Evergreen Terrace (AMPMagazine.com)

Evergreen Terrace
by: Rei Nishimoto
Posted on Sep 08, 2009 - 3:17 pm

Evergreen Terrace is one of the bands who have lived and breathed the road life and made a career out of it. For over a decade, they have played to countless fans of hardcore, punk and metal music, and have built their following through hard work and dedication. Starting in Jacksonville, Florida in 1999, they named the band after the Simpsons fictional street they live on. The band has built its sound around aggressive riffs and a strong blend of raw shouted lead vocals and melodic vocals during their choruses. Musically, they mix influences of hardcore, metal and punk that has helped them stand out amongst the scene. With the recent economic difficulties plaguing most people, the band still managed to push through. They overcame uncertainties within the band to create their latest release titled Almost Home. They parted ways with bassist Jason Southwell after their last record, and they recently lost drummer Kyle Mims due to a freak bicycle accident before their most recent tour on the Summer Slob Tour. Caleb James of Casey Jones filled in for the tour.

Guitarist Josh James spoke about the new record, touring with new members, touring, and their love for the Simpsons.

Where are you now?

Josh James: We’re on the last night of the Summer Slob Tour with The Acacia Strain, Cruel Hand and Unholy. We are in Hartford, Connecticut at the Webster Theater. We have a nice 15 hour drive home and have two days off and then we hop on a plane and head to Europe.

How’s the tour going so far?

JJ: It’s been good. There are a lot of tours going on right now and you can definitely see the effects of that. Kids don’t know what they want they want to do this summer. You have Warped Tour, 10 Bands For $10, Summer Slaughter Tour, and the Summer Slob Tour. You have a lot of things going on. The crowds have been good. It’s been a lot of fun. This tour’s definitely had a less serious vibe to it, all because of the theme of being a disgusting slob. It’s made for some interesting nights!

I heard about your drummer’s situation. How’s he doing?

JJ: He just got out of the hospital yesterday. About five days before we left for the tour, him and the guy playing bass for us, they were cruising around on beach cruisers around the neighborhood. Kyle had a brand new bike and the spokes just collapsed. He was about a block from his house and it threw him over the handle bars. It broke his clavicle in three different spots and crushed his elbow. He was rushed to the emergency room. They put a steel plate into his shoulder. Caleb [James] from Casey Jones is filling in on drums. We try to keep in touch with Kyle every day. A week and a half after his surgery, he started getting really sick and went to the emergency room. They found out he had a blood clot in his lung. So he was put in the hospital for a week under observation. He called me and said he just received the bill solely for the clavicle surgery. It was around $40,000! It’s definitely a hard time for him and hard time for the band. Things were looking good. We have a new record about to come out. We have a lot of great tours lined up for the next six months. Something unfortunate as this happens; everybody is trying to stay as positive as we can. We didn’t want to cancel any tours. We were lucky to get Caleb to play drums for us. Kyle’s going through physical therapy and will be back with us in a couple of months.

Caleb will be in long as he is needed then?

JJ: He’s going to do the European run with us right after this tour, which starts next week. After that, we’re doing five and a half weeks with Emmure. That takes us into October. The doctors told him that there is a high chance that he won’t be able to turn his hand so his palm faces up. He’s not sure how that will affect his drumming. He’s trying to stay focused and not let it get to him too much. He’s a tough guy when it comes to bringing him down on things. Hopefully that attitude will come through in a positive way.

Not to bum out the interview, but what was the biggest difference between the making of Almost Home versus past records? I read you used a producer this time around.

JJ: This recording process was completely different than anything else we have ever done. In the past we had gone to one studio. We’ve never had a producer. We were strictly working with the engineer at the studio. This time, we ended up tracking all of the music without a producer. We recorded that in a small studio called Martel Studios in Georgia. We tracked all the vocals, as well as Jason Suecof produced and engineered the record. He just did the new August Burns Red, Job For A Cowboy, Black Dahlia Murder, All That Remains, and Trivium. It was cool and weird at the same time. He didn’t do a whole lot with Craig’s [Chaney] vocals, which are the clean singing vocals. It was cool to have someone step in and looking at it with a completely different perspective. He had Craig try so many things he hadn’t thought of. Obviously we hope one day…we don’t oppose working with a producer. When we started writing the record as far as the songwriting, there was so much going on with the band. Just like any other band was felt it…the economy had a huge impact on us, the impact of the outlook of our personal future, what’s going on in the world, and what is and what is not important. Our bass player [Jason Southwell] of over ten years, he decided it was time for him to call it quits. There were a few months there where it was rocky for us. We didn’t know what the future was. We didn’t know if everybody wanted to do it or if it was worthwhile doing it. Ultimately me and Drew [Andrew Carey, vocals] and Craig and Kyle started writing the songs, everything we were experiencing emotionally and dealing with, everyone started pushing out stuff that was deeper than anything in the past. It seemed like the songs flowed better. I think when listeners hear it they will be able to understand. They will be able to understand and grasp the energy the record holds.

Does the title Almost Home tie into your dealings over the past few years?

JJ: We come up with a bunch of different titles. Then Almost Home was brought up. We tour so much that we’re constantly saying we’re almost home. We’re always thinking of taking a break. It seems like the break never comes. As soon as we come home, we start writing and record. In another sense, when we started the band, it was never the intension to release a record. It was to have some fun and never to go on tour or to make it our career. It seems like throughout those years, I don’t want to say we strayed away from having a good time and having a useful mindset. Reality does kick you in the ass sometimes. It’s hard to not get caught up in the bullshit and becoming an adult and dealing with the problems you deal with. All the things I was talking about earlier, like Jason quitting and the economy, it puts so much pressure on us. When it seemed like we came to our breaking point, where we almost split up, it was a breath of fresh air. It felt like it took us back to home ten years ago where we were. I don’t care if the record fails. I don’t care if the record sells a million copies. That would be great but nobody’s thinking about that. Within the last few records, you have labels and management and other bands and booking agents and all of this bullshit and pressure from all of these people that ‘this record can’t sell! It’s gonna be a success!’ That’s all you’re thinking about. We got to a point where it’s like ‘we don’t give a shit.’ Either it’s gonna do well or it’s not. We can’t control that. All we can do is write songs that we enjoy and other people will like them. It brought us back to the order of the band where we started off.

I noticed on past records many of your songs were inspired by pop culture such as Survivor to Fight Club, amongst others. Did those types of themes inspire the songs on Almost Home?

JJ: We’ve always taken things from pop culture and slid them into the band. There are definitely ideas for lyrics that we’ve gotten from books – tons of titles for songs and records have been from movies and books. A lot of times we’ll hear something funny in a movie and we’ll write a song and we’ll call the song whatever the funny line is in the movie or the clever line is in the book. We don’t really think of the title when we write the lyric. Somehow at the end, the lyrics match the title of the song on the record. There are definitely some pop culture references in Almost Home. There’s a song called ‘I’m A Bullet Proof Tiger’ that is a Kenny Rogers quote from the show Eastbound & Down. There’s nothing lyrically based. I think it was something on Wolfbiker. Everyone was getting into philosophy and the idea of gods and religions. I think reading a lot of those books and lyrics, you could see where we were reading or watching through those lyrics. On Almost Home, it’s heartfelt lyrics and though out lyrics. There’s nothing specifically based from a book or a movie that influenced us in the past.

What’s the deal with the bass player situation? Do you have fill ins for now?

JJ: We made a decision that me, Craig and Drew have been in the band for ten years. Kyle’s been in the band for five years. We wrote the record. Jason our old bass player didn’t really write anything musically. It’s not going to change the writing process or the sound our old bass player didn’t influence in the music. We thought it would be easier for us to instead of having a fifth official member, just having someone to play for tours…it’s one less person to deal with on the business end of things. Also it’s easier that way. We have our friend Chris [Andrews] who formerly played for this band Stretch Arm Strong. He’s playing bass for us now. He’s doing these tours with us for the rest of the year.

So you have two fill in guys for now?

JJ: It’s never happened before. Caleb the guy who’s playing drums for us, he usually does merch for us. We’re used to touring with him. We’re not used to touring with Chris. The first few shows were awkward for us because I’m looking on stage and I’m like ‘who the hell’s on stage with me?’ We’ve all gotten into the groove and I think this group of people have gotten extremely tight and have figured out how and what everybody does live.

I know you had a YouTube page with some video diaries. Are there any plans of doing more in the future?

JJ: That’s something I recently started doing last year. We toured the States so much…whenever I talk to my friends, nobody ever asks about tours from the States. They don’t care what you did in Idaho. Whenever you go to Europe or Australia or Japan, that’s when all of your friends ask ‘how was it? Was it crazy?’ I started making little documentaries whenever we go overseas, mostly to show our friends and family what it’s like over there. I try to film things here and there, and if there’s enough good or humorous footage, we’ll try to put it all together and give people something to watch. Most of them are short and entertaining.

You got the band name from the Simpsons. Now that the Simpsons hit the 20th anniversary mark themselves, does this give you any added motivation to keep the band going another decade?

JJ: The goal is to eventually convince Matt Groening to put us on the Simpsons. Once that happens, then I don’t really care what happens. We know we’ve fulfilled all that we could do. If you want to let Mister Matt know that we’re fully ready to have our episode and just to give us a call.

You’ll do a duet with Bart?

JJ: I’d like to really get down with Homer personally because my stepdad’s name is Homer, as well. He used to get really pissed off when I was a little kid. I used to call him Homer Simpson. He would get furious.

Aliens In The Attic (Valley Scene Magazine, July 24, 2009)

Summer vacation films come with a load of surprises, and especially when it comes from another plant. The surprises in 'Aliens In The Attic' keep view3ers on its feet and rarely leaving a dull moment. It appears this was never part of their family vacation plans.

The movie is an all-out battle between the Pearson family and the aliens "who came from upstairs" and will decide the fate of Planet Earth. Stuart (Kevin Nealon) and his wife Nina (Gillian Vigman) played their summer vacation with their family in a comfortable suburban house in Michigan.

Then there are the kids - the adorable seven-year old Hannah (Ashley Boettcher); the 15-year old Tom, a computer geek whose grades intentionally tanked; and the older sister Bethany (Ashley Tisdale), who is secretly dating an 'older' boyfriend Ricky Dillman (Robert Hoffman).

Stuart decides to band the family together and takes them to an old fashioned retreat in a surburban house away from the things the kids became attatched to, such as video games and computers. The PearsoNana Rose (Doris Roberts) and identical 12-year old twins Art (Henri Young) and Lee (Regan Young). This side of the family is the polar opposite of Stuart's family, as they drive in cranking loud rock music, playing video games and carryingillegal fireworks for the sheer thrill of it all.

An unexpected Ricky also works his way into an overnight visit with the Pearsons. This does not sit well with Tom, as he is the only member of his family who sees through Ricky's shallow ways.

Gradually, as night time falls, dark clouds swirl around the house and then four glowing objects shoot towards the roof. This is where the alien crew of Skip, the tough commander (voiced by J.K. Simmons); Tazer, a muscle-bound enforcer (voiced by Thomas Hayden Church); Razor, a lethal female commandert (voiced by Kari Wahlgren); and Spark, the techie four armed member, who is also the sole non-threatening one (voiced by Josh Peck).

While Tom and Ricky were supposed to be bonding on the roof while fixing their satellite dish, this is when Ricky is taken under a spell of the aliens, due to a high-tech-mind-control device and plug implanted into his brain. Dillman put on quite a performance, as Ricky having to move around at fast speeds into walls and his marionette like portrayals throughout the film. While Ricky is a slimeball as a character, his potrayal was worked in as karmic, payback way by the kids.

Much of this film is focused around the children trying to takr down the aliens. Each of the children's roles plays a key part in the interaction with the aliens. Tom is the brains and figures out how to counteract the aliens' tactics. Bethany is the love struck yet later betrayed whose moods swing throughout the film. ZJake is the crazy one who loves to play with fireworks and blow things up. The twins tinker with the controls they stole from the aliens, and later use to control Ricky, Hannah plays the sensitive one who bonds with the alien Sparks, when he is captured by the kids.

In many ways, this film showed hints of the 1985 hit Goonies, with the kids on an adventure type feel. But unlike the Goonies, Aliens in the Attic is a simplified version without the in depth adventure story that would make it exciting for viewers of all ages to enjoy.

The four aliens each portray a unique personality that comes across well as they attempt their evil ways, inside of the house. Plus their interaction with the kids, especially during the shooting scenes with the potato guns, comes across somewhat predictable but still enough to leave some of the excitement within the story.

Aliens In The Attic is the human versus alien film that the family can enjoy together. While this film does not have the rough 'em up type of story like much of the movies out today, instead it is one of the few movies that people of all ages could enjoy.

Orgy @ Roxy (VISIONS Magazine - January 22, 1999)

Orgy: Los Angeles - The Roxy (22.01.1999)
Autor: Rei Nishimoto
Erschienen in: VISIONS Nr. 74 Author: Rei Nishimoto
Published in: VISIONS No. 74
Support: Professional Murder Music, Hero
Besucher (Visitors): 500

Der Abend wird von zwei Bands eröffnet, in denen ehemalige Mitglieder der verblichenen Band Human Waste Project mitwirken.

The evening is opened by two bands, in which former members of the faded band Human Waste Project participate. At work is Sänger Aimee Echo und Drummer Scott Ellis, together with former Snot members Mike Smith (Guitars) und Jamie Miller, former Drummer, now Bassist. Hero is a lot more melody-driven than HWP and have more in common with Cure or the Beatles than with the grain. For Professional Murder Music are HWP, bassist Jeff Schartoff and ex-Tura satana guitarist Brian Harrah of the meeting. PMM go on wearing experimental Industrial enriched with DJ scratches and chilling background sounds from the synthesizer. Both Professional Murder Music and Hero have already been offers from various labels on the table - there will probably still listen. In the last six months, Orgy, the emerging heroes of the music of the 21st Century, the scene by storm. Their bizarre, some glam, some Gothic-influenced outfit, and the ubiquitous cover of New Orders "Blue Monday", the band from the state to quasi-Stars. Their first appearance in their home city of Los Angeles as the headliner is also definitely a success, well over 400 people fill the Roxy, among them some members of Coal Chamber, Downset, and Limp Bizkit, Orgy, the wish to express their support. The star of the band is clearly the mastermind and vocalist Jay Gordon: Less than two meters tall, spindly and with a hairstyle, which suggests that he deals with Manson and Coal Chamber announced the hairdresser, he immediately draws the attention. What is not surprising, because the rest of the band is not nearly as involved in the show as he delivers an excellent job but as an accompaniment. Orgy define the 80s-wave and synth-rock re-fit, but the zeitgeist of modern synth guitar effects and an extremely dark background. The highlight of the predicted performance is said "Blue Monday" in which an almost familial atmosphere emerges. Orgy optimists see as one of the bands, the hard music in the new millennium may bring. Even if something seems premature - Orgy will make their way.

Asian Dub Foundation @ Troubadour (VISIONS Magazine - March 23, 1999)

Asian Dub Foundation: Los Angeles - Troubadour (23.03.1999)
Author: Rei Nishimoto Published in: VISIONS No. 76
Visitors: 350

The British revolution of new electronic music slowly reached the American coast, and in the form of Asian Dub Foundation. The existing five-man combo, originally from India, break beats mixed with hip-hop, funk, reggae and electronic influences to create a new, fresh sound to modern, with all these styles, new country enters. Together with socially critical lyrics and the fact than Asian living in England, they have in the music world, new doors open. Since the U.S. as opener for the Beastie Boys for the first time already have, they could be an ever-growing popularity of delight. Her most recent appearance in Los Angeles again this was impressively demonstrated. Among the enthusiastic audience was also Rage Against The Machine frontman Zach de la Rocha, who probably also wanted to show his support. Resemblance to him, are not absurd, especially since ADF frontman Master D vocally the reggae version that is de la Rocha represents. Master D and guitarist Chandrasonic are often the audience to the deeper meaning of a song to convey. This is a piece not just down, but like when? crash? the audience indicated that this was the secret behind the world economy going. This is not to say that, as with most rap-metal acts, the rest of the band in the background hidden, and only one or two people in the show included. On the contrary, even Sampler DJ Pandit G and J Sun actively take part in the action and let her run free movement, especially when you agree with an imprisoned hero in a song for his recognition proves. The Asian Dub Foundation, slowly opens up new avenues for the musical future and probably will in the coming years, the leadership style of taking the time is still emerging. Take in eight.

Arkaea Interview (Valley Scene Magazine, July 10-23, 2009)

Arkaea Interview
By Rei Nishimoto


For two decades, Fear Factory became one of the most influential heavy metal bands on the heavy music scene. The LA based band released seven full length releases (including two full length releases without original guitarist Dino Cazares), in which fans recognized them for their powerful blend of hard driving guitar riffs, lightning speed drumming, and a vocal style that switched between a raw, shouted style and a clean, melodic style throughout their songs.

After the release of their 2005 release Transgression, drummer Raymond Herrrera and guitarist Christian Olde Wolbers began writing songs that were originally intended for a new Fear Factory record. But once band vocalist Burton C. Bell chose to work on his side project Ascensions of the Watchers instead, the two members shifted their energies towards something else. Their new band Arkaea was finally born in 2007.

"This was essentially supposed to be the next Fear Factory record," explained Herrera. "There were some personal differences, I guess you can say, so we decided to take the songs and do something else with them. Obviously we weren't going to do Fear Factory at the time."

So Herrera and Olde Wolbers continued to work on new songs and began shaping their sound around new members in the band. They began by recruiting vocalist Jon Howard (of the Canadian metal band Threat Signal), which they were familiar with from past touring.

"It was Christian's idea to get Jon and Pat (Kavanaugh) involved. Christian had already worked on the Threat Signal record, so he was good friends with Jon and Pat. I hadn't really met Jon before. I may have spoken to him once or twice - kinda say hi to the guys. I didn't really know them that well at the time."

"We had sent songs we had written up to that point to Jon. He heard some of the stuff and started doing vocals on it. I thought 'wow, this guy's really good.' He's doing a really good job. So it kind of snowballed from there. We kept sending him stuff and he was sending stuff back. I was starting to get ideas as an answer to what he was doing. It's a collaborative effort, even though he's in Toronto. It built from there. We wrote some of the stuff here (at the studio). We wrote some stuff at Christian's house. We kept writing like a normal record, and before you knew it, we had 12 songs."

"When Christian and I had branched off, we already had eight songs for the next Fear Factory record, which eventually became Arkaea. When Jon got all of these songs, it almost had a whole record done at that point. He had his work cut out for him."

Over the past two years, they slowly worked on their songs until they were satisfied with the results. Their debut album, Years in the Darkness (out July 14 through E1 Music) is the end result, where songs such as 'Locust' and 'Beneath the Shades of Grey' remind longtime fans of the similarities to Fear Factory, as well as new elements added along the way.

Plus with Howard joining the band, he refined their songs to fit his vocal dynamics to the music. "A lot of the better changes are in nuances where I was able to write around his vocals. He has a different rhythmic vocal style with verses, where I had to change my style just a touch to make those parts stand out more. The style of drumming is still the same. It's a different animal. He's very hard working. In a one-week period, he banged out seven songs and it was 80 percent there. It's unheard of for us. It's really good to have a guy who's really hungry and eager. He gets it that it's a good opportunity," said Herrera.

Arkaea is currently working on a summer tour, which will be announced through the band's Myspace page (www.myspace.com/arkaeamusic). There are talks about an Arkaea remix CD, as well as a XBOX video game featuring Arkaea's music to be released in the near future.

Antiproduct @ Key Club (Big Cheese Magazine)

ANTIPRODUCT
The Key Club
Los Angeles, CA (USA)
February 13th
4.5/ 5

With the recent string of UK acts like Bullet For My Valentine, Gallows, and Enter Shikari beginning to create waves on American shores, it is natural for curiosity to kick in as to what is coming next. No one would have predicted that the mad people known as ANTIPRODUCT would soon be terrorizing American shores, beginning with LA. Los Angeles has getting acquainted with the wildly-mannered folks known as Antiproduct over the past few months. A rock ‘n’ roll band pushing itself to the edge has not quite existed within Los Angeles in quite some time. Their zany frontman A Product (aka Alex Kane) is the main attraction here. His KISS-meets-Lucha
Libre outfit is quite exciting, as his interaction with the crowd hits everyone like Jim Carrey in ‘The Mask’. His outfit has many unsure of what was happening, but the crowd began to loosen up and enjoy themselves. This marked the first show with new Antiproduct members, guitarist Mixie and bassist Stitch, along with drummer Ben Graves. Despite the uncertainty of the new members and some minor technical problems, the band sounded solid and never lost its momentum. They even managed to get the normally uptight LA crowd to sing along with ‘Bungee Jumping People Die’. Guitarist Clare Product caught the crowd by surprise by handling lead vocals on the
Motorhead-ish ‘Drugs Sex Food And Booze’. Clare, along with Mixie, both traded off on vocals while Alex joined in as a third guitarist before the band closed their set with their version of the ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’ theme song. Standing head and shoulders apart from the generic emo/metalcore hordes, Antiproduct make one hell of an impression.

Rei Nishimoto

My Life In Ruins (Valley Scene Magazine, July 26, 2009)

My Life In Ruins
By Rei Nishimoto

The flood of summer releases has been dominated by sci-fi remakes, horror films and comedies, which have been heavily hyped to pull in audiences. My Life In Ruins is one of the few films that captures audiences with a story from the heart and a human touch.

The film features Nia Vardalos (also of 2002's My Big Fat Greek Wedding) playing Georgia, a Greek-American history professor who came to Athens to find her kefi (Greek for mojo). She eventually finds herself working as a professional tour guide for Pangloss Tours, as a way of finding equally eager people who shared her knowledge of Ancient Greece.

Vardalos brings warmth and sincerity to her character, playing an often uptight person who is also passionate about Greek history, which attempting to share that with others.

The film captured many breathtaking views of the ancient Greek sites. Unlike a documentary, each scene is worked in with the tour group's chaotic personality and brings a humorous touch. Director Donald Petrie managed to find a strong midpoint towards bringing both elements to the film.

Georgia finds herself with travelers who are only interested in lounging at the famous Greek beaches and shopping more than seeing the famous heritage sites she knows very well. Due to her refusal to adapt to the group, she earns unfavorable ratings. This leads to her boss (played by Brenice Stegers) to cut a deal with another tour guide, Nico (played by British comedian Alistair McGowan) to force her to quit with his obnoxious methods and backstabbing ways.

Georgia is stuck with a tour bus without working air conditioning, accommodations with the crummiest hotels Greece had to offer, and was paired with a bus driver with a heavy beard and was thought to be a mute named Procopi "Poupi" Kakas (played by Greek actor Alexis Georgoulis).

Nico is following the same route, but often unleashes sets of mean pranks such as buying the group ice cream on a hot day and dinner at the Hard Rock Café. This pushes Georgia to her breaking point, often thinking about abandoning the tour and her life in Greece.

Georgia attempts to write a letter of resignation from the hotel, which that also goes sour. Vardalos' real life husband, actor Ian Gomez, plays the hotel clerk that mails her letter, or attempts to do so.

Georgia's tour group consists of a diverse yet somewhat unruly group of loudmouthed Americans (Rachel Dratch and Harland Williams), beer drinking Australians with their odd accents (Simon Gleeson and Natalie O'Donnell), the stuffy Brits (Ian Ogilvy and Caroline Goodall) and their sullen teenage daughter (Sophie Stuckey), a couple of divorced and looking-for-action Senoritas (Maria Botto and Maria Adanez), a kleptomaniac senior citizen and her mute husband (Sheila Bernette and Ralph Nossek), a young adult looking for action (Jareb Dauplaise) and a workaholic, cell phone addicted IHOP sales rep (played by Brian Palermo).

The group member who stood out amongst the crowd was Irv (played by Richard Dreyfuss), an elderly man who loved to crack a joke or pull a gag for every occasion, especially when Georgia's lectures begin to pull the group down. But after learning Irv just lost his wife, the two characters learn more about each other and let their guards down. Dreyfuss' interaction with Vardalos throughout the film, brought out a human touch to the film. Irv represented a character that audiences could easily relate to, and was made relatable to anyone on many levels.

Each of the group members bring their own unique personalities to the film. While Georgia is battling Irv over her uptight behavior, her kind hearted nature comes across in the film, whether it is getting the rash behavior of the Americans over souvenirs, making the young British girl happy while her parents argued, or simply stealing the air conditioner from the other group's bus.

The film's heart is found with the interaction between Georgia and Poupi, as the two characters gradually discover their mutual attraction for one another. This part of the film is also interwoven as the tour group encourages her towards Poupi, as the romance gradually builds up.

This film is not the over hyped, box office breaking movie of the summer. Instead this film is for audiences that miss stories with human emotions and cinematography that captures real things left in this world. My Life In Ruins is something that will be touching audiences for a long while.