I recently had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Ville and Mige from H.I.M. Despite the fact that I had been up most of the previous night writing, I really enjoyed speaking with both of them.
Having done a lot of interviews over the years, you never know what you are walking into and with Ville and Mige I really found both to be personable and down to earth. One thing that I will say about this band is that they are solid and it’s really a shame that more people aren’t familiar with them. That is the exact reason I wanted to feature them for the premiere issue.
So happy listening and I hope you enjoy.
Thanks to Mige and Ville for their time and a very special thanks to caffeine whom without I’d probably develop narcolepsy.
XS BS had the opportunity to interview lead singer/bassist Grog. Formed 4 years ago, and exploded onto the alternative rock scene with their darkly individual and metal-edged soundscape. Sultry underworld siren Grog provides soaring, passionate vocals and hard-hitting bass guitar, accompanied by mohawked king of the darkwave Drew Richards on guitar, and John Bonham inspired drumming firework frenzy, Al Fletcher. Drawing on influences ranging from The Deftones and Black Sabbath to Siouxsie Sioux and Hole, their music is a compelling mix of raw emotion laced with infectious melody.
For more then a decade Ozzfest has become a staple in a yearly concert spectacle. Year after year, Ozzfest has been one of the most anticipated metal tours to sell out hand over fist showcasing some of metal’s finest roster of bands. Each year the Ozzfest has captivated the broad spectrum of both platinum and well known artists which offered the most in ones’ musical taste crossing all boundaries in the genre’ of metal. Ozzfest has been the forefront as one of the most popular metal tours of its kind to grace stages across America. One can never imagine a concert like Ozzfest to actually be “FREE” until earlier this past summer, when Ozzfest was rumored to be just that. This year Ozzfest had a long list of bands rounding out the hot topic second stage to which have never performed other then Hatebreed who returned for the third consecutive time this year. With the likes of 3 Inches of Blood, Ankla, Chthonic, Devil Driver and The Show Down all gracing the second stage it was hard to really pick a particular set I liked more of. With never seeing any of these bands on the second stage other then Hatebreed who just rip any fan into shreds by themselves, I enjoyed The Show Down the most. Even with most of these bands playing twenty minute slots, you still get the most out of the second stage. The brutality of Hatebreed seemingly brings the hammer down toward the end of the second stage with just going in for the kill with a great show.
As if the second stage just isn’t enough, the main stage at each Ozzfest showcases some of the finer talent on this year’s bill. Opening the show, new comers Black Tide ripped through twenty minutes of hell raising guitar work. This band reminded me of the good old days when guitar solos were partial to a well written song. A brief set change, next to take the stage….. Finland’s finest Lordi. An unusual outfit indeed, didn’t quite follow the whole costume persona but, there’s nothing quite like Lordi to say the most of any band out of Finland these days.
From Lordi to Static- X we got at Ozzfest. Now here’s a band that can keep you entertained both musically and physically. Not a bad set at any given moment as Static – X performed some of their greatest songs within their catalog of music. Their set included “Push It”, “Enemy”, “Dirthouse”, “Destroy All”, and “The Only” which sounded amazing live.
A nice set well done and we move onto the Co- headliner at this year’s Ozzfest Lamb of God. This is a band that holds their own gracefully. The blistering vocals of Randy Blythe to the amazing soaring guitar work round out such a great band. I can’t say I own any of their music, but have witness countless performances at one time or another and have been totally blown away by their live sets. You want talk about stirring up a vicious mosh pit while these guys are on stage. Yeah Lamb of God can redefine the word vicious to a “T”. With much of their set consisting from earlier catalogs, Lamb of God had the bull by the horns at Ozzfest as Randy stormed out on stage and just worked the fans from the minute they began to play “Laid To Rest “. Other favorites tossed in were “Now You Have Something To Die For”, “Ashes of The Awake”, and “Walk With Me In Hell”.
Nothing completes an annual ozzfest without an appearance with the madman himself OZZY rounding out the mainstage each and every year. The songs get better and better much like a well aged bottled wine. There might be a few missed songs left unplayed or a few lil less self induced “ F “ bombs tossed out in the crowd. We still count on OZZY to close the show gracefully with trademark songs spanning his three decade career as both a solo artist and the main artery in Black Sabbath belting out the most popular hits we have come to expect. I think this year seem to be the best yet, he tossed in two new songs off of Back Rain which to some say is the best work from OZZY in several years as a solo artist. “ I Don’t Wanna Stop “ and “ Here For You “. I don’t think anyone can leave feeling less then over joyed with each performance he’s given back to the fans as a thank you for being loyal all these years.
Killola is an female-fronted band from Los Angeles, California. Their music includes elements of garage rock, new-wave punk, power pop and alternative. They began playing together in 2003. In early 2004, they recorded an EP and posted the songs onto lead singer Lisa Rieffel’s Myspace page (at that time Myspace was about 3 months old).
The band has played countless shows in LA and has put out several releases on their own, selling and distributing the album via their website.
In May 2007 Killola completed a self-booked UK tour (the band personally booked 13 shows in 13 days, all set-up through Myspace). At the end of that tour, they recorded a live-in-studio record (15 tracks mixed live to analog tape) in Suffolk, England (Bury St Edmunds).
In mid 2007, Killola lent some music to a webisodic series called “Girltrash!” (web-spinoff of “The L Word”) written and directed by Angela Robinson. After Robinson attended a Killola performance, she offered Rieffel a lead character role in the show itself. She plays a foul-mouthed lesbian crook called ‘Daisy Robson’. http://www.girltrash.tv
Killola’s live show is high-energy and often provocative in nature. It is said that Lisa sometimes “blacks out by the middle of the first song, then wakes up about 30 minutes after the show ends”…. noted antics include jumping on fans, throwing up, groping the drummer, and laying on the floor in the middle of the crowd.
On top of making music for years, Killola is a highly fan-accessible band. The band members host online interactive video-chat shows every Friday night, and on Monday nights Johnny and Lisa host a radio show on Dave Navarro’s web-radio station SPREAD RADIO LIVE. The band personally mails out several pounds of postage every week to fans through their “You Take Time, We Take Time” campaign… details at www.killola.com/youtaketime
Killola encourages fans to tattoo themselves with band-related artwork and/or lyrics. The band’s website devotes a section to Killola fan-tattoos showcasing photos of several fan-tatoos from around the world. The band states that a Killola tattoo gets you free entry into performances for life.
Teaming up with producer Frank Gryner (Rob Zombie, A Perfect Circle) theTURN have carved out ten epic songs to be released early 2008. After winning the 99.3 cfox seeds contest in 05/06, a radio contest that has launched the career’s of international recording artists Nickleback, Default, and Mathew Good, theTURN has kept themselves sharp with a steady diet of live shows over 150 in the last year and a half. They have opened for acts such as Faber Drive, Mariana’s Trench, Lilix, the Trews, Ill Scarlet, and the Armchair Cynics. When it came time to record their first record they caught the attention of Frank Gryner and started crafting the album. “Recording in Vancouver at the Factory Studios and mixing in Hollywood at the Chop Shop was a great experience for us” says the band “we had a chance to really explore without limitations, we didn’t have to worry about the quality of the equipment or the tones we were getting it was all about capturing the right performance”. Hitting the road in spring 2008 theTURN is ready to set a new standard of west coast rock and bring it to the rest of Canada.
Dearest rockoholics, since this was our premiere issue, I wanted to focus on some of the music that I felt fell into the “Best of 2007”.
So here are my picks for 2007 in no particular order. These are items that I feel are worth spending your money on. There were lots of singles that were good this year too but these are the CDs that stood out as a whole.
CD: Die So Fluid, Spawn of Dysfunction
Ok, so this one wasn’t released this year but you won’t find a bad track on it. With lead singer/bassist Grog’s venomous take no prisoners iron-lunged singing backed by solid lyrics, a wicked bass line and guitar riffs, it simply kicks ass from start to finish. http://www.myspace.com/diesofluid
CD: H.I.M., Venus Doom
I listen to a ton of music each year and it’s rare these days for me to listen to a CD from start to finish. Listening to this CD was one of those rare occasions because I was drawn in by each track. All of the tracks are solid and have their own persona; you won’t find any filler tracks here.
Sonically, this CD has a more guitar driven, heavier sound than their previous release. That combined with the angst injected vocals makes for great listening.
I absolutely love and admire that they didn’t put together a disc of 9 songs formed into perfectly formatted 3.5 minute radio ready turds. Instead they included a 10 minute rock epic, “Sleepwalking Past Hope” and even a short intimate interlude (1.11) “Song or Suicide”. Easily one of my favorite releases from this year. www.heartagram.com
CD/DVD: Heart - Dreamboat Annie
This was released in the Fall this year. It’s Heart performing some of their classic tracks live, how could this not be good? If you like to go a little retro once in a while then you’ll probably like this one. This was recorded live in LA and contains some of their greatest hits like Barracuda, Crazy on You, Magic Man. I don’t feel like I really need to explain this one do I? http://www.heart-music.com/
Book: Heroin Diaries
This book covers a year in the life of Nikki Sixx who at the time was hooked on Heroin.
This is definitely not a candy-coated version of addiction. It pretty much lays it out on the table and I found this to be an interesting read. So whether or not you know someone who is/was suffering from addiction, this book is worth a read. http://www.theheroindiaries.net/
Book: Clapton – Autobiography
If you’ve ever seen him interviewed then you know he’s a pretty private man. The book however, provides a pretty honest look at his life from childhood to current. After reading this it really gives you some sense of who Clapton is as a person and what makes him tick. So if you are a Clapton fan, I’d pick this one up. http://www.ericclapton.com/
In 2005, Vancouver’s vibrant rock scene brought together five talented musicians with the knack for producing hard rocking anthems and undeniably catchy melodies. Hard work, determination, focus and a relentless do-it-yourself attitude have now placed this band as one of the top independent acts not just in their home country, but across globe.
Art Of Dying has torn up stages all over the UK and has just released their debut album to Canadian audiences via their own label, Thorny Bleeder Records. They have shared the stage with some of the world’s biggest artists including: Tool, Deftones, My Chemical Romance, Staind, Our Lady Peace, Hinder, Papa Roach and AFI. In the past year they have been the main support act for Seether on their UK tour, and for both Econoline Crush and Saliva on their Canadian tours.
Since the band’s inception in Vancouver two years ago, Art of Dying has quietly become Canada’s number one rock band to watch. Their song “Get Through This” has attracted well over 75,000 fans to their MySpace page and has battled it out in the Top 10 charts on many US radio stations. The song has been licensed to two international video games (Stuntman: Ignition and Flatout: Ultimate Carnage), has been featured on ABC’s Falcon Beach, and is the theme song for both Movie Central’s “Stuntdawgs” and Global TV’s hockey reality series, “Making the Cut”. After winning a Vancouver radio contest in May 2005, Art of Dying’s live show stole the award for “Best Live Performance” at the 2006 Music West Festival. In January 2007 Classic Rock Magazine in the UK handpicked Art of Dying as one of the “Top 15 Bands To Watch”, worldwide. But the accolades don’t stop there. Kerrang! Magazine recently reviewed the band and hailed them as “heavy crowd pleasers”. Vancouver’s Georgia Straight entertainment weekly has just crowned Art Of Dying as “2007’s Best Local Band, Unsigned”, as voted by their readers.
With Canadian and international tours in the works, and song placements in major games and TV shows, Art Of Dying are on their way to becoming Canada’s next big rock export.
LOURDS, spelled all in capital letters, is a band of four talented and charismatic personalities, Lourds Lane, Sarah Vasil, GeneBlank and Joey Sagarese. At age 6, lead singer, multi-instrumentalist and namesake, Lourds wailed on her violin and dazzled audiences at Carnegie Hall. Since then, this New York City native continues to mesmerize audiences, singing with venom and distorting her electric violin and mandolin alongside her superstar powerhouse bandmates. With a glowing album review in Billboard and dominating the front cover of the entertainment section of the NY DAILY NEWS, LOURDS is a band rapidly on the rise. They convert new fans instantly with their hook-laden songs, their cutting-edge sound, and their explosive stage show. They are presently touring in support of their eponymous debut produced by Ed Stasium, Grammy Award winning producer of the Ramones, Living Colour, The Smithereens and Biohazard. Listen for fan-favorite single, “ASTROPOP,” rising up the radio charts across the country!
Hello Tokyo is a three-piece, female fronted, power-pop/rock group from Brooklyn, NY. Originally formed in Washington D.C. after finding a forgotten 4-track recorder, Kat and John wrote a handful of songs and soon found themselves developing a great foundation of fans. While maintaining these D.C. relationships, Hello Tokyo branched out and began performing in NYC and Philadelphia, doing so regularly for the past 1∏ years. During their trips north, Hello Tokyo fell in love with NYC, and decided to move there to pursue the band full-time. So they quit their jobs, loaded the van, moved to Brooklyn, NY and since then have been consistently performing live and writing new material.
It’s been two decades or so since the Signature sound of the CULT took a hold of their loyal followers by leaps and bounds! OK, I admit, I was one of them! Originated and fronted by vocalist Ian Astbury and legendary guitarist Billy Duffy they were originally “The Death Cult.” The band had risen to super stardom in the late 80s with their mega hit release of “Sonic Temple!” The driven material from that release gave metal music lovers the hits such as “Firewoman”, “She Sells Sanctuary” and “Sweet Soul Sister.”
The band seemed to disappear for a period and had a few other albums out here and there, but I sensed with those releases they were trying to “keep up with the times”. Their latest effort released October 30th on Roadrunner Records on the bands “New Wilderness Label called; “Born Into This” signifies that the band is going back to their roots and recapturing that ever so identifiable “CULT” trademark sound! With song hits such at “Dirty Little Rock Star”, “I am Assassin”, “Tiger in the Sun”, “Born into This”, “Illuminated”, and “Sound of Destruction.” (which bass lines reminded me a bit of the Sisters of Mercy sound)
We had a chance to catch the CULT’s November performance at the beautifully restored Keswick Theatre in Glenside, PA for the Jägermeister Tour that they headlined. I have to be honest, they were spectacular! I saw them perform at the Trocadero last year after Ian had just finished a stint with his DOORS reunion and to be honest he had gained a little weight and the show was a bit mellower. This time out showed everyone looking much more toned and just more into the show displaying so much more stage presence and stamina! Ian was his old self and his vocals are just amazing! The venue rose to their feet when they went into “Firewoman” and there wasn’t a person standing still! The sound and lights at the Keswick always provide for a great show as well!
This new release is a must have for any true CULT lover who has been longing for the Cult’s signature sound and craving for that lost void! Love it! Love them! Wild rumors are spreading all over the net that the Cult may be on the Led Zeppelin US tour in 2008 not yet confirmed but what an opportunity for more fans to see exactly how awesome this band is and what an epic show that would be! Check out their website at www.The-Cult.com
