Demon Hunter - Hails and Horns Magazine

DEMON HUNTER
Interview with Ryan Clark By Rei Nishimoto

Demon Hunter has been hard at work completing their sixth and latest release called True Defiance. For over a decade, the veteran Christian metal act has built its name around its technical metal sound and a balance of heavy and melodic vocals.

Formed in 2000, the Clark brothers, Ryan (vocals) and Don (former guitarist who left the band in 2009) formed the band and released their first song “Through the Black” on the This Is Solid State, Volume 3 compilation in 2002.

Known for their strong fan base within the Christian metal world, they have still managed to transcend it through the “Not Ready To Die” video play on MTV’s Headbangers Ball and Fuse TV, as well as the “Heart Strings Come Undone” single on the Resident Evil: Apocalypse movie soundtrack.

Despite their string of successes, Demon Hunter has historically done minimal touring and has still reached fans across the United States within their allotted timeframe. They did their debut European tour in 2010, which opened them to new fans.

Vocalist Ryan Clark discusses True Defiance and the making of this album, and being a Christian metal band in today’s world.

Demon Hunter’s been on a regular album cycle releasing an album every year and half or so? 

It sounds about right. I’ve been doing this for ten years and this is album number six- a little more frequently than every two years.

Does inspiration for lyrics and songs come up pretty quickly? It seems like albums come together pretty fast.

I write the music and the lyrics for all the initial stuff. It takes more shape especially in the lead guitar territory when we get together and hit the studio. Usually when each album cycle dies down and we’re done touring for the record, all of us start gathering thoughts. I have a monologue of riffs or melodies, and throughout the year I’ll record them on my phone. By the time it’s time to put down some new material down to demo, I usually have a handful of beginnings, whether it’s a riff or a melody or a lyric. It doesn’t always flow. It’s probably the same as it is for anyone, sometimes it happens naturally and sometimes you’re forcing it out. The subject matter to me is important. The songs have to mean something. There has to be an actual theme to it and not a couple words that run into a song. That is the hardest part – coming up with a few themes to talk. I always have a default…as dumb as the world is…I like to have a few specific things, songs that are more specific about a particular issue.

The album title is called True Defiance. Is there a theme behind the title or a concept? 

I wouldn’t say it’s a concept record but definitely has a theme that runs throughout the songs. True Defiance is a title I’ve actually had in the back of my head for a couple of years. When I was doing this record that’s the name I kept gravitating back to. Essentially it means the metal scene is supposed to be defiant. It supposed to be against whatever it is – society, religion, politics, or any number of things. When all of those things become the norm in metal, then the defiance loses its steam. The idea we had in ‘True Defiance’ is that, as a Christian band in the metal scene, I feel like we could be moving against the grain, as far as the beliefs and the politics of heavy metal. To me it’s kind of like, if everyone’s being defiant in this one angle, then we’re being defiant in an inversed way most metal bands would be.

You previewed ‘Someone To Hate’ before the release of the record. 

It definitely follows in line with the album title. It’s about being comfortable within the person that I am and the worldview that I have and the views that I have. A lot of people don’t agree with Christianity and don’t favor our opinions or our beliefs. The song is basically about being ok with being someone to hate. If those things are going to cause people to hate Christianity or hate the band, it’s almost like a ‘bring it on…’ kind of a statement. You said you built the songs around the ideas of True Defiance. What are some of the other ideas you put behind the songs this time around? There’s a lot of angst for sure. It definitely follows the Demon Hunter blueprint the way that we do things. We’re comfortable with the thing that we do and within the confines of what we do there’s a lot of room to breathe. We’ve always done songs that are really heavy but we add melody to most of them. If we feel like doing songs that are balls out heavy the whole time, then we’ll do it. If we feel like doing a ballad with singing the whole time, we’ll do it. Those are the things we’ve done since the beginning. There’s always room for that kind of stuff and it’s nice because you don’t feel like you’re in this little box where you’re doing the same thing every song. It definitely follows along the same guidelines. Technicality has stepped up pretty big on this record. For people who know the difference, it’s got more of a European metal sound. It’s a lot of dueling melodic guitars that are lightened down for the verses where you would find in In Flames or Amon Amarth songs…a lot more songs along those lines. Thematically it’s Demon Hunter themes. Lots of stuff that’s pretty dark [like] the current state of the world, the nation, people’s mindsets and dealing with mortality and those kinds of things.

Over the past few albums, you’ve had a shake up in the lineup. How do you feel the new members affected the band’s sound? 

It’s definitely been a smooth transition. My brother [ex-guitarist Don Clark] was my writing partner for the first four records. That was definitely change we had to go through. He wasn’t only the co-writer but he was also the business guy in the band. So I had to step up when he left and take all the reigns. As far as the musicianship is concerned my brother wasn’t exactly the player that Patrick [Judge, guitarist] is. On that level it’s broadened what we’re able to do as a band. It’s taken some of the boundaries off. I’m able to write whatever I want to write, whether it’s more technical, or faster, or crazier, or have more changes. I don’t have to worry about [whether] we can pull it off with everyone’s playing abilities. Now when I write more so, on the last two records, I just thought I’m going to write whatever I want. I don’t have to think in that mindset any more where I don’t have to limit it so everyone could play the song. Patrick’s such a better guitar player than I am… anything I write he will be able to not only play, but make it even better.

When your brother was in the band with the original lineup, Demon Hunter was limited to how much touring the band could do. In the past few years, you’ve done a lot more touring. Do you feel there are a lot more Demon Hunter fans than you originally thought? 

It’s a hard thing to quantify. Even though we have a brave amount of fanfare and our fans have been devoted throughout the years, the last few years touring has been rough across the board for everyone, unless you’re some hot new band or some new band with a lot of buzz behind them. Everyone’s been tried and true. Touring for the last couple years has been pretty difficult. It’s hard to say. We went out in the fall of 2010 the crowds have been a little bit smaller. It doesn’t seem to equal the amount of fanfare that we still have for the band and the people interested to hear stuff. Being a band that’s ten years old, a lot of the fans we had who were in their late teens to early 20s when the band came out, now have families and careers. That plays a big part in it. The financial state of the nation – a lot of people don’t have jobs. A lot of people can’t trek across couple of states to come see us play. That’s what’s hit the music industry and touring big time over the past couple of years. We went to Europe for the first time for a couple of weeks. We’re going back there in a couple of months. In 2010 on that last record cycle, we stepped up the touring some more. It was fun. We like to do things where it’s comfortable for us and when it makes sense for us to do them. There’s no real pressure with this band or has been. When we do tour, it doesn’t feel like a job. Some bands I think they get worn out being on the road all the time. With this band, it’s never been the case and it’s a nice place to be.

Who did the cover art on True Defiance? 

Every couple of covers we try to hire someone new. I like to hire out for Demon Hunter because I do so much design myself. I like the art director doing it than doing it myself. It gives me a chance to hire guys I’ve looked up to. This one was done by Justin Kamerer who has a company called Angry Blue (www.angryblue.com). He’s done a lot of illustrative work for the hardcore and metal scene for the last couple of years. He’s someone I’ve been acquainted with. For a few years I’ve really dug his stuff. It’s the look and feel that I was going for on this record. Every cover has the same icon on it. We try to do the same thing in a different way each time. On the last record it was Dan Seagrave. He did a couple covers for the Triptych as well, which is our third record. I did the cover for Storm the Gates of Hell. Our previous guitarist Kris McCaddon did the cover art for Summer of Darkness. We like to switch it up.

I see you’re doing this brief European tour with Deadlock, Nightrage, and Insense. Is there also a US tour in the works? 

We’ll probably put something together for the summer. Right now we’re working on the initial phases of that. We’re definitely planning on getting out there to support the record. This European thing came up a while back. It’s been in talks for a while and it happened to be the right time. We’re playing one show in Seattle before we leave for Europe. We’re doing a local CD release thing and then going to Europe for a week.

On your previous record [2010’s The World Is A Thorn], you had Bjorn “Speed” Strid from Soilwork guesting on “Collapsing.” What was it like having someone like him singing on your record? 

It was killer. He is to me, probably my favorite singer from a band that’s still performing these days. Honestly I didn’t think he would do it, not because he wouldn’t like the band, but he would be busy and doing his own thing. I didn’t have any expectations when I asked him. He was interested in doing it. It was incredible having someone you look up to that much on your record. Also on that record is a guy named Christian Alvestam (Miseration/ex-Scar Symmetry). He’s another guy I really look up to on a vocal aspect. We’ve had guys in the past. Dave Peters from Throwdown also sings on that record. On Summer of Darkness, Howard [Jones] from Killswitch Engage sings on one song [“Our Faces Fall Apart”] and Mike [Williams] from The Agony Scene sings on one song [“Beheaded”]. We’ve done that here and there. On ‘Storm the Gates of Hell’, Bruce [Fitzhugh] from Living Sacrifice sings on a song [“Sixteen”]. This record doesn’t have any guest vocals, but it’s something we like to do here and there, whether it’s friends or people we look up to.

Have you performed any of those songs live? 

Mike from the Agony Scene did. We were able to tour with them after that record and he did a couple of those. Dave from Throwdown has actually sung with us on stage on other songs just for fun. He hasn’t sung with us since he did that one.

In the past few years Christian metal has drawn so much attention and Demon Hunter has been tied into that scene. How do you feel about being tied into such a movement and its connection to it? 

There are positives and negatives that come with it. I think that it gets attention is cool. A lot of friends in bands have been doing that, working in that world for the past 15 years. It’s cool to see a lot of bands that I see 15 years ago would have never got the same amount of attention. Bands like Underoath and As I Lay Dying are getting a lot of attention for being good bands. I think that’s great. There are so many facets of all things. There’s the eternal question of ‘what is Christian music?’ ‘Can music itself be Christian or is it the music itself be Christian?’ ‘Or is the guys in the band that are Christian?’ ‘They’re writing the music they feel like writing?’ There are all these avenues you can take when you’re breaking it down. We’re fine with it. We’ve never shied away from the term Christian band. I understand that’s how people will categorize you. It is a little bit silly. I sometimes talk about how in a record store it’s the only genre that you’ll find that’s based on a belief system of other people is gospel or Christian music. Everything else is categorized by how the music sounds. It’s kind of a weird thing you’re put in this little section because of what you’re talking about and not because of how the music sounds. There’s definitely been a crossover in the past few years for bands like As I Lay Dying. Most people know where they stand but they made that crossover where a lot of people don’t care or don’t know. That’s the one of the positives for sure – a bigger market where people are more open to the idea of it as long as it’s good music. It takes precedence with most conversations. I’ve been doing it for 16 or so years. I’m obviously used to it. A lot of people in Christian bands get jaded about constantly having to talk about it and justify it. They get really burned by it. I understand what people want to know about it and hear about it. I haven’t gotten bitter about it yet.

MMA's Josh Barnett Hosts Japan Benefit Show With All Shall Perish (Noisecreep - May 30, 2011)

When MMA fighter Josh Barnett heard about the devastating earthquake and tsunami that ravaged Japan in March, the fighter decided to do his part by gathering his favorite metal bands to perform at The Sun Forever Rising: A Benefit For Japan. The show featured headliners All Shall Perish and was held on Thursday, May 26th at the House of Blues in Los Angeles.

Barnett personally selected six diverse metal bands from across California to create an eclectic yet powerful bill. The fighter was spotted in various capacities throughout the evening, alternating between emceeing the event and diving into the mosh pit.

Show openers Thrown Into Exile and Internal Corrosion are two unsigned LA based metal bands that were hand-picked by Barnett. Thrown Into Exile laid down groove-heavy riffs with youthful energy, while Internal Corrosion stuck to old school thrash metal with plenty of harmonized guitar solos.

Later, Abysmal Dawn hit the stage and immediately took charge with their highly technical and commanding death metal attack. Frontman Charles Elliott kept the crowd moving, not allowing a single dull moment throughout their brief set.

Cattle Decapitation blasted through a tasty set of deathgrind that only they could perform. Frontman Travis Neal's guttural vocals and guitarist Josh Elmore's wailing guitars worked against each other while the crowd worked up a sweat in the pit.



Animals As Leaders have already made a name for themselves with a unique jam-oriented style that gets filtered through progressive fusion rock and metal music. While guitarist Tosin Abasi is the mastermind behind the group, he graciously stepped back to give guitarist Javier Reyes and drummer Navene Koperweis their moments in the spotlight as well.

The evening's headliners, All Shall Perish, admirably sustained the show's considerable momentum. Frontman Eddie Hermida kept the crowd entertained and involved while the guitar team of Ben Orum and Francesco Artusato worked like a well-oiled machine.

http://www.noisecreep.com/2011/05/30/mma-fighter-josh-barnett-japan-benefit-show-all-shall-perish/

Judas Priest Discuss Their Last World Tour, Next Studio Album (Noisecreep - May 26, 2011)

All five members of Judas Priest took part in a press conference at the Renaissance Hotel in Los Angeles, CA, to announce the upcoming first leg of their North American Epitaph tour with Thin Lizzy and Black Label Society. The band also introduced its new guitarist, Richie Faulkner.

On the subject of this being their 'final tour,' guitarist Glenn Tipton clarified the band's plans and touring outlook for the foreseeable future.

"It's not the end of the band, by any means. It is our last world tour. It takes a big chunk of your life -- 18 months, really, of being out there," Tipton said. "We've been doing it for nearly 40 years now. It's not to say that it will be our last show, and we certainly will [be] -- and have been -- recording, so chances are that there will be a [new] album as well next year. We would never turn down the appropriate date if we were offered it at some point in the future, but it will be our last world tour. It's probably the last chance that most people will get to see Judas Priest live. We wanna go out one final time and play our songs and just be together with the audience."

The band formally introduced Faulkner (Lauren Harris, Dirty Deeds), who replaced K.K. Downing last month after his sudden departure from the band. Tipton spoke highly of their new guitarist and what he brings to Judas Priest.

"It's amazing, really. When Ken ['K.K.' Downing] told us and said he leaving Priest, we had two choices: we either carry on and do the farewell tour, or we could have ended the band. So, obviously, we had to find the right guy, and honestly, we couldn't have had any better than this guy. The most amazing thing is he satisfies everybody's needs for how Priest should sound, but he does it in his own way. It's pretty unbelievable; he blended into the band straight away. And, as Rob said earlier on, honestly, if we hadn't found Richie, I don't think we would be going out [on tour] now, so it's just worked out really, really well for us."

Faulkner spoke about what he brings into Judas Priest compared to Downing's playing style.

"I come from [the classic-rock] era - [Led] Zeppelin and [Jimi] Hendrix - and I think K.K.'s playing was Hendrix-inspired as well, so that's kind of similar there," Faulkner said. "What it feels like to be a part of it, you can only imagine -- it's kind of surreal, really. But as a fan of the band and the genre, they are big shoes to fill, but I know what I do... As a fan, and as part of the band now, it's exciting -- as a guitar player and as a musician."

As far as Judas Priest's forthcoming album, both Tipton and vocalist Rob Halford gave their thoughts on how it is coming along. While they are still in the midst of writing and have yet to collaborate with Faulker on any material, things are slowly shaping up in the studio.

"It's quite a mixed bag. Really, there's more sentiment on this album. In a way, I suppose, it's also our farewell album. There are some anthems on there, which pay tribute to our fans; it's our way of saying thank you to the fans for all the years," said Tipton.

"I think what really is important is that you still have this desire, this passion -- it doesn't diminish in nearly 40 years," added Halford. "We still have this tremendous love for what we do in heavy metal music and the fans that have supported us are a constant inspiration. And I think we all agree that as much as we were very happy with the way 'Nostradamus' came out -- that was a great moment for us, because we had been waiting forever to make this concept album -- that's not the end with 'Nostradamus'. We wanted to make, at least, as Glenn said, one more great metal album with all the great ingredients."

"We've [already recorded and] mixed three [new] tracks, which we might put on our web page, because, as I said, some of the songs are a tribute to the fans -- a big 'thank you' to the fans for all the years -- so we might do that; we haven't really decided [how we'll release them]," said Tipton. "But that's one of the suggestions. I think we've done about 10 songs, but they're not finished. Three of them are mixed, the rest [need more work]. And, of course, we haven't done any collaboration with Richie yet.

"So it's [still the] early days, but there will be an album at some point - we just need time to finish it, really, and that depends on the touring schedule. 'Cause even if you get a break, when you've been on the road two or three months playing every night, you probably don't feel like going into the studio. Sometimes you need to walk away from music for a little bit. But at some point next year, I'm confident we'll release an album," said Tipton.

Judas Priest plan to release 'Single Cuts,' a CD single box set featuring all of the band's UK CBS/Columbia singles from 1997-2008 with original artwork; and 'The Classic Albums Collection,' a box set featuring re-mastered versions of all 17 of their albums including the two Gull Records releases.

http://www.noisecreep.com/2011/05/26/judas-priest-last-world-tour-next-studio-album/

Sister Sin's Liv Jagrell Talks About Her Favorite Female Rockers (Noisecreep - May 17, 2011)

Sister Sin are currently playing on the Hottest Chicks In Hard Rock tour with In This Moment, System Divide, and Straight Line Stitch. Frontwoman Liv Jagrell recently told Noisecreep about some of her favorite women in hard rock and metal.

"When I started to play, there weren't many females. There was a band from Sweden called Drain STH. They were like my gods because they were girls and they played really heavy. Most of the bands with female singers were punk rock and I'm not so into that."

"Of course I loved Doro because she's like the only one pretty much in Europe. I'd have to say Doro and Drain STH. Then today I very much admire Arch Enemy. I sing, and she [Angela Gossow] doesn't sing the way I do. But I do admire her. She's so cool and awesome."

Jagrell has been lucky enough to share stages with some of the women rockers she admires. "We have played with both Arch Enemy and Doro. Actually the two guitarists in Arch Enemy are from my hometown. I grew up with them so I've known them since I was small."

On the Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock tour, Jagrell is in one of the four female-fronted bands on the bill. What does she think of the tour so far?

"I think it's awesome because I'm used to being the only girl with these guys," she said. "That's fun because they treat me very well. But it's fun to have some females around."

As Sister Sin's profile grows on the touring circuit, Jagrell is becoming a role model herself. "I feel there are a lot more females that don't only want be the groupies or fans. They want to play too. When I was starting there weren't so many [women in rock]. I had to force my best friends to join me in a band. My first band was all female. I feel there are many more girls now [playing in bands]. I'm happy for that."

http://www.noisecreep.com/2011/05/17/sister-sins-favorite-female-rockers/

Asesino Working On 'Evil' New Album (Noisecreep - May 13, 2011)

Dino Cazares is a busy guy. The singer-guitarist is currently working on a new Asesino album while also writing new material for both Fear Factory and Divine Heresy. When Asesino play shows on the West Coast and in Mexico this summer, they will test out some of the new material for their forthcoming album, due out in 2012.

Cazares recently spoke to Noisecreep about the entire concept behind Asesino.

"I don't know if anybody really knows what Asesino is about. He is an official character based on an actual person, who was an assassin for a certain mafia. You can put the two together. The theme of Asesino has always been the Satanic and evil. He's a hitman, so he goes and kills everybody. He's not particular on any type of person. He kills everybody, whether it's black, white, Iranian, Pakistanian, or whatever. Whoever's on the contract to kill, he kills."

"He has a couple of guys who are his helpers. One is Maldito X and the other guy is Sadistico. These guys are very perverted individuals. There's a lot of perversion on the records."

While it has been nearing six years since the last Asesino album was released, Cazares has been working hard on the follow-up and is ready to unleash it on the world.

"On the new record, it's going to be a continuation from the second record [2006's 'Cristo Satanico']," Cazares said. "On the first record [2002's 'Corridos de Muerte'], it's an introduction to who Asesino is. It introduces what his job is -- to kill. At the end of the album, he gets caught, gets sentenced to death on the electric chair. He dies and goes to hell. Unfortunately, the way he dies was a priest was frightened by what he said on the electric chair. The priest pulled the lever on the assassin. He goes to hell and strikes a deal with the devil. The devil says, 'I will grant you life on Earth but you have to carry out this one task for me.' Asesino says, 'No problem.'

"So, on the second album, 'Cristo Satanico', which means 'Satanic Christ,' Asesino comes back to Earth, since Lucifer granted him life on Earth if he carries out this one task. He had to go out and kill somebody. No problem. But also Asesino had revenge that he wanted to seek on the priest who killed him. He found out that his boss, a person he was killing for, was the person who set him up, got him in prison, and got him into the death sentence in the first place. So he had two people he wanted to go kill. That was his boss and the priest. Obviously when an assassin is going to kill somebody, he investigates where they go, where they work, what time they go to bed, what time they s---t... he knows everything about the person before he kills them. So he's investigating the priest, he finds out the priest is a pedophile. He likes to f--- little boys. He's been taking money from the community. He's been living very lavishly, very rich and wealthy. All of the money has been coming from the church and from the people. He's also been molesting little boys and raping them.

"So Asesino goes and captures the priest, tortures him and makes him admit to everything he's doing wrong. He tortures him and buries him alive, so he could suffer down there for all the suffering he's caused. At the end of the album, he confronts his boss and has his boss on his knees, saying 'I know why you set me up.' His boss was jealous of the assassin because he was gaining respect amongst the mafia, more than his boss. He ended up cutting his head off with a machete."

Cazares says that fans of Asesino should expect another epic themed album and nothing less.
"We have the new album, which will be out in 2012. We think that he will become the king of the world and with the Mayan calendar and all of that stuff. In Biblical terms, it's the end of the world, or it'll become the second coming of Christ. So we're thinking of calling the record 'The Second Coming,' which is 'El Segunda Venida.' Even though it's our third album, it's more based on the second coming of Christ than the end of the world."

"On the new album, the reason we are calling it 'The Second Coming' is because when he buried the priest alive, the priest gets out. He gets out of the grave that he buried him in. The priest is resurrected in a way. So it's going to be a battle of evil [against] evil... A battle between Asesino and the priest."

http://www.noisecreep.com/2011/05/13/asesino-working-on-evil-new-album/

Helmet's Page Hamilton on Performing 'Betty' Live (Noisecreep - May 12, 2011)

On recent tours, Helmet have been performing their 1992 release 'Meantime' in its entirety. While that album nears its 20th anniversary, 1994's 'Betty' is another fan favorite that audiences want to hear start-to-finish.

Frontman Page Hamilton recently spoke to Noisecreep about the possibility of Helmet playing 'Betty' in its entirety on a forthcoming tour. "I don't know," he said. "If somebody asked us to do it, and showed us the money, we would consider it."

"Just to do for the sake of doing it... We have so many songs that are fun to play. We like that we have 65 to 70 songs to draw from. They are songs that are staples, but over the last couple of years, because we've become so comfortable with each other, we rotated stuff quite a lot more. By the end of the Europe tour, the sets could be wildly different, from the opener to the ending. It's more fun to keep it fresh like that."

Hamilton said the band plans on focusing more on their latest release, 'Seeing Eye Dog', as well as an assortment of songs spanning the band's history.

"The next couple of tours will concentrate on the new album," he said. "We'll play everything off the new album with the exception of 'Morphing' and 'LA Water.' So for Australia, New Zealand and Brazil we have coming up, we'll be playing a lot of new stuff."

"We've contemplated learning a couple more songs off of 'Betty', the ones I've shied away from because it's really hard for me. 'Vaccination' is really cool. It's a difficult song. We surprise ourselves sometimes. We could do all of the 'Aftertaste' record. We know all of that. We all know all of 'Strap It On.' 'Betty's' a little more of a challenge. I shy away from a couple of the songs on there. We probably have 3/4ths of the album all ready. We have to learn the weird, Henry [Bogdan]/Page co-writes: 'Why the Long face Mister Ed' to 'The Silver Hawaiian' and 'Rollo', which we did live back in the day; and 'Beautiful Love', which we did live."

"The only song that hasn't been performed from that album live is 'Sam Hell', I believe. Everything else I've played. We would have to go in and learn it."

http://www.noisecreep.com/2011/05/12/helmet-page-hamilton-betty-live/

Helmet's Page Hamilton on Touring With David Bowie (Noisecreep - May 5, 2011)

While Helmet were on hiatus between 1999 and 2003, one of Page Hamilton's many hired-gun stints included touring with David Bowie on the 'Hours...' tour. Hamilton recently spoke to Noisecreep about his experiences playing guitar with one of his musical heroes, which left a lasting impression on his future work with Helmet.

"It was a huge confidence boost to play with one of my idols," he said. "One of the guys who is considered one of the Big Three, or Big Four --- including The Kinks, The Beatles, The Stones and Bowie. They influenced everybody."

While many people would never imagine Hamilton's guitar style working within Bowie's eclectic sound, Bowie and Hamilton found a way to make it work.

"It was great to have him compliment me on my playing, compared to the bands of that era of Roxy Music that sounds haphazard [compared] to what I'm doing, but you could hear that it's very thought out and worked out."

"I just listened. He called me his Quiet One, because I didn't talk a lot. I just listened. I wanted to learn what he had to say about songwriting. One day, he would turn to me at rehearsal and said, 'Advice for budding young songwriters -- I make half my songs from Danny Kaye's 'Inchworm.' Danny Kaye's 'Inchworm'? Uh, OK. He talked about Roy Orbison influencing 'Ashes to Ashes,' trying to do that falsetto high melody thing.

"I liked to be around him. He's confident but approachable and humble. When you're good at what you do, you don't need to be an a-hole. He's really proved that. Everybody that I admire who is alive has been just like that. It's been pleasures meeting or spending a little bit of time with, from Neil Young to Billy Gibbons. They've all been really cool and generous. It's been a great experience. I had to learn a lot of music. I had to learn how to make guitar sounds for songs that covered 35 years. It was pretty difficult."

http://www.noisecreep.com/2011/05/05/helmet-page-hamilton-tour-david-bowie/

Asesino's Dino Cazeres Talks About Cinco de Mayo (Noisecreep - May 5, 2011)

Asesino will be celebrating Cinco de Mayo by playing a free show on Thursday, May 5th at the Slidebar in Fullerton, Calif. The Spanish-language death metal trio has scheduled several shows specifically around the Cinco de Mayo holiday, which is already a fairly massive event particularly in their native Southern California.

Asesino guitarist Asesino (a.k.a. Dino Cazares) recently spoke to Noisecreep about his thoughts on the holiday and how to best celebrate it.

"Traditionally, we try to play shows around special Mexican holidays, or my birthday," he explained. "We usually have piñatas. Obviously, everyone knows what piñatas are. We usually fill it with party favors. When you have a piñata, for people who don't know, traditionally you stuff it with candy.

"For us, we stuff it with adult candy. We stuff it with weed. We put porno in there. We put condoms and t-shirts. All kinds of stuff. You'll be able to enjoy what's in there."

This is not the first time Asesino have played a special holiday show. "There was one time we did a show on 4/20. We did a show on November 2nd [for] Dia de los Muertos. We try to do it around special holidays. It just happened this year that we had time around Cinco de Mayo to do one."

Cinco de Mayo shows have become somewhat of an over-the-top tradition for the band. "One year we put a live chicken in [the piñata]," Cazares continued. "It was a fighting cock! [It was] one of those fighting roosters. We threw it in the crowd. It was funny because when we busted it open and realized there was a fighting cock in there, it was kicking everybody! Usually we like to put weed in there. The most we put inside of a piñata was a pound of weed. That's how Asesino celebrates Cinco de Mayo, sharing it with the crowd!"

http://www.noisecreep.com/2011/05/05/asesino-to-play-free-southern-california-show-on-cinco-de-mayo/

Symfonia: A New Power Metal Supergroup -- Exclusive Interview (Noisecreep - April 29, 2011)

When vocalist Andre Matos (formerly of Angra, Shaaman, Viper, and currently of the Andre Matos Band) and guitarist Timo Tollki (formerly of Stratovarius and Revolution Renaissance) collaborated to write songs, they planted the seeds towards creating the power metal supergroup known as Symfonia. Rounding out the band are Tollki's ex-bandmate in Stratovarius, bassist Jari Kainulainen, as well as keyboardist Mikko Harkin (Cain's Offering, ex-Sonata Arctica, ex-Kotipelto, ex-Solution.45) and drummer Uli Kusch (Gamma Ray, Helloween, Masterplan). The band's debut release is called 'In Paradisum.'

Matos recently spoke to Noisecreep about the band, the collaboration of the players involved, and the possibility of touring.

When did Symfonia begin? Who contacted whom originally to start the writing process?
Andre Matos: I've known [Timo Tollki] for many years and we've been keeping in touch since '99 when we toured together in Europe and became good friends. We never had any ideas of working together. About a year ago, he gave me a call and he said 'Andre, I heard that you were living in Sweden now and that's around the corner from me in Finland. So it would be a good idea if you could find some free time to meet and maybe try to write some stuff together. I have some ideas that would fit to your voice.' We didn't know in the beginning what it would be or if it would be just a single project. After we met, I spent about a week to ten days in Finland. It was a nice time and we've been talking about different things. We've been through similar experiences in the past. Being part of some bands that somehow got renown, and at a certain point we quit those bands and looked after our own careers.

There are a lot of similarities on both stories. Then we said, let's try to write something together and see what ideas we have. Surprisingly we had good chemistry between us. Then the next step was who else would be part of the team. The first names that came up to our minds were the ones who are in the band now. Everybody was into doing it. We really see it as a real band and although nobody was really looking forward to being in a band again at this point in their career, it just happened. It was a lot of coincidences and the people interested and right after this, there was no real expectations around about what we would be able to do together. In one year's period of time, many things happened. The first meeting with the scratch songs to the album production and then the album is out now. We are playing the first gigs and things are rolling now.

You recently played your first show at the Finnish Metal Expo.
It was very important because it was a way for us to state that Symfonia was not meant to be a studio thing. We wanted to have the live experience right away before the album release. It was tricky to play songs that nobody knew before and on top of it, to do it at the Finnish Metal Expo, which is basically a place that is made up of people from record labels, journalists, and musicians. It's a critical type of audience. To be honest, I didn't expect much from that concert, in terms of the reaction of the audience. But surprisingly also we had it very good that night. In the end, they were like 'We want more! We want more!' It was something that we didn't expect due to all those factors. I think we did it good, and it was a good atmosphere.

You've played quite a few bands over the years, and you've written most of the lyrics in each of your bands. How do you feel your writing has grown in Symfonia?
All across my career, I've done a little bit of everything. There were songs I wrote -- complete music and lyrics. There are songs where I wrote only the lyrics. There are songs I only wrote the music. One thing is for sure -- I like to work in partnership with somebody else. It's something very grateful for me because it's the possibility of exchanging experiences. In this particular case, to share my ideas with somebody like Timo, it was a great pleasure. We match a lot of points of view, either on the lyrical side as well as on the musical side. It was very easy going. We shared all the credits on the songs because in the end we didn't know who did what. There was so much cooperation between both of us. We just said it was 50/50.

What I really want to highlight on this album is that in my humble opinion we have good songs on the album. Nowadays it's the most important thing to have in an album. To be honest, nowadays with this easy technology access everybody can have good sound on an album. Everybody can fix mistakes on an album in order to sound perfectly performed. Good songs are something you cannot create by computer. This is a plus that we have on this album.

I noticed there's a Latin theme to the songs. Is that something you've taken interest in? Is the band name in Latin?
The origin of this word is more Greek than Latin. It was converted to Latin right after these ancient times. Symfonia means combination of elements... a combination of sounds. This was the rough idea behind the whole concept of the band. We are five people who came from different bands in the past. The nice thing was to see what would come out of our influences of elements of inputs. This was the most challenging thing for us. The name already suggests what the music is about. One very important thing to say is we didn't have any pretension of sounding too different from what we're known from doing in our own careers. There was no pretension of reinventing any kind of musical style. We have done this expensively. These were in our best years, either with our previous bands or our solo bands. There are always requests for originality or freshness. In Symfonia, that was not really the goal. The goal was to get the originality and freshness throughout the gathering of all of those people. I think this is quite honest. This is what we have to offer to the people. This is what people would expect from us.

Where do you get ideas for your lyrics?
First of all, it is important to speak about the concept. This is not a conceptual album. The songs don't follow a certain sequence telling a story from beginning to the end. That's not the case. Still there is a strong hook line all through the songs and especially when you look at the front cover artwork. It becomes quite clear. We were trying to imagine or project our idea of paradise in the future. What would be a futuristic paradise? When we think of paradise, we usually refer to some kind of Biblical image, religious paintings, angels, peaceful place over the clouds. On the other hand, when you think of the future, especially nowadays with everything going on in the world, the first thing that comes to mind is war, destruction, cataclysms, apocalypse...all kinds of doom.

How could you imagine paradise in the future if you face it under a positive perspective? This was the main idea. This guided us through the lyrical process. Many of the songs are connected to this single concept. Both Timo and I have used in the past to write introspective and philosophical lyrics. In this point, we really match. It's not much different what we wanted to say with our music. We did the same but we tried to keep it simple as possible. The lyrics are quite deep. It has a deep message but we wanted to keep them very easy to understand.

Is Symfonia your full time band for everyone in the band now? Or is everyone balancing multiple bands?
Symfonia was not even meant to be, so it just happened. Of course my solo band is still on. The band is sitting in Brazil, so in the beginning of May, I am flying to Brazil in order to do some concerts in South America. We will also start planning a new album for the solo band. I guess the other guys in Symfonia also have their side projects or solo bands. This is an agreement between us. Whenever we are requested to dedicate ourselves to Symfonia, of course we will be there 120 percent. So right now it's a matter of schedule organization. It's been done before and it's possible.

I read somewhere that Uli [Kusch, drums] is not playing live? What exactly happened?
Uli had a serious injury in his hand, which is not fully recovered yet. He recorded the album great. He did an exceptional job on the album in two or three days! I'm astonished with his performance. Right after that, maybe due to the fact that he was not playing drums for quite a while and then he entered the studio to do this, there were some serious problems with his hand. He had an inflammation on a very special nerve. He's been seeing doctors and trying to get proper treatment for that. There is a lot of controversy because some people said he should get operated. Some others said not to. The operation is not 100 percent secure in terms of recovering. So he's still walking the thin line. He doesn't know what to do. In the meantime, he's waiting to see if he gets better. The latest news is that he's not really recovered yet so we would like to count on him for this first concert in France. We'll see.

There are still some months ahead and I'm hoping he would recover as soon as possible and join us. For the Finnish Metal Expo show, this news about his injury came a couple weeks before that. It was really shocking for us because we wanted to have Uli playing live. Then Uli supported us and said we should go do it. It's important and booked for many months in advance. Then we found a good substitute for him. This German drummer named Alex Landenburg, which is by coincidence also a guy who has played the last Stratovarius tour replacing Jorg Michael. He was familiar with the music and the musical style. He's very skilled and talented. We got along very well so that was the best solution for that moment.

Are you working on more shows for the future?
Absolutely. There is a big festival confirmed in France. It's the Sonicsphere Festival on the 8th of July. It's the biggest metal festival is France. I think it's a great opportunity to do an exclusive first show in Europe after the Finnish Metal Expo. Right after that, we have plans to go to Asia. We were supposed to start the tour in Japan before the French festival, but due to the tragedy in Japan, we had to shift it. Now it goes to the end of July or beginning of August. We would play some countries in Asia and then come back to Europe for some late summer festivals. Only after that we would start thinking about a real headliner tour, either in Europe or South America and everywhere else.

http://www.noisecreep.com/2011/04/29/symfonia-a-new-power-metal-supergroup-exclusive-interview/

Lock Up Announce New Album: 'Necropolis Transparent' (Noisecreep - April 28, 2011)

Lock Up, the death-grind super group featuring Shane Embury (Napalm Death, Venomous Concept), Nicolas Barker (ex-Cradle of Filth, ex-Dimmu Borgir), Tomas Lindberg (At The Gates, Disfear) and Anton Reisenegger (Criminal, Pentagram), have announced 'Necropolis Transparent' as the title of their upcoming album, due out July 1 in Europe and July 12 in North America.

Founded in 1998 by Embury and Barker, Lock Up have released two albums, 1999's 'Pleasures Pave Sewers' (with Hypocrisy's Peter Tägtgren on vocals), and 2002's 'Hate Breeds Suffering'. Both releases also featured former Napalm Death guitarist Jesse Pintado, who sadly passed away in 2006. The group seldom plays live, but have appeared at the Wacken Open Air Festival in Germany in 2000, the Damnation Festival in Leeds, England in 2009, and on a brief Japanese tour with Will Haven in 2002. The Japanese tour was recorded for the band's one live album, 'Play Fast Or Die: Live In Japan,' released by Toys Factory in Japan in 2005.

http://www.noisecreep.com/2011/04/28/lock-up-announce-new-album-necropolis-transparent/

All Hail The Yeti Get Heavy in Hollywood -- Exclusive Interview (Noisecreep - April 27, 2011)

All Hail The Yeti are a fast-rising Los Angeles-based metal band that has been packing clubs and drawing the attention of fans and the music industry alike. Drawing inspiration from Southern riff rock as well as hard rock and metal, the band has created a buzz around Southern California. They have recently released a five song EP, 'Trees on Fire With Songs of Blood,' on iTunes.

The group started in 2005 with frontman Connor Garrity, guitarist KJ Duval, and drummer Glendon Crain (formerly of Loser, Godhead, and Hollywood Undead). Since then, Duval has departed and the band has added guitarist Brian Harrah and bassist Nick Diltz to the line-up. Garrity recently spoke to Noisecreep after a show opening for Suicide Silence, discussing the band's rising profile, playing heavy music in Hollywood, and his love of tattooing.

Noisecreep: How was your show with Suicide Silence [in San Luis Obispo, CA]?

Connor Garrity: It was cool. The crowd likes the band and they expect a certain sound. We sound quite a bit different from a lot of the bands out there. They were cool. Everyone's really supportive and the kids loved it.

How long have you been doing All Hail The Yeti?
We started the band in 2005 and started playing shows. It was myself, KJ [Duval, former guitarist] and Glendon [Crain]. Then we had Josh Newell, who used to play in In This Moment. He also engineers at NRG Studios so he's super busy all the time, so that became an issue. We replaced him with Nick [Diltz]. We had a different drummer for a while, because Glen was off doing something else. Now we have Glen back. Now it's me, Nick and Glen. We're pretty much the three original members aside from KJ.

What is it about the Yeti that fascinates you?
It was a band that I had when I was 19 in Canada before I moved down to LA. A friend and I started a band and wanted to call the band Yeti. It was cool but it wasn't serious. We did one show and that was it. When I was down here, I was in a previous band and KJ was in a previous band too. We had met and decided to do some writing together and it turned into this. We were looking for a name and thought about Yeti. KJ loved it. At that point, for the type of music we wanted to create, it was fitting. As far as my fascination with it, it started as a thing like some kids are into UFOs and Sasquatches. It's because of where I grew up.

The band's sound is very different than what the LA scene usually produces. You have more of a darker Neurosis-like sound.
Growing up listening to all of music, Neurosis was a band I was into. I wouldn't say I was into them. That's one of Brian [Harrah, guitarist]'s favorite bands of all time. Anything like that in our sound, you could tell that from his guitar playing. I know that's one of his biggest influences. When I started the band, my favorite bands are a lot of the Louisiana, New Orleans bands -- Acid Bath, Eyehategod... a lot of that Southern sludge metal was my thing. It's a mix of that and KJ was from Boston so he had that hardcore vibe to it. So we mixed as much as we could.

Where does the lyrical inspiration come from?
Lyrically, I try my best to tell stories. I've always been the one who wanted was interested in figuring out what the next song is about. Like what is he going to do or what will they say next in this song. After a while, as the metal scene got so big over the last 15 to 20 years, it became so cookie cutter... My girlfriend broke up with me, life sucks, I've got to stand up for my family...me, me, me. There's so much other stuff to talk about. There are personal stories or made up stories or true stories from history. It depends on what comes out at that point in time when I'm writing the song.

All Hail The Yeti have built a strong local following in a time when a lot of bands struggle to attract people into their shows. What do you think it is that attracted people to the band?
I think that being the guys in the band and the friends we all have, that helped out a lot right off the bat. Like I said before, KJ and I were two bands before and knew a lot of the same people. Then it involved Nick and then Glen. At first it started out with us going to shows, having fun and partying, and we kept creating music. It seemed like our music was different than what everyone else was trying to do at the time. Whether it was something that would get us money or make us big, it didn't matter at that point. We were playing music that we wanted to play. We've been down that road – the DIY tours, starving in a van, and the McDonalds dollar menu. None of us wanted to do that again. We wanted to make music and have a good time. That's how it began. Then everyone realized it and began coming to our shows that the band is really good and we put on an awesome show, and there's always girls at our shows for some reason. That in itself will attract guys. It snowballed one day. We're doing 11:45 on a Monday night at the Dragonfly and it's packed. It's pretty cool.

One of the biggest things is the music stands out. For the longest time, Hollywood has been that Motley Crue style dirty rock. It's that scene. That scene's been done. Motley Crue's still one of my favorite bands of all time. They were good because they did when they did it. That was the new thing then. Now why do what they did 25 years ago? Hollywood's been that kind of a scene because of all the bands who got so big. It became like how Seattle was the grunge scene and what was expected out of Hollywood. I think for the metal scene, there aren't very many metal bands. The ones who are, they're the same cookie cutters metalcore with the two guitarists playing Iron Maiden riffs. They took the soul and the groove out of metal, like what Black Sabbath started when they did. That was the best.

Glen was out of the band for a bit and he recently returned. What do you think it was that brought him back to the band?
That's a good question. I think the main part of it was that Glen wasn't in his [own] band. He was in a band where he wasn't writing and as a musician that's something that's important unless you're a diehard hired gun. When he joined the band originally, he was playing in Godhead. That was something we were prepared for and when he left for a couple years, he would come to the shows and he would be like, 'Man, someone's playing my songs!' I figured this would be tough. There was a time when Brian, Nick, and I would talk about bringing Glen back into the band. He's the drummer for the band. It's like if I weren't in the band. It wouldn't be right.

You have this EP out. Could you tell us about it?
It was four or five songs on there, four of the first songs we ever wrote. Those were written with the original members. When KJ left to go back to Boston, we needed something to give out to people who came out to the shows. We did one demo with those guys way back and we had them up on our Myspace and that was it. When KJ took off, that was crunch time for us. We were packing clubs and doing well, so we took the songs, wrote a couple new ones, and picked 'When The Sky Falls' to be a single off the EP. That was one of the newest songs. It was different for me because I've been playing these songs for so long. It's nice now where we've got it back on 100 percent new material.

You're also a tattoo artist.
Tattooing was something that fell onto my lap at a good time in my life. I was just out of high school and didn't want to go to college or do any of that stuff. I found playing music. The last thing I wanted to do was go back to the classroom. I had a friend of mine whose brother built a homemade tattoo machine and it was something I wanted to try. It turned out to be a way that I could make a career and also do the things that I love to do, which is music and partying and traveling. I've always been an artist but I think the tattooing and my music are separate. I do art I guess. It's something I never really thought about.

I understand you're working on new material.
We're about to start doing our own record. We have about 19 songs. Probably 10 to 12 of the best ones and a couple of B-sides and maybe a cover song, and we're going to do a record. Mike Sarkisyan (of Spineshank) has been working with us for the past two or three months.

http://www.noisecreep.com/2011/04/27/all-hail-the-yeti-get-heavy-in-hollywood-exclusive-interview/

KYUSS LIVES! Announce US Tour Dates (Noisecreep - April 26, 2011)

KYUSS LIVES!, featuring original Kyuss members John Garcia (vocals), Nick Oliveri (bass), and Brant Bjork (drums), along with guitarist Bruno Fevery (from Garcia Plays Kyuss), will be bringing their desert rock to the US for the first time in 15 years this fall.

Due to unprecedented demand and a sold-out European tour, the group has announced two very special US shows in New York and California. The Sword will be opening both shows. More North American tour dates will be announced in the coming weeks.

Kyuss Lives! dates so far:

September 23, New York, NY Terminal 5
October 8, Pomona, CA The Fox Theater

In the early 1990s, Kyuss produced four studio albums and provided the blueprint for a generation of heavy bands, spearheading the stoner rock movement. 1992's 'Blues for the Red Sun' and 1994's 'Welcome to Sky Valley' were universally praised by both critics and fans, becoming a staple in any discerning hard rock record collection.

Kyuss were born out of the generator parties that took place in the Palm and Mojave Deserts of Southern California at the tail end of of the eighties. The band created a stunningly heavy psychedelic rumble described by everyone except the musicians themselves as stoner rock, or the more apt desert rock. The band's gargantuan sound rested on three pillars: a down-tuned guitar played through a bass amp, the rhythm section's quaking groove, and the instantly recognizable vocals of John Garcia.

Kyuss' classic lineup -- Garcia, guitarist Josh Homme, bassist Nick Oliveri, and drummer Brant Bjork -- only lasted for two years. After the unit's dissolution in 1995, its posthumous legend continued to grow. In the years since, former Kyuss members have formed or played with Queens of the Stone Age, Brant Bjork and the Bros, The Dwarves, Mondo Generator, Slo Burn, Unida, and Hermano.

http://www.noisecreep.com/2011/04/26/kyuss-lives-announce-us-tour-dates/

A Perfect Circle's Josh Freese Sings About His Fans on New EP (Noisecreep - April 26, 2011)

Between his many drumming gigs (The Vandals, DEVO, and A Perfect Circle to name a few), Josh Freese has found time to record a new solo album called 'My New Friends.' Freese recorded, wrote, played, and sang almost every note on the album.

Freese recently spoke to Noisecreep about the EP while driving to a session with singer-songwriter Michelle Branch. Freese discussed subjects including how he balances his time between being a drummer and a dad, as well as how to transcend beyond the drummer stereotype.

Freese, the father of four kids as well as a veteran drummer-for-hire, recorded an EP of five songs based on the lives of a few particularly generous fans who bought a much higher value version of his prior solo CD, 'Since 1972.'

When did you find time to record a solo record?

Having four kids is unbelievably time-consuming. That's why it took a while to come out. It's difficult to make the time for myself to record my own stuff sometimes. I do it whenever I have a few minutes. What it comes down to is, when I told these guys when they bought these [added value album] packages where they got a song written about them, I said listen, this isn't going to happen in the next couple of months. Often, you have to wait ten years and go, 'Hey wait a second! Wasn't this a song back in 2010?' I had to light that fire under my ass, so to speak, to get it done. People were waiting.

Did you play everything on this record?
I did. All except one guitar solo. There's a guitar solo on the second track, which is done by my friend Warren Fitzgerald from The Vandals. He played a solo and the rest is me.

So who are your new friends in 'My New Friends'?
One guy, his name is Ferris Al-Sayed. He's a Middle Eastern guy from Indiana. There's Tom Mrzyglocki from Florida. He got two songs written about him. He kicked down more cash money, so he got more music about him done. There's Chuck Thomas from Tennessee. Eddie Torres from New York City, he got the last track on the record. They were guys that bought opportunities to have songs written about them and released in a serious fashion, not a 'I'll write a quick song about you tonight on an acoustic guitar, recorded poorly, burn you a copy, write the name of the song with a sharpie and send it to you so you can play it for your friends.' I spend a lot of time and money and energy on this, and work on it as hard as any other records of mine. I fund it myself and make the time to do. The type of stuff that I do, I do it on my own and engineer it myself for the most part. I record most of it myself. Play everything myself. I'm proud of it. I hope they like it too. They seem to. But who knows?

When you did the various high-value package deals for your last CD (2009's 'Since 1972'), you drew some serious attention. Which deal purchase surprised you the most?
It's definitely the one Tom Mrzyglocki bought. It was a limited edition of one. It was for $20,000, and someone bought it. He got two songs written about him on the EP and one of the songs is basically saying 'Hey man, you could have bought a new Four Runner or a car for that.'

This is a one time only offer thing with all of these interesting experiences of adventures available on it. He goes 'I'm young and crazy enough to shell out the money to do it.' Of course I'm going 'Right on! Of course you should do it. It's not as much that as me saying as much as going through someone else, I could understand that. There are a million cars out there you could buy until you're grey and old. But this was a much more interesting thing that he knew would only happen once and wouldn't happen again. There were people involved he wanted to meet. There are things involved he wanted to go to. He was excited about it.

On the first song, 'You & Me & The Tuba Tree,' what is the tuba tree?
The tuba tree is the big tree at my father's house. If you go on YouTube and punch in 'You & Me & The Tuba Tree' and you'll see the video I made for that song. It flashes up once early in the song, but at the end you'll see it over and over. It keeps repeating the scene every time it says the tuba tree. It's a tree he's had at his house for over 25 years. It's filled with old tubas and sousaphones hanging from all the branches.

What originally inspired you to do the 'Since 1972' CD?
I made a 12 song record in 2000 called 'The Notorious One Man Orgy'. I wanted to put out another record but it took me forever because I wasn't getting off my ass. Sure, I was in a bunch of different bands, but I wasn't getting it done. I finally got myself to get it done and put it out. I made both those records because I'm a songwriter. I'm not a very successful songwriter, but I've written songs since I was a kid. I love doing it and it's another facet to my creative being. I don't wanna just sit there and play drums for other people. I've got more in me that's gotta come out. It was something I had to do and wanted to do. Whether eight people buy it or 18,000 people buy it, I'm glad it's just out there as an option for people to buy. The record is like a time capsule -- it can live on forever. Who knows what people may discover or not discover in the future.

Have you ever played your solo stuff live?
No, I haven't. I've always been freaked out about it. I don't have the guts to start a band and do all that. If I were 24 and didn't have kids, maybe I would. Or I weren't getting hired at all or my drumming career was going down the tubes, maybe I would. I'm too busy doing what I'm supposed to be doing. If I thought I were one of the greatest singers ever that should be out there fronting a band because I know that I am, then I would do it. But I don't feel that way. I'm musical enough to get my point across and record stuff from my home studio and put it out there. I'm not like 'I'm great, I'm gonna knock em dead, people are gonna freak out...and I'm the next Jeff Buckley!' You have to feel like that to put yourself on the line. I know a lot of people that aren't that great but they're crazy enough to think they're crazy enough to think they're really, really great. So they do it! They give it their all. There's something enduring and aspiring about that, but I think I'm smart enough to know I'm not that great.

So we won't be seeing the Josh Freese Band live any time soon?
Somehow if it could be the Josh Freese Band and somehow I'm not involved in it. Have four other people play my songs! [laughs] The drummer for this band The Replacements, one of my favorite bands from Minneapolis, Chris Mars, put out a solo record. He had a band for four or five of his musician pals who played a couple of shows as the Chris Mars Band, and Chris was sitting at home. He wasn't even at the show! I kind of like that idea, saying it aloud!

I take it your kids aren't old enough to be your backup band.
You know what would be funny? I should just put them all in a room with instruments, even though they've never played and just let them wail away on it, and call that my band!

Whenever you name comes up, there is always the reference to your time playing with the Disneyland Marching Band. Looking back, does it seem surreal how far you have come as a player?
Absolutely. I look at my son and his friend who is 12. When I was his age, I was getting endorsements from Zildjian Cymbals and DW Drums. I was playing band shows and I joined a musician's union to play at Disneyland. I was paying taxes! To me it was very normal because it's all I do. I knew I was special back then and I thought it was cool. I knew it was out of the ordinary to be paying taxes in a musician's union at 12. But not until now, 25 years later, where I could go, 'It's pretty wild.'

What else are you working on these days?
I'm working on another record with The Offspring. I'm doing this tour with DEVO. I went to South America about a month and a half ago, on tour with Paramore for three weeks. They lost their drummer so I filled in. I'm about to start some Weezer stuff. I'm driving to a studio right now to make a record over the next three days with a female artist, Michelle Branch. She's a singer-songwriter. [I've] known her for a while. [I've] never worked with her, but am finally getting a chance to work with her, [so I'm] looking forward to that. This summer, a lot of Weezer dates and maybe some A Perfect Circle dates as well.

A Perfect Circle just relaunched recently. I saw the 'eMOTIVe' night which was pretty cool.
Yeah. We did a tour in November. It was our first tour in seven years. [The last show doing the 'eMOTIVe' album] was harder than we thought. Not the tour itself... [but] I wasn't looking forward to 'eMOTIVe' night. When I was told we're doing all three records, I thought 'ah man...we're going to do a covers record?' A lot of the songs, the way they were recorded was really strange. It's hard to duplicate that stuff live. At the end, what's cool is as much as it is a pain in the ass, we would do a cover of our cover, which we made it even more different. It was inspiring and fun to do. [Even though] I thought I was going to look forward to the least in every city we went to, I really liked it. Maynard [James Keenan] proved me wrong. He was like, 'This night's going to be great.' I was like 'Oh god! I don't think so.' I just kept my mouth shut. He was right. We all enjoyed it. Sometimes we would be practicing some of those songs. We never learned every single song we've ever played [before]. It was challenging but fun. Sometimes when you're on tour and playing the songs perfectly every night, it gets tiresome. Not a whole lot of excitement, but I'm hoping it all works.

http://www.noisecreep.com/2011/04/26/a-perfect-circles-josh-freese-sings-about-his-fans-on-new-ep/

The Runaways Tribute Album to Benefit American Cancer Research (Noisecreep - May 2, 2011)

On June 7th, Main Man Records will release 'Take It Or Leave It: A Tribute To The Original Queens of Noise: The Runaways,' a two disc, 36-song set spanning the entirety of the legendary band's career.

Whether you consider them to be proto-punk rockers or heavy metal guitar heroes, there is no doubt that the Runaways changed the perception of women in the male-dominated field of rock 'n' roll. Teenagers Cherie Currie, Lita Ford, Joan Jett, Sandy West, Jackie Fox, and Vicki Blue spoke to a whole new generation of young women, some of whom consequently started playing rock 'n' roll themselves. Arguably, The Runaways kicked down the door for female-fronted rock bands such as The Go-Go's, The Bangles, L7, Bikini Kill, Sleater-Kinney, and The Donnas. The Runaways have also been named as an influence by numerous bands including Redd Kross, The Germs, Motley Crue, The Beastie Boys, The Adolescents, Guns N' Roses, and Smashing Pumpkins.

In honor of Sandy West, who lost her fight with cancer in 2006, Main Man Records will donate a portion of the proceeds from 'Take It Or Leave It' to the American Institute For Cancer Research. The AICR was the nation's first charity to support research into the role of diet and exercise as it relates to cancer prevention. Since 1982, it's been their mission to fund, support and promote research as well as expand public knowledge through educational programs to bring its message of cancer prevention to millions of Americans. To date, the Institute has committed more than $82 million for research and education.

Legendary artists from many musical backgrounds participated on 'Take It Or Leave It,' donating their time, talent and resources to help honor The Runaways and raise money for a great cause. Artists featured on the tribute album include Shonen Knife, The Dandy Warhols, The Donnas, Peaches with Kathleen Hanna (Bikini Kill and Le Tigre) collaborating for the first time with her husband Ad-Rock (Beastie Boys), Care Bears On Fire, Kittie, Bebe Buell, David Johansen (New York Dolls) collaborating for the first time with new Dolls guitarist Earl Slick (David Bowie), Starz, The Adolescents, and White Flag as well as members of Generation X, Smashing Pumpkins, Monster Magnet, The Fastbacks, and many more.

Sweden's Sister Sin to Open For Steel Panther in Hollywood (Noisecreep - May 4, 2011)

Swedish hard rockers Sister Sin will be doing a one-off show following the conclusion of the 'Hottest Chicks In Hard Rock' tour, opening for Steel Panther at the House of Blues in West Hollywood, CA on Monday, May 16th. Steel Panther play the club every Monday night.

Sister Sin have been touring the US, supporting bands such as OTEP, Ill Nino, Michael Schenker Group and Motorhead. Now, they have a chance to play in front of some of their favorite celebrities in Tinseltown and witness the over-the-top spectacle that is Steel Panther.

Frontwoman Liv Jagrell was excited about the opportunity. "It should be an interesting show," she said. "I'm looking forward to it very much. I've only seen them on TV. They're very funny. I hope they're as funny in reality as they are on TV!"

http://www.noisecreep.com/2011/05/04/sister-sin-open-for-steel-panther-in-hollywood/

Soundgarden Announce North American Tour (Noisecreep - April 25, 2011)

Soundgarden have announced their first US tour in 14 years, following their appearance at last summer's Lollapalooza show in Chicago. The Mars Volta will be opening the tour. So far, only four shows have been announced, with more dates to be added later. More information will be available soon at www.soundgardenworld.com.

Soundgarden 2011 Tour Dates:

07/02 – Toronto, ON @ Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
07/13 – Philadelphia, PA @ Festival Pier at Penn's Landing
07/18 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre
07/22 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Forum

Prior to the tour, frontman Chris Cornell will doing a solo run in May.

Chris Cornell 2011 Tour Dates:

04/22 – Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre
04/23 – Milwaukee, WI @ Pabst Theater
04/24 – St. Paul, MN @ Fitzgerald Theatre
04/26 – Edmonton, AB @ Winspear Centre
04/27 – Medicine Hat, AB @ Esplanade Arts & Heritage Centre
04/29 – Victoria, BC @ Royal Theatre
04/30 – Coquitlam, BC @ Red Robinson Show Theatre
05/01 – Seattle, WA @ Moore Theatre
05/03 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
05/04 – Los Angeles, CA @ John Anson Ford Amphitheatre
05/06 – San Diego, CA @ Humphreys Concerts by the Bay

http://www.noisecreep.com/2011/04/25/soundgarden-announce-north-american-tour/

Nevermore Guitarist, Drummer Quit the Band (Noisecreep - April 22, 2011)

Drummer Van Williams and guitarist Jeff Loomis have announced their departure from Nevermore. Both players have been in the band since the band's self-titled debut in 1995. In a joint press release, they issued the following statement:

"In a mutual decision, Jeff Loomis and Van Williams have decided to leave Nevermore. The time has come to pursue our own paths from the group. Due to internal struggles and ongoing issues within the band, we feel it is our time to move on. We would like to thank all of our fans around the world for their years of love, support, and enthusiasm. This was not an easy decision, but a very necessary one at this point. May we all meet again someday, somewhere in time."

Nevermore recently canceled their planned US tour with Symphony X. No information on further tour dates has been given at this time

http://www.noisecreep.com/2011/04/22/nevermore-guitarist-drummer-quit-the-band/

Shinobi Ninja Talk About Their Eclectic Sound, Touring and Video Games (Noisecreep - April 18, 2011)

Shinobi Ninja make no apologies for their eclectic sound. The New York based sextet fuse rock, funk, R&B, hip hop, ska, punk, and metal, into a sound that they can undoubtedly call their own. The band has been spending a lot of time in their tour bus as of late. Since late 2010, they've been out on the road in support of their debut album, 'Rock Hood.'

Drummer Terminator Dave and vocalist Duke Sims (aka DA) spoke to Noisecreep while on a recent tour about their varied musical backgrounds, their love of video games and touring. As a bonus, the band also also gave us the exclusive premiere of 'Super Are You,' one of Shinobi Ninja's previously unreleased tracks.

How's the tour going?
Terminator Dave: It's so much fun. We've never been out on the road for this long before. It's exhilarating playing every single night. But for two months I've died and went to heaven. We've played to big crowds and also some smaller ones. It doesn't matter – we just rock the show.

How far out into the US has Shinobi Ninja has played before this?
TD: We played South By Southwest in 2010. We also played in Los Angeles before. The furthest we've driven West is Minneapolis. We just finished driving from San Antonio to Iowa, and scattered around the Midwest on our way back to Brooklyn. This is the furthest we've ever driven! I think we've put about 12,000 miles into this one in the last couple of months.

What are some of the highlights from the tour so far?
Duke Sims (DA): We played at Lincoln Theater in Raleigh, NC and some dude came from New Jersey. He had driven 7 hours with super amazing video equipment and recorded a lot of stuff at the venue and then the afterparty at the hotel. They're making a live DVD out of that. That was an amazing experience. We played at the Roxy Theatre in LA. That was a dream-come true. We said what's up to Moby. We said what's up to Ru Paul. When we were in LA, we got nominated for some Artist on the Verge thing with New Music Seminar. I saw Lisa Loeb. It was cool. It was a trip.

All six of you come from varied musical backgrounds. How did you manage to fuse it all into one comprehensive sound?
TD: It happened over the course of the years. We all met at a recording studio and rehearsal space called Progressive Studios over 2005 to 2007. We're all friends or were working together or partied together. One day me and Mike [guitarist Maniac Mike] and DJ Axis [Powers, turntables], our band went on sabbatical. DA's project was taking a hiatus. All of a sudden we were writing a song together. It just happened.

DA: I don't think it's a planned thing. We were having fun. We just like a lot of music. We live in the age where everyone has iPods and you have different genres of music. I don't think it's something we think about too much. It's about having fun.

Does being from New York have an influence on how your sound came about?
DA: Yeah, NYC definitely influences what we do. It's a melting pot there. It's a city that never sleeps. That affects you. 4am looks exactly the same as 4pm. There are so many people. That's another thing about New York. I feel like New York is like some kind of All-Star team. We have the coolest dudes from New Hampshire who will come to New York and then not necessarily will be the coolest dudes any more. Those are the people you become friends with. They are people who are there to be as great as they can.

The name Shinobi Ninja – was anyone into anime or video games?
TD: DA is a big fan of video games. His favorite game growing up was 'Shinobi.' He thought his mom's house, where we recorded our demo, looked like a ninja house. he came up with the name of the band from that.

DA: This kid who lives across the street from me when I was growing up in Brooklyn had 'Shinobi' for the Sega Master system. It stuck got stuck in my head forever.

I read about a Shinobi Ninja Fan App. Could you talk about that?
DA: It's an iPhone App we developed for our fans. It's a 2D scroller game, just like the Ninja Turtles. The objective of the game is to get from Brooklyn to Club Babylon to play a gig. You can unlock music videos and different songs at every new level. It has a dope function with a GPS. If you download the game and then bring it to an actual gig that we're playing at, and the GPS sees that you're at the gig, it will unlock the game or a music video for you. It's going to be available for the Android soon.

http://www.noisecreep.com/2011/04/18/shinobi-ninja-rock-hood-song-premiere/

Andrew WK on His Favorite Concert Appearance and Extreme Metal Past (Noisecreep - April 18, 2011)

"I think all of our concerts really as parties. It's a performance for sure. It's not a recital. It's a celebration of that music. All of the greatest times I've had were at our shows," said Andrew WK when talking to Noisecreep about his wildly popular live shows.

Ever since bursting onto the music scene with his 2001 'I Get Wet' solo album, Andrew has gained a reputation as one of the most thrilling live performers out today. But his extreme metal background made the songwriter weary of trying out a new direction when he first started his solo career. "Starting in junior high school, through high school, I was very into metal or black metal and death metal specifically. When I started doing Andrew WK, as much as I loved death metal and extreme heavy metal, I'm making this choice not to play that kind of music. I had been in grindcore bands where I played drums and I loved it. But I felt like I had to make this choice. This scene I was part of was not going to relate to me anymore."

Anyone already familiar with the upbeat party rock of his solo work knows that it's far-removed from Andrew's death metal and punk background.

"I thought that crowd wasn't going to like this Andrew WK music. It's not heavy enough. Because the feeling I wanted to create with the music, and everything I do with Andrew WK, was raw energy. The way I would get to it would include this cheerful sound and a lot of keyboard and piano. The lyrics were very celebratory and the whole vibe was as joyful as I could make it. I just figured that people who were into what I would call "heavier music" probably wouldn't be into it."

Andrew remembers one of his favorite live shows. "The party was at a festival called the Furnace Fest in Birmingham, Alabama, where a lot of different kinds of bands played, but definitely a lot of hardcore bands, what I would call heavy metal and death metal bands. I have so much respect for this heavier music.

I think we were on the Ozzfest tour during that time, which was one of the most intense and great times we ever had. We became friends with bands and learned so much about performance from the band Hatebreed and from watching Down play every day – it was a huge experience, but we definitely felt like the odd band out, because we weren't as heavy as most of those bands. Just because we played in a major key on most of our songs makes us sounds different."

Despite his reservations, WK pushed forward. "Anyway, at this festival I thought it would be another show like Ozzfest. We always had a good time and won over people that hadn't heard of us. At this show, we kicked into the first song, and it was a very large crowd. I would say between 8-9,000 people. It looked big to me. It was a sea of people, as far as you could see, that made the biggest circle pit I had ever seen. When they would come up on stage, it was like a riot, but a happy one (laughter). Everybody was singing along to the words, and these were the same people who were singing along to the bands that were much heavier than us."

The crowd's reaction to his performance taught Andrew a lesson. "I thought, 'Wait a minute, maybe there are other people out there like me who like all different kinds of intense music.' That show changed everything because of this celebratory atmosphere. You couldn't see the stage anymore. It really had become a party. I realized this is what we're meant to do. These people confirmed it.

http://www.noisecreep.com/2011/04/18/andrew-wk-remembers-his-favorite-concert-appearance-and-extreme/

Facedown Fest 2011: A Sense of Unity -- Live Review (Noisecreep - April 15. 2011)

On April 8th and 9th, Facedown Records held the 11th annual Facedown Fest at the Glass House in Pomona, California, bringing together fans of metal, hardcore, and punk rock with a positive spirit and a sense of unity.

Early attendees on Day One got a taste of Facedown's newer metalcore acts such as Messengers and Saving Grace, who gave fans a taste of youthful aggression, and HANDS, who showcased the progressive side of the label's sound.


A Plea For Purguing's thrashy metalcore sound got the crowd headbanging throughout their entire set. Frontman Amo Atkin's lighthearted jokes about his weight issues between songs lightened up the mood, making their set even more enjoyable, though no less musically brutal.

War of Ages made a big announcement about re-signing with Facedown Records, which helped raise the amount of excitement for the crowd. Frontman Leroy Hamp interacted with the audience, keeping them entertained and leaving very little room for dull moments.

Day Two featured more hardcore-oriented acts from the Facedown roster. Judging by the number of fest attendees wearing a For Today shirt, it became obvious that they were the most eagerly awaited band of the evening.

Earlier in the evening, Overcome returned to Facedown Fest in nine years. Despite a hint of unfamiliarity from the crowd, the audience slowly warmed up to their sound. A Hope For Home's sound was met with lukewarm responses from the crowd, perhaps unfamiliar with their post-hardcore sound.

For Today's energetic yet aggressive set the pace for much of the evening. The crowd sang along throughout their set while frontman Matty Montgomery expertly worked the room.

The Facedown Fest once again proved to be a success, built around dedicated fans that enthusiastically support the bands and the music they love.

http://www.noisecreep.com/2011/04/15/facedown-fest-2011-offered-a-sense-of-unity-live-review/