Submit Your Questions For These Bands
Current mood: weird
Category: Music

Greetings Myspace,

I've just been handed many new interviews to conduct over the next several weeks.  As always, I want to get as many reader questions as I can for each band that I'll be interviewing.  This time around, I'll be interviewing these bands.

Mastodon
Black Tide
Unearth
The Acacia Strain
The Classic Struggle
See You Next Tuesday
Sonic Syndicate

Mastodon will be this coming Friday, September 5th. 

Currently listening : Bring Back the Glory By The Classic Struggle Release date: 2008-09-02

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Want To Book Bamboozle Left 2009?

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Breathing New Life. Rededication and A New Beginning
Category: Life

The events of this past weekend have led me to do quite the amount of thinking about life, my future and more importantly career decisions. 

Where do I begin?
Where do I go from here?
Was the decision completley justified or was it more personal and politics based?

I may never know, but do I really care to find out for myself?  Not really because I know that I will never get a straight answer as hard as I try. So here I am, fresh from being let-go from the job that I had to give-up and sacrifice a lot of things for while I nearly killed my social life for. A job that I wanted to turn into a career, sacrificed making a living for to work for a company and in a venue that I completely loved.  What was the result?  Well I'm sure you can figure that out for yourself. 

So here I am wondering wtf am I going to do?  Time to define who I am, go back to the lifestyle that I excell in and work my ass off.

I've occasionally been told that I was pretty dumb and made the wrong decision in the first place to walk away from the music industry in the way I did a year and a half ago.  Here I was with several internships under my belt at a major label, indie label, artist development company and one of the top merchandise companies under my belt.  An education and degree in Music Business from Musicians Institute.  Years of experience working concert merch at Warped Tour, Bamboozle Left and for several bands I knew. 

But isn't everyone allowed a second chance?  I feel like I do.

Having the conversations and meetings that I did this past weekend really opened my eyes quite a lot.  I'm still at a young age where I have yet to define who I am or what I will do in my life.  To achieve you must believe.  Let the fire still burn and not allow someone or something to get in the way.  Alicia, you really helped me realize that a lot following our conversation at Decadence this past Saturday. You have always believed in me and noticed the work ethic and determination that I have.  Outside of being the best boss that I ever had when you were at OCW, I really think of you as a mentor of mine and someone who I can always look up to and want to be like.  Only so many people can say they were on the cover of a Wahoo's Ad, let alone the 20th Anniversary Ad!

So here I am, a new chapter ready to begin and I can't wait.

Currently listening : Iowa By Slipknot Release date: 2008-01-13

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Bleeding Through Interview w/ Brandan Schiepatti
Category: Music

On the evening of July 25th in the confines of their tour bus, I had the opportunity to interview Brandan Schiepatti of the Orange County, CA 5-piece, Bleeding Through.  Being that this was a band who I grew up watching at Chain Reaction through the amount of lineup changes and releases they've put out, it was only natural that I'd jump at any chance to interview them.  This will be found in an upcoming issue of Hails and Horns Magazine.

1. How's the current No Fear Music Tour been so far with Bullet For My Valentine?

 Brandan:  It's been good so far.  A good vibe all around I guess.  Bullet draws a lot of kids who aren't normally into heavy music a year ago.  So I guess they are partially responsible for that.  Then when they see Bleeding Through they are like, "holy shit dude, this is fucking rad."  It's good to play in front of brand new kids.  Bullet is just so fucking huge man, they really are.  I kind of see that they don't have the mindset that they aren't that a huge band in the states even though they really are.

2. What about the live show?  How did the recent addition of Jona Weinhofen change the live show versus what Scott brought?

 Brandan:  As far as Jona versus Scott, I think the reason Scott isn't in the band anymore is because he lost his hunger for this.  Jona is really hungry and wants this.  It's all that he really thinks and worries about.  So on stage he puts forth a really good performance every night.  I think of it as a fresh face. 

3. What brought about the transition from Scott to Jona anyways?  Obviously I Killed The Prom Queen was on its last legs as a band but it seemed so sudden to many of their core fans who were left wondering what the deal was.

Brandan:  We did a tour with them in Europe and they were one of our support bands.   I think they were on their fourth singer and weren't sure if they were going to do it.  Jona did most of the management and business side for them.  He was starting to get frustrated and caught wind that we were having some problems with Scott.  He approached us about if a new guitar could be needed and that IKTPQ was running its course.

4. Was it difficult recording Declaration while he was fulfilling his duties on the Say Goodbye tour in Australia?

Brandan:  He only missed the last week and a half of recording.  All of his tracks were done and we were in the mixing stage by the time he left.  He really didn't miss much and got his last tour with them out of the way.   As for him, he's 100% dedicated to Bleeding Through. 

5. How was it different also recording Declaration with Jona versus Scott who had played on the four previous albums?

Brandan:  He's a really tight guitar player like Scott was on record.  He's like me and would sit in the room the whole day and listen to the mixing and be involved with the creative process.

6. Could you briefly describe what it was like to record with Devin Townsend while everything was coming out about the problems with Trustkill?

Brandan:  It was rad.  He made us feel really comfortable in lieu of what was going on.  We were all really stressed out and really bummed on our situation but he made it seem very comfortable and helped us keep concentrated on the new record.  We wanted to take the elements that we enjoy playing in Bleeding Through and exploit those and cut out all the other elements that we really didn't enjoy playing us much.  We wanted to make a fast, black metal, old school trash punk record like we did.  We officially named our genre blackpunk after all these other genres that are now coming out.  A black metal and punk rock mix

7. Any particular favorite tracks Declaration?

Brandan:  I like every song off of it.  Each song really has its own feel to it.  If I had to pick it would be Orange County Blonde and Blue, Death Anxiety and Germany. 

8. Those are actually my favorites as well along with the instrumental parts scattered across the album.  It gave me a sense of feeling that Bleeding Through isn't forgetting its roots and where it came from whether dating back to Dust To Ashes or most recently with The Truth.  I even noticed that Marta had a lot more input then before.

Brandan:  Yeah, it's definitely a lot more dark and melodic.  One of our main goals was to have Marta's presence be stronger on the record.  We have all these cellos, violins, horns and other things going on in this record.  We really wanted to make a really dark feeling record.

9. Has the situation with Trustkill been resolved yet?

Brandan:  Everything is resolved as of now. This is our last record on the contract, so when it comes out, were done. 

10:  While on the topic of Trustkill, just earlier today, Dave from Throwdown made a post on MTV Headbangers Ball shedding light on a similar situation that Bleeding Through and Hopesfall have had to deal with.

Brandan:  I didn't know that.  Wow, there you go man.  It's hard to be in a band and do this for a living.  When your label doesn't hold their end of the bargain it makes it worse. That's all I can really say about that.  It's just not Trustkill, there are a lot of labels that are doing this to bands and it's unfortunate.  Luckily Bleeding Through is a strong band and we've been doing this for a good amount of years.  We'll live through this while some other bands won't and will break up.

11. How do you respond to the all the new bands who are coming out now who either sound the same or are coming up with new genres that are virtually unheard of?

 Brandan:  That's what I'm saying.  We're starting our own little genre of blackpunk.  There are a lot of different bands.  It's a good but bad thing.  The good thing is that there are a lot of fresh faces out there, but the bad thing it's a lot of quantity over quality.  There are a lot of those bands who are a great but a lot of those bands who are also awful.  I guess it might be comparable to when the whole metalcore genre was around or the revival of hardcore.  Never in my years have I seen a trend of music like this take shape.  Every time we play an off day show from a tour, all the local openers are deathcore bands.  No originality man.

12. Going back a few years now, you played a benefit at The Glasshouse in Pomona for Hurricane Katrina.  Being that I was involved and volunteered my time to go to the Astrodome and New Orleans for the relief work that I did, what brought about organizing this show?

Brandan:  Todiefor Clothing spawned that since they wanted to raise money for Katrina and create a benefit for it.  It was a very expensive ticket and none of the bands got paid which was cool.  A good amount of people came out and we raised a lot of money.  Unfortunately it wasn't full so we did raise the full amount like we and hoped to. 

13. Anything that you'd like to add in closing?

 Brandan:  We're just looking forward to the next chapter of Bleeding Through and everything that it will bring.

Currently listening : Music for the Recently Deceased By I Killed The Prom Queen Release date: 2006-11-14

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Hatebreed Interview w/ Matt Byrne
Category: Music

How's the Jagermeister Music Tour been so far?

Matt: The tour's been great. We're like a little bit into it so far.  I think just about two weeks at this point.  We've only had three days off and filled up our days off Hatebreed way.  The crowds have been awesome and pretty crazy.  I have to give props of course to Jagermeister for doing a really good thing with the tour.  They've done really well with running this tour and treating the bands well.  What they for bands is a lot better then some record labels do for their bands so you gotta love them for that.  Overall it's been a great experience.  Type O Negative are a great bunch of guys and I've been a fan forever so it's been great to meet those guys and actually share the stage with them. 3 Inches Of Blood who we all met last year on Ozzfest and its great to be on the road with them since they are a lot of fun.

Any favorite moments from this tour yet?

Matt: Umm, nothing outstanding.  We've definitely partied a few times and had a great time.  Nobody dying or breaking anything like that yet, so it's been pretty safe up to this point. 

What are Hatebreed's plans for this summer?

Matt:  After this tour we're actually going to Europe to do the Dour Festival in July, we are playing Monsters Of Rock in  Calgary on July 26^th and shortly after that we are going back to Europe for a few more shows and the Wacken festival.

That festival looks insane in the video clips I've seen

Matt: Yeah it is insane and like a hundred thousand people.  I think it's already sold out and I think we're going to be direct support, if not two bands before Iron Maiden. 

How does Wacken compared to the Download Festival?  I've watched your 2006 performance more than I can remember.

Matt:  I think it might be because I've been told that it's the biggest festival in Europe.  Download is definitely huge but a hundred thousand people man or whatever it is huge.  That's a lot of freaking people man. 

How do you feel about Ozzfest scaling back to the one-day festival this summer?

Matt: Well Ozzfest had a great run.  It's what, been around for eleven to twelve years now.  There still doing it even though it's not as big of a tour as it was.  There's also a lot of other things going on this summer that are direct competition to Ozzfest but it's also been going on for a long time.  To cut it down to two humongous shows in two different countries even is a pretty cool idea. 

Do you feel that Warped Tour, Sounds Of The Underground and Mayhem have hurt it at all?  With the rise in crossover bands the past few years going back and forth from the tours.

Matt:  Maybe a little bit but the main thing that hurt it this year was the bands that would be strong headliners on Ozzfest opted to do another tour.  You have bands like Slipknot and Disturbed who are headlining Rockstar Mayhem who are two huge bands that could have been potential headliners for Ozzfest.  I think the way they went was cool breaking it down into two huge shows who have different bands at each and their all heavy hitters. We're playing with Judas Priest which is awesome itself and will be a huge show in Canada.

Do you prefer the mainstage or side stage at Ozzfest?

Matt:  I think we're a side stage band.  They wanted us to play the mainstage since we've been doing Ozzfest.  We're a band who has opted to be the headliner or co-headliner of the second stage because it's more our medium, no seats and it's not the amphitheater shed style. We're out in the parking lot and it's dirty, sweaty and wide open.  There's enough room for the pits and the crowd surfing which we're all about. 

I read that you're also in the midst of putting together a brand new dvd.

Matt:  We have a bunch of things going on this fall.  The first thing to drop should be the live dvd, actually a Hatebreed dvd that's been in the works for some time.  To finally capture our live show on dvd is amazing should be the first thing to come out I think in September.  Before we did Supremacy we did the covers album. We just ended up messing around and doing 18-20 covers and I think 13 of which will finally make it onto this covers record that we just decided to do for fun.  Never knew if they would reach the light of day, if anyone would hear them and allow the public to hear them to give all our fans a better opportunity to show everyone the roots of the band and what we were listening that got us into this band, going to shows and playing instruments.  I think we pay pretty good tribute to these bands we look up to and respect. 

You just also recently were on the Sick Of It All covers album not too long ago

Matt: Yup, that is another tune that we recorded in that covers song session.  I'm so psyched for everyone to hear our versions of these songs.  We're Hatebreed the band but were also the nervous fans when we were young. We were the guys waiting out back for the autographs and representing in the pits. It's a way for us to show insight into what got us into music as we know it.  A few days back in Dallas on this tour we recorded for a live album with Vinnie Paul from Pantera who's going to produce it.  So yeah, we have our live dvd, our covers album and our live album which will be the last thing to come out sometime by Christmas or the new year.

Always a great thing I could imagine to have a variety of items for your legion of fans,

Matt:  Yeah we haven't been touring that much this year but have been keeping pretty busy.

Is there a new Hatebreed studio album in the works?  I was actually listening to your song "Pollution Of The Soul" earlier today.

Matt:  I think that will turn up on our next album. That's a song we recorded during the Supremacy sessions that we thought maybe we allotted this many tracks on the album but didn't make the cut.  We love the song that's why we kind of just gave it to the public. I'm sure it will end up on the next album.  Anything else at this point is just an idea since we really haven't gotten together to write or jam.  The time off was more organizing for the dvd and working on other project that we've had going. Most of it was just relaxing since we've been on tour for eight years straight and never really took this much time off. Some of the other guys had some things that they wanted to explore.  It's given us an opportunity to get off the bus, stretch your legs and have a home life and do whatever it is you want to do.  I think in the fall we'll start recording for the new album.

Any idea who you might sign to when it comes down to putting out the next record since the recent split with Roadrunner?

Matt:  We haven't been on Roadrunner since we just did Supremacy with them.  There's no new label in the works right now since we're going to back to the grassroots of the whole process and write some stuff and demo it out to shop to producers and labels to see what kind of interest there is.

What do you feel about the current state of the industry with the downward spiral it's been on lately?

Matt:  It's really a mess. If I could make a prediction within the next 10-15 years I think there will be one major label left and be a conglomerate of all of them coming together to save everything.  Everything is internet based.  If you have a labtop these days you could be a producer or musician for how far technology has come that you don't need these big companies to back you. We have Youtube that's free.  If you buy a macbook and get all the programs with it for free.  Just buy all the equipment and you have an album that you can broadcast all over the world.  The music world is in a really weird state right now and I'm interested to see where it will go.

It's really hard to say for the time that I spent working at Universal at the same time your band was releasing records on the label.  Just how cut-throat it really was at the time to be there and see it changing almost on a daily process. 

Matt:  Yeah for a band like us they really didn't know what to do with us. Perseverance was our best selling album for us to date just from the numbers.  After that first initial push it was like they weren't sure what to do with us and not too long after that they ended up dropping all of their heavy bands except for I believe us and Godsmack.  We're always a band that does our own thing anyways.  We really haven't even had a label for a long time.  We haven't been on Roadrunner for awhile and were still doing the same thing as always.  We're a self sufficient touring band that you won't hear on the radio every hour.  That's not where our bread and butter quote comes from.  We're loyal to our bands and our fans our loyal to us so we're on the road all the time. 

Probably the easiest thing to notice with the amount of core fans is how easily they've caught onto the bands image and what you believe in.

Matt: We're very approachable and the music is pretty easy to latch onto rhythmically.  Lyrically we have a lot of stuff that almost anyone in any walk of life can relate to.  A lot of people will tell you stories about how I relate to this song because of something that happened in my life.  It's actually really cool because there are so many plastic weak ass bands out there that are just don't get it. 

Perseverance was the album that got me through some of the toughest times in my life and still does at some points.

Matt:  That's good to hear and we actually hear that a lot.

Whether it's the amount of friends I've had die, personal struggles I've dealt with or just everything that I saw and experienced during my time doing relief work for Hurricane Katrina, my outlet was Hatebreed and similar music.

Matt:  Yeah, it's unfortunate and a part of life.  A lot of things happen in life and it's good to have an outlet. I'm proud of our music and to have it as an outlet like that where people can get something out of it and to go on a good path.

Where do you see Hatebreed going next after evolving as much as it has over the years? 

Matt:  It's hard to say.

Yeah, I've noticed how the band has progressed from a hardcore band on Satisfaction to the metal genre with Supremacy.  Of course staying true to your sound but also need to reinvent yourself as a band.

Matt Yep I think so too.  I think we've definitely over the years gone the metal route. We might continue with that and go more metal or even go back and make another record similar to Satisfaction.  We'll have to get into the studio and jam room and hash out the ideas.  I don't think we have a plan where were go do a lot of sin song choruses or something like that.  We're not going to be that band who raps or sounds like that.  I really don't know.

I've been noticing too more frequently that too many bands are recording that song that they can use for a hit single or the next video.

Matt: That influence comes from the record label since they need a song with that chorus to market whatever band it might be.  We're not that band at all.

Anything that you care to add?

Matt: Yeah, definitely be on the lookout for the stuff that's coming out.  Personally me, I have an instructional drum dvd that I've been working on that I filmed back in April that's in the editing process that I've been doing myself and putting it out there to see if anyone bites.  Be on the lookout for it in the next year. 

Currently listening : The Rise of Brutality By Hatebreed Release date: 2003-10-28

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My Dream
Category: Sports

The start of the 2008 MLB season this week has had my mind thinking about quite a lot of things.  Wether it’s both career aspirations and the overall fan experience I have, it’s huge.  I really want to go on a roadtrip centered squarely on baseball seeing as many games as I can at a different stadiums around the country.

Right now I’m planning a trip to NYC the first week of August to see the Angels play the Yankees at Yankee Stadium before it closes this year.  Also planning on going to Texas in July to see the Angels play the Texas Ranagers along with visiting my friends once they have their son Drake is born.

So far crossed off on the stadium list:

Angel Stadium
Dodger Stadium
Jack Murphy (Qualcomm) Stadium
Safeco Field
Minute Maid Park (My personal fav besides Angel Stadium)
Candlestick Park
Oakland McAfee Stadium

Pending Stadiums:

Yankee Stadium
Ameriquest Field at Arlingtion

Stadiums Seen In Person But Not Been To:

US Cellular Field (Chicago White Sox)
Wrigley Field(Chicago Cubs)
Camden Yards(Baltimore Orioles)
Veterans Stadium (Philadelphia Phillies)
Petco Park (SD Padres)

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2007 In Music

Top 10 Albums

The Devil Wears Prada - Plagues
As I Lay Dying - An Ocean Between Us
August Burns Red - Messengers
Every Time I Die - The Big Dirty
Thrice - The Alchemy Index Vols 1 & 2
Paramore - Riot!
The Dear & Departed - Something Quite Peculiar
Circa Survive - On Letting Go
Oh, Sleeper - When I Am God
Chimaira - Resurrection

Top 5 Live Shows

Killswitch Engage    Long Beach, CA
Eighteen Visions   Anaheim, CA
Throwdown   Warped Tour Pomona
GWAR   Sounds Of The Underound Irvine
Blessthefall   Warped Tour Pomona

Top 5 Songs

Killswitch Engage - Holy Diver
Paramore - Misery Business
August Burns Red - Composure
Every Time I Die - No Son Of Mine
Thrice - Open Water

Favorite Video

Killswitch Engage - Holy Diver

Favorite Tours

Killswitch Engage, Lamb Of God, Devildriver, Soilwork
No Fear Music Tour
Saosin, Norma Jean, Alexisonfire, The Dear & Departed
Vans Warped Tour

Favorite Circle Pit

Throwdown Pomona Warped Tour

Favorite Show Moment

Getting GWAR'd at Sounds Of The Underground

Saddest Show Moment

Eighteen Visions break-up in April

1:24 AM - 89 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

VOTE FOR THEDAILYCHORUS
Current mood: frustrated

Voting has officially begun in the first annual Hypebot.com Music Blog Awards.

TheDailyChorus.com has been nominated for "Best Music Discovery Blog."

You can help us out by voting here: http://hypebot.typepad.com/hypebot/vote-for-your-favorite-mu.html

It takes two seconds to vote and it would mean a lot to us.

Thanks to all the unsigned bands, fans, industry folk, and everybody else for your continued support!! This site is based upon your support.

Update : TDC is currently in 2nd place!!

Currently listening : When I Am God By Sleeper Oh Release date: 23 October, 2007

6:49 PM - 89 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Music Industry Article
Category: Music

After many months of planning and sorting through ideas, I am proud to announce that my contribution to the music industry, has come to life.  Over the next few weeks and months, I will be conducting interviews and writing an article for TheDailyChorus.com that specifically focuses on the business side of the music industry.  Since my initial beginning in the music business in the late 90s while I was still in high school, I've held a wide variety of jobs within the industry.  It all began with my first internship at Fanscape Artist Development in late 2003 where I worked for my boss at the time Andie D'Avino, now the manager of I Am Ghost who I have the upmost amount of respect for.  Since then have gone onto interning at the distribution arm of the Universal Music Group who still to this day is the biggest record label in the world, while in the process working for Smartpunk.com at their offices and working merch at Bamboozle Left 2006 and Warped Tour 2006 & 2007.  The biggest gain was this past April where I was asked to become a staff member for the upstart website, TheDailyChorus.com, ran by former Greeley Estates tour manager and merchie extrodinare, Mr Tim Towner. 

Learning and taking every bit of knowledge and training that I could with me from all my past internships and college at Musicians Institute, I've decided to now be a teacher myself.  Everyday I recieve countless amounts of emails from fellow readers and aspiring photographers asking me a simple question, "How did you get your start and what can I do to learn from you?"  Well going back a few years (late 2004/early 2005) to two specific classes I took while at MI, Careers In The Music Industry and Guest Speaker Series, I have decided to take what I learned from that and add in my own elements to it.

With that, I'm now at my article I'm in the process of writing.  I already have several interviews lined up with friends of mine in the areas of:

Tour Publicity
Marketing
Being in a successful band/Working in the music industry
A&R

However, I would also like to get your opinion in the process.  I am giving you the opportunity to share with me what career in the music industry you are interested in and would like to get more information about.  Even if you don't want a career but are interested in it, by all means ask away.  Let's have some fun with this.

Currently listening : The Horror of Realization By Scars of Tomorrow Release date: 18 October, 2005

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Beef Jerky Collection Drive

On the evening of December 15th, I will be interviewing Killswitch Engage guitarist Joel Stroetzel prior to their show at the Long Beach Arena. 

However, I am also starting a Beef Jerky Collection to present to their rythym guitarist, band producer and daisy dukes wearer Adam D.  This will all be in good fun and a gag to Adam as he claims that beef jerky is the cure to his back problems that have prevented him from being on tour at times.  If you'd like to participate in this, please let me know.

Currently listening : Come Clarity By In Flames Release date: 07 February, 2006

9:05 PM - 89 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment