NOVEMBER
28,
2018 ROCKWiRED
SPECiAL FEATURE:2018 EDiTOR'S CHOiCE
t
was the year that wasn't supposed to look like much. In late 2017,
ROCKWIRED made the decision to cease publication of our monthly
magazine and simply focus on beefing up
our website with articles that would've ended up on the magazine
anyway.
Within the first few weeks of the year 2018, we noticed a huge change
in ROCKWIRED. Our traffic started to go through the roof. This year
proved to us that pulling back and keeping things simple is the way to
go. While we miss the look and feel of ROCKWIRED MAGAZINE, we love the
sight of readers from throughout the continent and beyond visiting our
website to catch up on what's exciting in the world of independent rock
n roll. This straightforward approach goes back to our site's early
days
before we got into podcasting and publishing a monthly magazine, and
right now, we feel that it is right where we need to be. Scaling things
back certainly didn't hinder the number of bands and artists who came
out way. Throughout our calendar year, the reader's have selected their
favorite artists in our ARTIST OF THE MONTH competitions. Now, it is my
turn as ROCKWIRED's editor to share with you the twenty artists and
bands
who made the year something special. This is a year end traditon for me
and while it's always a great deal of fun, it's always a
challenge going
through the list of artists that we've featured. This
Editor's Choice list has also been
something of a weathervane for the annual ROCKWIRED READER'S POLL
AWARDS. This list has traditionally given readers an idea of who they
can expect to be nominated in our annual READER'S POLL contest, so
think of this list of amazing bands and artists as the kick off for our
annual awards season.
It
was a year full of twists and turns both professionally and personally
and I'm pleased to have had this music as the soundtrack for it. If you
are not a regular reader of ROCKWIRED.COM, it is quite possible that
you
have never heard of any of these artists, so in that case, we
are
pleased to provide you videos of their work as well. If we've turned
you on to something new, than I feel that we've done our job as a
publication. Here are the twenty bands and artists who made ROCKWIRED
rock
this year:
he
first band to truly jump out at us in 2018 was the West Virginia-based
metal band HYDROGYN. Not only had the band signed with the fledgling
label RFL RECORDS and released their new album REDEMPTION, they also
came out guns blazing with a dynamic new lead singer in ERICA PARROTT.
According to founder and guitarist JEFF WESTLAKE, the addition of
PARROTT was a welcomed change that has set the band in a bold new
direction. Here is what he had to say about what PARROTT brings to the
table as the band's new frontwoman. "Attitude.
Lots of attitude and a gruffer voice. I always had the idea to be the
kind of band that IN THIS MOMENT has ended up being years and years
before they came out but it wasn't something that JULIE wanted to do
with her voice or could do - whatever the case may be. But ERICA brings
that to the table and she's got a lot of attitude and she's not
interested in being a model in the same way that JULIE was. JULIE was
interested in the image of it a little more than she was interested in
the music. That is the major difference right there and it really shows
up in the music. You listen to the album REDEMPTION and you listen to
any other album from the band you can hear that attitude. It's not hard
to figure out."
CHECK OUT
THE MUSiC ViDEO FOR MY
REDEMPTION
little over
two years ago, we first became acquainted with the
axmanship of Russian born guitarist JAY KATANA and his studio wizardry
that combines metal guitar with EDM dance rhythms. He kicked off 2018
with the release of his album BRIGHTER THAN YOU FUTURE - a dig at any
potential haters of out there. When we spoke to him at the beginning of
the year, he had this to say about what he hoped to accomplish
musically. "My
main goal was to make the guitar shine in new colors. I've been
listening to a lot of guitar instrumental music laely and I've learned
that nothing has changed with it since the nineties. It's all the same
thing. It's all about playing faster and faster and faster with the
same scales. Nothing changes. I want to do something where guitar music
lends itself to more modern music like EDM and dubstep or even hip hop.
I want to give inspiration to guitarists out there. If someone takes it
from here, we'll all be taking guitar to the next level."
he
mixture of hip hop and metal has always been a delectable sounds for us
here at ROCKWIRED and in 2018, it was WE ARE BAND NERDS who grabbed the
brass ring with their album FORGET-ME-NOTS. How could we forget all
that
this band had to offer musically? When we spoke with rapper TONY LUCAS
regarding the band's evolution from hip hop band to a musical project
that embraced rhymes on an equal footing with heavy metal flourishes,
he had this to say about the band's sonic changes over the years. "Whenever
we started incorporating more hard rock and metal elements into what we
were doing with our hip hop music people started to respond very
positively to what we were doing. I'm not completely sure for what
reason but as soon as we started doing that, people responded to the
music very well because it's not something you hear a lot of anymore.
It was something that was very popular in the past. Currently, you've
got some people out there making that kind of music but they don't
approach it in the same way that we do and they don't have the
background that we have in rapping and hip hop and stuff like
that. We approach this music very differently and because of that we've
gotten some positive responses."
CHECK
OUT THE MUSIC ViDEO FOR SAVAGE!!!
OCKWIRED
and MICK McMAINS go back a long way. All the way to 2006 when he was
part of the trip hop/poetry collective known as DJ MONKEY. It was the
sort of inspired protest music that got us through the BUSH
years
and now, McMAINS stands on his own two feet as an Americana singer
songwriter on his debut album AMERICAN SOUL. When we spoke to him
earlier this year, he had relayed to me that he was the least political
of the members of the former DJ MONKEY, but after giving his inspired
debut album a listen, we were relieved to learn that AMERICAN SOUL
isn't an
album without a message. "The
record is called AMERICAN SOUL and on the
cover is a picture of my grandparents and my great-grandparents. It's
this old family picture that sits on my mantle and I ended up using it
for the cover. My family has been here for frickin ever but not as long
as
the Native Americans. The american soul right now is really in a
quandary. You've got the loudmouth, racist, hillbilly faction that are
really noisy and people have to be reminded that most people of the
white culture aren't like that. We don't hate anybody. We need
everybody. Speaking as a musician, where would we be without frickin'
black people. We wouldn't even have rock n roll. That whole racist
thing has never been in my family. Not for hundreds of years. We're
trying to remind people that we're not like those people. I don't know
how else to say it nicely. That's the idea. These are positive songs
about living the right way and having a good time without hurting
anybody and being accepting. So there you go."
CHECK
OUT THE MUSiC ViDEO FOR DON'T
SAY GOOD NiGHT TONIGHT!!!
hen
our podcast ROCK SHOW was doing it's thing, we got a submission from
this Boston-based, all-female progressive metal band. Progressive metal
isn't known for having a woman's touch. Maybe that isn't the most PC
observation to make in these #metoo times, but we're grateful that an
all female band like FLIGHT OF FIRE is out there making some noise. The
band has built a reputation on the sort of musical virtuosity that has
made bands like DREAM THEATER a big deal, but in 2018 they released the
single SICK IN LOVE, which took a more direct approach. When we spoke
with the band, bassist TIA MAYHEM had this to say about what she
thought the main takeway should be from the band's music."My biggest hope is that people
will hear our music and be inspired to
take action in their life. I know that I have a problem with dreams and
ambitions and I'm afraid to do them and I want for people to not be
afraid. I wnat people tojust go and live their life. Who knows what
happens when we all die so we might as well do all that we can while
we're here. I hope people tka that into consideration when they hear
our music and get inspired to do things to make their lives how they
want it."
CHECK
OUT THE LYRiC ViDEO FOR SiCK iN
LOVE!!!
THE
ARTiCLE WiLL CONTiNUE FOLLOWiNG
THE ADVERTiSEMENT BELOW
hy
is it that we never think of the sartorial, rebellious sound of punk
coming out of the great white north? It all seems so genteel from a
distance but TED AXE kept the music scene in Toronto interesting as
part of the punk rock band THE ACTION in the late seventies. It was
this
band that introduced punk to our neighbors up North. As time went on,
AXE's punk edge took on more of a glam approach and in 2018, he
returned to the studio with his solo album SEX HORROR VIOLENCE.
Interviewing the guy was a hell of a lot of fun and that interview was
one of the highlights for us in 2018. Here is what he had to say about
the album the released."It's a new direction for me -
that sparse territory of
seventies sex drugs and rock n roll. It's more glam but it's a
different kind of glam. I think I'd call it alt-glam. It's really been
a
departure for me and it's great to see it take off. Before, I was doing
this sort of eighties glam rock for about ten years. It started when I
formed a band in Seattle called SISTER HYDE and migrated it to Toronto,
but it wasn't a sound that I was really proud of. It didn't represent
me. I'm not a party animal type of guy. I'm way more dark.
I'm
more mature now and it's not about about that obvious sex thing that I
was mining for years and years. All of that stuff having to do with
groupies and backstage sex and all of the mythological stuff that
doesn't really happen. You know what I mean? So yeah, It's great to see
the album take off. I feel that it's a representation of my honest
emotions. I'm fascinated by the duality of people and the JECKYL AND
HYDE aspect of the human brain. These songs are about that kind of
duality."
CHECK
OUT THE MUSIC VIDEO FOR GET OUT
OF REHAB!!!
he
band STUCK MOJO are the unsung heroes and pioneers in the rap metal
sound that came to typify rock n roll in the early part of the century
and in this year's list, we have former front man LORD NELSON
represented. This isn't the first time that we've been acquainted with
a former member of that seminal band. In the past, we've given it up
for
founding front man BONZ. Now LORD NELSON is a favorite of
ours and in 2018, he and guitarist SEB L graced the pages of
ROCKWIRED.COM with news of their new album BACK ON THE ROAD - a concept
album about getting back to basics and doing what one does best. When I
spoke with LORD NELSON about the differences between being with STUCK
MOJO and collaborating with SEB L, he had this to say. "When
I was with STUCK MOJO, RICH and I really worked well
together. We vibed really, really well together, but when I
joined that band, the foundation for who they are as band was already
put in place. Even though I brought a different element to STUCK MOJO,
I could never replace BONZ. That there is my brother. With SEB, it's
like I'm free to be me. There is no holding back. There are so many
things that I feel like I can do as far as music and writing is
concerned. I feel free to do whatever I want. I can go wherever I feel
the music moves me. There are no restrictions which isn't to
say
that RICH from STUCK MOJO was putting restrictions on me. There wasn't
anything like that. It's just that this thing that I have going with
SEB is our project. It's all good and it makes me feel good
to
have free reign over the music we are putting out there."
inger-songwriter
MIKE BERN is another artist that ROCKWIRED goes way back with. When we
first met him, he was the front man for the Canadian hard rock band
KICKIN' CROTCH who thankfully changed their moniker to DISTRICT AVENUE.
With a new name and a slick, radio freindly sound at their disposal,
they
released the album EPOCH in early 2017. As recorgnition for the album
and it's single and music video started rolling in, the band all but
disappeared. BERN, however, still had a muse to chase and in
late-summer, he issued his first solo single FIRST MOTHER. On the heels
of this debut single, BERN promises a full length album soon. Here is
what he had to say about the inspiration for his 2018 single and his
hopes for the music to come."I came across this book with
old Maliseet, Penobscot and
Passamaquoddy stories and one of them was the story of the FIRST
MOTHER.
I just fell in love with the story. It's about how a woman gave her
life up to feed the stars and the sick and give medicine to the people.
The story
just inspired me to write this song. I thought it would be cool to
bring this story that was written in the 1800s and bring it
back
and add my musical spin on it...When
you take
these old stories and put them to song, it's like you are carrying on
that legacy. It's all about using music as a vehicle for storytelling.
I'm just glad to be able to share these stories that I've brought back
from the past so that they never die. People will still talk about
these stories even though it's being brought back through song. That is
what I would like to see happen with this forthcoming album."
CHECK OUT
THE LYRIC VIDEO FOR FiRST MOTHER!!!
NUFF
Z'NUFF was a band that I fell in love with back in 1989 when they had
had released their self-titled debut album. I was only fourteen years
old and even then, I remember noticing the raves the band was
receiving from music critics. In those days, bands who
teased
their hair up and wore makeup never earned such acclaim, but
these
guys did. Almost thiry years later, ENUFF Z'NUFF is still at it, but
this time, bassist and co-founder CHIP Z'NUFF calls all of the shots.
In 2018, the band the surprised the hell out of us with the release of
their album DIAMOND BOY. The bands embrace of glam rock and just about
every iteration of rock that came after that was on full display on
their latest recording and CHIP Z'NUFF had this to say about it."At
the end of the day we're just another rock n roll band out there. Maybe
there is some inspiring message to the music or an answer to one of
your questions about life, but at the end of the day we just want to
put a great record out and leave an indelible mark on the audience and
maybe there is a movie out there or a TV show or commercial that could
use a song or maybe a band out there wants to record one of these songs
for their next album. That's cool with me. At this point in my career,
who cares who drives the bus? I just want to get to the picnic. There
are a lot of good things that have provided a wonderful opportunity for
ENUFF Z'NUFF and to be able to go out on tour and play these songs live
is the biggest, best thing that I can give back to the
audience."
CHECK
OUT THE MUSiC ViDEO FOR DiAMOND
BOY!!!
e'll
be pessimistic and say that shock rocker KORE ROZZIK is the last of his
kind - a rocker with the kind of theatricality that made guys like
ALICE COOPER famous. We don't see that kind of showmanship in rock
music these days but rock n roll is the gig that ROZZIK's got. In 2018,
his persistence paid off with a signing to CLEOPATRA RECORDS. It was
through this label that ROZZIK released his latest album
VENGEANCE OVERDRIVE. This is what he had to say about the
release
when we spoke to him this past Summer.
"I
want people to know that there are still bands out there that are
writing catchy songs and being very creative. This is a metal record. I
think it's perfect for fans of classic eighties hard rock and metal. I
also think it'll be perfect for fans of nu metal. If you like the newer
theatrical stuff from bands like AVATAR or GHOST, I think
you'll
get a kick out of this album. I feel like there is something for
everybody on this record. I really want people to think that the album
is pretty cool and that they can't wait to see what is next. We're a
theatrical band and there is an underlying story to the music. I don't
know what the next record is going to sound like. It might be more hard
rock. It might have more keyboards, I don't know. I think it
will
be very exciting to see where we go next with it."
CHECK
OUT THE MUSiC ViDEO FOR MiSTRESS!!!
THE
ARTiCLE WiLL CONTiNUE FOLLOWiNG
THE ADVERTiSEMENT BELOW
ack
in the mid 2000's, NEVERWONDER bore the unofficial distinction of being
ROCKWIRED.COM's favorite band. Our then-fledgling website had a hard
working band that we could champion. Little did we know of the resolve
of the band's founders - THE BROTHERS RAMOS. In the time
since
then, the band has survived some changes - about three lead singers and
we forgot how many guitar players. In 2018, the band found it's voice
again with new lead singer FABIENE GRISEL and guitarist JAY WISE and
both could be heard loud and clear on the bands' latest self-titled EP
featuring new renditions of songs from NEVERWONDER past such as HAVE IT
ALL and MOVIN' ON. When we spoke to the band's bassist VINCENT RAMOS
had
this to say about the band's resilience. "With all
due respect to the players that have
played with NEVERWONDER before, NEVERWONDER has never been better. I
attribute that to chemistry and the friendship that exists
within this band. There is this willingness of all of the members to
hear one's point of view and going that extra mile to make the songs
better. Things have never been better. For that, I'm grateful for these
two new players. It's a pleasure to go into the studio. It's a pleasure
to go to show and it's a pleasure to hear them talk about music. They
bring so much from their life experiences to their respective musical
abilities. At the end of
the day, it's all about the music. They have what NEVERWONDER has
always
needed and that is passion. It's all about the want and these guys
bring it to
every single rehearsal. Right now, we're on the course to take
everything to another level."
hen
we first became acquainted with STATION back in 2014, they were making
waves for their melodic hard
rock sound that many viewed as a retro move. It's sad when you live in
a musical environment where being melodic makes people think that
you're living in the past. To us, the sound of STATION is simply
timeless hard rock. In 2018, STATION released their latest album MORE
THAN THE MOON and the single I WON'T BREAK YOUR HEART was chock full of
the glorious bombast we've come to expect from these guys. Oh, and that
music video was a hoot! Here is what guitarist CHRIS LANE had to say
about what has surprised him the most since embarking on this musical
journey with his bandmates. "The
thing that has surprised me the most about our
experience in how we interact with people is how some people are
unwilling to give things a chance but when they are thrown into
that situation, they do. One of the things I was surprised by was this.
We're from New York City and it is a pretty tough place to play music
because in a lot of other places, you get a night where two
bands
are playing and it's like "Oh no! We're competing with the other band!"
In New York City, you're not competing against other bands. You're
competing against everyone's social life. You are competing against
birthday parties, Broadway shows and other things. When we first
started playing, it was a struggle to find a way to stand out and
making people want to come to our show instead of something
else.
When we go to places that aren't in New York City, we're playing in
places where people are just hanging out and they don't really seem
interested. But, by the end of the show, they've bought a CD. It's
amazing to me how we're able to catch people in an environment like
that and then having them in our corner when the show ends. I'm sure if
we
asked any of them if they would buy a CD from a band like ours, I'm
sure they would say no. As an avid music lover, if you tell me about
something I haven't heard, I'll listen to it the first chance I get.
But most people who are not of that mindset won't be out at shows and
when you do see them, they are open to it. They just don't realize
it."
CHECK
OUT THE MUSiC ViDEO FOR i WON'T
BREAK YOUR HEART!!!
RSY
FOX was one of the most dynamic front women that we've featured in the
year 2018. Her band KNEE HIGH FOX walked away with the ARTIST OF THE
MONTH title in the month of May, on the strength of the band's 2018
album JAWBREAKER - a title inspired by the 1999 cult film starring ROSE
McGOWAN. In fact, when we spoke with KRSY, we found that much of her
music is inspired by cult films of the nineties. Even the band's
first single off of the album was titled AMERICAN BEAUTY. When we spoke
with KRSY, she decribed to us her evolution from songwriter to
frontwoman."I
actually started as a songwriter. I was an actress as a kid and then
took up songwriting. It was this passionate fun thing for me to do but
through that I found myself working with THEORY OF A DEAD MAN and we
ended up writing songs like BAD GIRLFRIEND and HATE MY LIFE. This song
blew up overnight and before I knew it I was getting phone calls from
other bands to write songs with them. I've had the pleasure of writing
with bands like HALESTORM and POP EVIL and it just took off from
there. I kind of put acting to the side and started focusing
on music
and then realized that I needed a creative outlet that was more selfish
to keep what I was doing fresh and exciting all of the time. So that
was when KNEE HIGH FOX started to come together and all of my movie
inspirations and my visuals came into play. I was always a big fan of
theatrical bands such as MANSON and ALICE COOPER. I really wanted to
incorporate that kind of aesthetic but at the same time do
something a
little different. So that's kind of how it all started."
CHECK
OUT THE MUSiC ViDEO FOR AMERiCAN
BEAUTY!!!
ock
bands have longer lifespans these days. Because of that, it's easy to
forget that rock n roll is best when it is accompanied by a
youthful zeal. The band BROKEN TESTIMONY has it in spades. The average
age in the band ain't even drinking age, but this band has managed to
make a huge impact in 2018 with the release of their album HOLDING ONTO
NOTHING. Drummer BRYCE CHISM had this to say about the relative youth
of the band and the joys of music making. "It's
been
an amazing opportunity getting to talk with people like you
and some
other people and getting the word out about this new album.
It's been
a strange experience. A little awkward at times but this is what we've
got to do to get the music out there. And to think that this is just
the beginning for us. We're just dipping our toes in the water and it's
really exciting when you consider that this is happening to us at such
a young age. You've got people out there older than us that are trying
make thing happen. It's insane! It feels incredible!"
he
often-described sweaty sax man released his debut album in 2018 and
ROCKWIRED was there to speak with this curious pop culture icon.
Saxophonist TIM CAPPELLO is best remembered for his shirtless, pelvic
thrusting appearance in the 1987 film THE LOST BOYS where he issued
some mean sax riffs and vocals for the single I STILL BELIEVE. Those
few minutes on screen have made a huge impression and have made
CAPPELLO a favorite on the COMIC CON circuit. Of course, I remembered
him from his days as part of TINA TURNER's live band. In 2018, he took
centerstage with the release of his album BLOOD ON THE REED and of all
of the artists featured on ROCKWIRED this year, ...REED stood out by a
mile. Here is what CAPPELLO had to say about the release. "It
was pretty much me playing every single note. My
sister came up and we have a nice blend on vocals, so she came up and
she
and I sang the background vocals together. It was about three years ago
when I first started doing conventions like COMIC CON that I needed a
background recording of I STILL BELIEVE, because they would always want
me to come along and play the song onstage at the conventions. I was
only too happy to do it and I just got some of my favorite players that
I play with a lot and that feel comfortable to me, and that was how the
idea for the album got rolling. I pretty much just played every note. I
just knew what I
wanted and I didn't want to go with anybody who would want something
else. I just knew what I wanted it to sound like. I knew that I wanted
it to be mostly covers, because I didn't want to bore people with too
many songs that they had never heard of. I wrote two of the songs on
the
album. All the rest are all very well known songs. I thought I would
try a different approach. I thought I would try twisting
these songs
around. I wanted to do these songs in a way that no one had
ever
done them. HIGHWAY 61 is now a heavy metal soca and ONLY YOU is a
heavy metal dance hall thing. There is a lot of groove on it, but I
also
really wanted a lot of my playing at it's most I STILL BELIEVE vibe. I
wanted my playing to be in that style, so that is what I did. Those are
the songs that I came up with. Of course these songs don't come from
the same era as I STILL BELIEVE but I feel that vocally and
saxophonistically, that they are very similar. When I say BLOOD ON THE
REED, I mean it. After a heavy session of playing saxophone for three
or four hours on the record, I'd look on that reed and there would
definitely be a spot or two of blood. It's not just a euphemism."
THE
ARTiCLE WiLL CONTiNUE FOLLOWiNG
THE ADVERTiSEMENT BELOW
igned
to the fledgling label G4L RECORDS, the Texas-based band TO WHOM IT MAY
were able to create some noise in 2018 with the release of their album
THE GREAT FILTER - inspired by the FERMI PARADOX - a theory set up to
explain why we haven't made contact with intelligent life. Rock n roll
is our business at ROCKWIRED, but we'd welcome existential discussion
any time. When we spoke with JONATHAN JOURDAN of TO WHOM IT MAY, he
spoke about the connection between the title of their new album and the
band's determination."Personally, I love science and
sci-fi. I'm a big fan
of all forms of science. The way it kind of came to us is that
we
as a band were dealing with things in our own lives. We were all in a
previous band together and it was kind of falling apart. We had been in
this band for about nine years and we had tried all of these different
angles and we started asking ourselves, is this the end? Are we going
to have another project? This was all before we decided to form TO WHOM
IT MAY. What ended up happening was we started creating demos and the
demos turned into songs. At that point, I wasn't even the singer yet,
but I figured I'd try singing on these songs and see how that goes. All
of these pieces came together with this record. Before we knew it, what
we had created became our own "great filter". For anyone who doesn't
know what the Great Filter is, it's this concept of this
99.9%
impassable step for intelligent life. Most intelligent life doesn't get
past it but some can get through and the question is "Are we through
the great filter yet?" That was the question we were asking ourselves
as a band before we put this record out. This album really became the
band's "great filter". I feel like we've come through it and I like to
think that we're that 0.1% success story."
CHECK
OUT THE MUSIC VIDEO FOR CALCULATE!!!
uitarist
ERIC McFADDEN suprised the hell out of us in 2018 with the release of
his album PAIN BY NUMBERS. For years, he's been an in demand ax man for
the likes of GEORGE CLINTON and ERIC BURDON, but with PAIN BY NUMBERS,
he truly shines not only as a guitarist, but as a singer and songwriter
as well. Giving the man some top notch back up are drummer TERRENCE
HIGGINS, bassist DOUG WIMBISH (LIVING COLOUR) and keys and
production by TAB BENOIT. Recorded in and around New Orleans, McFADDEN
and the gang captured something special. When we spoke ERIC, he had
this to say about his hopes for the album's reception."I
would like for
people to identify with it personally on some level. For
me, one of the purposes of music, I think, is to connect with people
and be able to speak your own truth, pain or experience and hopefully
people will
identify with it and hopefully will be able to heal themselves in some
way. If not that, I hope people at least have a damn good time
listening
to it. There is nothing contrived about it. It's a genuine album. I
feel that if you don't like the record, you probably don't like me. I
guess that's the best I can put it."
ver
since THE WHITE STRIPES decided to a eschew bass players, it seems like
guitar and drum duos have crawled out of the woodwork, but in the case
of KRASHKARMA, the bass can still be heard thanks guitarist RALF
DIETEL's creation of the FRANKENSTEIN GUITAR, armed with both guitar
and bass pick ups. The FRANKENSTEIN motif is apropos for the band who
have relied heavily on ingenuitiy and countless hours on the road both
Stateside and throughout Europe. In 2018 they released their LP MORPH
and teh proceedings are all abotu survival of the fittest - something
that DIETEL and drummer NIKI SKISTIMAS know all about in this current
rock n roll environment. Here is what guitarist RALF DIETEL had to say
about the inspiration for the band's latest album. "The album is called MORPH and
it's all about morphing into a monster.
The songs on this album describe how we turned from a four piece band
into a two piece band. That change really wasn't by choice. It was due
to a certain set of cirumstances. We could either quit or morph into
something else, and that was what we did basically. It was do
or
die for us at one point. We had another tour lined up and we had to go
on the road and after losing two members, we just decided to soldier on
as a two piece. It's our survival instinct as a band that has informed
the songs on this album. As a result of those changes, I built this
guitar with a bass pickup and a guitar pickup that could make these
crazy sounds. That one guitar sounds like several people are playing
but it's just me on guitar and bass with this crazy pedal set up. That
was the inspiration for this album."
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here
are a lot of instances of people stepping out from the background and
into the light on this list of artists. Drummer LONNIE HAMMER has
provided the heavy metal thunder for the likes of JACK RUSSELL's GREAT
WHITE, EVERY MOTHER'S NIGHTMARE and BLACK OAK ARKANSAS and in 2018, he
stepped up to the microphone for his solo poroject HAMMER DOWN HARD.
The album TOTAL ANNIHILATION helped earn his a spot as ROCKWIRED.COM'S
ARTIST OF THE MONTH in September. "Honestly,
I always wanted to do this project. At first, I didn't exactly nominate
myself to be the lead singer. I knew I could sing, given my experience
singing background. This whole thing started with the name HAMMER DOWN
HARD. I did some drum tracks and put some vocals on top of them and I
wanted to get booked for this upcoming ROCK FEST, so I called up the
promoter to
see what I needed to do to get on the bill. He told me that I needed to
send him an email. So I did and before I knew it, HAMMER DOWN HARD was
on the bill for ROCK FEST. My manager KIM really started freaking out
because I didn't
have one song written and no band members, but I knew how diligent of
a worker I am and I know my ethics and my manager's ethics. I've
always had some great people behind me. To get some
songs
ready, I went into the studio with JUSTIN RIMER of 12 STONES. I told
him
about what I wanted to do and right away, he couldn't believe that
there was a drummer that could actually sing. So we went into the
studio and recorded a demo for the song WHO I AM back in
November
or December. When we got something done, we sent it to ZACH MYERS.
JUSTIN told him it was me so ZACH gave it a listen and he did not
expect what he heard. ZACH ended up playing guitar on WHO I AM. After
that, JUSTIN and I started writing more material. I know a lot of
people
in the industry, so I started reaching out to friends and the whole
thing kind of snowballed. I've got TONY CARDENAS MONTANA from JACK
RUSSELL'S GREAT
WHITE, BRIAN QUINN from CANDLEBOX, DONNIE WAYNE SMITH from WINGER, LOU
KOUVARIS from RIOT and DEVIN HIGHTOWER from SURRENDER THE FALL.
This whole
thing has
snowballed into this huge record with all of these heavy cats playing
on it. I can't believe how lucky I am. I feel very fortunate and I
couldn't be happier."
o
band or artist on this list had a more tumultuous 2018 than CORNERS OF
SANCTUARY. Change can be expected for any band out there. Early in the
year, the heavy metal progenitors made the shocking announcement that
lead vocalist FRANKIE CROSS was stepping down and taking his place
would be a female lead singer by the name of TREESE LOGAN. Keep in mind
that all of these changes happened after FRANKIE had
completed the vocals on their upcoming album. I was going to be
interesting to see what LOGAN would bring to the band vocally. With the
release of the single BURN we learned that LOGAN could deliver one mean
growl but just as quickly as it was announced that she was taking over
lead, the band announced that FRANKIE was returning to the fold. Once
the band had released the eagerly awaited
THE GALLOPING HORDES the band crossed the Atlantic for a tour of Europe
to support the album. With the tumult and the release of the album
behind
them, guitarist MICK MICHAELS had this to say about THE GALLOPING
HORDES. "I
want people to feel that the band is 'maturing' musically. This might
be
a dirty word for some people, but I feel that the sound is more
polished. By "polished" I don't necessarily mean a glossy production
value. There is a better production value on this album then there was
on our previous album. When I say "polished" I'm referring to the
quality in songwriting. I'm very proud of this album because
of
that and one of the things that made this album stand out
songwriting-wise is that most of the band was involved in it this time.
There was a real push to get everybody involved in writing.
For
years, I've been the primary writer and I'm cool with that, but
sometimes I want some additional input and perspective. I wouldn't mind
someone else picking up the load sometime. MAD T our drummer also plays
guitar, so there are riffs that he wrote that we have incorporated. I
had to learn somebody else's style which was cool. It helped with my
playing and that changed the songwriting. When you work with someone
else on songwriting, it changes things. JAMES wrote some songs and even
FRANKIE made some lyrical contributions. I think fans of our music are
definitely going to notice the change in our music and because of that,
I think we're going to get some attention from other people
that
haven't had a chance to hear us."
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rian Lush is a music
industry
professional and entrepreneur. In 2005 he launched the
online music
site Rockwired.com to help promote new music artists in conjunction
with the weekly radio show Rockwired Live which aired on KTSTFM.COM
from 2005 - 2009. In 2010 He launched the daily podcast series
Rockwired Radio Profiles which features exclusive interviews and music.
He has also developed and produced the online radio shows Jazzed and
Blue - Profiles in Blues and Jazz, Aboriginal Sounds - A Celebration of
American Indian and First Nations Music, The Rockwired Rock N Roll
Mixtape Show and The Rockwired Artist of the Month Showcase. In 2012,
Brian Lush and his company Rockwired Media LLC launched the monthly
digital online publication Rockwired Magazine. The magazine attracts
over 75,000 readers a month and shows
no signs of stopping. Rockwired Magazine also bares the distinction
of being the first American Indian-owned rock magazine. Brian Lush is
an enrolled member of the Yankton Sioux Tribe. Brian Lush's background
in music journalism, radio and podcast hosting, podcast production, web
design, publicity, advertising sales, social media and online
marketing, strategic editorial planning and branding have all made
Rockwired a name that is trusted and respected throughout the
independent music industry.