique visual landscapes.

And certainly in film. That added layer of popular music was critical to pet projects like High Fidelity - which featured a 15-song pop music soundtrack, along with 40-something more songs dispersed throughout the film - and the interminable, over-inflated Garden State mixtape-slash-soundtrack.

While some of these bands are well known, most play gig after under-the-radar gig. Outside of a relatively established local L.A. fan base, The 88 seem to have made themselves a ubiquitous presence in the few years since releasing their first LP in June 2003. Songs like "Good Feeling," "Hide Another Mistake," "How Good It Can Be," and "Hard To Be You" have appeared in television (How I Met Your Mother, Grey's Anatomy and The O.C), film (Failure to Launch, Surviving Christmas, You, Me, and Dupree), and in various commercials (Target, Sears).

The 88's July 13 show at the Troubadour brought out the local fanatics. Gracefully inhabiting their post-Weezer world of hooks and irony, The 88 is not a band that enjoys the kind of name recognition afforded to Chris Martin's band, or Dave Grohl's spinoff outfit. Still, people in fly-over states probably know the band's songs from one soundtrack or another. And in L.A., they definitely know the band. Maybe that's all that matters for now.

The Troub show (introduced by Orange County band Satisfaction) rolled out an image change for the quartet, too. Abandoning their casual style, keyboardist Adam Merring, bassist Todd O'Keefe, singer/guitarist Keith Slettedahl, and drummer Anthony Zimmitti now appear onstage as something akin to four different versions of lovesick office cynic Jim Halpert.

The songs are catchy and the fans sing along rabidly. After opening with "Go Go Go," "All 'Cause of You," and "Like You Do," the set drew equally from Kind of Light and their 2005 follow-up, Over and Over. Between songs, the audience screamed out requests. Frontman Slettedahl just smiled coyly, glanced down at the 8½ x 11 set list duct-taped to the stage floor, and continued with the prescribed schedule.

The audience didn't mind. There's hardly a song they don't love. And that they didn't hear before that goddamn Sears commercial.

The 88 continue their California tour in San Francisco with the Smashing Pumpkins and down along the coast with Satisfaction. They wrap their Summer Tour in Vegas, where they reunite with the Pumpkins at The Pearl. For more info, check out www.the88.net.

QOTSA & Eagles of Death Metal : Show Review

2008-04-07T20:40:00.000-07:00

by Aaron Pompey
photos by M'Lou Elkins
7.22.07 - PacAmp - Costa Mesa, CA

Queens of the Stone Age are the definitive fuck-you collective. Josh Homme, who formed the band of out the ashes of his own youthful discontent seems to have avenged the disadvantages that plagued him during those fucked up adolescent years (Homme walked away from high school at age 16) with the mega-success of his "robot rock" band.

QOTSA played the Pacific Amphitheater on July 22 and, while I generally steer clear of the arena venue, The PacAmp was a mix of perfect Summer weather and dynamic energy.

The Palm Desert supergroup has been a revolving door of guest musicians, both in the studio and on tour, and an important influence on the flexible creative expression that seems to have defined music to a much greater degree in the last several years. But more than that, QOTSA has made a significant impact on the sound of rock music.

Opening for QOTSA were The Duke Spirit, a My Bloody Valentine-inspired English group led by Liela Moss, and Eagles of Death Metal, Homme's project with Jesse Hughes. Homme has lent his drumming to EODM's albums and to a few tour dates, but has more often shared that seat with Joey Castillo and guest performers like Dave Grohl.

EODM's catchy 70s rock sound and the flamboyant stage dancing of the iconic Hughes has made EODM a destination band - attracting the talents of Jack Black, Ween's Claude Coleman, The Distillers' Brody Dalle, and both Grohl and bandmate Taylor Hawkins.

Hughes plays the crowd with flair and confidence, tailoring his performance to the crowd's energy and wandering into the aisles. Hughes takes his cues from instinctual showmen like Mick Jagger, who could conduct his audience with almost as much creativity and control as he could his own vocal musings. Am I comparing Hughes to Jagger? Absolutely. Hughes' swagger rivals even the most prolific stage performers and arena rockers.

Unlike the colorful Hughes, Homme's presence is more commanding, more authoritative. But both performers know exactly what their bated audience wants to hear and, what's more, what they want to feel. Homme has said in interviews that he wants sex to, essentially, bleed from QOTSA's music. For music to rouse our most fundamental urges is maybe the most any performer could expect from fans.

QOTSA's new album, Era Vulgaris, is harder-edged fare - even for trailblazing hard-asses like these guys. It's a step further off from 2004's Lullabyes. The show featured a number of tracks off the June release, including "3's and 7's," "Battery Acid," "Into the Hollow," and "Make It Wit Chu." Mixed in were QOTSA standbys like "Feel Good Hit of the Summer," "Little Sister," "No One Knows," and the band's brief encore "Song for the Dead."

The Queens continue to play U.S. and Canadian dates through to the end of September. Check out www.qotsa.com/tour for dates, venues, and ticket information.

Social Distortion : Show Review

2008-04-07T20:33:00.000-07:00

by Josh S. Henaman
photos by M'Lou Elkins
12.1.04 - The Wiltern - Los Angeles

And like the song says, "I only wish the good times would last a little longer." But as short and fleeting as the good times may be one thing is for certain, you enjoy the HELL out of 'em when they roll around. Such was the case on a chilly December 1st when Social Distortion banged out their sixth and final gig of a phenomenal run at the Wiltern. Tacked on at the last minute, the sixth show ended the band's Los Angeles leg of their tour promoting Sex, Love and Rock’n’Roll, their first full length album since 1996. Like a battle scarred reunion with the one friend who had stuck with you through all the highs and lows, the band ground out not just an hour and a half of music, but two and a half decades of hard fought and won memories.

The band's sound hasn't changed much in the last 25 years, but then again, we’re talking about Social Distortion here. They’re growth comes from the emotional evolution of their music. From the oftentimes violent Orange County punk scene of the late ‘70’s/early 80’s to the reflections of loss and maturity of today, they bring a "been there, lived that" insight that demolishes any thought of technical advancement. If you’re looking for the next big turntable cum emo whinefest, then you came to the wrong place. Social Distortion has long since ceased the frantic run and dodge across the stage which has sadly become commonplace in today’s market. Instead, for this band, the music IS the show.

From the moment Social Distortion filed onstage and Mike Ness broke into "Mommy’s Little Monster", the audience’s excitement and applause never died down and the furor of the pit continuously built upon itself until the mad crescendo of the final performance, "Story of My Life". As the band slid into their third song, "Cold Feelings", the night’s theme of disenchantment and ultimate redemption became evident. "Reach for the Sky" found Ness alone as the band took a step back and let the frontman do his thing. If anybody could trademark or patent the guttural growl brought on by the early years of hard living, then it should be Ness. The man exudes a rough cool you can’t fake onstage. But if it’s anything Ness has learned over the years it is that you can’t go it alone. You would expect more than ever after an almost total lineup change, the band would focus solely on one man, but Ness had no qualms about stepping out of the spotlight. After "Highway 101" kicks in with Charlie Quintana’s thump-thumping beat, you realize Social Distortion isn’t just about one man, it never was. It’s about living life and looking back. Every song had a meaning, every minute held a memory, never more so than with "Don’t Take Me for Granted", Ness’s first attempt at dealing with the death of his friend, and former bandmate, Dennis Danell.

Of course, no Social Distortion show would be complete without some of their vast achievements. "Bad Luck", "Prison Bound" and "Ring of Fire" burned through the audience like a rapid-fire compendium of greatest hits and Ness’s brogue and haunted opening of "Making Believe" brought the audience to an emotional standstill, that is, until the lights blazed on and the song became a rousing and oddly upbeat paean to love lost. Soon to be staples of future Social Distortion concerts, "Nickels and Dimes" and "Footprints on My Ceiling" were also included and Ness, in the role of the storyteller, peppered the night with snippets of trademark insight. It was during these moments between songs that you became aware that Ness wasn’t just lecturing on past events or just trying to keep the momentum of the evening flowing, but rather, he was talking to the audience as a man who wanted to share his life experiences.

The band knows where they came from and knows where they’re going. It never became more apparent than when Ness invited little 5 yr. old Tyler onstage and informed the audience the little boy was the future of Social Distortion. Looking back on the multiple changes in the band’s roster over the years, the statement made perfect sense. Social Distortion is about rejuvenation. Taking the experiences and lessons of yesteryear and moving forward. Always forward. And knowing you’ll have a few hundred friends to join you on the way.

KMFDM & Combichrist : Show Review

2008-04-07T20:23:00.000-07:00

by Aaron Pompey
photos by M'Lou Elkins
10.27.06 - Fonda Theatre - Los Angeles, CA

The line that divides the satanic from the godly is more grossly misrepresented in some contexts than in others. When I was a teenager, I was forced to watch an extremist right-wing video about how demonic artists like Cheap Trick and Meatloaf were enabling the corruption and dissolution of morality among worldwide youth. The film, Hell's Bells: The Dangers of Rock and Roll, demonized everything but the most impotent songwriters of the 1980s, with its message that anything that wasn't written for the flock was written for the Devil himself.

I'm certain that both Combichrist and KMFDM would have made it into that pseudo-documentary, had their brand of hard-edged tribalism been around a couple of decades ago. But what parents and youth leaders alike might be missing is that what might seem like Satanism, even marketed as something spiritually deviant, might simply be its own brand of modern primordialism. After all, the rhythms, melodies, and performance art of these artists perhaps trace back more directly to alternative forms of communication than to devil worship.

Combichrist's earsplitting "This Shit Will Fuck You Up" incited a crowd who seemed to be waiting as anxiously for the aggrotech Norweigan expats as they were for KMFDM. "Intruder Alert," "Feed Your Anger," and "Without Emotions" seemed to flood their signature aggressive melodies right on out to Hollywood Boulevard. And the iconoclasm of their white banners, emblazoned with angry fists, framed the white-faced Andy LaPlegua, whose performance alongside Mr Petersen, Joe L, Jon H, Shaun F, Syn M swelled with the energy of the music. Combichrist closed out their set with "Get Your Body Beat" and "Blut Royale" before exiting the stage, whetting the crowd for the taste of KMFDM, whose own brand of heaving musicianship could perhaps co-anchor a Hell's Bells 2.

In fact, KMFDM's set was on par with the energy that Combichrist had raised. Sascha Konietzko's Parisian industrial collective stormed the stage. Like Combichrist, KMFDM is an ensemble cast of characters whose talent lies in the overlapping of their unique performances and musicianship. KMFDM grew out of artistic collaborations that were comprehensively musical and multimedia and continues to be a revolving door of artistic contributions. Bringing their "ultra-heavy beat" sounds to the Fonda, KMFDM's shows seem to be an extension of their offstage, online connections to fans. Their hour-and-a-half-long set featured songs from both the pre-breakup years and since the 2002 reformation, including songs off the recent 2005 album Hau Ruck and their EP Ruck Zuck.

During those years of purgation, KMFDM secured some unwanted publicity when Columbine gunman Eric Harris posted several of Konietzko's lyrics on his website days before the national tragedy. In the immediate wake of that, and in the years since, KMFDM has demonstrated that its commitment has been to creating unique and powerful art through music, bringing together a subculture of fans with its featured members and consistent output.

Combichrist and KMFDM wrapped their recent tour on Halloween night in Seattle. Get Your Body Beat, Combichrist's latest EP, is available on Metropolis Records, as is their full-length 2005 album Everybody Hates You and the rest of their catalog. And check out their Myspace page www.myspace.com/combichrist and their official website at www.combichrist.com. KMFDM is online at www.kmfdm.com and www.myspace.com/kmfdm. Pick up their latest EPs and stayed tuned for more concert dates. The Music Box Theater at the Henry Fonda is located at 6126 Hollywood Blvd and at www.thefondatheater.com. Hell's Bells 2 and 3 are bound to hit theaters some time within the next few years of the Bush presidency.

The Aquabats : Interview

2008-04-07T20:20:00.001-07:00

by Aaron Pompey

It's the last night of the Teenage Pajamas from Outer Space Tour, and the Phenomenauts are onstage at the Henry Fonda Music Box Theatre in Hollywood. Several feet below the stage, in the venue's basement, Orange County band The Aquabats are sorting out some final details before they go on as the night's headliners.

Without his leotards, Paul Frank belt, and signature Dirty Sanchez mustache, MC Bat Commander's alter ego Christian Jacobs looks remarkably mild-mannered as he wipes off a small water bottle that's been sitting on ice and twists open the cap. Courtney Pollock, better known as Chainsaw to throngs of Aquacadets, looks over the various sandwiches and drinks that will sustain the Bats during what will be a high-energy set featuring heroes, villains, and a surprise cover of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'." Despite this being the Bats first high-profile tour in several years - or perhaps because of it - Pollock is looking remarkably relaxed. He's been waiting a long time for this.

While the Bats have been touring consistently since the late 1990s, their fans endured a 6-year dry spell when, after releasing Myths, Legends, and Other Amazing Adventures, Vol. 2, Goldenvoice shut down its distribution arm - and any pending Bats projects. But last year, the band scored: they signed with Nitro Records, began recording a new album with producer Cameron Webb, and geared up for a national headlining gig on the Pajamas tour.

And the new album, Charge!!, is unlike anything the Bats have released. That said, it might also be the best album to date from a band whose music is all about resisting genre and embracing influence. The artistic success of Charge!! owes perhaps just as much to circumstance as it does to the band's more deliberate creative development. In fact, the forward strides evident on the new album are related directly to some of the challenges the Bats have faced over the past six years. Along the way, it's been the strong - and remarkably two-way - relationship between the band and its fans that's been critical to their current success.

In fact, to measure the success of the Aquabats by just tallying up album sales or the number of sold-out shows they've played over the past ten years would be to miss a key quantitative factor: the rich creative energy that characterizes the band's squad of Aquacadets - fans who demonstrate their devotion to the band by developing imaginative identities and costumes based on the band's mythos and unique backstory. Claiming to hail from the distant land of Aquabania, the Bats have created a universe that's looks shrewdly similar to a 1980s Saturday morning cartoon, and one in which the fans are often as much a part of the show as the Bats themselves.

Contributing to the band's mysterious, otherworldly image, are their individual names. Alongside MC Bat Commander and Chainsaw are current bandmates Ricky "Ricky Fitness" Falomir, Chad "Crash McLarson" Larson, James "Jimmy the Robot" Briggs, and Michael "Popeye" Vogelslang. Past members have included Adam "Prince Adam" Diebert, Boyd "Catboy" Terry, and Blink 182's Travis Barker who, while with the Bats, was known as "The Baron Von Tito."

Bats concerts are marked by, among other things, scores of rag-tag superheroes lined up outside, hours before a show. But these kids aren't dressing up like their favorite Bats. "Most of these kids out there are not dressing up like us," explains Chainsaw. "They're dressing up as their own characters."

"That's so much fun," adds Jimmy the Robot, "seeing the creative stuff all the kids come up with. It's awesome - they take the idea and run with it. Shoot - we even steal THEIR ideas from time to time. I mean, they're so good - they're so rad!"

The Bats are well aware that it is this cultish level of fandom that has helped sustain the band's popularity, but they also see it from the fans' point-of-view. "The fans have always been the same way," says Chainsaw. "They've always grasped onto the costume stuff - the fun aspect of going to shows with their friends - just being dorks and having fun. Showing up at 4:30 in the afternoon and sitting outside drinking Gatorade." As yet, there are no annual conventions or spin-off television shows, but this level of fandom is a pretty good indicator that the Bats will be around for awhile. "I guess it's kind of like the same reason why jam bands have a parking lot scene," Chainsaw muses, then laughs. "Well, I mean, they do DRUGS but - maybe the kids out front are doing drugs, I don't know. I don't care what they do - just come!"

Despite the band's reluctant 6-year break since their last album, the fans have kept coming. Their last album, Myths and Legends, had been the second album of a two-record deal with Goldenvoice Records. With the album's success, the label was eager to re-sign the Bats for additional projects. "We did the two records," recalls Chainsaw, "and then they were like 'Yeah, we want to do another deal' and then we were like 'Whatever, just let us know'." But after the first Coachella Music and Arts Festival in 1999, which Goldenvoice had underwritten, the company faced some financial difficulties.

Despite the festival's overwhelming turnout, its role in resurrecting a floundering music industry, and its spectacular line-up of bands that included Beck, Jane's Addiction, Jurassic 5, Sigur Ros, Super Furry Animals, and Weezer, Coachella had not turned a reasonable profit and Goldenvoice had to do some fast reshuffling. "The first Coachella was awesome. Now it's like - it is what it is. It's saved everything. But the first two or three, I think, weren't moneymakers," Chainsaw remembers. "They had to kind of switch gears, as far as their business plan, and kind of close the doors on their label." And despite their untimely departure, the Bats have maintained a good relationship with Goldenvoice. "They're still involved with the band," assures Chainsaw. "They still help us out."

After Goldenvoice Records closed its doors in early 2000, the Bats' momentum slowed. "There was just no label interest," says Chainsaw. "We were just kind of a band that did pretty good for awhile and then we were just in the background - just kept playing shows." In addition to playing a series of local shows, the Bats maintained a solid presence on the web. "We did tons and tons of website stuff," notes Chainsaw.

In 2003, the Bats released Serious Awesomeness!, a DVD packed with live performances, music videos, and tons of extras. After not seeing anything by the Bats in over three years, the DVD only made fans more restless. Then, in 2004, the Bats self-released the EP Yo, Check Out This Ride!. But their objective remained simple. "We were basically looking for someone that could put out a record." Their consistency eventually paid off when, in 2004, the band signed with Nitro, joining the likes of AFI, Bullet Train to Vegas, The Damned, and The Offspring.

As the Bats prepared to offer their fans a brand new album, they were also about to unveil the result of some of their latest musical experiments. In fact, the EP was a preview for what was up next for the Bats. In their reviews of Yo, Check Out This Ride!, some disappointed critics had lamented the band's artistic departure from their 90s-era ska sound. But after drummer Travis Barker left to join Blink 182, the size and line-up of the Bats had undergone a series of changes. "We'd been trying to find other ways to incorporate our horn section," remembers Chainsaw, "and then, literally one by one, people quit. Prince Adam quit last year. Boyd quit two years ago. So, there are our trumpet players gone." The departure of both Diebert and Terry hastened some of the band's experiments with new instrumentation.

Unlike many post-90s purist ska bands, the Bats didn't necessarily face an identity crisis when the genre's popularity began to wane. Instead, they welcomed the opportunity to rethink their direction. "I think it was mainly circumstance but - I have to be honest - there was a percentage of consciously deciding," says Chainsaw. "The typical ska band has a horn line, a melody, and a vocal part. But the way we always had horns was kind of not like -" Chainsaw interrupts himself to makes some frenetic ska horn sounds. "The way we always wrote with horns in our band," he continues, "we always felt was different than, let's say like maybe Save Ferris or something like that. And not that Save Ferris would even compare themselves with us."

Because the band was already looking for more flexibility, they were willing to work with what was left. Jimmy the Robot, whose sax had lent richness to the sharp sounds of the trumpets, began to experiment more with both the sax and the keyboards. "When Jimmy moved on to the keys, all the horn stuff that we wanted to do came out through the keyboards," Chainsaw explains. "But also, my man plays a mean sax. So there's a sax on stage every night. The horn section's there, it's just not as full, maybe."

Chainsaw thinks for a moment, then continues. "But you can't really have a horn section with only sax. I mean the sax is so deep and so bold, but it's not, well, it's not three horns, it's only one horn. It doesn't cut the same. So we kind of had to make do."

"I would love it if Prince Adam and Boyd were here," Chainsaw says, "but they had to do other things. Just like everyone else has to do what they gotta do."

As excited as they are about the sound on the new album, the band has not outgrown their previous work. "The part I miss is the dueling trumpets - the Mariachi sound we used to get. I really miss that," admits Chainsaw. "But what are you going to do? Economics comes into play - we can't pay everybody. I mean, maybe someday we can pay a Mariachi band to play the old parts. I would love to hear that." So would some of their fans. "Last night, we played in San Diego. A huge group of TJ kids came down - or came up, I should say! - and they were just the best. It was seriously so cool to meet those kids - and they were talking about the old trumpet lines and stuff like that. They were asking the same questions - 'was it circumstance?' or 'was it planned?' or 'what happened to so-and-so?'"

Beyond their changing circumstances - a shrinking line-up and artistic choices that are forging a new path - there is a pragmatism that plays into the band's creative evolution. "Honestly, when you're getting older and you want to at least come home with something and not have to pay fourteen guys, it's hard. So you just kind of go 'Okay, well, let's just do what we got and deal with who wants to do it.' I mean, that's the honest-to-god truth."

From a distance, the Aquabats may look like they rode into the new millennium on the same boat as bands like No Doubt, Save Ferris, or Dance Hall Crashers. But the Bats have also been a world apart from most of their so-called peers. As fans and critics have begun sampling the new album, that distinction has become more apparent. "I've read so many reviews," Chainsaw says, smiling. "And most of them - 75% of them - start out with 'I tried to hate this - but I don't.' You know what I mean? I'm stoked to hear that. Honestly, I read that a lot: 'I tried not to like this' or 'I tried to be biased toward the whole they-lost-the-horn-section thing.' A lot of ska bands have tried the ska-is-not-as-cool-so-let's-get-rid-of-the-horns'."

"We just made a record and tried really, really hard. I'm not going to lie to you - we tried really, really hard. We worked with a great producer and we got on a great label. It's pretty awesome. It's a really good situation. Everybody's really happy."

So, what does the new album sound like? After the horn-heavy Myths and Legends, Charge!! just seems to tilt slightly toward the band's punk roots. In fact, the change in sound is remarkably smooth. The result? "It cuts pretty good," notes Jimmy the Robot. "It's pretty nonstop. It's pretty relentless. It just comes swinging from beginning to end." Chainsaw agrees. "We had this luxury this time where we got to the end of the recording and we had more songs than we needed on the record, so we could trim the fat a little bit. And what we're left with is just screaming the whole time."

"The only record of ours that I've ever left in my car and listened to all the time is this record," confesses Chainsaw, laughing. "It's weird - I still listen to it in the car sometimes. All the other records I've really liked, but I'm not going to listen to them."

A band's creative development must be deliberate or it isn't genuine. And achieving that kind of authenticity ultimately requires the kind of insight that sometimes can only develop over time. "As you grow up, as you get older, you start to see why you like certain records, right? Or you see why you like certain bands that you saw live. Because before, I couldn't put together, like, 'Why is this band so good?' or 'What is it?' or 'Why do they sound so good?' or 'Why did that show not bore me?' or 'Why does this record not bore me?' I think that's what it is. We kind of learned how to not bore people - or bore ourselves."

But growing up doesn't mean forgetting the past. In fact, the Bats - whose line-up includes a range of ages (the oldest, Crash, is about to turn 40) - have always spent a lot of time introducing each other to different styles and eras of music. "There's a lot of time span of influences that everybody's kind of taught each other," notes Chainsaw. "You learn a lot of different styles - not so much styles, I guess. We all like rock and punk and ska and reggae...It's not really like we have these broad influences." One of their influences, certainly, is Oingo Boingo. Chainsaw laughs loudly. "They've always said we sound like Oingo Boingo. But on this record were, like, so Oingo Boingo. But I don't care. I really don't."

Another band who the Bats identify with, perhaps on a more visceral level, is the Ramones. "Have you ever seen the Ramones documentary?" Chainsaw asks, referring to the 2004 doc Ramones Raw. "It sounds cheesy, but we watch that all the time. I feel like - not to compare any percentage at all of us to the Ramones - but these guys went through years and years and years in one kind of level. I feel like that's where we're at - we've been kind of stuck in this one level, and I think we're really comfortable with that."

"I guess we could be in much bigger places," he continues, "or selling more records, or - I don't know what could happen, but everybody's really stoked and proud of what's happened so far. Especially doing something so far away from our last record."

The Bats' focus is evident on what many critics are calling their most cohesive project. "I think a lot of it has to do with Cameron Webb - he's the guy who produced it and he owns the studio that we did it at. And he's just like - he's not a super-demanding guy, like everything has to be perfect, but he really works on things sounding like they belong together."

Webb, whose production credits include Limp Biskit, Motorhead, and Social Distortion, recorded the Bats at his Maple Studios in Orange County and describes his collaborative experience with the band as uniquely inspiring - attributing the craziest sound he's ever gotten in the studio to Chainsaw. "I was recording guitar with Courtney," Webb recounts, "and he asked for me to get the most fucked up sound I could get. So I ran a mic from his API mic pre and turned it all the way up. When that wasn't good enough, I ran it through another pre and did the same. It sounded great and inspired an amazing solo."

Chainsaw offers another explanation for the album's cohesion. "All the songs were kind of written for this album - it wasn't like a bunch of old songs we wrote five years ago and decided 'Oh, by the way, this is a good song'. I think 'The Fury' was spread out - the songwriting was spread out - over kind of a long time, but a lot of songwriting was really close together. So that maybe helped."

"It was basically the same group of people, too," adds Jimmy. "Because on any other record, it was like four different groups putting songs together. Even, obviously, Myths and Legends."

With Jimmy and Crash on main songwriting duties, the rest of the band stepped up to make this one count. "If we were going to make another record," Jimmy recalls, "we might as well make one that we liked. So we just went to town and that was that. The record could not have been done if it wasn't every person in the band - if every person in the band wasn't there, there's no way. It's so good. The way it worked out, I'm so happy."

"We didn't really even think about it, or have a business plan about how to make a record," Chainsaw observes. "We just wanted to make one more. It was either do or die - really. Now we're like 'Let's make one MORE!'"

Having just completed both the Teenage Pajamas From Outer Space and Son Of Teenage Pajamas From Outer Space tours, the Bats will soon be heading out for tour in both the UK and Japan. The new album, Charge!!, is available now on Nitro.

GWAR : Interview

2008-04-07T20:13:00.001-07:00

by Taylor Kingsbury

It's 6 p.m. on a Saturday night and I'm in my best friend Andy's truck. Normally the company, the cigarette in my hand, and the awesome force of Tiamat's Clouds that blares from the stereo would be a combination resulting in utter peace. However, on this particular night, I'm not in the best of moods, because I'm not supposed to be listening to Tiamat in Andy's truck as we sit completely stopped in what, at the moment, seems to be the most epic traffic jam the 101 Freeway has ever assembled.

At this particular 6 p.m., I am supposed to be backstage at the Key Club interviewing GWAR. Since I am not doing so at the moment, and it is, indeed, 6:00 p.m., frustration is gathering on my face. Not even Clouds can soothe it, even though Clouds is, indeed, a fucking magnificent record.

I call their tour manager, and it's really just an act of courtesy, because I already know that I'm still at least 20 minutes away, and 20 minutes is an eternity for a band to wait for a lagging interviewer, especially when they are preparing to play another sold out date on their 20th anniversary tour. This interview is not going to happen tonight, that much has already set in.

The call reassures me; he's cool and understanding, and we arrange to speak the following day to set up a phoner. Things start looking better. I can still look forward to interviewing GWAR, the cool-as-hell editor I don't want to let down won't be disappointed, and, even more kickass, I'm still on my way to see GWAR completely destroy the Key Club. Yes, things are looking up.

By 6:20 we're on Sunset Blvd, immediately ensconced in the wonderful, horrible beast that is Hollywood. By 6:30, we're at the Key Club, or more specifically, navigating the quarter mile that surrounds it looking for a place to park.

We find a lot across the street that only costs $7 to park, and for a moment I have to consider the absurdity of the fact that somehow I consider 7 bucks a reasonable price to rent a concrete rectangle of empty space for a few hours.

When we approach the venue, it's 6:40, and the Key Club is a ghost town. There's not a single person outside the venue, save for the one black-clad security guy that stands at the door. In the hundreds of shows I've been to, I've never been the first person there, and I know immediately that something is weird.

But before I can investigate, I have to navigate the will-call window, always a lively part of the entire press experience. The guy at the Key Club's window doesn't disappoint me. We share familiar banter: he asks what my name was again, scans the list again, tells me I'm not on it, I tell him to check under the magazine name, he doesn't see that either, I tell him I'm supposed to have two tickets and a photo pass.

But, he continues to tell me I'm not on the list. And then, I'm not sure how or why, he reaches into a drawer and pulls out a photo sticker, writes GWAR on it, and hands it to me along with two red Admit Ones. I'm happy to have my tickets after the annoying exchange, but I'm left wondering, if that dude just gave me tickets and a photo pass just because I told him I was supposed to have them, even though I wasn't on the list, how many other shows would that work at?

When we try to give the doorman our tickets, we solve the riddle of why no one is standing outside. He tells us that doors don't open until 10:30, and GWAR doesn't go on until 1 a.m., which means that we're still about 4 hours from even being able to go inside and have a drink, and 6 hours away from seeing the band. This sucks.

Silently, I'm pissed off that I rushed to get off work and race out to Hollywood in the heart of early evening traffic to attend an interview that said traffic prevented me from making, but verbally, I express the opinion that I don't want to stand out in front of the Key Club for 4 fucking hours. What to do?

We walk across the street to a liquor store to get some smokes. The counter has a clear plastic protective top, and beneath the plastic are several dollar bills signed by various celebrities. There are four signed by Paris Hilton, who apparently frequents the establishment regularly.

"She comes in quite a bit then?" I ask the two guys behind the counter.

"She comes in a lot for Binaca," one of them tells me.

As we leave, I wonder if he's joking, but I decide it's a lot funnier if he isn't.

Once back at the truck, we consider our options. No matter what we choose to do, we know we have to accept the fact that we ultimately paid 7 bucks to leave Andy's truck in a parking lot for 20 minutes, since the Key Club is located precisely at the spot on Sunset Blvd. where everything else isn't.

That accepted, we head to Amoeba Records. It is a fruitful visit, and I leave with the vinyl soundtrack for John Carpenter's The Thing, a so-awful-it's-fantastic early 80's Sci-Fi movie called Laserblast, and a Napalm Death bootleg from Bolivia.

That's the good news. The bad news is that it's still only 8:30, and we've now visited the only place in Los Angeles that I genuinely enjoy going to.

We then drive aimlessly for what seems like an eternity. We will ultimately cruise down the entire Sunset Strip a total of five times, and we also enjoy a thorough exploration of Beverly Hills and the luxurious neighborhoods that surround it. Along the way, we note the prominent signs on Sunset that implore for "No Cruising", and the civil disobedience feels good.

By this point, we've pretty much said fuck the opening bands, because we're too amped up for GWAR to sit through anything resembling not-GWAR. And, after spending most of the evening waiting for the club to open its doors, the last thing we want to do is arrive with the crowd so that we can stand in line for an hour before getting in. We finally arrive back at the Key Club around midnight, and another 7 dollars secures us another narrow parking space that looks exactly like the one we sat in five-and-a-half hours earlier.

We are only an hour from GWAR now, and the frustrations of the early evening have all but dissipated. We anxiously await $6 beers and onstage defilement as we cross the street from the massive parking garage to the venue. But, as we approach, we see something dreadful that we neither expect nor want: a line.

There are about forty people in front of us when we reach the rear, and, we do our best to be patient for about 20 minutes. But, when that time elapses, and the line has not moved a person, we decide that this sucks. For a moment, we think we're in the wrong spot, since we already have tickets. We ask the people in front of us if they're waiting to buy tickets, but as they answer, we realize how stupid we sound, because nearly everyone in line with us is holding a ticket in their hand.

Something is wrong.

I walk to the front of the line to see what's holding things up, and I see that the reason no one in our line is going inside is because the doors are closed, and the velvet ropes that places like the Key Club put out in front to pretend their establishments are classy are snapped to their posts, blocking line from entrance.

I address the doorman and ask him if I was mistaken about the doors opening at 10:30. He explains that the show has been oversold, and they can't let anyone else in until people start to leave. I am more than confused, because I do, in fact, have a ticket to see GWAR tonight, but if what this doorman is telling me is true, then the Key Club has an unusual take on the ticket/admittance relationship.

I want to scream at him and tell him that when someone has a ticket to see a band play, they should be able to see that band play, and that the very notion of 50 people suddenly calling it a night right before the headlining band hits the stage, thus allowing room for those of us stranded outside to come in, is fucking unlikely. But, I know, ultimately, he doesn't care that I was assigned a review of the GWAR concert on this particular evening, and that I am expected to do that as well as deliver the photographs implied by my assignment of a photo pass, and that I cannot perform any part of this equation without actually getting inside to see the show.

We mill around outside the Key Club for another 20 minutes, and nothing changes. There is no last minute deflux of people who decide that they really didn't want to see GWAR, after all. As the band takes the stage inside, we remain standing on the street, deflated and disappointed. Eventually, we crush our pathetic looking Admit One tickets, because, after all, those fucking tickets didn't admit either one of us to shit.

I curse the Key Club the entire way home, and for many days afterward to anyone who asks me how the GWAR show was. Time has not granted me the wisdom to understand why the Key Club management has their heads too far up their asses to count how many people fit into their place, and stop selling tickets when they reach that number. I will see GWAR next time they come to town, but I will never buy tickets for any show at the Key Club, since I now know that having a ticket doesn't really mean that you're going to see a show there.

Two days later, I finally get my interview, after being forced to make the daunting decision levied at me by GWAR's tour manager: Do I want to talk to Flattus Maximus or Beefcake The Mighty?

I choose, and Beefcake takes the phone, greeting me with exactly the gruff hello one would expect to come out of a road-weary Scumdoggian war-lord.

"God, my throat is fucking killing me. I think I caught something in Los Angeles," the bassist/vocalist explains.

This doesn't stop him from generously reflecting on the significance of the 20th Anniversary Tour his band is currently embarking on. In today's musical climate, it's hard for any band to last that long, especially when said band is comprised of crack-smoking monsters from outer space. But, GWAR aren't just persevering, they're still on the rise.

Their last record, War Party, was a churning thrash metal feast that many fans and critics called the band's best since the one-two punch of Scumdogs Of The Universe and America Must Be Destroyed, the 1990 and 1992 releases that garnered the band the best exposure of their career and fully demonstrated the might of their musical powers. Since the Party, a funny thing has been happening to GWAR: they're selling out shows all over the world.

"Since the last record, the War Party album, and then the Sounds of the Underground Tour, there's been a resurgence of GWAR," Beefcake explains. "When we were on this Summer tour, the booking agents and the so-called powers that be, the ones that we let walk around and think they're making big decisions for us, they're like, 'maybe in the Fall, because GWAR's huge for Halloween we'll do like maybe three weeks around Halloween in the East and the Midwest.' And then the calls started coming in, and people were like, 'we fucking want GWAR, GWAR, GWAR, GWAR.' Pretty soon we're going to do a month. Oh, we're going to do five weeks. Maybe we're going to do six weeks. Seven weeks. Now it will be fucking, like nine and a half weeks by the time this fucker's done and we're selling out rooms and just fucking slaying. It's been great. It's a fucking killer tour.Ó

After 20 years in the game, Beefcake says that GWAR have achieved the "infamous notoriety" they sought when they first donned their armor in 1985. But, one thing has eluded them in their quest for world domination.

"Money," Beefcake demands. "We've yet to make a fucking dollar. We need money. And Japan."

Japan?

"We haven't been to Japan. All the fucking years, and chrissakes, we're monsters, and we haven't been to Japan. Can you understand that? It's a logistical nightmare to send GWAR anywhere. To go on a U.S./Canada sweep, let alone put our stuff in a plane, or a giant bat-shaped helicopter, and send it over to Japan."

It's really a shame, because it's a safe bet that Japanese audiences would appreciate the band's legendary performances. I won't insult you by divulging the details, because you wouldn't have read on this far if you didn't know exactly what goes on at a GWAR concert. Beefcake says that the performance aspect of GWAR has always been a key component of the band's existence.

"The stage show has always been over the top, and that's never been a question. It's always been entertaining. Without trying to sound like a big-headed egomaniac, it's one of the greatest shows in fucking rock."

This time out, the band's set features a well-rounded cast of celebrity guest-stars, including Sharon Osbourne, Dick Cheney, and, as one might suspect on the "War Party" tour, the "War President" himself, who meets a particularly gruesome onstage demise. Beefcake assures me that this is merely business.

"Seems like no matter how many Presidents we kill, they just keep growing new ones," Beefcake laments. "We've been killing all the Presidents since Grover Cleveland. You wouldn't know it though. Only in public since Reagan."

After their hectic touring schedule lightens, GWAR plans to reconvene to shape the record that will kick off the band's third decade.

"We've got two more weeks, then we'll retreat back to the Antarctican stronghold. We'll write and record for a couple months, then we're going to work on another battle plan."

Beefcake says that fans should expect the band to continue to build on the onslaught demonstrated on War Party, further distancing themselves from the stylistic stretching they noodled with through the turn of the century. In recent years, GWAR have been more comfortable sharing the stage with some of today's most prominent death metal acts, which may partially explain the abundance of heaviness in the band's latest output. But, Beefcake reminds me that GWAR burst from the underground long before Sounds Of The Underground even existed.

"We're just being reinspired by our own roots," Beef explains. "I'm not taking anything away from the bands we've been playing with, because I fucking love a lot of the bands that we have been playing with. We're all from the old thrash metal and punk school, you know? It's been there the whole time, we just had to fuck up with that ridiculous 'Fish Fuck' and such. The metal's always been there, we were just trying things. We were fucking whacked out on the junk, man. War Party has assured the fans that it is metal, and the one we come out with next Summer is going to solidify and hopefully put us back in the same kind of category as Scumdogs did, if not bigger, because it seems like metal has a new acceptance globally."

When I ask Beefcake about the band's songwriting process, his explanation is typically off-kilter.

"Parts is parts, I've heard said. We've all got different little ditties that go through our heads as we sleep in our little coffins, flying down the highway. Being in that bunk is much like being in a drawer for me with my immensity. Sometimes I take the helmet off when I go to bed, sometimes not. At least we don't get up to go to the bathroom, we just lay there and piss ourselves. That's the beauty of being GWAR... Now, the question was what?"

I remind him, and he elaborates.

"We go into the studio, and it will be myself, Flattus [Maximus, guitars], Balzac [the Jaws Of Death, guitars], and Jizmak [da Gusha, drums], and we'll throw ideas around, toss things around, break things, yell at each other for a while. We'll have ideas, and we'll play for a while. If it catches someone's attention, that's good. And then the next day, we'll come in, and see what we did, and then change everything."

Ironically, amidst their outrageous antics and otherworldly personas, GWAR's music is the one component that seems to get the least attention from the music public. Even cursory inspection of the band's wide catalog reveals that, yes, in fact, the dudes can fucking play. With the sophisticated arrangements and volatile riffing on War Party, Beefcake says that people are finally paying attention to the tunes, as well as the mythos.

"I think we're finally getting some merit as musicians. Other bands are stepping up, and we're getting accolades from the metal community. We're getting some real respect on the musical side, which is good, cause I think we deserve it."

After 20 years, GWAR remain as lively and creative as ever, and their continued presence on the scene is a welcome kick in the nuts for people who can't take a joke worldwide. Perhaps before their next 20-year anniversary, the band will be able to make it to Japan to kick some nuts out there.

And maybe, just maybe, next time they come to Southern California, my ticket will actually get me in to see them.

Weezer : Interview

2008-04-07T20:08:00.000-07:00

Arena-Rock Weezer Style
by Taylor Kingsbury

Okay, I know we live in an enlightened age, and we've created six thousand different subgenres of music, most of which have four hyphens in them. But, just to make it easy on me here, can we all agree up front that Weezer is a "Rock" band, period? Thanks.

Since we're on the same page, I can simply say that Scott Shriner is a great rock bass player, and you'll know exactly what I mean. You've heard his steady bottom end on the last two Weezer records, and chances are you've either seen him thrash around on stage with said band, or you're going to when the band's cross-country jaunt with Foo Fighters brings him to your home town.

If you fall into the latter category, you might want to get to know Scott, since part of their performance involves pulling someone from the audience to play guitar on Weezer's breakout single "Undone". So, if you read this, you may be a little ahead of the game.

"I think we're just trying to bring some kind of element of fun for the fans to be involved in," Shriner explains. "We're just trying to get the crowd more involved in the show and kind of get away from the vibe of us up there doing our thing and you sit there and watch."

"Fun" is a great summation of the Weezer/Foo Fighters tour-or "Foozer", as numerous "clever" journalists have monikered it-which pairs two of rock's most consistently enjoyable and respectably artistic acts in one huge arena-rock spectacle. (I'm sorry about that hyphen, but I was describing the show, not the bands, so I hope we're still on track.) Given Weezer's success, they could have safely led an arena trek of their own, but Shriner says that the band recognizes the benefits of touring with another well-established act.

"I think we're always looking to play in front of as many people as possible that haven't seen us," Shriner elaborates. "I mean, that's great that we can go out and do an arena on our own, and we have, and we will, but it's cool that there's a lot of people that are at our show that wouldn't normally come. It's like doing those festivals in Europe where people aren't really there to see us. But we enjoy the challenge of playing in front of people that wouldn't normally [see us]. There's always a few people...on the front barricade that are just hanging on for dear life until they can see their favorite band, and I totally appreciate that. So, my goal is always to get a couple of those people to smile."

"It's awesome playing with the Foo Fighters," Shriner continues. "They've been super gracious, and their fans are great. They inspire us to really bring our best stuff."

With a band like Weezer, "best stuff" equals big radio hits, but Shriner and the band refuse to make simple set-lists that don't offer anything beyond what casual fans can get off on.

"Hopefully, the tour's going to continue to grow and change as we go through the next month and a half," Shriner reveals. "We're just trying to actually take the best songs that we have and throw in a couple of surprises."

Among those surprises are moments in the show where frontman Rivers Cuomo turns the vocal duties completely over to his bandmates. Shriner has eagerly welcomed the opportunity to lend his pipes to classic Weezer songs.

"It's been really fun," says Shriner. "I think we're all taking turns, kind of trying different songs. For a minute I was singing a song off of Maladroit called "Fall Together", which is one of my favorites off that record. But, a few fans would be into it, and the rest of the room would be like, 'huh?'"

Recent performances have found Shriner belting his rendition of "Blue Album" favorite "In The Garage", which may seem surprising for those who know the undeniably Cuomic descriptions in the song. But Shriner assures that the tune is still a great fit for him.

"I always thought that song was like really personal to Rivers and I couldn't imagine singing it," recalls Shriner. "[But] I think we all have our own version of that. Mine's not particularly Dungeons and Dragons, more Sgt. Rock and monster magazines, but we all have our equivalent of that. So I think I just kind of embraced the story, and it's just a super great, sweet Weezer song, and I was really happy to get a chance to sing it, actually."

Also different on this tour is the band's willingness to tackle other people's material. Weezer have been playing Foo Fighters' "Big Me" during their set, and Shriner says they may have more previously unheard gems in store.

"We'll probably change up and do a couple of cover songs. We're experimenting with doing a couple of Pinkerton songs, or not, and maybe we'll do a couple more songs off Maladroit. We're just trying to find the perfect set, and it's going to take more work."

Part of that work, Shriner reveals, is examining other band's performances; including their co-headliners.

"The Foo Fighters really do a great job of breaking it down, talking to the audience, and making everybody feel into the show. You know, Dave goes out and runs around, and it's really cool. I think we're just looking to other bands that have done really well with including the audience and breaking the barrier between the band and the crowd. We're trying to branch out of our normal thing a little bit. I think when we were doing the Enlightenment Tour on Maladroit, we got a little carried away with the weird little interludes between songs, so we're just trying to bring a little bit of that."

Said tour followed the release of the band's last record, Maladroit, a collection of tunes that was the band's most accomplished and diverse, but yielded puzzled reactions from both fans and critics. For Shriner, the larger response to Maladroit does not diminish his happiness with his first recorded Weezer appearance.

"I think it's rad," Shriner says of Maladroit. "I love that record. It's a little chaotic, and I think Rivers was a bit detached from the actual lyrics he was saying. [But] it's self-produced. We made that record the way we wanted to make it. It was kind of a cool session. We sang all kinds of wild background vocals and got to play some totally different stuff. I'm not disappointed if people are into it or not."

The eccentric (according to Weezer fans) approach to Maladroit has led many to describe their latest record, Make Believe, as a return-to-form. Shriner notes definite distinctions between his band's previous record and their latest. "Make Believe is like totally different to me. It's super thought out and well-restrained, I would say."

Part of that could be attributed to production guru Rick Rubin, who helmed the Make Believe sessions and helped frontman Rivers Cuomo find the wastebasket while he was writing songs. Shriner says that Rubin's approach to the session was unlike anything the band had previously experienced.

"I wasn't in the band when they were working with Ric Ocasek," explains Shriner (who joined the band in 2001 during their "Green Album" tour). "I think, from what I've heard, Ric Ocasek was really into sounds, and guitar sounds, and he was super into the more technical stuff. Also, [he] has such an extensive musical background; he's an amazing musician. But, I think Rick Rubin's not really a musician, so to speak. He's just kind of a super music fan and scientist. I think he really helped clear up a lot of the unnecessary stuff on some of these songs and make it really clear so that more people could understand what Rivers what talking about. I think he's just got a super good pop kind of sensibility and is able to understand what people want to hear."

One of the things the band wanted to hear was louder guitars, which Rubin's technique brought to the forefront.

"It's funny," laughs Shriner. "I actually think we were trying to have bigger guitar sounds on Maldroit, but there was so much racket going on. By Rick Rubin clearing out all the unnecessary stuff, people actually are saying that it sounds heavier and darker."

Rubin's multi-platinum ears were instrumental in the album's creation (he reportedly helped Cuomo whittle down some 200 songs into a much smaller number before the band began working them) and the producer worked with both Weezer, the band, and Weezer, the members, to forge Make Believe.

"He's really into pre-production," describes Shriner. "We did like three weeks of pre-production and he worked with us individually. But, really when it came down to doing takes, he was just trying to get the absolute best kind of drum takes and get the core kind of vibe together, and then let us do overdubs as long as we stayed within the confines of the pre-production stuff that we already agreed on."

For Shriner, keeping up with the seemingly infinite pen of Rivers Cuomo has not proven impossible. "I grew up in Toledo playing in cover bands where we had to learn songs all the time. So I think I grew up learning other people's songs really quick. It got my chops up for Rivers's writing."

This time out, that writing produced "well in excess of 50 songs" that were eventually trimmed down into Make Believe. But, according to Shriner, fans shouldn't expect too many glimpses at the yet-unheard material. Unlike the days before Maldroit, where the band posted new songs on their website on a weekly basis, Shriner assures that the chances of the castaways from Make Believe reaching the ears of Weezer fans are very unlikely.

"That was fun, and who knows what will happen next year, but I think this year, we're pretty much sticking to what we got," reports Shriner. "I think the motto is just to put out the absolute best songs that we can. I think that if those songs were worthy of making a record, they would have made a record."

Indeed, the band has shaped their career with concise, uncluttered albums full of great tunes that don't merely fill in the gaps between their respectable roster of radio hits; in many cases, they eclipse them. This is certainly one thing that accounts for Weezer's amazing mass appeal, which spreads across several generations of music fans. Shriner's assessment of the band's unifying element is about the best summation of Weezer you're liable to hear.

"It's the same thing that captured my attention," remembers Shriner. "The first couple of Weezer songs I heard, like when I heard 'Say It Aint So, it's like, 'cool, I dig this guy, I dig his voice, and it's great'. But when the choruses hit, the guitars got really heavy. It's some really powerful shit, and I think that attracts the metal heads and all the people who are just into melodic rock. There's a little something for everybody. It's just great songwriting, so what's not to like?"

With a venue-filling tour with Foo Fighters already underway, and three singles from Make Believe in heavy rotation on every modern rock station in the world, Weezer are firmly fixed to continue their admirable legacy. Not bad for a plain old "Rock" band, eh?

30 Seconds To Mars : Interview

2008-04-07T19:56:00.000-07:00

by Aaron Pompey

Hours before 30 Seconds to Mars takes the stage at the Roxy in West Hollywood for the first time in over a year, the band is huddled around a booth in the venue's VIP lounge talking about inspiration. Jared Leto, the band's frontman and guitarist, likes to attribute some of his own inspiration to simple circumstance. "Wherever you go, there you are," he remarks glibly. And before he can elaborate, his cell phone rings. Jared frowns and reaches into his back pocket. "It's all the last-minute motherfuckers," Jared mumbles as he pulls out a flip phone and stares blankly at the number flashing on its screen. "The funny thing is," Jared places the blinking phone on the large round table in front of him, "there are a couple tickets that sold on eBay for $217." He shakes his head, "Crazy motherfuckers."

But Jared's predilection for Oedipal metaphors is meant to be neither harsh nor disparaging. In truth, the band – which also includes Jared's older brother Shannon Leto on drums, Matt Wachter on bass, and Tomo Milicevic on guitar – has enormous affection for its ever-growing fan base, including those who would shell out two hundred dollars for a standing-room-only show. "We definitely have some very, very hardcore committed fans out there who like what we did the first time around," he notes with a kind of deliberate reticence, referring to the band's 2002 eponymous debut.

But before there was 30STM, there was Jared and Shannon, two brothers sharing a bedroom with some Marshall amps and a drum set. "You know what, it was a great time," recalls Shannon. "It was very cool." Although the brothers lived in Hollywood, they avoided playing venues in L.A., opting instead to travel cities – sometimes states – away. "We refused to play L.A. – we were in it for art rock's sake. We would change our name every night. We didn't give a fuck if a show was promoted or advertised or any of that. We played to play." Shannon nods, "We were playing for ourselves." And their sound was slightly different back then. "It was like super long progressive songs," says Jared, "and it was basically a 'Fuck you – love it or leave it'."

The brothers' fearlessness eventually paid off when EMI's Virgin label signed 30STM in 1998. By that time, the band's sound had evolved into what some critics were calling neo-Prog and post-Grunge. Then their music caught the ear of legendary record producer Bob Ezrin, who had worked previously on several groundbreaking projects – including Alice Cooper's Love it to Death, KISS's Destroyer, and Lou Reed's Berlin – but who may be best known for his production of Pink Floyd's The Wall. Ezrin came on to produce the band's first album, helping them to create a larger, more distinct sound that would set them apart from the mainstream. "The size of the guitars, and everything really, was big. But it's not aggressive. It's not heavy music. It's not metal. But it's not shoegazing indie rock, either. It's kind of it's own thing, it's own world." Matt agrees, noting that "It's somewhere in between." Ezrin also helped the boys understand the importance of an album's structure and how to create a progression, rather than a simple series of songs. "Bob Ezrin was really helpful with that because there could be two songs that are really great, but share too similar territory."

Ezrin's influence on the band carried over into their conception of a follow-up project. "The thing that the first album set up," Jared recalls, "was that we wanted to be different." And the first album was different, establishing the group as a unique voice in music. So when Jared began thinking about the kind of music he wanted to write for the second album, he anticipated a challenge, albeit a good one. "We knew it was going to be a long experience and we made a decision to embrace opportunities when they became apparent."

And an opportunity soon came along when Oliver Stone cast Jared in his grand epic Alexander. The film was shot on location in, among other places, Northern Africa and Thailand. During that period, he found a great deal of inspiration, writing several new songs – including what would become their first single "Attack". But "Attack" proved to be somewhat problematic, and was nearly excluded from the album. "'Attack' was a song that wasn't scheduled to be recorded at all," Jared recalls. "I'd been playing it – I'd play it in the desert in Morocco, I was playing it in Thailand – I was playing it everywhere." But when he tried performing the song with the rest of the band, something wasn't falling into place. "On acoustic it was great; but when we played it as a band, it just fell flat on its face." The guys nod. "As soon as the bass got in there…" Matt interjects, hanging his head in disgrace. Jared takes the cue. "Yeah, so it was either replace Matt or throw the song out." Thinking that the song had hit a dead end, but holding out hope, Jared played it for Josh Abraham, their promoter and Virgin's VP of A&R. "I was playing it outside of the studio one night on acoustic guitar and Josh walked out and, as a joke, I said 'Hey, you wanna hear a hit song?' I was just talking shit. I started playing the verse and went into the chorus and he stopped me on the first chorus and said 'It's the best song you have. You have to record it'." Having already given the song a shot, something needed to change for it to come alive. "So we all got in a circle and something about it changed. Something about us changed. And now it became the first song on the record and the first single off our new album. So he did a great job on encouraging us to do that song. And now I really love it."

That's when his cell phone begins ringing with those eleventh-hour requests for comp tickets to the show.

Matt brings the conversation back, touting Jared's inspired writing. "Jared was in Africa a few months before we got there," he recalls. "When we got to Africa, one of the first songs Jared played for us was 'Was it a Dream?' and it was unlike anything he'd ever written before." "'A Beautiful Lie' came out of Africa," Jared remarks, "Really productive time. Almost every song that we worked on down there ended up on the record." But Matt brings it back to Jared. "When he played 'Was it a Dream?' for us, all of us were just like 'Wow, this is a great direction he's going.' He was obviously influenced by his surroundings." Matt pauses a moment, then adds, "Because it's like no other place on earth. If we were stuck in L.A. the whole time, I think there would have been a much different record."

When 30STM finally entered the studio in April 2004, Josh Abraham was at the controls. Abraham, who had produced Velvet Revolver's Grammy-winning debut album, brought perspective to 30STM's shift toward a more confessional sound. "Josh likes to keep things organic," Jared observes. Abraham's organic approach meant catching the spontaneity and immediacy of the band's in-studio performances. "A lot of the songs were their very immediate takes," Jared explains. "We wanted to catch that excitement of something being fresh and new." Which, of course, can be challenging among perfectionists. "A very difficult thing to do," Matt admits, "is to let go and just be like 'It's good'." The result was a substantial stride in the band's creative evolution. "We're always on a search for our own true voice and to be as unique as possible," says Jared, "We definitely, I think, succeeded a lot of times, even on the first record. But there are clear moments, this time around, where I hear it."

But that doesn't mean that the band doesn't acknowledge their creative influences. As Jared will quickly point out, embracing your creative influences is a natural part of finding that voice. "I think anybody has someone – whether they apprentice with a painter, or you have a teacher, if you're a writer – who influences your style." And 30STM counts among its influences some classic artists. "I don't listen to music very much, and the music I play is pretty old." But artists like Pink Floyd, U2, Björk, The Cure, Zeppelin, and The Police continue to resonate with the band. In fact, some of the melodic phrases and stylistic twists on A Beautiful Lie bear their signature. "There are songs where it was kind of fun to let the influence kind of be alive," Jared admits. On a few songs, that influence is unmistakable, including the heavy Cure sound shaping "Was it a Dream?" and the early U2 sound that is particularly striking on "The Fantasy." "It was nice to let that be there and to put that in there as homage or a nod to one of our heroes." And there are notably clear distinctions between artists like 30STM - who absorb inspiration, using it to generate innovative music – and bands that offer little in the way of stylistic imagination.

And what about more recent artists? Jared pauses to think of a few. "Interpol…Muse…Bloc Party's pretty good." Jared looks over at Tomo and adds, "These guys have been listening to the new Nine Inch Nails." Tomo jumps in with "My Chemical Romance." The other guys nod. "We played with them recently," Jared explains. "Very nice guys. And we opened for Incubus. They're a very melodic band and good friends of ours now. That went really well." What about an artist like Aphex Twin? "I used a lot of his drum sounds on the album. I manipulated some of the sounds he manipulated. He's a genius," Jared pauses, then adds, "or a retard." Matt chews on that idea for a second, then notes, "there's a fine line between genius and retard." Jared pauses again and it seems as though he may be pondering that fine line. "We're weird, though," he says. "We're strange compared to a lot of rock out there. It's always really difficult to think who we would tour with." That's a good question. 30STM is currently touring alongside Chicago band Chevelle, hitting about 35 U.S. cities this summer. They will also join The Used later this year.

Since the growth of the band from two to four members, 30STM has enjoyed a new dynamic, complete with greater variance in style and influence. "Matt and Tomo were really instrumental in helping shape the new record," says Jared of Wachter and Milicevic, who had been playing live shows with the band before officially joining them for studio work on A Beautiful Lie. For Matt, being a part of 30STM has been a critical part of his development as a musician. "For myself," explains Matt, "it was rewarding in a couple of ways: I got to be on an amazing record – it's something I'm very proud of. And I've learned a lot from these guys." One thing he learned was how to do less, "which is something that is a really hard lesson to learn. It's easy to go in there and go –" Matt interrupts himself to make some hardcore bass solo sounds. "But the songs are so strong that we wanted to let them breathe on their own." And that may be what distinguishes 30STM. It's difficult to create exceptional music marked by so much honesty, yet the band's inspired execution of Jared's exceptional writing achieves that with skill, maturity and, perhaps most importantly, grace.

Far too many albums produced by recent bands wind up being 10-track CDs with so much filler that they might well have been cut down to 5-song EPs. Another too many albums open with introspective ballads and don't really hit their stride until the third or, god forbid, fourth track. A Beautiful Lie dodges any potential missteps by opening the album with the strong, driving sounds of "Attack", then gradually steering the album toward more contemplative, introspective tracks – all without compromising the energy that has become one of the band's signature elements. This may be one of the greatest compliments paid to a band who has worked under a producer like Ezrin and who appreciate the importance of an album's structure and its progression. "That's exactly what we wanted – not just a collection of songs that were trying to make it to the top of the list, but a record that was cohesive. Otherwise it just becomes white noise."

Creating a cohesive narrative after having written over 40 songs for the album, meant having to decide which songs would be eliminated from the finished project. And deciding that meant again drawing on what the band had learned from working under Ezrin's guidance. "It was about telling the story and what songs were appropriate," Jared observes. Ultimately, the band faced the daunting task of paring down those 40-something songs to a damn-near-impossible 10 for the album. Jared laughs. "Somebody said to me that I'm very decisive. But I said that I'm only indecisive when I'm undecided. So once I make that decision, I'm good. But until then, the songs take their beating. And they all took their beating." So which ten made the cut, conceptually speaking? "The ten that tell the story the best, the ten that are the strongest. The ten that survived." And now that the album is complete and set for an August 30 release, does he maintain his decisiveness? "Absolutely. I still feel like the ten most important songs made the record."

Although it may be too soon to be thinking about what's next for 30STM, it's worth a shot. "Who knows what's in the future. But this time around, I think we explored every possibility of what the first record was about. So to repeat any of those things would have been a big mistake."

"We made sure this time around that we were going to be brave enough to leave all the tricks of the past behind. And in order, I think, to move forward, you have to let go of your past. It's not always an easy thing to do, especially if certain things worked."

"And sometimes people aren't going to grow with you, and that's okay. But I think that means you're doing the right thing." So don't expect a simple return to form from 30STM. "I heard, when I was a kid, this quote that's attributed to Picasso, but I think he probably stole it from somewhere else. It's that an artist who doesn't move forward, moves backward. And I've always applied that to myself as an artist."

A Beautiful Lie hits stores August 30. "Attack", the new single, is available now.